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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0401122 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67030 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67030) diff --git a/old/67030-0.txt b/old/67030-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d37e563..0000000 --- a/old/67030-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6901 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ralph on the Midnight Flyer, by Allen Chapman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Ralph on the Midnight Flyer - or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley - -Author: Allen Chapman - -Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67030] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER *** - - - - - - RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER - - - - -[Illustration: THE FIRE WAS SWEEPING CLOSER AND CLOSER.] - - - - - RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER - - OR - THE WRECK AT SHADOW VALLEY - - BY - ALLEN CHAPMAN - - AUTHOR OF “RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE,” “RALPH ON THE - ARMY TRAIN,” “THE RADIO BOYS’ FIRST WIRELESS,” - “THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE,” ETC. - - ILLUSTRATED - - NEW YORK - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS - - Made in the United States of America - - - - - BOOKS FOR BOYS - BY ALLEN CHAPMAN - - 12mo. Cloth, Illustrated. - - THE RAILROAD SERIES - - RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE - Or Bound to Become a Railroad Man - - RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER - Or Clearing the Track - - RALPH ON THE ENGINE - Or The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail - - RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS - Or The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer - - RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER - Or The Mystery of the Pay Car - - RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN - Or The Young Railroader’s Most Daring Exploit - - RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER - Or The Wreck at Shadow Valley - - - THE RADIO BOYS SERIES - - THE RADIO BOYS’ FIRST WIRELESS - Or Winning the Ferberton Prize - - THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT - Or The Message that Saved the Ship - - THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION - Or Making Good in the Wireless Room - - THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS - Or The Midnight Call for Assistance - - THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE - Or Solving a Wireless Mystery - - THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS - Or The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York - COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP - - Ralph on the Midnight Flyer - - - - - CONTENTS - - I The Trouble-Maker - II Discipline - III A Good Deal to Think of - IV Zeph Fathers an Idea - V On the Heels of a Shadow - VI Touch and Go - VII Something Bad - VIII A Clash of Authority - IX It Happens Again - X The Night of the Strike - XI More Friction - XII Treachery - XIII News from Shadow Valley - XIV A Tragedy - XV Once More on the Rails - XVI Through Shadow Valley - XVII More Discipline - XVIII From Bad to Worse - XIX The Hold-Up in Shadow Valley - XX Strange Signals - XXI About Cherry - XXII The Threat Direct - XXIII What Lies Ahead? - XXIV Terrible News - XXV Through the Flaming Forest - XXVI The Wreck - XXVII Where Is Cherry? - XXVIII Ralph on the Trail - XXIX The Run Is Ended - - - - -RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER - -CHAPTER I—THE TROUBLE-MAKER - - -“What do you think, Ralph? Would any of our Great Northern employees -be foolish enough to join this wildcat strike?” - -“Well, what do you think yourself?” asked Ralph Fairbanks, with some -impatience in his tone. “You know these roughnecks as well as I do.” - -The general manager, in whose office at Rockton they were sitting, -threw up both hands and fairly snorted his disgust. - -“I’ve been a long time at the railroad game,” he declared; “but I -never yet understood the psychology of a maintenance of way man. No, -sir. In some things they are as loyal to the road as I am myself. And -then they suddenly go off at a tangent because of something that, for -the life of me, I cannot see is important.” - -“There lies the difficulty—the germ of the whole trouble,” Ralph -Fairbanks said thoughtfully. - -He was a young fellow of attractive personality—good looking, too. The -girls had begun to notice the young railroader, and had he not been so -thoroughly devoted to his calling—and to the finest mother a fellow -ever had—Ralph might have been somewhat spoiled by the admiration -accorded him in certain quarters. - -Just now, however, having been called in from the train dispatchers’ -department where he worked, the young fellow’s attention was deeply -engaged in the subject the general manager had brought up. Ralph was -an extraordinary employee of the Great Northern. His superiors trusted -him thoroughly. And having worked his way up from the roundhouse, -switch tower, as fireman and engineer, to the train dispatcher’s -grade, he was often called upon by the railroad officials for special -duties. - -The general manager stared at the young fellow after his last remark -for fully a minute before asking: - -“What do you mean by that? What is the germ of the whole trouble?” - -“The fact that the officials cannot see things just as the men see -them.” - -“Oh!” - -“No getting away from the fact that the laborer seldom looks at a -thing as his superior looks at it,” Ralph pursued earnestly. “A rule -promulgated by some officer of the road seems to him the simplest way -of getting at a needed result. But after it is spread on the board at -the roundhouse, for instance, it creates a riot.” - -“So it does. And I am hanged if I have been able to understand in some -cases why the men go off half-cocked over some simple thing.” - -“Not simple at all to them. It is often a rule that lops off some -cherished privilege. It may be something that looks as though it were -aimed at the laborer’s independence.” - -“Bah!” ejaculated the general manager with more than a little disdain -in his tone. - -“You see!” laughed Ralph. “You can’t see it in the same way that I -can, for instance. You make an order, say, changing the style of the -caps the men wear around the roundhouse and switch towers, and see -what a row you’ll have on your hands. Some ‘lawyer’ among ’em will see -a deliberate attempt for somebody to graft—or worse. Those caps they -get for a quarter and can buy in the little stores that crop up around -every railroad yard. The hogheads and firemen wear them. Everybody -wears them. You order that the cap hereafter worn shall be quite -different from the present cap, and you’ll start something that you’ll -never be able to stop save by buckling down to the boys.” - -“But why?” demanded the official. “Tell me! What is the reason? -Another cap might not cost them a penny more——” - -“Or might not cost them as much. That would make no difference. You -strike at his independence in changing the style of the cap. And his -independence is the most cherished possession of the railroader. You -should know that.” - -“I know that they think they are independent,” growled the general -manager. “But like the rest of us, they are just about as independent -as the hog on the cake of ice.” - -The young train dispatcher laughed again. He could really appreciate -the mental attitude of both the disgruntled railroad workers, at this -time stirred up all over the country from ocean to ocean, and the -higher officials of the road, who realized fully that unless all -branches of the railroad pulled together during the next few months -there would surely come financial wreckage to many systems. - -The Great Northern was really in better circumstances than many trunk -lines at the time. But on the division the headquarters of which were -here in Rockton, friction had developed. The shopmen talked strike; -the yardmen were disgruntled; the section hands of the division talked -more than they worked. Altogether the situation was so serious that -the general manager himself found it necessary to look the field over. - -And it was not strange that he should have called Ralph Fairbanks into -conference. Young as the latter was, he was a link between the -officials and the workmen at large. - -“Look here, Ralph,” said the general manager suddenly, swinging about -in his chair with one leg over its arm and pointing his lighted cigar -at the young fellow, “I’m going to ask you a pointed question. What do -you think of Bart Hopkins?” - -“Mr. Hopkins—the division super?” returned Ralph briskly and looking -straight into the general manager’s face. “I think that Mr. Hopkins -has a lovely daughter. As the boys say, she’s a peach!” - -“No,” replied the general manager gloomily, “she’s a Cherry—a -different kind of fruit. But I am not asking your opinion of Cherry -Hopkins. How about Bart?” - -“I guess I haven’t been thinking much about him,” confessed Ralph -slowly. “He has been here in charge for three months, and to tell the -truth I have not spoken to him half-a-dozen times. He has nothing to -do, of course, with the dispatchers’ department. Mr. Hopkins is a -pleasant-spoken man.” - -“You know blamed well that I am not asking, either, about Bart -Hopkins’ social qualities,” said the exasperated general manager. -“What do you think of him as a railroad man? What is he doing here?” - -A flash of feeling came into Ralph Fairbanks’ face and he looked -steadily at his old friend and superior. - -“What did you expect him to do here?” - -“Confound it all! I don’t want to be catechised. I want you to answer -me. I want to know what you think of the man’s work?” - -“You want it straight, then, do you?” asked Ralph sharply. - -“Yes, I do.” - -“Then I think he will end in setting everybody by the ears and -bringing on a strike that may spread to every division of the Great -Northern. You have forced this answer from me. Remember, you must not -quote me.” - -“I won’t snitch,” said the general manager, with a wry grin. “I -understand. Then you take the men’s view of Bart? You believe he is a -trouble-maker?” - -“As sure as you are two feet high!” exclaimed Ralph, with conviction. - -“Huh! He has already brought about changes that have saved the -division a mint of money.” - -“The other changes he has made will cost the road a good deal more—if -there is a strike.” - -“Actually, do you believe there will be a strike, Ralph?” - -“If Andy McCarrey has his way, there will be. And Mr. Hopkins is -playing right into McCarrey’s hands.” - -“I can’t believe that Bart would deliberately do anything to bring on -trouble.” - -“No. But he’s been bitten by the efficiency bug. The swelling is a -terrible one,” said Ralph, smiling again. “Mr. Hopkins can’t seem to -see things at all from the men’s standpoint. As I said before, an -inability to see the effect of an order on the men’s minds is the germ -of most friction between the laborers and the railroad heads. McCarrey -is a bad man. He wants to lead a strike. Naturally a strike will put a -lot of money in McCarrey’s hands. These strike leaders do as they -please with strike funds—there is never any check on them. - -“Besides, as I believe, he has a personal enmity for Mr. Hopkins. -Somewhere in the East, where Hopkins came from, McCarrey got a grudge -against him.” - -“Yes, I understand Barton Hopkins was in the middle of some trouble on -the Eastern Shore Railroad. He is a stormy petrel. But he is making -good here. He has saved us money,” reiterated the general manager. - -“Well, if money is more to the Great Northern than a loyal band of -employees,” said Ralph with some bitterness, as he got up from his -chair, “then you have got just what you want in Mr. Hopkins. I’m -telling you that I see trouble ahead. And it is coming soon.” - -Ralph Fairbanks felt deeply regarding the situation which had arisen -in Rockton. When he walked down past the railroad shops a little later -on his way home and looked in at the open windows, he could not fail -to notice that the shopmen were talking together in groups instead of -being busy at their various jobs. - -“Looks bad,” muttered Ralph. “I hated to knock the new super. -Especially when he has got such a pretty daughter,” and he smiled -reminiscently. - -Suddenly he started and then quickened his steps. Ahead of him he saw -a trimly dressed figure crossing the railroad at Hammerby Street. He -could not mistake the girl. Not when she had been in his mind the -previous instant. - -Miss Cherry Hopkins was a pronounced blonde. It was at the time when -bobbed hair was popular, and bobbed hair added to Cherry’s chic -appearance. She was slim, and of good figure. She wore a silk sweater, -a sport skirt, and a hat that was in keeping. - -The girl crossed the tracks and reached the sidewalk on the other -side. There were no dwellings near; only warehouses. And save for a -group of roughly dressed men loitering behind the flagman’s shanty, -there were few people near the crossing. - -Suddenly Ralph saw something that caused him to dart forward, shouting -angrily: - -“Look out, Miss Cherry! Look out!” - -The girl flashed a look behind her. Fortunately she dodged -involuntarily at Ralph Fairbanks’ cry, for the next instant a missile -flew over her shoulder and crashed against the end of the warehouse. -Had it struck the girl it would have hurt her seriously. