He looked ahead--and his hair grew creepy at the roots. There was no
locomotive attached to the train! It was running away down a two per
cent. grade, and because of the tremendous weight of the train, it
was gathering momentum at a fearful rate.
The reason for the runaway dawned on Bryce instantly. The road, being
privately owned, was, like most logging-roads, neglected as to
roadbed and rolling-stock; also it was undermanned, and the brake-
man, who also acted as switchman, had failed to set the hand-brakes
on the leading truck after the engineer had locked the air-brakes. As
a result, during the five or six minutes required to "spot in" the
caboose, and an extra minute or two lost while the brakeman struggled
with the recalcitrant lock on the switch, the air had leaked away
through the worn valves and rubber tubing, and the brakes had been
released--so that the train, without warning, had quietly and almost
noiselessly slid out of the log-landing and started on its mad
career. Before the engineer could beat it to the other switch with
the locomotive, run out on the main track, let the runaway gradually
catch up with him and hold it--no matter how or what happened to him
or his engine--the first logging-truck had cleared the switch and
blocked pursuit.
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