He was thinking of Jenny when the shock came with a force which fairly lifted the heavy engine! A crash and another shock threw him face downward on the floor of the cab.
He felt that the crisis had been passed and the train was still rushing on. Furious yells--yells that made the wildwoods ring with their intonations--filed his ears, and a volley of bullets whistled around his head.
He looked up and saw the trees rushing past him at a terrific speed.
A backward glance showed him some of the outlaws beside the track, while others were scattered on both side of the rails, where the engine had flung them in heaps.
At the bottom of the valley lay the big bowlder, which had been dislodged and hurled into the depths.
The front of the engine showed the marks of its fearful blow, and he began to realize more fully the awful risk he had taken.
The firing from the rear car had ceased, and wondering what had become of Plum Plucky, he pulled the bell cord once.
A prompt response was given by two violent jerks on the rope, when he knew that Plum was alive and on the train.
He did not have long to wait before he heard some one crawling over the tender, and a moment later his fireman dropped beside him.
“Golly, Jack!” exclaimed Plum, “wasn’t that a squeezer?”