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - DISCIPLINE - - -An over-ripe cabbage may be a dangerous missile. This one exploded -almost like a bomb against the warehouse, spattering Cherry Hopkins -all over. She screamed and ran back toward Ralph Fairbanks. A harsh -voice shouted: - -“Poor shot! Yer oughter smashed that Hopkins gal, Whitey.” - -Ralph saw that the group of fellows behind the flagman’s shack had -scattered. One long-legged fellow was ahead and evidently in some fear -of apprehension. - -“You wait right here, Miss Cherry!” the young dispatcher cried. “I’m -going to try to get that fellow.” - -He dashed along the tracks and through an alley of which he knew. He -hoped to head off the fellow called “Whitey,” who he was quite sure -had thrown the cabbage. - -But when he came out upon North Main Street he could not see any sign -of the hoodlum. He looked into several small stores and tenement house -halls, but the fellow had made good his escape. - -When he returned by the way of Hammerby Street he saw Cherry Hopkins -trying to wipe the decayed vegetable matter off her sweater and skirt. -Her pretty hat was likewise stained. When Ralph came near enough he -saw that the girl had been crying. - -No man or boy likes to see a girl weep. - -Ralph hesitated, not knowing what to say to Cherry Hopkins. He had -never been more than casually acquainted with the supervisor’s -daughter; but he did admire her. - -Ralph could not have failed to attract the young girl’s attention -during the three months she had spent in Rockton. In the first place, -almost everybody in the small but thriving city knew the young train -dispatcher. - -In the first story about Ralph, “Ralph of the Roundhouse,” the young -fellow’s beginnings on the Great Northern were fully related. His -father had been one of the builders of the Great Northern, but through -unfortunate speculations he had died poor and left Ralph and his -mother to struggle along as best they could. In addition, Mr. -Fairbanks’ partner, Gaspar Farrington, had been dishonest, and had -Ralph and his widowed mother at his mercy. - -How Ralph checkmated Farrington as well as the exciting incidents of -his career in the roundhouse is all narrated in that first volume of -the series. - -In ensuing volumes the young fellow’s career as towerman, fireman, -engineer, and in the different grades of dispatcher, is told in full. -The sixth volume, “Ralph on the Army Train,” is the story of the -youth’s work in that great part which the railroaders took in the war. -By Ralph’s individual effort, a heavily loaded train of our boys bound -for the embarking port was taken through to safety in spite of a plot -to wreck the train. - -He was now, some months later, back on his old job as chief dispatcher -of this division of the Great Northern. He might have had a good -position on the main line; but, in taking it, he would have had to -sacrifice some independence and, more than all, must have given up the -little home he and his mother owned in Rockton and removed the widow -from surroundings that she loved. - -“My chance to get a good thing will come again,” Ralph had told Mrs. -Fairbanks. “And really, I am my own boss here. Even Barton Hopkins -can’t tell _me_ where to get off.” - -For divisional supervisor Hopkins had soon become very much disliked. -He was a good railroader—no doubt of that. But he should have been a -drill-master in a military school rather than the head of a division -of a railroad at a time when almost every railroad employee felt that -he had been whipsawed between the Government and his employing -railroad. - -Hopkins lacked tact; he saw nothing but the job and what he could make -of it. His god was discipline! He was upright and honest, but, as the -saying goes, he bent over backwards when he stood erect. And Ralph -Fairbanks was pretty thoroughly convinced that grave trouble was -brewing because of Mr. Hopkins’ methods. - -Just at this moment, however, it was Cherry Hopkins in whose affairs -the young dispatcher was deeply interested. As she tried to wipe the -stains from her skirt and “sniffled” back her tears, Ralph approached -slowly. - -“Now, Miss Cherry,” he begged, “don’t cry about it. If I could have -caught that fellow I would have handed him over to one of the road’s -policemen. It didn’t really hurt you——” - -“I’m just as mad, Ralph Fairbanks, as I can be!” interrupted the girl, -with heat. “And it is always the way wherever we go. The railroad men -seem to hate us all.” - -“Indeed?” rejoined Ralph thoughtfully. “Have you been troubled in -Rockton before this?” - -“Of course I have. And mother, too. We have been followed on the -street, and booed and hissed. Father doesn’t mind——” - -“I am quite sure he has not reported it to the chief detective of the -road, Mr. Bob Adair.” - -“Father would not report such a thing. He considers it beneath -notice.” - -“I’ll say that cabbage was not beneath notice!” cried Ralph. “If it -had hit you—well! Come along, Miss Cherry. Let me see you home.” - -“Oh, I don’t want to trouble you, Mr. Fairbanks.” - -“You know I live in your direction,” said Ralph, pleasantly. “We’ll -walk along together. And you tell me, Miss Cherry, who these fellows -are who have insulted your mother and you.” - -“Oh, dear me, how do I know who they are?” cried the girl, -despairingly. “They are low fellows, of course. And many of them are -just boys—loafers. They do not even work for the Great Northern.” - -“But their fathers and brothers do, I suppose?” ruminated Ralph. - -“I suppose so. You see, we have to cross the railroad to do our -shopping. When we come into this district, if there is a group of -idlers hanging around they are almost sure to call after us. It is not -pleasant.” - -“It should be reported. But, of course, it is your father’s business,” -said Ralph thoughtfully. “I might speak to Mr. Adair. He is a friend -of mine. But unless Mr. Hopkins sanctioned any move against the -rowdies, I am afraid——” - -“I wish you would come in and talk to father about it,” Cherry cried -eagerly. “He might listen to _you_.” - -“Is he at home at this hour?” asked the young dispatcher doubtfully. -“I don’t know about saying anything to him regarding a private -matter.” - -“I want him to know how you drove those fellows away,” she said. “Do -come in. You know my father, don’t you?” - -“Slightly. We do not come in contact much,” Ralph said slowly. - -“You will like him, Mr. Fairbanks,” said the girl earnestly. “He is -really a wonderful man. Wherever he has held a position the company -has been glad of his services. He is marvelously efficient. And he is -forever planning improvements and scheming out ways of saving money -for the road. Oh, yes, they all admire him.” - -“The men, too?” Ralph asked shrewdly. - -“Oh! The laborers? I don’t know about that.” - -“Quite an important point, I assure you,” said Ralph grimly. “No -matter how much money an official saves the road, if he doesn’t hold -the confidence and liking of the general run of railroad workers, he -is distinctly not a success.” - -“Oh! Do you believe that?” she cried. - -“I know it. Railroad workers are the most clannish men in the world. -If they have worked long for a particular road they are as loyal to -that road as though they owned it. And they resent any meddling with -the usual routine of affairs. You have got to handle them with gloves. -I fancy, Miss Cherry,” added Ralph somewhat grimly, “that your father -has thrown away his gloves.” - -They just then came to the Hopkins house. It was one of the best -houses in the section of Rockton in which Ralph and his mother lived. -It was rather far from the railroad and the railroad tenements; so -supervisor Hopkins’ employees were not likely to be seen often. - -“Come in—do,” urged Cherry, opening the gate. “There’s father at the -library window.” - -The young dispatcher saw Barton Hopkins looking through the pane. He -was a man with a very high forehead, colorless complexion, a -high-arched nose upon which were set astride a pair of shell-rimmed -eyeglasses, which masked pale blue eyes. One could warm up to a chunk -of ice about as readily as one could to Mr. Barton Hopkins. - -And yet, Ralph was sure, there was not a thing the matter with the -supervisor save that he was not human! He was a machine. His mental -powers were not lubricated with either charity or an interest in the -personal affairs of his fellow men. - -He stared without a semblance of emotion at Ralph Fairbanks as Cherry -urged the latter into the library and introduced the young fellow. - -“Oh, yes. I know Mr. Fairbanks,” said Mr. Hopkins, and looked the -visitor over as though he questioned if he might not in some way show -Ralph how to be more efficient in his job. - -When Cherry explained volubly how she had been attacked by the rowdies -at the railroad crossing and Ralph had come to her assistance, Mr. -Hopkins rose and shook hands with the visitor again. But his second -handshake was exactly like the first one. Ralph thought of grasping a -dead fish! - -“There are too many unemployed men hanging about the yards,” said the -supervisor in his decisive way, after Cherry had excused herself in -order to change to a clean dress. “I am about to point that out to our -police department. They should either be given a sentence to the farm -or be run out of town.” - -“A good many of those idlers have been employees of the road. Their -homes are here. It is not exactly their fault that they have been -thrown out of work. And they do not understand why they should be -idle.” - -“What is that to the Great Northern?” demanded the supervisor with -some hauteur. “A railroad is a corporation doing business for gain. It -is not a charitable organization.” - -“It should be both,” declared Ralph earnestly. He felt that he could -oppose this man safely. Hopkins could not touch his department. “The -way the Great Northern—and this division particularly—has kept -together a loyal bunch of workmen is by caring for those workmen and -their families through dull seasons. I understand that a man has been -lopped off each section gang of late. In three cases I know that the -man discharged owned, or was paying for, his own little home. They are -up against it, for other work is not easily obtained now.” - -“I have had that brought to my attention before,” answered Mr. -Hopkins, with a gesture of finality. “I repeat, it does not interest -me—or the Great Northern.” - -“It is going to interest you, I fear,” said Ralph warmly. - -“I do not understand you, Mr. Fairbanks.” - -“The men are getting down on you,” said the young fellow bluntly. “As -you see they insult and threaten Miss Cherry and your wife. There will -be some outbreak——” - -“Do you think that if I knew that to be true it would influence me in -the least?” asked Mr. Hopkins sternly. - -“It would better. Your wife and daughter are likely to suffer. Of -course, the discharged men will probably not have anything to do with -it; but they cannot control their sympathizers. There is talk of a -strike. If a strike comes——” - -“Suppose you let such matters be handled by your superiors, Mr. -Fairbanks,” said the supervisor coldly. “It is not in the province of -a train dispatcher.” - -“Quite true,” Ralph said, rising abruptly. - -Cherry had not come back into the room. He felt that he really was not -welcome here. And he feared he might be tempted to say something even -more unwise to the stiff-necked supervisor. - -“You will excuse me, Mr. Hopkins. I really think your daughter and -wife are in some danger if they go downtown. Pardon me for saying so.” - -“Thank you,” said Barton Hopkins without an ounce of expression in -either his voice or his countenance. “Good-day, Mr. Fairbanks.” - -“Humph!” thought Ralph, as he fumbled for the knob of the front door. -“I reckon I know where I get off with Mr. Hopkins. Oh, yes!” - - - - - CHAPTER III - - A GOOD DEAL TO THINK OF - - -It was growing dusk as Ralph Fairbanks left the bungalow occupied by -the divisional supervisor and his family. The young fellow felt some -little disappointment at not seeing Cherry again. He believed that the -girl’s mother had deliberately kept her from coming back into the -library where the dispatcher had been talking with Barton Hopkins. - -“Not that I wanted to talk with the super,” considered Ralph, as he -found his way out of the house and closed the door behind him. “I -would much rather have not done so. He’s got an eye as cold as ice. I -wonder if he wasn’t hatching something in his keen brain right then to -make our department more efficient,” and Ralph chuckled grimly. - -“Oh, well, I guess I am out of his line, come to think of it. But he -is certainly going to come a cropper before he gets through in -Rockton. When the Brotherhoods begin to take notice of him, the Great -Northern will lose its——Hullo! What’s this?” - -As he came out through the gateway he saw several shadowy figures -across the street. The street lamps were not yet lighted in this block -and it was just dark enough for those figures Ralph saw to seem -uncertain. - -Of course, he had no expectation of being followed. He had no quarrel -with any branch of the union men. In fact, most of the employees on -the division were Ralph Fairbanks’ personal friends. - -But he looked twice at the shadowy group as he turned toward his -mother’s cottage. Again he looked back. - -“There he goes!” suddenly shouted a voice. “One of Hopkins’ tools. -Yah! A lickspittle of the super. Yah!” - -It is a fact that “sticks and stones can break your bones, but names -will never hurt you”; just the same, that old saw does not salve over -the sting of unfair vituperations. Ralph was red hot on the instant. - -To be dignified, too, is all very well. But Ralph knew these hoodlums -quite well enough to be sure that only one course with them would make -the proper impression. He possessed as much brute courage as any -healthy young fellow. And he did not purpose to allow these loafers to -blackguard him on the public street. - -The dispatcher turned swiftly and started across the street. The -several men and boys in the group yelled again. Some missile hurtled -through the dusk and fairly fanned Ralph’s cheek! - -“Who are you rascals?” demanded Ralph angrily. “I’ll show you a thing -or two!” - -He dashed at the group. None of them was very courageous, for the -crowd broke and fled before him. Some woman, looking out of the window -of a neighboring house, screamed. Ralph caught one fellow and pulled -him back, throwing him heavily to the walk. - -“I’ll find out who _you_ are!” declared the young train dispatcher. -“What do you mean by interfering with me?” - -The other fellows had fled noisily. The street lights suddenly flashed -up and Ralph was able to distinguish the features of the man he had -captured. - -“Whitey Malone! I thought you were in jail,” the young dispatcher said -in surprise. “The judge gave you long enough there——” - -“I got me fine paid,” blubbered the fellow. - -Ralph smelled liquor on his breath. He knew Whitey Malone as a good -deal of a disgrace to the community. He had never been a real railroad -man. He was merely a hanger-on at the shops, sometimes doing odd jobs, -or being taken on the shop payroll for a few weeks. - -“It is too bad anybody was foolish enough to pay your fine,” declared -Ralph sternly. - -“Oh, I’ve got good friends in spite of Bart Hopkins and his new rules -that turned me out of me job,” snarled Whitey. - -“And a good friend paid your fine?” remarked Ralph curiously. “Could -the friend be Andy McCarrey, for instance?” - -“You want to know too much, Fairbanks,” said Whitey sullenly. - -“I’m a good guesser,” rejoined the young dispatcher, dragging the -fellow to his feet. “Now, listen to me, Whitey. This time I’ll let you -go. I won’t turn you over to the police as you deserve.” - -“You wouldn’t dare!” cried Whitey. - -“You tempt me too far and I’ll show you right now what I dare to do. -You keep away from Supervisor Hopkins’ house.” - -“Yah! You’re one of his tools, you are!” exclaimed Whitey. - -“Listen!” commanded Ralph, shaking him. - -“Ow! Ow! Ouch!” - -“Listen! You keep away from this street! And further, don’t you -trouble Mr. Hopkins’ wife or daughter. Remember, I’ve got your number. -If you throw another cabbage or annoy the Hopkins’ family in any way, -you’ll go to the farm.” - -He threw the ill-smelling fellow from him and turned sharply to walk -away. Whitey could not resist another word. He yelled: - -“Hopkins’ tool! You wait a while, Ralph Fairbanks. You’ll see what’s -going to happen.” Then he ran off at top speed. - -Ralph did not attempt to follow the fellow. To punish the half-drunken -Whitey Malone would be as useless as fencing with a windmill. If -anything was to be done to avert trouble and put fear of the law into -the