The minutes passed slowly; it seemed as if that second freight train would never come. At last a dull, rumbling sound on the track gave warning of the approach of the second section. In a few moments the heavily-laden cars, drawn by a large engine, had glided by "The General," down the main track. The men in the cab gave unconscious sighs of relief. Now they could move onward. But what was it that the sharp eyes of George detected? Yes, there could be no mistake. At the end of the second freight train was another red flag. "Look!" he whispered. Andrews saw the flag, and turned white. "How many more trains are we to wait for?" he said. After regaining his composure he left the engine, to seek the conductor of the new train. He was back again in five minutes. "Well?" asked George. "I find from the conductor that there's still another section behind him," explained Andrews. "The Confederate commander at Chattanooga fears the approach of General Mitchell and has ordered all the rolling stock of the railroad to be sent south to Atlanta. The new train should be here in ten minutes." In the meantime the people around the station had all heard of the danger which threatened Chattanooga from the Union army. The train-dispatcher came running over to the engine, and doffed his cap to Andrews. "It ain't none of my business," he said, with supreme indifference to any rules of grammar, "but they say Mitchell is almost at Chattanooga--and you'll never get through to Corinth." Andrews assumed an air of contemptuous superiority. "I happen to know more of General Mitchell's movements than you do," he said, "And, what's more, no Confederate officer takes orders from a railroad employee." "I didn't mean any offense," answered the train-dispatcher. "Then go back and see that the switches are ready for me to move on the instant the next freight gets here," ordered the leader. The young man walked away, with a nod of assent. "He talks proud enough," he thought; "he must be a relation of Jefferson Davis, from his airs." After the dispatcher had gone, Andrews whispered to George: "We ought to let the boys in the car know the cause of our detention--and warn them that in case of anything going wrong in our plans they must be prepared to fight for their lives. Could you manage to get word to them without attracting suspicion?" The boy made no verbal answer. But as he left the cab and vaulted to the ground, his looks showed that he understood what was wanted, and proposed to execute the commission. After sauntering among the men who stood near the engine, he crossed the track of the siding, directly in front of "The General's" headlight, and soon leaned, in a careless attitude, against the car in which so many of his companions were waiting. He was now on the opposite side of the track from the Kingstonians, but directly alongside the main track, and in full view from the station.