But Rob only smiled. He could easily afford to laugh, knowing as he did what was in store for the Doubting Thomas of a Canadian officer, who, fearful of being made the victim of a joke, would not believe without positive evidence.
Accordingly down the bank they all plunged, while the engine continued to fret near by, as though repenting of having been stopped short. Possibly Tubby would have excelled all the rest in making that descent, for he had already commenced to slide, and in another moment must have taken a header, only for the strong arm of Zeb, the Maine guide, having hovered near in the rôle of protector and defender.
Once at the bottom, Rob, taking in his bearings, led the way directly to the spot where, with his comrades, he had been lately crouching. The first thing he did on arriving was to take the lighted lantern from the hand of the train conductor and hold it close to the ground.
“There is the copper insulated wire that ran from the battery to the planted mine,” he explained.
The officer, bending forward, looked it over. His doubts began to vanish, for surely this seemed like stern business.
“Who cut this wire?” he demanded sharply.
“I did, sir,” replied Rob modestly.
“What was your object in doing it?” continued the soldier, eyeing the scout with kindling interest.
“We knew that the first thing to be done was to prevent those conspirators from using their battery to discharge the mine,” explained Rob, “and that if only we could come upon the connections and sever them they would have their teeth drawn. But it was only at the last minute we managed to find the concealed wire; for as you can see, sir, they had it pinned close to the ground with these metal staples.”
He pulled one of the crooked bits of stout wire up as he spoke and showed them how craftily it worked. Everybody pushed forward to see. The conductor of the million-dollar freight knew he was losing valuable time and would have to run additionally fast if he ever hoped to make it up; but the story of the scout interested him deeply, and, besides, it had a direct bearing on the safety of himself and crew, so he felt justified in lingering.