Shirley arose and tried her foot. It pained her, but hasty examination showed that it was simply bruised. Painfully, assisted by Mabel, she limped after the man, who had raised the wheel, to the opposite side of the wreck, where rescuers were even at that moment pulling the last of the victims from under the cars, away from the tongues of flame.
As she walked along, the pain in Shirley’s foot became less and less, until finally she was not conscious of it. The girls soon sat down upon the grass, where they watched the men fighting the flames, that the cars might not be entirely consumed.
“Where is the girl we pulled from under the car?” she asked Mabel.
“I had forgotten all about her,” she exclaimed.
They walked to where the little one lay, still moaning with pain. Shirley picked her up gently, and bade Mabel bring some water. This the latter did, and the two girls at length succeeded in soothing the child, until she lay still in Shirley’s arms.
Suddenly there was a fluttering of skirts, a glad cry in a woman’s voice and the tot was snatched from Shirley’s arms.
Shirley arose and faced the woman who had taken the child from her.
“I am Mrs. Johnson,” the woman said, “and this is my daughter Agnes. The men told me you saved her from the flames. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Never mind the thanks,” said Shirley. “We simply pulled her away. That is all.”
“Why, Shirley,” exclaimed Mabel, “you almost lost your own life.”
The little girl’s mother looked first at one and then at the other.
“I didn’t know you endangered your own life,” she said. “I wish I could thank you properly.”
“Just say no more about it then,” said Shirley, somewhat embarrassed by this conversation.
“As modest as you are brave,” she said. “Well, then, I shall say no more about it. But remember, if you ever need a friend, just call on me.”
“Thank you. I shall remember,” said Shirley, and the woman walked away, carrying her daughter in her arms.
From down the track at this moment came the buzz of an approaching car. It was the wrecking train bringing a crew to clear the track, also physicians and nurses.
Fortunately, the services of none of the latter were needed, for it was found, that besides the little girl Shirley had rescued, none of the passengers had been severely injured.