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diff --git a/25868.txt b/25868.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..225624b --- /dev/null +++ b/25868.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10271 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Young Railroaders, by Francis Lovell +Coombs, Illustrated by F. B. Masters + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Young Railroaders + Tales of Adventure and Ingenuity + + +Author: Francis Lovell Coombs + + + +Release Date: June 21, 2008 [eBook #25868] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG RAILROADERS*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 25868-h.htm or 25868-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/6/25868/25868-h/25868-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/6/25868/25868-h.zip) + + + + + +THE YOUNG RAILROADERS + +Tales of Adventure and Ingenuity + +by + +F. LOVELL COOMBS + +With Illustrations by F. B. Masters + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE NEXT MOMENT THE MIDWAY JUNCTION GHOST STEPPED +GRIMLY FROM HIS BOX.] + + + +New York +The Century Co. +1910 + +Copyright, 1909, 1910, by +The Century Co. + +Published September, 1910 + +Electrotyped and Printed by +C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston + + + + +To +B. R. C. AND K. L. C. +A REMEMBRANCE + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + I. One Kind Of Wireless 3 + II. An Original Emergency Battery 24 + III. A Tinker Who Made Good 38 + IV. The Other Tinker Also Makes Good 54 + V. An Electrical Detective 68 + VI. Jack Has His Adventure 86 + VII. A Race Through The Flames 102 + VIII. The Secret Telegram 117 + IX. Jack Plays Reporter, With Unexpected Results 132 + X. A Runaway Train 146 + XI. The Haunted Station 163 + XII. In A Bad Fix, And Out 180 + XIII. Professor Click, Mind Reader 198 + XIV. The Last Of The Freight Thieves 225 + XV. The Dude Operator 246 + XVI. A Dramatic Flagging 262 + XVII. Wilson Again Distinguishes Himself 279 + XVIII. With The Construction Train 295 + XIX. The Enemy's Hand Again, And A Capture 310 + XX. A Prisoner 325 + XXI. Turning The Tables 337 + XXII. The Defense Of The Viaduct 357 + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + PAGE + +The next moment the Midway Junction ghost stepped +grimly from his box. Frontispiece + +"Now I am going to cut your cords," Alex went on +softly. 8 + +Held it over the bull's-eye, alternately covering and +uncovering the stream of light. 13 + +Threw himself at the front door, pounding upon it +with his fists. 26 + +In the middle of the floor, the center of all eyes, +hurriedly working with chisel and hammer. 31 + +He was gazing into the barrel of a revolver. 54 + +But the response click did not come. 59 + +The clerk was colorless, but only faltered an instant. 72 + +"There!" said Jack, pointing in triumph. 77 + +Looped it over the topmost strand, near one of the posts. 86 + +There, in the corner of the big barn, Jack sent as he +had never sent before. 91 + +With a rush they dashed into the wall of smoke. 98 + +Closer came the roaring monster. 103 + +"Come on! Come on!" exclaimed the man in the +doorway. 112 + +"How did you do it, Smarty?" snapped the shorter man. 117 + +They whirled by, and the rest was lost. 140 + +The engineer stepped down from his cab to grasp Alex's +hand. 143 + +The wait was not long. 146 + +Jack made out a thin, clean-shaven face bending over +a dark-lantern. 159 + +The stranger drew the chair immediately before him, +and seating himself, leaned forward secretively. 164 + +"And it's awfully like the light, jumpy sending of +a girl!" 177 + +The next instant Jack felt himself hurled out into +the darkness. 214 + +He saw the detective led by, his arms bound behind him. 221 + +Jack rose to his knees, and began working his way +forward from tie to tie. 250 + +With the sharp words he again grasped the key. 253 + +With the boys' prisoner securely bound to the saddle +of the wandering horse, the Indian was off +across the plain. 348 + +The Indian pulled up in a cloud of dust. 351 + + + +THE YOUNG RAILROADERS + + + + + + +THE YOUNG RAILROADERS + +I + +ONE KIND OF WIRELESS + + +When, after school that afternoon, Alex Ward waved a good-by to his +father, the Bixton station agent for the Middle Western, and set off up +the track on the spring's first fishing, he had little thought of +exciting experiences ahead of him. Likewise, when two hours later a +sudden heavy shower found him in the woods three miles from home, and +with but three small fish, it was only with feelings of disappointment +that he wound up his line and ran for the shelter of an old log-cabin a +hundred yards back from the stream. + +Scarcely had Alex reached the doorway of the deserted house when he was +startled by a chorus of excited voices from the rear. He turned quickly +to a window, and with a cry sprang back out of sight. Emerging from the +woods, excitedly talking and gesticulating, was a party of foreigners who +had been working on the track near Bixton, and in their midst, his hands +bound behind him, was Hennessy, their foreman. + +For a moment Alex stood rooted to the spot. What did it mean? Suddenly +realizing his own possible danger, he caught up his rod and fish, and +sprang for the door. + +On the threshold he sharply halted. In the open he would be seen at once, +and pursued! He turned and cast a quick glance round the room. The ladder +to the loft! He darted for it, scrambled up, and drew himself through the +opening just as the excited foreigners poured in through the door below. +For some moments afraid to move, Alex lay on his back, listening to the +hubbub beneath him, and wondering in terror what the trackmen intended +doing with their prisoner. Then, gathering courage at their continued +ignorance of his presence, he cautiously moved back to the opening and +peered down. + +The men were gathered in the center of the room, all talking at once. But +he could not see the foreman. As he leaned farther forward heavy +footfalls sounded about the end of the house, and Big Tony, a huge +Italian who had recently been discharged from the gang, appeared in the +doorway. + +"We puta him in da barn," he announced in broken English; for the rest of +the gang were Poles. "Tomaso, he watcha him." + +"An' now listen," continued the big trackman fiercely, as the rest +gathered about him. "I didn't tell everyt'ing. Besides disa man Hennessy +he say cuta da wage, an' send for odders take your job, he tella da biga +boss you no worka good, so da biga boss he no pay you for all da last +mont'!" + +The ignorantly credulous Poles uttered a shout of rage. Several cried: +"Keel him! Keel him!" Alex, in the loft, drew back in terror. + +"No! Dere bettera way dan dat," said Tony. "Da men to taka your job come +to-night on da Nomber Twent'. I hava da plan. + +"You alla know da old track dat turn off alonga da riv' to da old +brick-yard? Well, hunerd yard from da main line da old track she washed +away. We will turn da old switch, Nomber Twent' she run on da old +track--an' swoosh! Into da riv'!" + +Run No. 20 into the river! Alex almost cried aloud. And he knew the plan +would succeed--that, as Big Tony said, a hundred yards from the main-line +track the old brick-yard siding embankment was washed out so that the +rails almost hung in the air. + +"Dena we all say," went on Big Tony, "we alla say, Hennessy, he do it. We +say we caughta him. See?" + +Again Alex glanced down, and with hope he saw that some of the Poles were +hesitating. But Tony quickly added: "An' no one else be kill buta da +strike-break'. No odder peoples on da Nomber Twent' disa day at night. +An' da trainmen dey alla have plent' time to jomp. + +"Only da men wat steala your job," he repeated craftily. And with a +sinking heart Alex saw that the rest of the easily excitable foreigners +had been won. + +Again he moved back out of sight. Something must be done! If he could +only reach the barn and free the foreman! + +But of course the first thing to do was to make his own escape from the +house. He rose on his elbow and glanced about. + +At the far end of the loft a glimmer of light through a crack seemed to +indicate a door. Cautiously Alex rose to his knees, and began creeping +forward to investigate. When half way a loud creak of the boards brought +him to a halt with his heart in his mouth. But the loud conversation +below continued, and heartily thanking the drumming rain on the roof +overhead, Alex moved on, and finally reached his goal. + +As he had hoped, it was a small door. Feeling cautiously about, he found +it to be secured by a hook. When he sought to raise the catch, however, +it resisted. Evidently it had not been lifted for many years, and had +rusted to the staple. Carefully Alex threw his weight upward against it. +It still refused to move. He pushed harder, and suddenly it gave with a +piercing screech. + +Instantly the talking below ceased, and Alex stood rigid, scarcely +breathing. Then a voice exclaimed, "Up de stair!" quick footsteps crossed +the floor towards the ladder, and in a panic of fear Alex threw himself +bodily against the door, in a mad endeavor to force it. But it still +held, and with a thrill of despair he dropped flat to the floor, and saw +the foreigner's head come above the opening. + +[Illustration: "NOW I AM GOING TO CUT YOUR CORDS," ALEX WENT ON +SOFTLY.] + +There, however, the man paused, and turned to gaze about, listening. For +a brief space, while only the rain on the roof broke the silence, the +foreigner apparently looked directly at the boy on the floor, and Alex's +heart seemed literally to stand still. But at last, after what appeared +an interminable time, the man again turned, and withdrew, and with a sigh +of relief Alex heard him say to those below, "Only de wind, dat's all." + +Waiting until the buzz of conversation had been fully resumed, Alex rose +once more to his knees, and began a cautious examination of the door. The +cause of its refusal to open was soon apparent. The old hinges had given, +allowing it to sag and catch against a raised nail-head in the sill. + +Promptly Alex stood upright, grasped one of the cross-pieces, carefully +lifted, and in another moment the door swung silently outward. + +With a glance Alex saw that the way was clear, and quickly lowering +himself by his hands, dropped. Here the rain once more helped him. On the +wet, soggy ground he alighted with scarcely a sound. Momentarily, +however, though he now breathed easily for the first time since he had +entered the house, he stood, listening. The excited talking inside went +on uninterruptedly, and moving to the corner, he peered about in the +direction of the barn. + +Leaning in the doorway, smoking, and most fortunately, with his back +towards the house, was the Italian, Tomaso. Beyond doubt the foreman was +inside! + +At the rear of the barn, and some hundred feet from where Alex stood, was +a small cow-stable. Alex determined to make an effort to reach it, and +see if from there he could not get, unseen, into the barn itself. + +The Italian continued to smoke peacefully, and with his eyes constantly +on him Alex stepped forth, and set off across the clearing on tiptoe. The +guard puffed on, and he neared the stable. Then suddenly the man moved, +and made as though to turn. But with a bound Alex shot forward on the +run, made the remaining distance, and was out of view. + +The rear door of the stable was open. On tiptoe Alex made his way inside. +The door leading into the barn also was ajar. With bated breath, pausing +after each step, Alex went forward, reached it, and peered within. + +Yes, the foreman was there, a dim figure sitting on the floor a few feet +from him. But the outer doorway, in which stood the man on guard, also +was only a few feet away, and at once Alex saw that the problem of +reaching the foreman without being discovered was to be a difficult one. +Trusting to the now gathering gloom of the twilight, however, Alex +determined to make a try. Opening his knife and holding it in his teeth, +he sank to the floor, and began slowly worming his way forward, flat on +his stomach. It was a nerve-trying ordeal. A dozen times he was sure the +crackling straw had betrayed him. But pluckily he kept on, inch by inch, +and finally was almost within touch of the unsuspecting prisoner. + +Then very softly he hissed. Sharply, as he had feared, the foreman +twisted about. But at the moment, by great good luck, the foreigner at +the door turned to knock his pipe against the door-post, and hurriedly +Alex whispered, "Don't move, Mr. Hennessy! It's Alex Ward! I was in the +old house, and saw them bring you up. + +"And, Mr. Hennessy, they plan to run Twenty into the river to-night. Tony +told them there were strike-breakers aboard her to take their places." + +In spite of himself the foreman uttered a low exclamation. At once the +man in the door turned. But with quick presence of mind the prisoner +changed the exclamation to a loud cough, and after a moment, while Alex +lay holding his breath, the Italian turned his attention again to his +pipe. + +"Now I am going to cut your cords," Alex went on softly. "Be careful not +to let your arms seem to be free." + +The foreman nodded. + +"There," announced Alex as the twine dropped from the prisoner's wrists. + +"Now, what shall we do? There is a door behind you into the cow-stable--the +one I came in by. Suppose you work back towards it as far as you dare, then +make a dash for it?" + +"Good," whispered the foreman over his shoulder. "But you get out first." + +"All right," responded Alex, and immediately began moving backwards, feet +first, as he had come. + +Their escape was to be made more easy, however. At the moment from the +house came a call. The man in the doorway stepped out to reply, and in an +instant seeing the opportunity both Alex and the foreman were on their +feet, and had darted out into the stable. + +"Now for a sprint!" said the foreman. + +"Or, say, suppose I hide here in the stable," suggested Alex. "They don't +know of my being here. Then as soon as the way is clear I can get off in +the opposite direction, and one of us would be sure to get away." + +"Good idea," agreed the foreman. "All right, you--" + +There came a loud cry from the barn, and instantly he was off, and Alex, +darting back, crept low under a stall-box. As he did so the Italian +dashed by and out, and uttered a second cry as he discovered the fleeing +foreman. From the house came an answer, then a chorus of shouts that told +the rest of the gang had joined in the chase. + +Alex lay still until the last sound of pursuit had died away, then +slipped forth, glanced sharply about, and dashed off for the woods in the +direction of the river and the railroad bridge. + +[Illustration: HELD IT OVER THE BULL'S-EYE, ALTERNATELY COVERING AND +UNCOVERING THE STREAM OF LIGHT.] + +The adventure was not yet over, however. Alex had almost reached the +shelter of the trees, and was already congratulating himself on his +safety, when suddenly from the opposite side of the clearing rose a shout +of "De boy! De boy!" Glancing back in alarm he saw several of the Poles +cutting across in an endeavor to head him off. + +Onward he dashed with redoubled speed. With a final rush he reached the +trees ahead of them, and plunging into the friendly gloom, darted on +recklessly, diving between trunks, and over logs and bushes like a young +hare. + +A quarter of a mile Alex ran desperately, then halted, panting, to +listen. Not a sound save his own breathing broke the stillness. Surely, +thought Alex, I haven't shaken them off that easily, unless they were +already winded from their chase after-- + +Off to the right rose a shrill whistle. From immediately to the left came +an answer. Then he understood. They were heading him off from the +railroad and the river spur. + +Alex's heart sank, and momentarily he stood, in despair. Then suddenly he +thought of the old brick-yard. It lay less than a mile north, and was +full of good hiding-places! If he could reach it ahead of them, what with +the daylight now rapidly failing, he would almost certainly be safe. At +once he turned, and was off with renewed vigor. + +And finally, utterly exhausted, but cheered through not having heard a +sound from his pursuers for the last quarter mile, Alex stumbled into the +clearing of the abandoned brick-works, ran low for a distance under cover +of a long drying-frame, and scrambling through the low doorway of an old +tile oven, threw himself upon the floor, done out, but confident that at +last he was safe. + +As he lay panting and listening, Alex turned his thoughts again to the +train. Had the foreman made his escape? With so many promptly after him, +it seemed scarcely probable. Then the saving of Twenty was still upon his +own shoulders! + +And there was little time in which to do anything, for she was due at +7:50, and it must be after 7 already! + +Could he not reach the switch itself, and throw it back just before the +train was due? That would be surest. And in the rapidly growing darkness +there should be at least a fair chance of getting by any of the +foreigners who might be on the watch. + +Determinedly Alex gathered himself together, and crawled back to the +entrance. Near the doorway he stumbled over something. "Oh, our old +switch lantern!" he exclaimed, holding it to the light, and momentarily +paused to examine it. For it had been placed under cover there the +previous fall by himself and some other boys, after being used in a game +of "hold-up" on the brick-yard siding. + +"Just as we left it," said Alex to himself, and was about to put it +aside, when he paused with a start, studied it sharply a moment, then +uttered a cry, shook it to see that it still contained oil, and scrambled +hurriedly forth, taking it with him. + +A moment he paused to listen, then set off on the run for the old yard +semaphore, dimly discernible a hundred yards distant. Reaching it, he +caught the lantern in his teeth, and ran up the ladder hand over hand, +clambered onto the little platform, and turned toward the town. + +Yes! Through the trees the station lamps were plainly visible! With a cry +of delight Alex at once set about carrying out his inspiration. Quickly +trimming the lantern wick, he lit it, with his handkerchief tied it to +the semaphore arm, and turned it so that the bull's-eye pointed toward +the station. + +Then, catching off his cap, he held it over the bull's-eye, and +alternately covering and uncovering the stream of light, began flashing +across the darkness signals that corresponded with the telegraphic call +of the Bixton station. + +"BX," he flashed. "BX, BX, BX! + +"BX, BX--AW (his private sign)! BX, BX, AW!" + +The station lights streamed on. + +"Qk! Qk! BX, BX!" called Alex. + +His right hand tired, and he changed to the left. "Surely they should be +on the lookout for me, and see it," he told himself. "For when I go +fishing I am always home at--" + +One of the station lights disappeared. Breathlessly Alex repeated his +call, and waited. Was it merely some one pulling down a blind, or-- + +The light appeared again, then disappeared, several times in quick +succession, and Alex uttered a joyful "Hurrah!" and turning his whole +attention to the lamp, that the signals might be perfect, began flashing +across the night his thrilling message of warning: + +"THE FOREIGN TRACK HANDS--" + +From a short distance down the spur came a shout. Startled, Alex +hesitated. Again came a cry, then the sound of swiftly running feet. + +He had been discovered! In a panic Alex turned and began to scramble down +the ladder. But sharply he pulled up. No! That would be playing the +coward! He must complete the message! And bravely choking down his +terror, he climbed back onto the platform, and while the running feet and +threatening cries came nearer every moment, continued his message: + +"HANDS ARE--" + +"Stop dat! Queek! I shoot! I shoot!" cried the voice of Big Tony, +immediately below him. Again for a moment Alex quailed, then again went +bravely on, while the old semaphore rocked and swayed as the enraged +Italian threw himself at it and scrambled up toward him. + +"GOING TO RUN--" + +With a plunge the big trackman reached up and caught him by the ankle, +wrenched him back from the lantern, and clambered up beside him. Catching +the light off the semaphore arm, he thrust it into the boy's face. "O +ho!" he exclaimed. "So it you, da station-man boy, eh? An' you da one +whata help Hennessy get away, eh? + +"An' whata now you do wid dis?" he demanded fiercely, indicating the +lantern. + +"If you can't guess, I'm not going to tell you," declared Alex stoutly, +though his heart was in his throat. + +"O ho! You wonta, eh? Alla right," said Tony softly through his teeth, +and in a grim silence more terrifying than the threat of his words, he +blew the lantern out, tossed it to the ground, and proceeding to clamber +down, grasped Alex by the leg and dragged him down after. + +But help was at hand. As they reached the ground a second tall figure +loomed up suddenly out of the darkness. "Who dat?" demanded Big Tony. The +answer was a rush, and a blow, and with a throttled cry of terror the big +track worker went to the ground in a heap, the foreman on top of him. + +Alex uttered a cry of joy, then with quick wit, while the two men engaged +in a terrific struggle, he darted in search of the lantern, found it, +fortunately unbroken, and in a trice was again running up the semaphore +ladder. + +As he once more reached his post on the platform the big Italian +succeeded in breaking from the foreman, scrambled to his feet, and dashed +off across the brick-yard. "Come down, Alex. It's all over," called +Hennessy, gathering himself up. "And now we've got to hike right off, a +mile a minute, for the main-line if we are to stop that train. They ran +me so far I only just got back. Unless Twenty's late we--" + +"I am trying to stop her from up here," interrupted Alex, relighting the +lantern. + +"Up there? What do you mean?" exclaimed the foreman. + +"Signalling father at the station, with the telegraph code," said Alex as +he replaced the lantern on the semaphore arm. "Come on up." + +"Al," said the incredulous foreman as he reached the platform, "can you +really do it?" + +"I had it going when that Italian stopped me. Watch." + +But Alex was doomed again to interruption. Scarcely had he begun once +more flashing forth the telegraph call of the station when from the +direction of the woods came a shout, several answers, then a rush of +feet. + +"Some of the Poles!" exclaimed the foreman. "But you go ahead, Al, and +I'll see that they don't get up to interfere," he added, determinedly. + +The running figures came dimly into view below. "If any of you idiots +come up here I'll crack your heads!" shouted Hennessy, warningly. + +"I've got the station again," announced Alex. "Now it will take only a +few minutes." + +One of the men below reached the ladder, and, looking up, shouted +threateningly: "Stop dat! Stop dat, or I shoot!" + +"Go ahead, Al," said the foreman, looking down. "He hasn't a gun." But +even as he spoke there was a flash and a report, and a thud just over +Alex's head. + +"Yes, stop! Stop!" cried the foreman. "Stop. They've got us. No use being +foolhardy." + +Leaning over, he addressed the men below. "Look here," he said, +persuasively, "can't you fellows see that Big Tony is only using you to +make trouble for me, because I fired him for being drunk? As I told you +at first, everything he has said is untrue. Why won't you believe it?" + +The men were silent a moment, then one of them addressed Alex. "Boy, is +dat true?" + +"Every word of it," said Alex, earnestly. "And I would have heard all +about it at the station if they had intended cutting your wages, or +bringing others here to take your places." + +"Den I believe it," said the Pole. + +The man with the pistol returned it to his pocket. "I am sorry I shoot," +he said. + +"And now, what about the train?" inquired the foreman, quickly. "Did you +touch the switch?" + +In the look of guilt the foreigners turned on one another he saw the +alarming answer. Whipping out his watch, he held it to the light. + +"Alex," he said, sharply, "you have just ten minutes to catch that train +at the Junction! If you don't get her she's gone! There's not time now to +get down to the main line from here to flag her!" + +Before he had ceased speaking Alex had his cap over the light and was +once more flashing an urgent "BX! BX! BX!" while below the foreigners +looked on, now with an anxiety equal to that of the two on the tower. + +"BX! Qk! Qk!" flashed the lantern. + +The station light disappeared. "Got 'em!" cried Alex. + +"Just tell them first to stop Twenty at the Junction," said the foreman. + +"Right," responded Alex, and while the rest watched in profound silence, +he signaled: + +"STOP NUMBER 20 AT JUNCTION. SPUR SWITCH IS THROWN. GOT IT?" + +As Alex read off the promptly flashed "OK," the foreman sprang to his +feet and gave vent to a joyful hurrah of relief that echoed again in the +clearing and woods. Then, as Alex recovered the lantern, he caught him +under one arm, carried him down the ladder, and there, despite his +objections, hoisted him to the shoulders of two of the now enthusiastic +Poles, and all set off jubilantly down the spur for the switch, and home. + +And an hour later Alex's father and mother, anxiously awaiting him at the +station, discovered his approach carried at the head of a sort of +triumphal procession of the entire gang of trackmen. + +When Alex's father the following morning reported the occurrence to the +chief despatcher, that official called Alex to the wire to congratulate +him personally. + +"That was a fine bit of work, my boy," he clicked. "I see you are cut out +for the right kind of railroader. If fourteen wasn't a bit too young I +would give you a job on the spot. But we will give you a start just as +soon as we can, you may be sure." + + + + +II + +AN ORIGINAL EMERGENCY BATTERY + + +One afternoon two weeks later Alex returned from school to find his +father and mother hurriedly packing his suit-case. + +"Why, what's up, Dad?" he exclaimed. + +"You are off for Watson Siding in twenty minutes, to take charge of the +station there nights," said his father. "The regular man is ill, the +despatcher had no one else to send, and asked for you, and of course I +told him you'd be delighted." + +"Delighted? Well, rather!" cried Alex, gleefully, and throwing his +school-books into a corner, he dashed up-stairs to change his clothes, +hastily ate a lunch his mother had prepared, and fifteen minutes later +was hurrying for the depot. + +Needless to say Alex was a proud boy when shortly after seven o'clock he +reached Watson Siding, and at once took over the station for the night. +For it is not often a lad of fourteen is given such responsibility, even +though brought up on the railroad. + +Alex was soon to learn that the responsibility was a very real one. The +first night passed pleasantly enough, but early the succeeding night, +following a day of rain, a heavy spring fog set in, and shortly before +ten o'clock Alex found, to his alarm, that he could not make himself +heard on the wire by the despatcher. Evidently there was a heavy escape +of current between them, because of the dampness. + +Again the despatcher called, again Alex sought to interrupt him, failed, +and gave it up. "Now I am in for trouble," he said in dismay. "If +anything should--" + +From apparently just without came a low, ominous rumble, then a crash. +Alex started to his feet and ran to the window. He could see nothing but +fog, and hastily securing a lantern, went out onto the station platform. + +As he closed the door there was a second terrific crash, from the +darkness immediately opposite, and a rain of stones rattling against +iron. + +"The bank above the siding!" cried Alex, and springing to the tracks, he +dashed across, and with an exclamation brought up before a mound of earth +six feet high over the siding rails. + +As he gazed Alex felt his heart tighten. The westbound Sunset Express was +due to take the siding in less than half an hour, to await the Eastern +Mail, and at once he saw that if the engineer misjudged the distance in +the fog, and ran onto the siding at full speed, there would be a terrible +calamity. + +And suppose the cars were thrown onto the main line track, and the Mail +crashed into them! And, apparently, he could not reach the despatcher, to +give warning of her danger! + +What could he do to stop them? Helplessly Alex looked at the lantern in +his hand. Its light was smothered by the fog within ten feet of him. + +Running back to the operating room he seized the key and once more sought +to attract the attention of the despatcher. It was useless. The +despatcher did not hear him. He sank back in his chair, sick with dread. + +But he must attempt something! Determinedly he sprang to his feet. A +lantern was useless. Then why not a fire? A big fire on the track? +Hurrah! That was it! But--he gazed at the coal box, and thought of the +rain soaked wood outside, and his heart sank. Then came remembrance of +the big woodshed at the farm-house where he boarded, three hundred yards +away, and in a moment he had recovered the lantern, and was out, and off +through the darkness, running desperately. + +On arriving at the house Alex found all in silence, and the family +retired, but without a moment's hesitation he threw himself at the front +door, pounding upon it with his fists. + +It seemed an age before a window was raised. "Mr. Moore," he cried, +"there has been a landslide in the cut at the station, and there is +danger of the Sunset running into it. May I have wood from the shed to +make a fire on the track to stop her?" + +"Gracious! Certainly, certainly!" exclaimed the voice from the window. +"And the boys and I will be down in a minute to help you. You run around +and be pulling out some kindling." + +[Illustration: THREW HIMSELF AT THE FRONT DOOR, POUNDING UPON IT +WITH HIS FISTS.] + +Alex darted about to the woodshed, there the farmer and his two sons soon +joined him, and each catching up an armful of wood, they were quickly off +for the railroad, Alex leading with the lantern. + +Reaching the tracks, they hurried east, and a quarter mile distant +halted, and began hastily building a huge bonfire between the rails. + +"There," said Alex, as the flames leaped up, "that ought to stop her." + +"And now, Mr. Moore, suppose we leave Dick here to tend the fire, and you +and Billy and I hurry back to the station, and tackle the earth on the +track. We may get enough off to let the train plow through." + +"All right, certainly," agreed the farmer; and retracing their steps, the +three secured shovels and more lanterns at the depot, and soon were hard +at work on the obstructed siding. + +They had been digging some ten minutes when suddenly Billy paused. +"Listen," he said. "There's a horse coming, on the run." His father and +Alex also ceased shoveling, and a moment later the quick pounding of +horse's hoofs was plainly discernible. + +"It must be something urgent to make a man drive like that in the dark," +said Mr. Moore. + +The racing hoofs drew nearer, and placing his hands to his mouth he +cried: "Hello! What's up?" + +There was a sound of scrambling and plunging, and out of the darkness +came a man's excited voice: "How near am I to the station?" + +"Right here below you!" + +"Thank God! Run quick and tell the operator there has been a landslip in +the big cutting just beyond the river! My son discovered it when coming +home by the track from a party! I thought I could get here quicker than +do anything else!" + +For a moment Alex stood speechless at this further calamity, then once +more dashed for the station. To reach Zeisler, two miles west of the cut, +was the only hope for the Mail. + +Rushing in to the instruments, he in feverish haste began calling "Z. Z, +Z," he whirled. "Qk! Z, Z, WS!" + +There was no answer. Z heard him no more than did the despatcher. + +A feeling of despair settled upon the boy. But again returned the old +spirit of determination and contriving, and spinning about in his chair, +he cast his eyes around the room for some suggestion. They halted at the +big stoneware water-cooler. With a cry he was on his feet, thinking +rapidly. + +Only a few hours before, during an idle moment, the similarity of the big +jar to a gravity cell had occurred to him, and the speculation as to +whether it could not be turned into a battery if need be. + +Could he really make a battery of it? If he could, undoubtedly it would +be strong enough to so increase the current in the wire that both Zeisler +and the despatcher could hear him. + +He ran to a little storage closet at the rear of the room. Yes; there was +enough bluestone! But no copper, or zinc! What could he do for that? + +As though directed by Providence, his gaze fell on the floor-board of the +office stove. It was covered with a sheet of zinc! And even as he uttered +a glad "Good!" there came the remembrance that at the house that +afternoon he had seen a fine new wash-boiler--with a thick copper bottom. + +"That's it," cried Alex, again catching up the lantern and darting for +the door. + +A short distance from the depot Alex was halted by a long, muffled +whistle from the east. "The Express," he exclaimed, and in keen anxiety +awaited the next whistle. Would it be for the crossing this side of the +bonfire, or-- + +It came, a series of quick, sharp toots. Yes; they had seen the fire! + +"Thank Heaven! She's safe at any rate," said Alex, at once running on. + +A few minutes later he burst into Mrs. Moore's kitchen. The farmer's wife +was at the stove, preparing coffee for them. + +"Mrs. Moore, where is your new copper-bottomed boiler? I must have it, +quick," said Alex. + +"What! My new wash-boiler?" + +"Yes; the copper-bottomed one. It's a matter of life and death!" + +The astonished woman hesitated, then, wonderingly, pointed toward the +outer kitchen. Alex ran thither, and quickly reappeared with the fine new +boiler on his shoulder. + +"And I must have that kettle of boiling water," he added, on a thought. +"I'll explain later." And catching it from the stove, he rushed away. + +As he ran Alex further thought out his plans, and once more at the +station, he placed the kettle on the office stove, emptied the bluestone +into it, and poked up the fire. + +Then, with a hammer and chisel, he attacked the copper bottom of the +boiler. + +He was still pounding and cutting when presently there was the sound of +hurried footsteps without, the door flew open, and a voice exclaimed: "In +Heaven's name, young man, what are you doing? Why are you not at your +wire, trying to stop the other train?" + +It was none other than the division superintendent of the road, who had +been aboard the Sunset. + +Only pausing a moment in his work, Alex replied: "I can't reach anybody, +sir, the wire is so weak. I am making a battery of that water-cooler, to +strengthen it. It's the only hope, sir." + +The superintendent uttered a horrified exclamation, then quickly added: +"Here, can't I help you?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Alex, promptly. "Lift up the stove and slide out the +floor-board. I must have the sheet of zinc off it." + +And a few minutes later a group of passengers from the stalled train, +seeking the cause of delay, paused in the doorway to gaze in blank +astonishment at the spectacle of the division superintendent of the +Middle Western, his coat off, energetically working under the direction +of his youngest operator. + +[Illustration: IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR, THE CENTER OF ALL EYES, +HURRIEDLY WORKING WITH CHISEL AND HAMMER.] + +"There you are, my lad," said the superintendent. "What next?" + +"Get a stick, sir, and stir the bluestone in the kettle. We must have it +dissolved if the battery is to work the moment we connect it to the +wire." + +The copper bottom of the boiler was at last cut through, and hastily +doubling it over several times, in order that it would lie flat in the +crock, Alex turned his attention to the zinc on the stove-board. + +The scene in the little station had now become dramatic--the crowd of +passengers, increased until it half filled the room, looking on in +strained silence, or talking in whispers; the tall figure of the +superintendent at the stove, busily stirring the kettle, and in the +middle of the floor, the center of all eyes, the fourteen-year-old boy +hurriedly working with chisel and hammer, seemingly only conscious of the +task before him and the necessity of making the most of every minute. + +The zinc was cut, and hurriedly folding it as he had the copper, Alex +sprang to his feet, and running to the cupboard, dragged out a bundle of +wire, and began sorting out a number of short ends. + +"How much longer?" said the superintendent in a tense voice. "The train +should be at Zeisler now." + +"Just a minute. But she's sure to be a little late, from the fog," said +Alex, hopefully, never pausing. "Has the bluestone dissolved, sir?" + +"All but a few lumps." + +"Then that'll do. Now please lift down the water-cooler, sir, and place +it by the table." + +As the superintendent complied all conversation ceased, and the crowd, +moving hurriedly out of the way, looked on breathlessly, then turned to +Alex, on his knees, fastening two pieces of wire to the squares of copper +and zinc. + +This done, Alex dropped the square of copper to the bottom of the big +jar, hung the zinc from the top, connected one wire end to the ground +connection at the switchboard, and the other to the side of the key. And +the task was complete. + +"Now the kettle, sir," he said, dropping into his chair. The +superintendent seized the kettle, and emptied its blue-green liquid into +the cooler. The moment the water had covered the zinc Alex opened his +key. + +It worked strongly and sharply. + +"Thank God! Thank God!" said the superintendent, fervently. "Now, hurry, +boy!" + +Already Alex was whirring off a string of letters. "Z, Z, Z, WS!" he +called. "Qk! Qk! Z, Z--" + +The line opened, and at the quick sharp dots that came Alex could not +restrain a cry of triumph. "It works! I've got him," he exclaimed. Then +rapidly he sent: + +"Has Number 12 passed?" + +The line again opened, and over the boy leaned a circle of white, anxious +faces. Had the train passed? Had it gone on to destruction? Or-- + +The instruments clicked. "No! No! He says, no!" cried Alex. + +And then, while the crowd about him relieved its pent-up feelings in wild +shouts and hurrahs, Alex quickly sent the order to stop the train. + +"And now three good cheers for the little operator," said one of the +passengers as Alex closed his key. In confusion Alex drew back in his +chair, then suddenly recollecting the others who had taken part in the +night's work, he told the superintendent of the part played by Mr. Moore +and his sons, and of the sacrifice of Mrs. Moore's new wash-boiler. + +"And then there was the man on the horse, who told us of the slide in the +cut across the river. He was the real one to save the Mail," said Alex, +modestly. + +"I see you are as fair as you are ingenious," said the superintendent, +smiling. "We'll look after them all, you may be sure. By the first +express Mrs. Moore shall have two, instead of one, of the finest boilers +money can buy. And as for you, my boy, I'll see that you are given a +permanent station within a year, if you wish to take it. We need +resourceful operators like you." + + + + +III + +A TINKER WHO MADE GOOD + + +Most telegraph operators, young operators especially, have a number of +over-the-wire friends. Alex Ward's particular telegraph chum was Jack +Orr, or "OR," as he knew him on the wire, a lad of just his own age, son +of the proprietor of the drug-store in which the town, or commercial, +office was located at Haddowville, a small place at the end of the line. +The two boys had become warm friends through "sending" for one another's +improvement in "reading," in the evenings when the wire was idle; but +also because of the similarities of taste they had discovered. Both were +fond of experimenting, and learning the "why and wherefore" of things +electrical. + +And not infrequently they got themselves into trouble, as young +investigators will. + +One evening that summer, the instruments being silent, Jack, at +Haddowville, bethought himself of taking the relay, the main receiving +instrument, to pieces, to discover exactly how the wire connections in +the base were arranged. To think with Jack was to act. Half an hour later +his father, entering with an important message, found Jack with the +instrument in a dozen pieces. + +Mr. Orr viewed the muss with consternation. Then he spoke sharply. "Jack, +if that relay is not together again, and working, in five minutes, I'll +take you out to the woodshed!" Needless to say, Jack threw himself into +the restoring of the instrument with ardor, while his father stood grimly +by. And fortunately the relay was in its place again, and clicking, +within the prescribed time. + +"But don't let me ever catch you tinkering with the instruments again," +said Jack's father warningly, as he gave Jack the message to send. +"Another time it'll be the woodshed whether you get them together or no. +Remember!" + +Shortly after midnight the night following Jack suddenly found himself +sitting up in bed, wondering what had awakened him. From the street below +came the sound of running feet, simultaneously the window lighted with a +yellow glare, and with a bound and an exclamation of "Fire!" Jack was +across the room and peering out. + +"Jones' coal sheds! Or the station!" he ejaculated, and in a moment was +back at the bedside, dressing as only a boy can dress for a fire. Running +to his parents' bedroom he told them of his going, and was down the +stairs and out into the street in a trice. + +Dim figures of men and other boys were hurrying by in the direction of +the town fire-hall, a block distant, and on the run Jack also headed +thither. For to help pull the fire-engine or hose-cart to a fire was the +ardent hobby of every lad in town. + +A half dozen members of the volunteer fire company and as many boys were +at the doors when Jack arrived, and the fire chief, already equipped with +helmet and speaking-trumpet, was fumbling at the lock. + +"Where is it, Billy?" inquired Jack of a boy acquaintance. + +"They say it's the station and freight shed, and Johnson's lumber yard, +and the coal sheds--the whole shooting match," said Billy, hopefully. + +"Bully!" responded Jack; who, never having seen his own home in flames, +likewise regarded fires as the most thrilling sort of entertainment. + +"Out of the way!" cried the chief. The big doors swung open, and with a +rush the little crowd divided and went at the old-fashioned hand-engine +and the hose-cart. Billy and Jack secured the particular prize, the head +of the engine drag-rope, and like a pair of young colts pranced out with +it to its full length. Others seized it, and with the cry of "Let 'er +go!" they went rumbling forth, and swung up the street. + +The hose-cart, with its automatic gong, clanged out immediately after, +and the race that always occurred was on. The engine of course had the +start, but the hose-cart, a huge two-wheeled reel, about which the hose +was wound, was much lighter, and speedily was clanging abreast of them. +Here, however, Big Ed. Hicks, the blacksmith, and Nick White, a colored +giant, rushed up, dodged beneath the rope, and took their accustomed +places at the tongue, and with a burst of speed the engine began to draw +ahead. Other firemen appeared from side streets and banging doorways, and +took their places on the rope, and a shout from the juvenile contingent +presently announced that the reel was falling to the rear. + +Meanwhile the glare in the sky had brightened and spread; and when at +last the rumbling engine swung into the station road the whole sky was +ablaze. Overhead, before a stiff wind, large embers and sparks were +beginning to fly. + +With a dash the panting company swept into the station square. Before +them the station and adjoining freight-shed were enveloped in flames from +end to end. It was apparent at once that there was no possibility of +saving either. But with a final rush the engine-squad made for the +fire-well at the corner of the square, brought up all-standing, and in a +jiffy the intake pipe was unstrapped and dropped into the water. The reel +clanged up, two of its crew sprang for the engine with the hose-end and +couplers, and the cart sped on, peeling the hose out behind it. + +The speed with which they could get into action was a matter of pride +with the Haddowville firemen. Almost before the coupling had been made at +the engine the men and boys at the long pumping-bars were working them +gently; within the minute a shout from the cart announced that the hose +was being broken, the pumpers threw themselves into the work with zest, +and the next moment from the distant nozzle shot a sputtering stream. + +With the other boys, Jack, though now considerably winded, was throwing +himself energetically up and down against one of the long handles. Before +many minutes, however, the remainder of the regular enginemen appeared, +and took their places, and presently Jack also was ousted. + +At once he set off for a closer view of the fire. Half way he was halted +by a call. + +"Hi, Jack! Come and help push the freight cars!" + +The shout came from a group of boys running for the rear of the burning +freight-shed, and responding with alacrity, Jack joined them, and soon, +just beyond the burning building, was pushing against the corner of a +slowly moving box-car with all his might. + +One car was rolled safely out of the danger zone, and Jack's party +hastened back for another. The innermost of the remaining cars, and on a +separate siding, was but a short distance from the flaming shed, and +already was blazing on the roof. Jack and several other adventurous +spirits determined to tackle this one on their own account. After much +straining they got it in motion. + +Suddenly a wildly excited figure appeared rushing through the smoke, and +shouted at the top of his voice, "Get back! Get back! There's blasting +powder in that car!" + +In a twinkle there was a wild stampede. And but just in time. With a +blinding flash and a roar like a thunderbolt, the car shot into the air +in a million pieces. Many persons in the vicinity were thrown violently +to the ground, including Jack. As he scrambled, thoroughly frightened, to +his feet, someone shouted, "Look out overhead!" and glancing up, Jack saw +a shower of burning fragments high in the air. + +Then rose the cry, "The wind is taking them right over the town!" In +alarm many people began leaving the square for their homes. + +Jack's own home and the drug-store block were well on the other side of +the town, however, and with no thought of anxiety Jack remained to watch +the burning station, now a solid mass of flame from ground to roof. + +Presently, glancing toward the opposite corner of the square, Jack noted +a general, hurried movement of the crowd there into the street. He set +out to investigate. As he neared the fire-engine, still clanking +vigorously, a bareheaded man rushed up and asked excitedly for the fire +chief. "The telephone building and a house on Essex Street, and one on +the next street back, are burning!" he cried. "Quick, and do something, +or the whole town will be afire!" + +Looking in the direction indicated, Jack saw a wavering glare, and with a +new thrill of excitement was immediately off on the run. The telephone +exchange was one of the largest buildings in town. + +As he came within sight of the new conflagration the flames already were +leaping from the roof and roaring from the upper windows. Despite the +heat, the crowd before the building was clustered close about the door of +the telephone office, and Jack hastened to join them, to learn the cause. +Making his way through the throng, he reached the front as a blanketed +figure staggered, smoking, from the doorway. Someone sprang forward and +caught the blanket from the stumbling man, at the same time crying, "Did +you get them?" + +"No," gasped the telephone operator, for Jack saw it was he; "the whole +office is in flames. I couldn't get inside the door." + +Mayor Davis, the first speaker, turned quickly about. "Then we'll run +down to Orr's and telegraph." + +At once Jack understood. The mayor wished to send for help from other +towns. He sprang forward. "I'm here, Mr. Davis--Jack Orr. I'll take a +message!" + +"Good!" said the mayor. "Run like the wind, my boy, and send a telegram +to the mayors of Zeisler and Hammerton for help. As many steam engines as +they can spare. And have the railroad people supply a special at once. +Write the message yourself, and sign my name. Tell them four more fires +have broken out, and that the whole town may be in danger." + +Jack broke through the crowd, and was off like a deer. + +Farther down the street he passed another building, a small dwelling, +burning, with its frightened occupants and their neighbors hurrying +furniture out, and fighting the flames with buckets. + +Down the next cross-street he saw flames bursting from a second house. + +Then it was that the real gravity of the situation began to come home to +Jack. Till now it had all been only a thrilling drama--even the bearing +of the mayor's urgent message had appeared rather a dramatically +prominent stage-part he had had thrust upon him. + +On he sped with redoubled speed, and turned into the main street. Then +his alarm became genuine. Lurid flames were licking over the tree-tops +directly ahead of him--in the direction of the store! A moment later a +cry of horror broke from him. It was indeed the store block! + +But his own personal alarm was quickly lost in a greater. Suppose the +telegraph office also should be in flames, and he unable to reach it? He +ran on madly. + +He neared the store, and with hope saw that so far the flames were only +in the second story. Men were hurrying in and out, and from the +hardware-store adjoining. But as he rushed to the drug-store door a cloud +of heavy smoke rolled forth, driving a group of men before it. + +Among them he recognized his father. + +"Dad," he cried, "can't I reach the instruments? I've a message for help +to Hammerton and Zeisler from the mayor! The 'phone office and the +station are burned. There is no other way of getting word out." + +Mr. Orr had halted in consternation. "No; you couldn't get to them. The +telegraph room is a furnace. The fire came in through the office windows +from the outhouse, and I closed the door from the store." + +Through the haze of smoke within burst a lurid fork of flame. + +"There! The fire is out through the telegraph-room door," said the +druggist. "You couldn't get near the table. And anyway, Jack, the +instruments would be useless by this time." + +It was this remark that aroused Jack. "If I could rip them from the table +in any kind of shape, perhaps I could fix them up quickly so I could use +them," he thought. + +To his father he said with sudden determination, "Dad, I'm going to make +a try for the key and relay." + +"No. I won't permit it," declared Mr. Orr decisively. + +"But father, if we don't get word out the whole town may be burned," +cried Jack. + +"I'll make a try myself," said Mr. Orr, and without further word lowered +his head and dashed back into the smoke. + +While Jack stood anxiously awaiting his father's reappearance the owner +of the adjacent hardware-store stumbled from his doorway under a bundle +of horse-blankets. With an immediate idea Jack ran toward him. "Mr. +Wells, let me have some of those blankets," he said hurriedly. "We want +to try and reach the telegraph instruments. They are the only hope for +getting word out of town for help. Father is in after them, but I don't +think he can reach them with nothing over him." + +The merchant promptly threw the whole bundle to the ground. "Help +yourself," he directed. + +At the door again, he called back. "Can you use anything else?" + +"No--Say, yes! A pair of leather gauntlets." The merchant disappeared, +reappeared, and threw toward Jack a bundle of leather gloves. "Many as +you want," he shouted. + +Catching them up and two of the blankets, Jack sprang back for their own +store as his father reappeared. + +"They can't be reached," coughed Mr. Orr. "Couldn't even get to the +door." + +"I'll try with these blankets, then," said Jack decisively. "Throw them +over my head, please." + +His father hesitated. "But my boy--" + +"There's little danger, Dad. The blankets are thick. And I know just +where the instruments are. And see, I'll wear these gauntlets," he added, +pulling a pair over his hands. + +Somewhat reluctantly Mr. Orr took the blankets and threw them over Jack's +head, and on the run Jack plunged into the wall of smoke. + +With one gloved hand outstretched he found the telegraph-room door, and +the knob. He pressed against it, and with a crash and then a roar the +door collapsed before him. But without a moment's hesitation he darted on +within, groped his way to the table, found the relay, and with a +desperate wrench tore it from its place. The next moment he dashed +blindly into his father's arms at the outer door, and threw the smoking +blankets and sizzling, burning relay to the sidewalk. + +"Water on it quick," gasped Jack, pointing to the instrument. Catching it +up in a corner of one of the blankets Mr. Orr ran with it to a +horse-trough in front, and plunged it into the water. + +As he returned Jack was drawing on a second pair of gauntlets. + +"Jack, you're not going back!" said his father sharply. + +"I want the key, Dad." + +"Look there." Glancing within Jack saw that the whole rear of the store +was now enveloped in flames. + +"And it would be of no use in any case. Look at this," said Mr. Orr, +holding up the smoking relay. + +The instrument did indeed look a hopeless wreck as Jack took it. The base +was cracked and