The bush-raiders reminded him of it then, if he needed any further notification, by a volley of bullets and renewed yells of rage.
Though some of the leaden missiles flew uncomfortably near his head, Jack was unharmed, and as he was borne on by the iron horse around the next curve in the track, leaving his enemies out of sight, he offered a prayer of thankfulness for his providential escape.
Fret, he was certain, must have been killed by his mad leap from the engine. As much as he would have liked to have gone back and looked for the youth, he knew such a course would have been the height of folly. Besides his own life to look after, there were the passengers who had intrusted themselves to his care.
“Poor Fret! I could do no good now, and I must remember the others. If you had only remained on the engine it would have been better for you.”
To his infinite relief, Jack saw nor heard nothing further of the baffled bush-raiders, who must have been greatly surprised at the escape of the train with its rich freight.
At the first station, which was several miles away from the scene of the outlaws’ attack, the young engineer told of the loss of his fireman and his own narrow escape from death, when an armed squad of men started to search for the body of the missing youth, and to rout the bush-raiders if they could be found.
Finding an assistant at this place, Jack finished his run to de la Pama and then came back to this station, which was known as Resaca.
The relief party had not returned, but Jack was told that a bridge had been found to be unsafe for the passage of the train, so he could not reach St Resa that day, while it might be a week before the road would be in a condition to resume his regular trips. But he was willingly allowed to start after the relief party with the engine and one car, accompanied by a dozen armed men.
They were approaching the bridge mentioned, when they met the others coming back, bearing in their midst the lifeless form of Fret Offut.
Jack immediately stopped to have the body of his associate put on the car, when he started on the return to Resaca.