bad element around the railroad yards and shops, those higher up -must feel the weight of authority. Whitey and his ilk were quite -irresponsible. - -Ralph told his mother the tale at the supper table, relating the -entire incident from the moment he had seen Cherry Hopkins attacked by -the rowdies. - -“Just the same, there is trouble brewing,” he added. “It will center -about Mr. Bart Hopkins. And yet, I can’t blame the G. M. for backing -the super up. Mr. Hopkins is a wonderfully able man. But discipline -means more to him than the contentment and happiness of his -employees.” - -“I am sorry if there is going to be more trouble on the road, Ralph,” -the widow said, with a sigh. - -“Oh, it won’t affect me any,” he said cheerfully. “I have nothing to -do with the shopmen or the maintenance of way men.” - -“I thought you were safely out of trouble when you got in the train -dispatchers’ department,” said Mrs. Fairbanks reflectively. “But just -see what happened in war time. Your peril on that army train——” - -“Shucks! Nothing like that is likely to happen again, Mother,” he -interrupted. “I’m a regular stick-in-the-mud now. Youngest chief -dispatcher of any division of the Great Northern system. Why! I’m an -old man.” - -“You are just as likely as ever to be tempted to do a reckless thing,” -she said, but she smiled at him. “An old man! You are just a baby to -me, Ralph, after all.” - -He laughed; but he blushed, too. - -“Don’t baby me too much, Mother,” he said. “The girls don’t think I am -a baby.” - -“Indeed?” she asked. “Are there more girls? I don’t know but you are -in more danger off the road, than on.” - -“A new one,” said Ralph frankly. He and his mother were the very best -of friends. “Didn’t I tell you the new super has a daughter? And she’s -a peach! No! I mean she is a Cherry.” - -“Cherry?” - -“Cherry Hopkins. She is the girl I saw home just now.” - -“Is she as pretty as her name?” asked Mrs. Fairbanks curiously. - -“You bet she is! I’d like to have you see her. I don’t see how such a -cold and severe proposition as Mr. Hopkins ever came by such a -daughter.” - -“So you think well of her, do you?” asked the widow rather wistfully. - -“I surely do. But I don’t know what she thinks of me. You know how -these girls are. They keep everything close. A fellow doesn’t have a -chance to learn their opinion of him. They treat ’em all alike.” - -“Quite right,” returned the widow. “The reticent girl keeps out of -danger.” - -“Humph! I don’t know how much danger she keeps out of,” said Ralph. -“But believe me, if something is not done pretty soon to appease the -shopmen it will not be safe for either Cherry or her mother to walk on -the streets.” - -“Well, my dear boy,” begged the widow, “I hope you will keep out of -any part in the trouble. You surely cannot help Mr. Hopkins.” - -“He wouldn’t let me help him if I could do so,” answered Ralph. - -“All the better,” his mother said with satisfaction. “If you cannot be -drawn into the trouble by either side in the controversy, very well. I -shall feel safe, at least.” - -“I guess I am out of it, for once,” admitted her son. “It gives a -fellow a lot to think of. I hate to see trouble come to the division. -That Andy McCarrey ought to be jailed. But, on the other hand, I feel -that Barton Hopkins is quite as much at fault. By gracious! If I were -the G. M.——” - -At that his mother burst into laughter. “Oh! You are looking forward -to what you would do if you were running the Great Northern,” she -jeered. - -“I don’t care,” cried her son. “I can see as far into a brick wall as -the next one. And when I know things are going wrong——” - -“You think you could fix them all up, Ralph?” - -“I know I could keep things straighter than Hopkins does. Maybe I -would not be so popular with the directors and stockholders; but I’d -run this division without having so much friction. You can bet on -that, Mother.” - -“I never bet,” she replied soberly, but her eyes dancing. - -She enjoyed hearing Ralph become enthusiastic over railroad matters. -Having been a railroader’s wife and having joined with her husband in -all his hopes and intentions, she could appreciate Ralph’s enthusiasm. - -“Well, if you were betting, I could give you a tip,” laughed Ralph at -last. “One of two things is going to happen. Either Mr. Hopkins will -be transferred to some other sphere of usefulness, or the division is -due to suffer the worst strike it has ever had. I am confident of -this, Mother—I am confident.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - ZEPH FATHERS AN IDEA - - -Under the present arrangement of his duties as chief dispatcher for -the division, Ralph Fairbanks seldom took the “graveyard trick,” as it -is called. Yet occasionally he went downtown and looked in at the -office in the late evening. - -Especially when he knew that a particular schedule was being put -through. Just now the division was handling extra wheat trains, and -although he had O.K.’d his assistant’s schedule for that night, Ralph -somehow felt that he should see if all was going smoothly on this -particular evening. - -The trouble over Mr. Hopkins and his daughter had perhaps gotten on -the young chief dispatcher’s nerves—if he really possessed such -things. He tried to read an exciting book of travel and adventure -after supper while his mother did some darning; but exciting things -which had happened in his own career came to Ralph’s mind so -insistently that he lost the thread of the writer’s story. With -several friends, including Mr. Bob Adair, chief of the Great -Northern’s detective force, Ralph had fought many an enemy of the road -to a standstill. There was another person, too, who was sure to turn -up in the vicinity of any railroad trouble. - -Ralph suddenly started out of his chair. “There!” he exclaimed, as his -mother looked at him wonderingly. “I had forgotten something. Do you -know who I thought I saw to-day downtown?” - -“I have no idea, Ralph.” - -“I believe Zeph is in Rockton. I saw a fellow who looked very much -like him passing along the street. But it was when I was in conference -with the G. M. and I could not hail him. Afterward—being mixed up in -Miss Hopkins’ trouble, and all—I forgot Zeph.” - -“Zeph Dallas?” repeated Mrs. Fairbanks. “I would dearly love to see -the boy again. He is so unsettled.” - -“He is a bird on the wing, I guess,” said Ralph. “Never know where he -will perch next. But while he is in Rockton I think I know where to -find him,” and he reached his hat down from its peg. - -“Will you go downtown to look him up, Ralph?” asked the widow -placidly. - -“Yes, ma’am. I’d like to see Zeph.” - -“So would I. Bring him home with you, Ralph. You know we have a spare -bed, and Zeph Dallas is just as welcome to it as though he were your -brother.” - -“I don’t know,” laughed Ralph, going to the door. “Zeph is a born -vagabond. Nothing keeps him long in one place but some intrigue in -which he can have a part. He says he is preparing himself to wear Bob -Adair’s shoes.” - -“Mr. Adair is a very fine man,” said Mrs. Fairbanks. “But his calling -is hazardous. I should not like to bring up a son to be a detective.” - -“Zeph never had any bringing up,” declared Ralph, as he went out, and -the echoes of his mother’s last remark, “Poor fellow!” rang in his -ears as he started downtown. - -Like most railroad terminal towns, Rockton had a poor section, -inhabited by railroad laborers and those hanging to their skirts, and -also a much better group of dwellings. Ralph passed through the better -part of town without, of course, apprehending any trouble. - -Nor was he accosted when he crossed the tracks and approached the -station, over which the dispatchers’ offices were situated. For his -first thought was, after all, of the night’s schedule. One cannot have -the responsibility that Ralph Fairbanks shouldered without having -one’s work uppermost in one’s mind all of the time. - -The two men on duty welcomed their young chief cheerfully. There -really was not an employee of the road about the Rockton terminal who -had not some reason for liking Ralph. They might not all agree with -him on railroad matters; but they had to respect his independence. - -“Fellow in here to see you a while back, Chief,” said one of the men -on duty. - -“Who was it?” - -“Nobody I ever saw before,” was the reply. “Kind of an odd stick.” -Ralph described his friend, Zeph Dallas, and the operator nodded. -“That’s the fellow. Can’t be any mistake.” - -“Didn’t he say where he could be found?” asked Ralph. - -“No, Chief. A close-mouthed duck, if you ask me. He slipped in and -slid out again like an eel through a sewer pipe.” - -Ralph laughed. “Some metaphor, I’ll say, Johnny. Well, the sched.’s -all right, I guess?” - -“Things are going sweet,” he was told. “But when they come to double -up those wheat trains next week, how we going to get the new Midnight -Flyer into the clear between here and Oxford? That is what is -bothering me, Chief.” - -“If you want to know,” admitted Ralph, as he opened the door to -depart, “that little thing is bothering me, too.” - -He was not, however, bothering his mind over railroad affairs when he -descended the stairs to the yard. He was thinking of Zeph. That -peculiar and vagabondish fellow must be around Rockton for some -pertinent design. And it was evident that he wanted to see his old -chum, Ralph Fairbanks. - -The latter walked down the yard and looked in at the open windows of -one of the lighted shops. The night crew was at work on one of the big -freight haulers. Like a row of giant elephants a number of other -locomotives stood in the gloomy end of the shop. Repairs were away -behind schedule. He heard the hoarse voice of McGuire, one of the -oldest and most faithful shop foremen, bawling his crew out for their -clumsiness. - -“It’s touch and go, sure enough,” considered Ralph. “I wonder just how -much power that Andy McCarrey has over the men employed by the Great -Northern? Of course, he has no standing with any of the Brotherhoods; -but these roughnecks—Hullo! Who goes there?” - -He had passed the shop and had turned toward a small gate in the -stockade which he believed would be unlocked. A shadowy figure flashed -into a deeper covert of shadow beside one of the tool houses. - -“And only one of two classes try to hide around a railroad yard—a -crook or a yard detective. Humph!” muttered Ralph. - -He walked on toward the gate. But just as he got to the end of the -shed he jumped sidewise and dived into the deeper shadow with arms -outstretched. He grabbed somebody almost instantly. - -“Stand still!” he commanded. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” - -Instantly the struggling person he had seized stood still. He no -longer offered to fight for his liberty. Ralph made out that he was -tall—taller than himself—roughly dressed, and that he had lost his -hat. - -Then, as the young dispatcher passed his hand over the mop of hair the -fellow wore and his palm traversed the other’s face, he marked a big -and high-arched nose and high cheekbones. He had a wide mouth. - -“By George!” exclaimed Ralph, “I believe you are the fellow I am -looking for.” - -“Just so,” chuckled his prisoner. - -“Zeph!” - -“Same to you, Ralph!” - -The two shook hands warmly, and then Zeph picked up his cap and stuck -it sideways upon his thatch of hair. - -“How’s the boy?” asked Zeph, and Ralph knew he was grinning. - -“I’ll tell you,” chuckled Ralph. “I’m gravely disturbed over a friend -of mine——” - -“Is his name Andy McCarrey?” whispered Zeph, with his lips close to -his friend’s ear. - -“Goodness!” gasped the dispatcher. “What do you mean? I’ve been -troubled about a fellow named Dallas. But what do you know about -McCarrey?” - -“I know enough to believe it is not best to take his name in vain -around these yards,” muttered Zeph. “Come on out of here. I’ll give it -up for to-night. It was you I wanted to talk to, anyway, Ralph.” - -“I don’t understand you at all, Zeph,” complained the young -dispatcher, as they walked toward the gate in the yard fence. - -“Come on over to the Owl Lunch, and I’ll give you an earful,” said -Zeph. “The missus all right?” - -“She is fine, and was asking after you. When you come to town, Zeph, -you should come to our house.” - -“Can’t do it. No knowing who or what may be trailing me,” declared the -vagabond. - -“Nonsense!” - -“That’s the truth. Right now I got the tail end of something that I -want to look up. This McCarrey——” - -“Is the leader of the men who are trying to engineer the wildcat -strike,” explained Ralph. - -“Uh-huh? He’s more than that.” - -“What do you mean?” Ralph asked curiously. - -They stepped into the narrow space in the owl car and climbed on two -stools. - -“Milk and mince pie,” said Zeph. - -“What a stomach!” exclaimed Ralph, smiling. “Don’t you ever have -indigestion?” - -“That is what I’m ordering it for. I have to stay awake all night. -Can’t sleep much with cold milk and ‘graveyard pie’ fighting for -possession of the digestive tract.” - -“You are as bad as ever,” sighed Ralph. - -“Worse,” admitted Zeph, taking his first bite of the pie. Then, out of -the corner of his mouth he mumbled: “Know where I just came from?” - -“I have no idea. Haven’t heard from you for weeks. You can’t write, I -suppose?” - -“Never write letters. Have to explain ’em afterward, perhaps. Besides, -a letter has often traced a man. ‘Leave no trace’ is my motto.” - -“Talk sense,” urged Ralph. - -“Am.” - -“It doesn’t sound like it. Tell me what makes you so mysterious?” - -“I am as mysterious as this ‘graveyard pie,’ ain’t I?” suddenly -chuckled Zeph Dallas, holding up the wedge of pie to look at it. -“Hullo! Here’s a splinter,” and he picked out the bit of wood. “The -beef they ground up for this mince meat must have had a wooden leg. -Anyhow, listen.” - -“Shoot!” exclaimed Ralph anxiously, sipping his coffee. “Where did you -come from?” - -“Down the road. I was working for a few days with Section Twenty.” - -“A section gang hand! Believe me, that’s some job,” said Ralph, in -wonder. - -“Somebody has been doing some reefing down there, and Mr. Adair put me -wise to it. Eh? You don’t know what ‘reefing’ is?” - -“No,” admitted the dispatcher. - -“It’s when fellows get a chance to open cases and crates in transit, -remove the goods, fill ’em up with rocks and rubbish, and send ’em on -to the consignees. It was a pretty job, too. I didn’t find out who did -it.” - -“What? A failure to your account?” laughed Ralph, knowing how Zeph -prided himself upon carrying through every little job the chief -detective gave him to handle. - -“Not a failure yet,” mumbled Zeph. “’Tain’t finished.” - -“Then it brought you back here to Rockton?” - -“Nothing like that. There was an accident on our section and we got -over-time work last night. We had just got the tracks clear when this -new Midnight Flyer came through. Say! who’s handling the throttle on -that big engine?” - -“Old Byron Marks.” - -“Wow! That antediluvian pill?” - -“Seniority does it,” said Ralph briefly. “It’s the men’s own fault if -the dead ones get the best runs.” - -“Well, believe me,” muttered Zeph, “if old By Marks heard what I heard -last night you couldn’t hoist him into the cabin of that locomotive -with a derrick.” - -“What do you mean, Zeph?” and now Ralph Fairbanks was immensely -interested in what his peculiar friend had to say. - -“I tell you what, Ralph, I’ve got an idea. It’s my own idea, and it is -worth somebody’s attention.” - -“Let us have it,” said the dispatcher. “You have always been original, -if nothing more, Zeph.” - -“Many thanks, dear boy! Well, listen! This Andy McCarrey.” He stared -all about, noting that the man running the lunch wagon had stepped -out. “Take note I’ve heard a deal about that fellow up and down the -road.” - -“You’ve heard nothing good of him, I warrant,” grumbled Ralph. - -“According to which side your bread is buttered on,” was the reply. -“Most of these roughnecks swear by him.” - -“But not the officials,” said Ralph. - -“Right-o. Now, last night, as we section men stood beside the tracks -down there waiting for the Midnight Flyer to pass, I heard one fellow -say: ‘Andy McCarrey says “Thumbs up!”’ And his mate said right back: -‘Ye-as. And suppose Andy says “Thumbs down!” How about it?’ - -“Now, you know, and I know, Ralph, the old game of ‘thumbs up and -thumbs down.’ And then, in the times of the old Roman gladiators, the -populace condemned the fallen gladiator to death or reprieved him by a -turn of the thumb. Get me?” - -“I can’t say I do wholly,” admitted Ralph. - -“That Midnight Flyer whizzed by. Those two fellows looked at it and at -old man Marks’s head sticking out of the cab window—if that’s who it -was. They were speaking of that new fast train, the crack train of -this division. Eh?” - -“It would seem so,” confessed Ralph, in a worried tone. - -“And it is in Andy McCarrey’s hands whether that train goes through -safely or not,” whispered Zeph, his lips close to Ralph’s ear again. -“That is my idea, my boy. And it is that idea that has brought me to -Rockton to-day.” - - - - - CHAPTER V - - ON THE HEELS OF A SHADOW - - -Ralph reflected upon the hint Zeph had secured from two section men -far down the division. The name of Andy McCarrey was one to conjure -with among a large part of the maintenance of way men employed by the -Great Northern. “Thumbs up” or “Thumbs down” might mean exactly what -Zeph suggested. - -And the Midnight Flyer—so called, because it left Rockton terminal on -the jot of midnight—was causing the divisional officials enough -trouble and anxiety in any event. The new train should run on a -schedule that called for the finest kind of human attention. The -engineer in charge should be as good a man as there was on the -division. The two firemen should be highly trained specialists in the -handling of a locomotive’s fuel and water. - -There were but four stops for this flyer between Rockton and -Hammerfest—a four-hour run at top speed. The locomotive pulling the -train, and returning the next day with another fast express, was quite -equal to the schedule. It was a new eight-driver, and had come out of -the Baldwin works keyed up to seventy miles an hour on a level track. -Of course, it was not expected that any engineer could hold the -Midnight Flyer to that speed for the entire length of the run; but -even the concessions made because of the heavy freight traffic over -the division at night were not sufficient to make the run an easy one. - -Byron Marks, one of the grizzled engineers on the Great Northern list, -was in line for the new locomotive and the new run. If the railroads -had proper pension lists, the old man should have been weeding his -garden and drawing pension money for the rest of his life. - -However, he was vigorous, keen-sighted, and a thoroughly active man. -He stood well in the Brotherhood and with the officials of the Great -Northern. When the choice came for engineer of the swift express, -Marks’ name headed the list. He stepped into the job. - -But Ralph had helped to make over the night schedule, necessary to -squeeze in the varnished train. There were stretches of twenty and -thirty miles that called for perfect running, and at a mile a minute, -for the Midnight Flyer. A stop signal, even for half a minute, might -make the train fall behind. Any little accident was likely to put her -off her speed. - -As a matter of fact, since Byron Marks had wheeled her out of the -Rockton station a week and more before, not once had the Midnight -Flyer made Hammerfest on time. There was a connection to be made there -with the Boise City & Western that called for the flyer’s being on -time. If the Great Northern express could not keep to its schedule, -the train might as well be taken off altogether. - -“After what you say, Zeph,” Ralph said soberly, as the two friends -came out of the Owl Lunch wagon, “I am afraid there will not be any -hoghead envious of By Marks’ run.” - -“You said something,” agreed Zeph. “This McCarrey fellow——” - -“Sh! Speak easy of him. Don’t know who may be listening.” - -“Just as I thought. He’s the Big Noise around here?” - -“He is with the men who are anxious to strike. He has no standing with -the Brotherhoods, of course. But you know the general feeling among -railroaders just now. If the corporations get the dirty end of the -stick there are not many employees going to weep about it.” - -“You said something,” repeated Zeph Dallas. “Well, has this man whose -name we will not mention really got all the influence that I thought -he had?” - -“Among the disgruntled, I am afraid he has,” admitted Ralph. - -“Then he’d better be reckoned up—and watched.” - -“You might suggest that to Mr. Adair,” said Ralph, in a low voice. - -“That is what I was thinking of doing. But you see,” said the eager -Zeph, “I wanted to be sure that I really had something on the man. -Even what I heard down the line is mighty little evidence.” - -“We’ll admit that. But taken with what I know——” - -Ralph proceeded to give his friend a full account of the incidents of -this very day, when Whitey Malone had attacked both the supervisor’s -daughter and Ralph himself. - -“That fellow is egged on by McCarrey. I know that to be a fact. Mac is -addressing meetings in Beeman’s Hall, and circulating a lot of -literature that ought to be suppressed, and getting ready to deal the -road a dirty blow through the dissatisfied element. But what can be -proved against him?” - -“He ought to be run out of the place.” - -“You are suggesting fighting fire with fire,” Ralph rejoined, shaking -his head. “But I know what Mr. Adair will say. He will declare for -peace at any price until the enemy makes the first move.” - -“Hey!” muttered Zeph in Ralph’s ear. “Do you know that fellow?” - -They had been walking along the dark street, arm in arm. There were -few pedestrians in sight. This was a busy part of the town in -daylight, but there was little activity now. - -Ralph stared after the long, shadowy figure crossing the cobbled -street. There was a pale glow of lamplight just where the stranger -stepped upon the curb. For an instant his flaxen hair and red neck -were visible. - -“By gracious! I believe that is the fellow I told you about,” Ralph -exclaimed. - -“Not Mac——?” - -“No! Malone! And I believe he’s drunk. He had been drinking this -afternoon.” - -“Where could he get liquor around here?” - -“I’m sure I don’t know. But I’d say he got it, law or no law.” - -“So that fellow is a friend of the Big Noise?” - -“A tool, anyway, of McCarrey’s.” - -“Wonder where he’s going?” ruminated Zeph. “Drunk or sober, he acts as -though he had something on his mind.” - -“There is another gate in the yard fence in that direction,” whispered -Ralph. - -“Come on!” urged Zeph Dallas. “I’ve another idea, Ralph.” - -“Aren’t you the little wonder?” chuckled the dispatcher. “What now?” - -“A drunken man often tells the truth when a sober man won’t. He -likewise is not to be trusted with a secret. Alcohol loosens the -tongue. Let’s get after this Whitey Malone and see if we can’t make -him tell something about McCarrey and his plans.” - -“Go to it, boy,” said Ralph doubtfully. “I’ll stay in the background. -Whitey has it in for me.” - -“Keep in sight just the same,” commanded Zeph, taking the lead with -promptness. - -He darted across the street and was soon close on the heels of the -shadowy Malone. Ralph looked searchingly about the block before he -ventured to follow the two. It seemed that Malone was quite alone. And -he staggered on without looking back. He did not fear being followed. - -The young dispatcher allowed Zeph and Malone to get well ahead of him. -As long as he could keep Dallas in sight he was satisfied. The trail -led directly past the gateway in the yard fence. They went up into the -town, crossing the railroad at Hammerby Street where Ralph had had his -adventure with Cherry Hopkins that afternoon. - -Beyond the warehouse that stood here was a dark and narrow lane. Under -the dim radiance of a single street lamp Ralph saw Zeph turn into this -alley. Of course, Whitey Malone must be in advance. - -Ralph looked around for some weapon before he ventured into the lane. -Drunk as Whitey Malone was, the fellow might have apprehended that he -was being followed, and might be prepared for an attack. - -“Zeph is as reckless as he can be,” thought the young dispatcher. -“I’ve seen him get into some messes before this. Ah! What’s this?” - -It was a spoke of a wheel lying in the gutter—a tough piece of ash as -effective in a strong hand as a policeman’s nightstick. Ralph weighted -it, spat on his palm to tighten his grip on the club, and then -ventured into the dark alley. - -He had not gone ten steps when he heard the creak of hinges. A door -was being opened somewhere ahead of him. But he came to a sharp corner -in the dark alleyway before he spied the opening. A faint radiance -shone into the lane. - -Between him and this open door was a dark figure—a stooping figure. He -made sure it was Zeph. He heard the latter “hist!” in a low tone. He -crept forward. - -Somebody stumbled inside the hall to which the open door gave -entrance. A harsh voice called: - -“That you?” - -“Yes, it’s me,” grumbled another voice, which Ralph recognized as -belonging to Malone. - -“What are you trying to do—knock the house down?” snarled the first -speaker. - -“Why don’t you have some more light? ’Most broke my shins down here. -Ouch!” - -“Shut up!” commanded the other person, evidently standing at the head -of a flight of stairs. “Come up here.” - -Zeph had crept forward. Ralph saw the outlines of his figure at the -edge of the doorframe. Ralph had to take his tip from Zeph. - -“Hey!” exclaimed the fault-finding voice again. “You’ve left that door -open, Malone.” - -Malone’s stumbling footsteps returned down the few treads of the -stairs he had already mounted. The lamplight faded. Ralph realized -that the man at the top of the stairs was retreating with the lamp in -his hand. - -The next moment he realized, too, that Zeph had inaugurated one of his -perfectly crazy ventures. Instead of cowering back out of sight as -Whitey Malone came to the open door, Zeph huddled close to the -opening. When the door began to be pushed into place, the young fellow -leaped to his feet, darted forward, and encircled the half-drunken -Malone with his arms just below the knees! - -“Squawk!” vented the surprised Malone. He crashed down the low, -outside steps and landed on the flagstones with sufficient force to -drive the breath from his body. - -“Grab him, Ralph!” hissed Zeph, springing to his feet again, and -seeing his friend at his back. “I’m going up there in his place. If a -row starts, call the cops.” - -The next instant Zeph was inside the building and had softly closed -the door. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - TOUCH AND GO - - -Whitey Malone was on his face, and before he could raise his head and -shriek his objection to the treatment accorded him by Zeph Dallas, -Ralph sprang astride him and held him down. As Whitey struggled the -young dispatcher grabbed his cap from the ground and thrust it into -the fellow’s mouth. Then he twisted his hands behind him and held the -muffled rascal secure. - -Ralph was about to use his own handkerchief to bind Whitey’s wrists -when he remembered that it was monogrammed and might offer a clue to -his identity when the affair was over. Therefore he thrust his hand -into the side pocket of his captive’s coat. - -There was a bandanna there. When Ralph pulled it out of the pocket -something else came with it—something white that lay on the flagstone -while Ralph lashed Whitey’s wrists. When this job was done neatly and -to his satisfaction the young dispatcher picked up the fallen article -and rose to his feet. - -Whitey Malone was groaning and struggling. His cap completely muffled -his voice. He managed to roll over on his back, but he could not spit -out the cap. - -Ralph looked scrutinizingly at the thing he had drawn from the man’s -pocket. It was a soiled envelope, sealed. It was not bulky and there -was no address upon it as far as Ralph could see. He thrust it into an -inner pocket and then turned toward the door of the house into which -Zeph Dallas had so recklessly plunged. - -Zeph had instructed his friend to call the police if a row was started -upstairs. But Ralph did not want to draw the police into any -investigation of this affair. He did not know yet whether this was -railroad business or not. And, in any event, he was sure that -publicity would do no good. - -But he feared for Zeph’s safety. The fellow was so reckless! With -another glance at the prostrate Whitey, the dispatcher sprang up the -steps and opened the unlocked door. There was but a faint glimmer of -light in the hall and that from the floor above. - -Where was Zeph? Ralph dared not utter a sound. He closed the door -behind him carefully and made sure that it was tightly shut. Then he -began to grope about the lower hall of the house. - -He had brought the spoke of a wheel with him, and the grip of it gave -him confidence. But he did not want to pitch upon his friend by -mistake. He found no trace of Zeph, however. He believed the fellow -must have ventured immediately up the stairs. - -Above, Ralph heard the murmur of voices. He started up the flight, -stepping close to the wall so that the stair steps would not squeak. -This was an old and ramshackle building and every beam in it cracked -when the wind blew. - -Clinging to the wall, Ralph finally came so near the head of the -flight that he could see across the small hall at the top and into a -big room, the door of which was more than ajar. This loft seemed to be -poorly furnished and it certainly was poorly lighted. - -When the man had come to the top of the stairs with the hand lamp, he -had brought the only lamp in the place. Now it stood upon a rickety -table near one wall and he and another man were seated beside it. - -Surely the second person was not Zeph Dallas! And yet Ralph could not -see any sign of Zeph. He stepped up on the landing with great care, -and looked into the room. There was absolutely nobody there but the -pair at the table. - -Suddenly one of these moved his chair—scraped it back harshly. He -turned to look at the open door. - -“What’s the matter with you, Whitey?” he growled out. “Why don’t you -come up here? Did you get what I sent you