charred, the rubber jacket about the magnet-coils was +frizzled and warped, the fine wire connections beneath were gone, and the +armature spring was missing. + +But Jack was not one to give up while a single hope remained. "I could +improvise a key," he said, and with decision hastily sought the hardware +merchant. + +"Mr. Wells, did you save any screw-drivers?" he asked. + +"In a box down there. Help yourself." + +Running thither Jack found the tool, and immediately began taking the +relay apart. + +An exclamation of disappointment greeted the discovery that the fine +copper wire within one of the coil-jackets had been melted into a solid +mass. On ripping open the sizzled jacket of the other, however, Jack +found the silk covering the wire to be only scorched, and determined to +do the best he could with the one magnet. + +Removing the relay entirely from the burned base, he secured a thin piece +of board from one of the boxes near him, from the miscellaneous tools in +another box found a gimlet, and made the necessary perforations. And soon +he had the brass coil-frame mounted. + +Meantime Mr. Orr, not for a moment thinking Jack could do anything with +the charred instrument, had joined the crowd of men and women watching +the burning building from across the street. + +"Father! Here, please!" called Jack. + +In some wonder Mr. Orr responded, and with him the hardware merchant. + +"Have you a rubber band in your pocket?" asked Jack. "I want it for the +armature spring." + +"Why you are really not doing anything with it, Jack!" exclaimed his +father. + +"Yes, sir. I think I can make it go," responded Jack with a little touch +of elation. "And with only one magnet. But have you the rubber?" + +"Here," said Mr. Wells, snapping a rubber band from his pocketbook. "This +do?" + +"Just the thing. Thanks." And while the two men looked on, Jack secured +one end of the elastic to the little hook on the armature, and knotted +the other about the tension thumb-screw. + +That done, Jack caught up a hammer and smashed the useless coil to +pieces, from the wreck, secured several intact ends of the fine wire, and +with them quickly restored the burnt connections between the magnet and +the binding-posts. And with a cry, half of jubilation and half of nervous +excitement, he caught up the now roughly-restored instrument and ran +toward an iron gas street-lamp. In the roadway a short distance from the +lamp-post lay the burned-off end of the telegraph wire. Placing the +instrument on the sidewalk, Jack ran for the wire, and dragged it also to +the post. + +Then, as the crowd, following his father and the hardware merchant, +gathered about him, they saw him secure a piece of wire about the iron +lamp-post, then to the instrument; and, dropping to a sitting position, +place the instrument on his knees, catch up the telegraph line, and hold +it to the other side of the relay. + +Jack's low cry of disappointment was echoed by his father. "No use. I was +afraid of it, my boy," said Mr. Orr resignedly. + +There was a disturbance on the outskirts of the crowd, and the mayor +appeared pushing his way through. "Didn't you get that message off, +Jack?" he cried excitedly. + +"The fire was too quick for us," said Mr. Orr. "Jack risked his life +getting out one of the instruments. But it has proved useless." + +"Oh say! Now I know what's the matter!" With the cry Jack sprang to his +feet, broke through the circle about him, and sped back toward the store. +The flames were now bursting from the front, but with head down he ran to +the iron door covering the street entrance to the cellar, and lifted it. +A thin stream of smoke arose, then disappeared as a draft toward the rear +set in. With a thankful "Good!" Jack leaped into the opening. + +His father, the mayor, and several others who had rushed after in +consternation reached the sidewalk as Jack's head reappeared, followed by +a green battery jar. Placing the jar on the ledge, he stooped, and raised +another. + +"What do you think you are doing?" cried his father. + +"I'll explain in a minute. Take them over to the post, please." And Jack +had again disappeared. + +The mayor promptly caught up the two cells, but Mr. Orr as promptly +dropped through the opening and followed Jack. + +"What are you trying to do?" he demanded as he groped his way to the +battery-shelf. "You can't do anything with the battery if you have no +instrument." + +"The instrument is all right, Father. The line has been 'grounded' south, +that's all. If we put battery on here, we can reach some office between +here and wherever the 'ground' is on." + +"May it be so," said Mr. Orr fervently, but not hopefully, as they +hurried with four more jars to the entrance. + +When they had carried out a dozen jars Jack declared the number to be +sufficient, and scrambling forth, they hastened back to the lamp-post. + +Without delay Jack connected the cells in proper series, and removing the +wire between the instrument and the iron post, substituted the +battery--zinc to the post, and copper to the instrument. + +Then once more he caught up the severed end of the main-line wire, and +touched the opposite side of the instrument. + +A cry of triumph, then a mighty shout, greeted the responding click. + +"But what about a key, son?" said Mr. Orr. + +"This, for the moment," replied Jack, and simply resting his elbow on his +knee, and tapping with the end of the wire against the brass +binding-post, he began urgently calling. + +"HN, HN, HN!" he clicked. "HN, HN, HV! Rush! Qk! HN, HN!" + +"Perhaps the wire is grounded between here and Hammerton," suggested his +father breathlessly. + +"Anybody answer! Qk!" sent Jack. "Does anybody hear this?" + +"What's the matter? This is Z." + +"Got Zeisler!" shouted Jack. + +The mayor stepped forward. "Send them the message," he directed, "and +have them 'phone it to Hammerton." + +Jack did so. And fifteen minutes later the cheering news ran quickly +about the threatened town that two steam fire-engines were starting by +special train from Hammerton immediately, would pick up another at +Zeisler, and would be on the scene within half an hour. All of which +report proved true, the engines arriving on the dot--and by daylight the +last of the several different fires were under control, and the safety of +the town was assured. + +Needless to say, Jack's name played an important part in the dramatic +newspaper accounts of the conflagration--nor to add that he was the +envied hero of every other lad in town for weeks to come. + +The final and particular result of the affair, however, was the offer to +Jack of a good position in the large commercial telegraph office at +Hammerton, which he at last induced his parents to permit him to accept. + + + + +IV + +THE OTHER TINKER ALSO MAKES GOOD + + +One evening shortly after the beginning of the summer holidays Alex was +chatting over the wire with Jack, who was now a full-fledged operator at +Hammerton, when the despatching office abruptly broke in and called +Bixton. + +"I, I, BX," answered Alex. + +"Is young Ward there?" clicked the instruments. + +"This is 'young Ward.'" + +"Say, youngster, would you care to do a couple of weeks' vacation relief +at Hadley Corners, beginning next Monday? The man there wants to get off +badly, and we have no one here we can send." + +"Most certainly I would," replied Alex, promptly. + +"OK then. We'll count on you. I'll send a pass down to-night," said the +despatcher. + +Thus it came about that the following Monday morning Alex alighted at the +little crossing depot known as Hadley Corners, and for the second time +found himself, if but temporarily, in full charge of a station. + +Entering the little telegraph room, he announced his arrival to the +despatcher at "X." + +"Good," clicked the sounder. "And now, look here, Ward. Don't do any +tinkering with the instruments while you are there. We don't want a +repetition of the mix-up you got the wire into at BX through your joking +a month or so ago." + +The joke referred to was a hoax Alex had played on his father the +previous First of April. Through an arrangement of wires beneath the +office table, by which with his foot, unseen, he could make the +instruments above click as though worked from another office, he had +called his father to the wire, and posing as the despatcher, had severely +reprimanded him for some imaginary mistake in a train order. It had been +"all kinds of a lark," until, unfortunately, the connections became +disarranged, tying up the entire eastern end of the line for half an +hour. + +At the recollection of the escapade Alex laughed heartily. Nevertheless +he promptly replied, "OK, sir. I won't touch a thing." And the despatcher +saying nothing more, he began calling Bixton. + +"I'm here, Dad," he announced when his father answered; "and it's a fine +little place. The woods come almost up to the back of the station, and +the nearest house is a mile away. That's where I am to board. The other +operator arranged it. It's going to be a regular little picnic." + +"That's nice," ticked the sounder. "I thought you would like it." And +then Alex again laughed as his father added, "And now, no tinkering with +things, my boy! Remember!" + +"OK, Dad. I won't touch a thing. Good-by." + +It was the following Monday that the "all agents" message was sent over +the wire announcing an unusually heavy shipment of gold from the Black +Hill Mines, and warning station agents and operators to look out for and +report any suspicious persons about their stations. But these messages, +usually following hold-ups on other roads, had been intermittently sent +for years, and nothing had happened on the Middle Western; and in his +turn Alex gave his "OK," and thought nothing more about it. + +A half hour later he sat at the open window of the telegraph room, deeply +interested in the July St. Nicholas--so interested, indeed, that he did +not hear soft footfalls on the station platform without. The man came +quietly nearer--reached the window. Then suddenly Alex glanced up, the +magazine fell to the floor, and with a loud cry he sprang to his feet. + +He was gazing into the barrel of a revolver, and behind it was a +black-masked face! + +Hold-up men! The gold train! + +Wildly Alex turned toward the telegraph-key. But the man leaned quickly +forward, seized him by the shoulder, and threw him heavily back into the +chair. "You move again and I'll shoot!" he said sharply, and Alex sank +back helpless. + +Yes; hold-up men. And he had betrayed his trust. Betrayed his trust! That +thought stood out even above his terror. Oh, if he had only kept a +lookout! + +[Illustration: HE WAS GAZING INTO THE BARREL OF A REVOLVER.] + +The man, who had said nothing further, presently withdrew the revolver +and took a comfortable seat on the window-ledge. As the silence +continued, Alex began somewhat to recover himself, and fell to wondering +what the other bandits were doing while this man was watching him. + +A few moments later the answer came in a single upward click from the +instruments. + +"There--wires cut, ain't they?" said his captor. + +"Yes, I suppose," said Alex, bitterly. + +"They sure are," said the voice from behind the mask. "And when we get +through, them wires'll be cut so you won't be able to fix 'em up in a +hurry." + +Fifteen minutes later a second masked and heavily armed figure appeared. +"Every wire cut five poles back on either side of the station," he +announced briefly. "It'll take a lineman half a day to fix 'em up again, +and we'll be twenty miles away by that time. Now we'll put the hobbles on +the youngster, and git." + +Often Alex had longed for just such an adventure as this. The final +disenchantment was anything but glorious. Roughly seizing him, the two +men forced him stiffly upright in the chair, drew his arms about the back +of it, and there secured them, wrist to wrist, drawing the knot until +Alex almost cried out in pain. Then, as tightly, they bound his ankles to +the lower rungs, one on either side. + +"Now one of us is going to watch from the woods for a spell--we'll leave +the back door open, so we can see right in--and if you make a move, you +get this quick! See?" said one of the desperadoes, tapping his pistol +significantly. + +Therewith they passed out, leaving the rear door wide open, and in utter +misery of mind Alex watched them stride toward the trees. + +Before the two bandits had crossed the open space, however, Alex's mind +had cleared. For plainly they were hurrying! Then their promise to watch +him must have been only a threat, to keep him quiet! Good! At once he +began straining at his wrists, paused as the two men reached the edge of +the clearing and momentarily turned, and as they disappeared amid the +trees, began struggling with grim determination. + +It seemed a hopeless task at first, and the rawhide thongs cut cruelly +into Alex's wrists and ankles. But bravely he struggled on, wriggled and +twisted, paused for breath, and struggled again. And finally one hand +came suddenly free. + +It required but a few seconds to get into his pocket, reach his knife, +and open it with his teeth. A moment later Alex was on his feet, and +staggered out onto the platform. + +Yes, the wires were cut, five poles in either direction! Alex clenched +his hands. After all, what could he do? To restore the line was entirely +out of the question. Had there been but one break he could not have +climbed the pole and carried aloft that heavy stretch of wire. + +And there was less than twenty minutes in which to work, to catch the +Overland at Broken Gap. For undoubtedly it was beyond that point that the +bandits planned holding her up--probably on one of the steep grades of +the Little Timber hills. + +Suddenly Alex uttered a gasp of hope. A moment he debated, with nervously +clasped hands, then, exhaustion forgotten, dashed back into the little +telegraph room, found a screw-driver, and in a few minutes had loosened +from the table the telegraph-key and the receiving instrument. Catching +them up, with some short ends of wire, he darted out and up the track to +the west. + +Two hundred yards distant the intact end of the telegraph line drooped +into the drainage ditch. Alex caught it up and dragged it to the rails. +Placing the key and relay on the end of a tie, he connected them on one +side to the rail, and on the other side to the end of the line wire. + +But the responding click did not come. Alex groaned in disappointment. He +had counted on the rails giving a "ground" connection. Then the line +would have closed, and he could have worked it to the west. But +apparently the hot weather had entirely dried out the sand beneath the +rails, and thus insulated them. + +But he was not yet beaten. There was a ground wire at the station. Why +could he not use the rails that far, if they were insulated? With a +hurrah he seized the end of the line wire, and in a few moments had +connected it to one of the rail joints. Then, catching up the +instruments, he dashed back for the station. + +Placing the instruments again on the table, he found a piece of loose +wire that would reach from the instruments, out through the window, to +the rails; ran out and quickly connected it to a rail joint, and, darting +back, connected the other end to the instruments. Instantly there was a +sharp downward click. The line was closed! + +Alex could not suppress a quick "Thank Heaven!" and, trembling with +excitement, he seized the key and began swiftly calling the despatcher. +"X, X, X, HC," he called. "X, X--" + +He felt the line open, and closed his own key. Then, in surprise, he +read: "So you have been monkeying with the wires there after all, have +you? Now look here--" + +Quickly Alex interrupted, and shot back: "Train robbers are after the +Overland. They held me up, and cut the wires both sides of the station. I +got free, and have made a connection through the rails--HC." + +For a moment the line remained silent, while at his end of the wire the +despatcher sat bolt upright in his chair, eyes and mouth wide open. But +in another moment the despatcher had recovered himself, and, springing +back to the key, began madly calling Broken Gap. + +"B, B, B, X!" he called. "B, B, X! Qk! Qk!" + +[Illustration: BUT THE RESPONSE CLICK DID NOT COME.] + +Alex shot a glance at the clock, and leaned forward over the instruments, +scarcely breathing. There was yet three minutes before the Overland was +due at Broken Gap. But she did not stop there, and frequently passed +ahead of time. If "B" did not answer the call immediately-- + +The whir of "B's" was interrupted, and slowly and deliberately came an +"I, I, B." Alex leaped in his chair, and again strained forward tensely. + +"Has 68 passed?" hurled the despatcher. + +"Just coming." + +"Stop her! Flag her! Qk! Qk!" + +The line opened, as though "B" was about to make a reply, then smartly +closed again. + +"Stop her! Stop her!" repeated "X." + +There was a leaden, breathless silence, while Alex nervously clenched and +unclenched his hands. At last the line again clicked open, and with a +characteristic deliberation that caused the nerve-strung boy a moment's +hysterical laugh, "B" announced: "Just got her. She's slowing in now. +What's up?" + +The despatcher at "X" had regained his equilibrium, and in his usual +crisp manner he replied: "Take this for Conductor Bedford: + + "Bedford: Hold-up apparently planned between Broken Gap and Hadley + Corners. Probably on one of the grades of the Little Timbers. + Gather a posse quickly, and make sure of capturing them. Report at + HC. + + "(Signed) Jordan, X." + +As "B" gave his "OK" with the stumbling hesitation of blank astonishment, +the line again opened. And at the first word the intense strain broke, +and Alex sank forward over the table with a convulsive sob. + +"Grand, my boy! Grand!" clicked the sounder. It was his father, at +Bixton. He had overheard it all. + +"Grand! That's the word," came the despatcher. "There's not another +operator on the division who would have known enough to do what he did +to-day. I guess we won't bother him any more about his 'tinkering,' will +we?" + + * * * * * + +Only half an hour late, the mighty mogul pulling the Overland Limited +drew panting to a stop before the little station, and in a moment Alex +was surrounded by a crowd of congratulating trainmen and passengers. And +when he reappeared after sending the message which notified the +despatcher of the train's safe arrival and of the capture of the two +bandits, he was surprised and speechlessly confused by having pressed +upon him by the enthusiastic passengers an impromptu purse of +seventy-five dollars. + +Later in the afternoon Alex was called to the wire by Jack, at Hammerton. +"Say, what is all this you've gone and done, Al?" clicked Jack +enthusiastically. "The afternoon papers here have a whole column story! +'Please attach statement at once!'" + +"Oh, it looks much bigger than it really was," responded Alex modestly. +"And anyway, it came about through my own carelessness. I ought to have +been reprimanded, instead of patted on the back." + +"Nonsense! Those hold-up men would have got you, anyway. If you had seen +them coming, they would simply have approached in a friendly way, then +got the drop on you. You had no gun. + +"But, say," added Jack mock-seriously, "how is it these real high class +adventures always come your way? I'm getting jealous." + +"I can assure you you needn't be. It's lots more fun reading about them. +Wait and see," said Alex. + +Jack was soon to have his opportunity of "seeing," though a more +disagreeable experience was first to come. + + + + +V + +AN ELECTRICAL DETECTIVE + + +"Orr, Mr. Black wants you." + +Jack, who was passing through the business department of the Hammerton +office, toward the stair which led to the operating room, promptly turned +aside and entered the manager's private room. + +"Good morning, Jack. Sit down. + +"My boy," began the manager, "can you keep a secret?" + +"Why yes, sir," responded Jack, wondering. + +"Very well. But I must explain first. I suppose you did not know it--we +kept it quiet--but the real reason Hansen, the janitor, was discharged a +month ago was that he was found taking money from the safe here, which he +had in some way learned to open. After he left I changed the safe +combination, and thought the trouble was at an end. + +"Last Tuesday morning the cash was again a little short. At the time I +simply thought an error had been made in counting the night before. This +morning a second ten-dollar bill is missing, and the cash-box shows +unmistakable signs of having been tampered with. + +"Now Johnson, the counter clerk, to whom I had confided the new +combination (for it is customary, you know, that two shall be able to open +a safe, as a precaution against the combination being forgotten)--Johnson +is entirely above suspicion. Still, to make doubly sure, I am going to +alter the combination once more, and share it with someone outside of the +business department. And as you have impressed me very favorably, I have +chosen you. + +"That is, of course," concluded the manager, "if you have no objection." + +"Certainly not. I am sure I appreciate the confidence, sir," said Jack +quickly. + +"Very well, then. The combination is 'Right twenty, twice; back nine; +right ten.' Can you remember that? For you must not write it down, you +know." + +Jack repeated the number several times; and again thanking the manager +for the compliment, continued up-stairs to the telegraph-room. + +Two mornings later Jack was again called into Mr. Black's office. For a +moment, while Jack wondered, the manager eyed him strangely, then asked, +"What was that combination, Jack?" + +"Right ninety--no, right thirty--Why, I believe I have forgotten it, +sir," declared Jack in confusion. + +"Perhaps you have forgotten this too, then?" As he spoke the manager took +from his desk a small notebook. "I found it on the floor in front of the +safe this morning." + +"It is mine, sir. I must have dropped it last night. I worked extra until +after midnight, sir," explained Jack, "and on the way out I chased a +mouse in here from the stairway, and when it ran under the safe I dropped +to my knees to find it. The book must have fallen from my pocket. + +"But what is wrong, sir?" + +"The cash-box is not in the safe this morning." + +Jack started back, the color fading from his cheeks as the significance +of it all came to him. + +"And now you pretend to have the combination entirely wrong," went on the +manager. + +Jack found his voice. "Mr. Black, you are mistaken! You are mistaken! I +never could do such a thing! Never!" + +"I would prefer proof," Mr. Black said coldly. + +Jack caught at the idea. "Would you let me try to prove it, sir? Will you +give me a week in which to try and clear myself?" + +"Well, I did not mean it that way. But, all right--a week. And if things +do not look different by that time, and you still claim ignorance, you +will have to go. That is all there is to it." + +"Thank you, sir." + +At the door Jack turned back. "Mr. Black, you are positive you returned +the box to the safe?" + +"Positive. It is the last thing I do before going home." + +During spare moments on his wire that morning Jack debated the mystery +from every side. Finally he had boiled it down to two conflicting facts: + +"First: That the box was placed in the safe the night before, and in the +morning was gone; and that, besides the manager, he was the only one who +could have opened the safe and taken it. And, + +"Second: That, of course, he knew his own innocence." + +The only alternative, then, was that Mr. Black had been mistaken in +thinking he had returned the box to the safe. + +Grasping at this possibility, Jack argued on. How could the manager have +been mistaken? Overlooked the box, say because of its being covered by +something? + +"Why it may be there yet!" exclaimed Jack hopefully. And a few minutes +later, relieved from his wire for lunch, he hurriedly descended again to +the manager's office. + +"Mr. Black, may I look around here a bit?" he requested. + +"Look around? What for?" + +"To see if I cannot find something to help solve this mystery," responded +Jack, not wishing directly to suggest that the manager had overlooked the +box. + +"So you keep to it that you know nothing, eh? Well, go ahead," said the +manager shortly, turning back to his desk. + +Jack's hopes were quickly shattered. Neither on the desk, nor a table +beside the safe, was there anything which could have concealed the +missing box. + +Stooping, he glanced under the table. Something white, a newspaper, +leaning against the wall, caught his eye. With a flutter of hope he +reached beneath and threw it aside. There was nothing behind it. + +Disappointedly he caught the newspaper up and tossed it into the +waste-basket. Suddenly, on a thought, he recovered the paper, and opened +it. On discovering it was the "Bulletin," a paper he knew Mr. Black +seldom read, the idea took definite shape. And, yes, it was of +yesterday's date! + +"Mr. Black," exclaimed Jack, "this is not your paper, is it?" + +Somewhat impatiently the manager glanced up. "The 'Bulletin'? No." + +"Were you reading it yesterday, sir?" + +"Well, I don't see what you are driving at--but, no. It was probably left +here by Smith, one of the express clerks next door. He was in for a while +yesterday on some telegraph money-order business. Yes, he did have it in +his hand, now I remember. But why?" + +At the mention of Smith's name Jack started, and there immediately came +to him a remembrance of having a few days previously seen the express +clerk on a street corner in earnest conversation with Hansen, the +discharged janitor. + +In suppressed excitement he asked, "When was Smith here, Mr. Black? What +time?" + +The manager smiled sardonically, and turned back to his work. "No; you +can't fasten it on Smith," he said shortly. "It was after he went out +that I returned the box to the safe. But, if it's any good to you--he was +in here from about five-thirty to ten minutes to six, and was talking +with one of the boys in the outer office when I left." + +"And Mr. Black, were you outside during the time Smith was in here?" + +"No, I--Yes, I was, too. About a quarter to six I was over at the +speaking-tube for a minute. + +"But enough of this nonsense," the manager added sharply. "The box was in +the safe when I closed it. Don't bother me any further with your pretense +of investigating. I don't believe it is sincere." + +Despite this cutting declaration Jack turned away with secret +satisfaction. + +Just outside the office door he made a second discovery--a small one, but +one which further strengthened the theory he had formed. + +It was a small coal cinder and an ash stain in the shape of a heel, +apparently overlooked by a careless sweeper. + +They could only have been left by a foot which came from the cellar! + +Promptly Jack turned toward the cellar door, and made his way down into +the big basement. + +Going directly to one of the rear windows, he carefully examined it. The +cobwebs and the dust on the sill had not been disturbed for months. + +He turned to the second, and instantly emitted a shrill whistle of +delight. Its cobwebs had been torn and swept aside, and the ledge brushed +almost clean. And evidently but a short time before, for the cleared +space showed little of the dust which constantly filtered through the +floor above. + +"Fine!" exclaimed Jack. "Now I--" He paused. The window was securely +latched on the inside! + +For several minutes Jack stood, disappointed and mystified. Then, +examining the latch closely, he laughed, and grasping it with his +fingers, easily pulled it out. It had been forced from the outside, and +merely pressed back into the hole. + +But its being replaced showed that the intruder had not made his escape +that way. + +Jack began an examination of the end of the cellar under the express +office. And the exit was soon disclosed. + +The dividing wall was of boarding, and at the outer end, to facilitate +the examination of the gas metres of the two companies, was a narrow +door. Ordinarily this door was secured on the telegraph company's side by +a strong bolt. + +The bolt was drawn, and the door swung easily to Jack's touch! + +On the farther side all was darkness, however, and Jack returned to the +window. As he approached it something on the floor beneath caught his +eye. It was a lead-pencil. He picked it up, and with a cry of triumph +discovered stamped upon it the initials and miniature crest of the +express company. And, more, a peculiar long-pointed sharpening promised +the possibility of fixing its actual owner. + +Filled with elation, and confident that it was now only a matter of time +when he should clear himself, Jack hastened up-stairs, determined to +pursue his investigation next door, where he knew several of the younger +clerks. + +"Hello, Danny," he said, entering the express office, and addressing a +sandy-haired boy of his own age. "Say, who in here sharpens pencils like +this?" + +"Hello! That? Oh, I'd know that whittle a mile off. We call 'em +daggers--Smith's daggers. Where did you get it?" + +"Smith! Who wants Smith?" + +Jack turned with a start. It was the clerk himself. + +Instantly Jack extended the pencil. "Is this yours, Mr. Smith?" he asked, +and held his breath. + +"Yes, it is. Where did you find--" Suddenly the clerk turned upon Jack +with a look of terror in his face. But in a moment he had recovered +himself, and abruptly snatching the pencil from Jack's hand, proceeded to +his desk. + +Jack was jubilant. Nothing could have been more convincing of the clerk's +guilt. Following this feeling, however, came one of pity for the +unfortunate man; and after a silent debate with himself, Jack followed +him. + +Placing a hand on the clerk's shoulder, he said in a low voice: + +"Mr. Smith, I have found out about that cash-box of ours. Now look here, +why not confess the wretched business before it is too late, and--" + +The clerk spun about. "Cash-box! Business! What do you refer to?" + +"Mr. Smith, it was you took our cash-box last night." + +The clerk was colorless, but he only faltered an instant. "What nonsense +is this?" he demanded angrily. "I never heard of your cash-box. What do +you mean by--" + +"Well then, I'll tell you just how you did it," said Jack determinedly. +"While you were in Mr. Black's office yesterday afternoon he stepped out +and left you alone for a moment. The cash-box was on the table. You +immediately saw the opportunity (perhaps Hansen had done the same thing, +and put you onto it?)--you saw the opportunity, and threw over the box a +newspaper you had in your hand. As you had hoped, not seeing the box, Mr. +Black forgot it, and left at six o'clock without returning it to the +safe. You made sure of that by remaining about the outer office until he +left. And then, after midnight you came down to the office here, forced +an entrance into our cellar, and went up-stairs and secured the box. + +"I'm sorry--but isn't that so?" + +The clerk laughed drily. "The great Mr. Sherlock Holmes, junior!" he +remarked sarcastically. "Rubbish. Run away and don't bother me with your +silly detective theories," and turned back to his desk. + +Jack stood, baffled and surprised. + +[Illustration: THE CLERK WAS COLORLESS, BUT ONLY FALTERED AN INSTANT.] + +"Look here, Orr!" As Smith again spun about a hard look came into his +face. "Look here, how do you come to know so much about this business, +yourself? Eh?" + +Jack uttered an exclamation, and a sudden fear of the clerk came over +him. Was Smith thinking of trying to place the blame upon him? + +However, further discussion was clearly useless, and he turned away. + +The following morning brought quick proof that Jack's suddenly inspired +fear of Smith was too well founded. As he entered the telegraph office +Mr. Black called him and handed him a note. "Now what have you to say?" +he demanded solemnly. + +In a lead-pencil scrawl Jack read: + + "Mr. Black: Your yung operatur Orr can tell you sumthin about thet + cash box, he was showin the key of the box to sumone yesteday and i + saw him. Mebee you will finde the key in his offis cote. + + "Yours, a frend." + +"It is the key," said the manager, producing a small key on a ring. "I +recall having left it in the lock." + +Jack stood pale and speechless. Despite the disguised writing and poor +spelling, the letter was from Smith, he had not a doubt. But how could he +prove it? Truly matters were beginning to look serious for him. + +Quickly, however, Jack's natural spirit of fight-to-the-end returned to +him, and handing the letter back, he said, respectfully but determinedly, +"Mr. Black, I still hold you to your promise to give me a week in which +to prove my innocence. And I'll prove, too, sir, that this key was placed +in my pocket by someone else, probably by the one who really took the +box. I believe I know who it is, but I'll prove it first." + +Reluctantly the manager consented, for he now firmly believed at least in +Jack's complicity; and leaving him, Jack sought the operating-room, to +spend every spare moment in turning the matter over in his mind. + +What next could he do? If only he could find the box! What would Smith +probably have done with it? For it seemed unlikely he would have taken it +away with him. Might he not, after removing the money, have hidden it in +the cellar? Jack determined to search there; and accordingly, at noon, +hastening through his lunch, he descended and began a systematic hunt +amid the odds and ends filling the basement. + +The first noon-hour's search brought no result. The second day, returning +to the task somewhat dispiritedly, Jack began overhauling a pile of old +cross-pieces. There was a squeak, and a rat shot out. + +In a moment Jack was in hot pursuit with a stick. The rat ran toward the +old furnace, and disappeared. At the spot an instant after, Jack found a +hole in the brick foundation, and thrust the stick into it. The stick +caught, he pulled, and several bricks fell out. + +Dropping to his knees, Jack peered into the opening. A cry broke from +him, and thrusting in a hand he grasped something, and drew it forth. + +It was the lost cash-box! + +Uttering a shout of triumph, Jack leaped to his feet and started on a run +for the stair. But suddenly he halted. After all, was he absolutely sure +it was Smith who had placed it there? Would the producing of the box +prove it? + +The question, which had not before occurred to Jack, startled him. + +As he stood thinking, half consciously he tried the cover of the box. To +his surprise it gave. He opened it. And the box almost fell from his +hands. + +It still contained the money! And apparently untouched! + +But in a moment Jack thought he understood. Smith, or whoever it was, had +left it as a clever means of saving themselves from the worst in the +event of being found out, intending to return for it if the excitement +blew safely over. + +Then why not wait and catch them at it? + +Good. But how? + +Jack's inventive genius soon furnished the answer. "That's it! Great!" he +said to himself delightedly. "I'll get down and do it early in the +morning. And now I'll stick this back in the hole and fix the bricks up +again." + +Seven o'clock the following morning found Jack carrying out his plan. +First conveying to the cellar from the battery room two gravity-jars, he +placed them in a dark corner behind the furnace. Next, finding an old +lightning-arrester, he opened up the hiding-place, and arranged the +arrester beneath the cash-box in such a way that on the box being moved +the arrester arm would be released, fly back, and make a contact. Then, +having carefully closed the opening, he procured some fine insulated +wire, and proceeded to make up his circuit: From the arrester, out +beneath the bricks, around the furnace, to the battery; up the wall, and +through the floor by the steam-pipes into the business office; and, +running up-stairs and procuring a step-ladder, on up the office wall, +through the next floor, into the operating room. And there a few minutes +later he had connected the wires to a call-bell on a ledge immediately +behind the table at which he worked. And the alarm was complete. + +Although Jack knew that the clerk next door returned from his dinner a +half hour earlier than the others in the express office, he had little +expectation of Smith visiting the cash-box at that time. Nevertheless, as +the noon-hour drew near he found himself watching the alarm-bell with +growing excitement. + +"There might be just a chance of Smith visiting the box," he told +himself, "just to learn whether I had--" + +From behind him came a sharp "zip, zip," then a whirr. With a bound Jack +was on his feet and rushing for the door. Down the stairs he went, three +steps at a time, and into the manager's private office. + +[Illustration: "THERE!" SAID JACK, POINTING IN TRIUMPH.] + +"Mr. Black," he cried, "I've got the man who took the box! Down the +cellar! Quick! + +"I found the box, with the money still in it, and fixed up an alarm-bell +circuit to go off when he came for it," he explained hurriedly, as the +manager stared. In a moment Mr. Black was on his feet and hastening after +Jack toward the cellar stairway. + +Quietly they tiptoed down. They reached the bottom. + +"There!" Jack said, pointing in triumph. And looking, the manager beheld +Smith, the express clerk, on his knees beside the furnace, before him on +the floor the missing cash-box. + +Ten minutes later the manager of the express company, who had been called +in, passed out of Mr. Black's office with his clerk in charge, and the +telegraph manager, turning to Jack, warmly shook his hand. + +"I am more sorry than I can say to have placed the blame upon you, my +boy," he said sincerely. "And I am very thankful for the clever way you +cleared the mystery up. + +"You are quite a detective--sort of 'electrical detective'--aren't you?" +he added, smiling. + +And for some time, about the office, and even over the wires, Jack went +by that name--the "Electrical Detective." + + + + +VI + +JACK HAS HIS ADVENTURE + + +One afternoon a few days following the affair of the missing cash-box +Manager Black appeared in the Hammerton operating room, and after a +consultation with the chief operator, called Jack Orr from his wire. + +"Jack," said the manager, "there have been some important developments in +the big will case on trial out at Oakton, and the 'Daily Star' has asked +for a fast operator to send in their story to-night. The chief tells me +you have developed into a rapid sender. Would you care to go?" + +"I'd be glad of the opportunity, sir," said Jack, delightedly. + +"All right. The chief will let you off now, so you will have plenty of +time to catch the seven o'clock train. And now, Jack, do your best, for +the 'Morning Bulletin' is sending its news matter in by the other +telegraph company, and we don't want them to get ahead of us in any way." + +When Jack reached the station, several of the newspaper men, including +West of the "Star," already were there. Among them he saw Raub, a +reporter of the "Bulletin," and with him Simpson, an operator of the +opposition telegraph company. + +"Why, hello, kid!" said the latter on seeing Jack. "They are not sending +you out to Oakton, are they?" + +"They are," responded Jack, with pride. Simpson laughed, and, somewhat +indignant, Jack passed on down the platform. On turning back, he noticed +Simpson and Raub apart, talking earnestly. As he again neared them, both +glanced toward him, and abruptly the conversation ceased. At once Jack's +suspicions were aroused, for he knew Raub had the name of being very +unscrupulous in news-getting matters, and that Simpson was not much +better. He determined to watch them. + +But nothing further attracted his attention, and finally, the train +arriving, they boarded it, and made a quick run of the ten miles to the +little village. There Jack headed for the local telegraph office. + +He found it a tiny affair, in a small coal office on the southern +outskirts of the village. Introducing himself to the elderly lady +operator, who was just leaving, he went to the key and announced his +arrival to the chief at Hammerton. + +It was an hour later when West, the "Star" reporter, appeared. "Here you +are, youngster," said he; "a thousand words for a starter. It's going to +be a great story. I'll be back in half an hour with another batch." + +Promptly Jack called "H," and soon was clicking away in full swing. But +suddenly the instruments ceased to respond. The wire had "opened." Jack +tested with his earth connection, and finding the opening was to the +south, waited, thinking the receiving operator at Hammerton had opened +his key. But minute after minute passed, and finally becoming anxious, he +cut off the southern end and began calling "B," the terminal office to +the north. + +"I, I," said B. + +"Get H on another wire and ask him what is wrong here," Jack sent +quickly. "We are being held up on some very important stuff." + +"H says it is open north of him," announced B, returning. "We are putting +in a set of repeaters here, so you can reach him this way." + +A moment later Jack heard Hammerton calling him from the north, and in +another moment he was again sending rapidly. + +But scarcely had Jack sent a hundred words when this wire also suddenly +failed. When several minutes again passed and no further sound came, Jack +leaned back in despair. Suddenly he sat upright. Raub and Simpson! Was it +possible this was their work? Was it possible they had cut the wires? + +Quickly he made a test which would show whether the breaks were near him. +Adjusting the relay-magnets near the armature, he clicked the key. There +was not the faintest response. Switching the instruments to the southern +end of the wire, he repeated the test, with the same result. + +On both ends the break was within a short distance of him. Undoubtedly +the wires had been cut! + +Jack sprang to his feet and seized his hat. "I'll find that southern +break if I have to walk half-way to Hammerton," he said determinedly, and +leaving the office, set off down the moonlit road, his eyes fixed on the +wire overhead. + +Scarcely a mile distant Jack uttered an exclamation, and, running +forward, caught up the severed end of the telegraph line. + +A moment's examination of the wire showed it had been cut through with a +sharp file. + +Yes; undoubtedly it was the work of Raub and Simpson, in an effort to +keep the news from the "Star," and score a "beat" for the opposition +telegraph company and the "Morning Bulletin." + +"But you haven't done it yet," said Jack grimly, turning to look about +him. How could he overcome the break in the wire? As the cut had been +made close to the glass insulator on the cross-arm, only one of the two +ends hung to the ground, and he saw that he could not splice them. And in +any case he could not climb the pole and take that heavy stretch of wire +with him. + +His eyes fell on a barb-wire fence bordering the road, and like an +inspiration Alex Ward's feat with the rails at Hadley Corners occurred to +him. Could he not do the same thing with one of the fence wires? Connect +this end of the telegraph line (and fortunately it was the Hammerton +end), say to the upper strand, then run back to the office and string a +wire from the fence in to the instruments? + +To think was to act. Dragging the telegraph wire to the fence, Jack +looped it over the topmost strand near one of the posts, and wound it +about several times, to ensure a good contact. Then on the run he started +back for the telegraph office. + +As he neared the little building Jack saw a figure within. Thinking the +"Star" reporter had returned with further copy, he quickened his steps. +At the doorway he halted in consternation. Instead of the reporter were +two desperate-looking characters, and on the table beside them a +half-emptied bottle and a large revolver. + +Jack hesitated a moment, then stepped inside. "What are you men doing +here?" he demanded. + +"Oh, hello, kiddo! We are the new operators," said one of them with tipsy +humor. "You're discharged, see? And you git, too!" he suddenly shouted, +catching up the pistol. And promptly Jack "got." A few yards distant, +however, he halted. Now what was he to do? + +"Oh here you are, eh? Where have you been?" It was West, the "Star" man, +and he spoke angrily. "I was here ten minutes ago, and found the office +empty, and if the other company could have handled my stuff yours would +have lost it. I've just been--" + +Interrupting, Jack hastily explained, telling of the severed wire, and +his plan to bridge the break. The reporter uttered an indignant +exclamation. "It's Raub's work, sure as you're born," he said hotly. + +"But say, youngster, we can't permit ourselves to be beaten this way. +Can't we do something?" + +"We might get some help, and drive the roughs out," suggested Jack. + +"No; we haven't time. And then they might put up a drunken fight and +shoot somebody. Come, think of something else. You surely can get over +this new difficulty, after your clever idea for getting around the cut in +the wire." + +"I don't know," replied Jack doubtfully, glancing toward the office +window. "If there was any way of getting the instruments--" + +"What could you do with them?" + +"We could turn the barn there into an office. I'd run connections out +through the back to the fence. It's just behind." + +"Say--I've an idea then! If it wouldn't take you long to remove the +instruments from the table?" + +"Only a couple of minutes." + +"Come on," said West. Leading the way back toward the office, he +explained, "I'll get these beggars out, you hide round the corner, and +soon as the way is clear rush in and get your instruments, and duck for +the barn. I'll join you later." + +"How are you going to get them out?" whispered Jack. + +"Watch," said the reporter. + +As Jack drew out of sight about the rear of the building his +mystification was added to when he saw West pause before the door, stoop +and pick up a handful of gravel. But immediately the reporter entered the +doorway and spoke his purpose was explained. + +"Hello, you two big rummies," he said in his most offensive tones. "What +are you doing here?" + +The two men were in a momentarily genial mood, however, and missed the +insult. "Why, hello pard, ol' man," responded one of them cordially. +"Come in an' make 'self t' home. Wanta buy a telegraph office? Cheap?" + +"Cheap! You are the cheapest article I see here," replied West, yet more +insultingly. "What do you mean by sitting down in respectable chairs? You +ought to be tied up in a cow-stable. That's where you belong." + +There was an angry growl as the two men scrambled to their feet, and +peering about the corner Jack saw West back into the door. + +"Come on out, you big, overgrown cowards," shouted the reporter. "I'll +thrash the both of you, with one hand tied behind me! + +"And take that!" + +With his last words West suddenly threw the gravel full in the faces of +the now enraged men, and spinning about, raced off down the road. They +stumbled forth, shouting with rage, and one of them fired. The bullet +went yards wide, and West ran on. Without further wait Jack darted into +the office, in a few minutes had the relay and key from the table, +secured some spare ends of wire for connections, and sped for the barn. + +[Illustration: LOOPED IT OVER THE TOPMOST STRAND, NEAR ONE OF THE POSTS.] + +There all was darkness. Entering, a search with matches soon produced a +lantern, however. Lighting it, Jack stepped without to discover whether +its glimmer could be seen from the direction of the office. As he closed +the door West appeared, panting and laughing. + +"Well, what do you think of that stunt, youngster?" he chuckled. "Did you +get the instruments?" + +"Yes. I was out here to learn whether the light of a lantern I found +could be seen." + +"Good head! No; it doesn't show. + +"And come on! Here the beggars are again!" West led the way inside, and +closed the door behind them. + +"Now what, my boy?" + +"A table first. Here, the very thing," said Jack, making towards a long +feed-box at the rear of the barn. + +As they cleared its top of a pile of harness West asked, "Just what is +the scheme here, youngster? I don't think I understand it." + +"Oh, simple enough. I'll just run the wires out through that knot-hole, +and connect one to the fence and the other to the ground." + +"Simple! It looks different to me," declared the reporter admiringly. +"All right, go ahead. I'll get down on this box and grind out the rest of +my story." + +Already Jack was at work sorting over the odd pieces of wire he had +brought. Finding two suitable lengths, and straightening them out, he +quickly connected them to the instruments, placed the instruments in a +convenient position on the top of the box, and thrust the wire ends +through the knot-hole. Then, hastening outside to the rear of the barn, +he proceeded to connect one of them to the same strand of the fence wire +to which the telegraph line was secured a mile distant. The other he +drove deep into the damp earth beneath the edge of the building. And, +theoretically, the circuit was complete. + +Hurriedly he re-entered the barn to learn the result. + +"Well?" said West anxiously. + +"There is current, but it's too weak." Jack's voice quavered with his +disappointment. "I suppose the rusty splices of that old fence offer too +much resistance. + +"But I'm not beaten yet," he exclaimed, suddenly recovering his +determination. Turning from the box, he began pacing up and down the +floor. "I'll figure it out somehow if I--oh!" With the cry Jack darted +for the door, out, and toward the office. + +The intoxicated roughs were again in possession. Quietly he made his way +to a dark window adjoining the lighted window of the operating room--the +window of a little store-room, where, the local operator had told him, +the batteries were located. + +The window was unlocked, and with little difficulty he succeeded in +raising it. Cautiously he climbed within, and feeling about, found the +row of glass jars. Quickly disconnecting two of them, he carried them to +the window-sill, clambered out, and hastened with them to the barn. + +"Now I've got it, Mr. West!" he cried. "I'll have H again in fifteen +minutes!" + +West started to his feet. "Can't I help you?" + +"All right. Come on," said Jack. And ten minutes later, working like +beavers, they had transferred to the barn the entire office battery of +twenty cells. + +In nervous haste Jack connected the cells in series, then to the wire. +Instantly the instrument closed with a solid click. + +"Hurrah! We win! We win!" cried West, and Jack, springing to the key, +whirled off a succession of H's. "H, H, H, ON! Rush! H, H--" + +"I, I, H! Where have you been? What's the matter?" It was the chief, and +the words came sharply and angrily. + +"The wire was cut both sides of the village," shot back Jack. "I think it +was Raub and Simpson's work. And two roughs chased me out of the office +with a revolver. Hired by them, I suppose. I've fixed up an office in the +barn, and am sending for a mile through a wire fence, to bridge the cut. +Orr." + +For a moment the chief was too amazed to reply. Then rapidly he said: +"Orr, you are a trump! But come ahead with that report now. And make the +best time you ever made in your life. I'll copy you myself." + +And there, in a corner of the big barn, by the dim light of the lantern, +and to the strange accompaniment of munching cattle and restlessly +stamping horses, West wrote as though his life depended upon it, and Jack +sent as he had never sent before. And exactly an hour later the young +operator sent "30" (the end) to one of the speediest feats of press work +on that year's records of the Hammerton office. + +Though it was 3 A. M. when Jack got back to Hammerton, he found the chief +operator at the station to meet him. "I had to come down, to congratulate +you," said the chief. "That was one of the brightest bits of work +all-round that I've heard of for years." + +"But did we beat them?" asked Jack. + +"We assuredly did. For didn't you know? Those two roughs later went up +and cleaned out the other office--the very men who had hired them to +disable us! And what with having had a slow-working wire previously, the +'Bulletin' didn't get in more than five hundred words. We gave the 'Star' +over three solid columns." + +The manager's congratulation the following morning was as enthusiastic as +that of the chief. "And as a practical appreciation, Jack," he added, "we +are going to give you a full month's vacation, with salary. We think you +earned it." + +When Jack returned to his wire one of the first remarks he heard was from +Alex Ward, at Bixton. + +"Well, old boy," clicked Alex, "your adventure came, didn't it. And it +has me beaten to a standstill." + +[Illustration: THERE, IN THE CORNER OF THE BIG BARN, JACK SENT AS HE +HAD NEVER SENT BEFORE.] + +"Nonsense. It was your stunt at Hadley Corners that suggested the trick +that got me out of it," declared Jack. "But say, the manager has given me +a month's vacation. What do you think of that?" + +"He did! Look here," sent Alex quickly, "come to Bixton and spend some of +it with me. I'll promise you all kinds of a good time. Though I am not +sure I can guarantee anything as exciting as last night's work," he +added. + +Jack readily accepted the invitation. And, as it turned out, Alex might +as well have made his promise. He could have kept it. + + + + +VII + +A RACE THROUGH THE FLAMES + + +The fall had been an exceptionally dry one in that section of the middle +west, and in consequence several forest fires had occurred, several not +far from Bixton. Thus, when a few mornings following Jack's arrival he +and Alex proposed a visit to the old house in the woods where Alex had +had his thrilling experience with the foreign trackmen, Mrs. Ward +objected. + +"You know there was a fire but five miles west yesterday, Alex," she +said. + +"But that was only in the grass along the track, Mother, and the +section-men soon had it out. They are