"Broken."

"I'll get some of the train hands. Will you be all right till I get
back?" the young man asked.

"I reckon. Hop along lively. I'm right in the jam here."

The conductor stopped the train. With the help of the crew Dave got
Garrison back to the caboose. There was no doubt that the leg was broken.
It was decided to put the injured man off at the next station, send him
back by the up train, and wire West that Dave would see the cattle got
through all right. This was done.

Dave got no more sleep that night. He had never been busier in his life.
Before morning broke half the calves were unable to keep their feet. The
only thing to do was to reload.

He went to the conductor and asked for a siding. The man running the
train was annoyed, but he did not say so. He played for time.

"All right. We'll come to one after a while and I'll put you on it," he
promised.

Half an hour later the train rumbled merrily past a siding without
stopping. Dave walked back along the roof to the caboose.

"We've just passed a siding," he told the trainman.

"Couldn't stop there. A freight behind us has orders to take that to let
the Limited pass," he said glibly.