“I shall try to keep them in the town,” Sister Martha assures him as she departs.  On reaching the centre of the town Sister Martha meets some of the miner folk.  A woman comes up to her and whispers: 

“They have sent for the police.  The work will be done before they get here.”

“What work?”

“Why, we are going to give Metz a decent funeral.  He died for us.  He said in a letter,—­died to set us free from Purdy.”

“When are you going to demand the body?”

“This evening when the mines and shops close.  We will all get together and then the sheriff can’t stop us.”

An inspiration comes to Martha.  She hurries to a telegraph station, and sends the message to Trueman calling him to Wilkes-Barre.

“If he only gets here before the police or the troops, he can prevent trouble,” is the thought that consoles her.  The hour that passes before she receives word that he will arrive on the Keystone Express, seems an eternity.

With the knowledge that Trueman will arrive at five o’clock she breathes a sigh of relief.  Again she mingles with the crowds which fill the streets.  Here and there she goes, begging of the men and women to refrain from doing anything that they will regret later.

The afternoon wears on, and as rumors float through the town that the Governor has called out the State Guard, the excitement increases.

At four o’clock Sister Martha hears that the miners have determined to wreck the express, as it is bringing the Coal and Iron Police.

This news appalls her.  Can she tell them that Trueman is on this train, and hope to have his arrival effective?  No.  He must come unexpectedly.

The plot to wreck the train must be defeated.

She hurries to the house of one of the miners who she knows will be in sympathy with any movement that has for its object the destruction of the Police.  His two sons were shot at the Massacre of Hazleton.  One of the young men died from the effects of his wounds.  The other is a confirmed invalid.

On reaching the miner’s cottage, Sister Martha finds that her intuition is correct.  Henry Osling is telling his son the plan of vengeance.

“We will wipe out the old score to-night,” he is saying.  “When the express starts up the grade, we will send a ton of Paradise Powder down to meet it.”

“How will it explode?” asks the son.

“How?  Why, by the collision with the engine.”

“But it may not go off,” suggests the invalid.  “You had better make sure by using dynamite.  No! that won’t do either.

“Use nitro.  You can get it from the Horton shaft.  They have to use it there to blast the slate.”

“That’s what we’ll do, ‘sonny.’  Just lie still ’til you hear the bang, then you can get up and dance, for the Police will be blown to pieces.”

Sister Martha waits for no further details.  Her plan of action is decided upon.  She knows every foot of ground in the mountains.  A short cut will bring her to the home of Widow Braun.  This woman will do anything in the world for Harvey Trueman.  She will help Sister Martha to save the train; for by so doing she will save Trueman’s life.