Half an hour later both went back to their seat in the car. Black night had come on and shut out all further possibility of viewing the wonderful country through which the train was passing.
"We can eat, anyway," sighed Noll.
For the next fifteen minutes they regaled themselves, though they were careful not to eat enough to spoil their appetite for a good hot supper at Salida.
Then, as peering out of the window revealed nothing, Noll settled back in the seat.
"If I go to sleep, be sure to wake me at Salida," he begged. "What time is the train due at Fort Clowdry?"
"Two o'clock in the morning," Hal answered.
"That's a beastly time to have to be awake," growled Noll, and began to slumber.
Not for long, however. On a steep up-grade the train was barely crawling along.
Suddenly it stopped, and with a considerable jolt, too.
Bang, bang, bang! The whistle of bullets was heard alongside the train, wherever windows were open.