Frank felt that all was safe now, and tried to allay the concern of his companion. He thought it best not to alarm the latter by revealing his suspicion that the man six seats ahead of them was probably a member of the group that was after that precious satchel.
Frank kept his eye on this man, who pretended to be absorbed in a newspaper. He showed no outward sign that the incident had affected or interested him. Frank was about to ask the professor to walk to the front end of the car and take a look at the man’s face, when there came a sharp whistle from the locomotive.
Almost instantly the brakes were set. There was a grinding jar, then a shock and a crash. Frank realized that something was coming and grasped the seat brace.
Not so the professor. As the train came to an abrupt stop amid the jangle of broken glass and parting timbers, he was lifted from his seat violently. He shot past Frank and landed in the aisle like a lump of clay.
CHAPTER IV
THE RAILROAD WRECK
Frank had never taken part in a scene of greater disorder and excitement. He knew at once that the train had run into some heavy obstacle or had been derailed. A dozen of the passengers were thrown from their seats. Women were shrieking, and the two little children in the seat just behind the one the professor and Frank had occupied were wailing in fright as their mother caught them in her arms and crouched speechless and dazed.
Frank saw that they were not seriously injured. The car had tilted and then, as a great shock passed through its strained woodwork, come to a stop. The frightened passengers were rushing for the doors. One or two men threw open windows and tumbled outside. Frank’s first thought was of his new friend. He sprang to the spot where the professor lay senseless and just in time managed to drag him out of the path of the terrified people crowding the aisle in an attempt to escape.
“I declare!” spoke the dazed savant, as Frank pulled him into a seat. “What happened?”
The speaker rubbed a contusion on his head and gazed about him vacantly. Then his eyes closed and he swayed to and fro.
“Come out,” directed a train hand at the rear doorway. “It’s a wreck; but nobody is seriously hurt.”