for?” - -Ralph held his breath and remained perfectly still. He had no thought -of answering for Whitey Malone. - -But startlingly, though in muffled tone, a gruff voice said just above -him: “What’s that you want? I dunno wot you sent me for. Where’d you -send me?” - -The fellow at the table jumped up with an ejaculation more forceful -than polite. “That drunken bum! What’s he been doing, do you suppose, -Grif?” - -“You should not have trusted him, Andy,” returned the second man. “I -told you what he was.” - -The first speaker strode heavily toward the door. Ralph realized that -he was about to be discovered. And he knew something else, too: That -was, that his reckless friend, Zeph Dallas, was on the next flight -above, and had sought to imitate Whitey Malone’s voice. - -“Nice mess I’m in,” thought the young train dispatcher. - -He crouched, but gripping the spoke, his only weapon. If it came to a -fight, he purposed to have the best of the argument—and have it quick. -He was sure he knew who this fellow approaching the door was. The -other man did not have to repeat his name. - -“Whitey! what the dickens is the matter with you?” called the man. -“You know what I sent you for. Didn’t you see Perrin?” - -Ralph started. Perrin was a name he knew well. Jim Perrin was an -officer of the shopmen’s union. The union had an agreement with the -Great Northern which ran well into the next year. That was one reason -why the better element of union labor on the road would not discuss a -strike at this time. - -But, to Ralph’s mind, Jim Perrin was a sly and unfaithful fellow. He -had a bad reputation in the neighborhood where he lived. He drank and -gambled and had other habits that were inexcusable. - -If there was a secret association between Jim Perrin and these -men—especially with this fellow approaching the door—— - -Ralph was thinking of this; but involuntarily his arm went up—the arm, -the hand of which gripped the spoke of the wheel. He poised the club. -And just then, as the man’s head was thrust out of the doorway like a -turtle’s out of its shell, that crazy Zeph yelled from above: - -“Hit him, boy! Hit him!” - -It startled Ralph so that he made a fumble of it. While he hesitated -the man drew back his head with a cry of rage, and the next moment he -produced a pistol and thrust it into the hall! - -He could not have aimed at either of the young fellows; but both of -them were startled. It was touch and go—the bullet might find its -billet in either of their bodies if the man fired. - -“Who’s there?” he yelled. - -Ralph sprang half way down the stairs. He heard Zeph going up the -other flight on the jump. The man yelled again for his comrade to aid -him in the chase. - -Before Ralph reached the lower door he heard a window smashed above -and knew that Zeph Dallas had found a fire escape. He tore open the -outer door of the house and bounded through. The faint lamplight from -above must have revealed his figure, for Zeph shouted: - -“Out of the way, below! Stand aside!” - -He had come down the fire escape ladder on the run. There was no -ladder to the ground, of course, and he swung from the lower platform -to drop. - -Ralph, hearing the men coming down the lower flight of stairs, turned -and banged to the outer door and held it. The men tried to turn the -knob, but the young train dispatcher had a grip of iron. - -“All right, boy!” shrilled Zeph, as he dropped. “Where’s that chap I -overturned?” - -“He’s thrashing on his back there,” said Ralph coolly. “Let him alone. -Be ready to run.” - -“That’s the thing I’m most ready for,” admitted Zeph. “Come on!” - -Ralph leaped away from the door and followed his friend up the alley. -They were a block away in two minutes, and were not followed. Ralph -overtook Zeph and dragged him down to a walk. - -“Gee!” exclaimed Dallas, “that was a close call——” - -“And a silly one,” declared the train dispatcher. “Another of the -times when you jumped without looking. You had no business in that -house.” - -“Yes, I had. Wasn’t that Andy McCarrey?” - -“It was.” - -“Well, I’ll know him again then. I never saw him before.” - -“If that is all you wanted,” said Ralph with some scorn, “I could have -pointed him out to you a dozen times a day. He doesn’t hide himself.” - -“Huh! He was hiding away to-night, I guess.” - -“Perhaps. But it did you no good to let him know that his actions were -observed and his private messenger followed.” - -“Oh! You mean that Whitey?” - -“That is whom I mean.” - -“I bet he had something on him we ought to have got hold of,” said -Zeph, with sudden excitement. “Did you hear what McCarrey said? And -was that Jim Perrin he meant, do you suppose?” - -“Like enough,” said Ralph soberly. “I am afraid Jim is into this -strike scheme with both feet.” - -“The union ought to bounce him.” - -“He has a lot of friends. But perhaps if it could be proved that he -had a secret agreement, or understanding, with McCarrey——” - -“Wish we’d searched that Whitey,” growled out Zeph, shaking his head -mournfully. - -“If you didn’t always jump into a thing without first looking!” -exclaimed Ralph. “Well, where are you stopping?” - -“I’ve got a room on Pearl Street. You know the place? But I didn’t -think of sleeping to-night.” - -“And you won’t, after that milk and mince pie and the acrobatic -activities you have just indulged in,” said Ralph, chuckling. “I’ll go -over to the room with you. We can talk there. I’ve got something to -show you.” - -“Huh?” questioned Zeph, curiously. - -In five minutes they reached the poorly furnished rooming-house in -which Zeph was usually sheltered when he came to Rockton. It seemed as -though he had a horror of living in good quarters, or as ordinarily -respectable people lived. - -“You surely are foolish, Zeph,” declared Ralph. “There’s a good bed -and room at your disposal at our house. Mother was only speaking of it -this evening. And yet you prefer a ranch like this.” - -“As I told you, I never know what sort of a mess I may be getting -into. Don’t want to make your mother trouble. Couldn’t think of doing -more than coming to Sunday dinner and eating chicken.” - -“That’s a promise,” agreed Ralph, smiling. “I’ll order a pair of -chickens from the butcher in the morning.” - -“Now, what’s the big idea?” asked Zeph, softly, closing his room door -after having pulled the electric light chain to illuminate the place. - -Ralph looked at him grimly. “Yes,” he said, “Whitey had been on an -errand for McCarrey, and probably to Jim Perrin’s house. He was -bringing some message, or the like, from Jim.” - -“You’re guessing,” said Zeph. “We ought to have searched Whitey, as I -said.” - -Ralph drew out the sealed envelope that he had taken from Whitey -Malone’s pocket with his bandanna. He held it out to Zeph. - -“I guess this is what Whitey carried,” he said quietly. - -“Gee, you did search him!” exclaimed the other happily. “You smart -kid!” - -“The luck of fools,” rejoined Ralph, with some disdain. “If it is -anything of importance I can’t accept praise any more than you can.” - -But Zeph was already tearing open the envelope. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - SOMETHING BAD - - -Ralph Fairbanks sat down on the edge of the narrow bed and watched -Zeph open the envelope. He had all the curiosity that his friend had -about the contents of it, but he displayed more placidity. Zeph was -always as eager as a bird dog on the scent. - -“What do you suppose this is?” he murmured, drawing out a folded piece -of paper. - -“A doctor’s prescription?” suggested Ralph grimly. - -Zeph gave a look, then uttered a disappointed ejaculation. - -“Shucks! Why, it’s only a list of names. Not another thing. Four -names. Shucks!” - -Ralph held out his hand for the paper and Zeph gave it up, his face -screwed into an expression of disappointment. - -“It’s a roast for us,” he muttered. - -But Ralph made no comment—at first. He read aloud the column of names. - -“Lyons, Bertholdt, Mike Ranny, Peters.” - -“Do you know ’em?” asked Zeph, with some curiosity. - -“Perhaps. I know Mike Ranny. He has a brother Bob. Bob takes out -Number Eighty-two. He is a good engineer. But Mike is a shopman. Yes, -I guess I can identify him.” - -“And those others?” asked Zeph. - -“Perhaps. But that isn’t the first thing to do. Here is a list of -names that Whitey was carrying to Andy McCarrey. Very secret about it. -And we are led to believe the list was coming from Jim Perrin.” - -“All right! All right!” returned Zeph impatiently. “What’s the -answer?” - -“I can find out if Perrin really wrote these names down. I’ll do so -to-morrow first thing. Then we may identify the four persons named. -Just why Lyons, Bertholdt, Peters and Mike Ranny are named here to -Andy McCarrey, we can only surmise. But we may believe that the four -men belong to the shopmen’s union and Perrin has selected them for -some certain matter which McCarrey wishes put over.” - -Zeph merely nodded his head and humped his shoulders forward, staring -in Ralph’s face. - -“But remember, we are only supposing these things. Got to identify the -writing of the names and the men owning them,” the young dispatcher -continued. - -“Huh!” exclaimed Zeph. “And even then we won’t know anything. Got to -wait till something happens. Gee!” - -“You come to me to-morrow noon and I’ll know something,” said Ralph, -rising and putting away the paper in his wallet. “And then, I think, -we’d better get in touch with Mr. Adair.” - -“I’d like to have something to show him,” murmured Zeph. “Something -good.” - -“You are more likely to have something bad to show him,” returned -Ralph seriously. “I believe, Zeph, that this Andy McCarrey, with Jim -Perrin to help him, could swing more than half of the shopmen in -Rockton.” - -“It’s a queer proposition. How does it come this McCarrey butts in -here? And him not a union man, nor even an employee of the Great -Northern?” - -“I give it to you straight, Zeph,” sighed Ralph, buttoning his coat -over the wallet. “I believe McCarrey followed the new supervisor -here.” - -“What!” - -“No ‘what’ about it. Mr. Hopkins—the G. M. admitted it to me—got into -trouble on an eastern railroad. This McCarrey had a run-in with Barton -Hopkins there. As soon as Mr. Hopkins took hold here at Rockton as -supervisor of the division, McCarrey appeared.” - -“And then the trouble started?” demanded Zeph. - -“You said it. It looks like a personal fight, more than anything else, -between McCarrey and the super.” - -“But why do our men lend themselves so easily to the leadership of an -outsider like McCarrey?” - -“He’s got their number, I guess,” grumbled Ralph. “He knows how Mr. -Hopkins starts friction with the men. ‘Discipline!’ Humph!” - -“He’s a regular red flannel shirt, is he?” grumbled Zeph Dallas. “I -heard he had everybody scratching. Has he jumped you yet, Ralph?” - -“Not much. And I don’t suppose he’ll try to. We get our orders from -Mr. Glidden at main headquarters.” - -“Well,” remarked Zeph wisely, “I never saw one of these wiseacres who -try to tell everybody their business, who didn’t butt in more or less -on things that didn’t concern ’em. But, of course, Mr. Hopkins can -talk turkey to the men in all other branches of the service on this -division.” - -“He can and does. And he has got the men so sore that they are willing -to be led by anybody who promises to help them get square with the -super. McCarrey needs only to sit back and wait, and things will come -his way.” - -“That club you had just now ought to have come his way,” sighed Zeph. -“Going? Well, good-night, Ralph.” - -“Good-night. Better go to bed—if the mince pie and milk will let you -sleep. And don’t fail to show up at the offices to-morrow noon.” - -Ralph went home in a very serious frame of mind. His mother was -serious, too, the next morning, when she found the coat he had worn -the evening before had a great rent in it and two buttons torn off. - -“I never knew it to fail, Ralph,” she said, rather sharply for her, -“that when Zeph Dallas comes around you get into trouble. You have -been in a fight. Look at that scratch on your cheek. What did you do -last night?” - -“You are a wonderfully close observer, Mother,” said Ralph, laughing. -“How is it you always see so much?” - -“Indeed?” and she smiled ruefully at him. “Why shouldn’t I observe -every little thing about my son? At least, until some other woman has -a better right to him.” - -“Goodness me!” complained Ralph, with twinkling eyes. “You talk as -though I was in danger of being kidnapped.” - -“How do I know? There was the young lady you were talking of at -supper.” - -“And I believe she and her family are going to be in more trouble -before it is all said and done,” muttered Ralph. - -But he got out of explaining in detail about his adventure with Zeph -Dallas the previous evening. He knew, however, his mother was merely -in fun about Cherry Hopkins. Secretly, whenever Ralph thought of the -pretty blonde girl, he felt anxiety for her safety. Such rascals as -Whitey Malone and the other fellows who would do Andy McCarrey’s -bidding might really do Cherry serious harm. - -He went to the dispatchers’ offices early, saw that the day-trick men -were getting on all right, and then went in search of a timekeeper -who, he knew, was to be trusted. This gray-haired employee of the -Great Northern was one of those loyal men who considered any blow at -the road a blow at their own livelihood and future prospects. - -“Think you could recognize Jim Perrin’s writing wherever you saw it, -John?” the young chief dispatcher asked. - -“Jim Perrin, is it? A bad egg. It is too bad he leads so many around -by the nose. I know his handwriting well. I ought to. He has been -signing for his pay check for ten years here.” - -“Look at this,” said Ralph, thrusting the list of four names in front -of the timekeeper. “What do you think?” - -The man studied the names through his spectacles. Then he nodded. - -“I know them, too,” he said. “They are all in the shops here. Billy -Lyons, Abe Bertholdt, Micky Ranny, brother of Bob, the hoghead, and -Sam Peters. Yes, I know ’em all.” - -“That is not just what I asked you,” Ralph explained. “Who do you -think wrote those names on that paper?” - -“Oh! Oh!” cried the timekeeper. “That’s the idea, is it?” He squinted -at the four brief lines of writing. “Who wrote ’em down for you, is -it? What is this, Mr. Fairbanks? One of the new super’s efficiency -tricks, I dunno?” - -“Now, John!” exclaimed Ralph, laughing, “do you think I would lend -myself to any of his nonsense?” - -He turned around while the timekeeper was chuckling and saw Mr. Barton -Hopkins standing behind them in the doorway of the little office. The -supervisor stared at the young train dispatcher with a very grim -visage indeed. Without doubt he had heard enough to understand the -meaning of Ralph’s reply to the timekeeper. - -When the supervisor had turned on his heel and disappeared, Ralph said -to the timekeeper, with no shadow of change in his voice: - -“Well? How about it?” - -The man fumbled the leaves of a ledger and finally compared the -writing on the sheet of paper with something in the ledger. He -beckoned Ralph closer. - -“Look there, now, Mr. Fairbanks. D’you see where he has signed for his -check last week? And I could show you a hundred other signatures. -There’s the P in Peters and the same letter in Perrin. They’re like -two peas in a pod, ain’t they, now?” - -“I believe you!” - -“The little r’s in Perrin are like the little r in Bertholdt and in -Peters. D’you see?” - -“I see.” - -“That’s your answer. Jim Perrin wrote them four names with his own -fist. I’d swear to it.” - -“Thank you, John,” Ralph replied soberly. “I may have more to say to -you about this later. Keep it to yourself.” - -“Sure, sir, I’ve the tight lip on me,” said the timekeeper. - -Ralph wished, as he went back to his office, that he had had “the -tight lip” as well. He had allowed his tongue to get him in bad with -Mr. Barton Hopkins. The supervisor was the kind of man that would not -easily forget a slight. - -“He’ll easily forget that I saved his daughter from that gang -yesterday,” thought Ralph. “But he will remember that I spoke -slightingly of him to another employee. - -“I told Zeph something bad was likely to be the word he sent Mr. -Adair. Guess the ‘something bad’ may be connected with my peace of -mind. I’m going to be on the lookout from now on for Mr. Barton -Hopkins to get his gaff into me.” - -It came sooner than Ralph really expected. