"Or maybe shots!" exclaimed Joe, half aloud. "I wonder if any of the wild animals have escaped."
A moment later, however, there was the sound of laughter.
"Whoop!" a man yelled. "Here he comes at us! Look out! There, he's got Bill down!"
There were excited yells, and a voice, presumably Bill's, was heard to exclaim:
"Get off my leg, you big brute! Wow! If you step on me again I'll be as flat as a board seat! Here, somebody take him off me!"
There was a stir inside the sleeping car, for most of the occupants were now awake.
"For the love of Mike!" grumbled Tom Jefferson, the strong man. "Can't they let a person get his sleep? Are they giving a private rehearsal out there, or what's going on?"
"I guess some of the animals are loose," said Joe, "though it doesn't seem to be serious."
More shouts, mingled with laughter, seemed to testify to this view of it.
"I'm going out to see what it is," decided Joe. He looked off toward the east. A faint glow there told that dawn was beginning to break, though it was still very dark. "I've had enough sleep," Joe reasoned, "and I can't get any more with all that racket going on under my car window."