watching everywhere. And on the +first sign of smoke we will light for home like good fellows--won't we, +Jack?" he promised. Somewhat reluctantly Mrs. Ward finally consented, and +gave the boys a lunch, and they set off to make a day of it. + +Paying a visit first to the abandoned brick-yard, it was noon when Jack +and Alex emerged from the woods at the rear of the deserted old cabin. + +"So that's it!" exclaimed Jack with keen interest as they went forward. +"And up there is the very door you dropped from, I suppose?" + +"Yes, that is it. Still half open, too--just as I left it. And over there +is the barn and cow-stable. But let us have lunch first, and I'll explain +everything afterward," Alex said, leading the way toward the house. "I am +as hollow as a bass-drum." + +Ten minutes later, sitting on the cabin floor just within the doorway, +eating and chatting, the two boys became suddenly silent, and sniffed at +the air. With an exclamation both leaped to their feet, and to the door. + +Rolling from the trees at the southern border of the clearing was a white +bank of smoke. The woods were on fire! + +"Which way?" cried Jack, as they sprang forth. "The railroad?" + +Alex darted to the corner of the house and glanced about. "No! The wind +has swung to the southwest! We'd never make it! North, for the +brick-yard! Come on! + +"If we are cornered there, we can swim the river," he explained as they +ran. "The fire isn't likely to cross the water." + +They reached the trees, and immediately found themselves in a madly +frightened procession. At their feet scurried rabbits, squirrels, +chipmunks. A fox flashed by within a yard of them. Overhead, birds +screamed and called in terror. + +On they dashed, and a ghostly yellow light began to envelop them. "The +smoke overhead," said Alex. "It will soon be down here, too." + +"I smell it," panted Jack a moment later. Soon they began to feel it in +their eyes. + +Jack began to lag. "How much farther, Alex?" he gasped. + +"Only a short distance, now. Yes, here we are," announced Alex, as +brighter light appeared ahead of them. A moment after they broke into the +clearing. + +Without slackening pace Alex headed for the old semaphore. "From up there +we can see just how we stand," he explained. Almost exhausted, they +reached it, and Alex ran up the ladder. Scrambling onto the little +platform, he turned toward the river, two hundred yards distant. A cry +broke from him. + +"We are cut off! The fire has crossed the river!" + +Jack hastily clambered up beside him, and above the tree-tops beyond the +river he beheld a gray-white cloud. + +The boys gazed at one another with paling faces. "What shall we do?" +asked Jack. + +Alex shook his head. "We might swim the river, and try a dash for it. It +is two miles out of the woods, but there might be a chance." + +"We couldn't do it. We're too nearly exhausted. + +"How about staying right in the river, by the bank?" Jack suggested. +"I've heard of people doing that." + +"It is too deep here, and it's awfully cold. We would chill and cramp in +no time. + +"No; I tell you," went on Alex suddenly. "We'll try one of the old tile +ovens on the other side of the yard. Perhaps we can box ourselves up in +one of them." + +There was no time to lose, for the clearing was now blue with smoke, and +climbing hastily to the ground, the boys were again off on the run. They +reached the group of round-topped ovens. + +A glance showed that their hope was futile. All about the furnaces were +thickets of dead weeds, and a short distance away, and directly to +windward, was a huge pile of light brushwood. + +Promptly Alex turned back. "We would be smothered or roasted in five +minutes," he declared. "No. It is the water, or nothing. Perhaps we can +work it by floating on a log." + +As they approached the river, the boys crossed the old yard siding. +Stumbling over the rails, partially blinded with the now stinging smoke, +both suddenly ran into something, and fell in a heap. Scrambling to their +feet, they found an old push-car, with low sides. + +Alex uttered a cry. "Jack, why can't we make a dash down the spur with +this old car--pushing it? And say, couldn't we lift it onto the main-line +rails, and run all the way home?" + +Jack hesitated. "Look there," he said, pointing to the wall of smoke into +which the track disappeared a hundred yards away. "And wouldn't there be +burned-down trees across the rails?" + +"No; not yet. The fire hasn't been burning long enough. And as to the +smoke, it'll soon be just as bad on the river," Alex declared. + +"All right. Let us try it. But first, let us jump in the river and get +good and wet," suggested Jack. + +"Good idea! Come on! + +"Or; wait!" exclaimed Alex. "Another idea. There is an old rubbish pile +just over here, and a lot of tin cans. Let us get some, and fill them +with water--to keep our handkerchiefs wet, to breathe through." + +They turned aside, quickly found and secured several empty cans each, and +ran on. Reaching the water, they dropped the cans on the bank, and +plunged in bodily. + +As Alex had said, the water was intensely cold, and despite the relief to +their eyes from the smoke, they clambered out again immediately, hastily +filled the tins, and only pausing to tie their dripping handkerchiefs +over their mouths, dashed back for the siding. + +"You help me start her, Jack," directed Alex as they placed the cans of +water in the forward end of the car, "and when we reach the edge of the +woods, jump in. I'll run it the first spell, then you can relieve me. +That way we can keep it going at a good clip. + +"All ready? Let her go!" With bowed heads they threw themselves against +the little car, the rusty wheels began to screech; rapidly they gained +headway, and soon were on the run. + +They neared the smoke-hidden border of the clearing. + +[Illustration: WITH A RUSH THEY DASHED INTO THE WALL OF SMOKE.] + +"Jump in, Jack!" cried Alex. Jack sprang over the tail-board and threw +himself flat on his face, and with a rush they dashed into the wall of +smoke. + +Rumbling and screeching, the car sped onward. Alex began to feel the +heat. Suddenly it swept over them like the breath of a furnace, and there +came a mighty roar. + +They were in the midst of the flames. + +"Are you all right, Alex?" cried Jack. + +"Yes." A moment later, however, Alex too sprang into the car, as he did +so tearing off his handkerchief and stuffing it into one of the +water-cans. "I couldn't have held on another minute," he choked. "I +believe the handkerchief was burning." + +Jack prepared to climb out to take Alex's place. + +"No! Lay still!" interposed Alex. "The car will run by itself here. +There's a down grade." + +Jack dropped back thankfully. "Isn't it awful," he gasped. "My eyes are +paining as though they would burst." + +On rushed the car down the roaring, crackling tunnel of flames, groaning +and screeching like a mad thing. Tongues of fire began to lick over the +sides of the car at the cringing boys within. + +Faster the car went. Presently it began to rock. "She'll be off the +track!" cried Jack at last. + +"Lie farther over!" directed Alex above the roar, himself moving in the +opposite direction. The rearrangement steadied the car slightly, but +still it rocked and plunged on the long unused track so that at times the +boys' hearts leaped into their throats. + +The heat was now terrific. The floor and sides of the car began to +blister and crack. + +"We can't stand it much longer! We'll be cooked!" coughed Jack. + +"Empty one of the cans over your head," Alex shouted. "Keep up a few +minutes longer, and we will be over the worst. It is the leaves and brush +that are making the heat, and we'll soon be where they have burned out. + +"I think we are over the worst of it now," he announced a moment later. +"There's not so much crackling; and I don't think it is so hot." + +Simultaneously the car began to leap less wildly, then perceptibly to +slow up. Alex at once prepared to climb out again. "I'll give her another +run," he said. But promptly Jack pressed him back. "No you don't! I'm +going to take my turn." And in another moment he was out in the full +glare of the still shrivelling heat, rushing the car on at the top of his +speed. A hundred yards he drove it, and scrambled back within, gasping +for breath. Emptying one of the remaining cans over Jack's head, Alex +sprang out and took his place. + +A moment after, they struck a slight up grade. Alex uttered a joyful +shout. "Only a short run farther, Jack, and we're out of the woods!" + +But immediately he followed this glad announcement with one of new alarm. + +"The washout! I'd forgotten it! It's just ahead! The rails there almost +hang in the air!" + +In a panic Alex slowed up. Jack climbed out beside him. "Let us rush it," +he suggested. "The rails may hold--like a bridge. We're not heavy. And we +may as well take one more chance." + +Alex debated. "All right! Come on! And jump quick when I say! I think I +can tell when we are near it." + +Once more the car was flying onward through the haze. + +"Here we come! _Now!_" + +With a bound Jack was back in the car. Alex made a final rush, and sprang +after. The car dipped forward and sideways, a breathless instant seemed +to hang in mid-air, then righted, and shot forward smoothly. Uttering a +hoarse shout of joy, the boys leaped out, and were again running the car +ahead, and a moment later gave vent to a second and louder cry. + +In their faces blew the cooler air of a clearing. + +A few yards farther they halted. + +"I can't see a thing. Can't open them," declared Jack, as they stood +rubbing their eyes, and recovering their breath. + +"Neither can I. Give me your hand, and we'll soon fix it. There is a path +here down to the water." Feeling with his foot, Alex found it, and +pulling Jack after, hastened down, and in another moment both were on +their stomachs on the river-bank, their faces deep in the cooling water. + +Ten minutes later, greatly revived, but with faces and hands intensely +smarting from their burns, the boys replenished the cans of water--for +they still had a two miles' run through the smother of smoke--and lifted +the car onto the main-line rails. + +As they did so, from far to the west came a whistle. + +"A train! Can't we stop her?" suggested Jack. + +"They'd never see us in the smoke." + +"Then, say, let us throw the old car across the tracks, so they'll strike +it. They would probably stop to see what it was." + +"It might derail her. No. I've got it. Come on, and get the car started +so she'll cross the bridge, and I'll explain." + +"Now," said Jack, as they rolled out on the trestle. + +"You remember the steep grade just over the bridge? Well, we'll stop +about fifty yards this side, wait till the train whistles the last +crossing, then hit it up for all we are worth, and--" + +"And let the train catch us?" cried Jack. "But, gracious! won't that be +taking an awful chance?" + +"No, for she won't be going very fast, on account of the curve at the +bottom, and we'll be going like a house afire," declared Alex, +confidently. "And when she bunts us, we'll jump for her cow-catcher, and +five minutes later we'll be out in the glorious fresh air again." + +[Illustration: CLOSER CAME THE ROARING MONSTER.] + +"Well, all right. If you are willing to take the risk, I am," said Jack. + +They reached the spot designated by Alex, and brought the car to a stand. + +Again came the whistle of the train. "Ready!" cried Alex. "The next +time!" + +It came. Like sprinters they threw themselves at the car, and in a few +strides were racing down the rails at full speed; reached the head of the +grade, and sprang over the tail-board just as the train rumbled onto the +bridge. + +Downward they shot, gaining momentum at every turn of the wheels. + +"Whe-ew! But we're taking an awful chance," said Jack, nervously. + +"No. Listen to her brakes," said Alex. + +Despite his assurance, when, a moment later, the great engine suddenly +appeared out of the smoke and came thundering down upon them, Alex +faltered, and, with Jack, nervously clutched the sides of the little car. +But dashing on unrestrained, they yet further increased their mad speed, +and for a few seconds seemed even to be holding their own with the mighty +mogul. + +Then the great engine began eating up the distance between them, and the +boys gathered themselves together for the supreme moment. + +Closer came the roaring monster. "Now, don't jump," cautioned Alex, who +had regained his nerve. "Wait until she is just going to hit us, then +fall forward and grab the brace--that rod there. + +"Here she comes! Ready! _Now!_" + +With a jolt the engine hit the car, and in an instant the boys fell +forward, grasped a smoke-box brace, and in another moment had scrambled +to the top of the cow-catcher. + +And they were safe! + +When, ten minutes later, the train came to a standstill at Bixton, the +engineer suddenly felt his hair rise on end as two wildly unkempt and +blackened figures appeared slowly dismounting from the front of his +engine, and stumbled across the station platform. But the shout of joy +which greeted them told they were no ghosts. + +"Although I think we weren't far from it, were we, Jack?" said Alex, at +home a few minutes after, when his mother made a similar comparison. + +"I hope I'll not be as near it again for a long time to come," said Jack, +earnestly. + + + + +VIII + +THE SECRET TELEGRAM + + +"Alex, will you work for me three or four hours to-night?" requested the +Bixton night operator of Alex one evening late in October. "I have just +had an invitation to a surprise party at Brodies', and wouldn't care to +miss it." + +Alex agreed willingly. "I'll be right in line then for the latest news of +the chase," he declared. For an attempt had been made that morning to rob +the Farmers' Savings Bank at Zeisler, a posse had been sent from Bixton +to aid in the pursuit of the robbers, and reports from the hunt were +being anxiously looked for. + +"Take care you don't get in line for any bullets," laughed the operator +as he left. "It's your weakness, you know, to get mixed up in any +excitement that's going on within a mile of you." + +To Alex's disappointment hour after hour passed, however, and brought no +further word, either of the pursued, or the pursuers. Finally, just +before midnight, hearing Zeisler "come in" on the wire to report the +passing of a freight, Alex reached for the key, determined to inquire. + +As he did so footsteps sounded on the silent platform without, the +waiting-room door opened, and two strangers appeared at the ticket-window. +Glancing in, they turned to the office door, and entered. + +"Hello, youngster," said the taller of the two, cordially, leaning over +the parcel-counter. "What's the news from the man-hunt?" + +"I was going to ask Zeisler just as you came in," replied Alex, turning +again to the key. + +"Well, never mind, then. Just tell them they were captured here, +instead." + +"What! Captured here?" exclaimed Alex. + +"That's it. About an hour ago, just north, by the Bloomsbury posse. +Sheriff O'Brien sent us down with the news, so you could send word up and +down the line and call in the other posses. No need of them plugging +around all night." + +But, instead of complying, Alex suddenly turned more fully toward the two +men. "What posse did you say you were with?" + +"Bloomsbury! Bloomsbury!" said the smaller man, impatiently. + +"Bloomsbury! Don't you mean Bloomsburg?" + +"Well, what thundering difference--" The taller man flashed a warning +gesture, and in an instant Alex understood. + +_He was face to face with the bank robbers themselves!_ + +For a moment he stared from one to the other in consternation. Then, +sharply recovering himself, he turned quickly back to the key. But he was +too late. He had betrayed his discovery. + +Both men laughed. "Your surmise is correct, my young friend," said the +taller man, lightly. "We are the gentlemen who were forced to leave +Zeisler so hurriedly this morning. + +"But don't let that make any difference," he continued, producing a +revolver and placing it significantly on the counter before him. "Go +right ahead with the message. + +"Or wait, give me a blank, and I'll write it, so you will be sure to have +it right." + +"Oh, hold on," interposed his companion. "Now that he knows who we are, +how do you know he will send the message as you write it, and not just +the other thing--give us away?" + +The first speaker threw down his pen. "Well, I'm an idiot. That's so." + +He thought a moment, then, turning toward Alex, eyed him sharply an +instant, and said: "Youngster, I'll give you a dollar a word if you will +give me your solemn promise to send this message just as I write it." + +A bare instant Alex hesitated, while the tempter whispered that it would +mean thirty or forty dollars for a few minutes' work, and that everyone +would take it for granted he had been compelled to send it. Then abruptly +he leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "I couldn't do it," he +said quietly but positively. + +"Oh, you couldn't, eh, Goody-goody?" exclaimed the smaller man, with a +snarl, catching up the revolver and pointing it at Alex's head. "Now +could you do it?" + +The taller man caught his arm. "Don't be a fool, Jake. After all, we +couldn't be sure he wasn't fooling us even if he took the money. + +"Look here, I have a scheme." + +They stepped back and spoke together in low tones for a moment; then the +taller turned again to Alex, who meantime had remained quiet in his +chair, futilely endeavoring to think of some means of spreading the +alarm. + +"I suppose you are not the only operator at this station, kid?" + +"No; there is a day and a night operator. I am only 'subbing' for the +night man," responded Alex, wondering. + +"Where is he?" + +"At a party." + +"Where is the day man?" + +"At his boarding-house. But you couldn't get either of them to do it," +Alex declared confidently, thinking he had caught the drift of their +purpose. + +"Never mind what we could or what we couldn't. Where does the day +operator board? Is it far?" + +Momentarily Alex had a mind to refuse to tell; then, on the thought that +suspicion might be aroused if one of the robbers went to rout the day man +out, he replied, "About a quarter of a mile," and described how the house +could be reached. + +Again the two men held a whispered consultation, and at its conclusion +the smaller man hurriedly left. + +"Now I suppose you are wondering what we propose doing with the day +operator," said the tall man, with a grin, when they were alone. "Well, +it's so good I think I'll tell you. One of the cleverest getaway schemes +you ever heard of, and my own idea. Can you guess?" + +Alex shook his head. "If it's not to send the message--and which I know +he won't--I don't know." + +The robber laughed. "You are going to send the message, and he is going +to stand just outside the door here and tell us letter by letter just +what you make the instruments say. See?" + +Alex uttered an exclamation. And, strange as it may seem, it was not +entirely of chagrin, for the striking originality and ingenuity of the +plan immediately appealed to his own peculiar genius for getting over +difficulties. + +"And then," continued the talkative safe-breaker, "we will tie you both +in your chairs, cut the wires, then flag the night express, and depart +for the East like respectable citizens, and by the time you have been +found and the wires restored we will be well out of danger. + +"Now, I claim there is some class to that scheme. What?" + +Despite himself, Alex could not forbear a smile, even while he at once +saw that to defeat the plan would be almost an impossibility. +Nevertheless, as the bank robber turned his attention to a time-table, +Alex determinedly addressed his wits to the problem. + +Presently, as he sat looking at the telegraph instruments for an +inspiration, he started. That last First of April joke he had played on +his father! The cut-off arrangement of wires was still in place beneath +the instrument table! Could he not use it? + +He determined to see whether the connections were still in order. +Fortunately he was sitting close to the table, with his feet beneath. +Making a move as though tired of his position, he crossed one foot over +the other, and sank a little lower in the chair. Then, the change having +brought no comment from the man at the counter, he carefully reached out +the upper foot, found the two wires and pressed them together. +Immediately came a click from the instruments. + +It was in working order! With hope Alex at once addressed himself to its +possibilities, and soon a suggestion came. "Yes, I believe I could do +it," he told himself with satisfaction. "I'll make a try anyway. So much +for never giving up." + +At that moment the footfalls of the returning robber and those of another +sounded on the platform without. Both men were talking, and as they +entered the waiting-room Alex heard the evidently still unsuspecting +Jones say: "Funny, though. I never heard of the boy being troubled with +his heart before." + +[Illustration: "COME ON! COME ON!" EXCLAIMED THE MAN IN THE +DOORWAY.] + +The next moment Jones's casual tones changed to a sharp cry of fright, +and Alex knew that the robber had revealed himself. "Now you keep your +tongue between your teeth, and do exactly what you are told, young man, +or you get this! You understand? + +"Now turn about--your back toward the office door--so." The door was +flung open, and the robber appeared standing sideways, his gun in his +hand, pointing at the day operator, who was just out of Alex's sight. + +"Now what you are to do is to read off letter by letter what this young +shaver in here sends on the wire. You are a tab on him. You understand?" + +In a trembling voice Jones responded in the affirmative. + +"And the first one of you who appears to do anything not straight and +aboveboard gets daylight through his head," he added, raising his voice +for Alex's benefit. Then, addressing his partner, he said: "Give the kid +the message, Bill." + +The tall man leaned over the counter and tossed the blank on the table +before Alex. + +"Who will I send it to first?" asked Alex. + +"The sheriff, Watson Siding." + +"All right. But first, you know, I have to call him," explained Alex, +somewhat nervously, now that the critical moment had come. "His call is +WS." + +Therewith he began slowly calling, that Jones might read off each letter +as he sent it, "WS, WS, WS, BX." + +"WS, WS--" + +"I, I," answered WS. + +"WS answers," interpreted Jones. + +Steadying himself with a deep breath, Alex proceeded to carry out his +plan. Carefully reaching forth with his foot beneath the table, he +pressed the two wires together, then loudly clicked his key. The +instruments, thus "cut out," of course failed to respond. + +"The wire appears to have opened," announced Jones. "Probably the man at +WS has opened his key while getting a blank or a pen." + +Again Alex clicked the key as though in a futile effort to send, then +leaving it open, thus holding the instruments on the table "dead," began +ticking his foot against the impromptu key beneath the table. + +And while the instruments at Bixton remained momentarily silent, the +surprised operator at Watson Siding read in draggy but decipherable +signals the words: + +"Read every other word." + +"Come on! Come on!" exclaimed the man in the doorway, turning +suspiciously. Immediately Alex withdrew his foot and closed the key, and +at the resulting audible click Jones announced: "The wire has closed. He +can send now." + +"All right. Come ahead," commanded the short man, impatiently. + +Then very deliberately, with a pause after each word, seemingly to enable +Jones to interpret, but really to give himself time to send another word, +unheard, beneath the table, Alex sent on the key, and Jones read aloud, +the following message: + + "Sheriff, + + "Watson Siding: + + "Safe-blowers have been captured near here. Call in your posse. + + "(Signed) O'Brien, + + "Sheriff Quigg County." + +What the at first puzzled and then thunderstruck operator at Watson +Siding read off his instrument ran very differently. It read: + + "Safe THEY blowers ARE have HERE been IN captured STATION near + INTEND here. GOING call OUT in BY your NIGHT posse. EXPRESS. + + "(Signed) 'PHONE O'Brien, "BACK Sheriff HERE Quigg QUICK County." + +A moment after giving his "OK" the Watson Siding operator was at the +telephone calling for Bixton central. + +Meantime, having thus sent the message to WS to the bank-breakers' +satisfaction, Alex proceeded to call and send it by turns to Zeisler, +Hammerton, and other stations on the line. Sending slowly, to make the +most of his time, it was within fifteen minutes of the hour the express +was due when Alex had sent the last of the messages. + +"Now you can step in and see your friend," said the man in the doorway, +addressing Jones, who appeared, white and trembling, and coming behind +the counter, dropped into a chair facing Alex. The speaker then once more +disappeared, and presently an opening click of the instruments told the +nature of his errand. The wires had been cut. + +He soon returned, and rummaging about, while the taller man stood guard +over them, he found some ropes, and proceeded to bind Alex and the day +operator tightly in their chairs. + +Just as the task was completed there came a long-drawn whistle from the +west. Both robbers promptly turned to the door. "Well, good night, +gentlemen," said the smaller, grimly. "Much obliged for your kind +services." + +"And I would just pause to repeat," said the taller, jocosely, "that +there is some class to this getaway scheme, should any one ask you. Good +night." + +"_Yes, there is class--but it isn't first!_" + +Uttering a cry the two bank robbers staggered back from the door, and +with a bound the deputy sheriff and a constable were upon them, bore them +to the floor, and after a brief but terrific struggle disarmed and +handcuffed them. + +"Yes," said the sheriff, rising, and with his knife quickly freeing the +two prisoners, "there was class to it, but it was _second_. + +"Our young friend here takes '_first_.'" + +[Illustration: "HOW DID YOU DO IT, SMARTY?" SNAPPED THE SHORTER MAN.] + +The robbers turned upon Alex with furiously flashing eyes. "How did you +do it, smarty?" snapped the shorter man. + +Alex laughed, kicked one foot beneath the table, and the instrument +responded with a click. "A little First of April trick. What do you think +of it?" + +Whatever the two renegades might have said through their gritting teeth, +there was no doubt as to what the sheriff and the others thought. Nor the +bank officials at Zeisler, when, a day later, there came to Alex a highly +commendatory letter and a check for two hundred dollars. + +But better even than this, in Alex's estimation, a few mornings after the +chief despatcher called him to the wire and announced his appointment as +night operator at Foothills, a small town on the western division. + + + + +IX + +JACK PLAYS REPORTER, WITH UNEXPECTED RESULTS + + +Not long after Alex left Bixton to take up his duties at Foothills, Jack, +at Hammerton, also received an advancement. In itself it was not of +particular note, beyond an encouraging increase in salary, and a transfer +from the day to the night force; but indirectly it resulted in an +experience more thrilling than any Jack's genius for tackling adventurous +difficulties had yet brought him. + +Wheeling by the office of the "Daily Star" one afternoon, he heard his +name called, and turned his head to discover West, the reporter with whom +he had made the memorable Oakton trip, hastening after him. + +"Just the man I was looking for, Jack," declared West, as the young +operator wheeled to the curb. "I have a job for you. + +"How would you like to tackle a bit of Black Hand investigation?" + +Jack laughed. "You don't mean it." + +"I certainly do. It's this way," went on the reporter, lowering his +voice. "A Black Hand letter demanding money was received last week by +Tommy Spanelli, of the Italian restaurant. It was mailed here; and we +have the tip that last evening two foreigners were seen stealing across +the old quarry turnpike, and into the woods, as though not wishing to be +seen. Of course they may not be connected with this at all, but again +they may; and I was put on the job to find out. The difficulty is that I +am too well known. If they caught sight of me, they would be suspicious +immediately. + +"But they would never suspect a lad like you," West proceeded; "and I +know you could carry anything through that came along. So will you run +out there and investigate for me?" + +"Why, certainly. But just what shall I do?" Jack asked. + +"Wheel up and down the quarry turnpike for an hour or so, then, if you +have seen no one, beat around through the woods as far as the old stone +quarry. And any foreigners you come upon, take a good look at. That's +all. And drop in at the office here in the morning, and report." + +"That's easy. All right," agreed Jack readily. + +"Thank you. And keep the matter quiet, you know," West added. "We want an +exclusive story for the 'Star' if anything comes of it." + +"I understand. And, say," said Jack as he turned away, "I'll take my +camera, too. I may be able to get a snap of them, if I see anyone." + +"Good idea. A picture would help to land them, if they are the fellows we +want; and we could run it in the paper with our story. Go ahead, Jack, +and good luck." + +Jack was not long in wheeling home and securing his folding Brownie; and +a half hour later found him pedalling slowly along the quarry road near +the point several miles from the city where the suspicious foreigners had +been seen to enter the woods. + +An hour passed, however, and he had seen no doubtful characters, and +finally dismounting at the entrance to a path he knew to lead toward the +old stone quarry, Jack concealed his wheel in a thicket, and set off to +make an investigation in that direction. + +A moment after he came to a halt with a sharp exclamation. In the path at +his feet lay a murderous-looking stiletto. Picking it up, he examined it. +Yes; it was of foreign make. And the still damp mud stains on the side of +the blade which had lain uppermost showed it had been but recently +dropped. + +Apprehensively Jack cast a glance about him, almost immediately to utter +a second suppressed exclamation. Emerging from the woods on the opposite +side of the road was a short, dark man--undoubtedly an Italian. + +With beating heart Jack watched him. Was he one of the men he was looking +for? + +In the middle of the road the stranger halted, looked sharply to right +and left, and came quickly forward. Darting from the path Jack threw +himself on the ground behind a bush, and the next moment the man +hurriedly passed him. He was soon out of sight, and rising, Jack placed +the dagger carefully in an inside pocket, and determinedly set off after. + +Half a mile he followed the Italian amid the trees. Then there appeared +the light of an opening, and going forward more carefully, Jack found +himself on the edge of the quarry clearing. The foreigner was hurrying +along the brink of the excavation, evidently heading for a small +tumble-down cabin at its farther end. + +The man reached the shanty, and knocked. To Jack's surprise the door was +opened by a negro. + +Wonder at this was quickly forgotten, however, for as the door closed +from the woods behind Jack came the sound of voices, then an ejaculation +in Italian. A moment Jack stood, in consternation, believing he had been +seen. But a glance showed that the owners of the voices were yet out of +sight beyond a rise, and recalling his wits, Jack ran for a nearby clump +of elders. + +The voices came quickly nearer. Suddenly then, for the first time Jack +recalled the camera. At once came the suggestion to get a snap of the +newcomers as they stepped into the clearing. + +Jack glanced about him. A short distance away, and but a few feet from +the path, was a low, tent-like spruce. With instant decision he made for +it, drawing the camera from his pocket as he ran. + +Dropping to his knees, he wormed his way beneath the tree, and through to +the opposite side. Finding an aperture commanding the exit of the path, +he opened and focused the camera upon it. The next moment the two +Italians appeared. For the fraction of a second Jack hesitated, fearing +the click of the shutter might betray him. But he took the chance, there +was a crisp, low click--and he had them, and they had passed on. + +Chuckling with delight, Jack crept forth. What next? Looking toward the +shanty, he again saw the door opened by the negro. This decided him. +Replacing the camera in his pocket, he set off on a circuit through the +trees that would bring him back to the clearing immediately opposite the +shanty, determined if possible to reach it, and learn what was going on +inside. + +Without incident he made the point desired, and gazing from the cover of +a bush, discovered with satisfaction that the two hundred yards +separating him from his goal was dotted with small bushy spruce. More +important still, on that side of the cabin were no windows. + +Stooping, Jack was about to steal forth, when he paused with a new idea. +It came from a stray piece of wrapping-paper lying on the ground before +him. + +Why couldn't he conceal the camera in this paper, with a string tied to +the shutter; approach the house, knock, ask some question, and secretly +snap whoever opened the door? + +To think was to decide, and at once he set about preparations. Finding +some cord in a pocket, he first deadened the click of the shutter with a +thread of the string, and secured a piece of it to the shutter trigger. +Carefully then he wrapped the camera, open, in the paper, and with his +knife cut a small hole opposite the lens, and a second and smaller hole +beneath. Through the latter he fished out the trigger-string--and the +detective camera was complete. + +Without delay Jack adjusted the parcel under his arm, holding the +trigger-string in his fingers, and strode boldly forward toward the +shanty. He reached it, approached the door, and knocked. From within came +the sound of voices, then a heavy step. Drawing the string taut Jack +moved back several paces, and pointed the opening in the package at the +door. + +But success was not to come too easily. The latch lifted, and the door +opened only a few inches, barely showing the eyes and flat nose of the +negro. + +"W'at yo' want?" he demanded. + +"Would you please tell me the way out to the road?" said Jack steadily. + +The negro regarded him sharply a moment, then opening the door barely +sufficient to reach out a hand, pointed toward the woods, and said +gruffly, "Yo' see dat broke tree? Right out dah." + +"Which one? I see two," declared Jack, coolly. + +Impatiently the negro threw the door wide, stepped out, and pointed +again. In an instant Jack had pulled the string, and from the parcel had +come a soft "thugk!" "Thank you, sir," said Jack, turning away, and +inwardly chuckling at the double meaning of the words. "Thank you." + +"But look aheah, boy," added the colored man threateningly, "doan yo' be +prowlin' roun' heah! Un'stan'?" + +"No fear. I'll be glad when I'm away," responded Jack, again secretly +laughing, and headed for the woods, the negro watching him until he was +half way across the clearing. + +Once more in the shelter of the trees, Jack determined to follow up his +success by endeavoring to discover just what was taking place at the +cabin. Hiding the camera in a convenient brush-heap, he made sure all was +quiet, and again stole forth. Slipping quickly from shrub to shrub, he +safely made the crossing, and came to a halt at the rear of the shanty. + +To his ears came the sound of voices in subdued discussion. They were so +muffled, however, that he could distinguish nothing, and recalling a +partly open window at the front, he went forward to the corner, peered +cautiously about, and tiptoed to within a few feet of it. + +At once the voices came to him plainly. + +"You gotta dat?" + +"Stan' in doo'way, hat in yo' han', upside down," responded the colored +man's gruff voice. + +Wondering, Jack drew nearer. + +"At halfa da past two by da beeg clock," continued the first speaker. + +There was a pause, and the negro repeated, "At half pas' two by dah city +clock, shahp." + +Suddenly it came to Jack. At the dictation of the Italian, the negro was +writing a "Black Hand" letter--ordering one of their victims to display +some signal to show that the demand for money would be complied with! + +The Italian's next sentence left no further doubt. "If you no giva da +sign, you deada man by seex clock." + +At the words, and the fierceness with which they were uttered, Jack felt +a chill run up his spine. Had he followed his immediate impulse he would +have fled. But determining to learn if possible who the letter was for, +he waited. + +"What numbah?" asked the negro. + +"Feefity-nine Main." + +The Italian restaurant! Another letter to Spanelli! The men he was after! + +Jack waited to hear no more, but tiptoeing back about the corner, was off +for the woods, jubilant at his success. + +Indeed Jack was over jubilant--so jubilant that he forgot the necessity +of caution, made a short cut across an open space in full view of the +shanty, and half way was brought to a sudden realization of his mistake +by the creak of an opening door. In consternation he at once saw he could +not reach cover before being seen, and also that did he run, the +Black-Handers would understand they had been discovered. + +With quick presence of mind he recognized and instantly did the one thing +possible. Turning, he headed back boldly for the cabin. The next instant +the three Italians came into view, immediately discovered him, and +halted. Secretly trembling, but with a cool front, Jack approached them +as they stood, excitedly whispering. + +"Would you kindly tell me the time?" he asked. + +The three men exchanged glances, then, as at a signal, stepped forward +and surrounded him. "Now, whata you want?" demanded one of them sharply, +thrusting his dark face close to Jack's. Before Jack could repeat his +question the shanty door opened and the negro appeared. Exclaiming +angrily, he ran toward them. + +"W'at he want? W'at he want now?" he demanded. + +"He say, whata da time," repeated one of the Italians. + +"W'at de time? He am a spy! A spy!" cried the negro. "In de house with +him!" Jack sprang back, and turned to run. With a rush the negro and one +of the foreigners were upon him, and despite his terrified struggles he +was dragged bodily into the shanty. There they flung him heavily into a +chair, and gathered menacingly about him. + +"Now boy, w'at yo' spyin' roun' heah fo'? Eh?" demanded the negro +fiercely. + +Instinctively Jack opened his lips to deny the charge, but closed them, +and remained in dogged silence. Despite his peril, he felt he could not +tell a deliberate falsehood. The negro repeated the question. + +"I simply asked them the time," said Jack evasively. + +With a snarl one of the foreigners caught him by the shoulders and yanked +him upright. "Tie heem!" he directed, and roughly two of the others drew +Jack's hands behind him, and bound them with a cord. As one of the +Italians then proceeded to tie a handkerchief about his ankles, Jack +barely suppressed a cry of fright. But grimly he clenched his teeth, and +not a sound escaped him as the negro then caught him up, carried him +across the room, kicked open a door, and threw him upon the floor within. + +For a few minutes Jack lay dazed, then turning on his side, he looked +about him. By the dim light of a dusty window he saw he was in a small, +roughly furnished bedroom. Before he had taken in further particulars, +however, a sound of heated discussion in the outer room drew his +attention. + +"No, no! We can't taka da chance!" came the voice of one of the Italians. +"Not wid dat boy!" + +Filled anew with terror Jack struggled to a sitting position and began +straining desperately at his bonds. A moment's effort caused his heart to +sink. The knots were as taut as though made of wire. + +Determinedly he continued to strain and pull, however, and presently, +losing his balance, he rolled over on his side, and something hard +pressed into his chest. + +The dagger he had picked up! Quickly he saw the possibility of using it. +Working again into a sitting position, he bent low and sought to reach +inside his coat and seize the hilt of the knife with his teeth. But as +often as he reached, the coat swung, and the hilt evaded him. + +Jack was not to be beaten, however. Getting to his knees, he bent far +over, until his head almost touched the floor, and fell vigorously to +shaking himself. At the second effort the dagger slipped out to the +floor. Quickly then he got a firm hold on the end of the handle with his +teeth, struggled again to a sitting position, drew his knees up as far as +possible, and bending low between them, began stabbing at the +handkerchief about his ankles with the point of the weapon. + +At the first attempt the knife barely touched the handkerchief. He tried +again, and just reached it. Throwing his head far back, to gain momentum, +he lunged forward with all his strength. The keen point struck the linen +squarely, there was a rip and tear--and his feet were free. + +As the severed handkerchief fell from his ankles, the dagger, slipping +from Jack's teeth, clattered to the floor. But the noisy discussion still +going on without prevented its being heard; and promptly Jack turned to +the problem of freeing his hands. + +As they were tied behind him, this promised to be far more difficult. +Indeed Jack's courage was beginning to fail him, when the method of +freeing his ankles suggested a possibility. At once he essayed it. Rising +to a kneeling position, he strained at his wrists for several minutes, +then, bending far over, began working his hands down beneath him. + +It seemed as though they would never come, and again and again he had to +pause for breath. Desperately he continued, and suddenly at last they +slipped, and were under him, directly below his knees. + +Throwing himself over on his side, he once more grasped the dagger hilt +in his teeth, and as he lay, carefully aimed the point between his legs +at the cord about his wrists, and gave a quick, hard thrust. At the first +blow he struck the cord fairly, but only half severed the strand. Again +he lunged, and the next moment he was free. + +The heated debate was still in progress in the outer room, and nearly +exhausted though he was, Jack immediately scrambled to his feet and +tiptoed to the window. To his joy he discovered it was made of a sliding +frame, only fastened by a loosely-driven nail. It required but a few +minutes' work to remove this, and very cautiously he began sliding the +window back. + +Half way it went easily, without noise. Then it stuck. Carefully Jack put +his shoulder to it. Suddenly, without warning, it gave, then stopped with +a jar, and to his horror a broken pane shot from the frame and fell +clattering to the floor. + +From the other room came a shout and a rush of feet. In desperation Jack +stepped back, and with a run fairly dove at the opening. His head and +shoulders passed through, then he stuck. Behind him the door flew open. +With a desperate wriggle he struggled through, and fell in a heap to the +ground just as the negro reached the window and made a wild lunge for +him. The next moment Jack was on his feet and off across the clearing +like a hare. + +The four lawbreakers were quickly out of the house in full chase. +Presently there was the report of a pistol, and a shrill "wheeeu" just +over Jack's head. Ducking instinctively, but with grimly set lips, he +rushed on. Again came the whine of a bullet, and again. With a final +sprint Jack reached the cover of the woods in safety, darted to the +brush-pile and recovered his camera, and on, straight through the trees +for the spot at which he had hidden his wheel. + +Love of outdoor life and sports now stood Jack in good stead. Despite the +exhausting efforts of his escape, and the hard running amid the trees, +over trunks and through undergrowth, he kept on at the top of his speed, +and finally reached the road ahead of the nearest of his pursuers. + +Rushing for his wheel, he dragged it forth, and quickly had it on the +road. Not a moment too soon. As he sprang into the saddle there was a +shout and a crash of bushes but a few feet from him. But throwing all his +weight on the pedals, he shot away, and a moment after sped about a bend +in the road--and was safe. + +Jack would not have been a real boy had there not been considerable pride +in his voice when, entering the "Star" office the following morning, he +handed West, the reporter, two small photographs, neatly mounted, and +said: + +"Here are the pictures, Mr. West." + +West sprang to his feet. "No! Great! Splendid!" he cried. "How did you do +it, Jack? + +"But here--" Pushing Jack into a chair, he dropped back into his own, and +caught up a pencil. "Give me the whole story, from beginning to end. If +the police round up these fellows this morning we will run it in to-day's +edition." + +This, with the aid of Jack's snap-shots, the police did, capturing the +entire band; and that afternoon's edition of the "Star" carried a +two-column story of Jack's adventure with the Black-Handers, which, with +the pictures, made what West declared "the biggest story of a month of +Sundays." + + + + +X + +A RUNAWAY TRAIN + + +"Hurry in, Ward, or the lamp will be out!" + +Alex, who had now been night operator at Foothills six months, closed the +station door behind him, and laughingly flicked his rain-soaked cap +toward the day operator, whom he had just come to relieve. + +"Is it raining that hard? You look like a drowned rat for sure," said +Saunders as he reached for his hat and coat. "Why didn't you stay at +home, and 'phone down? I would have been glad to work for you--not." + +"Wait until you are out in it, and you'll not laugh," declared Alex, +struggling out of his dripping ulster. "It is the worst storm this +spring." + +"And wait until you see the fun you are going to have with the wire +to-night, and you'll not indulge in an over-abundance of smiles. I +haven't had a dot from the despatcher since six o'clock. Had to get +clearance for Nineteen around by MQ, and now we've lost them." + +"There is someone now," said Alex, as the instruments began clicking. + +"It's somebody west. IC, I think. Yes; Indian Canyon," said Saunders, +pausing as he turned to the door. "What is he after? He certainly can't +make himself heard by X if we can't." + +"X, X, X," rapidly repeated the sounder, calling Exeter, the despatching +office. "X, X, X! Qk!" + +Alex and Saunders looked at one another with a start. Several times the +operator at Indian Canyon repeated the call, more urgently, then as +hurriedly began calling Imken, the next station east of him. + +"There must be something wrong," declared Alex, stepping to the +instrument table. Saunders followed him. + +"IM, IM, IC, Qk! Qk!" clicked the sounder. + +"IM, IM--" + +"I, I, IM," came the response, and the two operators at Foothills +listened closely. + +"A wild string of loaded ore cars just passed here," buzzed the +instruments. "Were going forty miles an hour. They'll be down there in no +time. If there's anything on the main line get it off. I can't raise X +for orders." + +The two listening operators exchanged glances of alarm, and anxiously +awaited Imken's response. For a moment the sounder made a succession of +inarticulate dots, then ticked excitedly, "Yes, yes! OK! OK!" and closed. + +"What did he mean by that?" asked Saunders beneath his breath. "That +there was something on the main track there?" + +"Perhaps a switch engine cutting out ore empties. We'll know in a +minute." + +The wire again snapped open, and whirred, "I got it off--the yard engine! +Just in time! Here they come now! Like thunder! + +"There--they're by! Are ten of them. All loaded. Going like an avalanche. +Lucky thing the yard engine was--" + +Sharply the operator at Indian Canyon broke in to hurriedly call +Terryville, the next station east. + +"But the runaways won't pass Terryville, will they?" Alex exclaimed. +"Won't the grades between there and Imken pull them up?" + +Saunders shook his head. "Ten loaded ore cars travelling at that rate +would climb those grades." + +"Then they will be down here--and in twenty or thirty minutes! And +there's the Accommodation coming from the east," said Alex rapidly, "and +we can't reach anyone to stop her!" + +Saunders stared. "That's so. I'd forgotten her. But what can we do?" he +demanded helplessly. + +Terryville answered, and in strained silence they awaited his report. +"Yes, they are coming. I thought it was thunder. + +"Here they are now," he added an instant after. + +"They're past!" + +"They'll reach us! What shall we do?" gasped Saunders. + +Alex turned from the table, and as the Indian Canyon operator hastily +called Jakes Creek, the last station intervening, began striding up and +down the room, thinking rapidly. + +If they only had more battery--could make the current in the wire +stronger! Immediately on the thought came remembrance of the emergency +battery he had made the previous year at Watson Siding. He spun about +toward the office water-cooler. But only to utter an exclamation of +disappointment. This cooler was of tin--of course useless for such a +purpose. + +Hurriedly he began casting about for a substitute. "Billy, think of +something we can make a big battery jar of!" he cried. "To strengthen the +wire!" + +"A battery? But what would we do for bluestone? I used the last +yesterday!" + +Alex returned to the table, and threw himself hopelessly into the chair. + +At the moment the Jakes Creek operator answered his call, and received +the message of warning. + +"Say," said Saunders, "perhaps some of the other fellows on the wire have +bluestone and the other stuff, and could make a battery!" + +Alex uttered a shout. "That's it!" he cried, and springing to the +telegraph key, as soon as the wire closed, called Indian Canyon. "Have +you any extra battery material there?" he sent quickly. + +"No. Why--" + +Abruptly Alex cut him off and called Imken. He also responded in the +negative. But from Terryville came a prompt "Yes. Why--" + +"Have you one of those big stoneware water-coolers there?" + +"Yes, but wh--" + +"Do you know how to make a battery?" + +"No." + +"Well, listen--" + +The instruments had suddenly failed to respond. A minute passed, and +another. Five went by, and Alex sank back in the chair in despair. +Undoubtedly the storm had broken the wire somewhere. + +"Everything against us!" he declared bitterly. "And the runaways will be +down here now in fifteen or twenty minutes. What can we do?" + +"I can't think of anything but throwing the west switch," said Saunders. +"And loaded, and going at the speed they are, they'll make a mess of +everything on the siding. But that's the only way I can think of stopping +them." + +"If there was any way a fellow could get aboard the runaways--" + +Alex broke off sharply. Would it not be possible to board the runaway +train as he and Jack had boarded the engine on the day of the forest +fire? Say, from a hand-car? + +He started to his feet. "Billy, get me a lantern, quick! + +"I'm going for the section-boss, and see if we can't board the runaways +from the hand-car," he explained as he caught up and began struggling +into his coat. "I did that once at Bixton--boarded an engine." + +"Board it! How?" + +"Run ahead of it, and let it catch us." + +Saunders sprang for the lantern, lit it, and catching it up, Alex was out +the door, and off across the tracks through the still pouring rain for +the lights of the section foreman's house. Darting through the gate, he +ran about to the kitchen door, and without ceremony flung it open. The +foreman was at the table, at his supper. He started to his feet. + +"Joe, there is a wild ore train coming down from the Canyon," explained +Alex breathlessly, "and the wire has failed east so we can't clear the +line. Couldn't we get the jigger out and board the runaways by letting +them catch us?" + +An instant the section-boss stared, then with the promptitude of the old +railroader seized his cap, exclaiming "Go ahead!" and together they +dashed out to the gate, and across the tracks in the direction of the +tool-house. + +"Where did they start from? How many cars?" asked the foreman as they +ran. + +"Indian Canyon. Ten, and all loaded." + +The section-man whistled. "They'll be going twenty-five or thirty miles +an hour. We will be taking a big chance. But if we can catch them just +over the grade beyond the sand-pits I guess we can do it. That will have +slackened them. + +"Here we are." + +As they halted before the section-house door the boss uttered a cry. "I +haven't the key!" + +Alex swung the lantern about, and discovered a pile of ties. "Smash it +in," he suggested, dropping the lantern. One on either side they caught +up a tie, swayed back, and hurled it forward. There was a crash, and the +door swung open. + +Catching up the lantern, they dashed in, threw from the hand-car its +collection of tools, placed the light upon it, ran it out, and swung it +onto the rails. + +"Do you hear them?" asked Alex as he threw off his coat. The foreman +dropped to his knees and placed his ear to the rails, listened a moment, +and sprang to his feet. "Yes, they're coming! Come on! + +"Run her a ways first." They pushed the car ahead, quickly had it on the +run, and springing aboard, seized the handles, and one on either side, +began pumping up and down with all their strength. + +As they neared the station the door opened and Saunders ran to the +edge of the platform. "The wire came O K and I just heard Z pass +Thirty-three," he shouted, "but couldn't make them hear me. He reported +the superintendent's--" + +They whirled by, and the rest was lost. + +"Did you catch it?" shouted Alex above the roar of the car. + +"I think he meant," shouted the foreman as he swung up and down, +"superintendent's car ... attached to the Accommodation ... heard he was +coming ... makes it bad.... We need every minute ... and Old Jerry ... +the engineer ... 