Page:Moving Picture Boys and the Flood.djvu/52

42 Piper, with upraised hand. "Don't wish for anything to happen, or it may. This train is going very fast, and there may be a smash-up any minute."

Hardly had he spoken, than there sounded the sudden application of the air brakes. The wheels groaned and whined under the pressure, and the train came to a quick stop.

"There!" cried the gloomy comedian. "What did I tell you? That's what you get for wishing for an accident!"

"I didn't wish for one," replied Blake, quickly, as he reached for the carrier containing his moving picture camera, "and I don't believe it is an accident. Anyhow, nothing has happened to us," he added. "But I'm going to see what it is. Come on, Joe."

The two boys, as well as Mr. Ringold, the actor, and several other passengers, hurried from the car, as the train had now come to a full stop. And what Blake and Joe saw was a danger signal set against the train, on the approach to a long bridge that spanned a turbulent stream.

"What's the matter?" asked Joe, of a trainman.

"Bridge is weakened by high water," was the answer. "The bridge-tender must have discovered it suddenly, for he flashed down the signal