As coolly as he could Hal Overton reloaded. Noll, also lying flat on the ground, was similarly engaged.
Hal was ready to fire first. There was need of it, too, for he could dimly make out two men, near the extreme head of the train, who were firing rapidly and firing their weapons in a fashion that drove up spurts of dirt all about the recruits.
For a few seconds the fight seemed as serious to those engaged in it as battle on a larger scale could have been.
Major Davis now made the first direct move. He crawled swiftly under the car, putting himself on the same side with the man he was after.
There was more shooting on the other side of the train; then, suddenly it stopped.
The two ahead, who were engaging Hal and Noll, dodged off to the side of the track into the darkness. Now, all firing stopped, for all weapons were empty.
"I hope that other scoundrel didn't get the major!" throbbed Hal anxiously.
Yet he couldn't go to see. He had his own work on this side of the train.
"Where are our pair?" whispered Noll, creeping closer.
"I don't know," Hal answered, also in a whisper. "But crawl off a little way. Bunching together gives 'em a better mark to hit."