For suddenly down by the cars in rear
There rang a shriek of unbridled fear.
Garcia turned, in amaze looked back;
A score of men from the railroad track
Were rushing away in a frantic race
As if they had looked on a demon's face,
And then, as he turned, the cause was plain
For half-way back in the standing train
A flame licked out from a box-car's side,
Yellow and spiteful, a handbreadth wide.