By this time Hopalong and Red were crawling under the express-car and were so preoccupied that they did not notice the faint blue streak of smoke immediately over their heads. Then Red glanced up to see what it was that sizzed, saw the glowing end of a three-inch fuse, and blanched. It was death not to dare and his hand shot up and back, and the dynamite cartridge sailed far behind him to the edge of the embankment, where it hung on a bush. "Good!" panted Hopalong. "We ’ll pay ’em for that!" "They ’re worse ’n rustlers!" They could hear the messenger running about over their heads, dragging and up-ending heavy objects against the doors of the car, and Hopalong laughed grimly: "Luck’s with this messenger, all right." "It ought to be—he ’s a fighter." "Where are they? Have they tumbled to our game?" "They’re waiting for the explosion, you chump." "Stay where you are then. Wait till they come out to see what’s th’ matter with it." Red snorted: "Wait nothing!" "All right, then; I ’m with you. Get out of my way." "I ’ve been in situations some peculiar, but this beats ’em all," Red chuckled, crawling forward. The robber by the car truck revived enough to realize that something was radically wrong, and shouted a warning as he raised himself on his elbow to fire at Skinny but the alert puncher shot first. As Hopalong and Red emerged from beneath the car and rose to their feet there was a terrific explosion and they were knocked to the ground, while a sudden, heavy shower of stones and earth rained down over everything. The two punchers were not hurt and they arose to their feet in time to see the engineer and fireman roll out of the cab and crawl along the track on their hands and knees, dazed and weakened by the concussion. Suddenly, from one of the day-coaches, a masked man looked out, saw the two punchers, and cried: "It’s all up! Save yourselves!" As Hopalong and Red looked around, still dazed, he fired at them, the bullet singing past Hopalong’s ear. Red smothered a curse and reeled as his friend grasped him. A wound over his right eye was bleeding profusely and Hopalong’s face cleared of its look of anxiety when he realized that it was not serious. "They creased you! Blamed near got you for keeps!" he cried, wiping away the blood with his sleeve. Red, slightly stunned, opened his eyes and looked about confusedly. "Who done that? Where is he?" "Don’t know, but I’ll shore find out," Hopalong replied. "Can you stand alone?" Red pushed himself free and leaned against the car for support: "Course I can! Git that cuss!" When Skinny heard the robber shout the warning he wheeled and ran back, intently watching the windows and doors of the car for trouble. "We ’ll finish yore tally right here!" he muttered.