g and taken a passenger train to
Medicine Bend, but the prospect of getting away from Goose Creek at
once was too tempting to dismiss. A freight train of bridge timbers
pulled across the bridge just as Bucks was ready to start. Pat
Francis, the doughty conductor, who, single-handed, had held Iron
Hand's braves at bay, was in charge of the train. He offered Bucks a
bench and blanket in the caboose for the night, and promised to have
him in Medicine Bend in the morning; Bucks, nothing loath, accepted.
His trunk was slung aboard and the train pulled out for Medicine
Bend.

The night proved unseasonably cold. Francis built a blazing fire in
the caboose stove and afterward shared his hearty supper with his
guest. As the train thundered and rumbled slowly over the rough track,
the conductor, while Bucks stretched out on the cushions, entertained
him with stories of his experiences on the railroad frontier--not
suspecting that before morning he should furnish for his listener one
of the strangest of them.

Bucks curled up in his blanket late, but, in spite of unaccustomed
surroundings and the pitch and lurch of the caboose, which was hardly
less than the tossing of a ship in a gale, Bucks dozed while his
companion and the brakeman watched. The latter, a large, heavy fellow,
was a busy man, as the calls for brakes--and only hand-brakes were
then known--were continual. There were no other passengers, and except
for the frequent blasts of the engine whistle the night passed quietly
enough.

Bucks dreamed of fighting bears with Scuffy, and found himself
repeatedly rolling down precipitous mountains without landing
successfully anywhere. Then he quieted into a heavy, unbroken sleep
and found himself among the hills of Alleghany, hunting rabbits that
were constantly changing into antelope and escaping him. Fatigued with
his unceasing efforts, he woke.

A gray light, half dusk, revealed the outlines of the cab interior, as
he opened his eyes, and a thundering, rumbling sound that rang in his
ears and seemed everywhere about him cleared his mind and brought him
back to his situation.

It was cold, and he looked at the stove. The fire was out. On the
opposite side of the cab the brakeman lay on the cushions fast asleep.
Outside, the thundering noises came continuously from everywhere at
once. It did not occur to Bucks that the caboose was standing still.
It trembled and vibrated more or less, but he noticed there was no
longer