CHAPTER XXIVTERRIBLE NEWS“What train is off the iron?” asked Ralph quickly. “Anything ahead of us? Will we be held up?”That was his first consideration. To think of the Flyer’s schedule as being of the first importance had become an obsession with him.“I didn’t get any details,” said Haley, over the engineer’s shoulder. “I don’t even know whether the wreck is this side or the other side of the burning woods. But somehow I’ve got to get there. Adair’s orders.”“Let’s see,” ruminated Ralph, “there is Sixty-four that takes the siding at Cole’s Station to let us pass. Hold on! She hasn’t much more than left Shadow Valley. The only other west-bound train in our way right now is the passenger accommodation that pulls into Oxford just ahead of us. Number Fifty-two. Think it may be her, Haley?”Haley had caught most of what the engineer said. He shook his head.“The wreck may be on the eastbound track,” he observed.“You’re right at that!” exclaimed Ralph. “We pass Number Thirty-three, eastbound passenger, this side of the Devil’s Den. Where would she be about now? Let’s see.”Without looking at the printed schedule which every trainman carries, Ralph figured out from his memory of the train dispatcher’s orders which he had himself formulated the locality of Number 33 if it was on time.“That Thirty-three comes clear from the Junction, doesn’t she?” asked Haley, over Ralph’s shoulder.“Yes. She leaves Shelby Junction at ten-forty——”The young fellow halted in his speech. A new thought stabbed him to the quick. Cherry Hopkins had telegraphed her father that she was leaving Shelby Junction at that hour. If anything had happened to Number 33 this girl was aboard it!He said nothing more to Haley, but gave his strict attention to the running of the train. But the specter of the wreck ahead took on a grimmer cast in Ralph Fairbanks’ mind.If there was any way of coaxing more speed out of the big locomotive, the engineer put it to the test now. The run between Fryburg and Shadow Valley Station was not a long one, at best. He had lost two minutes in shutting down to let Frank Haley aboard. Ralph recovered those two minutes and steamed into the next stop with another minute to spare.Early morning though it was, the station platform was thronged. Ahead, as Ralph and his crew could now see, the sky was blood red. The forest fire must be of great consequence and burning a big area in the Shadow Valley basin.The fire had called the curious together at the railroad; but news of the wreck on the far side of the valley was likewise rife. The station agent himself was on hand and brought the engineer and conductor the messages. They read:“Speed up to get ahead of fire in Shadow Valley.”“Wreck of 33 between Hardwell and Timber Brook. Reported spread across right of way.”The second message struck Ralph to the heart. He had feared it. Poor Cherry! He felt that she might be seriously injured, or even dead.When he saw doctors, nurses, and a hospital outfit getting aboard one of the Pullmans he was more than convinced that the wreck had been a terrible catastrophe.“If those strikers did it, it will break the back of the strike,” declared Haley, with confidence.Ralph felt no interest in the strike just then. He was visualizing Cherry Hopkins’ pretty figure writhing in a tangle of flaming wood and scorching iron.If Cherry was killed or disfigured, her mother surely would die. Supervisor Hopkins might lose all his family at one blow! Ralph found himself considering the supervisor’s case with a feeling of sympathy which he had never supposed he would have for the crotchety railroad official.There were several railroad detectives riding on the locomotive when Number 202 pulled out of Shadow Valley Station; but they talked among themselves. The crew of the locomotive had too much to do right then to engage in any conversation.Ralph hung out of his window, watching the ribbons of steel ahead of the pilot. Where the track was straight, the mild glare of the headlight glistened along the rails for yards upon yards. He could mark every joint of the steel rods.At times he glanced skyward. That angry glare quenched such light as remained of the misted stars. The train mounted the remainder of the grade and then took the straight pitch down to that curve on the side of Shadow Valley which had already been the scene of several exciting events for the young railroader.Now and then they flew past a closed station where only the night lamps and switch targets revealed life. The small hamlets near these stations, themselves endangered by the fire below—especially, if the wind rose—were all but deserted. All the able-bodied men had joined the State fire guard in opposing the forest fire.Ralph could see at last the bottom of the valley. If the fire had been set, and for the purpose of overwhelming the railroad, the wind at first had been against the criminals’ plans. It had spread in a direction away from the right of way.The bottomlands of Shadow Valley were enveloped in crimson flames, and the smoke rising from this pit was borne northward and away from the line. But it was a veritable sea of fire!A great dead pine that had been a landmark ever since Ralph had known this division suddenly sprang into flame as though it were by spontaneous combustion. It stood alone on a knoll and there was little but low brush near its base. Yet, of a sudden, it was aflame from root to topmost twig!“A few of ’em like that burning near the tracks would settle us!” thought the young engineer. “One at least would be sure to fall. If we headed into it—good-night!”The men riding on the locomotive were all eagerness as the Flyer slid down the incline. Ralph could give but a glance now and then to the fire, for never had he watched the rails ahead more closely.The warning he had received before leaving Rockton still loomed importantly in his mind. He was sure that had not referred to the wreck of Number 33. His own train was threatened with disaster!His strained interest in Cherry Hopkins’ fate, however, urged him to drive the Flyer as fast as he dared. The smooth slope into the heat and glow of the furnace-like valley tempted him to push the engine to the limit of her speed. Number 202 was actually flying before she was half way to the curve this side of the Devil’s Den!
“What train is off the iron?” asked Ralph quickly. “Anything ahead of us? Will we be held up?”
