"They come around from behind th' pile o' ties, and I see them run across th' track an' dodge in among that little grove o' saplings down yonder. In a minute, they come out at th' edge by the shanty, an' I see one o' them creep up an' look through th' windy. Then he fell flat on th' ground, an' I see Allan git up an' come t' th' door. Th' semyphore and train-signal both showed a clear track. I jumped up t' start acrost an' warn him, an' jest then I heerd th' special whistle. I knowed then what 'd happen unless somethin' was done mighty quick t' keep th' special from runnin' past. I grabbed out th' torpedy an' jabbed it over th' rail, an' then started on a run fer th' shanty, but th' special was comin' lickety-split, an' I hadn't hardly gone a rod afore it come singin' along. I stopped t' see what'd happen when it hit that torpedy. I knowed they'd be some mighty lively times fer a minute." "There were," said Mr. Schofield, ruefully, and rubbed an abrasion on his wrist. "An' then," Jack continued, "my heart jumped right up in my throat, fer I heerd that freight come chuggin' up th' grade. It hadn't been held as long as Nolan thought it would, an' it looked to me fer a minute as though th' trains'd come t'gether right by the semyphore. But that special was comin' like greased lightnin'. I see th' signal go up with a jerk, then th' ingine hit my torpedy, and th' brakes went on. I turned around t' see what Allan was doin', an' I see him kind o' keel over in th' door. An' then I see somethin' else--I see that scoundrel there raise th' windy, put th' stick under it, climb up to th' sill, lean in an' do somethin'--I couldn't tell jest what." "I know what it was," said Mr. Schofield, his eyes flashing and his face very stern. "He replaced on the hook the order covering the freight, which he had taken away with him." "Well," said Jack, "I knowed it was some deviltry, an' I started fer him as fast as my legs'd carry me. He slid back t' th' ground, an' reached up his hand t' let th' windy down agin, an' then he heerd me comin'. He jest took one look, an' then lighted out across th' fields, over fences, through a strip o' woods back yonder, up a hill an' down th' other side--me after him, an' gainin'--fer I was goin' t' ketch him, if I dropped dead th' next minute. I reckon we must 'a' run three or four mile, an' he wasn't more'n a hunderd feet ahead o 'me, when I see him stop sudden, run a little way t' th' right, then stoop an' pick up somethin'. I was almost on him, when he throwed it at me, an' it was a rock," Jack added, "with a sharp edge, an' it went through my hat an' caught me in the head. If it hadn't been fer th' hat, I reckon I'd been stretched out then and there.