'll be breaking his neck ... to bring her ... through on +time! + +"Do you hear ... runaways yet?" + +"No." + +[Illustration: THEY WHIRLED BY, AND THE REST WAS LOST.] + +On they rushed through the darkness, bobbing up and down like +jumping-jacks, the little car rumbling and screeching, and bounding +forward like a live thing. + +The terrific and unaccustomed strain began to tell on Alex. Perspiration +broke out on his forehead, his muscles began to burn, and his breath to +shorten. + +"How much farther ... to the grade?" he panted. + +"Here it is now. Six hundred yards to the top." + +As they felt the resistance of the incline Alex began to weaken and gasp +for breath. Grimly, however, he clenched his teeth, and fought on; and at +last the section-man suddenly ceased working, and announced "Here we are. +Let up." With a gasp of relief Alex dropped to a sitting position on the +side of the car. + +"There it comes," said the foreman a moment after, and listening Alex +heard a sound as of distant thunder. + +"How long before they'll be here?" + +"Five minutes, perhaps. And now," said the section-boss, "just how are we +going to work this thing?" + +"Well, when we boarded the engine at Bixton," explained Alex, getting his +breath, "we simply waited at the head of a grade until it was within +about two hundred yards of us, then lit out just as hard as we could go, +and as she bumped us, we jumped." + +"All right. We'll do the same." + +As the foreman spoke, the rain, which had decreased to a drizzle, +entirely ceased, and a moment after the moon appeared. He and Alex at +once turned toward the station. + +Just beyond was a long, black, snake-like object, shooting along the +rails toward them. + +The runaway! + +On it swept over the glistening irons, the rumble quickly increasing to a +roar. With an echoing crash it flashed by the station, and on. + +Nearer it came, the cars leaping and writhing; roaring, pounding, +screeching. + +"Ready!" warned the foreman, springing to the ground behind the hand-car. +Alex joined him, and gazing over their shoulder, watching, they braced +themselves for the shove. + +The runaways reached the incline, and swept on upward. Anxiously the two +watched as they waited. Would the incline check them? + +"I don't see that they're slowing," Alex said somewhat nervously. + +"It won't tell until they are half way up the grade," declared the +section-man. "But, get ready. We can't wait to see. + +"Go!" he cried. Running the car forward, they leaped aboard, and again +were pumping with all their might. + +[Illustration: THE ENGINEER STEPPED DOWN FROM HIS CAB TO GRASP ALEX'S +HAND.] + +For a few moments the roar behind them seemed to decrease. Then suddenly +it broke on them afresh, and the head of the train swept over the rise. + +"Now pull yourself together for an extra spurt when I give the word," +shouted the foreman, who manned the forward handles, and faced the rear, +"then turn about and get ready to jump." + +Roaring, screaming, clanking, the runaways thundered down upon them. + +"Hit it up!" cried the section-man. With every muscle tense they whirled +the handles up and down like human engines. + +"Let go! Turn about!" + +Alex sprang back from the flying handles, and faced about. The foreman +edged by them, and joined him. + +Nearer, towering over them, rushed the leading ore car. + +"Be sure and jump high and grab hard," shouted the foreman. + +"Ready! _Jump_!" + +With a bound they went into the air, and the great car flung itself at +them. Both reached the top of the end-board with their outstretched +hands, and gripped tenaciously. As they swung against it, it seemed the +car would shake them off. But clinging desperately, they got their feet +on the brake-beam, and in another moment had tumbled headlong within. + +Alex sank down on the rough ore in a heap, gasping. The seasoned +section-man, however, was on his feet and at the nearby hand-brake in a +twinkle. Tightening it, he scrambled back over the bounding car to the +next. + +Ten minutes later, screeching and groaning as though in protest, the +runaways came to a final stop. + +Another ten minutes, and the engineer of the Accommodation suddenly threw +on his air as he rounded a curve to discover a lantern swinging across +the rails ahead of him. + +"Hello there, Jerry! Say, you're not good enough for a passenger run," +said the section foreman humorously as he approached the astonished +engineer. "We're going to put you back pushing ore cars. There's a string +here just ahead of you." + +When he had explained the engineer stepped down from his cab to grasp +Alex's hand. "Oh, it was more the foreman than I," Alex declared. "I +couldn't have worked it alone." + +A moment later the superintendent appeared. "Why, let me see," he +exclaimed on seeing Alex. "Are you not the lad I helped fix up an +emergency battery at Watson Siding last spring? And who has been +responsible for two or three other similar clever affairs? + +"My boy, young as you are, my name's not Cameron if I don't see that you +have a try-out at the division office before the month is out," he +announced decisively. "We need men there with a head like yours." + +[Illustration: THE WAIT WAS NOT LONG.] + + + +XI + +THE HAUNTED STATION + + +True to the division superintendent's promise, a month following the +incident of the runaway ore train, Alex was transferred to the +despatching office at Exeter. It was the superintendent himself who on +the evening of his arrival presented him for duty to the chief night +despatcher; and a few minutes later, having been initiated into the +mysteries of directing and recording the movements of trains, Alex was +shown to his wire. + +"It is a short line--only as far as the Midway freight junction," the +chief explained; "but if you make good here, you will soon be given +something bigger. + +"And, by the way, take your time in sending to the operator at the +Junction," he added. "He's a rather poor receiver, but was the only man +we could get to go there, on account of that so-called 'haunting' +business." + +"Oh, has the 'ghost' appeared there again?" inquired Alex with interest. +For the "haunting" of the Midway Junction station had been a subject of +much discussion on the main-line wire a few weeks back. + +"Yes, two nights ago. And like the four men there before him, the night +man left next morning. It is a strange affair. But I think the man there +now will stick." + +At midnight Alex called Midway Junction, and sent the order starting +north the last freight for the night. Fifteen minutes later the operator +at MJ suddenly called, and clicked, "That 'Thing' is here again. It's +walking up and down the platform just outside. + +"There it is now!" he sent excitedly. "And twice I've jumped out, and the +moment I opened the door it was gone! + +"There it is again! + +"Now it's on the roof!" he announced a few moments after. "Rolling +something down--just like the other chaps said! Gee, I'm no coward, but +this thing is getting my nerve." + +Though himself now considerably excited, Alex sought to reassure the MJ +man. "But you know there must be some simple explanation to it," he sent. +"No one really believes in ghosts these days. Just don't allow yourself +to be frightened." + +"Yes, I know," ticked the sounder. "That's what I told myself before I +came. It seems vastly different, though, right here on the spot, and all +by yourself, and it dark as pitch outside. If there was only someone +else--" + +The wire abruptly closed, a moment remained so, then suddenly opened, and +in signals so excitedly made that Alex could only guess at some of them, +he read: "Did you hear that? Did you get that?" + +"Hear what? The wire was closed to me." + +"Clooossclosd! Goed 6eavns! Whiiieeeeee Whyyy--" By an effort the +frightened operator at the other end of the wire pulled himself together, +and sent more plainly: + +"When I stopped that time someone broke in here and said: 'Ha ha! Hi hi! +Look behind! Look beh--'" + +Again the wire closed, again opened. + +"Theeeereit waaawas again!" + +Alex called the chief. "Mr. Allen, that 'ghost,' or whatever it is--" + +Once more the instruments broke out in an almost inarticulate whirr, and +with difficulty together they picked out the words: "... sounds in the +next room ... yelling and groaning just other side partition ... +whispering at me through a knot-hole ... an eye looking at me ... stand +it any longer ... right now! G. B. (Good-by)!" + +Grasping the key, the chief sent quickly, "Look here! Wait a moment! You +there?" + +There was no response. Again he called, and gave it up. "No use. He's off +like the rest of them. Well, I'm not sure I blame him. There must be +something wrong. But it beats me!" + +As he was about to move away the chief turned back and handed Alex a +letter. "I overlooked giving it to you when you came in," he explained. + +"From Jack Orr!" said Alex with pleasure. A moment later he uttered a +second exclamation, again read a paragraph, and with a delighted "The +very thing!" hastened after the chief. + +"Mr. Allen, this letter is from a friend of mine, a first class +commercial operator, who wants to get into railroad telegraphing, and who +would be just the man to send to MJ. + +"He is a regular amateur detective, and has all kinds of pluck," Alex +went on, and in a few words recounted Jack's clearing up of the cash-box +mystery at Hammerton, the part he played in the breaking up of the band +of Black-Handers, and his resourcefulness when the wires were cut at +Oakton. + +The chief smiled and reached for a message blank. "Thank you, Ward," he +said. "That's the man we want exactly. How soon can he come?" + +"He says he could take a place with us right away, sir." + +"Good. We'll have him there if possible to-morrow evening," decided the +chief, writing. + +Needless to say Jack was delighted when early the following morning at +Hammerton he received the telegraphed appointment to the station at +Midway. At once resigning at the Hammerton commercial office, he hurried +home, by noon was on the train, and arrived at Midway Junction at 7 +o'clock. + +Entering the telegraph room, he called Exeter. "Well, here I am, Al," he +ticked, when Alex himself responded. "And I'm ever so much obliged to +you, old boy, for getting me the position." + +"Don't mention it. And anyway," responded Alex, "you had better save your +thanks until you learn just what you are up against there. I didn't have +time to write--but the former man left last night, simply on the run." +And continuing, Alex explained. + +"So you see, you were called in as a sort of expert." + +"Hi," laughed Jack. "Well, I'll do the best I can. But probably the +'ghost' won't show up again now for a month or so?" + +"On the contrary, it is more likely to return soon," clicked Alex. "That +has been the way every time so far--three or four appearances in +succession. So you had better prepare for business at once." + +Alex's prediction was realized two nights later. A few minutes after the +last freight had gone north, and Jack had been left entirely alone in the +big station, he heard light footfalls outside on the platform. Going to +the window, he peered out into the darkness, and seeing nothing, turned +to the door. As he opened it the footsteps ceased. + +Surprised, Jack returned and secured a lantern, and passed out and down +the long platform. From end to end it was deserted and silent. + +He returned to the office. Scarcely had he closed the door when again +came the sound of footsteps. + +Jack paused and listened. They were light and quick, like those of a +woman--up and down, up and down, now pausing a moment, now briskly +resuming, as though the walker was anxiously waiting for someone. + +On tiptoe Jack went back to the door, suddenly flung it open and flashed +the lantern. As quickly the steps had ceased. Not a moving object was to +be seen. + +Immensely puzzled, Jack withdrew, and stepped to the instrument table. As +he reached toward the telegraph key from almost directly overhead broke +out a thundering rumble, as of a heavy wooden ball bounding down the +roof. + +Catching up the lantern, he once more rushed forth. Immediately, as +before, all was silence. Nervous at last, in spite of himself, Jack +hesitated, then resolutely set forth on a complete round of the station +and freight shed, throwing the lantern light upon the roof, through the +dusty windows, and into every nook and corner. Nowhere was there a sign +of life. + +He returned. The moment he closed the office door the rumble broke out +afresh. + +Jack sprang to the instruments, called Exeter, and sent rapidly, "Al, +that 'ghost' is here, and in spite of me, is beginning to get on my--" + +The line opened, then sharply clicked: "Look behind! Look behind!" + +With a cry Jack was on his feet, and had started for the door. Half way +he pulled up, with a determined effort controlled his panic, and returned +to the key. "I suppose you didn't hear that, Al?" he asked. + +"Not a letter." + +"Well, good gracious, what--_Oh!_" + +A cold chill shot up Jack's back. The cause was a low, long-drawn moan, +apparently from just the other side of the wooden partition, in the +freight room. Again it came, then suddenly ceased to give place to a low, +tense whispering immediately behind him. Jack sprang about, and leaped to +his feet. Within touch of him was a large knot-hole. + +And was there not an eye at it? Peering at him? + +He sprang toward it. + +No! Nothing! The whispering, too, had ceased. + +Thoroughly shaken, Jack again turned for his hat--and again faltered +between the chair and the door. + +"You there, Jack?" clicked Alex. "Hang on, old boy. Keep your nerve." + +Clenching his teeth and gripping his hands Jack regained control of +himself, and returned to the instruments. "Thanks, Al," he sent. "I was +about all in, sure enough. But I am OK again now, and going to stick it +out unless 'they,' or 'it,' or whatever it is, lugs me off bodily." + +"That's the talk," said Alex encouragingly. "I knew you'd make good. Just +keep on telling yourself there must be some natural explanation somehow, +and you'll win out OK." + + * * * * * + +"Yes, that's my cue--'a natural explanation somehow,'" Jack repeated to +himself the following afternoon as he left the big railroad boarding-house, +a half mile from the station, and set out for a walk, to think things over. + +"And I believe the starting point is that talk on the wire. That +certainly is the work of an operator. + +"Now, why is it heard only at this office? + +"Say! Could it be on the loop? A cut-off arrangement on the station loop? + +"I'll go down and look into that right now," declared Jack, and turning +about, headed for the station. + +The platforms and the big freight shed were alive with the bustle of the +freight handlers, loading and unloading cars, trundling boxes and bales +from one part of the platform to another and in and out of the big shed; +and unnoticed, Jack discovered where the wires from the pole passed in +under the roof. Entering the shed, he proceeded carefully to follow their +course along the beams toward the telegraph room. He had almost reached +the partition, and was beginning to think his conclusion perhaps too +hastily drawn, when a few feet from the wall, where the light from an +opposite window struck the roof, he caught two unmistakable gleams of +copper. With a suppressed cry he made his way directly beneath, and at +once saw that the insulation of both wires of the loop had been cut +through. + +"Right! I was right!" exclaimed Jack jubilantly beneath his breath. "And +I can see in a minute how it's done. Whoever it is, simply gets up there +somehow, and ticks one wire against the other--and of course the +instruments inside click as they are alternately cut off and cut on, and +the rest of the line is not affected! + +"Good! I'm on the trail. + +"But what can be the object of it all?" + +Jack turned to look about him, and as in answer the lettering of a nearby +box caught his eye: + +"VALUABLE! HANDLE WITH CARE!" + +"Freight stealing! Could that be it?" + +On reporting for duty that evening Jack called Alex on the wire and asked +if any freight had recently been reported missing from the Midway depot. + +"No, but I understand some valuable stuff has been mysteriously +disappearing at Claxton and Eastfield," was the reply. + +Jack was considerably disappointed; but before giving up this line of +investigation he determined to study the freight records of the station, +to discover whether any freight for the two places mentioned by Alex had +passed through Midway. A few minutes' search produced the record of a +valuable shipment of silk to Claxton. A moment later he found another. + +When presently he found still others, and several to Eastfield, he +hurried back to the wire and calling Alex asked the nature of the goods +lost track of at those stations, and breathlessly awaited the reply. + +"I'll ask," said Alex--"Silverware and silk. Mostly silk." + +Jack uttered a shout. "Hurrah, Alex," he whirred, "I'm on the track of +our friend the 'ghost.' But keep mum. + +"And now the question is," he told himself, leaning back in his chair, +"how do they work it?" + +The answer to the query came very unexpectedly as Jack left the station +office at daybreak. Strolling down the front platform, where several men +already were at work unloading a car, he inadvertently got in the way of +a loaded truck. On the sudden cry of the truckman he sprang aside, +tripped, and fell headlong against a large, square packing-case. As he +did so, he distinctly heard from within a sharp "Oh!" + +Only with difficulty did Jack avoid crying out, and scrambling to his +feet, hastened away, that his discovery might not be suspected by the man +in the box. + +The whole mystery was now clear. The "ghost" was a freight thief, who had +himself shipped, in a box, to some point which would necessitate his +being transferred and held over night at the freight junction. He played +"ghost" either to frighten the operator away, or to lead to the belief +that any noises overheard were caused by "spirits," then overhauled the +valuable freight in the shed, took what he wanted with him into his own +box (which supposedly he could open and close from the inside), and was +shipped away with it the following morning. The rifled packages, +carefully re-sealed, also went on to their several destinations, and the +blame of the theft was laid elsewhere. + +Jack was not long in deciding upon his next move. Coming down from the +boarding-house before the sheds had been closed that afternoon, he noted +where the box containing the unsuspected human freight had been placed, +and selecting a window at the far end of the shed, seized a favorable +moment to quietly loosen its catch. + +It was near midnight, and Jack was once more the sole guardian of the +station when he took the next step. And despite a certain nervousness, +now that the exciting moment was at hand, he found considerable amusement +in carrying it out. + +It was nothing less than making up a dummy imitation of himself asleep on +a cot in a corner of the telegraph room--as a precaution against the +"ghost" peering within to learn the effect of his "haunting." + +In making the dummy Jack used a brown fur cap for the head, a glimpse of +which under an old hat looked remarkably like his own brown head. A +collection of old overalls and record books carefully arranged formed the +body, and his own shoes the feet. + +When over the whole he threw his overcoat, the deception was complete. +Chuckling at the subterfuge, Jack lost no time in slipping forth for the +next step in his program. + +Tiptoeing down the platform to the window whose latch he had loosened, he +softly raised it, listened, and climbing through, dropped noiselessly to +the floor. Feeling his way in the darkness amid the bales and boxes, he +reached a nook behind a piano-case he had previously noted, and settling +down, prepared to await the appearance of the "spectre." + +The wait was not long. Scarcely had he made himself comfortable when from +the direction of the big packing-case came the muffled sound of a +screw-driver. Soon there followed a noise as of a board being softly +shoved aside, then a step on the floor. Simultaneously there was the +crackle of a match, and peering forth Jack momentarily made out a thin, +clean-shaven face bending over a dark-lantern. But quickly he drew back +with a start of fright as the man turned and came directly toward him. + +A few feet away, however, the intruder halted, and again peering +cautiously forth Jack discovered the lantern, closely muffled, on the +floor, and beside it the dim figure of the man working with his hands at +a plank. As Jack watched, wondering, the plank came up. Laying it aside +carefully, the stranger stepped down into the opening, recovered the +lantern, and disappeared. + +"Now what under the sun is he up to?" exclaimed Jack to himself. + +From the platform outside came the sound of footsteps. Jack started, +listened a moment, and uttered a low cry of triumph. At last he +understood. + +"Well, what a dolt I am," he laughed. "Why didn't I think of that? + +"The fellow is simply out beneath the platform, making sounds against the +under side of the planking--probably with a stick!" + +[Illustration: JACK MADE OUT A THIN, CLEAN-SHAVEN FACE BENDING OVER +A DARK-LANTERN.] + +Jack was still chuckling delightedly over this simple explanation of the +mysterious "walking" when the noise ceased, and the light of the lantern +returned. + +On reappearing, the unknown dragged after him a long pole. As Jack +watched, puzzling over its use, the "spectre" hoisted the pole to his +shoulder, cautiously picked his way amid the freight to the telegraph-room +partition, and mounted a large box. + +And then, while Jack fairly shook with internal laughter, he laboriously +raised the pole, and began bumping and scraping it up and down the under +side of the roof. + +"Natural explanations!" bubbled Jack through his handkerchief. "And +imagine anyone being frightened at it--beating it for home!" + +When the man on the box had concluded his second "demonstration," and +descended, Jack had cause to thank himself for his precaution in leaving +the dummy. Evidently puzzled at the silence in the operating-room, the +man placed his eye to the knot-hole in the partition, and peered through. +Muttering something in surprise, he listened closely, and looked again, +while Jack looked on, shaking, and holding his mouth. Apparently at last +satisfied that the "operator" within was asleep at his post, the intruder +turned about and threw a shaft of light up toward the wires of the loop. +Expectantly Jack waited. Had he also guessed right here? + +But to his disappointment, after a brief debate with himself, the "ghost" +muttered, "If he's asleep, what's the use?" And catching up the pole, he +returned it to the hole in the floor, and replaced the plank. + +Then, in final confirmation of Jack's deductions, the intruder turned his +attention to the packages of merchandise about him, speedily selected a +box, and proceeded to open it. + +For several hours the unsuspecting freight robber worked, frequently +returning to the crack in the partition to assure himself that the +negligent "operator" there was still in the land of dreams, each time to +Jack's great amusement. And finally, having secured all the booty he +could handle, and having carefully closed the cases from which it had +been taken, he moved the plunder into his own box, crept in after; again +came the squeak of the screw-driver--and the robbery was complete. + +At once Jack crept from his place of concealment, and back to the window; +dropped out, and was off on the run for the boarding-house. And twenty +minutes after he returned with the freight-house foreman and several +freight hands, armed, and with lanterns. + +Entering by the door, he led them directly to the robber's box. + +Sharply the foreman kicked at it, and called, "Hello, in there! Your +little game is up, my friend! Come out!" + +There was no response, and he drew his revolver. "Open up quick, or I'll +shoot!" + +"Oh, all right! All right!" cried a muffled voice hurriedly. + +The next moment the Midway Junction "ghost" stepped grimly from his box, +and stood before them. + +"But look here, youngster," ticked the chief despatcher, who some minutes +later followed Alex Ward on the wire in congratulating Jack on the +solution of the mystery, "don't you talk too much about this business, or +first thing you know they'll be taking you from the telegraph force, and +adding you to the detective department. We want you ourselves." + +"No fear," laughed Jack. "I might try a matter like this once in a while, +but I want to work up as an operator, not a detective." + +"You'll work up OK," declared the chief. + + + + +XII + +IN A BAD FIX, AND OUT + + +"Good evening, young man!" + +With a start Jack turned toward the quietly opened door of the +telegraph-room to discover a short, dark, heavily-bearded man, over whose +eyes was pulled a soft gray hat. + +"I suppose you don't have many visitors at the station at this time of +night?" said the stranger, entering. + +"No; but you are quite welcome. Have a chair," responded Jack +courteously. + +To the young operator's surprise, the stranger drew the chair immediately +before him, and seating himself, leaned forward secretively. "My name is +Watts," he began, in a low voice, "and I've come on business. For you are +the lad who worked out that 'ghost' mystery here, and caused the capture +of the freight robber, aren't you?" + +"Yes," confirmed Jack, in further wonder. + +"I thought so. I thought as much. I know a clever lad when I see one. And +that was one of the cleverest bits of detective work I ever heard of," +declared Mr. Watts, with a winning smile. "If the railroad detectives had +done their work as well, the whole freight-stealing gang would have been +landed. As it was none of the rest were caught, were they?" + +[Illustration: THE STRANGER DREW THE CHAIR IMMEDIATELY BEFORE HIM, +AND SEATING HIMSELF, LEANED FORWARD SECRETIVELY.] + +Instead of being pleased, the man's flattery and ingratiating manner had +ruffled Jack, and briefly he answered, "No, sir." + +"No. I knew that already. I was one of them myself." + +At this startling statement Jack stared. "I beg your pardon, sir?" he +exclaimed. + +"I was a member of that gang myself," repeated Jack's strange caller, +again smiling broadly. "Don't you think I look the part?" So saying, he +pushed his hat back from his face. + +Jack had no doubt of it. The small dark eyes were repellent with low +cunning and greed. Instinctively he half turned to cast a glance toward +the door. At once the smile disappeared, and the self-confessed +law-breaker threw open his coat and significantly tapped the butt of a +revolver. "No. You just sit still and listen," he ordered sharply; but +immediately again smiling, added, "though there needn't be anything of +this kind between two who are going to be good friends. + +"Listen. What I called for was this: We want another man in the gang in +place of Joe Corry--that is the man you caught. + +"And we decided to invite you." + +Jack fairly caught his breath. "Why, you must be joking, or--" + +"Or crazy, eh? Not quite. I was never more serious in my life. Listen!" +The speaker leaned forward earnestly. "After your spoiling our little +'ghost' game here the railroad people would never look for us starting in +again at the same place. Never in the world--would they? And likewise, +after your causing the capture of Corry, they would never in the world +suspect you of working with us. Do you see the point? + +"And all you would have to do would be to keep your ears closed, and not +hear any noises out in the freight-room at night." + +"And for doing that," concluded the law-breaker, "we will give you a +regular salary of $25 a month. We'll send it by mail, or bank it for you +at any bank you name, and no one will know where it comes from. + +"What do you say?" + +Jack drew back indignantly. "Most certainly not," he began. Then suddenly +he hesitated. + +As the freight-robber had said, the authorities had been unable to obtain +a single clue to the whereabouts or identity of the remainder of the +freight-stealing gang. Should he accept the man's offer, came the +thought, undoubtedly, sooner or later, he would be able to bring about +the capture of every one of them. + +Immediately following, however, there recurred to Jack one of his +mother's warnings--"that even the appearance of evil is dangerous, +always, as well as wrong." + +But this would be quite different, Jack argued to himself--to cause the +capture of criminals. And what possible danger could there be in it? No +one would believe for an instant that I would go into such a thing +seriously, he told himself. + +"All right, Mr. Watts," he said aloud. "I'll do it." + +"Good! It's a go!" The freight-stealer spoke with satisfaction, and +rising, grasped Jack's hand. "I told you I knew a clever boy when I saw +one--and that means a wise one. + +"Well, that's all there is to it, excepting the money matter. Where will +we send that? Here?" + +Jack responded with an effort. "Yes, you may as well send it to me here." + +"All right. Look for it at the end of the month," said Watts, proceeding +to the door. + +"Remember, you are dumb. That's all. Good night." + +Jack's sense of honor was not long in convincing him that he had made a +mistake in entering into such a bargain, even with a law-breaker. A dozen +times during the days that followed he would have given anything to have +been able to wipe out the agreement. + +Unhappily this dissatisfaction with himself was to prove but a minor +result of the misstep. + +Shortly after he had relieved the day operator at the station a week +later he was surprised by the appearance of one of the road detectives, +and with him a stranger. + +"Good evening, Orr," said the detective in a peculiar tone. "Let me make +you acquainted with Sheriff Bates." + +Jack started, and glanced from one to the other. "Is there anything +wrong?" he asked. + +"Very slightly. Your little game is up, that's all. Your older partner +has given the thing away, and we have just found the watch in your room +at the boarding-house," announced the detective. + +"Given the thing away? The watch? Why, what do you mean?" exclaimed Jack +in alarm. + +"Oh, come! Watts has squealed, and we found the watch hidden, just as he +said, in the mattress of your bed up at the house." + +In a flash Jack saw it all. Watts' offer had been a trap! A mere trap to +get him into trouble, probably in revenge! + +He sprang to his feet. "It's not true! It's false! Whatever it is, it's +false! I did see Watts, and he asked me to go in with them, but I only +agreed so as to learn who they were, so we could capture them!" + +To his utter dismay the two officers only laughed drily. + +"No, no! That's quite too thin," declared the detective. "Read this." + +Blankly Jack took the letter, and read: + + "Chief Detective, + + "Middle Western R. R. + + "Dear Sir: The young night operator at Midway Junction has joined + the freight-stealing gang that Corry belonged to, and if you will + look under the mattress in his room at the railroad boarding-house + you will find a watch and chain of the lot we stole at Claxton two + weeks ago. I gave it to him last Friday night. I came to Midway by + the Eastfield freight, and when I saw another operator in the + station office, I started up towards the boarding-house, and met + Orr coming down. I mention this to show my story is all straight. + + "I heard he was going to give us away as soon as he had got enough + loot himself, and claim he only went in with us to get us. That is + why I am showing him up. + + "Yours truly, + + "W. Watts." + +And the day operator _had_ worked for him that Friday evening, while he +was at the landlady's daughter's birthday party! And he _had_ come down +to the station at about the time the Eastfield night freight came in! + +Jack sank back in the chair, completely crushed. + +"Changed your mind, eh?" remarked the sheriff sarcastically. + +Jack shook his head, but said nothing. What could he say! + +"If it's 'false,' as you claim, how do you explain our finding the watch +in your room?" demanded the detective. + +"I don't know. Someone must have put it there." + +"Very likely. It wouldn't have crept up stairs and got under the bed +itself. And I suppose you will deny also that you saw Watts on the night +of the party, despite the fact that he could not otherwise have known the +unusual hour you came down to the station that night. Eh?" + +"I never saw him after the night he called here," affirmed Jack +earnestly, but hopelessly. + +"Well, you will have to prove it," declared the sheriff. And to Jack's +unspeakable horror he was informed he must be taken into custody. + + * * * * * + +Needless to say, the news of Jack's arrest, and of his early trial at +Eastfield, the county seat, came as a tremendous shock to Alex, at +Exeter. Of course he thoroughly disbelieved in Jack's guilt, despite the +net of circumstantial evidence which, according to the newspapers, had +been woven about his friend; and morning and afternoon he read and +re-read the papers, in the hope of something more favorable to Jack +developing. + +It was through this close reading that Alex finally came upon the +discovery that was to draw him into the case himself, and to have so +important a bearing on the outcome of the trial. + +Early in the evening preceding the day set for the hearing, Alex, before +starting work on his wire, was studying the paper as usual. For the +second time he was reading the letter from the man Watts that had had +such serious results for Jack. + +Suddenly as he read Alex started, again read a portion of the letter, a +moment thought deeply, and with a cry sprang to his feet and hastened to +the chief despatcher's desk. + +"Mr. Allen," he said excitedly, "in this letter Watts says he reached +Midway Junction that Friday night by the Eastfield freight, and that he +met and gave Jack Orr the watch after that. + +"Now I remember distinctly that it was Jack reported the arrival of the +Eastfield freight that night. She was twenty minutes late, and I recall +asking if she was in sight yet, and his reply that she had just whistled. + +"That means Jack was back at the station before the time at which Watts +claims he met him!" + +"Ward, why in the world didn't you think of this before?" the chief +exclaimed. "It is the most important piece of evidence your friend could +have. + +"Call Eastfield right away on the long-distance, and get Orr's lawyer, +and tell him." + +Alex hastily did so, and a few minutes after he heard the lawyer's voice +from the distant town, and quickly told his story. + +To his surprise the lawyer for a moment remained silent, then said +slowly, "Of course I would like to believe that. In fact it would make an +invaluable piece of evidence--practically conclusive. + +"But really now, how could you be sure it was Orr you heard? What +possible difference can there be between the ticks made over a telegraph +wire by one distant operator, and those made by another?" + +"Why, all the difference in the world, sometimes, sir," declared Jack. +"Any operator would tell you that. I would recognize Jack Orr's sending +anywhere I heard it." + +But the lawyer at the other end was still incredulous. "Well," he said at +last, "if the jury was made up of telegraph operators, perhaps your claim +might go. As it is, however--" + +"Say, I have it!" cried Alex. "Let me give a demonstration right there in +court of my ability to identify the sending of as many different +operators as we can get together, including Jack Orr. Could you arrange +that?" + +The lawyer was interested at last. "But could you really do it? Are you +really that sure?" + +"I am absolutely positive," declared Alex. + +"Then you come right ahead," was the decisive response. "Come down here +by the first train in the morning, and bring two or three other +operators, and the necessary instruments. + +"And if you can prove what you claim, I'll guarantee that your friend is +clear." + +"Hurrah! Then he is clear!" cried Alex joyously. + +Accompanied by three other operators from the Exeter office, and with a +set of telegraph instruments and a convenient dry-battery, Alex reached +the court-room at Eastfield at 10 o'clock the following morning. + +The trial, which had attracted a crowd that packed the building to its +capacity, already had neared its conclusion. Jack's demeanor, and that of +his father, who was beside him, quickly informed Alex that matters were +looking serious for his chum. Confidently he waited, however, and at last +the court clerk arose and called his name. + +The preliminary questions were passed, and Jack's attorney at once +proceeded. "Now Alex," he said, "this letter here, which has been put in +evidence, declares that the writer, Watts, went to Midway Junction by the +Eastfield freight on the Friday night in question, and that he then met +the defendant coming down to the station from his boarding-house, and +gave him the watch. + +"Have you anything to say to this?" + +"Yes, sir. Jack Orr was at the telegraph instruments in the Midway +Junction station several minutes before the Eastfield freight reached +there that night. It was he who reported her coming over the wire to me +at Exeter." + +The lawyer for the prosecution looked up with surprise, then smiled in +amusement, while Jack and his father started, and exchanged glances of +new hope. + +"You are positive it was the defendant you heard over the wire?" asked +Mr. Brown. + +"Positive, sir." + +"If necessary could you give a demonstration here in court of your +ability to identify the defendant's transmitting on a telegraph +instrument?" + +"Yes, sir, I could." + +When the lawyer for the other side arose to cross-examine Alex he smiled +somewhat derisively. + +"You are a friend of the defendant, are you not?" he asked significantly. + +"Yes, sir; and so know his sending over the wire unusually well," +responded Alex, cleverly turning the point of the question. + +The lawyer shrugged his shoulders, and put the next question with +sarcasm. "And, now, do you mean to stand there and tell this court that +the clicks--the purely mechanical clicks--made over a telegraph wire by +an operator miles away will sound different to the clicks made by any +other operator?" + +"I do," said Alex quietly. "And I am ready to demonstrate it." + +"Oh, you are, are you? And how, pray?" + +"Three other operators from the Exeter office are in the court-room, with +a set of instruments and a battery. Let them place the instruments on the +table down there; blindfold me, then have them and Jack Orr by turns +write something on the key. I'll identify every one of them before he +sends a half-dozen words." + +A wave of surprise, then smiles of incredulity passed over the crowded +room. + +"Very well," agreed the lawyer readily. "Set up the instruments." + +The three Exeter operators came forward, and the prosecutor, producing a +handkerchief, himself stepped into the witness-box and proceeded to bind +Alex's eyes. That done, to make doubly sure, he turned Alex face to the +wall. + +When the lawyer returned to the counsel-table the proceedings were +momentarily interrupted by a whispered consultation with his assistant, +at the end of which, while the spectators wondered, the latter hastened +from the room. + +Curiosity as to the junior counsel's mission was quickly forgotten, +however, as the prosecutor then called Jack Orr to the table beside the +telegraph instruments, and stood Jack and the three Exeter operators in a +row before him. + +"Now," said he in a low voice, "each of you, as I touch you, step quietly +to the key, and send these words: 'Do you know who this is?'" + +A moment the lawyer paused, while spectators, judge and jury waited in +breathless silence, then reaching out, he lightly touched one of the +Exeter men. + +"Do you know who this is?" clicked the sounder. + +All eyes turned toward Alex. Without a moment's hesitation he answered, +"Johnson." + +The operator nodded, and a flutter passed over the court-room. + +"Huh! A guess," declared the prosecutor audibly, and still smiling +confidently, he touched another of the Exeter operators. The instruments +repeated the question. + +"Bradley," said Alex promptly. + +The flutter of surprise was repeated. Quickly the prosecutor made as +though to touch the third Exeter man, then abruptly again touched +Bradley. + +"Bradley again," said Alex. + +A ripple like applause swept over the crowded room. With tightening lips +the prosecutor turned again toward the third Exeter operator. At the +moment the door opened, and he paused as his assistant reappeared, with +him two young ladies. + +The newcomers were operators from the local commercial telegraph office. + +At once Jack's lawyer, recognizing the prosecution's purpose, was on his +feet in protest. For of course the young women were utter strangers to +the blindfolded boy in the witness-stand. + +The judge promptly motioned him down, however, and with a smile of +anticipated triumph the prosecutor greeted the two local operators, and +whispering his instructions to one of them, led her to the telegraph key. + +In a silence that was painful the sounder once more rattled out its +inquiry, "Do you know who this is?" + +Alex started, hesitated, made as though to speak, again paused, then +suddenly cried, "That's a stranger! + +"And it's awfully like the light, jumpy sending of a girl!" + +A spontaneous cheer broke from the excited spectators. "Silence! +Silence!" shouted the judge. + +It was not necessary to repeat the order, for the disconcerted +prosecutor, whirling about, had grasped Jack Orr by the arm and thrust +him toward the key. + +[Illustration: "AND IT'S AWFULLY LIKE THE LIGHT, JUMPY SENDING OF +A GIRL!"] + +The final test had come. + +Jack himself realized the significance of the moment, and for an instant +hesitated, trembling. Then determinedly gripping himself he reached +forward, grasped the key, and sent, + +"Do you know--" + +"Orr! Orr! That's he!" cried Alex. + +With a shout the entire court-room was on its feet, women waving their +handkerchiefs and men cheering wildly again and again. And equally +disregarding the etiquette of the court, Alex tore the handkerchief from +his eyes, and leaping down beside Jack, fell to shaking his hand as +though he would never let go, while Jack vainly sought to express +himself, and to keep back the tears that came to his eyes. + +Ten minutes later, with order restored, Jack was formally declared "Not +guilty," and with Alex on one side and his father on the other, left the +room, free and vindicated. + +"Well, good-by, my lad," said Mr. Orr, as he and Alex that evening +dropped Jack off their returning train at Midway Junction. "And I suppose +it is unnecessary to warn you against understandings with such men as +Watts in the future, no matter for what purpose." + +"Hardly, Dad," responded Jack earnestly. "No more agreements of any kind +for me unless they are on the levellest kind of level, no matter who they +are with, or for what purpose." + + + + +XIII + +PROFESSOR CLICK, MIND READER + + +Some months previously Alex and Jack had arranged to take their two +weeks' vacation at the same time, and to spend one week at Haddowville, +Jack's home, and the other at Bixton. + +The long looked-for Monday had at length arrived, early that morning Jack +had joined Alex at Exeter, and the two boys, aboard the Eastern Mail, +were now well on their way to Haddowville. + +For some minutes Alex's part in the animated conversation of the two +chums had waned. Presently, plucking Jack's sleeve, he quietly directed +his companion's attention to the double seat across the aisle of the car. + +"Jack, watch that soldier's fingers," he said in a low voice. "What's the +matter with him?" + +The soldier in question, in the uniform of an infantry regular, sat +facing them, beside a stout elderly gentleman. Opposite the first soldier +was a second, in a similar uniform; and sharing the seat with the latter, +and facing the old gentleman, was a decidedly pretty young girl. + +It was the first soldier's left hand, however, which attracted the boys' +particular attention. Resting in his lap, and partly concealed by a +newspaper, the hand was so doubled that the thumb stood upright. And this +latter member was bobbing and wagging up and down, now slowly, now +quickly, in most curious fashion. + +"Perhaps it's St. Vitus' dance," ventured Jack. + +"But that affects the whole body, or at least the whole limb, doesn't +it?" + +Jack, who sat next the window, leaned slightly forward. "The other +soldier is watching him," he said. "Maybe the fellow with the wiggling +thumb is out of his mind, and this one is taking him somewhere. He is +watching his hand." + +Silently the boys continued to regard the curious proceeding. + +Suddenly the thumb became quiet, there was the rattle of a paper in the +hands of the second soldier, and in turn his thumb became affected with +the wagging. In a moment the boys understood. + +The two soldiers were army signallers, and were carrying on a silent +conversation, using their thumbs as they would a flag. + +Jack and Alex looked at one another and laughed softly. "We're bright, +eh?" Alex remarked. + +"Let us watch when the other starts again--we can't see this chap's hand +well enough--and see if we can't read it," suggested Jack. "That one-flag +signal system is based on the telegraph dot and dash code, you know. And +it's not likely they are speaking of anything private--only amusing +themselves." + +The paper opposite again covered the first soldier's hand, and observing +closely, after a few minutes the boys were able to interpret the strokes +of the wagging thumb with ease. They corresponded precisely to the +strokes of a telegraph sounder, and of course were very much slower. + +"... not much. I saw her first," they read. "You have three girls at K +now.... Get out. I'll tell Maggie O'Rorke, and she'll pick your eyes +out.... No, sir. You can have the two old maids just back of you, and the +fat party with the red hair. That's your taste anyway.... If you spoke +she'd freeze you so you'd never thaw out." + +The two boys exchanged glances, and chuckled in amusement. + +"Say, look at the gaudy nose on that old chap across the aisle," went on +the wagging thumb. "Talk about danger signals! They ought to hire him to +sit on the cow-catcher foggy nights.... I wouldn't like to pay for all +the paint it took to color it.... Plain whiskey, I guess. You can see +what you are coming to if you don't look out.... What's the matter with +that baby back there? Is the woman lynching it, or is it lynching the +woman?... It's not, either. It's just like your high tenor, singing the +Soldier's Farewell. Only better. More in tune.... Yes, if they knew what +we'd been saying about them there'd be a riot. I wouldn't give much for +your hair when the two old ladies behind got through with it." + +At this point, unable to resist the temptation, Alex nudged Jack, drew a +pencil from his pocket, and slyly tapped on the metal of the seat-arm the +two letters of the telegraph laugh, "Hi!" + +The soldier opposite started, looked quickly over, caught the two boys' +twinkling eyes, and coloring, laughed heartily. Promptly then he raised +his thumb, and wagged, "You young rascals! I'll have you in the +guard-house for stealing military information. Who are you?" + +Alex replied, using his thumb as he had seen the soldier do; and the +animated exchange of signals which followed continued until a whistle +from the engine announced a stop, and the soldier wagged, "We get off +here. Good-by." + +"Glad to have met you," he said, smiling, as he and his companion passed +them. + +"Glad to have met you," responded the boys heartily. "And to have got +onto the signalling. It may come in useful some day," Alex added. "Good +day." + +"That's just what I was thinking myself, Al," declared Jack. "We must +practice it." + +Following the disappearance of the out-going passengers, a group of +newcomers appeared at the farther car door. + +"Here comes someone I know," Jack observed. "The big man in front--Burke, +a real estate agent." + +The tall, heavy-featured man passed them and took the seat immediately +behind. + +"He didn't speak to you," commented Alex. + +"I'm glad he didn't. He's no friend; just knew him, I meant," responded +Jack. "He is a proper shark, they say. I know he practically did a widow +out of a bit of property just back of ours. + +"And here is another, same business, from the next town. And not much +better," Jack went on, as a short, bustling, sharp-featured man appeared. + +The man behind them stood up and called, "Hi, there, Mitchell! Here!" The +newcomer waved his hand, came forward quickly, and also dropped into the +seat at the rear of the two boys. + +"Nice pair of hawks," said Jack. "I'll bet they are hatching up something +with a shady side to it. I'd be tempted to listen if I could." + +As the train was again under way, Jack had no opportunity of overhearing +what was being said behind them. A few miles farther, however, they came +once more to a stop, and almost immediately he pricked up his ears and +nudged Alex. + +"... don't believe the ignorant dolt knows the real value of butter and +eggs." It was the deep voice of the bigger man, Burke. "He's one of those +queer ducks, without any friends. Lives there all by himself, doesn't +read the papers, and only comes to town about once a month. No; there's +not one chance in ten of his waking up and getting onto it." + +"You always were a lucky dog," declared the other. "If you land it you +ought to clear fifty thousand inside of five years." + +"A hundred. I intend holding for a cold hundred thousand. There has been +talk of the town building a steam plant already; but water is of course +away ahead of that, and they are sure to swing to it. And this fall is +the only one within ten miles of Haddowville." + +"Didn't I tell you!" exclaimed Jack in a whisper. "Doing somebody out of +something, whatever it is." + +"You might build the plant yourself, and hold the town up for whatever +you wished," the second speaker went on. + +"Yes, I could. But I prefer the ready cash. That has always been my plan +of doing business. No; I figure on disposing of the farm just as it +stands, either to the town, or a corporation, for an even hundred +thousand." + +"Does that give you a clue, Jack?" Alex asked. + +Jack shook his head. At the next remark, however, he sharply gripped +Alex's arm. + +"What fall has the stream there?" + +"Forty feet, and the lake back of it is nearly a mile long, and a half +mile wide." + +The rumble of the train again drowned the voices of the two men, but Jack +had heard enough. "It's old Uncle Joe Potter--his farm," he said with +indignation. "Now I understand. The old farmer apparently doesn't know +its value as an electric power plant site, and Burke is trying to get +hold of it for a song." + +"Let us put the old man onto him," Alex immediately suggested. + +"I'll talk the matter over with Father, and see what he says," said Jack. + +"But here comes the good old town," he broke off with boyish enthusiasm. +"Look, there is the creek, and the old swimming-hole at the bend. I'll +bet I've been in there a thousand times. And see that spire--that's our +church. Our house is just beyond. + +"Come on, let's be getting out." + +Catching up their suitcases, the boys passed down the aisle. As they +halted at the door, they glanced back and saw that their neighbors of the +next seat were following them. The two men were still talking; and coming +to a stand behind the boys, the latter caught a further remark from Burke +apparently referring to the Potter farm deal. + +"... wrote asking him to town this evening," he was saying. "I'll give +him a bit of a good time to-night, and put him up at one of the +hotels--and, unless something unexpected happens, I'll guarantee I'll +have the thing put through by noon to-morrow." + +"I hope you do," responded his companion. + +"And I hope you don't!" exclaimed Jack beneath his breath. "And I may do +something more than hope." + + * * * * * + +Twenty minutes later, after a joyous welcome from his father and mother, +and sister Kate, and the cordial reception extended Alex, Jack was seated +at his "old corner" of the vine-hidden veranda, recounting the +conversation they had overheard between the two real estate men. Before +Mr. Orr had ventured an opinion in the matter, however, the subject was +temporarily thrust aside by the appearance of a party of Kate's girl +friends, evidently much disturbed over something. When on running forward +Kate's voice was quickly added to the excited conversation, Jack followed +to greet the girls, and learn the cause, and returned with the party to +the veranda. + +"Now what do you think of this?" he exclaimed with tragic horror. +"Professor Robison, the world renowned mind reader (though I never heard +of him before), owing to his inability to arrive, will not be able to be +present at the Girls' Club song-fight to-night! Did you ever!" + +"But it's no laughing matter," said Kate, following the introduction of +her friends to Alex. "He was the feature of our program to-night, and I +simply can't see what we are going to do. Many of the people will be +coming just to hear him." + +"Jack, couldn't you help us out?" asked one of the other girls, half +seriously. "You used to pretend you were a phrenologist and all that kind +of thing at school, I remember." + +"No thanks, Mary. I've gotten over all that sort of foolishness," Jack +responded, expanding his chest and speaking in a deep voice. "I leave +that for you younger folks." + +A small laughing riot followed this pompous declaration, and at its +conclusion