That was his first consideration. To think of the Flyer’s schedule as being of the first importance had become an obsession with him.
“I didn’t get any details,” said Haley, over the engineer’s shoulder. “I don’t even know whether the wreck is this side or the other side of the burning woods. But somehow I’ve got to get there. Adair’s orders.”
“Let’s see,” ruminated Ralph, “there is Sixty-four that takes the siding at Cole’s Station to let us pass. Hold on! She hasn’t much more than left Shadow Valley. The only other west-bound train in our way right now is the passenger accommodation that pulls into Oxford just ahead of us. Number Fifty-two. Think it may be her, Haley?”
Haley had caught most of what the engineer said. He shook his head.
“The wreck may be on the eastbound track,” he observed.
“You’re right at that!” exclaimed Ralph. “We pass Number Thirty-three, eastbound passenger, this side of the Devil’s Den. Where would she be about now? Let’s see.”
Without looking at the printed schedule which every trainman carries, Ralph figured out from his memory of the train dispatcher’s orders which he had himself formulated the locality of Number 33 if it was on time.
“That Thirty-three comes clear from the Junction, doesn’t she?” asked Haley, over Ralph’s shoulder.
“Yes. She leaves Shelby Junction at ten-forty——”
The young fellow halted in his speech. A new thought stabbed him to the quick. Cherry Hopkins had telegraphed her father that she was leaving Shelby Junction at that hour. If anything had happened to Number 33 this girl was aboard it!
He said nothing more to Haley, but gave his strict attention to the running of the train. But the specter of the wreck ahead took on a grimmer cast in Ralph Fairbanks’ mind.
If there was any way of coaxing more speed out of the big locomotive, the engineer put it to the test now. The run between Fryburg and Shadow Valley Station was not a long one, at best. He had lost two minutes in shutting down to let Frank Haley aboard. Ralph recovered those two minutes and steamed into the next stop with another minute to spare.
Early morning though it was, the station platform was thronged. Ahead, as Ralph and his crew could now see, the sky was blood red. The forest fire must be of great consequence and burning a big area in the Shadow Valley basin.
The fire had called the curious together at the railroad; but news of the wreck on the far side of the valley was likewise rife. The station agent himself was on hand and brought the engineer and conductor the messages. They read:
“Speed up to get ahead of fire in Shadow Valley.”“Wreck of 33 between Hardwell and Timber Brook. Reported spread across right of way.”
“Speed up to get ahead of fire in Shadow Valley.”
“Wreck of 33 between Hardwell and Timber Brook. Reported spread across right of way.”
The second message struck Ralph to the heart. He had feared it. Poor Cherry! He felt that she might be seriously injured, or even dead.
When he saw doctors, nurses, and a hospital outfit getting aboard one of the Pullmans he was more than convinced that the wreck had been a terrible catastrophe.
“If those strikers did it, it will break the back of the strike,” declared Haley, with confidence.
Ralph felt no interest in the strike just then. He was visualizing Cherry Hopkins’ pretty figure writhing in a tangle of flaming wood and scorching iron.
If Cherry was killed or disfigured, her mother surely would die. Supervisor Hopkins might lose all his family at one blow! Ralph found himself considering the supervisor’s case with a feeling of sympathy which he had never supposed he would have for the crotchety railroad official.
There were several railroad detectives riding on the locomotive when Number 202 pulled out of Shadow Valley Station; but they talked among themselves. The crew of the locomotive had too much to do right then to engage in any conversation.
Ralph hung out of his window, watching the ribbons of steel ahead of the pilot. Where the track was straight, the mild glare of the headlight glistened along the rails for yards upon yards. He could mark every joint of the steel rods.
At times he glanced skyward. That angry glare quenched such light as remained of the misted stars. The train mounted the remainder of the grade and then took the straight pitch down to that curve on the side of Shadow Valley which had already been the scene of several exciting events for the young railroader.
Now and then they flew past a closed station where only the night lamps and switch targets revealed life. The small hamlets near these stations, themselves endangered by the fire below—especially, if the wind rose—were all but deserted. All the able-bodied men had joined the State fire guard in opposing the forest fire.
Ralph could see at last the bottom of the valley. If the fire had been set, and for the purpose of overwhelming the railroad, the wind at first had been against the criminals’ plans. It had spread in a direction away from the right of way.
The bottomlands of Shadow Valley were enveloped in crimson flames, and the smoke rising from this pit was borne northward and away from the line. But it was a veritable sea of fire!
A great dead pine that had been a landmark ever since Ralph had known this division suddenly sprang into flame as though it were by spontaneous combustion. It stood alone on a knoll and there was little but low brush near its base. Yet, of a sudden, it was aflame from root to topmost twig!
“A few of ’em like that burning near the tracks would settle us!” thought the young engineer. “One at least would be sure to fall. If we headed into it—good-night!”
The men riding on the locomotive were all eagerness as the Flyer slid down the incline. Ralph could give but a glance now and then to the fire, for never had he watched the rails ahead more closely.
The warning he had received before leaving Rockton still loomed importantly in his mind. He was sure that had not referred to the wreck of Number 33. His own train was threatened with disaster!
His strained interest in Cherry Hopkins’ fate, however, urged him to drive the Flyer as fast as he dared. The smooth slope into the heat and glow of the furnace-like valley tempted him to push the engine to the limit of her speed. Number 202 was actually flying before she was half way to the curve this side of the Devil’s Den!