"No;it's the five-forty on the other road,"answered Frank,with a queer thrill all through him at the thought of what might happen if it was not.Both looked straight ahead as the last tree glided by,and the long track lay before them,with the freight train slowly coming down.For an instant,the boys stood as if paralyzed.
"Jump!"said Gus,looking at the steep bank on one side and the river on the other,undecided which to try.
"Sit still!"commanded Frank,collecting his wits,as he gave a warning whistle to retard the on-coming train,while he reversed the engine and went back faster than he came.
A crowd of angry men was waiting for them,and Bill stood at the open switch in a towering passion as No.11returned to her place unharmed,but bearing two pale and frightened boys,who stepped slowly and silently down,without a word to say for themselves,while the freight train rumbled by on the main track.
Frank and Gus never had a very clear idea as to what occurred during the next few minutes,but vaguely remembered being well shaken,sworn at,questioned,threatened with direful penalties,and finally ordered off the premises forever by the wrathful depot-master.Joe was nowhere to be seen,and as the two culprits walked away,trying to go steadily,while their heads spun round,and all the strength seemed to have departed from their legs,Frank said,in an exhausted tone,"Come down to the boat-house and rest a minute."Both were glad to get out of sight,and dropped upon the steps red,rumpled,and breathless,after the late exciting scene.Gus generously forebore to speak,though he felt that he was the least to blame;and Frank,after eating a bit of snow to moisten his dry lips,said,handsomely,"Now,don't you worry,old man.I'll pay the damages,for it was my fault.Joe will dodge,but I won't,so make your mind easy.
"We sha'n't hear the last of this in a hurry,"responded Gus,relieved,yet anxious,as he thought of the reprimand his father would give him.
"I hope mother won't hear of it till I tell her quietly myself.She will be so frightened,and think I'm surely smashed up,if she is told in a hurry";and Frank gave a shiver,as all the danger he had run came over him suddenly.
"I thought we were done for when we saw that train.Guess we should have been if you had not had your wits about you.I always said you were a cool one";and Gus patted Frank's back with a look of great admiration,for,now that it was all over,he considered it a very remarkable performance.
"Which do you suppose it will be,fine or imprisonment?"asked Frank,after sitting in a despondent attitude for a moment.
"Shouldn't wonder if it was both.Running off with an engine is no joke,you know."'What did possess me to be such a fool?"groaned Frank,repenting,all too late,of yielding to the temptation which assailed him.
"Bear up,old fellow,I'll stand by you;and if the worst comes,I'll call as often as the rules of the prison allow,"said Gus,consolingly,as he gave his afflicted friend an arm,and they walked away,both feeling that they were marked men from that day forth.
Meantime,Joe,as soon as he recovered from the shock of seeing the boys actually go off,ran away,as fast as his legs could carry him,to prepare Mrs.Minot for the ioss of her son;for the idea of their coming safely back never occurred to him,his knowledge of engines being limited.A loud ring at the bell brought Mrs.Pecq,who was guarding the house,while Mrs.Minot entertained a parlor full of company.
"Frank's run off with No.11,and he'll be killed sure.Thought I'd come up and tell you,"stammered Joe,all out of breath and looking wild.
He got no further,for Mrs.Pecq clapped one hand over his mouth,caught him by the collar with the other,and hustled him into the ante-room before anyone else could hear the bad news.
"Tell me all about it,and don't shout.What's come to the boy?"she demanded,in a tone that reduced Joe to a whisper at once.
"Go right back and see what has happened to him,then come and tell me quietly.I'll wait for you here.I wouldn't have his mother startled for the world,"said the good soul,when she knew all.
"Oh,I dar'sn't!I opened the switch as they told me to,and Bill will half kill me when he knows it!"cried Joe,in a panic,as the awful consequences of his deed rose before him,showing both boys mortally injured and several trains wrecked.
"Then take yourself off home and hold your tongue.I'll watch the door,for I won't have any more ridiculous boys tearing in to disturb my lady."Mrs.Pecq often called this good neighbor "my lady"when speaking of her,for Mrs.Minot was a true gentlewoman,and much pleasanter to live with than the titled mistress had been.
Joe scudded away as if the constable was after him,and presently Frank was seen slowly approaching with an unusually sober face and a pair of very dirty hands.
"Thank heaven,he's safe!"and,softly opening the door,Mrs.Pecq actually hustled the young master into the ante-room as unceremoniously as she had hustled Joe.