Jack carried Alex off to introduce him to his pigeons and +chickens, and other former treasures of the back yard. + +Some minutes later Jack was dilating on the rich under-color of his pet +Buff Orpington hen, when Alex, with an apology, abruptly broke in. "Say, +Jack, what kind of a crowd do they have at these Girls' Club affairs? +Very swell?" + +"Well, about everyone in the church goes, and quite a few farmers usually +come in from out of town. They are as 'swell' as anything we have here, I +guess. The Sunday-school room is usually well filled. Why?" + +"I was just wondering whether we _couldn't_ help the girls out, and have +a little fun out of it into the bargain. Remember the soldiers on the +train? Now, why couldn't we," and therewith Alex briefly sketched his +plan. Jack promptly tossed the hen back into the coop. "Great, Al! We +will! It will be all kinds of a lark. I think there is just the stuff +we'll need up in the garret. + +"Come on; we'll break the joyful tidings to the girls." + +"I'd rather you played the part, though," said Alex as they returned +toward the veranda. "You of course know everyone." + +"That will make no difference according to this plan. If I am in full +view, too, that will add to the mystery, and help keep up the fun. The +folks will be breaking their heads to learn who it is on the platform. +No; it's settled. You are the distinguished professor and +phreno-what-do-you-call-it." + +The girls on the veranda were still in dejected debate as the boys +reappeared. "Ladies, we've got this thing fixed for you," announced Jack. +"We have just wirelessed and engaged that world-famous thought-stealer, +bumpologist and general seer, Prof. Mahomet Click, of Constantinople, to +plug up that hole in your program to-night. He stated that it would give +him great pleasure to come to the assistance of such charming young +women, et cetera, and that he could be counted upon." + +"You two mean things!" exclaimed Kate. "We saw you with your heads +together out there, laughing. This is no joking matter at all." + +"We are serious," Jack protested. "Positively. You go ahead and announce +that owing to an attack of croup, or any other reason, Prof. Robison will +not be able to appear, but that Prof. Click has kindly consented to +substitute, and we will look after the rest." + +"Do you really mean it?" cried the girls. + +"On our word as full-grown gentlemen," responded Jack. "But we're not +going to explain. + +"Come on, Alex, until we have further debate with the distinguished Turk +up in the garret. He probably has arrived by this time." + +Whatever doubts Kate had as to the seriousness of the boys' intentions, +they had not only been dissipated by noon, but had given place to lively +curiosity and expectation. Alex and Jack had devoted the entire morning +to their mysterious preparations; had made numerous trips to the church +school-room, to the stores; had borrowed needles, thread, mucilage; had +turned the library shelves upside-down in a search for certain books; and +once, coming on them unawares, she had surprised them practising strange +incantations with their fingers. + +It was late in the afternoon that the serious, and what was to prove the +most important, feature of the evening's performance developed. On a +return trip to the dry-goods store Jack drew Alex to a halt with an +exclamation, and pointed across the street. Burke, the real estate man, +was walking slowly along with a shrivelled-up little old gentleman in +dilapidated hat, faded garments, and top-boots. + +"The victim!" said Jack with deep disgust. "Old Uncle Joe Potter. + +"Look at him sporting along with a cigar in his mouth--one of Burke's +cigars!" + +The boys parallelled the oddly assorted pair some distance, and it could +readily be seen that Burke was doing his best to win the old man's +confidence, and that the latter already was much impressed with the +attention and deference shown him by the well-dressed agent. + +"If we could get the old man alone," said Alex. + +"Not much chance, I am afraid. Now that he has him in hand, Burke +probably won't lose sight of him until he has closed his bargain. +Remember what he said just before we left the train, about giving the old +chap a good time to-night, and putting him up at one of the hotels." + +Alex halted. "Give him a good time! Say, Jack, why shouldn't he give him +a good time at the Girls' Club entertainment to-night? And then why +shouldn't we--" + +Jack uttered a shout, and struck Alex enthusiastically on the back. "Al, +you've hit it! You've hit it! Bully! + +"Here! Give me those complimentary tickets Kate gave us, and I'll go +right after them, before they make any other arrangements. You wait." + +Jack was running across the street in a moment, and drawing up alongside +the two men, he addressed them both. "Excuse me, Mr. Potter, Mr. +Burke--but wouldn't you like to take in our Girls' Club entertainment +to-night? It's going to be really quite good--good music, and fun, and a +bit of tea social in between. + +"I'm sure you would enjoy it," he declared, addressing himself to the +older man. "One of the features of the program is a chap who claims he +can read people's thoughts. Of course nobody thinks he can, but he will +make lots of fun." + +The old man smiled, and looked at his companion. + +"It is up to you, Mr. Potter," responded Burke genially. "If you think you +would enjoy it, why, I would. Your taste is good enough recommendation for +me." + +"Then let us go," said the old gentleman, putting his hand into his +pocket. + +"No; this is my treat," interposed Burke, grasping the tickets. "Here you +are, lad, and keep the change." + +"Thank you, sir," said Jack. And with difficulty restraining a shout, he +dashed back toward Alex, waving his hat above his head as a token of +victory. + +The scene of the Girls' Club entertainment, the church school-room, was +filled to the doors when the program began that evening. + +"I'm beginning to be anxious about Mr. Burke and the old man, though," +observed Jack, who with Alex had been standing near the entrance, and +remarking on the good attendance. A moment after the door again opened, +and Jack started forward with an expression of relief. They had come. + +"Good evening, Mr. Potter, Mr. Burke," he said. "Shall I find you a +seat?" + +"Yes, and a good one, now," requested the real estate man. + +"I saved two, well to the front," responded Jack. "This way, please." + +"Now, Alex," he said, returning, "it's up to us." + +The "mind-reading" number on the program was at length reached. The +chairman arose. + +"I am very sorry to say, ladies and gentlemen," he announced, "that Prof. +Robison, who is next on the program, was unexpectedly not able to keep +his engagement. However, in his place we have secured the services of +Prof. Mahmoud Click, of Constantinople; astrologer, phrenologist, +mind-reader, and general all-round seer; and I am sure you will find him +no less instructive and entertaining." + +Despite this assurance, in the silence which followed there was a +distinct note of disappointment, even displeasure. For it was obvious +that the flowery title of the substitute concealed some local amateur. + +Disappointment, however, quickly gave place to a flutter of interest when +the rear door opened, and preceded by Jack Orr, there swept down the +aisle a tall, venerable figure in flowing robes; white-bearded, +spectacled, and crowned with a tall conical hat bearing strange +hieroglyphics. + +When, on Jack stepping aside and taking an unobtrusive front seat, the +aged professor mounted the platform and solemnly surveyed his audience, +titters, then a burst of laughter swept over the school-room. The long +yellow robe was covered with grotesque caricatures of cats, frogs, dogs, +cranes and turtles, interspersed with great black question-marks. + +The famed Oriental turned about toward a table, and the laughing broke +out afresh. In the center of his back was a large cat's-head, with +wonderfully squinting eyes. When the cat slowly closed one distorted +optic in a wink, then smiled, there was an unrestrained shout of +merriment, and those who were not excitedly inquiring of one another the +identity of the "seer," settled back in their seats expectantly. + +Placing the table at the front of the platform, the professor again faced +the audience, and with dignified air, and deep, tragic voice, addressed +them. + +"Ladees and gentlemans. Ze chairman have spoke. I am Mahmoud Click, ze +great seer, ze great mind-read, ze great bump-read, ze great profess. +(Laughter.) I am ze seventeen son, of ze seventeen son, of ze seventeen +son. + +"An' also have I bring for do ze magic pass," thrusting a hand within his +robe, "Tom ze Terrible, ze son of Tom, ze son of Tom." + +The hand reappeared, and placed on the table a tiny black kitten. + +The burst of laughter which greeted this was renewed when the tiny animal +began making playful passes at a spool on a string which the dignified +professor held before it, remarking, "See? Ze magic pass. + +"Now Tom ze Terrible will answer ze question, and show he onderstan' ze +Ingleesh," the magician announced, at the same time swinging the spool +out of the kitten's sight. + +"Tom, how old you are?" + +The spool was swung back, the kitten began again hitting at it, solemnly +the professor counted to twenty, and whisked the spool away. "Twenty +year. Correc'. + +"You see, ladees and gentlemans, ze venerable cat he cannot make +mistake," he observed amid laughing applause. + +"Now Tom, tell some odder ting. How old is ze chairman?" indicating the +dignified elderly man at the farther end of the platform. "Five? Correc'. + +"You see, he always is right, yes. + +"Now, Tom, how old is ze Rev. Mr. Borden?... Seven? Correc' again." + +When the laughter which followed this "demonstration" had subsided the +professor took up a new line. Earlier in the evening a certain John +Peters, one of the town's foppish young gallants, and who now occupied a +prominent front seat, had widely announced the fact that he was present +for the express purpose of "showing the mind-reader up." At him +accordingly the first quip was directed. + +"Now Tom, tell ze audience, how many girl have Mr. John Wilberforce +Peters?" was asked. "What? None?" For, the spool being held out of sight, +the kitten gazed before it stolidly, without raising a foot. "Well, how +many does he think he have?" + +The spool being returned, the kitten tapped it ten times, paused, and +struck it eight more, while the resulting wave of amusement grew, and the +over-dressed object glowered threateningly at the figure on the platform. + +"And how many will he marry?... What? Not one? Well, well," commented the +seer, to further hearty laughter. + +"Now tell us about some of ze young ladies," the professor went on. "How +many beaux has Miss K. O.?" While Kate Orr bridled indignantly the spool +was lowered, and the kitten tapped several times on one side, several +times on the other, then, to an outburst of laughing and clapping, sat up +and began hitting it rapidly with both paws. + +"I was unable to keep ze count," announced the seer, "but apparently +about ze seventy-five. Miss O. she is popular wiz ze young men, yes. + +"And now, Tom," continued the magician, "how many special lady friend +have Mr. Kumming (an extremely bashful member of the choir)?... +Twenty-two! And how many young lady are in ze choir? Twenty-two! + +"Ah! A strange coincidence," observed the learned professor amid much +merriment. + +With similar quips and jokes the mind-reader continued, then giving the +kitten into the charge of a little girl in a front seat, announced: + +"Now will I read ze head. Will some small boys please come up and bring +their heads and bumps?" + +Coaxing finally brought a half-dozen grinning youngsters of eight or ten +to the platform. From the pocket of the last to respond protruded the +unmistakable cover of a dime-novel. Him the professor seized first, and +having gravely examined his head, announced, "Ladees and gentlemans, for +this boy I predict a great future. Never have I seen such sign of +literary taste. Yes, he will be great--unless he go west to kill ze +Indian, and ze Indian see him first." + +On turning to the head of the second boy, the phrenologist started, +looked more sharply, and slowly straightening up, announced, "Ladees and +gentlemans, I have made ze great discovery. This boy some days you will +be proud to know. Never have I seen such a lovely bump--for eat ze pie! +And any kind of pie you will name. He don't care. He will eat it." + +And so, to continued laughter, he went on, finding remarkable cake-bumps, +holiday-bumps, and picnic-bumps, and proportionately under-developed +school and chore-bumps--with the exception of one glowing example, which +finally proved to have been developed by a baseball bat. + +Then came the "mind-reading." Placing a small blackboard on the front of +the platform, facing the audience, the professor seated himself in a +chair ten feet behind it, and invited someone to step to the board and +write. + +"All I ask is," announced the mind-reader, "please write not too fast, +and fix ze mind on what you write. And by ze thought-wave will I tell it, +letter by letter." + +The first to respond wrote the name of his father, a doctor. Expecting +only some humorous guess as to what was written, the audience was +somewhat surprised when the professor spelled out the name correctly, +only adding the humorous touch of "mud," hastily corrected to "M. D." As +others followed with figures, and more difficult names and words, the +interest of the audience began to take on a new tone. + +The last of the first party which had stepped forward to write was the +over-dressed young man Alex had poked some of his fun at, and who was +bent on "showing him up." + +He wrote: "You are a faker." + +"Explain to ze audience how I do it, zen, Mr. Peters," retorted the +professor. In some confusion Peters sought his seat, and the minister +approached the board. + +The interest of the audience had now become serious and silent. Even Kate +Orr, though knowing there was trickery somewhere, was nonplussed. For +Jack, in the front row, appeared as immovable, and as frankly interested +as those about him. Loosely folded in his lap was a newspaper which for a +moment attracted Kate's suspicious eye; but watching closely, she saw not +the hint of a movement that might have been a signal. + +The minister's first word was the name Hosea. This was promptly called +off, and the writer went on with others, gradually more difficult. +Finally, in rapid succession, one under the other, he wrote "ZEDEKIAH, +AHOLIBAH, NEBUCHADNEZZAR." As readily the figure on the platform +announced them, and the reverend gentleman turned away with an expression +frankly puzzled. + +"Pardon me, Mr. Professor, but since this is genuine mind-reading, of +course you could read just as well with your eyes blindfolded, could you +not? Would you kindly give a demonstration that way?" + +It was Peters. There was immediate clapping at the suggestion, and calls +of "Yes, yes! Do it blindfolded!" + +In alarm Kate, from her seat, gazed toward Jack. To her surprise he was +one of the most energetic in clapping the proposal. + +The professor himself, however, was plainly disconcerted, to the +particular delight of Peters and his circle of friends, who, as the +mind-reader continued to hesitate, clapped more and more loudly. + +Finally the seer arose. "Well, ladees and gentlemans, if you wish, +certainly. Though I do read just as good with my eyes open." + +This negative statement brought further derisive laughter and clapping +from Peters and his friends, which was added to when the professor +continued, "Will some young lady be kind enough to lend me ze +handkerchief--ze tiny leetle one with plenty holes all round?" + +Peters was again on his feet. "Here is one!" + +It was a large, dark neckerchief, obviously brought for this very +purpose. As Peters stepped forward and mounted the platform the professor +removed his spectacles with apparent reluctance. Broadly smiling, Peters +threw the folded kerchief over the mind-reader's eyes, saw that it fitted +snugly, and tied it. "Now we've got you, Mr. Smart, of Constantinople," +he whispered derisively. + +"Have ze good time and laugh while you may," responded the professor, and +raising his voice he asked, "Will someone kindly bring ze glass water? +Mind-reading, it is dry." + +It was Jack started to his feet, passed down the room, and returned with +the desired water. Watching, Kate expected to see a consultation between +the two boys, as to some way out of the apparent difficulty. Jack, +however, merely placed the glass in the extended hand, and received it +back without the exchange of a syllable. Not only that, he returned to +the back of the hall, and instead of resuming his seat at the front, +mounted to a window ledge at the rear. + +"Well, I am ready," announced the professor. "And I make ze suggestion +that Mr. Peters himself write ze first." + +The latter was speedily at the board. As he wrote, a silence fell. +Previously the professor had called off each letter as written. This time +there was no response. With a smile that gradually broadened to a laugh +Peters finished an odd Indian name, and asked, "The thought-waves haven't +gone astray already, have they, Mr. Professor? Haven't been frightened +off by a mere handkerchief, surely?" + +"I was wondering how to pronounce it," came the quiet response. "I'll +spell it instead. It is, + +"'M U S Q U O D O B O I T.'" + +Peters stared blankly. Not more blankly than the majority of the +audience, however, including Kate herself. She turned toward Jack. He +appeared as surprised as Peters. Indeed, if there was anything +suspicious, it was that Jack appeared a trifle over-astonished. + +As the burst of applause which followed the first surprise was succeeded +by a wave of laughter, Kate turned back to discover Peters, very red in +the face, drawing on the board a picture. As she looked a grotesquely +ugly face took shape. The face completed, there was a renewed burst of +merriment when Peters topped it with a fool's-cap, and on that sketched +rough hieroglyphics. + +"Now whose picture have I drawn?" he demanded loudly. + +"Well, you tried to draw mine," responded the professor, dropping into +normal English, "but as the dunce's tie is far up the back of his collar, +I leave the audience to decide whose it is." + +At this there were shouts and shrieks of laughter, and Peters, hurriedly +feeling, and finding his own tie far out of place, threw the chalk to the +floor and dashed back to his seat amid a perfect bedlam of hilarity. + +The uproar soon subsided, however, for not one in the crowded room but +was now thoroughly wonderstruck at the demonstration. Some of the older +people began to step forward, writing the most difficult names they could +think of, meaningless words, groups of figures. A teacher chalked a +proposition in algebra. Without error all were called out promptly. + +The climax was reached when one of the church elders advanced to the +board, and while writing, fixed his eyes on something in his half-opened +hand. + +Without hesitation the blindfolded unknown announced, "Mr. Storey is +writing the name of one of the Apostles, but is thinking of a penknife." + +The clapping which followed was scattered and brief. "It's simply +uncanny," exclaimed one of Kate's neighbors. Kate, glancing back toward +Jack, shook her head. Up there, in full view, she could not possibly see +how he could have anything to do with it. + +At this point the minister again stepped forward. "Will you answer a few +questions?" he scrawled. + +"With pleasure, Mr. Borden." + +"How old am I?" + +"Forty-nine next September." + +The minister ran his fingers through his hair, perplexedly. + +"How old is Mrs. Borden?" + +There was a slight pause, then in gallant tones came the answer, +"Twenty-two." + +Amid a renewal of laughter, and much clapping from the ladies, the +minister was about to turn away, when on second thought he turned back, +and wrote: + +"Name the twelve Apostles." + +For the first time the learned seer displayed signs of uneasiness. After +some stumbling, however, he completed the list. + +With a twinkle in his eyes, the preacher inscribed a second question, +"Name Joshua's captains." + +Prof. Click cleared his throat, ran his fingers down his beard, moved +uneasily in his chair, and at length, while a smile began to spread over +the room, shook his head. + +"But I am thinking of them--hard," declared the minister, chuckling. + +The professor was again about to shake his head, when suddenly he paused, +then replied boldly, "Shem, Ham, Hezekiah, Hittite, Peter, Goliath, +Solomon and Pharaoh." + +It was during the shouts of merriment following this ridiculous response +that Kate's mystification began to dissolve. Glancing again toward her +brother, she saw that, despite a show of laughing, there was an +uneasiness in his face similar to that shown by the professor. And when +presently she saw him cast a covertly longing eye toward a pile of Bibles +in the next window, she turned back to the platform, silently laughing. +She thought she had discovered the source of the "thought waves." + +The success of the brazenly invented answer to the last question, +meantime, had quite restored the professor's confidence, and as the +minister went on, he continued to respond in the same ridiculous fashion, +claiming, on the minister's protest, that he was only reading the +thought-waves as they came to him. And finally the pastor laughingly gave +it up. + +At the next, and final, "demonstration" mystification of another kind +came to the observant Kate. Rising to his feet, the mind-reader announced +that he would now inform a few of the "stronger thinkers" before him the +subject of their thoughts; and both in his manner and tone Kate noted an +unmistakable nervousness. Glancing toward Jack, she saw that his face +also was grave, and with a stirring of apprehension of she knew not what, +she waited. + +"The first thought which reaches me," began the professor, "is from Miss +Mary Andrews. Miss Andrews thinks her pretty toque is on straight. It's +not quite. I think one pin is coming out." + +Following this laughingly applauded "reading," the speaker informed Miss +James that she was thinking her lace collar was not loose behind. "Which +was quite correct." As also was Mr. Storey's impression that there was +not a long blond hair on his coat collar. "There was not." + +Then Kate distinctly saw the speaker take a deep breath. + +"Mr. Joseph Potter is a strong thinker," he proceeded. "I read several +thoughts from Mr. Potter." + +The old farmer, to whom the whole performance had appeared as nothing +less than magic, leaned out into the aisle, breathless and staring. + +"It seems to me, Mr. Potter," the mind-reader went on, "it seems to me +you are thinking about some important business deal--some big deal +concerning land." + +The old man's mouth opened. + +"Also it seems to me that this land may be worth a great deal more +than--" + +There was an exclamation, a commotion, and Burke, the real estate man, +was on his feet. A moment he stood staring, as though doubting his ears, +then catching up his hat he said in a loud voice, "Come, Mr. Potter, we +must go. That other engagement, you know--I had forgotten it." + +The old man sprang up, and brushed Burke aside. "Go on! Go on!" he cried +toward the figure on the platform. The startled audience gazed from one +to another. Several arose. + +"It seems to me," resumed Alex quietly, "that there is a waterfall on +your farm, and that--" + +"Hold on there! Hold on!" The words came in a shout, and springing into +the aisle, Burke strode toward the platform, purple with rage. "What do +you mean? What are you doing? + +"Who is this man?" he demanded at the top of his lungs. "I demand to +know! What does he mean by--?" + +Swiftly hobbling down the aisle behind him, the old man attempted to +pass. Roughly Burke pushed him back. + +The minister stepped forward. "Mr. Burke, what do you mean?" + +"What does this man here mean by--by--" + +"Yes, by what, Mr. Burke?" + +"By making reflections against me," shouted Burke. "I demand an +explanation! I--" + +"But my dear sir, I am sure nothing was said--" + +The old man dodged by, ran to the edge of the platform, and cried in a +thin, high voice, "Do you mean my farm? My farm that Burke wants to buy?" + +There was a momentary silence, during which here and there could be heard +long in-drawn gasps. Then abruptly Alex tore the bandage from his eyes, +swept off the hat and beard, and stepped to the front. + +"There need be no further mystery about this," he declared in a grimly +steady voice. "On the train this morning Jack Orr and I accidentally +overheard--" + +From Burke came a scream, he sprang forward with raised fists, faltered, +and suddenly whirling about, dashed down the aisle for the door, and out. +And in the breathless silence which followed Alex completed his +explanation. + +As the old man climbed the platform steps and extended a shaking hand, +the applause that burst from every corner of the room fairly rattled the +windows; and as the uproar continued, and Alex sprang hastily to the +floor, he was surrounded by a jostling, enthusiastic crowd of strangers +from whom in vain he sought to escape. + +Some minutes later, enjoying tea and cake in a circle which included the +minister, the latter smilingly remarked, "But you haven't yet explained +the rest of the mysterious doings, Master Alex. Aren't you going to +enlighten us all round? Prefer to keep it a secret, eh? Well, if you will +promise us another 'exposition' I'm sure we will agree not to press you," +declared the minister, heartily. + +And as a matter of fact, save Kate, no one has yet solved the mystery, +not even the janitor, although on cutting the grass a few days later he +picked up beneath one of the school-room windows an unaccountable piece +of fine copper wire. + + + + +XIV + +THE LAST OF THE FREIGHT THIEVES + + +"No; I'm not after you this time," laughingly responded Detective Boyle +to Jack's half serious inquiry on recognizing his visitor at the station +one evening a month later as the road detective who on the previous +memorable occasion had called in company with the sheriff. "Instead, I +want your assistance. + +"Do you know," he asked, seating himself, "that your friends the freight +thieves are operating again on the division?" + +"No!" said Jack in surprise. + +"They are. And they have evolved some scheme that is more baffling even +than the 'haunting' trick you spoiled for them here last spring. Every +week they are getting away with valuable stuff from one of the night +freights between Claxton and Eastfield, while the train is actually en +route, apparently. That sounds incredible, I know, but it is the only +possible conclusion to come to, since the train does not stop between +those places, and I made sure the goods each time were aboard when it +left Claxton." + +Jack whistled. "That does look a problem, doesn't it! But where do I come +in, Mr. Boyle?" + +"Last evening, while thinking the matter over, the trick the thieves used +here at the Junction recurred to me--the man shipped in a box. It came to +me: Why couldn't that same dodge be played back against them in this +case?" + +"Oh, I see! Have yourself shipped in a box, and 'stolen' by them! Clever +idea," exclaimed Jack. + +"Not so bad I think, myself. Well, in the country between Claxton and +Eastfield, where it is my theory the gang has its headquarters, there are +no telephone or telegraph lines, and it struck me it would be a good plan +to take someone along with me who in case of things going wrong could +make his way back to the railroad, and cut in on the wire and call for +help. And naturally you were the first one I thought of. Do you want the +job?" asked the detective. + +"I'd jump at the chance," Jack agreed eagerly. "It'd be more fun than +enough. + +"But, Mr. Boyle, how do you know that the boxes are taken to the freight +thieves' headquarters, unopened, and not broken into right at the +railroad?" + +"I figure that out from the number and size of the packages they have +taken each time--just a good load for a light wagon. And anyway you can +see that that would be their safest plan. If they broke up boxes near the +track they would leave clues that would be sure to be found sooner or +later, and put us on their trail. + +"And through a friend in the wholesale dry-goods business at Claxton, who +I'll see down there to-night," the detective went on, "I can make +practically sure of our being 'stolen' together. The thieves have shown a +partiality for his goods; and by having our boxes attractively labelled +'SILK,' and placed just within the car door, there will be little chance +of the robbers passing us by." + +"My plan is to bring it off to-morrow night. Would that suit you?" +concluded the detective. + +"Yes, sir. That is, if I can get away. For it will take all night, I +suppose?" + +"Yes. There will be no trouble about your getting off, though. I spoke to +Allen before I came down," said Boyle, rising. "All right, it is +arranged. You take the five-thirty down to-morrow evening, with the +necessary instruments, and I'll be at the station to meet you. Good +night." + +As Boyle had promised, Jack had no difficulty in arranging to be off duty +the following night, and early that evening he alighted from the train at +Claxton, to find the railroad detective awaiting him. + +"The instruments, eh?" queried Boyle, indicating a parcel under Jack's +arm as they left the station. "Yes, sir; and I have some wire and a file +in my pocket." + +"That's the ticket. And everything here is arranged nicely. We will head +for the warehouse at once." + +"Here's the other 'bolt of silk,' Mr. Brooke," the detective announced a +few minutes later as they entered the office adjoining a large brick +building. "All ready for us?" + +"Hn! He's a pretty small 'bolt,' isn't he?" commented the merchant, +eyeing Jack with some surprise. + +"A trifle; but he makes up for size in quality," declared the detective, +while Jack blushed. "He is the youngster who solved the 'ghost' riddle +and spoiled this same gang's game at Midway Junction." + +The merchant warmly shook Jack's hand. "I'm glad to meet you, my boy," he +said. "After that, I can readily believe what Boyle says. + +"Yes, I am all ready. This way, please," he requested. + +Following the speaker, Jack and the detective found themselves in a large +shipping-room. As they entered, a workman with a pot and ink-brush in his +hand was surveying lettering he had just completed on a good-sized +packing-case. + +"Here are the 'goods,' Judson," announced the merchant. + +"All ready, sir," the workman responded, eyeing Jack and the detective +curiously. + +"Did you substitute boards with knot-holes?" Mr. Brooke asked. + +"Yes, sir. And this is the door," said the man, indicating two wide +boards at one end. "I used both wooden buttons and screw-hooks on the +inside, as you suggested." + +"Good." + +The detective examined the box. "You've made a good job of it," he +commented. + +"I suppose this is the boy's?" he added, turning to a smaller box, on +which also were the words: "SILK--VALUABLE!" + +With lively interest Jack examined the case. + +"Get in and let us see how it fits," suggested the merchant. Jack did so. + +"Fine," he announced. "I could ride all night in it, easily--either +sitting, or lying down curled up on my side." + +Detective Boyle glanced at his watch. "You may as well stay right there, +Jack," he said. "We will start just as soon as the wagon is ready." + +"It's ready now. Judson, go and bring the dray around," the merchant +directed. + +As the man left, the detective produced and handed Jack a small pocket +revolver. "Here, take this, Jack," said he. "I hope you'll not have to +use it, but we must take all precautions. + +"Now to box you in." So saying the detective fitted the "door" of Jack's +box into place, and Jack on the inside secured it with the hooks and +wooden buttons, and announced "O K." The detective then entered his own +box, and with the merchant's assistance closed the opening. As he tested +it there was a rattle of wheels without, and the big door rumbled open. + +A few minutes later the two boxes of "valuable silk" had been slid out +onto the truck, and the first stage of the strange journey had begun. + +As planned, it was dusk when the two boxes reached the freight depot. The +station agent himself met them. "Everything O K, Boyle?" he whispered. + +"O K. Place us right before the door, with the lettering out," the +detective directed. The agent did as requested, and with a final "Good +luck!" closed and sealed the car door just as the clanging of a bell +announced the approach of an engine. A crash and a jar told the two +unsuspected travelers that their car had been coupled, there was a +whistle, a rumble, a clanking over switch-points--and they were on their +way. + +The wheels had been drumming over the rail-joints for perhaps half an +hour, and the disappearance of the light which had filtered through the +car door had announced the fall of darkness, when there came a screeching +of brakes. + +"Where do you suppose we are now, Mr. Boyle?" asked Jack from his box. + +"It's the grade just north of Axford Road. When we hit the up-grade two +miles beyond we may begin to expect something. It was along there I +figured that the-- + +"What's that?" + +Both listened. "One of the brakemen, isn't it?" suggested Jack. + +"What is he doing down on the edge of the car roof?" + +The next sound was of something slapping against the car door. + +Suddenly the detective gave vent to a cry that was barely suppressed. + +"Jack, I've got it! I've got it at last!" he whispered excitedly. + +"The freight thieves have bought up one of the brakemen! He lets himself +down to the car door by a rope, opens it, and throws the stuff out!" + +Jack's exclamation of delight at this final revelation of the heart of +the mystery was followed by one of consternation. "But won't we get an +awful shaking up if we're pitched off, going at full speed?" he said in +alarm. + +"We may. We'll have to take it. It's all in the game you know," declared +Boyle grimly. "Sit tight and brace hard, and it'll not be so bad, though. + +"Sh! Here he is!" + +There was a sound of feet scraping against the car door, a rattle as the +seal was broken and the clasp freed, then a rumble and the sudden full +roar of the train told the two in the boxes that the door had been +opened. + +Swinging within, the intruder closed the door behind him, and lit a +match. Peering from a knot-hole, Jack saw that the detective's guess was +correct. It was a brakeman. + +As Jack watched, the man produced and lit a dark-lantern, and turned it +on the cases before him. Jack held his breath as the light streamed +through the cracks of his own box. + +"Just to order," muttered the brakeman audibly. + +"And the bigger one, too. I'll not have to haul any out." + +Then, to Jack's momentary alarm, then amusement, the man seated himself +on the box, above him. + +Presently, as Jack was wondering what the trainman was waiting for, from +the distant engine came the two long and two short toots for a crossing, +and the man started to his feet. With his eye to the knot-hole Jack +watched. + +Again came a whistle, and the creaking of brakes. Immediately the +brakeman slid the car door back a few inches, flashed his lantern four +times, muffled it, and ran the door open its full width. + +The critical moment had come. Gathering himself together, Jack braced +with knees and elbows. The trainman seized the box, swung it to the door, +and tipped it forward. The next instant Jack felt himself hurled out into +the darkness. + +For one terrible moment he felt himself hurtling through space. Then came +a crackle of branches, the box whirled over and over, again plunged +downward, and brought up with a crash. + +A brief space Jack lay dazed, in a heap, head down. But he had been only +slightly stunned, and recovering, he righted himself, and found with +satisfaction that he had suffered no more than a bruise of the scalp and +an elbow. + +He had not long to speculate on his whereabouts. From near at hand came a +sound of breaking twigs, and a voice. + +[Illustration: THE NEXT INSTANT JACK FELT HIMSELF HURLED OUT INTO +THE DARKNESS.] + +"Here's one," it said. + +Only with difficulty did Jack avoid betraying himself. It was the voice +of the man "Watts"! + +"What is it?" inquired a second voice. + +Through a crack a light appeared. "Silk," announced Watts. + +"A good weight, too," he added, tipping the box. "Catch hold." + +The packing-case was caught up; and rocked and jolted, Jack felt himself +carried for what he judged a full quarter-mile. As the men slowed up a +gleam of moonlight showed through the knot-hole, and peering forth he +discovered a tree-lined road, and a two-horse wagon. + +Sliding the box into the rear of the wagon, and well to the front, the +men disappeared. The wait that followed was to Jack the most trying +experience of the evening. Had the detective safely landed? Was there not +a possibility of the larger box having been shattered? Or sufficiently +broken to reveal its true contents, and disclose the plot to the +freight-robbers? And what then would be his fate? + +These and many other disquieting possibilities passed through Jack's +mind, causing him several times as the minutes went by to finger the +hooks and buttons which would permit of his escape. Finally snapping +twigs, then heavy, stumbling footfalls allayed his anxiety, and the two +men reappeared, staggering under the box containing the officer. + +With difficulty the unsuspecting thieves raised the heavy packing-case to +the tail-board of the wagon. + +"It won't go in," said Watts' companion. + +"Push this way a little," Watts directed. + +"I can't--_Look out!_" There was a scramble, and the box crashed to the +ground. At the same moment came a muffled exclamation, and Jack caught +his breath. Was it the detective? If so, had the others overheard it? + +With relief, however, he heard Watts, who apparently was the chief of the +gang, call his companion a mule, and order him to catch hold again. The +box this time was successfully slid aboard; and at once the two men +climbed to the seat, and the wagon rumbled off. + +As they rattled along over a badly-kept road Jack gave as close attention +to the passing scenery as his limited view permitted, in order that he +might be able to find his way back to the railroad if it should prove +necessary. This did not promise to be difficult. On either side the dim +moonlight showed an unbroken succession of trees, and also that the +robbers were continuing in one direction--apparently due south. + +For what seemed at least two miles they proceeded. Then appeared a small +clearing, and with a quickening of the pulse Jack felt the wagon slow up +and turn in. They were at their destination. + +A forbiddingly suitable place for its purpose it was. Standing out darkly +on the crest of a rise two hundred yards back, was a low shanty-like +house, in which appeared a single gleam of light. Between, to the road, +stretched a desolate moonlit prospect of stumps, decaying logs and +brush-piles. On either side the woods formed a towering wall of +blackness. + +Rocking and pitching, the wagon made its way up a rutty, corkscrew lane. +They reached the house, and the door opened, and a tall, unpleasant-looking +woman appeared and greeted the men. + +"Good luck, eh?" she remarked briefly. + +"Sure. Don't we always have good luck?" responded Watts. "Is supper +ready?" + +"Yes. You-uns better come in before you opens them boxes," said the +woman. + +"All right." + +Passing on, the wagon came at last to a halt before a good-sized barn. +The two men leaped to the ground, and while one of them opened the large +side doors the other proceeded to back the wagon to it. + +As the two freight thieves then unhooked, and led their horses to the +stable, there came to Jack's ears a welcome tapping. "Are you all right, +lad?" whispered the detective. + +"Yes, O K, sir, though a bit nervous," Jack acknowledged. + +"Keep cool and we'll soon have them where we want them. As they are going +in to supper first we'll not leave the boxes till then. That'll give us +just the opportunity we want to look around and arrange things nicely. + +"Sh! Here they come!" + +"Catch hold," said Watts. Jack heard the detective's box slide out, an +"Up!" from Watts, the staggering steps of the men across the barn floor, +and a thud as the box was dropped. + +At what then immediately followed Jack for a moment doubted his senses. +It was the voice of Watts saying quietly and coldly, "Now my clever +friend in the box, kindly come out!" + +They _had_ heard Boyle's exclamation when the box had fallen! + +Scarcely breathing, Jack listened. Would the detective give himself up +without a-- + +There was a muffled report, instantly a second, louder, then silence. + +"Will you come out now?" demanded Watts. + +To Jack's horror there was no response. Watts repeated the order, then +called on his companion for an axe, and there followed the sound of blows +and splintering wood. + +"Now haul him out." + +Terror-stricken, Jack listened. Suddenly there came the sound of a +scramble, then of a terrific struggle. + +The detective was all right! It had been only a ruse! Uttering a +suppressed hurrah Jack began hurriedly undoing the fastenings of his +door, to get out to the detective's assistance. Before he had opened it, +however, there was the sound of a heavy fall, and a triumphant shout from +Watts. Promptly Jack paused, debated a moment, and restored the +fastenings. He would wait. Perhaps they would bind Boyle and leave him in +the barn. + +A moment later Jack regretted his decision. Through the knot-hole he saw +the detective led by, his arms bound behind him, and one of the +freight-robbers on either side. + +The voices and footsteps died away in the direction of the house, and +Jack fell to wondering what he should do. Before he had decided he heard +the voices of the men returning. Apprehensively he waited. Had they any +suspicion of his presence in the second packing-case? + +While he held his breath and grimly clutched his revolver, they slid his +box to the rear of the wagon, lifted it out, and deposited it on the barn +floor. + +"Going to have a look at it? Make sure it hasn't some live stock in it +too?" inquired the second man. + +Jack's heart stood still. + +"No; it's all right," declared Watts confidently. "We'll have supper +first." And to Jack's unspeakable relief they passed out and closed the +barn door. Listening until from the house had come the slamming of a +door, Jack once more freed the fastenings within the box, slipped the +board aside, again listened a moment, and crawled forth. + +As he stood stretching his cramped limbs, he glanced about. A tier of +what looked like bolts of cloth in the moonlight beneath one of the barn +windows caught his eye. He stepped over. + +It was silk--silk such as he had seen in the warehouse at Claxton! + +Instantly there came to Jack a startling suggestion. As quickly he +decided to act upon it. "They may never 'catch on,'" he told himself +delightedly, "and in any case it will give me a good start back for the +railroad, for help." + +Glancing from the barn window, to make sure all was quiet in the +direction of the house, he drew his box into the moonlight, took out the +parcel containing the telegraph instruments, and proceeded to remove the +hooks and buttons, and all other signs of the "door." Then quickly he +filled the box with bolts of silk from the pile beneath the window. + +That done, he found a hammer and nails, and muffling the hammer with his +handkerchief, as quietly as possible nailed the boards into place. +Triumphantly he slid the box to its former position on the floor. + +"I think that will fool you, Mr. Watts," he said with a smile, and +catching up the telegraph instruments he turned to the door. + +On the threshold he started back. The two men, and two others, were +returning from the house. + +In alarm Jack looked about for a way of escape. Across the barn was a +smaller door. He ran for it on tiptoe, darted through, and found himself +in the stable. Passing quietly on to the outer door, which the cracks and +moonlight revealed, he waited until the four men had entered the main +barn, then slipped forth, and keeping in the shadows, ran toward the +house. + +[Illustration: HE SAW THE DETECTIVE LED BY, HIS ARMS BOUND BEHIND HIM.] + +A beam of light streamed from one of the rear windows. Jack made for it, +and cautiously approaching, peered within. The woman he had seen at the +door was at a table, washing dishes, her back toward him. And just +beyond, facing him, and bound hand and foot in a big arm-chair, was the +detective. + +For some minutes Jack tried in vain to attract the officer's attention. +Then the woman obligingly stepped into the pantry with some dishes, and +quickly Jack gave a single tap on the window-pane. Boyle looked up +instantly, started, smiled, then nodded his head in the direction of the +railroad. Jack held up the parcel containing the telegraph instruments, +the detective nodded again, and in a moment Jack was off. + +It was an exhausting run over the rough, little-used road, now darkened +by the overhanging trees; but at length Jack recognized the point at +which he had been carried from the woods, and turning in, soon found +himself at the railroad. + +Hurrying to the nearest telegraph pole, he swarmed up to the cross-tree, +and quickly filed through the wire on one side of the glass insulator. +The broken wire fell jangling to the rails. Connecting an end of the wire +he had brought with him to the wire on the other side of the pin, Jack +slid to the ground, made the connections with the instrument, and the +relay clicked closed. + +At once someone on the wire sent, "Who had it open? What did you say?" + +"Alex!" exclaimed Jack, at once recognizing the sending; and was about to +break in when the instrument clicked, "17 just coming--CX." + +"Claxton, and 17! Just what we want!" Quickly interrupting, Jack sent, +"CX--Hold 17! Hold her!" + +Then, "To X--This is Jack, Al. I'm in the woods about four miles from +Claxton. We found the freight thieves, but they have Boyle prisoner. Ask +the chief to have 17 take on a posse at CX and rush them here. I'll wait +here, and lead them back. If they are quick they'll capture the whole +gang." + +"OK! OK! Good for you," shot back Alex. The wire was silent a moment, +then Jack heard the order go on to Claxton as desired. + +Twenty-five minutes later, waiting in the darkness on the track, Jack saw +the headlight of the fast-coming freight. The engineer, on the lookout, +discovered him, pulled up, and a moment after Jack was off through the +woods followed by two officers and several of the train crew. + +When they reached the farm, lights were still moving about in the barn. +Stealthily the party made for it, and surrounded it. + +"How would you like to lead the way in, Jack?" whispered the sheriff as +they paused before the door. "That would be only fair, after the trick +Watts played on you." + +Jack caught at the idea delightedly, and all being ready, boldly threw +open the barn door and entered with drawn revolver, followed by the +sheriff. + +The four occupants were so completely taken by surprise that for a moment +they stood immovable about a box of dry-goods they had been repacking. + +"How do you do, Mr. Watts," said Jack, smiling. "This is my friend the +sheriff, and the barn is surrounded. I think you would be foolish not to +give up." + +"Yes, hands up!" crisply ordered the sheriff. And slowly the four pairs +of hands went into the air, and the entire balance of the long-successful +gang of freight thieves were prisoners. + +It was Jack himself who rushed off to the house and freed Detective +Boyle. A half hour later, with one of the robbers' own wagons filled with +a great quantity of recovered stolen goods, the sheriff escorted his +prisoners back to the railroad, and before daylight they were in the jail +at Eastfield. + +Jack received considerable attention because of his part in the capture, +and the affair still forms one of the popular yarns among trainmen on +that division of the Middle Western. + + + + +XV + +THE DUDE OPERATOR + + +Alex Ward, like most vigorous, manly boys of his type, had a fixed +dislike for anything approaching foppishness, especially in other boys. +Consequently when on reporting at the Exeter office one evening he was +introduced to Wilson Jennings, Alex treated him with but little more than +necessary courtesy. For the newcomer, an operator but little older than +himself, was distinctly a "dude"--from his patent-leather shoes and +polka-dotted stockings to his red-and-yellow banded white straw hat. His +carefully-pressed suit was the very latest thing in light checked gray, +he wore a collar which threatened to envelope his ears, and his white tie +was of huge dimensions. Also he possessed the fair pink-and-white +complexion of a girl. + +Alex was not alone in his derisive attitude toward the stranger. Shortly +following the appearance of the night chief Mr. Jennings nodded everyone +a good-evening, and departed, and immediately there was a general roar of +laughter in the operating-room. + +"Where did he fall from?" "Whose complexion powder is he advertising?" +"Did you get onto his picture socks?" were some of the remarks bandied +about. + +When the chief announced that the new operator was from the east, and was +being sent to the little foothills tank-station of Bonepile, there was a +fresh outburst of hilarity. + +"Why, that cowboy outfit near there will string him up to the tank +spout," declared the operator on whose wire Bonepile was located. "It's +the toughest proposition on the wire." + +"On the quiet, that is just why Jordan is sending him," the night chief +said. "Not to have him strung up, that is, but to put him in the way of +'finding himself,' so to speak." + +"He'll certainly 'find himself' there, then--if there's anything left to +find when the ranch crew get through," laughed the operator. "I'd give +five real dollars to see that show, and walk back." + +"At that, you _might_ have to walk back, if you wagered your money on the +outcome," responded the chief more gravely, turning to his desk. "Clothes +don't make a man--neither do they un-make one. The 'Dude' may surprise us +yet." + +Whether the outcome of his appointment to the little watering station was +to be a surprise or no, there was no doubt of Wilson Jennings' surprise +when the following morning he alighted from the train at Bonepile, and as +the train sped on, awoke to the realization that he was entirely alone. +Blankly he gazed at the little red-brown "drygoods-box" depot, the +water-tank, the hills to the west, and to north, south and east the +limitless stretching prairie. He had never imagined anything like this +when he had decided on giving up a good position in the east to taste +"some adventure" in the great west. + +However, here he was; and picking up his two suitcases, the boy made his +way in to the tiny operating-room, and on into the bunk-kitchen-living-room +behind. For here, "a hundred miles from anywhere," the operator's board and +lodging was provided by the railroad. + +Early that evening Wilson was sitting somewhat disconsolately at the +telegraph-room window when he was startled by a loud whoop. There was a +second, then a rush of hoofs, and a party of cowboys came into view. + +It was the "welcoming committee" of the Bar-O ranch, the "outfit" +referred to by the operator at Exeter. + +With a final whoop the cowmen thundered up to the station platform, and +dismounted. Muskoka Jones, a huge, heavily-moustached ranchman over six +feet in height, was first to reach the open window. Diving within to the +waist, he brought a bottle down on the instrument table with a crash. + +"Pardner, welcome to our city!" he shouted. + +The response should have been instantaneous and hearty. Instead there was +a strange quiet. + +The following Bar-O's faltered, and exchanged glances. Surely the Western +had not at last "fallen down" on its first obligation at Bonepile! For +since the coming of the rails they had regarded the station operator as a +sort of social adjunct to the ranch--the keeper of an open house of +hospitality, their daily paper, the final learned authority on all +matters of politics and sport. And if this latest change of operators had +brought them-- + +Muskoka spoke again, and the worst was realized. + +"Well, you gal-faced little dude!" + +The cowmen crowded forward, and peering over Muskoka's board shoulders, +studied Wilson from head to foot with speechless scorn. + +Muskoka settled forward on his elbows. + +"Are you a real operator?" he inquired. + +In a voice that sounded foolish even to himself Wilson responded in the +affirmative. + +"Actooal, real, male operator?" + +The cluster of bronzed faces guffawed loudly. + +"But y' don't play kiards, do you?" Muskoka asked incredulously. "Now I +bet you don't. Or smoke? Or chew? Or any of them wicked--" + +"Here are some cigarettes the other man left." Hopefully the boy extended +the package--to have it snatched from his hand, scramblingly emptied, and +the box flipped ceilingward. + +In falling the box brought further trouble. It struck something on the +wall which emitted a hollow thud, and glancing up the cowmen espied +Wilson's new, brilliantly-banded hat. In a trice Muskoka's long arm had +secured it, with the common inspiration the cluster of faces withdrew; +the hat sailed high in the air, there was an ear-splitting rattle of +shots, and the shattered remnant was returned to Wilson with ceremony. + +"There--all proper millinaried dee la Bonepile," said Muskoka. "An' don't +mention it." + +"Now give me that white-washed fence you have around your ears." The boy +shrank farther back in his chair, then suddenly turned and reached for +the telegraph key. In a moment the big cowman's pistol was out. + +"Back in your chair! Give me that white fence!" he commanded. + +Trembling, Wilson removed his collar and handed it over. The cowman +stepped back and calmly proceeded to shoot a row of holes in it. + +"There," he announced, returning it, "much better. That's Bonepile +fashion. Put it on." + +Meekly Wilson obeyed, and the circle of cowmen roared at the result. + +"Now," proceeded Muskoka, "that coat of yours is nice. Very nice. But I +think it'd look better inside-out. Try it." + +Wilson again turned desperately toward the key, the cowman banged on the +table with his pistol, and slowly the boy complied. And a few minutes +after, on a further command, he emerged from the doorway--in shattered +hat, perforated collar, ridiculously turned coat, and with trousers +rolled to his knees--a spectacle that set the cowboys staggering and +shouting about the platform in convulsions of laughter. + +In fact the result was so pleasing that after enjoying it to the full, +the ranchmen decided to carry the hazing no further, and only requesting +of Wilson that he wave his hat and give "three cheers for the citizens of +Bonepile," they mounted their ponies, and scampered away. + +Hastening in to the telegraph instruments, Wilson began frantically +calling Exeter. Before X had responded, however, the boy paused, and sat +back in his chair, a new light coming into his eyes. + +"Yes, sir; I'll wager they sent them down here to do this," he said +aloud. + +Suddenly he arose, and began removing the turned coat. "I'll stick it out +here for two weeks--if they lynch me!" declared the "dude" grimly. + +It was early Wednesday evening of a week later that the monthly gold +shipment came down from the Red Valley mines. The consignment was an +unusually large one, and in view of the youth of the new operator the +superintendent wired a request that Big Bill Smith, the driver of the +mines express, remain at the station until the treasure was safely aboard +train. + +On reading the message, however, Big Bill flatly refused. "Why, it's the +night of Dan Haggerty's dance," he pointed out indignantly. "Doesn't the +superintendent know that?" + +"The superintendent didn't--and didn't care," was the response to the +wired protest. "The driver was supposed to remain at all times. It was an +old understanding." + +Understanding or not, Big Bill declined to remain, and stormed out the +door, announcing that he would get someone down from the Bar-O ranch. +Half an hour later Muskoka Jones appeared. + +"Good evening. I'm sorry it was necessary to trouble you, sir," +apologized Wilson. + +"Good evening, Willie. Don't mention it," was the big cowman's scornful +response. Then, having momentarily paused to cast a contemptuous eye over +the lad's neat attire, he threw himself on the floor in the farthermost +corner of the room, and promptly fell fast asleep. + +Some time after darkness had fallen the young telegrapher, dozing in his +chair at the instrument table, was startled into consciousness by the +sound of approaching hoofbeats. With visions of Indians or robbers he +sprang to the window, to discover a dim, tall figure dismounting on the +platform. In alarm he turned to call the sleeping guard, but momentarily +hesitating, looked again, the figure came into the light of the window, +and with relief he recognized Iowa Burns, another of the Bar-O cowmen. + +"Hello, kid," said the newcomer, entering. "Where's Old Muskoke?" + +"Good evening. Over there, asleep, sir. I suppose you knew he was taking +Mr. Smith's place, guarding the gold until the train came in?" + +"Sure, yes. I was there when Bill come up." He crossed to the side of the +snoring Jones, and kicked him sharply on the sole of his boots. "M'skoke! +Git up!" he shouted. "Here's something to keep out the chills." + +Again, and more sharply, he kicked the sleeping man, while the boy looked +on, smiling. + +Suddenly the smile disappeared, and the lad's heart leaped into his +throat. He was gazing into the black, round muzzle of a pistol, and +beyond it was a face set with a deadly purpose. Instinctively his staring +eyes flickered towards the box of bullion. + +"Yep, that's it. But wink an eye agin, an' y' git it!" said Burns coldly, +advancing. "Now, git back there up agin the corner of the table, an' +stand, so 'f anyone comes along you'll appear to be leanin' there, +conversin'. Go on, quick!" + +Dazed, cold with fear, the boy obeyed, and Iowa, producing a sheaf of +hide thongs, proceeded to bind his arms to his side. + +As the renegade tightened a knot securing the boy's left leg to the leg +of the table, Muskoka's snoring abruptly ceased, and the sleeper moved +uneasily. In a flash Iowa was over him, pistol in hand. But the snoring +presently resumed, and after watching him sharply for a moment, Iowa +returned to the boy. + +"Now move, remember, an' I shoot," he repeated warningly. "To make sure, +I'm going to fix up that snoring idiot over there before I finish you. +An' don't you as much as shuffle your hoof!" Recovering the bundle of +thongs, he strode back to the sleeper. + +As previously the man's back had been turned Wilson had shot a frantic +glance about him. In their sweep his eyes had fallen on the partly open +drawer in the end of the table, immediately below his left hand, and in +the drawer had noted the bowl of a pipe. At the moment nothing had +resulted, but as the renegade's back was again turned his eyes again +dropped to the drawer, and a sudden wild possibility occurred to him. + +His heart seemed literally to stand still at the audacity, the danger of +it. But might it not be possible? The light from the single lamp, on the +wall opposite, was poor, and his left side thus in deep shadow. And his +left hand--he tried it--yes, though tightly bound at the wrist, the hand +itself was free. + +His first day at the station, the visit of the men from the ranch, +Muskoka's contemptuous greeting, recurred to him. Here was his +opportunity of vindication. + +With a desperate clenching of the teeth the boy decided, and at once +began cautiously straining at the thongs about his wrist, to obtain the +reach necessary. Finally they slipped, slightly, but enough. Carefully he +leaned sideways, his fingers extended. He reached the pipe, fumbled a +moment, and secured it. + +Burns was on his knees beside the unconscious guard, splicing a thong. An +instant Wilson hesitated, then springing erect, pointed the pipe-stem, +and in a voice he scarcely knew, a voice sharp as the crack of a whip, +cried: + +"Hands up, Burns! I got you! + +"_Quick! I'll shoot!