Fearful that the villain would shoot him, Ralph left the road and dodged behind a clump of trees.
There was no longer the slightest doubt in the boy's mind concerning the two men. They had meant to take his life, and they were still disposed to carry out their intention.
"He has gone into the woods," cried Toglet. "Why not let him go?"
"You fool! If he gets away he'll have the officers of the law on our track in no time!" ejaculated Martin. "We must catch him by all means!"
He sprang on ahead, and was soon making after the boy as rapidly as his long legs would carry him.
Ralph heard him coming, and once more he moved away. He left the patch of wood, and a second later came out on the railroad tracks.
As he did so, he heard a locomotive whistle, and a locomotive rolled past, followed by a long line of empty freight cars.
"Now I'll catch him!" cried Martin to Toglet. "He can't cross the tracks while the cars are passing."
He rushed toward Ralph, who did not know which way to turn. Up the track a big cut in the rocks blocked his way, and down was a deep ravine.
Just then, for some reason apparent to the engineer, the long train slackened its speed for a moment. A freight car came to a halt directly in front of Ralph, the big side doors wide open.