Both recruits saluted. Noll returned to the track in time to find that the first man whom he and Hal had bowled over was just coming back to his senses.
CHAPTER XII
THE ROOKIES REACH FORT CLOWDRY
ONCE more the train was under way. The engineer had taken his uncoupled engine some distance up the track, but had returned when sent for, and now the train, twenty additional minutes late, was crawling up the steep grade.
The wounded men lay on the floor of the car, receiving the attentions of a physician who had been found among the passengers.
The unwounded ones stood in a corner at the forward end of the car, Private Hal Overton, revolver in hand, watching the men closely.
Noll, a revolver in either hand, stood a little past the middle of the car, looking wholly businesslike.
Major Davis, having gone back to make sure that his own belongings were safe, now returned to the baggage car.