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - A CLASH OF AUTHORITY - - -When Zeph Dallas showed himself in Ralph’s office about noon the -latter had several points which he could lay before the enthusiastic -amateur sleuth. - -“But you musn’t go it alone any longer, Zeph,” the young train -dispatcher said. “There’s something going to break soon, and Mr. Adair -will want to know all you get wise to, and as fast as you discover it. -What do you suppose he sends you roosters out along the line for, your -health?” - -Zeph grinned. “I know he is combing every division for information -regarding a possible strike. The Great Northern doesn’t want to bring -in a private detective agency with their guards if it can be helped. I -know.” - -“All right—you know so much! Listen to this,” and Ralph told him of -his discovery through the aid of the old timekeeper. “And now here is -this man who was with Andy McCarrey last night.” - -“Who’s that? Whitey Malone? I just saw him, sobered up, but with two -beautiful black eyes.” - -“We never gave him those,” declared Ralph. “I bet McCarrey pitched -into him for losing the list Perrin sent by him. Well, that other man -I heard McCarrey call ‘Grif’ must be Griffin Falk, and he acts as -McCarrey’s secretary, or right-hand man. Mac is no literary character. -He can talk, but the words have to be put into his mouth. They say -Grif writes his speeches and handles all his correspondence.” - -“Then we know quite some to tell Mr. Bob Adair,” said Zeph, with -satisfaction. - -“You are right we do. Here is this list. I have written beside -Perrin’s writing the full names of the four men and what they do in -the shops and how they stand in the union. They will have to be -watched from now on. Well, it is nothing in my young life. I am going -to tend to my knitting and keep out of any trouble, that’s all.” - -Zeph fairly giggled. “I hear you,” he said. “But you won’t be able to -sit up in this conning tower of yours and calmly watch a ruction down -below without getting into it, and getting in with both feet.” - -“No, no! Nothing like that,” declared Ralph, smiling and shaking his -head as his friend departed. - -The young train dispatcher really meant what he said. He hated to see -things going wrong for the division—for the whole Great Northern -system, in fact. But he had his job, and his place in the railroad -system, and he did not mean to step aside. - -He considered himself quite invulnerable where he sat. He was -independent of everybody save his good friend, Glidden, at main -headquarters. As long as he managed to drive through his schedules -with some kind of regularity, Ralph felt that nobody could actually -hurt him with the company. - -But not long after luncheon one of the callboys came to the door of -his little private office and said: - -“Mist’ Hopkins wants you, Mist’ Fairbanks. Just told me. Right now.” - -“Wants me?” queried Ralph, in more surprise than apprehension. “The -super?” - -“Yep. Bet you he’s got some new way for you to run the trains. Two on -the same track, mebbe, to save wear on the iron,” and the saucy -youngster went away, chuckling. - -That is the way the entire force was considering the supervisor. Not -even the callboys had proper respect for the bothersome official. - -Ralph hesitated a little before responding to the request of Mr. -Hopkins. Hopkins had absolutely no authority over the train -dispatcher’s department. In fact, the divisional officers took orders, -to a degree, from the train dispatchers. For that department “lapped -over” onto the main and other divisions of the Great Northern. Ralph -had to handle trains to and from the other divisions of the system. - -So he hesitated about answering the call to Mr. Hopkins’ office. Any -other man in Hopkins’ place would have come to Ralph’s room and said -his little say, whatever it was. The day when a supervisor could call -a train dispatcher to account was long since past in railroading. - -Ralph looked over what was being done in his outer office before -descending the flight to the supervisor’s room. It was at the busiest -time of the day and the young chief dispatcher kept his eye constantly -on what was going on during every afternoon. He had his best men on -duty at night. - -Hopkins was drumming impatiently on his desk with a pencil when Ralph -entered. The latter secretly wished to tell him that that drumming was -“waste energy.” But the supervisor’s face did not encourage any -expression of humor. - -“I have been waiting for you, Mr. Fairbanks,” he said sharply. - -Ralph wanted to tell him the nearest way to get to his office, but he -hit it back, and waited. - -“I want to put a proposition before you,” said the supervisor. “I have -turned my thought considerably to the train dispatching on this -division. It might be greatly improved.” - -At that Ralph straightened up and his lips became a grim line. - -“I can refer you to Mr. Glidden at main headquarters,” he said -bluntly. “He will undoubtedly be glad to take up any matter of the -kind with you. I have no jurisdiction.” - -“Yes, yes! I understand all that,” said the supervisor, with a wave of -his hand. “But you know I have practically a free hand here——” - -“I have not been so informed. I still take all my orders from Mr. -Glidden,” and Ralph spoke doggedly. - -“Listen, young man! You are in no position to war with me. In my -opinion you are quite too young for your responsible position, -anyway.” - -“That can be taken up with the general manager if you choose,” said -Ralph, with a sigh, turning away. “He gave me the job.” - -“Wait!” exclaimed Hopkins coldly. “You are a very smart young man; but -you do not know everything—not even about your job.” - -“I admit the truth of your last statement, anyway,” said Ralph, -grinning slightly. “In my line there is always something to learn.” - -“Listen to me, then. I can tell you something.” - -“Very well, Mr. Hopkins,” said Ralph. “If you really have something of -importance to say, I am here to listen.” - -Ralph was not soothing in his speech. But he had heretofore been -obliged to assert himself over older men in some authority in order to -hold his position. Supervisor Hopkins was intruding, and Ralph felt -that the matter had to be stopped right here and now. - -“You understand, Fairbanks,” said the supervisor, “that I have not -called you down here for any picayune matter.” - -“I don’t know what you called me away from my duties for,” said Ralph -brusquely. “It must be important. I am listening.” - -“I do not attempt to order you to do anything.” - -“You seem to expect me to obey your call in the very busiest part of -the day.” - -“That is along the line of which I wish to speak,” said Hopkins -composedly. “I think you should be much more closely connected with -your work in the daytime. You have three men in your office between -seven in the morning and seven at night. Now, if you handled the early -short watch and the late short watch yourself——” - -“You mean the dog-watches?” demanded Ralph, in surprise. - -“Yes. I mean that you could easily arrange your hours so that you -could handle the train traffic between seven and nine a. m. and five -and seven p. m. I mean——” - -“What’s this?” demanded Ralph, not only in astonishment, but with -anger. “You want me to come down as early as seven and go away as late -as seven at night? What sort of hours are those?” - -“Remember, I am only suggesting,” said Hopkins coldly. “I take it that -you have the interest of the Great Northern at heart.” - -“And a little of the interest of Ralph Fairbanks at heart,” returned -the young fellow angrily. “Why, what chance would I have for any -freedom? I come down at nine now and go away at five. Why should I go -back to the key during the dog watches?” - -“If you will do so I can show you how you may get rid of one -operator.” - -“I don’t wish to get rid of one operator. I ought really to have -another. Let me remind you, Mr. Hopkins, the strain on a train -dispatcher and his assistants, especially under the schedules we have -to make on this division just now, is something fierce! You don’t know -what you are talking about, Mr. Hopkins.” - -“I know exactly what I am talking about, young man,” said the -supervisor grimly, and those eyeglasses of his seemed fairly to -sparkle. “I am pointing out to you a way in which you can save the -road one man’s salary——” - -“Tell that to the stockholders—don’t tell it to me!” cried Ralph -angrily. “If I can find some way of making them see at headquarters -that I need another man, I am going to do so. I know what is needed in -my department. You don’t. Keep your hands off!” - -Hopkins spoke again before the train dispatcher reached the door. - -“You would better consider my offer of advice, Fairbanks,” and his -voice was like ice. “I give you a chance, first.” - -“To whom will you give the second chance?” demanded Ralph, looking -back at him. - -“I shall place my advice before the proper authorities. They have -hired me to make this division efficient in every way. I do not like -to go over your head——” - -“Don’t let that bother you,” answered Ralph. “I shall not hold it -against you, Mr. Hopkins, if you manage to take your ideas before a -special meeting of the board. Nobody save John Glidden is going to -give me my orders. You may as well understand that right now. -Good-day!” - -He swung out of the room, closing the door with an emphatic bang. He -felt a decided warmth of satisfaction because of this throwing of his -glove at Mr. Hopkins’ feet. Yet he thought, too: - -“Well, that does settle me with Miss Cherry. I am persona non grata -there for the rest of the chapter. Humph! What cheek—what cold, brass, -gall—that man has!” - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - IT HAPPENS AGAIN - - -As soon as he got back to the train dispatchers’ department Ralph put -in a call for main headquarters and Mr. John Glidden. After a time the -switchboard operator called him and Ralph went into the booth. - -“How do the schedules go, Ralph?” asked Mr. Glidden, after briefly -greeting his young friend. “I hear you are having trouble.” - -“Trouble enough. That Midnight Flyer is the worst thing on our hands -just now, however.” - -“Number Two-o-two?” - -“Yes, sir. Two hundred and two. Believe me! It’s like crowding a fat -man through a Pullman ventilator.” - -“Well, what else is the trouble?” - -“As I have told you a dozen times, Mr. Glidden, we are short-handed.” - -“I know! I know, boy! But this system is having an economical streak -and I am afraid I cannot squeeze you through another assistant, Ralph. -Not just now.” - -“It better be now, or it will be too late,” declared Ralph. “This -efficiency expert that is running things at this terminal is going to -get to the board and show ’em that I can run this office with a -cripple and a fifteen year old boy, I shouldn’t wonder.” - -“You mean the super?” exclaimed Mr. Glidden. - -“I see you are a good guesser.” - -“Barton Hopkins is the limit!” exclaimed the chief dispatcher of the -Great Northern. “I had no idea he would have the impudence to -interfere in our affairs.” - -“I’m telling you. He has just now told me how I can work two shifts a -day myself and so save one man’s salary.” - -“Don’t pay the least attention to him, Ralph!” said Mr. Glidden -earnestly. - -“Just the same I have an idea that you are going to hear from him. And -he’ll go higher up. He is as persistent as a red ant.” - -“And just about as useful,” growled out Glidden over the wire. “And I -never did see that ants were of much use in spite of all the -philosophers. They are just a nuisance when they get into the sugar.” - -This made Ralph laugh, and when he hung up the telephone receiver he -felt better. He knew he had a friend at headquarters who would do his -best to look out for his interests. - -That afternoon, however, he had the sample of Mr. Hopkins’ dislike for -him that he had expected. When he left the railroad building and -walked down South Main Street to do an errand for his mother, he saw a -little electric runabout take the crossing at Hammerby Street and turn -toward one of the big department stores. He knew the car at a glance, -for he had seen Cherry Hopkins and her mother driving it many times. - -The women entered the store and Ralph went on about his business. Half -an hour later he was returning when he spied several young men walking -ahead of him toward the department store into which Mrs. Hopkins and -Cherry had disappeared. One of these fellows the train dispatcher -identified as Whitey Malone. - -As the gang lurched along the sidewalk, taking up more than their -share of the way, Ralph fell to a slower pace and watched them. -Opposite the Hopkins car the gang halted. Whitey stooped and seemed to -be examining the wheels on that side. Ralph quickened his pace, for he -had a feeling that Whitey Malone would do almost any mean trick which -might hurt any of the Hopkins family. - -In a moment Malone got to his feet and started after his friends. A -small boy walking near Ralph began to giggle. - -“What’s all the joy, kid?” the young dispatcher asked curiously. - -“Didn’t you see that?” demanded the youngster. - -“I didn’t see anything, I guess,” rejoined the puzzled Ralph. - -“That white-headed feller turned a cute trick then. Say, they are all -doing it! I seen a car last night—” - -At that moment Mrs. Hopkins and Cherry came out of the store. A clerk -followed them with bundles. The girl jumped in first and started the -motor. In half a minute her mother and the bundles were likewise -stowed away and the door of the car slammed. - -Ralph had halted. He did not want to pass them again. The boy, -giggling still, went along to stand and watch the car. Cherry started -and turned it, heading for the Hammerby Street crossing. Ralph noticed -that the flagman was just coming out of his shack. - -The young dispatcher slipped his watch into his palm and looked