With Steve on one side of him, and Pig-Iron Peel on the other, Jarvis was led over to the stairs that extended up to the platform.
"Will you please tell me what happened to you?" demanded Steve.
"Ask the boss. I don't know. I think I must have been kicked by something. Are there any mules in the yards."
"No; no mules," replied Peel. "You were hit by a train."
"You don't mean it? I'll bet the train was wrecked! Nothing—no train could hit an object with the force that I was hit and not be bucked off the track. That's so; I remember, now, I was getting you off the track when I was struck."
"Yes; you would have been run over and killed on the spot if Jarvis hadn't got you when he did. How did you get down from the charging platform?" demanded the melter, turning to Bob.
"I shot the chutes and it was the hottest shoot I ever took. Look at my hands."
"So I fell on the track, did I?" questioned Rush.
"Yes."