Part 25 (1/2)

”Come here and tell me what you think of this,” suddenly said one of the officials, drawing his comrades after him to the tail end of the train, to the shattered remains of the two trucks which had overturned at a bend, and which had been trailing and clattering along the track in wake of the spoil train. He invited their inspection of the couplings which had bound the last of the cars to the locomotive. There came a whistle of surprise from one of his friends, while something like a shout of indignation escaped another.

”Well?” demanded the first of the officials. ”What's your opinion?”

”That this was no accident. This train broke away from her loco. when she was on the incline because some rascal had cut through the couplings. That, sir, 's my opinion,” answered the one he addressed, with severity.

There was agreement from all, so that, at the first examination, and before having had an opportunity of questioning those who had been in charge of the spoil train, it became evident that there had been foul play, that some piece of rascality had been practised.

”But who could think of such a thing? There's never been any sort of mean game played on us before this. Whose work is it?” demanded one of the officials hotly.

”That's a question neither you nor I can answer,” instantly responded another. ”But my advice is that we say not a word. There are but six of us who know about the matter. Let us report to the chief, and leave him to deal with it. For if there is some rascal about, the fact that his work is discovered will warn him. If he thinks he has hoodwinked everyone there will be a better opportunity of discovering him.”

The advice was sound, without question, so that, beyond arranging to get possession of the coupling, which showed that it had fractured opposite a fine saw cut, the party of officials preserved silence for the moment.

Meanwhile American hustle had brought crowds of helpers to the spot. A locomotive had steamed down from Gorgona, pus.h.i.+ng a wrecking derrick before it, and within thirty minutes this was at work, with a crew of willing helpers. A gang of Italian spademen was brought up from the other direction, and these began to remove the rock and dirt. As to Jim, not a trace of him was found till three of the overturned and wrecked trucks had been dragged clear by the wrecking derrick. It was then that the actual site of the lever which operated the points was come upon, the most likely spot at which to discover his body.

”We'll go specially easy here,” said the official who was directing operations. ”Though one expects that the man is killed, and smothered by all this dirt, yet you never can say in an accident of this sort. I've known a life saved most miraculously.”

The hook at the end of the huge chain run over the top of the derrick was attached to the forward bogie of the overturned car, then the whole thing was lifted. Underneath was found a ma.s.s of dirt and rock which the impetus of the car had tossed forward. At the back, just beneath the edge of the truck, where it had thrust its way a foot into the ground, one of the workers caught sight of an arm with the fingers of the hand protruding from the debris. ”Hold hard!” he shouted. ”He's here. Best wait till we've tried to pull him out. The car might swing on that chain and crush him.”

They kept the end of the wrecked truck suspended while willing hands sought for our hero. A man crept in under the truck, swept the earth away, and pa.s.sed the listless figure of the young car driver out into the open. Jim was at once placed on a stretcher, while the Commission surgeon bent over him, dropping a finger on his pulse. He found it beating, very slowly to be sure, but beating without doubt, while a deep bruise across the forehead suggested what had happened. A rapid inspection of his patient, in fact, convinced the surgeon that there was no serious damage.

”Badly stunned, I guess,” he said. ”I can't find that any bones are broken, and though I thought at first that his skull must be injured, everything points to my fears being groundless. Put him in the ambulance, boys, and let's get him back to hospital.”

An hour later our hero was safely between the sheets, with a nurse superintending his comfort. By the time that Phineas arrived on the scene he was conscious, though hardly fit for an interview; but on the following morning he was almost himself, and chafed under the nurse's restraint till the surgeon gave him permission to get up.

”As if I was a baby,” he growled. ”I suppose I fell on my head, and that knocked me silly. But it's nothing; I haven't more than the smallest headache now.”

”Just because you're lucky, young fellow,” quizzed the surgeon. ”Let me say this: the tumble you had was enough to knock you silly, and I dare say that if you hadn't had something particular to do you would have gone off at once. But your grit made you hold on to your senses. That car, when it overturned, as near as possible smashed your head into the earth beneath it. You'll never be nearer a call while you're working here on the ca.n.a.l. Low diet, sister, and see that he keeps quiet.”

Jim glowered on the surgeon and made a grimace. ”Low diet indeed! Why, he felt awful hungry.”

But no amount of entreaty could influence the nurse, and, indeed, it became apparent to even our hero himself that the course of procedure was correct. For that evening he was not so well, though a long, refres.h.i.+ng sleep put him to rights.

”And now you can hear something about the commotion the whole thing's caused,” said Phineas, as he put Jim into a chair in his parlour, and ordered him with severity to retain his seat. ”Orders are that you keep quiet, else back you go right off to the hospital. Young man, there were forty-two souls aboard that pa.s.senger train, and I reckon you saved 'em.

Of course, there are plenty of wise heads that tell us that the driver, when he'd stopped his train, should have turned all the pa.s.sengers out.

Quite so, sir; but then it takes time to do that. You might not have opened the points, and the spoil train would have been into them before the people could climb down out of the cars. So the general feeling is that everyone did his best, except the villain who cut that coupling half through. They've told you about it?”

Jim nodded slowly. ”Who could have done such a miserable and wicked thing?” he asked. ”Not one of the white employees.”

”It don't bear thinking about,” said Phineas sharply. ”No one can even guess who was the rascal. Leave the matter to the police; they're making quiet enquiries. But there's to be a testimonial, Jim, a presentation one evening at the club, and a sing-song afterwards.”

”What? More!” Jim groaned. ”Let them take this testimonial as presented.

I'll come along to the sing-song.”

”And there's to be promotion for a certain young fellow we know,”

proceeded Phineas, ignoring his remarks utterly. ”One of the bosses of a section down by Milaflores locks got his thumb jammed in a gear wheel a week back, and the chief has been looking round to replace him. You've been selected.”

Jim's eyes enlarged and brightened at once. He was such a newcomer to the ca.n.a.l zone that promotion had seemed out of the question for a long time to come. He told himself many a time that he was content to work on as he was and wait like the rest for advancement.

”The wages are really good,” he had said to Sadie, ”and after I've paid everything there is quite a nice little sum over at the end of the week.