ed one of the men suddenly. "Good-night!"

He turned tail and ran, disappearing almost instantly into the thicker
woods. And his mates, after a moment of wavering, sped after him. Lewis
was left alone, quite helpless because of the ammonia fumes.

As a matter of fact not all of O'Malley's predicament was due to Koku.
The rascal, exhausted by his run and half blind through fright and
rage, had stumbled, fallen, and struck his head on a root, which
rendered him unconscious.

This, of course, Lewis and his ruffians did not know. All the men of
the railroad president's gang saw was the gigantic Koku coming along in
great strides, bearing the unconscious O'Malley, who was a burly
fellow, as though he were a featherweight. No wonder they fled from
such a monster.

Tom had reached the switch, and he was several seconds ahead of the
freight locomotive. The engineer saw the open switch then; but he was
too late to stop his train.

Going into reverse, however, helped some. Tom seized the switch lever
and threw it over, locking it in place, just as the forward trucks
thundered upon the joint. The train swept by in safety, and the
engineer leaned from his cab window to wave a grateful hand at the
young inventor.

Neither the engineer nor the crew of the freight understood the meaning
of the scene at the timber siding. All they learned was that Tom Swift
had saved the freight from a possible wreck.

The young inventor turned sharply from the switch and motioned with his
hand to Koku.

"Throw that fellow into the cab, Koku," he commanded.

The giant did as he was told, just as Ned Newton came panting to the
spot.

"Did they do any harm, Tom?" he cried. Then he saw Montagne Lewis
standing by, and he seized his chum's arm. "Do you see what I see,
Tom?" he demanded, earnestly.

"I guess we both see the same snake," rejoined his chum. "And I mean to
scotch it."

"Montagne Lewis!" murmured Ned. "And we've got his chief tool."

Tom said nothing to his chum, but he approached Lewis with determined
mien.

"I can see something has happened to you, Mr. Lewis, and I can guess
what it is. The effect of that ammonia will blow away after a time. Ask
your friend, Andy O'Malley. He knows all about it, for he sampled it
back East, in Shopton."

"I'm going to get square for this, young man," growled the railroad
magnate. "You know who I am. And that fellow in the cab knew me, too.
How dared he shoot that stuff into my face and eye