at it. -Number 43 was about due—was even now wheeling into the mouth of the -yard half a mile away. The run-about would have plenty of time to -cross the track. - -Then with a sudden intake of breath, the young fellow started. He had -seen something—evidently the thing the youngster was laughing his head -off about. The tires on the near side of the Hopkins’ car were being -deflated. - -“That scoundrel!” exclaimed Ralph. - -He knew instantly what Whitey Malone had done. The fellow had loosened -the air valves and gradually, as the weight of the car pressed on the -tires, the inflated rubber flattened. Before the car reached the -crossing it was bumping on that side, and Ralph saw Cherry slowing -down and looking out to see what the matter was. - -Unfortunately the girl did not stop immediately. While she was puzzled -about the hobbling car, she ran on. She was half way across the -tracks—exactly straddling the inbound rails, in fact—when the motor -stalled! - -The flagman, who was waiting to drop the gates when the supervisor’s -car got over, immediately lost his head. He screamed and ran toward -the car, waving his flag. The thunder of the oncoming train grew -rapidly, vibrating on the air. Ralph leaped away after the automobile. - -The flagman, seeing the car stop dead, rushed back and dropped the -gates! If the girl could have got the runabout started again, she was -shut off from escape. - -“And right on the inbound rails!” gasped Ralph. - -He saw the car could not be moved. He did not even speak to Cherry as -he ran. But he grabbed the red flag out of the crossing-man’s hand and -started up the track, waving it madly. - -It was a straight way for several rods. He knew the engineer would -soon see him. Yet he almost held his breath until he heard the shriek -of the locomotive whistle as it called for “brakes” and knew that the -driver had set the compressed air as he called the brakemen to their -unexpected duty. - -The high front of the big machine plowed toward him, looking as though -it could not be stopped at all! Ralph stepped out from between the -rails when the pilot was almost upon him. He saw the fireman hanging -out of the window on his side of the cabin, staring earnestly ahead. -The runabout seemed doomed. And the two occupants of the car had not -attempted to get out! - -“Great heavens, if she hits it!” murmured the young train dispatcher. - -He started on a staggering run back to the crossing. He was aware that -a crowd was gathering, seemingly by magic, on both sides of the -crossing. From the south appeared a tall figure that burst through the -narrow opening at the end of the gate and started for the endangered -automobile. - -Fire flew from the brakeshoes of the train and the grind and hiss of -the iron threatened flat tires on more than one wheel. Ralph, the -breath sobbing in his throat, continued to stumble on over the cinder -path. - -The tall figure he knew was that of Mr. Barton Hopkins. The supervisor -had chanced to come along just in season to see the danger of his wife -and daughter. - -But Ralph knew well enough that the man—no more than Ralph -himself—could do nothing to aid the victims of this threatened -disaster. - - - - - CHAPTER X - - THE NIGHT OF THE STRIKE - - -The locomotive stopped—and there was no crash such as Ralph had -expected. He was only a few yards behind the high step of the great -machine down which the fireman swung himself. - -“What’s the matter with those boobs?” demanded the latter. “Blocking -the road like this—huh! Wait till the super gets wise to it. He’s got -just what it costs to stop a train figgered out into cents and mills.” - -Ralph grabbed him by the shoulder and shot into his ear: “Muffle down, -Haney! That’s the super himself there, and it is his wife and girl in -the car.” - -“Great Glory and Jerusalem!” gasped the fireman. “Thanks, Fairbanks. -He’ll be as sore as a boil over this. And it’s a wonder that we didn’t -smash the thing to splinters, for our brakes don’t work any too well. -The old mill ought to be in the shops right now.” - -The fireman slipped back to warn the engineer. Ralph went on to the -crossing. Mrs. Hopkins and Cherry had now got out of the runabout. The -girl was actually keeping the woman from falling, the latter was so -much overcome. But Cherry flashed Ralph an illuminating look. Her eyes -were like stars. - -The supervisor knew exactly what to do in the emergency. Already he -had ordered the gate raised and had beckoned to some idlers to come -and lift the car. He did not take hold himself, but he ordered them -what to do. In fact, Ralph helped lift the runabout over the tracks -and out onto Hammerby Street. - -“That will do, men. Thanks,” said Mr. Hopkins coldly. He turned to his -daughter. “How did it happen? Your wheels are deflated.” - -“I don’t know. I did not understand what had happened until we were on -the crossing, Papa,” Cherry replied. - -“Somebody must have done it when the car was standing before the -store,” said Mrs. Hopkins. - -“Thank you, Ralph Fairbanks!” whispered Cherry, suddenly seizing the -young fellow’s hand. - -Hopkins wheeled and stared coldly at Ralph. “Just what has Mr. -Fairbanks done to be thanked for, Cherry?” the supervisor asked. - -“He stopped the train, Papa,” declared the girl firmly. - -“Humph! The engineer stopped the train, to be exact,” said her father -and then turned to haul the pump out from under the car seat. - -Ralph tipped his hat to the ladies and walked away. - -“In my opinion, Barton Hopkins is a pretty small man,” the train -dispatcher thought. “In any case, I may as well make up my mind to one -fact: If he can ‘get’ me he will. He is as cold-blooded as a snake. -And I guess I would better keep away from Miss Cherry, or she will get -into trouble. - -“Just the same,” he concluded, “she’s a fine girl. She could not bear -to see the little thing I did for them ignored. But, goodness me, how -the rank and file of the men hate her father!” - -He did not tell his mother this time of the happening. He had learned -it was better not to give the widow details of any possible danger -that he stepped into. She only worried the more about him when he was -out from under her eye. - -The newspapers had begun to talk of the wildcat strike extending to -this division of the Great Northern, and Mrs. Fairbanks read enough -about it in her favorite evening sheet. Ralph might have told her a -deal more—and much more to the purpose—had he chosen to. - -The feeling in the shops was a matter for grave discussion among the -officials. The older employees, and the men in the stronger -Brotherhoods, thought of and talked of little else. If the shopmen and -maintenance of way men went out there was bound to be trouble. - -Most railroad systems keep only one jump ahead of disaster in the busy -season. Locomotives and all other rolling stock have to be watched and -inspected just as closely and carefully as a good family doctor -watches his patients. A turn in the shops for the great moguls and -eight-wheelers comes more frequently than the public suspects. This -averts accidents more surely than block-signal systems or perfect -train dispatching. - -Of late the shopmen had been lax in their work, just as the section -men had been lax in their department. Disgruntled employees of any -corporation are dangerous. In the railroad business they are -frightfully so. - -Every evening when the shifts changed in the shops and yard, groups of -men stood around and talked. Sometimes some “soap-box orator” made a -speech just outside the railroad property. The railway police could -not disturb these meetings, but they worked with the city police and -soon had them stopped. - -At once Andy McCarrey and others got up in Beeman Hall and shouted -about the wrongs of the workingman and how the police were governed by -the corporation. - -“Hot air! Hot air!” said John, the old timekeeper, to Ralph. “Just the -same, Jim Perrin is doing his dirtiest in the union, too. Mark my -word, Mr. Fairbanks; there’s something going to break—and soon.” - -Ralph, however, went on the even tenor of his way and fully believed -that whatever happened, it would not affect him. He would have liked -to see Zeph Dallas again or hear from Bob Adair. - -But Zeph had disappeared right after Ralph’s last interview with him -and, day or night, the train dispatcher had seen no sign of the -fellow. He was so troubled over the night schedules, however, that -every evening he went downtown again after supper. - -“I never knew you to be so particular about your dispatching, Ralph,” -his mother complained. “Do you really expect trouble?” - -“I’ll tell you, Mother,” he said, trying to smile. “When we have to -crowd the trains so close I naturally feel anxiety. I’ve got good men -on the job. But some night I expect that Midnight Flyer or some other -important train to stall and ball up the entire schedule. - -“These wheat trains clutter up the east-bound tracks all night long. -We have had two breakdowns within forty-eight hours this week. The -yard was not cleared of west-bound freight this morning until nine -o’clock. We’re in a mess!” - -“But they cannot hold you responsible for any of the trouble,” his -mother declared loyally. - -“I don’t know. The way the super looks at me when we meet—— Humph! But -of course, Mother, I feel responsibility. I want the trains to get in -and out on time. The reports going back to main headquarters aren’t -encouraging. Although Mr. Glidden is mighty nice about it.” - -“He would be,” declared Mrs. Fairbanks. “He understands.” - -Just the same, her confidence did not greatly encourage Ralph. The day -schedule did not much trouble him, but at night it grew worse and -worse. As he had feared, with the increased number of wheat trains -trying to get through, there being a big movement of grain to Europe -at this time, most other freight was side-tracked. The passenger -trains, too, were displaced. - -Two mornings in succession the Midnight Flyer got to Hammerfest so -late that the Boise City connection was lost. Passengers had to wait -two hours. Yet the train could not be started earlier than midnight -from Rockton because the connection from the east could not be made. - -“Old Byron Marks is a has-been,” the master mechanic said to Ralph on -one occasion. “But what can _I_ do? It is out of my hands. The old man -can’t make the time, and he knows it. But he doesn’t want to fall down -on the run, either. You know what that would mean.” - -“It would give the super a chance to demand his withdrawal,” said -Ralph. - -“You bet. And Bart Hopkins is only waiting for that. If he had his -way, and if it wasn’t for the Brotherhoods, he’d scrap every man with -gray hair on the division.” - -“Can’t anybody talk with Byron and show him how to get out -gracefully?” - -“He’s as touchy as a hen with a brood of chicks. I’d like to send him -back to a switch engine. We need on that Flyer somebody like you, -Ralph. Yes, sir, it’s a run that calls for young blood!” - -But Ralph raised both hands and gestured him away from his desk. “No, -no! Tempt me not!” he cried. “Haven’t I trouble enough of my own right -here and now?” - -“But if I have to take Byron off for incompetency, and that certainly -will kill the old man, whom shall I put in his place? Every good man -is needed. This blamed new eight hour rule—well, it’s good in some -ways, of course; but it makes us short-handed.” - -The official went away grumbling. He, too, had his troubles. He had to -take his orders from the supervisor and some of them were not to his -taste. - -It is said that only the weight of the last straw broke the camel’s -back. It needed some particular event to start the conflagration that -promised to overwhelm the division, if not the whole Great Northern -system. It was as small a thing as the idea of the change in the style -of the men’s working caps that Ralph had put before the general -manager some weeks before. - -A new order was pasted on the shop board one evening—an order -promulgated by the supervisor and from his office. It was a notice to -the effect that the call boys, or others, were not to be sent out to -the lunch places near the shops to purchase lunches for the men who -wanted them, save in the men’s own time. - -That meant that nobody could send for anything to eat and drink until -the whistle blew for recess. As the lunch places and delicatessen -stores were sure to be crowded at those particular hours, either all -the workmen would have to bring cans, or those that did not must wait -half or three-quarters of an hour before they ate. - -The boys who did these errands for the shop-men were paid so meagerly -that their time cost the company but little. It was certainly a -picayune piece of business. But probably Mr. Hopkins had figured it -out to his own satisfaction that several dollars a year might be saved -to the Great Northern. - -Somebody read the inconspicuous notice on the board soon after the -night crew started working in the shops. Ralph chanced to be in the -train dispatchers’ offices when he heard the roar of the machinery in -the nearest shop subside and finally cease entirely. He went to the -window and looked out. - -“What’s happened, Chief?” asked his assistant, sitting at the -telegraph instrument. - -“I can’t make it out. Why! there goes Benson, the stationary engineer. -He’s shut down the power! Why, Johnny, they are crowding out of the -shop!” - -“Strike!” ejaculated the operator, and opened his key. - -“Wait! Let me be sure,” cried Ralph, and darted to the door and down -the stairs to the yard. - -It was only a few rods to the first shop. He saw the men, angry and -blusterous, crowding out of the doors like disturbed ants. He found -one coherent man whom he knew, and got the story of the supervisor’s -latest order. - -“Hold on! What are you fellows going to do?” Ralph demanded of this -man. - -“We’re going to hold a meeting. Beeman’s Hall. We’ll stand no more of -this blamed foolishness. Anyhow, we won’t stand for that cut in wages -they say is coming. I tell you, Fairbanks; the whole road is going to -the dogs.” - -“And you propose to help it go there, do you?” Ralph demanded. - -But he knew it was useless to argue the matter. The men were red hot. -They were discarding the advice and the orders of their own union -officials. Andy McCarrey was about to see his cherished plans come to -fruition. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - MORE FRICTION - - -Ralph Fairbanks disliked to do it. But it seemed that he was the first -responsible person about the railroad building to mark the beginning -of the wildcat strike of the shopmen. Somebody had to tell Barton -Hopkins, and it seemed the duty devolved upon him. - -“The old man will be mighty sore,” said Johnny, the operator. “I’d -better shoot the news to main headquarters, hadn’t I?” - -“Yes,” replied Ralph, going into the telephone booth. - -He asked the operator for Mr. Hopkins’ house number. It was not very -late in the evening and he knew Mr. Hopkins could not have gone to -bed. But it was several minutes during which he heard the indicator -buzzing again and again, before he received any answer. - -Then it was not the supervisor’s sharp voice that said: “Mr. Hopkins’ -residence. What is wanted?” - -“Oh, my gracious, Miss Cherry! Is that you?” asked the young train -dispatcher, anxiously. - -“Ralph Fairbanks! What has happened?” - -In spite of his excitement Ralph noted—and was glad!