_" + +The renegade cowman, taken completely by surprise, leaped to his feet +with a cry, without turning, his hands instinctively half-raised. + +"Quick! Up! _Up!_" cried the boy. A breathlessly critical instant the +hands wavered, then slowly, reluctantly, they ascended. + +For a moment the young operator stood panting, but half believing the +witness of his own eyes to the success of the stratagem. Then at the top +of his voice he cried: "Mr. Jones! Mr. Jones! Muskoka! Wake up! Wake up!" + +Iowa, muttering beneath his breath, paused anxiously to watch results. + +"Muskoka! Muskoka!" shouted the lad. The snoring continued evenly, +unbrokenly. + +Iowa indulged in a dry laugh. "Save your wind, kid," he said. "I fixed a +drink he took before he came down." + +At this news the boy's heart sank. + +"But look here, kid." Iowa turned carefully, hands still in the air. +"Look here, can't we square this thing up? You got the drop on me, O +K--and with a blame little pea-shooter," he added, catching a glimpse, as +he thought, of the end of a small black barrel, but nevertheless +continuing his attitude of surrender. "You got the drop--and you're a +smart kid, you are--but can't we fix this thing up? You take half, say? +I'd be glad to let you in. Honest! An' no one'd ever think you was in the +game. Come, what d' y' say?" + +Though apparently listening, the young operator was in reality urgently +casting about in his mind for other expedients. Obviously it would be too +dangerous to attempt to reach with the fingers of one of his bound hands +the thongs holding his left leg to the leg of the table. He might reveal +the pipe, or drop it. And neither could he reach the telegraph key, to +get in touch with someone on the wire. And in any case, how could that +help him? For the next train was not due for two hours, and it did not +seem possible he could carry on his bluff that length of time. + +But think as he would, the wire seemed the only hope. Could he not reach +the key in some way? + +The solution came as Iowa ventured a short step nearer, and repeated his +suggestion. At first sight it seemed as ridiculously impossible as the +bluff with the pipe, but quickly the boy weighed the chances, and +determined to take the risk. + +"Now, Mr. Iowa," he said, "you are to do just exactly what I tell you, +step by step, so much and no more. If you make any other move, if I only +think you are going to, I shall shoot. My finger is pressing the trigger +constantly. And I guess you can see that at this range, though my hold on +the gun is a bit cramped, I could not miss you if I wanted to. + +"Listen, now. You will come forward until you can reach the chair here by +sticking out your foot. Then you will push it back along the table to the +wall, and turn it face to me. Then you will sit down in it. After that +I'll tell you some more. + +"Go ahead! And remember--my finger always pressing the trigger!" + +As Burns came forward, infinitely puzzled, the boy turned slowly, so that +the "muzzle" of the pipe continued to cover the would-be bullion thief. +Gingerly Iowa reached out with his foot and shoved the chair back to the +wall, and turning, backed into it and sat down. With the shadow of a grin +on his face, he demanded, "Wot next?" + +"Now, slowly let your left arm down at full length on the table. +There--hand is on the key, isn't it? + +"Now," continued Wilson, who never for an instant allowed his eyes to +wander from the man's face, "now feel with your fingers at the back of +the key, and find a screw-head, standing up." + +"Which one? There are two or three," said Iowa craftily. + +"No, there are not. There's just one. And I give you 'three' to find it," +said the young operator sharply. "One, two--" + +"Oh, go on! I got it!" exclaimed Iowa angrily. + +"Below the screw-head is a binding-nut. Loosen it, and turn it leftwise. +Found it? Now take hold of the screw-head again, and turn it to the left. +It turns free, doesn't it?" + +"Sure." + +"Turn it about four times completely around. Now the binding nut again, +down, the other way, till it's tight. Got it? + +"Now, hold your finger tips over the black button at the inner end of the +key, and hit down on it smartly." + +There was a click. + +"That's it. It has plenty of play, hasn't it?" + +"Works up and down about an inch, if that's wot you mean," growled Iowa, +still puzzled. "But wot--" + +"I'm going to give you a lesson in telegraphy and you are going to--" + +Iowa saw, and exploded. "Well, of all the--Say, wot do you think--" + +"All right!" Sharply, bravely, though inwardly steeling himself for +catastrophe, the lad counted, "One!--Two!--" + +Again he won. "Oh, go on!" sputtered Iowa, through gritting teeth. And +the boy resumed. + +"Hit the key a sharp rap! Pretty good. Now, two raps, one right after the +other. Good. + +"Now, those are what we call 'dots.' Remember. Now, press the key down, +hold it for just a moment, and let it come up again. Very good. You would +learn telegraphy quickly, Mr. Burns. That is what we call a 'dash.'" With +the situation apparently so well in hand, Wilson was beginning almost to +enjoy it. + +"Now I'll have you do what I've been aiming at. And remember always--my +finger is constantly pressing the trigger!" + +"Now then, feel just this side of the key button, below. The little +button of a lever? Got it? Press it from you." + +There was a single sharp upward click of relay and sounder. The key was +"open," ready for operation. + +"Now listen. I want you to make the letter X--a dot, a dash, then two +more dots right together. And keep repeating till I stop you." + +Still under the spell of the fancied revolver and the boy's unfaltering +gaze, the renegade cowman obeyed, and the telegraph instruments clicked +out a painfully deliberate, but fairly readable "X." + +It was an idle half-hour, and when the despatcher at Exeter heard his +call he glanced up from a magazine, listened a moment, and impatiently +remarking, "Some idiot student!" returned to his reading. + +But steadily, insistently, the repetition of X's continued, and at length +he reached forward, struck open the key, and demanded, "Who? Sign!" + +Clumsily came the answer, "B." + +"Bonepile! Now what's happening down there? It doesn't sound like the new +operator, either." + +The wire again clicked open, and slowly, in the same heavy hand, the +mystified and then amazed despatcher read: + +"H-E-L-P--H-E-L-D U-P--A-F-T-E-R G-O-L-D--T-I-E-D T-O T-A-B-L-E--G-O-T +D-R-O-P O-N H-I-M--M-A-K-I-N-G H-I-M S-E-N-D--B." + +The despatcher grasped his key. "Good boy! Good boy!" he hurled back. +"Keep it up for twenty-five minutes and we'll get help to you. There's an +extra engine at H, waiting for 92. I'll start her right down." And +therewith he whirled off into an urgent succession of "H's." + +But through young Jennings' strange feat in telegraphy help was nearer +even than the unexpected succor from Hillside. Despite the sleeping +draught Burns had administered to Muskoka Jones, the unaccustomed +clicking of the telegraph instruments had begun to arouse the big cowman. +When finally, in climax, came the lightning whirr of the despatcher's +excited response, he gasped into consciousness, blinked, and suddenly +found himself sitting upright, staring open-mouthed at the spectacle +before him. + +The next moment, with a shout, he was on his feet in the middle of the +floor, and the nerve-strung boy had fainted. + +As the lad sank forward his "pistol" fell from his hand and rolled into +the light. + +From Burns came an inarticulate cry, his jaw dropped, his eyes started in +his head. Muskoka halted in his stride, wet his lips and muttered +incredulous words of admiration and amazement. Then in a moment he had +cut Wilson free, and stretched him on the floor. + +It was Iowa broke the silence. Rising, with compressed lips he held +toward Muskoka the butt of his pistol. "Here, shoot me--with my own gun!" +he said hoarsely. "I deserve it." + +Muskoka considered. "No," he decided at length. "Leave your gun as a +present for the kid, and," turning and indicating the door, "git!" + +Thus was it the young "dude" operator proved himself, and came into +possession of a handsome pearl-handled Colt's revolver--and, early the +following morning, from a "committee" of the Bar-O cowmen, headed by +Muskoka Jones, a fine high-crowned, silver-spangled Mexican sombrero, to +take the place of the hat they had destroyed, and "as a mark of esteem +for the pluckiest little operator ever sent to Bonepile." + +More important still, however, the incident won Wilson immediate esteem +at division headquarters, where one of the first of the operators to +congratulate him was Alex Ward. + + + + +XVI + +A DRAMATIC FLAGGING + + +Since shortly following Jack Orr's appointment to Midway Junction Alex +had been "agitating," as he called it, for his friend's transfer to the +telegraph force at the division terminal. At length, early in the fall, +Alex's efforts bore fruit, and Jack was offered, and accepted, the "night +trick" at one of the big yard towers at Exeter. + +Of course the two chums were now always together. And the day of the big +flood that October was no exception to the rule. All afternoon the two +boys had wandered up and down the swollen river, watching the brown +whirling waters, almost bank high, and the trees, fences, even occasional +farm buildings, which swept by from above. When six o'clock came they +reluctantly left it for supper, and the night's duties. + +"Well, what do you think of the river, Ward?" inquired the chief night +despatcher as Alex entered the despatching-room. + +"It looks rather bad, sir, doesn't it. Do you think the bridge is quite +safe?" + +"Quite. It has been through several worse floods than this. It's as +strong as the hills," the despatcher affirmed. + +Despite the chief's confidence, however, when about 5 o'clock in the +morning there came reports of a second cloud-burst up the river, he +requested Alex to call up Jack, at the yard tower which overlooked the +bridge, and ask him to keep them posted. + +"Tell him the crest of this new flood will likely reach us in half an +hour," he added; "and that by that time, as it is turning colder, +there'll probably be a heavy fog on the river." + +Twenty-five minutes later Jack suddenly called, and announced, "The new +flood's coming! There is a heavy mist, and I can't see, but I can hear +it. Can you see it from up there?" + +Alex and the chief despatcher moved to one of the western windows, raised +it, and in the first gray light of dawn gazed out across the valley +below. Instead of the dark waters of the river, and the yellow embankment +of the railroad following it, winding away north was a broad blanket of +fog, stretching from shore to shore. But distinctly to their ears came a +rumble as of thunder. + +"It must be a veritable Niagara," remarked the chief with some +uneasiness. "I never heard a bore come down like that before." + +"Here she comes," clicked Jack from the tower. They stepped back to his +instruments. + +"Say!--" + +There was a pause, while the chief and Alex exchanged glances of +apprehension, then came quickly, "Something has struck one of the western +spans of the bridge and carried it clean away-- + +"No--No, it's there yet! But it's all smashed to pieces! Only the +upper-structure seems to be holding!" + +Sharply the despatcher turned to an operator at one of the other wires. +"McLaren, Forty-six hasn't passed Norfolk?" + +"Yes, sir. Five minutes ago." + +A cry broke from the chief, and he ran back to the window. Alex followed, +and found him as pale as death. + +"What's the matter, Mr. Allen?" he exclaimed. + +"Matter! Why, Norfolk is the last stop between that train and the bridge! +She'll be down here in twenty minutes! And even if we can get someone +across the bridge immediately, how can they flag her in that wall of +mist?" Hopelessly he pointed where on the farther shore the tracks were +completely hidden in the blanket of white vapor. "And there's no time to +send down torpedoes." + +At the thought of the train rushing upon the broken span, and plunging +from sight in the whirling flood below, Alex felt the blood draw back +from his own face. + +"But we will try something! We must try something!" he cried. + +At that moment the office door opened and Division Superintendent Cameron +appeared. "Good morning, boys," he said genially. "I'm quite an early +bird this morning, eh? Came down to meet the wife and children. They're +getting in from their vacation by Forty-six. + +"Why, Allen, what is the matter?" + +The chief swayed back against the window-ledge. "One of the bridge +spans--has just gone," he responded thickly, "and Forty-six--passed +Norfolk!" + +The superintendent stared blankly a moment, started forward, then +staggered back into a chair. But in another instant he was on his feet, +pallid, but cool. "Well, what are you doing to stop her?" he demanded +sharply. + +The chief pulled himself together. "It only happened this moment, sir. +The man at the yard tower just reported. One of the western spans was +struck by something. Only the upper-structure is hanging," he says. + +"Can't you send someone over on foot, with a flag, or torpedoes?" + +"There are no torpedoes at the bridge house, and there's not time to send +them down. As to flagging--look at the mist over the whole valley +bottom," said the despatcher pointing. "Except directly opposite, where +the wind between the hills breaks it up at times, the engineer couldn't +see three feet ahead of him." + +The superintendent gripped his hands convulsively. Suddenly he turned to +Alex. "Ward, can't you suggest something?" he appealed. "You have always +shown resource in emergencies." + +"I have been trying to think of something, sir. But, as the chief says, +even if we could get a man across the bridge, what could he do? I was +down by the river yesterday morning, and the haze was like a blind wall." + +"Couldn't a fire be built on the tracks?" + +"Not quickly enough, sir. Everything is soaking wet." + +The superintendent strode up and down helplessly. "And of course it had +to happen after the Riverside Park station had closed for the season," he +said bitterly. "If we had had an operator there we--" + +The interruption was a cry from Alex. "I've something! Oil!" + +He dashed for the tower wire. + +"What? What's that?" cried the superintendent, running after. + +"Oil on a pile of ties, or anything, sir--providing Orr can get over the +bridge," Alex explained hurriedly as he whirled off the letters of Jack's +call. The official dropped into the chair beside him. + +"I, I, TR," answered Jack. + +"OR, have you any oil in the tower?" shot Alex. + +"No, but there's some in the lamp-shed just below." + +"Look here, could you possibly get across the bridge?" + +"I might manage it. There is a rail bicycle in the lamp-house. If the +rails are hanging together perhaps I could shoot over with that. Why?" + +"46 is due in twenty minutes, and apparently we have no way of stopping +her except through you." + +"Why, certainly I'll risk it," buzzed the sounder. "I suppose the oil is +to make a quick blaze, to flag her?" Jack added, catching Alex's idea. + +"That's it. Make it just this side of the Riverside Park station." + +"OK! Here goes!" + +"Good luck," sent Alex, with a sudden catch in his throat, as he realized +the danger his chum was so cheerfully running. "God help him!" added the +superintendent fervently. + +Jack, in the distant tower, took little time to think of the danger +himself. Catching up a lantern and lighting it, he was quickly out and +down the tower steps, and running for the nearby shed. Fortunately it was +unlocked. Darting in, he found a large can of oil. Carrying it out to the +main-line track, he returned, and hurriedly dragged forth the yard +lamp-man's rail bicycle--a three-wheeled affair, with the seat and gear +of an ordinary bicycle. + +Swinging the little car onto the rails, he placed the oil can on the +platform between the arms, swung the lantern over the handlebars, +mounted, and was off, pedalling with all his might. + +As he speedily neared the down-grade of the bridge approach, and the roar +of the flood met him in full force, Jack for the first time began to +realize the danger of his mission. But with grimly set lips, he refused +to think of it, and pedalled ahead determinedly. + +He topped the grade, and below him was a solid roof of mist, only the +bridge towers showing. + +Apprehensively, but without hesitation, he sped downward. The first +dampness of the vapor struck him. The next moment he was lost in a +blinding wall of white. He could not see the rails. + +On he pedalled with bowed head. Suddenly came a roar beneath him. He was +over the water. + +Jack's occasional views from the tower had shown him where the bridge was +shattered; and for some distance he continued ahead at a good speed. Then +judging he was nearing the wrecked portion, he slowed down and went on +very slowly, peering before him with straining eyes, and listening +sharply for a note in the tumult of water below which might tell of the +broken timbers and twisted iron. + +It came, a roar of swirling, choking and gurgling. Simultaneously there +was a trembling of the rails beneath him. + +He was on the shattered span. + +At a crawl Jack proceeded. The vibration became more violent. On one side +the track began to dip. Momentarily Jack hesitated, and paused. At once +came a picture of the train rushing toward him, and conquering his fear, +he went on. + +Suddenly the track swayed violently, then dipped sharply sideways. With a +cry Jack sprang off backwards, and threw himself flat on his face on the +sleepers. Trembling, deafened by the roar of the cataract just beneath +him, he lay afraid to move, believing the swaying structure would give +way every instant. But finally the rails steadied, and partly righted; +and regaining his courage, Jack rose to his knees, and began working his +way forward from tie to tie, pushing the bicycle ahead of him. + +Presently the rails became steadier. Cautiously he climbed back into the +saddle, and slowly at first, then with quickly increasing speed and +rising hope, pushed on. The vibration decreased, the track again became +even and firm. Suddenly at last the thunder of the river passed from +below him, and he was safely across. + +A few yards from the bridge, and still in the mist, Jack peered down to +see that the oil can was safe. He caught his breath. Reaching out, he +felt about the little platform with his foot. + +Yes; it was gone! The tipping of the car had sent it into the river. + +As the significance of its loss burst upon him, and he thought of the +peril he had come through to no purpose, Jack sat upright in the saddle, +and the tears welled to his eyes. + +Promptly, however, came remembrance of the Riverside Park station, a mile +ahead of him. Perhaps there was oil there! + +Clenching his teeth, and bending low over the handlebars, Jack shot on, +determined to fight it out to the finish. + +Meantime, at the main office the entire staff, including the +superintendent, the chief despatcher and Alex, were crowded in the +western windows, watching, waiting and listening. Shortly after Alex had +announced Jack's departure a suppressed shout had greeted the tiny light +of his lantern on the bridge approach, and a subdued cheer of good luck +had followed him as he had disappeared into the wall of mist. + +Then had succeeded a painful silence, while all eyes were fixed anxiously +on the spot opposite where a light west wind, blowing down through a cut +in the hills, occasionally lifted the blanket of fog and dimly disclosed +the river bank and track. + +Minute after minute passed, however, and Jack did not reappear. The +silence became ominous. + +"Surely he should be over by this time, and we should have had a glimpse +of his light," said the chief. "Unless--" + +An electrifying cry of "There he is!" interrupted him, and all +momentarily saw a tiny, twinkling light, and a small dark figure shooting +along the distant track. + +A moment after the buzz of excited hope as suddenly died. From the north +came a long, low-pitched "Too--oo, too--oo, oo, oo!" + +The train! + +"How far up, Allen?" + +"Three miles." + +The superintendent groaned. "He'll never do it! He'll never do it! She'll +be at the bridge in five minutes!" + +[Illustration: JACK ROSE TO HIS KNEES, AND BEGAN WORKING HIS WAY +FORWARD FROM TIE TO TIE.] + +"No; Broad is careful," declared the chief, referring to the engineer of +the coming train. "He won't keep up that speed when he strikes the worst +of the fog. There are eight or ten minutes yet." + +Again came the long, mellow notes of the big engine, whistling a +crossing. + +"Who's that?" said Alex suddenly, half turning from the window. The next +moment with a cry of "He's at the station! Orr's at the Park station!" he +darted to the calling instruments, and shot back an answer. The rest +rushed after, and crowded about him. + +"I'm at the Park station," whirled the sounder. "I broke in. I lost the +oil can on the bridge. There is no oil here. What shall I do?" + +As the chief read off the excited words to the superintendent, the +official sank limply and hopelessly into a chair. + +"But might there not be some there, somewhere? Who would know, Mr. +Allen?" + +At Alex's words the chief spun about. "McLaren, call Flanagan on the +'phone!" he cried. "Quick!" + +The operator sprang to the telephone, and in intense silence the party +waited. + +He got the number. + +"Hello! Is Flanagan there? + +"Say, is there any oil across the river at the Park station? + +"For Heavens sake, don't ask questions! Is there?" + +"Yes; he says there's a half barrel in the shed behind," reported the +operator. + +Alex's hand shot back to the key. + +At the first dot he paused. + +Through the open window came a whistle, strong and clear. + +The chief threw up his hands. Alex himself sank back in his chair, +helplessly. + +Suddenly he again started forward. + +"I have it!" + +With the sharp words he again grasped the key, and while those about him +listened with bated breath he sent like a flash, "Jack, there's a barrel +of oil in the shed at the rear. Knock the head in, spill it, and set a +match to it. + +_"Burn the station!"_ + +The chief and the operators gasped, then with one accord set up a shout +and darted back for the windows. The superintendent, told of the message, +rushed after. + +In absolute silence all fixed their eyes on the spot a mile up the river +where lay the little summer depot. + +Once more came the long-drawn "Too--oo, too--oo, oo, oo!" for a crossing. + +"The next'll tell," said the chief tensely--"for the crossing this side +of the station, or--" + +It came. It was the crossing. + +But the next instant from the mist shot up a lurid flare. From the +windows rose a cry. Higher leaped the flames. And suddenly across the +quiet morning air came a long series of quick sharp toots. Again they +came--then the short, sharp note for brakes. + +[Illustration: WITH THE SHARP WORDS HE AGAIN GRASPED THE KEY.] + +And the boys and the flames had won! + +The superintendent turned and held out his hand. "Ward, thank you," he +said huskily. "Thank you. You are a genuine railroader." + +"And--about the station?" queried Alex, a sudden apprehension in his face +and voice. For the moment the crisis was past he had realized with dismay +that he had issued the unprecedented order for the burning of the station +entirely on his own responsibility. + +"The station?" The superintendent laughed. "My boy, that was the best +part of it. That was the generalship of it. There was no time to ask, +only act. The fraction of a second might have lost the train. + +"No; that is just why I say you are a genuine railroader--the burning of +the station was a piece of the finest kind of railroading! + +"And this reminds me," added the superintendent some minutes later, +leading Alex aside and speaking in a lower voice. "We expect to start +construction on the Yellow Creek branch in six weeks, and will be wanting +an 'advance guard' of three or four heady, resourceful operators with the +construction train, or on ahead. Would you like to go? and your friend +Orr? There'll be plenty of excitement before we are through." + +"I'd like nothing better, sir, or Orr either, I know," declared Alex with +immediate interest. "But where will the excitement come in, sir?" + +"You have heard the talk of the K. & Z. also running a line to the new +gold field from Red Deer? And that they were held up by right-of-way +trouble? Well, we have just learned that that was all a bluff; that they +have been quietly making preparations, and are about to start +construction almost immediately. And you see what that means?" + +"A race for the Yellow pass?" + +"A race--and more than that. Did you ever read of the great war between +the Santa Fe and the Rio Grande for the Grand Canyon of Colorado? +Regularly organized bands of fighting men on either side, and pitched +battles? Well, I don't anticipate matters coming to that point between us +and the K. & Z., but I wouldn't be surprised if it came near it before we +are through. The lines traverse wild country, and the K. & Z. people have +men in their construction department who would pull up track or cut wires +as soon as light a pipe. In the latter case they would cut at critical +times. There is where an operator with a head for difficulties might +prove invaluable." + +"I would be more than glad to tackle it, sir," agreed Alex +enthusiastically. + +"Very well then. You may consider yourself, and your friend Orr, +appointed. And if you know of anyone else of the same brand, you might +suggest him," the superintendent concluded. + +"I don't think I do, sir--at the moment," Alex responded. + +The week succeeding brought Alex a suggestion. + + + + +XVII + +WILSON AGAIN DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF + + +It was decidedly warm the following Monday noon at Bonepile, and Wilson +Jennings, his coat off, but wearing the fancy Mexican sombrero that the +Bar-O cowmen had given him, sat in the open window to catch the breeze +that blew through from the rear. From the window Wilson could not see the +wagon-trail toward the hills to the west. Thus was it that the low thud +of hoofs first told him of someone's hurried approach. + +Starting to his feet, he stepped to the end of the platform. At sight of +a horseman coming toward him at full speed, and leading a second horse, +saddled, but riderless, Wilson gazed in surprise. Wonder increased when +as the rider drew nearer he recognized Muskoka Jones, the big Bar-O +cowman. + +"What is it, Muskoka?" he shouted as the ponies approached. + +The cow-puncher pulled up all-standing within a foot of the platform. + +"There's been an explosion at the Pine Lode, kid, and ten men are bottled +up somewhere in the lower level. Two men got in through a small hole--the +mouth of the mine is blocked--and one of them is tapping on the iron +pump-pipe. Bartlett, the mine boss, thinks it may be telegraph +ticking--that maybe Young knows something about that. Will you come up +and listen? + +"You see, if they knew what was what inside, they'd know what they could +do. They are afraid to blast the big rock that's blocking the mouth for +fear of bringing loosened stuff down on the men who have been caught." + +Wilson was running for the station door. "I'll explain to the +despatcher," he shouted over his shoulder. + +"I, I, X," responded the despatcher. + +"There has been an explosion at the Pine Lode mine," sent Wilson rapidly, +"and a man has been sent to take me there to try and read some tapping +from the men inside. Can you give 144 and the Mail clearance from Q and +let me go up?" + +"Some tapping? What--Oh, I understand. OK! Go ahead," ticked the +despatcher. "Get back as soon as possible." + +"I will." + +"All right, Muskoke," cried Wilson, hastening forth, struggling into his +coat as he ran. + +"Get round thar," shouted the cowboy, swinging the spare pony to the +platform. Wilson went into the saddle with a neat bound. + +"Say, you've seen a hoss before, kid," observed Muskoka with surprise as +he threw over the reins. + +"Sure I have. Used to spend my summer vacations on a farm. Can ride a bit +standing up," said Wilson, with pride. + +They swung their animals about together, and were off on the jump. As the +two ponies stretched out to their full stride the cowboy eyed Wilson's +easy seat with approval. "Well, kid," he observed after a moment's +silence, "next time I come across a dude I'll git him to do his tricks +before I brand him. I don't see but what you sit about as good as I do." + +Wilson's pleased smile gave place to gravity as he returned to the +subject of the explosion. "When did it happen?" he asked. + +"Early this morning. Just after the men went in. They're not sure, but +think it was powder stored at the foot of the shaft down to the lower +level. The main lead of the Pine Lode, you know, runs straight into the +mountain, not down; and the shaft to the lower level is a ways in. We +heard the noise at the Bar-O. + +"There's nothing much to see, or do, though," the cowman added as they +raced along neck and neck. "A big rock just over the entrance came down, +and when they got the dirt away they found it had bottled the thing up +like a cork. It's that they are afraid to blast until they know how the +men are fixed inside. Hoover and Young got in through a small hole at the +top, Hoover about half an hour before Young. He started tapping on the +pipe too, then stopped. They don't know what happened to him." + +Twenty minutes' hard riding brought them to the foothills. Still at the +gallop the ponies were urged up a winding rocky trail, and finally a tall +black chimney and a group of rough buildings came into view. + +"There it is," said the cowboy, indicating a ledge just above. + +As they went forward, still at full speed, Wilson gazed toward the mine +entrance with some astonishment. Mine disasters he had always thought of +as scenes of great excitement--people running to and fro, wringing their +hands, excited crowds held back by ropes, and men calling and shouting. +Here, about a spot but little distinguished from the rest of the rocky, +sparsely-treed mountain side, was gathered a group of perhaps fifty men, +some sitting on beams and rocks, others moving quietly about, all +smoking. + +On their being discovered, however, there was a stir, and as Muskoka and +the boy dismounted at the foot of a rough path and ascended there was a +general movement of the miners and cowmen to meet them. + +"I got him," Muskoka announced briefly to a grizzle-haired man who met +them at the top. "This is Bartlett, the mine boss," he said to Wilson by +way of introduction. The boss nodded. + +"The tapping's going on yet, is it, Joe?" + +"No. It's stopped, just like Hoover's did," was the gloomy response. "And +just when we were getting onto it ourselves." + +The speaker held up a small board pencilled with figures and letters. +"Redding there hit on the idea that maybe Young was knocking out the +numbers of letters in the alphabet, and we made this table, and just +found out we had it right when the tapping stopped. That was twenty +minutes ago, and we haven't had another knock since." + +"Let's see it. What did you get?" + +"There--'20, 7, 5, 20, 21, 16'--'T G E T U P.' Something about 'can't get +up,' we figured it. But it's not enough to be of any use. + +"And there's not another man here can wriggle in through the hole," went +on the boss, turning toward the great rock which sealed the mouth of the +mine. "A dozen of 'em tried it, and Redding got stuck so we had to get a +rope on him. Nearly pulled his legs off." + +Wilson made his way forward and examined the strangely blocked entrance. +The small hole referred to was a triangular-shaped opening about a foot +in height and some sixteen inches in width, apparently just at the roof +of the gallery. Some minutes Wilson stood studying it, pondering. Finally +he turned about with an air of decision and returned to Muskoka and the +mine boss. + +"I have a plan," he announced. "If you will go back to the station again, +Muskoke, I'll send for another operator, and go in the mine myself. Two +operators could talk backwards and forwards easily on the piping. And--" + +"But whar's the other operator?" interrupted the cowboy. + +"There is a freight due at the station in about twenty-five minutes. I +can give you a message to hand the engineer for the operator at Ledges, +the next station--a message asking the despatcher to send the Ledges +operator down on the Mail. Someone could wait for him, and if there is no +hitch he'd be here inside of an hour and a half." + +"That'll work!" exclaimed the boss. "That's it! You'll go, Muskoke?" + +"Sartenly. I'll get a fresh hoss, and wait fer him myself." Wilson, +finding an envelope in his pocket, dropped to a boulder and began +writing. + + * * * * * + +"W. B. J., Exeter," he scribbled. "Am at the mine. The tapping has +stopped. No one else can go in, so I am going myself. Please send down +operator from Ledges to read my tapping if I am unable to return. + +"Jennings." + + * * * * * + +"Redding! Whar's Red?" shouted Muskoka as he folded the message. + +"Here. What?" + +"I'm going back to the station for another operator. I'm going to take +your Johnny hoss. Mine's blowed." + +"Sure yes," agreed the owner, and with a "Good luck, kid," Muskoka was +clattering down the path. + +"Now, Mr. Bartlett, will you please explain the plan of things inside; +just how the tunnel runs?" requested Wilson. + +"Have a seat and I'll draw it," said the boss, setting the example. He +turned the board bearing the fragmentary message, and Wilson dropped down +beside him. + +"The main gallery, the old lead, runs straight in, at about this dip +down," he said, drawing as he spoke. "Runs back 550 feet, and ends. That +was where the old lead petered out. + +"Here, about 200 feet from the entrance, is a vertical shaft, 90 feet, +that we put down to pick up the old Pine-Knot lead. It's from the foot of +that the new gallery, the lower level, starts. It slopes off just under +the old lead--so--330 feet, there's a fault, and it cants up 12 +feet--so--then on down again at a bit sharper dip, nearly 600 feet; then +another fault and a drop, and about 50 feet more. + +"It's down there at the end we think most of the men have been caught, +but some may have been near the shaft. The pumping-pipe where Hoover and +Young must have been tapping is here, half way between the first and +second faults, where it comes down through a boring from the old gallery. +It must have been at that point, because we had disconnected two leaking +sections just below there only this morning." + +"How do you get down the shaft to the lower level?" Wilson asked. + +"There was a ladder, but it was smashed by the explosion. Hoover, the +first man in, came out for a rope, so I suppose that's there now. Young +must have gone down by it. + +"Hoover also reported that the roof of the old gallery was in bad shape +just over the shaft. That's the particular reason we are afraid to blast +the rock here until we know whether any of the men were caught at the +bottom of the pit." + +Wilson arose and began removing his collar. "How about water, Mr. +Bartlett, since the pump is not working?" he inquired. + +"Unless the explosion tapped new water, there'll be no danger for +twenty-four hours at least. But if the drain channel of the lower gallery +has been filled the floor will be very slippery," the mine boss added. +"It's slate, and we left it smooth, as a runway for the ore boxes." + +As the young operator removed his spotless collar--one similar to that +which had so aroused the cowmen's derision on his first day at +Bonepile--without a smile one of the very men who had formed the +"welcoming committee" that day rubbed his hands on his shirt, took it +carefully, and placed it on a clean plank. + +"You'll want a lamp. Somebody give the boy a cap and lamp," the boss +directed. A dozen of the miners whipped off caps with attached lamps, and +trying several, Wilson found one to fit. Then, buttoning his coat and +turning up the collar, he made his way to the rock-sealed entrance, and +climbed up to the narrow opening. + +"I'll tap as soon as I reach the pipe," he said. "So long!" and without +more ado crawled head first within and disappeared. + +The lamp on his cap lighting up the narrow trough-like tunnel, Wilson +easily wormed his way forward ten or twelve feet. Then the passage +contracted and became broken and twisted. However, given confidence by +the knowledge that others had passed through, Wilson squeezed on, there +presently came a widening of the hole, then a black opening, and with a +final effort he found himself projecting into the black depths of the +empty gallery. + +Below him the debris sloped to the floor. Pulling himself free, he slid +and scrambled down, and quickly was on his feet, breathing with relief. +Only pausing to brush some of the dust from his clothes, Wilson hastened +forward. + +Two hundred feet distant a windlass took shape in the obscurity. He +reached it, and the black opening of the shaft to the lower level was at +his feet. Looking, he found the rope the mine boss had spoken of. It was +secured to one of the windlass supports, and disappeared into the depths +on the opposite side of the pit. Directly below was the shattered wreck +of the ladder. + +Leaning over, Wilson shouted, "Hello! Hello!" The words crashed and +echoed in the shaft and about him, but there was no reply. Once more he +shouted, then resolutely suppressing his instinctive shrinking, he made +his way about to the rope, carefully lowered himself, and began +descending hand under hand. + +Wilson had not gone far when with apprehension he found the rope becoming +wet and slippery with drip from the rocks above. Despite a tightened grip +his hands began to slip. In alarm he wound his feet about the rope. Still +he slipped. To dry a hand on his sleeve, he freed it. Instantly with a +cry he found himself shooting downward. He clutched with hands, feet and +knees, but onward he plunged. In the light of his lamp the jagged broken +timbers of the shoring shot up by him. He would be dashed to pieces. + +But desperately he fought, and at last got the rope clamped against the +corner of a heel, and the speed was retarded. A moment after he landed +with an impact that broke his hold on the rope and sent him in a heap on +his back. + +Rising, Wilson thankfully discovered he had escaped injury other than a +few bruises, and gazed about him. At first sight he appeared to be in the +bottom of a well filled with broken water-soaked timbers and gray, +dripping rock. He knew there must be an exit, however, and set about +looking for it, at the same time listening and watching shrinkingly for +signs of anyone buried in the heap of stone and timber. Not a sound save +the monotonous drip of seeping water was to be heard, however, and +presently behind a shield of planking he located the black mouth of a +small opening. + +Dropping to his knees, he crawled through, and stood upright in a +downward sloping gallery similar to that above--the "lower level." + +Once more he shouted. "Hello! Hello!" The clashing echoes died away +without response, and he started forward. + +Scarcely had he taken a half dozen steps when without warning his feet +shot from under him and he went down on his back with a crash, barely +saving his head with his hands. The smooth hard rock was as slippery as +ice from the water flowing over it. Wondering if this icy declivity had +anything to do with the failure of Hoover and Young to return, Wilson +arose and went on more cautiously. + +As he proceeded the walking became more and more treacherous. Several +times he again went down, saving himself by sinking onto his outstretched +hands. + +On rising from one of these falls Wilson discovered something which sent +him ahead with new concern. A few yards farther he halted with an +exclamation on the brink of a yellow stretch of water that met the +gallery roof twenty feet beyond him. + +Blankly he gazed at it. Then he recalled the "fault" the mine boss had +spoken of--an abrupt rise of the gallery twelve feet. This must be it. +Its drain had choked, and filled it with water. + +But both Hoover and Young had passed it! The pipe they had tapped upon +was beyond. They must have waded boldly in, dove or ducked down, and come +up on the other side. At the thought of following them in this Wilson +drew back. Had he not better return? + +Could he, though? Could he ascend a rope down which he had been unable to +prevent himself sliding? The answer was obvious. + +Desperately Wilson decided to venture the water, to reach those he now +knew were on the other side, and the pumping-pipe. In preparation he +first securely wrapped the matches he carried in notepaper taken from an +envelope, and placed them in the top of the miner's hat. Then removing +his shoes, to give him firmer footing, he stepped into the yellow pool +and carefully made his way forward. Six feet from the point at which the +water met the top of the gallery the water was up to his chin, and he saw +he must swim for it, and dive. Without pause, lest he should lose his +nerve, he struck out, reached the roof, took a deep breath, and ducked +down. + +Three quick, hard strokes, and he arose, and with a gasp found himself at +the surface again. A few strokes onward in the darkness, and his hands +met a rough wall, over which the water was draining as over the brink of +a dam. + +At the same moment a sound of dull blows reached his ears. Spluttering +and blinking, Wilson drew himself up. A shout broke from him. Far distant +and below was a point of light. + +"Hello!" he cried. Immediately came a chorus of response, as though many +were excitedly shouting at once. Unable to distinguish anything from the +jangle of echoes, Wilson cried back, "Are you all safe?" + +Again came the clashing, incomprehensible shout. + +"I'm coming down," he called, though not sure that they heard him. +Producing the matches from the crown of the hat, he found they had come +through dry, and after some difficulty lighting one against the side of +another, he re-lit the lamp. While at this, voices continued to come up +to him, evidently shouting something. But try as he could he was unable +to make out what was said. It was all a reverberating clamor, as though a +hundred people were talking at once. + +As the lamp spluttered up, after the ducking which had extinguished it, +Wilson gazed down the gallery before him with a touch of new dismay. The +water was flowing over it in a thin, glossy coat, and it was considerably +steeper than on the outer side of the fault. Apparently the only thing to +do was to slide. + +Working about into a sitting position, facing down the slope, with feet +spread out, as though steering a sleigh, Wilson allowed himself to go. +The rapidity with which he gained momentum startled him. Soon the gray +damp walls were passing upward like a glistening mist. With difficulty he +kept his feet foremost. + +Meantime the voices from below had continued shouting. Onward he slid, +and the sounds became clearer. At last the words came to him. They were, +"The pipe! The pipe! Catch the pump-pipe!" Then Wilson suddenly +recollected that the pipe was but half way down the slope. + +Digging with his heels he sought to slow up, gazing first at one flitting +wall, then the other. On the right a vertical streak of black appeared. +He clutched with heels and hands, and sought to steer toward it. He swept +nearer, and reached with outstretched hand. The effort swung him +sideways, his fingers just grazed the iron, and twisting about, he shot +downward head first at greater speed than ever. A moment after there was +a chorus of shouts, a sharp cry in his ears, an impact, a rolling and +tumbling, a second crash, and Wilson felt himself dragged to his feet. + +About him, in a single flickering light, was a group of strange faces. +While he gazed, dazed, rubbing a bruised head, all talked excitedly, even +angrily. + +"Why didn't you hang on, you idiot?" demanded a voice. + +"Who is it, anyway? It's a stranger!" + +"And a boy!" said another. + +Wilson recovered his scattered wits, and quickly explained who he was and +what he had come for. Immediately there was a joyful shout. "We'll be out +inside of an hour!" cried one. + +"But how am I going to get up to the pipe?" demanded Wilson. + +"We are cutting footholds up the incline. + +"White, get back on the job," directed the speaker, who Wilson later +learned was the fire-boss. + +"You brought him down with you," he added, to the boy. + +The man spoken to began creeping up the water-covered slope dragging a +pick, and Wilson turned to look about him. The eleven men in the party, +not including the man on the slope, were crowded together on the level +floor of what evidently was the lower fault of the lead. From the +darkness beyond came the sound of water trickling to a lower level. + +"Are all here, and no one hurt?" he asked. + +"Hoover and Young, and everybody, and not one scratched," responded the +fire-boss. "You were the one nearest hurt. + +"You were a mighty plucky youngster," he added, "to come through that +water up there." + +Wilson interrupted a chorus of hearty assent. "What happened to Hoover +and Young at the pipe?" he inquired. "That mystified everybody outside." + +"They both caught it coming down, but Hoover lost his hold trying to +change hands for tapping, and Young dropped the knife he was knocking +with, and slipped fishing for it," the fire-boss explained. + +Meantime at the entrance to the mine, a half hour having passed without a +knocking on the pipe to announce the arrival inside of the young +operator, anxiety began to be felt for his safety also. When another half +hour had passed, and there was still no response to frequent tappings of +inquiry, the mine-boss, Bartlett, began to stride up and down before the +blocked entrance. "I shouldn't have allowed him to go in," he muttered +repeatedly. "He was only a boy." + +When at length Muskoka Jones reappeared on the scene, and with him the +operator from Ledges, Bartlett met them with a gloomy face. At that very +moment, however, there was a shout from the men gathered about the +pumping-pipe. "He's knocking!" cried a voice. + +Bartlett, Muskoka and the Ledges operator went forward on the run. The +latter dropped to his knees and placed his ear to the pipe. At the quick +smile of comprehension which came into his face a great cheer went up. It +was immediately stilled by a gesture from the operator, and in tense +silence he caught up a stone, tapped back a signal, then read aloud +Wilson's strangely telegraphed words of the safety of the men below, +their situation, and the means to be taken to reach them. + +And just at sunset the bedraggled but joyful, cheering party of rescuers +and rescued emerged from the entrance--Wilson to a reception he will +remember as long as he lives. + +The most important result of Wilson's courage and resourcefulness, +however, was an interview Alex Ward had that evening at Exeter with the +division superintendent. Following a recital of Wilson's feat at the +mine, Alex added: "You said last week, Mr. Cameron, that I might suggest +a third operator for the Yellow Creek construction 'advance guard' of +operators. I'd like to suggest Jennings, sir." + +"He is appointed, then," said the superintendent. "Go and tell him +yourself." + + + + +XVIII + +WITH THE CONSTRUCTION TRAIN + + +On a newly-made siding parallel to the main-line tracks, and in the center +of a rolling vista of yellow-brown prairie, stood a trampish-looking train +of weather-beaten passenger coaches and box-cars. In the sides of the +latter small windows had been cut, and from the roofs projected chimneys. +North of the train, to a din of clanking, pounding and shoveling, a throng +of men were laying ties and rails, driving spikes and tightening bolts, in +the construction of further short stretches of track. + +It was the Yellow Creek branch "boarding" and construction train, and the +laying of the sidings of the newly-created Yellow Creek Junction was the +first step in the race of the Middle Western and the K. & Z., some miles +below the southern horizon, for the just-discernible break to the +southwest in the blue line of the Dog Rib Mountains--the coveted entrance +to the new gold fields in the valley beyond. + +And here, the first of the construction operators sent forward, Alex had +been two days established in the "telegraph-car." + +As he had anticipated, Alex was enjoying the experience hugely. It was +every bit as good as camping out, he had declared over the wire to +Jack--having for an office a table at one end of the old freight-car, +sleeping in a shelf-like bunk at the other end, and eating in the +rough-and-ready diner with the inspectors, foremen, time-keepers and +clerks who shared the telegraph-car with him. As well, the work going on +about him was a constant source of interest during Alex's spare moments. + +On this, the second day, Alex had been particularly interested in the +newly-arrived track-laying machine--which did not actually lay track at +all, but by means of roller-bottomed chutes fed out a stream of rails and +ties to the men ahead of it. After supper, the wire being silent, Alex +made his way amid several trains of track-material already filling +completed sidings, for a closer view of the big machine. + +There proved to be less to see than he had expected; and having climbed +aboard the pilot-car and examined the engine, Alex ascended the tower +from which a brakeman controlled the movements of the train. + +On his right lay a string of flats piled high with timbers for bridges +and culverts. Glancing along them, Alex was surprised to see a man's head +cautiously emerge from an opening in the lumber on one of the cars, and +quickly disappear on discovering him. A moment after he had a fleeting +glimpse of the intruder running low along the side of the train toward +the rear. + +"Only a hobo," Alex decided on second thought. For numbers of tramps had +come through on the material-trains. And presently Alex returned to the +telegraph-car. + +Shortly after midnight the young operator was awakened by someone running +through the car and shouting for Construction Superintendent Finnan. When +he caught the word "Fire!" he scrambled into his clothes and leaped to +the floor, and out. + +Over the tops of the cars in the direction of the track-machine was a +dancing glare. + +In alarm Alex joined the stream of men dropping to the ground all along +the boarding-cars. Dodging through the intervening trains, he brought up +with an expression of relief beside, not the track-machine, but a car of +bridge material. + +Fanned by a brisk wind, flames were spouting from amid the timbers at +several points. Already men were pitching the burning beams over the +side, however; and finding a shovel, Alex joined those who were +smothering them with sand. + +"Tramps, sure!" Alex heard another of the shovelers remark angrily. +Immediately then he recalled the man he had seen from the track-machine +tower, and pausing in his work, he counted the cars back. + +It was the same car. Yes; undoubtedly the fire was the careless work of +the tramp he had seen running away. + +The force of fire fighters was rapidly augmented, and soon, despite the +fresh breeze, the last of the burning beams were smothered, and all +danger of a general conflagration was past. + +It was as Alex at last headed back for the boarding-train that a theory +other than the tramp theory of the origin of the fire occurred to him. It +came from a sudden recollection of Division Superintendent Cameron's +prediction of interference from the K. & Z. "Could that be the real +explanation?" he asked himself with some excitement. + +The first streak of dawn found Alex again at the scene of the fire, bent +on proving or disproving the theory of incendiarism. Climbing aboard the +scorched car, he dropped to his knees and began carefully brushing aside +the sand with which the burning floor had been covered. + +A few minutes' search produced the burned ends of shavings! + +"So!