CHAPTER XXX
PRECIOUS FREIGHT
"Here we are!" almost immediately sounded out the tones of Mort Bemis.
"Glad of it," growled a gruff, breathless voice, unfamiliar to the listening Ralph. "We are about done out lugging these heavy crowbars over swamps and up this steep climb."
"Quick action, now," broke in Slump. "Here, give me a crowbar."
Ralph glided to the end of the box car he was in. He got near its little rear grated window.
Cautiously he looked out. Standing at the side of the track were Bemis and the two tramps. One of them held a crowbar. Another like it Ike was extending between the bumpers. He knocked up the coupling pin connecting the rear car with the rest of the train.
Then he pried against the head of the pin, and forced it out. As it fell to the roadbed, he said:
"Watch up and down the tracks, Mort."
"Oh, there's no likelihood of anybody coming for three hours," retorted Bemis. "The express
