the sudden gripping of the air brakes on the car wheels, and the express came to a stop with a shock that pitched all the passengers from their seats. Tom and Sam went sprawling in a heap in the aisle and Dick came down on top of them.
"Hi, get off of me!" spluttered Sam, who was underneath.
"What's the matter? Have we run into another train?" asked Tom as he pushed Dick to one side and arose.
"I don't know," answered the older brother. "Something is wrong, that's certain."
"Are you hurt, Sam?" asked Tom as he helped the youngest Rover to his feet.
"No—not much," was the panting reply. "Say, we stopped in a hurry all right, didn't we?"
With the shock had come loud cries from the other people in the car, and it was found that one young lady had fainted. Everybody wanted to know what was the matter, but nobody could answer the question. The colored porter ran to the platform and opened the vestibule door. Torn followed the man and so did Sam and Dick.
"Freight train ahead, off the track," announced Tom. "We ran into the last car."
"Let us go up front and see how bad it is," returned Dick. "Maybe this will tie us up here for hours."
