ozen armed men
streamed into the station, sent post haste from Beaver Dam.

"Good work, indeed!" said one man, who was the chief of the railroad
detective bureau, Captain Haskins, famed in a dozen states. "This is a
fine haul. Omaha Pete, Tom Galway, and 'Frisco Sammy. Glad to see
you, boys! There are rewards of about eleven thousand dollars for the
three of you. You'll be as welcome as the flowers that bloom in the
spring when the police get hold of you."

He was curious to know how the three boys, for Hank Hudson himself was
little more than a boy, had effected such a capture, and he was
unstinting in his praise when he heard the story. Hudson insisted on
giving Jack Danby most of the credit, but Jack wouldn't have it that
way.

"You did the trick with your gun," he said. "I may have given you the
chance and helped to save the train, but you were the one that caught
them."

"There's credit enough for both of you," said Haskins, kindly. "And
I'm here to see that you get what's coming to you, too, rewards and
all. The road can afford to be grateful to a boy who saved the
Thunderbolt from being wrecked."

CHAPTER VII

JACK DANBY'S PERIL

Tom Binns was in no condition to go to the Scout camp opposite Beaver
Dam, and he was taken back to the city by one of the railway
detectives. Jack Danby was going home with him, but Tom wouldn't hear
of it.

"They'll be wondering why we didn't turn up after our hike, and maybe
they'll think there's something wrong with us," he said. "You go on to
the camp, Jack, and explain. I'll be all right, sure, tomorrow."

So Jack, reluctantly enough, for he felt, in a way, that he was
deserting his plucky little comrade, got off the train at Beaver Dam,
and rowed across the lake to the twinkling fire that showed where the
rest of the Scouts were gathered.

He was welcomed with a shout.

"But where's Tom Binns?" cried Pete Stubbs finally, when they realized,
suddenly, that the little fellow wasn't with them.

Then Jack explained. He told of the accident that had turned out, in
the end, to be so fortunate a happening, since, had it not been for
Tom's twisted ankle, they would never have reached the station, and the
train might have been wrecked, with a terrible loss of life.

"So we couldn't finish our hike tonight, of course," said Jack. "We'll
do it the next time, though. And a week or so doesn't make much
difference."

A tall, bearded man, with a slouch ha