“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.