FIGHTING FOR LIFE
★
Bob leaped through the door and grabbed at Hamsa’s legs. The other man
kicked viciously, but Bob wrapped his arms around the legs and hung on.
Once he had a good grip, he started pulling the other man down.
Hamsa was big and he was powerful, but the steady pull from below
weakened his grip on the steep rungs of the ladder which led to the top
of the car and Bob could feel himself gaining. In less than a minute the
other man would be down on the platform beside him and by that time the
trainmen should be on hand to help him subdue Hamsa.
There was a strange exultation in Bob’s heart for he felt sure now that
he was about to make the first capture in what he felt was to be the
clean-up of the international gang of smugglers. It made little
difference whether Hamsa had been trailing them south or whether they had
encountered each other by accident. The message from Washington had
indicated that Hamsa was deeply involved and Bob was determined to make
the capture.
The steady pull Bob put on Hamsa’s legs and the tightness of his grasp
was relentless. Slowly the other man was weakening and Bob braced himself
and prepared to release Hamsa’s legs and cut loose with a half dozen hard
punches when the other man finally dropped to the observation platform.
There was a commotion at the head end of the car and Bob shifted his head
just enough to see the train conductor and brakeman, followed by a
wide-eyed Pullman porter, hurry in.
Hamsa kicked convulsively with his legs, but Bob tightened his grasp.
Then, without warning, without giving Bob a chance to get set, Hamsa
suddenly released his hold and dropped. It all happened so quickly that
Bob later found it a little hard to remember just what took place.
On the split second while he was dropping to the observation platform,
Hamsa must have seen the trainmen charging down the aisle of the car, for
when he landed, he was a bundle of tremendous energy that seemed to
explode in Bob’s face.
Great, bear-like arms wrapped themselves around Bob and the young federal
agent felt himself being lifted upward. For a moment he was helpless, too
surprised even to attempt to struggle, but a sharp cry from behind him
caused him to try to strike out with his feet for beneath came the sudden
rumble of the trucks on a trestle and he knew that Hamsa, in a last
desperate effort, was attempting to hurl him from the rear platform of
the train.
The young federal agent wrapped his own arms around Hamsa and clung to
him desperately. If Bob went, Hamsa would go with him. Of that he was
certain. The rail of the platform struck Bob’s hips and he felt himself
being forced backward. It was sickening to hear the rumble of the trestle
beneath and a flood of rain beat down on his face, drenching the upper
half of his body.
Then Hamsa gave one last, tremendous shove and Bob knew that he was going
over the edge of the railing, but Hamsa was going with him. The speed of
the Limited had slackened, but it was still doing at least twenty miles
an hour when Bob and Hamsa, locked arm in arm, went over the rear
platform. Bob closed his eyes for the shock of striking the trestle would
be terrific. If he could only remain on the bridge there would be some
chance of rescue for the trainmen had seen them go over the back end and
would hurry back in a searching party.
As they left the train, Bob managed to get one last twist with his toes
and as they fell, he was on top. The drop from the train to the trestle
seemed endless. The clatter of the train trucks had dimmed, but a whistle
up ahead was blaring an alarm.
Then they struck the trestle—struck it hard and rolled over once. The
fall dazed Bob, but through his foggy mind he could hear the rush of
water somewhere below.
Hamsa had rolled away from him but it was too dark to see just where and
Bob clung to the wet steel of one of the rails. He was too weak and
shaken to think of attempting to get to his feet and back of him he could
hear the shriek of the air brakes as they clamped down on the wheels of
the Limited and brought the Southern to an emergency stop just beyond the
edge of the long trestle.