Instead of answering, Pinkey, his teeth chattering, tried to jump off the engine. The fireman grabbed him and pulled him back by main force.
“Come!” he said, shaking him fiercely. “Brace up! Be a man! What’s the matter?”
“Th—there’s a snake up there,” stuttered Pinkey. “Let me go!”
“A snake!”
“Big as my leg,” added Pinkey. “Black, with a red mouth! Let me go!”
The brakeman slammed him down on the seat and picked up the rake, while Allan armed himself with the bar of iron used for stirring up the fire.
“What was he doing?” asked the brakeman, when these preparations had been made.
“He—he had his head in the tank,” said Pinkey. “When he heard me comin’, he lifted it up an’ squirted water all over me!”
“Squirted water!” repeated Michaels, incredulously. “A snake? Oh, come!”