--the 'fight' is on!" observed Alex to himself gravely. + +With several of the tell-tale fragments in his pocket Alex was about to +leap to the ground when Construction Superintendent Finnan appeared. +"Good morning, my lad. You beat me here, eh?" he said genially. "Well, +what do you make of it?" + +Alex sprang down beside him, and produced the charred pine whittlings. "I +found these on the bottom of the car, sir. They don't seem to support the +careless tramp theory, do they?" Continuing, Alex then told of the man he +had seen there the evening before. "Do you think it was the work of the +K. & Z., sir?" he concluded. + +The superintendent's lips were drawn tight. "Yes; I believe it was. Could +you identify the man?" + +"I am afraid not, sir. It was getting dusk, and he was five or six +car-lengths from me, and running stooped over. + +"Perhaps we could follow his footsteps down the side of the train?" Alex +suggested. + +"Good idea! Lead ahead. There has been a good deal of tramping about, but +we may pick them out." + +Proceeding to the point several cars distant at which he had seen the +stranger on the ground, Alex moved on slowly, carefully inspecting the +freshly turned but considerably trampled earth, the superintendent +following him. + +A car-length beyond, the latter suddenly paused, retraced his steps a few +feet, and pointing out three succeeding impressions, exclaimed, "I think +we have him, Ward! See? A long step! He was running on his toes." + +Aided by the known length of the stride, they continued, following the +footprints with comparative ease. Passing the second car from the end, +they found the steps shorten, then change to a walk. "Probably turned in +between this and the last car," the superintendent observed. + +"Yes; here they go," announced Alex, halting at the opening between the +two flats. "He stood for a moment, then went on through." + +Alex and the superintendent followed, and continued toward the rear of +the last car. Half way Alex halted, and with an ejaculation stooped and +picked up something white. "A small shaving, sir!" + +The official took it. "That decides the matter," he said. "Probably it +was sticking to his clothes." + +"He sat down here, for some time, did he not?" Alex was pointing to a +depression in the earth well under the car, between two ties, and to the +marks of bootheels. The superintendent went to his knees and closely +examined the impressions left by the heels. + +"Good! Look here," he said with satisfaction. "The marks of spurs! Our +'tramp' was a horseman." + +Alex turned to look about. "Where would he have kept his horse?" + +Superintendent Finnan led the way beyond the cars into the open. A mile +distant, and hidden from the boarding-train by the cars on the sidings, +was a depression in the prairie bordered with low scrub. "We'll have a +look there," he said. + +Some minutes later they stood in the bottom of the miniature valley, +beside the unmistakably fresh hoofprints of a hobbled pony. + +The official was grimly silent as they retraced their steps toward the +construction-train. They had almost reached it when Alex, who had been +examining the fragments of burned shavings, broke the silence. "Mr. +Finnan, let me see the bit of shaving we found by the rear car, please." +There was a touch of excitement in Alex's voice, and the superintendent +halted. + +"What is it?" he asked as he produced the whittling. + +Alex glanced at it, and smiling, placed it beside two of the charred +fragments in his hand. "Look at these little ridges, sir! The same knife +whittled them all. The blade had two small nicks in it. + +"All we have to do now, sir, is to find the owner of the knife!" + +"A bright idea, Ward! Splendid!" exclaimed the superintendent heartily. + +"But," he added as they moved on, "how are we going to find him? We can't +very well round up the whole Dog Rib country, and hold a jack-knife +inspection." + +They came within sight of the bleached-out dining-cars. Basking in the +morning sun on the steps of one of the old coaches was the figure of a +young Indian, who had come from no one knew where the first day of their +arrival, and had attached himself to the kitchen department. + +Alex laid his hand on the superintendent's arm. "Mr. Finnan, why not try +Little Hawk?" + +"It occurred to me just as you spoke. I will. Right now. + +"You go on in to breakfast, Ward," he directed. "And say nothing of our +suspicions or discoveries." + +"Very well, sir." + +The members of the telegraph-car party were leaving for the diner as Alex +appeared. + +"Hello, Ward! Catch the early worm?" inquired one of the track-foremen +jocularly. + +"You mean, 'did he shoot it?'" corrected a time-clerk. + +At this there was a general laugh, and glancing about for an explanation, +Alex saw Elder, Superintendent Finnan's personal clerk and aide de camp, +hastily remove a cartridge-belt and revolver from his waist and toss them +into his bunk. + +Elder was the one unpopular man in the telegraph-car. An undersized, +aggressively important individual, just out of college, and affecting a +stylish khaki hunting-suit, natty leather leggings and a broad-brimmed +hat, he bore himself generally as though second in importance only to the +construction superintendent himself. And naturally he had promptly been +made the butt of the party. + +"But you know," gravely observed one of the inspectors, as they took +their places about the plain board table in the dining-car, "some of +these tramps are dangerous fellows. They'd just as soon pull a gun on you +as borrow a dime. So there's nothing like being prepared. Particularly +when one carries about such evidence of wealth and rank as friend Elder, +here." + +At the chuckles which followed the clerk bridled angrily. + +"Well, anyway, Ryan," he retorted, "I am ready to fight if one of them +interferes with me. I'll not stick up my hands and let him go through me, +as you did once." + +"Oh, you wouldn't, eh?" + +"No, I wouldn't. In fact, I'd like to see anyone make me throw up my +hands, even if I didn't have a revolver," Elder went on emphatically. +"I'd rather be shot--yes, sir, I'd rather be shot than have to think +afterward that I'd been such a weak-kneed coward. And that's what I think +of any man who would permit a low-down tramp to go through his pockets." + +Loud applause greeted these remarks, clapping, banging of plates, and +cries of "Hear, hear!" + +"Go it, Elder!" + +"Show him up!" + +"It's on me. He has me labelled, OK," admitted Ryan with marked humility. +"But then, gentlemen, I protest it is hardly fair to compare an ordinary +mortal to so remarkably courageous a man as Elder. I claim it is not +given many men to be that fearless. Why, 'with half an eye,' as the old +grammars say, you can see courage sticking out all over him." + +"All right, laugh. But I never showed the white feather to a hobo," Elder +repeated scathingly. + +"No; but--what is it Kipling, or Shakespeare, says?--'While there's life +there's soap?'" observed Ryan, a sudden twinkle appearing in his eye. + +The inspector explained the meaning of his facetiously garbled quotation +when Elder left the table. The proposal he made was greeted with +enthusiasm. + +Work had been started on the branch road itself that morning, and on +returning to the telegraph-car at noon the superintendent's clerk found +most of the party there before him, preparing for dinner. An animated +debate which was in progress ceased as he entered, and someone exclaimed, +"Here he is now. He'd soon straighten them up." + +"What is the trouble, men?" inquired Elder, with the air of a +sergeant-major. + +"Our two head-spikers had a disagreement this morning, and have gone +across the yards to settle it," explained one of the time-keepers through +his towel. "Couldn't you go after them, and interfere? They may put each +other out of commission. Refused to listen to me or the foreman." + +"The childish idiots! Certainly," agreed Elder, turning back to the door. +"Which way did they go?" + +"Straight across the yard. But hadn't you better take your gun?" the +time-clerk suggested. "They are a pair of pretty tough customers." + +"Well--perhaps I had, since you mention it," Elder responded. Going to +his bunk, he secured and buckled on the belt, drew the revolver from its +holster to examine it, and set forth grimly. As he disappeared the men in +the car broke into barely-subdued splutterings of laughter, and crowding +to the door, waited expectantly. + +With an air of responsibility and determination the clerk made his way +between the adjacent cars. There were six tracks filled with the long +trains of construction material. He had passed the fifth, and was +stooping beneath the couplings of two flats beyond, when from the other +side he heard footsteps. + +One hand on the butt of his revolver, he leaped forth. Uttering a choking +cry he sprang back. Within a foot of his eyes were the barrels of two big +Colt's-pistols, and looking over the tops of them was a villainous +handkerchief-masked face. + +"Hands up!" ordered the tramp hoarsely. + +Elder's hands flew into the air. Immediately, despite his fright, there +returned a remembrance of his boast that morning. He half made as though +to bring his hands down. Instantly the cold muzzles of the pistols were +pressed close beneath his nose. With a wild flutter Elder's fingers shot +upward to their fullest stretch. + +"Come out!" ordered the tramp. + +Quaking, and almost on tiptoes in his effort to keep his hands aloft, +Elder obeyed. Lowering one of the pistols and thrusting it into his belt, +the tramp reached forward and secured the clerk's revolver, dropping it +to the ground beneath his feet. + +"Now, Mr. Superintendent," he ordered gruffly, "hand over your roll!" + +"Why, I'm not the superintendent," quavered Elder hopefully. "I am--only +a clerk." + +"Clerk nothing! Don't you think I know a superintendent when I see one? +Out with those yellowbacks you drew yesterday, or by gum--" The pistol +was again thrust under his nose, and Elder blanched. + +"But I'm not the superintendent! Honestly I'm not!" he protested. "I'm +only a clerk. And I only get--only get--" + +"Yes, come on! You only get?" thundered the tramp. + +"I only get thirty-five dollars a month," whispered the clerk. + +"Only thirty-five bones a month? Well, by gum!" The tramp looked the +shrinking clerk over with unspeakable contempt. "Why, there ain't a Dago +shoveler in the outfit doesn't get more than that! + +"Very well, then," he conceded loftily. "You can keep your coppers. I +never let it be said I rob the poor. + +"But I tell you what I will have," he went on suddenly. "Them clothes are +sure too good for any man not getting as much money as a Dago. These," +indicating his own tattered and grimy garments, "are more in your line. +Come on! Peel off!" + +The trimly-dressed clerk stared aghast. + +"You surely--don't mean--" + +"I surely DO mean! _Shell off!_" roared the tramp. + +And utterly beyond belief as it was, ten minutes later Elder was +surveying himself in the unspeakable rags of the hobo, and the latter, +before him, was ridiculously attired in his own natty, smaller garments. + +Having then removed Elder's fancy Stetson and clamped his own greasy and +battered christy down to the clerk's ears, the tramp had one further +humiliation. Pointing to a clump of black, oily waste hanging from a +nearby axle-box, he ordered, "Pull out a bunch of that!" + +Slowly, wondering, Elder did so. + +"No one would believe you were a genuine hobo with such a scandalously +clean face as that. Rub the waste over it," commanded the tramp. + +This was too much. Blindly Elder turned to escape. Instantly both pistols +were once more at his head. And in final abject surrender he slowly +rubbed the black car-grease upon his cheeks. + +"Very good. A little on the forehead now," directed the relentless tramp. +"Now the ears. + +"_Go on!_... Very good. + +"Now you may go." + +Frantically Elder spun about and dove between the cars. As he did so, +behind him roared out six quick pistol shots. + +Blindly he scrambled under the next train. Shouts rose ahead of him. +"Help, help!" he cried. "Tramps! Tramps! Help!" + +From the boarding-cars broke out a hubbub of excitement. "Tramps! +Tramps!" he shrilled, scuttling beneath the third train. + +On the other side he suddenly pulled up. He had forgotten his outlandish +appearance! What if-- + +Men sprang into view from between the cars farther down. "Here he is!" +they shouted, instantly heading for him. + +"It's me! Elder!" cried the apparent tramp. + +More men appeared. "The tramp who burned the car!" rose the cry. "Lynch +him! Lynch him!" + +Elder dove back the way he had come. The trackmen raced for the nearest +openings, and dove after. + +As Elder dashed for the next train several of his pursuers sprang into +view but a car-length away. "Head him off! Don't let him get away!" they +shouted. + +Madly Elder rushed on, darted beneath the last string of flats, and on +out into the open. + +A figure was approaching on horseback. He recognized Superintendent +Finnan. Uttering a cry of hope, he headed for him. At sight of the +desperately running figure, with its grimy face and flapping rags, the +superintendent pulled up in sheer amazement. When the stream of men broke +through the train and poured after, yelping like a pack of hounds, he +urged his horse forward. + +"Catch him! Stop him!" shouted the pursuers. + +"It's me! Elder!" screamed the clerk. "Elder! Elder!" + +A big Irishman, a pick-handle in his hand, was gaining on the supposed +tramp at every bound, roaring, "I'll fix ye! I'll fix ye, ye vermin!" + +With a last desperate sprint the flying clerk reached the horse and threw +himself at the superintendent's stirrups. "It's Elder, Mr. Finnan!" he +gasped. "Elder! Elder!" + +The superintendent gazed down into the blackened face an instant, then +suddenly doubled up over his horse's head, rocking and shaking in a +convulsion of laughter. The action saved the clerk from the Irishman. The +descending pick-handle halted in mid-air, the wielder gazed open-mouthed +at the convulsed official, then suddenly grasping the clerk's head, +twisted it about, and staggered back, roaring and shouting at the top of +his lungs. As fast as the others arrived the riot of merriment increased; +and when presently the superintendent moved on toward the train, the +crestfallen clerk still at his stirrup, they were the center of a +hilariously howling mob. + +The final blow came when Elder entered the telegraph-car. Carefully laid +out in his bunk were the garments he had surrendered to the "tramp." + +The incident had its final good result, however. The mangling of Elder's +vanity disclosed an unsuspected streak of common-sense and manliness, and +a day or so after he frankly thanked Ryan, the perpetrator of the joke, +for "having put him right." And finally he became one of the most popular +men on the train. + + + + +XIX + +THE ENEMY'S HAND AGAIN, AND A CAPTURE + + +"Good morning, Ward. Any word of the progress made by the K. & Z.?" +inquired Construction Superintendent Finnan the following morning, +Sunday, looking into the telegraph-car. + +Alex threw down his towel and stepped to the instrument table. "Yes, sir; +here's one that came late last night. + +"It says they started from Red Deer yesterday morning, and made nearly +three and a half miles." + +The superintendent looked somewhat glum as he read the message. "That +beats us by half a mile," he remarked. "If the news is reliable, that is. +They may plan to give out inflated distances, in order to discourage us. +That would be a small matter to them, after trying to burn us out." + +"There has been no sign of Little Hawk yet, sir?" Alex inquired. + +"No. I am beginning to think the rascal has gone over to the K. & Z.," +said the superintendent, turning away. At the door he paused. "By the +way, Ward, remind me to give you a message to-morrow morning asking for +two more operators. We will have made six or seven miles by Monday night, +and will be running the train down the branch. And the temporary station +is almost completed," he added, glancing from the window toward a box-car +which had been lifted from its trucks and placed on a foundation of ties +beside the main-line tracks. + +Alex promised gladly. It meant the coming of Jack Orr and Wilson +Jennings. + +Following breakfast, the morning being a beautiful one, Alex determined +on a walk, and set off along the main-line to the west. Two miles distant +he struck a small bridge and a deep, dry creek-bed, and turning south +along its border, headed for the distant rail-head of the new branch. + +At a bend in the creek some two hundred yards from the track-machine and +its string of flat-cars, Alex sharply paused. Two saddled ponies were +hobbled together in the creek-bottom. Casting a glance toward the +construction-train, Alex leaped into the gully, out of sight. + +He had not a doubt that the horses belonged to men in the service of the +K. & Z., and that something was on foot similar to the attempted burning +of the bridge-car. + +What should he do? Return the three miles to the junction? or continue on +to the track-machine? For undoubtedly the owners of the horses were +there; and the machine, he knew, was in the sole charge of an oiler. + +Alex decided on the latter course, and making his way along the bed of +the stream, passed the hobbled ponies, and on to the new bridge fifty +feet in rear of the construction-train. + +As he there halted, low voices reached Alex's ears. Peering cautiously +out, and seeing no one, he crept forth, and made his way along the side +of the embankment toward the train. A few feet from the rear car Alex +came upon a three-wheeled track velocipede, used by Elder, the +superintendent's clerk in running backwards and forwards between the +rail-head and the junction. Pausing, he debated whether he should not put +it on the rails, and make a run for the junction immediately. Finally +Alex concluded first to learn something further of what was going on, and +to count on the velocipede as a means of making his escape in case of +emergency. To this end he proceeded cautiously to place the little jigger +in a position from which he could quickly swing it onto the irons. Then +continuing forward under the edge of the train, he reached the pilot-car. + +"Yes; it's a first class machine--the best on the market." + +The voice was that of the oiler. Apparently he had been showing the +strangers over the track-machine. For a brief space Alex wondered whether +after all his suspicions were justified. But at once came the thought, +"Why had the strangers hidden their horses in the creek-bottom if they +were genuine visitors?" and he remained quiet. + +"Where is the boiler?" inquired a new voice, evidently one of the owners +of the horses. + +"There is none. The steam comes from the engine, behind," the oiler +responded. "Here--it comes in here." + +"So! And does the machine get out of order very easily?" asked a second +voice. + +There was something in the tone that caused Alex to prick up his ears. + +"Almost never. It's all simple. Nothing intricate," the man in charge +replied. + +"I suppose it could be put out of order, though--say, you fellows were to +go on strike, and wanted to disable things? Eh?" + +"Huh! That's rather a funny question. But I suppose it could. Anything +could, for that matter." + +"What do they pay you, as oiler?" + +"Say, what are you two fellows driving at?" the oiler demanded sharply. + +There was a momentary silence, during which Alex imagined the two +strangers looking questioningly at one another. Then one of them spoke. + +"Look here, whatever you get, we will give you a hundred dollars a month +extra to put this machine out of order two or three times a week. Nothing +very bad, but just enough to lose two or three hours' work each time. We +are--well, never mind who we are. The thing stands this way: We have a +big bet on that the K. & Z. will win in this building race for Yellow +Creek, and--well, you see the point, I guess. What do you say?" + +During the pause that followed Alex waited breathlessly, and with growing +disappointment. Was the oiler considering the bribe? + +"Well," said the oiler at length, "is that your best offer? Couldn't you +make it a thousand?" + +"A thousand! Nonsense--" + +"Two thousand, then." + +"What do you mean--" + +"Just this!" cried the oiler, and simultaneously there was a rush of feet +and a sound of blows. Exultingly Alex was scrambling forth to go to the +oiler's assistance, when just above him was a crash of falling bodies, +and a figure bounded over the side of the car and rolled sprawling down +the embankment. + +It was the plucky oiler, and Alex shrank back in horror as the man came +to a stop flat on his back, and lay immovable, blood trickling from a +wound over his eyes. + +Overhead was the sound of someone getting to their feet. "He nearly got +you," said a voice. + +"Nearly. But I guess I 'got him' one better." + +"Is he safe for awhile, do you think?" + +As the two men moved to the edge of the car and apparently gazed down at +the prostrate figure in the ditch, Alex shrank back with apprehension on +his own account. + +"Perhaps we'd better make sure of him." + +"All right. Here is a bit of rope." + +Hurriedly Alex crawled beneath the nearby truck, behind the wheels, and a +tall figure in the garb of a cowboy dropped to the ground before him and +ran down to the still unconscious oiler. Binding the prostrate man's feet +together at the ankles, the cowman turned the oiler on his face, and +secured his hands behind his back. Turning him again face up, he studied +his eyes a moment, and announcing, "Good job. Only stunned," he returned +to the car and drew himself up on it. + +"Now what'll we do?" inquired his companion. "That idiot has knocked our +plans to pieces. We can't go back and say we neither made the deal, nor +did anything else for our money." + +"We'll have to tear things up ourselves," said the first man decisively. +"Let us see what we can do in the engine-room here." + +The footsteps passed into the engine-house, and Alex at once crawled +forth, to make his way back to the velocipede. + +As he emerged from beneath the car he paused to glance down at the +prostrate oiler. Should he leave him lying there? It did not seem right, +despite the obvious necessity of heading for the junction without a +moment's delay. + +As he hesitated, the eyes of the prostrate man flickered, and opened. +Alex dodged back, lest the oiler should betray his presence to the men on +the car. As he dropped down there came the recollection that there were +two seats on the velocipede. Why not take the man with him, if he +sufficiently recovered? Good! + +Anxiously Alex watched as the stunned man blinked about him. Finally +comprehension, then a hot flush of rage appeared in the oiler's face, and +with a violent kick he twisted about toward the car. + +Springing into view, Alex caught the oiler's startled eye, and made a +warning gesture. The man stared dully for a moment, then nodded, and on +Alex's further urgent signalling, dropped back and again closed his eyes. +Alex produced and opened his jack-knife. + +The men above were busily fumbling about in the engine-room. Only pausing +to make sure they were entirely occupied, Alex slipped forth, cautiously +crept down the embankment, reached the bound man, and with a slash of the +knife freed his feet and hands. + +"Let us slip back to the velocipede--it's ready to throw on the +rails--and make a dash of it for the junction," Alex whispered. The oiler +arose, and with one eye on the engine-room door they crept up under the +edge of the car, and on toward the rear of the train. + +They reached the little track-car, and cautiously lifted it onto the +rails. + +"Better push it a ways," the oiler advised in a low voice. "They might +hear the rumble, with our weight on it." + +Gently they set the velocipede in motion. With the first move one of the +wheels gave forth a shrill screech. The two paused as the sounds on the +pilot-car immediately ceased. + +"If we hear one of them going to the edge to look for me, we'll make a +run of it," said the oiler. + +"They may go on tiptoe," Alex pointed out. + +The suggestion was followed by a sharp exclamation from the head of the +train. "The oiler's gone!" cried a voice. Simultaneously there was the +sound of someone springing to the ground, and Alex and the oiler +scrambled into the velocipede seats, Alex facing the rear, and threw +themselves against the handles. The oilless wheel again screeched, and +from the pilot-car rose the cry, "Around at the end! Quick!" + +Alex and the oiler wrenched the handles backwards and forwards with all +their might, and the little car leaped ahead. Before they had gained full +headway, however, one of the machine-wreckers appeared about the end of +the train, and with a cry to his companion, dashed after. He ran like a +deer, and despite the increasing speed of the velocipede, quickly gained +upon them. + +"He'll get us!" Alex exclaimed. + +"The creek bridge is just ahead. That'll stop him," said the oiler. + +The second man appeared, and joined in the chase. + +The first runner saw the bridge, and redoubled his efforts. In spite of +their best endeavors, he drew rapidly nearer. A hand shot out to clutch +the oiler's shoulder. + +It reached him--and with a rumble they were on and over the bridge, and +their pursuer had sprawled forward flat on his face. + +He was on his feet again like a wildcat, however, and crossing the bridge +three ties at a time, leaped to the flat ground beside the track, and was +again after the velocipede like a race-horse. + +Try as they would, Alex and the oiler could get no more speed out of the +low-geared machine, and with alarm Alex saw the runner once more drawing +near. The second man they had outdistanced. + +Closer the cowman came. "Stop!" he shouted. "Stop! You may as well! I've +got you!" + +Determinedly they held on, working the handles desperately, Alex watching +the grim, clean-shaven face and the fluttering dotted handkerchief about +the pursuing man's neck with a curious fascination. + +At last he was parallel with them. Still running, he drew his revolver. +"Stop!" he ordered. "Stop, or I'll put one through you!" + +"Keep it up, boy," the oiler directed sharply. "He daresn't fire. He +daresn't add murder to it. And he'd be heard at the junction." + +The runner snapped his gun back into its holster, and putting on an extra +spurt, rushed slanting up the embankment, and threw himself bodily upon +the oiler. They tumbled off backwards in a struggling heap. Throwing his +weight against the handles, Alex stopped the velocipede, sprang off, and +dashed to the oiler's assistance. + +The cowman's revolver had fallen from his belt. Alex caught it up and +pressed it against the back of the man's head. "Stop it! Let go!" he +cried. "I'll certainly shoot!" + +The man half relaxed, and glared up sideways. Alex brought the muzzle to +his eyes, and slowly he freed his hold on the oiler. "Oh, very well," he +muttered with a curse. "You win." + +"No--don't!" said Alex, as the enraged oiler spun about to strike the +half-prostrate man. "He's down, and has given up." + +At that moment interruption came from another quarter. It was a shrill +cry from the direction of the creek-bed, and turning, all three saw a +round-shouldered figure on horseback scrambling from the creek-bottom, +leading the ponies of the two would-be wreckers, and the second cowman +running toward him. + +"It's Little Hawk!" Alex exclaimed. + +The cowboy reached the Indian, sprang at him, there was a terrific +scrimmage, and the white man sprang from the melee with the bridle of one +of the ponies, leaped into the saddle, and was off across the prairie in +a whirl of dust. + +So interested had Alex been in the second conflict that momentarily he +had forgotten the man on the ground before him. He was reminded by +suddenly finding himself sprawling upon his back, and regaining his feet, +found their prisoner also racing off at top speed. The oiler darted +after, but quickly gave it up. He was no match for the light-footed +cowman. + +Seeing the pistol still in Alex's hand, he cried, "Shoot! Shoot him!" + +Alex raised the revolver, faltered, and lowered it. "No. I can't," he +said. + +"I can!" The oiler darted back and wrested it from Alex's hand. As he +whirled about to fire, Alex grasped his arm. "No! Wait! Look!" he +exclaimed. "The Indian is after him!" + +Turning, the oiler saw the Indian, with his own and one of the other +ponies, storming across the ground in pursuit of the runner. Silently +they watched. + +As he heard the pounding hoofs behind him, the fleeing cowboy glanced +about, and set on at greater speed than ever. Quickly, however, the +horses cut down the distance between them. + +The Indian leaned toward the second pony, took something from the +saddle-horn, and began to adjust it on his arm. + +"He's going to lassoo him!" said Alex breathlessly. + +Nearer drew the Indian to the fleeing man, and hand and lassoo went into +the air and began to weave circles. Tensely the two on the embankment +watched. + +Closer the horses drew. Wider the circle of the lassoo extended. + +Suddenly it leaped through the air like a great snake. The runner saw the +shadow of it, and with a cry that they heard, half turned and threw out +his arms to ward it off. The loop was too large, the cowman missed it, +and as the Indian pulled up in a cloud of dust, he whipped in the slack, +and the noose tightened fairly about the renegade's waist. An instant +after, however, the second pony, plunging ahead of the Indian's, threw +the rider forward, slackening the lariat. In a twinkle the cowman had +loosened the noose, and was wriggling out of it. He had freed one foot +before the Indian had recovered himself. Then with a terrific yank the +horseman snapped in the slack, the cowman's feet flew from under him, and +with one foot taut in the air, caught at the ankle, he lay cursing and +shaking an impotent fist. + +As Alex and the oiler ran forward the Indian sat on his horse like a +statue, holding the lariat taut. + +The oiler reached the prisoner first, revolver in hand. + +"Get up, you!" he ordered. Sullenly the man obeyed. Removing a +handkerchief from about his neck, the oiler gave it to Alex, who securely +bound the man's hands behind him. Throwing off the lassoo, they turned +toward the Indian. With some wonder, they saw he was carefully examining +the hoofs of the pony he was leading. Concluding the inspection with a +grunt, he came forward, winding up the rope, and halted before them. + +"You hoss?" he asked of the prisoner, pointing over his shoulder. + +The cowboy looked at him contemptuously, and responded, "Well, what if it +is, Old Ugly-Mug?" + +The oiler brought up the pistol. "I don't know why he wants to know, but +you go ahead and tell him!" he ordered threateningly. "He's twice the man +you are. Is it your horse?" + +"Yes." + +Little Hawk turned away with a grunt of satisfaction, and mounting his +pony, rode off towards the junction. + +What the Indian meant Alex learned when, with their prisoner between +them, he and the oiler approached the boarding-train, and met Little Hawk +returning with Superintendent Finnan. + +"That him!" said the Indian briefly as they drew near. "Him burn cars!" + +From the prisoner came a hissing gasp. As Alex turned upon him with a +sharp ejaculation of understanding, however, the man assumed an +indifferent air, and strode on nonchalantly. + +"What do you want?" he demanded insolently of the superintendent. "Can't +a man pull off a--a little joke without these idiots of yours going out +of their heads? It was nothing more than a bit of fun me and my mate was +having," he affirmed boldly. + +Superintendent Finnan smiled sardonically. "That is what the K. & Z. call +it, eh?" + +Alex, still with a hand on the prisoner's arm, felt him start. But +brazenly the man replied, "K. & Z.? What's the K. & Z.? A ranch brand? I +never heard of it." + +On a thought Alex stepped forward and whispered a word in the official's +ear. + +"Go ahead," said the superintendent. + +"I'm going to search your pockets," Alex announced, stepping back to the +side of the renegade cowman. "No objection, I suppose, since you don't +know what K. & Z. means?" + +"Search ahead," agreed the prisoner, half smiling. "And good luck to you +if you find anything to connect me--if you find anything," he corrected +quickly. + +From a trouser pocket Alex drew out a large jack-knife. With a suspicion +of trembling he opened one of the blades and examined it, while the owner +regarded him curiously. With a shake of the head the young operator +opened the second blade. A quick smile of triumph lit up his face, and +delving into a vest pocket, he brought forth a scrap of paper, unfolded +it, and took out a fragment of charred pine shaving. + +Turning his back on the now anxiously watching, though still puzzled, +owner of the knife, he held the shaving against the edge of the blade. +The superintendent bent over it, and uttered a delighted "Exactly!" + +Triumphantly Alex turned toward the prisoner, and held the hand with the +knife and shaving before him. "Does this help you to recall what K. & Z. +means?" he asked. + +"Recall? I don't--" + +"See these two little ridges on the shaving? See these two little nicks +in the blade?" + +With a hoarse cry the man flung himself backward, and bound as he was, +began struggling like a madman. Alex, the superintendent and the +Indian were to the oiler's assistance in a twinkle, however, and a +few minutes later saw the renegade in their midst on the way to the +boarding train--and, as it finally proved, to the jail at Exeter. + +"I don't know who to thank most," said Superintendent Finnan later--"you, +Ward, or the oiler, or Little Hawk. Nor what appreciation to suggest +higher up." + +"You might make it a blanket and Winchester for the Indian, and a purse +for the oiler, for the knocks he got and the bribe he refused," Alex +suggested. + +"And yourself?" + +"Oh, just let me keep the rascal's knife, as a memento," responded Alex +modestly. + +"Very well; we'll agree on that--for the present," said the superintendent. + + + + +XX + +A PRISONER + + +When the early-morning mail train stopped at Yellow Creek Junction on +Tuesday, Alex was at the little box-car station to greet Jack Orr and +Wilson Jennings. Jack, who had not met Wilson before the latter boarded +the train at Bonepile, had taken a liking to the easterner at once, and +confided to Alex that he was "the real goods," despite the "streak of +dude." + +"We ought to have some good times together," Jack predicted, as, with +lively interest, he and Wilson accompanied Alex back toward the +nondescript but businesslike-looking boarding-train. + +Jack's hope, as far as it concerned the three boys being together, was +soon shattered. As they reached the telegraph-car, Superintendent Finnan +appeared, and having cordially shaken hands with Jack and Wilson, turned +to Alex. "Ward," he said, "I have just decided to send you on to the +Antelope viaduct. A courier has brought word from Norton, the engineer in +charge, that trouble appears to be brewing amongst his Italian laborers, +and I would like to get in direct touch with him. The telegraph line was +strung within two miles of the bridge yesterday, and should reach +Norton's camp to-day. How soon could you start?" + +"As soon as I have breakfast, sir," responded Alex, stifling his +disappointment. "It's twenty miles there, isn't it, Mr. Finnan? How am I +to go?" + +"You can ride a horse?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Elder will have a pony here for you by the time you are ready. And you +had better take an extra blanket with you," advised the superintendent as +he turned away. "You will be living in a tent, you know." + +Half an hour later Alex, mounted on a spirited little cow-pony, with a +few necessities in a sweater, strapped to the saddle, and a blanket over +his shoulder, army fashion, waved a good-by to Jack and Wilson, and was +off over the prairie at a lope, following the telegraph poles. + +It was a beautiful morning, and with the sun shining and the sparkling +air brushing his cheeks and tingling in his nostrils, Alex quickly forgot +his disappointment at being so quickly separated from Jack and Wilson, +and soon was enjoying every minute of his ride. Keeping on steadily at a +hand-gallop, before he realized he had covered half the distance, he came +upon the wire-stringing and pole-erecting gangs. A half mile farther, a +long, dark break appeared in the plain, and a muffled din of pounding +began to reach him. And pushing ahead, Alex drew up on the brink of a +wide, deep gully, from either side of which reached out a great wooden +frame, dotted with busy men. + +It was the bed of the old Antelope river, which years before had changed +its course, and which the railroad finally proposed crossing with a +permanent fill. + +Directly below, in a group of shrubby trees on the border of the stony +creek which alone remained of the river, was a village of white tents. +From Alex's feet a rough trail slanted downward toward it. Giving his +pony free rein, he descended. + +"Where is Mr. Norton?" he asked of a water-boy at the foot of the path. + +"That's him at the table in front of the middle tent," the boy directed. +Thanking him, Alex urged the pony forward, and leaped to the ground +beside a dark-haired, energetic young man bending over a sheet of +figures. + +"I am the operator Mr. Finnan sent on," Alex announced as the engineer +looked up. + +"Glad to meet you," said the engineer, cordially rising and extending his +hand. "You are a trifle young for this rough work, though, are you not?" +he ventured, noting Alex's youthful face. "You are not the operator who +caught that K. & Z. man Sunday?" + +"I helped catch him," Alex corrected. + +"You'll do, then," said Norton. "And I'll give you a place here in my own +tent," he added, turning and entering a small marquee, followed by Alex. + +"This corner will be yours, and the box your 'office.' It will do for the +instruments?" + +"Fine," responded Alex. + +As the wire-stringing gang was not due to reach the viaduct before +mid-afternoon, on completing his arrangements in the tent, Alex set out +for a tour of his new surroundings. Climbing up the western slope of the +gully, he found a large gang of foreigners, mostly Italians, working in a +cutting. Judging that this was the gang which was causing the anxiety, +Alex paused some moments to watch them. + +Scattered over a system of miniature track, the men were shovelling earth +into strings of small dump-cars, which when filled were run out over the +completed western end of the viaduct, and dumped. As Alex stood regarding +the active scene, a string of cars rumbled toward him from one of the +more distant sidings. Others had been pushed by several men. This was +being driven by a single burly giant. With admiration Alex watched. +Suddenly a sense of something familiar about the figure stirred within +him. The man came opposite, and Alex uttered an involuntary ejaculation. +It was Big Tony, the Italian who had led the trouble amongst the trackmen +at Bixton two years back, and with whom he had had the thrilling +encounter at the old brick-yard. + +When the Italian glanced toward him, Alex started back. But the foreigner +did not recognize the young operator, with his two years of rapid growth, +and passed on. Breathing a sigh of relief, Alex turned and made his way +to the foreman in charge of the gang. + +"How do you do," he said, introducing himself. "Who is that big Italian +pushing the string of cars alone?" + +"Tony Martino. The best man in the gang," responded the foreman. "Why? Do +you know him?" + +"He was on a surfacing-gang near my father's station two years ago," said +Alex, "and caused no end of trouble. He was discharged finally." + +"He must have reformed, then," the foreman declared. "He's certainly the +best man we have--more than willing, and strong as an ox." + +"He had nothing to do with the trouble you have had here, then?" + +"He helped me put it down," said the foreman. "No; I only wish we had a +few more like him." + +Alex passed on, thoughtful. At Bixton Big Tony had been no more +remarkable for his willingness to work than for his peaceableness. Had he +really changed for the better? Or was it possible he was "playing +possum," to cover the carrying-out of some plan of revenge against the +road? + +Three evenings later, a beautiful, moonlit night, Alex left the camp for +a stroll. To obtain a look up and down the old river-bed by the +moonlight, he made his way out on the now nearly completed viaduct. + +As he stood gazing down the ravine to the south, a half-mile distant a +dark figure passed over a bright patch of sand. It was quickly lost in +the dark background beyond. But not before Alex had recognized the +unmistakable figure and walk of the Italian, Big Tony. His suspicions at +once awakened, Alex was but a moment in deciding to follow the foreigner, +and returning to the eastern bank, he scrambled down to the gully bottom, +and hastily followed, keeping well in the shadows on the eastern side of +the ravine. + +Reaching the spot at which he had seen the Italian, he went on more +cautiously. A quarter-mile farther the ravine swung abruptly to the west. +As Alex arrived at the bend, subdued voices reached him. Continuing +cautiously, and keeping to the deepest shadows, Alex reached a clump of +willow bushes. + +He glanced beyond, and in a patch of moonlight discovered Big Tony in +conversation with an almost equally tall stranger, apparently a cowboy. +The latter's back was toward him. + +The stranger turned, and Alex drew back with a start, and then a smile. + +It was the second man of the two who on the previous Sunday had attempted +to wreck the track-machine--the one who had made his escape. + +As the man turned more fully, and he caught his words, Alex's jubilant +smile vanished. + +"... enough to blow the whole thing to matchwood, if you place it right," +he was saying. + +There was no doubt what this meant. They were planning to blow up the +viaduct. + +"Oh, I fixa it alla right, alla right," declared Big Tony confidently. +"No fear. I usa da dynamite all-aready. I blow up da beega da house +once." + +"A house and a big wooden bridge are quite different propositions. And a +wooden bridge isn't to be blown up like a stone or iron affair, you +know." + +"Suppose you come, taka da look, see my plan all-aright, den," the +Italian suggested. "No one on disa side da bridge, to see, disa time +night." + +The cowman hesitated. "Well, all right. It would be best to make sure. + +"We don't want to carry this, though. Where'll we put it?" + +As he spoke the man leaned over and picked up a good-sized parcel done up +in brown paper. From the careful way he handled it there could be no +doubt of its contents. It was the dynamite they proposed using. + +"Here, I fin' da place." + +Alex caught his breath at the display of carelessness with which the +foreigner took the deadly package. Backing into a nearby clump of bushes, +Big Tony stooped and placed the dynamite on the ground, well beneath the +branches. + +"Dere. No one see dat. Come!" + +As the two conspirators strode toward him, Alex crept closer into the +shadows of the willows. Passing almost within touch of him, they +continued up the gully, and soon were out of sight. + +Before the footsteps of the two men had died away Alex was sitting +upright, debating a suggestion that caused him to smile. With decision he +arose, approached the bush under which the dynamite was concealed, and +reaching beneath with both hands, very carefully brought the package +forth and placed it on the ground in the moonlight. With great caution he +then undid the twine securing the parcel, and opened it. On discovering a +second wrapping of paper within, he uttered an exclamation of +satisfaction. Lifting out the inner parcel intact, he glanced about, and +choosing a group of bushes some distance away, carried the dynamite there +and concealed it. Returning, he secured the piece of outer wrapping +paper, and proceeded to carry out his idea. + +Where the moonlight struck the western wall of the gully was a bed of +cracked, sun-baked clay. Making his way thither, Alex found a fragment a +little larger than the package of dynamite, and with his knife proceeded +to trim it into a square. Carefully then he wrapped this in the brown +paper, and wound it about with the cord just as the original parcel was +secured. And with a smile Alex placed this under the bush from which he +had taken the genuine package. + +"Dynamite with that as much as you please, Mr. Tony," he laughed as he +turned away. + +When Alex had covered half the distance in returning to the viaduct he +began keeping a sharp lookout ahead for the returning of the Italian and +his companion. He was within a hundred yards of the great white structure +when he discovered them. Turning aside, he concealed himself behind a +small spruce. + +With no apprehension of danger Alex waited, and the two men came +opposite. Suddenly, without a motion of warning, the two turned and +darted toward him, one on either side of the tree. Before Alex had +recovered from his astonishment he found himself seized on either side, +and threateningly ordered to be silent. + +They dragged him on some distance, then into the moonlight. "Why, it's +one of the fellows who captured Bucks on Sunday!" declared the cowboy. +"What are you doing here, boy?" he demanded angrily. + +"I was out for a moonlight stroll," Alex responded, stifling his +apprehension. + +"Why did you hide behind that tree, then?" + +"Well--perhaps I was afraid," said Alex vaguely. "There are some rough +people here among the foreign laborers." + +As he spoke Alex noted with new alarm that the Italian was regarding him +sharply. He turned his back more fully to the moonlight. Immediately he +chided himself for his stupidity. The move emphasized the struggling +sense of recognition in the Italian's mind, he smartly turned Alex's face +full to the moon, and uttered a cry in Italian. + +"Now I know! I know!" he cried exultingly. "I know heem before! And he a +spy! A boy spy!" + +Rapidly he gave the stranger a distorted account of the strike at Bixton, +and Alex's part in his final discomfiture. + +The cowman listened closely. "Is that so, boy?" he demanded. + +"Partly. But it was not a strike. It was a simple piece of murderous +revenge against one man, the section-foreman. And I helped spoil it." + +"Good. That's all I want to know," said the cowboy with decision. "Not +that I care one way or the other about the affair itself. It shows you +are a dangerous man to leave around loose. I'll just take you along with +me. Come on!" + +"Come? Where?" said Alex, holding back in alarm. + +"Never mind! Just come!" Securing a new hold on Alex's arms, the speaker +and the Italian dragged him with them back down the gorge. + +As they neared the spot at which the dynamite was supposed to be safely +hidden, the stranger halted abruptly, studied Alex intently a moment, +then sent Big Tony on ahead, after a whispered word in his ear. + +Alex knew the foreigner had gone to learn whether the dynamite had been +touched. In suspense he awaited the result. Would the Italian be +deceived? Would he notice the new footprints about the bush? + +Big Tony returned. "All-aright," he announced. Alex breathed a sigh of +relief, and continued forward with his captors. + +They proceeded some distance in silence, and presently Alex had +sufficiently plucked up courage to again ask what they proposed doing +with him. + +"I'm going to take you where you will be out of mischief, that's all," +replied the unknown cowman. As he spoke he halted, looked about, and +resigning Alex to the guardianship of the Italian, disappeared in the +shadow of an over-hang of the ravine. A moment later there was a clatter +of hoofs, and he reappeared leading a horse. + +"Make heem rida too?" questioned Big Tony. + +"Hardly," responded the cowman, at the same time freeing and swinging a +lariat from the saddle-horn. "He's going to trot along behind me like the +blame little coyote he is. + +"Hold out your hands, kid!" he ordered. Seeing resistance was useless, +Alex reluctantly complied. Running the noose of the lassoo about the +boy's wrists, the cowman tightened it, and secured it with several knots. +Swinging into the saddle, he fixed the other end to the saddle-horn. + +"You may go now, Tony," he said to the foreigner as he caught up the +reins and headed the pony toward a path to the surface which Alex had not +noticed. + +"Gooda night, Meester Munson. And gooda-by, smart boy," said the Italian. +"Lucky for you I havanta my way. 