“What's that you say, Dannie?” he asked. His face was black with coal-dust and grime.
“Are you all right? Can you bear the heat?”
“I am doing very nicely, but this ain't a patch on what it's going to be.”
“Yes, it will be much worse, though this is had enough.”
“But we can stand it. We must think of those poor people at Antioch.”
“We'll stick to the engine as long as the engine sticks to the rails,” said Dan, grimly. “Hadn't you better come into the cab with me? You'll be frightfully exposed when we get into the thick of it.”
“Not yet, Dannie? I'll give you steam, and you drive her as hard as you can.”
He turned away, shovel in hand.
Then, all in a second, and they were in the burning woods, rushing beneath trees that were blazing to their very summits. The track seemed to shake and tremble in the fierce light and fiercer heat. Burning leaves and branches were caught up to be whirled in fiery eddies back down the rails as the train tore along, for Dan was hitting her up.
Tongues of fire struck across at the two men. Smoke and fine white ashes filled their mouths and nostrils. Their bodies seemed to bake. They had been streaming wet with perspiration a moment before.