“That’s the fellow I’m after,” said Bob. “Run up ahead and get the conductor and any other trainmen you can. Tell them to get back here as fast as they can.”
Then Bob hastened down the aisle and the porter, willing enough to leave the car, went forward to carry out Bob’s instructions.
The young federal agent hastened through a second Pullman where the lights were low and finally stepped into the observation car. So far there had been no trace of Hamsa and no indication that he had sought shelter under one of the trap doors in the vestibules.
Bob entered the observation car cautiously. The lights had been turned down and he stopped at the head end of the car and snapped on all of the switches, a torrent of light illuminating the interior of the car. Even the observation platform at the back end leaped into view as a special light out there came on under the magic touch of the switches.
Bob stared hard at the back of the car. The door to the observation platform was open but beyond that he could see a man’s legs dangling, apparently in midair. Bob threw caution aside then and raced toward the half open door at the rear of the car. The legs were being drawn upward, twisting and kicking as the man attempted to pull himself onto the roof of the observation car. This then was Hamsa’s hiding place—on the roof of the rear car of the train!
Chapter XVI
FIGHTING FOR LIFE
★
Bob leaped through the door and grabbed at Hamsa’s legs. The other man kicked viciously, but Bob wrapped his arms around the legs and hung on. Once he had a good grip, he started pulling the other man down.
Hamsa was big and he was powerful, but the steady pull from below weakened his grip on the steep rungs of the ladder which led to the top of the car and Bob could feel himself gaining. In less than a minute the other man would be down on the platform beside him and by that time the trainmen should be on hand to help him subdue Hamsa.
There was a strange exultation in Bob’s heart for he felt sure now that he was about to make the first capture in what he felt was to be the clean-up of the international gang of smugglers. It made little difference whether Hamsa had been trailing them south or whether they had encountered each other by accident. The message from Washington had indicated that Hamsa was deeply involved and Bob was determined to make the capture.
The steady pull Bob put on Hamsa’s legs and the tightness of his grasp was relentless. Slowly the other man was weakening and Bob braced himself and prepared to release Hamsa’s legs and cut loose with a half dozen hard punches when the other man finally dropped to the observation platform.