'Scrugk!' That's what you get," he +declared, drawing his hand across his throat. + +"Munson, eh?" murmured Alex as the lassoo tightened, and he stumbled up +the path behind the pony. "That's another good thing learned." + +Arrived at the surface, his captor halted to look about, then set off +across the plains due south, at a walk, Alex trailing after at the end of +the rope. + +The situation was not without its humorous side, it occurred to Alex +after his first apprehension had worn off. When a few minutes later the +pony broke into a slow canter, and he was forced into an awkward +dog-trot, a chuckle broke from him. + +The man ahead turned in surprise. "Well, you're sure a game one," he +observed. "Imagine it's funny, eh?" + +"I was thinking how I would look to some of my friends, if they could see +me here," explained Alex good-naturedly. "Trotting along like a little +dog on a string." + +The cowman pulled up and laughed. "Youngster, you're all right," he said +heartily. "I'm sorry you're--that is--" + +"On the wrong side?" suggested Alex, smiling. + +"Very well. Let it go at that. Look here! If I take that thing off, will +you promise to come along, and not play any tricks?" + +"Yes, I will," agreed Alex readily. For he saw there was little chance of +making his escape from the horseman on an open plain. + +"Hold up your hands, then," directed the cowboy. Alex complied, and +quickly he was free. + +"How far are we going?" he asked as they moved on, Alex walking abreast. + +"About twenty miles," replied the cowman. + + + + +XXI + +TURNING THE TABLES + + +The moonlight had given place to darkness, and Alex was thoroughly +exhausted from his long walk when the fence of a corral, then a group of +small buildings, loomed up, and his captor announced that they were at +their destination. + +"Do you live here all alone?" Alex asked, seeing no lights. + +"Since you fellows captured Bucks--yes," responded the cowboy, halting at +the corral bars. Dismounting, he whipped saddle and bridle from the pony +as it passed inside, and replacing the bars, led the way to the house. + +It was a small, meagerly-furnished room that a match, then a lamp, +disclosed. Against the rear wall was a small stove, in the center a rough +table, at either end a low cot, and in one corner a cupboard. Two or +three chairs, some pictures and calendars and two or three saddles +completed the contents. The floor was of hard earth. + +"That'll be your bunk there," said the owner, indicating one of the cots. +"And you can turn in just as soon as you like." + +Crossing the room, he stood at the foot of the bed, thinking. "What's the +trouble? It looks comfortable enough," observed Alex, following. + +"I have it," said the cowman, and going to the saddles, he returned with +a coiled lariat. Alex laughed uncomfortably. + +"Lie down," the man directed. "Or, hold on! Let's see first if you have +any knives about you." Objection would have been fruitless, and Alex of +his own accord surrendered his pocket-knife. + +"Now lie down." + +With what grace he could, Alex complied. Making a slip-loop in the center +of the lariat, the cowman passed it over one of the boy's ankles, and +made the holding-knot as firm as he could draw it. Then passing the two +ends of the rope inside one of the lower legs of the cot, he ran them +across the room and secured them to his own bed. + +"That'll leave you comfortable, and put the knots out of temptation," he +remarked. "Also, if you start any wriggling this old shake-down of mine +will act as watch-dog. It squeaks if you look at it. And I'm a powerful +light snoozer, and powerful quick with the gun when it's necessary," he +added, with an emphasis which Alex could not doubt. + +Nevertheless, when presently the cowman blew out the light, and retired, +Alex only waited until a steady, deep snore announced that the man was +asleep. Cautiously he sat up, and reached toward his encircled ankle. + +The knots had been secured cleverly and tightly. Pry and pull as he +could, they gave no more than if they had been made of wire. + +Working lower, Alex sought to reach the cot leg, to see whether it was +fixed to the floor. With some difficulty, because of the sitting position +made necessary, he was straining toward it, when suddenly the bound foot +lunged from him, the rope tightened, and from the cot opposite came a +squeak. The snoring instantly ceased, and Alex sat motionless, holding +his breath. The ominous silence continued, and finally he lay back with a +movement as though turning in his sleep. + +Minute after minute passed, and still the breathing of the man across the +room did not resume. + +Then suddenly, it seemed, Alex found himself sitting upright, and +daylight flooding the room. He had fallen asleep. + +The second cot was empty, but a moment after the door opened and the +cowman appeared. + +"How did you sleep, stranger?" he inquired. "I thought for a spell last +night you were trying some funny business." + +Alex laughed. "I slept like a log," he declared truthfully, ignoring the +last remark. "Are you going to keep me tied up here all day?" + +"Until after breakfast anyway," responded his host, proceeding to start a +fire in the stove. "Suppose you'll have some bacon and coffee?" + +"Thank you, yes. I'm more than hollow, after that Marathon run you gave +me last night." + +As the cowman turned to the cupboard Alex seized the opportunity to +examine the leg of the cot about which the lassoo was passed. With +disappointment he discovered it to be a stout post driven into the floor. + +Despite the discomfort of his position Alex enjoyed the simple breakfast +of biscuits and bacon. He was passing his cup for a third filling of the +fragrant coffee, when his host abruptly sat the coffee-pot down and +listened. "Someone coming," he remarked. Alex also heard the hoofbeats. +They approached rapidly, there was a step at the door, and a tall, +well-dressed figure in riding-breeches and leggings appeared. At sight of +Alex he halted in surprise. + +"Who's this, Munson?" he demanded. + +The cowman led the way outside and closed the door, and low words told +Alex that he was explaining the previous night's occurrences. More, they +told him that this well-dressed man was the connecting link between the +K. & Z. and the men who were seeking to interfere with the Middle Western +in the race for the Yellow Creek Pass. + +What would be the outcome of the man's visit for him? Alex asked himself. +For the newcomer would not fail to appreciate the disadvantage of having +been seen there by the young employee of the M. W. + +The young operator was not left long in doubt. The door again opened, and +the stranger re-entered, followed by the cowman, and without preliminary +placed a chair before Alex and dropped into it. + +"Look here, my boy," he began, "how would you like to earn some extra +money--a good decent sum?" + +At once seeing the man's intention, Alex bridled indignantly. But +suppressing his feelings, he responded, "I'd like to as well as anyone +else, I suppose--if I can earn it honorably." + +At the last word a flush mounted to the stranger's cheeks, but he +continued. "Well, that's all a matter of opinion, you know. Every man has +his own particular code of honor. However-- + +"You probably have guessed who I am?" + +"A K. & Z. man." + +"Yes. Now look here: Suppose the K. & Z. was anxious to know from day to +day the precise progress the Middle Western is making in this race for +Yellow Creek, and suppose they were willing to pay a hundred dollars a +month for the information--would that proposition interest you?" + +Alex replied promptly, "No, sir. And anyway, it's not the information you +want. It's my silence." + +The man's face darkened. He had one more card to play, however. + +"Well, let it go at that, then. And suppose, in addition to a hundred a +month to keep silent as to seeing me here, and what you have learned +generally, I should give you--" He thrust his hand into an inside pocket +and brought forth a long pocketbook. "Suppose I should give you, say two +hundred dollars, cash?" + +Alex caught a knee between his hands and leaned back against the wall. + +"I'm not for sale," he replied quietly. + +The would-be briber thrust the book back into his pocket and sprang to +his feet, purple with anger. + +"Very well, my young saint," he sneered, "stay where you are, then--till +we're good and ready to let you go!" + +He strode to the door, Munson following him. "If he tries to get away," +Alex heard him add as he mounted his horse, "shoot him! I'll protect +you!" + +"You _are_ a young fool, all right," Munson said, returning. "You've +simply made it worse for yourself. You've sure now got to stay right +here, indefinite. + +"And, as he ordered," the cowman added determinedly, "if you try to make +a break-away of it, I'll sure shoot--and shoot to kill! When I go into a +thing, I put it through!" + +Alex, however, had no intention of staying, whatever the risks, and when +presently Munson, after assuring himself that the knots were secure, +passed out, he immediately addressed himself to the task of making his +escape. It did not look difficult at first sight, since both hands were +free, and only one foot tied. But an energetic attempt to loosen the +cleverly-tied slip-loop failed as completely as it had the night before. +Likewise, strain as he could at the cot leg, he could not budge it, so +firmly was it driven into the hard ground. + +With something like despair Alex at last relinquished these endeavors, +and turned to the problem of cutting the rope in some way. In the hope of +finding a nail with which he might pick or fray the lariat apart, he made +a thorough examination of the cot. There were nails, but they were driven +in beyond hope of drawing with his fingers. + +Dispiritedly Alex relinquished the search, and sat up. His eyes wandered +to the window near him. Starting to his feet, he strained toward it. + +The lower corner of one of the panes had been broken, and the triangle of +glass leaned inward loosely. With a low expression of hope Alex was +reaching for it, when from the rear of the cabin sounded the returning +footsteps of the cowman. Speedily Alex sank back on the cot, and assumed +an air of dejection. + +A few minutes later the boy again found himself alone. But in the +meantime he had decided to leave the securing of the fragment of glass +and the attempt at escape until night. In further preparation for the +attempt Alex that afternoon stretched himself on the cot, and slept +several hours. + +To the young operator it seemed that the cowman would never retire that +night. And when at length he blew out the light, and threw himself upon +his bed, he apparently lay an interminable time awake. At length, +however, when the moonlight in the window pointed to approaching +midnight, there came a faint regular breathing, then a full long snore. +Without loss of time Alex got to his feet at the foot of the cot, and +leaning against the wall, reached toward the window. + +He could just touch the broken corner of pane with the tips of his +fingers. Moving his supporting hand farther along the wall, he drew back, +and reached forward with a lunge. This time he got his wrist on the +window-ledge. Thus leaning, he finally secured a hold on the fragment of +glass with his fingers, and pulled on it. A crackle caused him to falter. +Munson's breathing continued undisturbed. At the next pull the piece came +free. The next moment Alex was sitting on the cot-end, sawing at the rope +with the sharp edge of the broken glass. + +To his disappointment, the edge, though sharp to the feel, did not cut +into the closely-woven and seasoned twine as he had expected. Vigorously +he sawed away, however, and at last found that the extemporized knife was +taking hold. + +And finally, as the last gleam of moonlight died from the window-panes, +the remaining strand was severed, and there was a faint slap as the rope +fell to the floor. A restless move by the sleeper and a momentary +cessation of the snoring gave Alex a thrill of fear. Then the heavy +breathing resumed, and getting to his feet, he slipped to the door, found +the catch, lifted it, and passed out. + +As he closed the door, Alex paused a moment to assure himself that the +cowman was still breathing regularly, and turned away jubilantly. + +Exultation over his escape was considerably tempered when Alex discovered +that the moon was almost down in the west, and that in addition the sky +overhead was clouding. He set off immediately, however, heading straight +north, and when a safe distance had been put between him and the cabin, +broke into a run. + +At a steady jog Alex kept on for several miles over the dimly-lit plain. +Then the moon finally disappeared, and he fell into a rapid walk. Some +time later he halted in alarm. Was he going in the right direction? On +every hand was a wall of darkness, and overhead not a star was to be +seen. + +He moved on, and again halted to debate the situation. Certainly, for the +time being, he was lost. What should he do? Remain where he was till +daylight? or go ahead, and take the chance of circuiting back? He decided +to continue. + +Perhaps an hour later, still pushing ahead, Alex strode full tilt into a +barb-wire fence. As he staggered back a second cry broke from him. Had he +circled back to Munson's corral? + +His heart in his throat, he felt hurriedly along the top wire to a post, +and reached upward. A gasp of relief greeted the discovery that the top +of the post was well within his reach. The corral posts were not less +than eight or nine feet, with wires to the top. + +A further cheering idea followed. On the ride to the Antelope viaduct he +had noted a three-wire fence similar to this paralleling the right-of-way +for several miles. Perhaps this was the same fence? + +If he only knew its direction! + +Dropping to the ground for a brief rest, Alex set his brains at recalling +every bit of woods or plains lore he had ever heard or read of for the +telling of direction. + +It was a puff of air against his cheek that suggested the answer. + +The prevailing wind! What was it here? + +Southwest! + +In a moment he was on his knees at the foot of the adjacent fence-post. + +On the farther side, half covering the dead grass, was a small eddy of +sand! + +Hopefully Alex hastened to the next post. _The same!_ + +To make doubly sure, he tried the third, and with an exulting, "_The same +again!_" started to his feet, and struck on, whistling gaily, confident +he was heading due north, and that this was the same fence he had seen +along the new embankment. + +A further cheering thought occurred to the young operator presently. The +construction-train should not be far from the stretch of road which +paralleled the fence! + +Onward he pushed through the darkness at a steady, swinging gait, feeling +frequently for the fence, to make sure he was not wandering. + +For what seemed several hours Alex had been walking, when a faint light +appeared in the sky. It was to his right. His plainsmanship had not put +him amiss. + +As the light brightened he gazed anxiously ahead. The ragged, thin-posted +fence stretched unbroken to the northern horizon. He had hoped the light +would reveal the swing to the east, and the dark shape of the +construction-train. + +Alex continued steadily ahead, however, buoying up his lagging energies +with pictures of a hot, appetizing meal and a pleasant meeting with Jack +and the rest of his friends on the train. And finally, when the sun had +been some time above the horizon, he uttered a shout. Far in front, but +distinct in the beautifully clear air, the fence turned abruptly to the +east. And less than a mile sun-ward was a long dark shape and columns of +smoke rising lazily into the air. + +Scrambling through the fence, Alex set off on a bee-line for the train, +whistling a brisk march. + +Five minutes later the whistler paused in the middle of a note and spun +sharply about. The color left his bronzed face. A mile to the rear, on +the other side of the fence, a horseman was following him at full speed. +A glance at the white-faced pony told it was Munson, and turning, Alex +was off, running with every ounce of his remaining energy. + +The thud of the hoofs gained rapidly. + +Closer they came, and Alex headed off farther from the fence. Perhaps +he'll be afraid to put the horse at the wire, he thought hopefully. He +glanced back. The cowman was wheeling off for the jump. + +In despair Alex looked over the long mile still separating him from the +train, and again over his shoulder. Would the horse make it? He slightly +slowed his steps as the animal made the rush. + +It went over like a bird. + +Gritting his teeth, Alex dashed straight back for the fence. "I'll make +him jump his head off before he gets me, anyway," he said grimly. +Flogging the pony, the cowman endeavored to head the boy off, but Alex +reached the wire, and dove safely through. Scrambling to his feet, he was +on again, this time keeping closer to the fence. + +It was as the pony drew up abreast fifty feet distant, and while the +train was still a good mile away, that the idea of signalling for help on +the fence-wire occurred to Alex. He acted immediately. Catching up a +good-sized stone, he ran forward, and on the topmost wire, near one of +the posts, pounded with all his might the telegraph dot letters "_Oh! Oh! +Orr! Orr!_" + +Munson had pulled up as Alex ran for the fence. When the boy began +pounding the wire he at once recognized its purpose, and sprang from his +horse, drawing his pistol. + +Instantly Alex darted on, carrying the stone. The cowman ran after. But +the man was slow on his feet, and despite his fatigue, Alex drew away +from him. + +"Stop, or I'll shoot!" cried the cow-puncher. "_Pull up! I will!_" + +"Go ahead, and they'll hear you at the train!" called Alex, though +secretly trembling. The cowman hesitated, then returned the revolver to +its holster, and ran back for his horse. Immediately Alex was again at +the wire, pounding out, "_Oh! Oh! Orr! Orr!_" + +The cowman was again up with him, and once more he ran on, gazing +anxiously toward the train for signs of commotion to show his appeal had +been heard. + +For some distance the strange race continued, the cowman, angry and +puzzled, on one side of the fence, Alex keeping close to the wires on the +other, in readiness to dodge under should his pursuer jump. + +Finally the rider again swung off, and headed in at a gallop. Grimly Alex +halted. With a rush the horse came directly toward him. Waiting until it +was within a few yards of him, he dropped to his knees, and crawled half +way through the fence. + +It was his undoing. Straight at him the horseman came, as though to jump. +Then suddenly the rider whirled broadside, leaned from the saddle, and +before Alex, wildly scrambling, could withdraw, had him firmly by the +hair. By main force the cowboy dragged his prisoner through the fence, +and upright beside him. + +With a half-stifled sob Alex lurched limply against the pony's shoulders. +"Never mind, kid," said the cowman not unkindly. "You made a good fight +of it. You did your best. But I had to do my best too. + +"If you'll give me your word to go quiet, I'll let you ride behind me," +he added. "Promise?" + +Alex cast a last look back toward the construction-train. A few figures +were moving about, slowly. Clearly his signals had not been heard. + +"All right," he said wearily, and with some difficulty mounting behind +the cowboy, they were off the weary way he had come. + + * * * * * + +Jack, at the construction-train, rose late that morning. He had been up +nearly all night, awaiting news from the viaduct search-party, which +throughout the entire day had been scouring the nearby country for his +unaccountably missing chum. As he emerged from the telegraph-car door he +found the Indian, Little Hawk, on the adjoining steps of the store-car. + +"Good morning, Mr. Little Hawk," he said. "Sunning yourself?" + +"I wait for you. I hear noise--knock," the Indian said. + +"Knock, like little tick-knock in car," he added as Jack regarded him, +mystified. + +"Tick-knock? What do you mean?" + +"On fence," said the Indian stolidly. "Hearum twice. Like dis:" And while +Jack's eyes opened wide, with a stone he held in his hand the Indian +tapped on the iron hand-rail of the car the telegraph words, +"Oh--Oh--Orr." + +In a moment Jack was on the ground before him, all excitement. "Where? +Where did you hear it?" he cried. + +"Fence. Sleep dar," said the Indian, pointing to the nearby fence. "No +t'ink much about. Den see horse run--way dar. Den t'ink tick-knock, an' +come you." + +Uttering a shrill shout Jack was off on the jump to find Superintendent +Finnan. And fifteen minutes later the superintendent, Little Hawk, and +one of the foremen, mounted, were away on the gallop along the ranch +fence toward the point at which the Indian had seen the disappearing +horseman. + + * * * * * + +Alex was thoroughly exhausted when he found himself once more at the +ranch. Slipping to the ground, he entered the cabin of his own accord, +and threw himself dejectedly upon the couch. + +"You've near spoiled a dinged fine rope," observed Munson, following him, +and kicking at the lariat, still stretched across the floor. "Oh, well, I +can take it out of the K. & Z. + +"Now for some breakfast. Suppose you don't feel too bad to grub, eh? +Though you sure don't deserve none." + +As on the previous morning, Alex and his jailer were near the conclusion +of the meal when hoofbeats again told of the approach of a visitor. Going +to the door, the cowman announced "Bennet." + +"So that's his name, is it?" said Alex quickly. + +"What? Did I say--Well, let it go. I don't see that it makes much +difference. Yes, Bennet's his name. + +"And mighty lucky thing I have you back here," he added over his +shoulder. + +"Good morning, Mr. Bennet," he said. "Caught us at breakfast again." + +"Breakfast! What are you doing at breakfast this time of day?" inquired +the K. & Z. man, entering. When the cowman explained, the newcomer +glowered at Alex threateningly. "Why didn't you shoot?" he demanded. + +"Too near the train. They would have heard it," responded Munson. + +"Well, clear off the table. I have something I want to show you," said +Bennet, producing what looked like a map from his pocket. + +"And you get off to a corner," he snarled at Alex. "Why isn't he tied +up?" he demanded of the cowboy. + +"He agreed to a twenty-four hours' truce--not to make another break in +that time," the cowman answered as he swept their few dishes into the +cupboard. + +Bennet's lip curled under his moustache. "And you believe him, eh?" + +There was a suggestion of tartness in the cowman's prompt "Sure! He rode +behind me all the way back, on his word not to attempt anything, and kept +it. Could have pulled my own gun on me if he'd wanted to." + +"The more fool," muttered the railroad man as he spread the roll of paper +on the table. + +Alex meantime had stepped to the window from which he had taken the +fragment of glass, and was disconsolately watching a half dozen hens +scratching about below. + +Lifting his eyes, he glanced out over the plain. The men at the table +heard a sharply-indrawn breath. It was immediately changed into a low +whistling, however, and they gave their attention again to the map. + +Alex had discovered three horsemen heading for the ranch from the north. +And the leading pony he would have known in a hundred. It was Little +Hawk's heavily-mottled horse. + +That they were coming to his assistance--that someone had heard the +knocking on the wire--he had not a doubt. + +The horsemen were still some distance out of hearing. Ceasing the +whistling, Alex glanced casually toward the table. Seated in chairs, the +two men were still deeply engrossed in the plan before them, talking in +low voices. + +When on turning back to the window Alex recognized the second horseman as +Superintendent Finnan, he shot a further glance toward the K. & Z. man at +the table, and a smile of anticipation and delight overspread his face. + +Then suddenly it occurred to him that in a few minutes the hoofbeats of +the on-coming horses would be heard, and that Bennet would have time to +get to the door and escape. + +He must halt his rescuers, and signal them to approach on foot! + +A moment Alex thought, then casually remarking to the cowman, "I'm going +to open the window. It's hot," unlatched and swung the sash inward. The +move passed unnoticed, and leaning out he pretended to call the chickens. + +What he was in reality doing was energetically waving his handkerchief +backwards and forwards below, making the railroad "stop" signal. + +The horsemen came on. If they came much farther they would be heard! + +He paused, and waved again, more energetically. The third horseman pulled +up. Quickly Alex followed with the signal to "come ahead with caution." +The rear pony spurred forward, pulled up beside the second, and +apparently at a call, the Indian also halted. On Alex repeating the last +signal, all dismounted, and he knew he had been understood. + +Leaving their horses where they were, the three men came on at a quick +walk. Alex, continuing to talk to the hens, could scarcely contain his +secret delight. + +When his rescuers were within a hundred yards of the cabin, he once more +signalled caution, and they continued stealthily, revolvers in hand. + +They reached the corner of the house, unheard by the men at the table. +The superintendent raised his eyebrows questioningly. Alex glanced over +his shoulder, and nodded sharply. The next moment there was a rush of +feet without, and all in a twinkle Bennet and the cowman were out of +their chairs, at the door, and staggering back before three threatening +revolvers. Staring open-mouthed, they brought up beside the overturned +table. + +Alex's words were the first. "These were the chickens I was calling, Mr. +Bennet," he remarked gleefully. The K. & Z. man recovered himself and +turned on the boy, white with passion. He was stopped by an exclamation +from Finnan. "Bennet! George Bennet! What are you doing here?" + +"Perhaps this will explain, sir," said Alex, handing over the map, which +he had caught up during the excitement. Bennet made a frantic move to +intercept him, but promptly Little Hawk's revolver was in his face, and +he sank back into a chair, gritting his teeth. + +"A plan showing every bridge and culvert on our line, and directions for +blowing them all up, simultaneously! Well--" Words failed the +superintendent. + +"And this is what you have come to, Bennet? I'd never have believed it!" + +There was a second awkward silence, when Superintendent Finnan suddenly +broke it with, "Look here. I've got you now, haven't I? I've got you +where I can put you in jail for a year or so at least. Well, instead of +doing that, I'll make you a proposition: + +"Drop all this kind of work; guarantee that there will be no more of +it--agree to make it a straight, square building race between your road +and mine, the first one to reach the Pass to win--guarantee that, and +I'll let you go. + +"Do you agree?" + +Bennet rose to his feet and held out his hand. "I'll give you my solemn +word, Finnan. + +"And--and I'm awfully sorry I ever consented to go into this kind of +thing," the K. & Z. man went on, a quaver in his voice. "But it was put +up to me, and when I'd taken the first step, I thought I'd have to carry +it through." + +He turned to Alex. "I'm sorry for the way you have been treated, my lad. +You are a plucky boy, and straight. You keep on as you have, and you'll +never find yourself in the position I am. + +"I offered him two hundred dollars cash and a hundred a month to keep his +mouth quiet," the speaker explained to the superintendent, "and he +refused it." + +"How about the Antelope viaduct, Mr. Finnan?" Alex asked as they rode +away, he on one of Munson's loaned ponies. "It wasn't blown up?" + +"No, but an attempt of some kind was made. Rather a mysterious affair," +the superintendent said. "Late last night an Italian of the fill gang was +seen stealing to one of the main foundations, then kicking and tearing +something to pieces. Norton followed him, and found some fuses, and +fragments of paper that had been wrapped about some strange kind of +explosive, which apparently had failed to ignite. The Italian has not +been seen since." + +Alex was chuckling. "I think I can guess why that 'strange explosive' +failed to go off, sir," he said. "It was clay." And continuing, he +explained the mystery in detail. Superintendent Finnan laughed heartily. + +"Well, Ward, you are certainly due a vote of thanks," he declared +seriously. "You saved the viaduct, and now you probably have brought +about the ending of the entire trouble with the K. & Z. people. I'll not +fail to turn in a thorough report of it." + + + + +XXII + +THE DEFENSE OF THE VIADUCT + + +Thanks to the termination of the interference from the opposition road, +the work on the extension progressed rapidly, and two weeks later found +the rail-head seven miles beyond the Antelope viaduct, in the lower +slopes of the Dog Rib Mountains. The coveted pass to the Yellow Creek +gold-field lay but eight miles distant, and as the K. & Z. was still +twenty miles east, it appeared certain that the Middle Western would win +the great race. + +The time had passed uneventfully with the three young telegraphers, the +end of the second week finding Alex and Jack together with the +construction-train at the rail-head, and Wilson Jennings back at the +temporary station and material-sidings at the viaduct. + +Perhaps the last few days had passed least interestingly with Wilson, +alone in his little box-car station, not far from the old river-bed. +Saturday had seemed particularly slow, for some reason, and shortly after +8 o'clock Wilson threw aside a book he had been reading, and catching up +his hat, made for the door, for a brief stroll, previous to retiring. + +The moon was momentarily showing through a break in the cloudy sky, and +looking to the west, Wilson was somewhat surprised to discover the +figures of two men approaching. When as he watched they reached the first +of a train of tie-cars, and leaving the rails, continued forward in the +shadows, Wilson stepped back, in disquiet. + +The strangers came opposite, and paused, looking toward the station +window and speaking in subdued voices. Convinced that something was +afoot, the young operator turned quickly, and stooping low, that his +shadow might not be seen on the window, crept to the little instrument +table and reached for the telegraph key. He opened, and pressed it down. +The sounder did not respond. He tried again, adjusting the relay, and +turned about in genuine alarm. + +The wire had been cut! Some mischief was surely afoot. + +From without came the crunch of stealthy footsteps. Springing to his +bunk, Wilson secured his revolver and belt--the same taken from the +would-be bullion thief he had captured at Bonepile--and stealing to the +rear door, slipped out and to the ground just as the strangers approached +the opposite side of the little car-depot. + +The car was raised on a foundation of ties, and as the two men entered, +Wilson crept beneath. + +"No one here," said a gruff voice. "Say, do you s'pose he saw us, and +sneaked?" + +"Like as not. I told you to keep to the rails and come straight up," +chided the other. + +"Perhaps he will come back. We're in charge of the station anyway. That +was the real thing." + +Wilson waited to hear no more. Creeping forth, he stole off toward the +ravine, intending to get out of sight in its shadows. + +A short distance from the head of the viaduct was the green light of a +small target-switch. The head of the downward path lay just beyond, and +Wilson headed for the light. He reached it, and passed on. + +Abruptly he halted and turned about. Like an inspiration had come the +remembrance of Alex Ward's signalling feat two years before at Bixton, of +which he had heard from Jack Orr. Could he not do the same? Try and +signal Alex or Jack, at the construction-train? Say, from one of the +box-cars at the farther corner of the yard? + +Casting a glance toward the little station to assure himself that all was +quiet there, Wilson retraced his steps to the switch, removed the +lantern, and tucking it under his coat, was off between the material-cars +for the farthermost corner of the sidings. + +The outermost car was a box-car. Climbing the ladder, with his +handkerchief Wilson tied the lantern to the topmost rung, the red light +out, and using his hat just as Alex had done, began flashing the call of +the construction-train, + +"KX, KX, V! KX, KX, V!" + + * * * * * + +Since the construction-train had started from Yellow Creek Junction it +had been a center of attraction to coyotes for fifty miles around, and +one of the few recreations enjoyed by the men of the train had been +hunting them at night. + +This Saturday night Alex and Jack, borrowing Winchesters from other +members of the telegraph-car party, had set out for a "couple of good +rugs," as they put it, and on leaving the train had headed east, toward +the aqueduct, in which direction they had heard barks of the midnight +prowlers. + +They had gone perhaps three miles, and had fired on several of the wily +animals, without success, when suddenly Jack caught Alex by the arm and +pointed away to the east. + +"Look, Al! What's that?" + +"Why, it looks like--It is! It's a signal light! + +"And calling us--KX!" cried Alex. "Something must be wrong with Wilson!" + +"What'll we do? Back to the train?" + +"Have you a match and some paper?" said Alex, going hurriedly through his +own pockets. + +"Some matches." + +"Here's a couple of letters. Come on back to the rails, find some chips, +and make a fire. See if we can't answer him, and learn what the trouble +is." + +They were already racing for the track, reached it, and quickly gathering +together a little pile of dry bark and chips knocked from the ties, made +a fire at the track-side, and lit it. + +As the flames burst up Alex threw off his coat, and using it as a +curtain, raised and lowered it in a flashed "I, I, KX!" + +The call twinkled on. Wilson had not seen it. But the next moment, before +Alex had completed a second answer, the red light disappeared. Alex again +shot forth the gleaming "I, I, KX!" and in blinking response they read: + +"Chased out of station. Two men. Wire cut. Something wrong. Help!--V." + +"OK. But we are three miles from the train. Hunting. Will we come, or go +back for help?" signalled Alex. + +There was a pause, and the red light blinked, "Come! Quick!" + +"OK. Coming." Only pausing to stamp out the fire, the two boys were away +at a run, heading directly for the light, which at intervals Wilson +continued to show, as a guide. + +Their open-air experience of a month had put the two boys in the best of +condition, and keeping on at a smart pace, within half an hour the light +showed just ahead, and a few minutes after Wilson ran forward to greet +them. + +"I don't know what's in the air, but certainly something," he announced. +"As you fellows are armed too, suppose we go back and get the two men in +the station car, and see if we can't make them tell?" he suggested. + +"Lead ahead," agreed the others. + +Stealthily they made their way amid the intervening cars, and emerged +opposite the little depot. + +In the window was the shadow of a man smoking. + +They stole across to the door, and Wilson, leading, cautiously glanced +within. He turned and held up one finger. Revolver in hand, he tiptoed up +the steps, and with a cry sprang inside and toward the man in the chair. +The intruder was so taken by surprise that he tumbled over backward. In a +jiffy the three boys were upon him, and had pinned him to the floor; and +while Alex closely clutched his mouth, to prevent him calling out, the +others speedily bound his hands and feet with some convenient pieces of +wire. + +Satisfied that their prisoner was firmly secured, and having removed his +pistol and cartridge-belt, the boys replaced him in the chair, and +Wilson, pointing his revolver at the man's head, demanded, "Where is your +pard? And what are you and he up to?" + +There was a look of amusement in the man's face as Alex removed his hand, +and he replied, "Nothin' doin', boys. You'll have to guess." + +"I'll give you three, to tell," said Wilson, assuming a fierce expression +and beginning to count. + +The prisoner laughed outright. "You gentleman kids wouldn't shoot a fly," +he declared coolly. + +Wilson colored with mortification. For of course he had had no intention +of shooting. Even Alex and Jack were forced to smile at the turn of the +situation. Wilson had his revenge, however. "Gag him, then, Al," he +suggested, "and we will stow him away beneath the car." + +The man's mouth opened for a shout. In a flash Alex had slapped a +handkerchief between his teeth, and despite the man's struggles stuffed +it well in. Then, taking from his neck a long colored neckerchief, he +bound it twice about the man's face. + +"Now out with him, this side," said Wilson, opening the rear door. + +"Wouldn't it be better to take him over under one of the cars on the +sidings?" Jack suggested. "His pard might return, and he kick, or make +some kind of a noise underneath." + +"That's so." Dragging their prisoner forth, they glanced up and down to +see that no one was in sight, and with Jack at his feet and Alex and +Wilson at his arms, they hastened across the rails, passed between two +freight-cars, and in the deep shadow beyond placed him on the ground and +bound him firmly to a rail. + +"Be sure you don't talk now," said Wilson derisively as they turned away. + +"What next?" Jack asked. + +"It's pretty sure to be some mischief about the bridge. Let's have a look +around there," suggested Alex. + +Approaching the brink of the ravine at a point some distance from the +viaduct, the boys glanced below. From the three broke a simultaneous low +cry of understanding and indignation. + +In the light of several lanterns a party of seemingly fifteen or twenty +men were piling brush about the base of one of the central wooden piers. + +"The K. & Z. people again, sure as you're born!" exclaimed Alex hotly. +"And after their solemn agreement!" + +"If they succeed in burning it, they will hold back our supplies two or +three weeks, and reach the pass ahead of us, dead certain," added Jack +through his teeth. "We've got to stop them, boys!" + +"Isn't there a hand-car or a velocipede here, Wilse?" Alex inquired. + +"No. Not even a push-car. And it'd take one of us an hour and a half to +reach the construction-train." + +"But that's certainly the only thing to be done," Jack pointed out. +"Perhaps two of us, with the rifles, could hold them--" + +A flicker of light broke out below which was not a lantern, and +approached the dimly disclosed brush-pile. Quick as a flash Jack's rifle +went to his shoulder, and there was a reverberating crash. The light +disappeared and there came up a chorus of surprised shouts and the +clatter of running feet. + +"Now we are in for it. I think we had better stick it out together," said +Alex quietly. "Perhaps the firing will be heard at the train." + +The others agreed, and at Wilson's suggestion they made their way a few +feet down the slope to a ledge from which the whole structure of the +bridge could dimly be seen. + +"How are you fellows off for ammunition?" whispered Wilson. + +"I have four more rounds in the rifle, and thirty in my belt," said Jack. + +"Five in the gun and twenty-seven in the belt," Alex announced. + +Wilson had been examining the revolver and belt they had taken from the +prisoner, and which he had brought with him. "Fourteen in the two pistols +and nearly sixty in the two belts," he said. + +"We ought to be able to put up all kinds of a fight," Alex declared +confidently. "That is, unless they--" + +He broke off, and all leaned forward, peering down into the gloom, and +listening. From a little to the left rose the clatter of a pebble. Wilson +stretched himself on his face, and bent over, one of his pistols +extended. Barely breathing, they waited, and again came a faint clatter +as of loosened earth, nearer. + +"Don't let him get too close," Alex whispered. + +There came the sound of something snapping, a smothered exclamation, and +instantly Wilson fired. There was a shrill cry, and the crash of +something rolling downward. At the same moment from below came a crashing +volley of shots, and bullets snarled upward by them like a swarm of bees. +The boys shrank back flat, then leaned over and returned two quick +volleys. + +Another cry indicated that one of their bullets had found a mark, and +following a scattering return volley from the darkness there were sounds +of a hurried scuttling for cover. + +"Anyone touched?" Jack asked. + +"I think I lost a little hair," said Wilson quietly. + +"Me too," said Alex. "But a miss is as good as a mile, you know. And we +have the advantage so far." + +"Sh!" warned Jack. In the silence came the sound of running footsteps +farther up the gully, followed by a continuous rattle of falling stones. + +"They're making a rush up another path. Quick, and stop them!" exclaimed +Wilson, starting to his feet. + +"Hold on," Alex interrupted as they reached the crest of the slope. +"Perhaps it's a ruse to get us away, so they can start the fire. You two +run and chase them down, and I'll stay and watch here. If you need help, +shout." + +Wilson and Jack sprang away along the brink of the ravine. A hundred +yards distant the sounds of men ascending rose from directly beneath +them. Without pause they fired. Cries of rage followed, and as the boys +dropped to the ground a dozen bullets whined over them. Promptly Wilson +replied with the entire seven shots from one of his pistols, there was a +crash as of someone falling, then a general scrambling as the entire +party apparently tumbled precipitately down the steep slope. Rising to +their feet, the boys fired several more shots, and hastened back toward +Alex. + +As they neared him the crash of his rifle told he had guessed rightly +that another attempt would be made to light the fire. + +"Quick!" he said, slamming the loading mechanism. "They're sticking to +it!" + +Wilson and Jack saw several twinkling flames, and the roar of Alex's next +shot was followed by the crash of their own weapons. A cry of agony +followed, and one of the lights disappeared. Another faltered, and also +went out. + +Alex once more brought up his rifle, took careful aim; the jet of flame +leaped from the muzzle, and with a shout the boys saw the last spot of +light describe an arc in the air, and go out. + +An angry howl followed, then a continuous volley from several different +points. The spirit of fight had taken full possession of the three lads +on the brink of the ravine, however, and lying close, they gave back shot +for shot, quickly but steadily. Finally a lull came, and Alex rose +exultingly on an elbow and shouted below, "Come on, you cowards! Come--" + +From behind one of the bridge pillars leaped a flame, and with a sharp +intake of breath Alex slipped sideways. But as Wilson and Jack sprang to +his side he again rose. "It's nothing," he declared. "Just a graze inside +the arm." + +The quiet continuing, the others insisted on removing Alex's coat, and +feeling, found the shirt-sleeve wet. "Tie a handkerchief round it," Alex +directed. "There. That's all right. + +"That's what I get for allowing myself to be carried away, isn't it?" he +added as Wilson and Jack helped him into his coat. "I didn't realize +how--" + +All three snatched up their weapons and spun about. + +A tall stooped figure was standing within a few feet of them. + +"Surrender!" cried Wilson. "_Quick, or I'll--_" + +"It me, Little Hawk," said a quiet voice. "Why shoot?" + +With a common cry of joy the boys sprang forward, and quickly explained +the situation. The Indian grunted. "Not K. & Z. man," he said. "Bad +cowboy, miner, gambler, from Yellow Creek. Makeum big bet K. & Z. win, +come burn bridge, makeum win. Little Hawk hearum talk, come follow, +hearum fight, come quick. + +"Thinkum big fight. Only three boy fight, eh?" he added in surprise. + +Alex had been considering. "Look here, Little Hawk," he suggested, "you +ride back to the construction-train and give the alarm, will you? I think +we have these fellows scared now, and can hold them till help comes. And +none of us could ride that pony of yours." + +"I findum nother hoss--cowboy hoss," said the Indian, pointing the way he +had come. "You go, takeum, Little Hawk stay fight." + +Alex thought a minute. "No; I'd rather stick, and see the thing through, +now," he declared. + +"Me too," said Jack promptly. + +"Same here," Wilson agreed. + +"It's up to you, then, Little Hawk. + +"Say, hold on!" Alex interrupted as the Indian turned away. "Boys, how +about Little Hawk taking our prisoner back with him on the other horse? +The folks at the train might get some information out of him. + +"Could you take him, Little Hawk?" he asked. + +The redskin grunted assent. "Tieum to saddle," he said. + +"I'll go and show him where the rascal is," volunteered Wilson. + +A few minutes later, with the boys' prisoner trailing behind, securely +bound to the saddle of the wandering horse he had picked up, the Indian +was off across the plain to the west at the top of his mottled pony's +speed. + +When Wilson returned to Alex and Jack he found them busy constructing a +miniature block-house of ties they had thrown from a neighboring car. +"That's the idea," he said, joining them. "We could hold out in that all +night, easily." + +"No; leave that opening, Wilse," Jack interposed as Wilson began closing +a gap at one of the corners. "That's to command the bridge. We're going +to fire through, not over." + +The boys had just completed their little fort when from the top of the +gully immediately opposite came a spit of flame, followed by the +plaintive hum of a pistol bullet above them. Promptly they dropped below +the ties, and Alex, who had that side, aimed toward the spot at which he +had seen the flash, and as it spat out again, crashed back with his +Winchester. From several points along the opposite level a ragged fire +followed, and continued intermittently. + +Then finally, as the boys had half expected, there came a smattering +volley from amid the cars on the sidings behind them. The body of their +assailants had reached the surface on their side. + +Now it was that the three began to experience their first real anxiety. +For despite their show of confidence to one another, each secretly knew +that if a determined rush was made from near at hand, there was scarcely +an even chance of their standing it off. + +As a provision against this eventuality Wilson did very little firing +during the almost steady exchange of shots that followed, keeping the +chambers of his two revolvers always full. To the same end, Alex and Jack +used their magazine-rifles as single-shots, holding the magazines, fully +charged, in reserve. + +"I think I'm getting one of them now and then," Alex was saying about +half an hour after the disappearance of the Indian. "Or else--" He broke +off to fire again. "Unless their ammunition is giving out over there." + +Suddenly Jack snapped open his magazine. "Here they come!" he whispered. +Alex scrambled about beside him. Wilson thrust the pistol-barrels through +the loop-hole. + +[Illustration: WITH THE BOYS' PRISONER SECURELY BOUND TO THE SADDLE +OF THE WANDERING HORSE, THE INDIAN WAS OFF +ACROSS THE PLAIN.] + +From the dark line of the cars rose a shouted command, there came a +ripping volley of a dozen Colts, and a dim group of figures rushed toward +them. + +"Now, steady!" warned Alex. "And shoot low! + +"_Fire!_" + +"_Crash!_" went the Winchesters, "_Crack, crack, crack!_" the pistols. + +Two of the leading runners went to their hands and knees. The others +rushed on, shouting and spitting flames. + +Keeping well under cover, the boys fired as quickly as they could work +their weapons. Wilson felt a stinging snip at his right ear, and a warm +stream trickling down his neck. He emptied the first pistol, and began +with the second. + +"_Crash! Crash!_" roared the Winchesters. + +The attackers held on. They had made half the distance. In spite of +themselves, the boys began firing nervously. + +Closer the running figures came. + +Jack snapped back his reloading mechanism, and pulled the trigger. There +was no report. + +His cry of consternation was echoed by Alex. + +They had fired their last shots! + +With a wild shout of triumph two of their assailants were upon them. + + * * * * * + +From a clear patch of sky bright moonlight flooded the construction-train +and the gray slope of the hill to the southeast about which the rails had +crept that day. Grouped on the rear steps of the store-car, Superintendent +Finnan and several of his foremen sat and smoked, and listened. + +"Yes; it's a horse," said one of the foremen. + +"Two horses," declared the superintendent. "And coming as though Old Nick +were after them." + +Over the moonlit rise swept a figure on horseback, then another. + +On discovering the group at the car, the leader uttered a shrill whoop, +and tore down the slope toward them. + +"The first is Little Hawk! The other is a prisoner! What's wrong?" cried +the superintendent, springing to the ground. + +The Indian pulled up in a cloud of dust before him, and threw himself +from his reeking pony. + +"Want burnum bridge," he said, indicating his prisoner. "Five, ten, more! +Much more! Three boy--tick-knock boy--fightem! + +"Hear? Hear?" + +He placed his hand to his ear. + +The incredulous group turned to the east and listened. + +As from infinitely far away, half heard, half felt, came a low, deadened +"Plugk!... Plugk, plugk!... Plugk!" + +A moment the startled railroadmen stared at one another. Then quickly the +superintendent spoke. + +"Ryan, rout out the engineer and firemen! The rest of you run for your +guns, and a dozen good men from your gangs! Don't lose a minute!" + +[Illustration: THE INDIAN PULLED UP IN A CLOUD OF DUST.] + +The group scattered with a rush. Fifteen minutes later, with men filling +her cab and clustered on the tender, the engine was under way, rushing +eastward. + +As rapidly the speed was increased, the locomotive rocked and leaped over +the new roadbed, but with the superintendent at his elbow, the engineer +drove her up to the last notch, and the prairie streamed by them like a +blanket. + +Half the distance was made, and above the noise of the engine came a +sharp "Tap, tap! Tap, tap, tap!" + +On the engine rushed, and the distant shapes of cars appeared. +Simultaneously there came a crashing volley of shots, and a chorus of +shouting. The men on the engine gripped their guns, and stared ahead into +the space lit up by the headlight. + +With reducing speed they struck a curve, and the stream of light swung +about toward the bridge. The next moment into the glare broke a group of +madly struggling figures. + +On the flash of the light the fighting ceased. There were cries of alarm, +and the renegades began to break and flee. A small party stood, and fired +toward the engine. But with a roar the railroadmen leaped and tumbled to +the ground, and rushed at them, and they too broke and fled. + +And the great fight was over, and won. + +The superintendent was first to reach the little barricade. Jack, he +found unconscious from a blow on the head. Wilson had fainted, and Alex +drooped limply on the wall of ties, exhausted past speaking. The faces, +hands and clothes of all bore mute witness to the desperate struggle they +had put up during those last terrible minutes. + +Within a short time, however, all three boys had somewhat recovered, and +were able to take their places in the engine cab; and a half hour later +the party headed back for the construction-train, coupled behind them a +box-car containing eighteen prisoners. Ten of the captured men were found +to have been wounded, several seriously; but to the relief of the boys +none had been killed outright. + +When rescued, rescuers and prisoners arrived at the construction-train +they found an excited crowd of over three hundred men awaiting them. And +on the details of the affair quickly spreading, the three boys were +literally swept from their feet by the enthusiastic foreigners, hoisted +into the air, and carried to the telegraph-car to a continuous roar of +"hurrahs" and "bravos." + + * * * * * + +The following Wednesday a special train, to which was attached Division +Superintendent Cameron's private car, drew up at the rear of the +boarding-train. Proceeding thither in response to a message, Alex and +Jack found Wilson, who had been picked up at the viaduct station, +Construction Superintendent Finnan and several other Middle Western +officials. + +Having greeted them warmly, the division superintendent took a small +package from his desk, and opened it. "I know you don't like speeches, +boys," he began; "and in any case, I'm not sure I could do justice to the +occasion. But, here! These three gold watches--the very finest the +company's money could buy, I may say--will show you what we think of the +loyalty to the company, and the splendid courage you three lads displayed +last Saturday night in defense of the Antelope viaduct. + +"I might just read one of the inscriptions," he said, opening Alex's +watch. + +"'To Alex Ward, from the Middle Western Railroad, in recognition of the +heroic part he played in the defense of the Antelope viaduct, November +2nd, 18--, and in thus ensuring the victory of the Middle Western in its +memorable race with the K. & Z. for the Yellow Creek Pass.' + +"For that is precisely what it meant," declared the superintendent. "The +pass is ours now, beyond any chance. + +"And finally," he concluded, as Alex, Jack and Wilson, scarcely knowing +what to say, took the three beautiful watches, "I would just like to +remark that if you three boys do not some day stand where I stand, or +higher, I'll be both greatly surprised and disappointed." + + * * * * * + +That this prediction was justified, you can to-day learn from any +directory of railroad officials--for there, in the pages devoted to the +Middle Western, you will find the name of Alexander Ward, Superintendent, +Western Division; John Orr, Superintendent, Central Division; and, as +General Superintendent of Telegraphs, Wilson A. Jennings. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG RAILROADERS*** + + +******* This file should be named 25868.txt or 25868.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/6/25868 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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