Dale obeyed, and a few minutes after, the engine was galloping homewards.
Willie Willders was in the station when it arrived, and so was Fred Auberly, who, having accompanied Willie, had got into such an interesting talk with the sub-engineer in charge, that he forgot time, and was still in animated conversation when the wheels were heard in the distance.
The three were out at the door in an instant.
On came the engine, the horses’ feet and the wheels crashing harshly in the silent night. They came round the corner with a sharp swing. Either the driver had become careless, or he was very sleepy that night, for he dashed against an iron post that stood at the corner, and carried off two wheels. The engine went full thirty yards on the two off-wheels, before it came to the ground, which it did at last with a terrific crash, throwing the firemen violently to the ground.
The sub-engineer and Fred and Willie sprang forward in great alarm; but the most of the men leaped up at once, and one or two of them laughed, as if to show that they had got no damage. But one of them lay extended on the pavement. It needed not a second glance to tell that it was Frank Willders.
“Lift him gently, lads,” said Dale, who was himself severely bruised.
“Stop,” exclaimed Frank in a low voice; “I’ve got no harm except to my left leg. It’s broken, I think. There’s no use of lifting me till you get a cab. I’ll go straight home, if—” He fainted as he spoke.
“Run for a cab, Willie,” said Fred Auberly.
Willie was off in a moment. At the same instant, a messenger was despatched for Dr Offley, and in a short time after that, Frank Willders was lying on his mother’s sofa, with his left leg broken below the knee.