—that the girl -recognized his voice so quickly. - -“I am at headquarters, Miss Cherry! Something has happened that your -father should know about.” - -“He has gone out. We expect him back any moment. Tell me what it is, -Mr. Fairbanks!” - -“The men have struck!” - -“What—what made them?” - -“Oh, it was coming. It could not be helped,” Ralph hastily assured -her. “I don’t know how far it will spread. Tell your father as soon as -you see him, will you, please? I will stay here till he comes. Don’t -know: Maybe the yardmen will go out. If they do——” - -He hung up without finishing his sentence. Through the glass door of -the cabinet he had seen one of the call boys rush into the outer -office. - -“Hey! Where’s Fairbanks?” the boy demanded. “Hey, Mist’ Fairbanks! -Dooley wants you down the yard.” - -“Dooley? At the switch shanty? What for?” - -“The feller driving the kettle has flew the coop!” answered the -excited boy. “They are all striking!” - -“Not one of the engineers?” gasped Ralph. - -“Aw, that feller’s a new one. He wasn’t long on the job. Been talking -strike ever since he started to work here,” explained the call boy, -keeping alongside of Ralph as the latter started down the wide stairs. -“He is a no-good, take it from me. Dooley’s near ’bout crazy. He -started to chase the feller back on the kettle with a switchbar, but -the man could run too fast. Somebody’s got to take the throttle on -that kettle or there won’t be no more switchin’ done in this yard -to-night.” - -“Why haven’t you been sent for a substitute?” the train dispatcher -asked the voluble youth. - -“Ain’t one on the list that ain’t done his eight-hour shift and four -overtime. All but the crews for the regular runs. You wouldn’t expect -me to go after old By Marks, would you, to drive that yard kettle?” - -Ralph laughed shortly. He was very well aware how short the division -was of engineers and firemen. The twelve-hour rule, while it was a -good thing and a needed improvement, had disorganized the entire Great -Northern crew system. The system had never got properly into step with -the new idea. - -Just why Dooley should have called him, Ralph did not guess at first. -Save that he might be the only person in authority about the -headquarters at this hour. Dooley never had shown much initiative as -yardmaster. But he was a good worker. - -He came at the young train dispatcher, swinging his arms and yelling -at the top of his voice: - -“What do you know about this? These—these puppy-dogs! That fried egg -that run the switcher—Aw! What’s the use talkin’? He’s took it on the -run. He’d better. I’d have knocked his head off if he hadn’t run twice -as fast as I could with my game leg.” - -“What’s the answer, Dooley? What do you suppose I can do for you?” - -“You can handle that kettle. You’ve got to——” - -“What, _me_?” gasped Ralph. “I’m not an engineer any more. You want to -ruin my reputation, Dooley?” - -“Stop blitterin’,” scolded the old yardmaster. “I know you, Ralph -Fairbanks. You are workin’ for the Great Northern just as I am. Look -at the fireboy there, Jimmy. He stuck. But he ain’t allowed by the -rules to handle the throttle that his superior deserted.” - -“And you expect me to break the rules?” - -“You still have your Brotherhood card. I know it. You are in good -standing. We have got to show these mutts that real men don’t throw -the road down—and cut off their own food supply—to run after that -crazy Andy McCarrey.” - -“All right. I’m with you, as far as that goes,” said Ralph quickly. -“But I don’t know about this thing you ask me to do. My own job——” - -“You are not on the job now. That I know full well,” said the anxious -yardmaster. “Do, for the love of Mike, Ralph, get aboard that dirty -little kettle and kick together the cars for west-bound Eighty-seven. -She’s scheduled to leave the yard, as you well know, in twenty-five -minutes,” and he snapped his big watch back into his pocket. - -“What will the super say?” asked Ralph weakly. - -The idea was taking hold of him. After all, the blood in his veins was -the blood of the engine-driver! Once an engineer, always an engineer. -Ralph could not get away from the fact that his fingers thrilled—and -always would thrill—to the touch of the throttle and the Johnson bar. - -Dooley wildly said his say about the supervisor while he grabbed -Ralph’s arm and half dragged him over to the steaming switch engine. -Jimmy, the faithful fireman, stood on the little deck. - -“You know Mist’ Fairbanks, Jimmy,” said the yardmaster. “He’ll help us -out. The saints will be good to you, boy, for sticking to the -fireshovel and bar. Now, git busy. Here’s the list for Eighty-seven, -Ralph. I’ve kept the crew together. Nagle is captain. Go to it!” - -He hurried away as Ralph slowly climbed aboard. The young fellow had -no more right on the little switcher than an outsider. But the -situation demanded drastic action. And if Mr. Hopkins did not appear -to interfere, Ralph might help out the old yardmaster in this -emergency. - -In a way, too, he was helping himself. If Eighty-seven did not get out -of the yard somewhere near on time, the train would ball up the train -dispatcher’s schedule. - -Ralph grabbed the suit of overalls the fireman threw him and struggled -into them. The steam was up and there was plenty of coal in the -bunker. He tried the water-gauge himself, then felt out the various -levers and cocks under his hand. A lantern was giving him the “high -sign” down the yard. He opened her up carefully and trundled the -little engine out on the cluttered track. - -Under the radiance of the fixed bull’s-eye beside him, Ralph -scrutinized the numbers of the cars in the string he was expected to -pick up. Here were four gondolas loaded with pig-iron first on the -list. Really, in making up a well-balanced freight, these four cars -should come about the middle of the train, to “stiffen her back.” So -much weight next the locomotive made hard switching and, when the -regular engine crew took the train for the western pull, they -certainly would blame the yard crew for making it up so clumsily. - -But Ralph saw that the four gondolas fairly “blanked” the remainder of -the train—like a broken cork in the neck of a bottle. Had there been -full and plenty of time, he would have shunted the heavy cars upon a -siding and picked them up after laying out about half the cars that -were on the list the yardmaster had given him. - -Nagle, the conductor of Eighty-seven, ran along and boarded the -switcher as Ralph dropped her down to couple on to the gondolas. -Nagle’s eyes popped open like a scared cat’s when he saw who was -handling the switcher’s throttle. - -“Jerusalem! is the G. M. himself going to take a hand in this strike, -too, I dunno?” he demanded. - -“I shouldn’t wonder. I have seen him take to the deck of a mountain -hog himself on occasion, Nagle,” admitted Ralph. - -“It’s right you are. And more than me is remembering that same, Ralph, -when these crazy loons ask us to go out with them against the orders -of our Brotherhood chiefs. We’ve worked hand in hand with the old G. -M. and many another of the brass-collared crew on this road. These -poor simps that are following McCarrey will be sorry enough in the -end.” - -“I am glad to hear one man talking sense, Nagle,” said Ralph. “Now, -how do these cars stand?” - -“Of course, you know, these four you’ve grappled are the worst of the -lot?” - -“It looks so. And whoever drove them in here must have known he was -going to make the yard crew trouble.” - -“Like enough. There are more soreheads on this division at the present -time than you can shake a stick at! And no wonder. That super——” - -“Old stuff! Old stuff, Nagle!” advised Ralph, in haste. “Time is -flying.” - -“What will you do with these four gondolas?” - -“I am going to throw them onto number four switch. They can’t stay -there but five minutes, of course, for Number Twenty-eight is due -then. But if we work smartly we may get half-a-dozen boxes tacked on -ahead of the gondolas.” - -“Good boy!” and the conductor swung down to the cinder path. - -“Put a couple of huskies on those gondolas. They must brake at the -right time,” warned Ralph. - -The conductor waved his hand. A moment later, as Ralph eased the heavy -quartette of cars into motion, he saw two brakemen climb aboard—one at -the head and one at the tail of the four. He knew that, properly -governed by the hand brakes, those two brakemen could place the -gondolas just right on number four siding. - -It was a short piece of track. It opened at the lower end right out -onto the eastbound main track. The switcher dragged the heavy cars up -and out into the clear and then “kicked” them off onto the short -siding. - -The coupling pin was tripped and the switcher came to a stop. Ralph -leaned far out to watch the rolling stock slow down. - -“Looks to me as though that far brakie is taking his time winding up,” -the fireman shouted. - -“Who is that fellow? Hi! Make the switch on the fly, Jimmy, and we’ll -run down——” - -“Here comes Twenty-eight, sir!” said Jimmy quickly. “If that fellow -hasn’t stopped her in the clear——” - -They just then got the high sign from down the yard. The long freight -then due was steaming in. Ralph had a feeling that all was not right -with those heavy gondolas. They had been stopped, and of course were -braked. Yet the fellow on the tail-end seemed to have been very slow -about the work. He was the only person who knew whether or not the -four cars of pigiron were too near the main track. - -The switcher had to answer the far signal. Ralph ran her ahead and -then backed onto the cross-over and so upon the long siding where he -was to pick up the next batch of cars. The whistle of Twenty-eight’s -locomotive suddenly emitted a signal. - -“Something’s the matter, boss!” yelled Jimmy, swinging himself up to -the deck again. - -And on the heels of what he said, and before the switcher carried them -within sight of the tail-end of the four gondolas, there sounded a -ripping crash that awoke the echoes over half of Rockton! On the -instant the head-end of Twenty-eight, save her locomotive, was -scattered over both main tracks. The yard was blocked! - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - TREACHERY - - -The heavy freight train broke in two. The locomotive plowed on for a -few rods, and stopped. The switcher which Ralph Fairbanks was driving -stopped just opposite the wreck. - -One glance was all that was necessary to show Ralph the cause of the -disaster. The four heavily laden gondolas had been allowed to run a -few feet too far. The corner of the gondola at the end stuck out over -the curve of the switch and the first box car on Number Twenty-eight -had caught upon its steel corner. - -This corner had ripped the sides of two box cars open; then the ruined -cars had crashed over onto the other main track. Two following cars -had jumped the rails and—— - -“A four hour job for the wrecking crew, aside from the damage done,” -declared Ralph to Nagle, when he came running up with Dooley, the -yardmaster. “Where is the brakie you sent to guard that tail-end, -Nagle?” - -“The rascal!” yelled the conductor. “He’s taken it on the run. We -haven’t had him on the line but a few weeks. It is my opinion there -are a lot of wabblies got jobs on this division just for the chance of -hurting the road.” - -“I’ll fix ’em if I catch ’em!” yelled Dooley, almost frothing at the -mouth he was so wild. - -The whistle was blowing the signal for the wrecking crew. All that -Ralph could do was to go on with his task. As it happened, the wreck -would not interfere with getting Number Eighty-seven out of the yard. - -He picked up one bunch after another of the cars numbered on his list, -while the derrick was being brought up to clear the tracks and jack -the unhorsed cars upon the rails again. Ralph knew that his assistant -would be much troubled by this break in the schedule; but there were -certain routine things to do about it, and that was all. Trains would -have to be held outside in both directions until the main tracks in -the yard were cleared. - -Not more than twenty minutes late the young fellow saw the big mogul -backed down to the long string of cars and coupled on. The switcher -was steaming on a side track, waiting for the next job. Eighty-seven -pulled out of the yard safely and soon its parting hoot-too-hoot! -could be heard beyond the hill. - -“Now what?” asked Ralph, as Dooley came along with another clip of -papers in his hand. - -So much had been going on during the last few minutes that he had -quite forgotten his own schedule. The excited Dooley was about to pass -him up his list for the next freight when a tall figure came striding -across the tracks from the vicinity of the wreck. - -“Cheese it!” gasped the fireman. “Here comes the Great-I-Am.” - -Mr. Barton Hopkins showed in his face about as much expression as -Ralph had ever seen him display. And that expression was one of anger. - -“What is going on here, Yardmaster?” he demanded harshly. “Are you -ready with your report on that accident yonder?” - -“I don’t know much about it,” said the boss doubtfully. “I didn’t see -it. Mebbe Mr. Fairbanks, here——” - -This was shifting the responsibility in good truth. At another time -Ralph might have been angry at Dooley. But he knew that the old man -was much perturbed. Mr. Hopkins turned his scowling visage on the -young train dispatcher. - -“What is Mr. Fairbanks doing on that switch engine?” asked the -supervisor. “I understand that he was at fault in this accident. He -kicked the pig-iron cars too far over the switch.” - -“Look here, Mr. Hopkins!” exclaimed Ralph, leaning from the window of -the little cabin in sudden heat. “Who told you any such thing as -that?” - -“I am so informed. My informant will doubtless appear at the proper -time—when the case is thrashed out in my office.” - -“I’ll have some testimony to bring in, too, at that,” said Ralph -hotly. “Only I doubt right here and now, Mr. Hopkins, your power to -take me into your office. I am train dispatcher of this division——” - -“Stick to your job, then,” put in Mr. Hopkins sharply. “I ask you: -What are you doing on that switch engine?” - -Ralph came down from the deck on the run. He tore off the overalls. -His face blazed. He had to wait a moment to control his voice he was -so angry. - -“If you think I have stepped in here where I have no business, believe -me, I can get out,” he said. “I had no idea of turning in a time card -for what I was doing. I helped out because I wanted to see things -move. Dooley——” - -“Mr. Dooley much overstepped his authority when he allowed you to -drive that switcher. He knew it—and knows it, now.” - -“What in thunder would I have done, Mr. Hopkins?” broke in the excited -yardmaster. “Not a man on the list could I call——” - -“It was a matter to put up to your superior.” - -“Well, now!” roared the angry old man, “where was _you_ when I needed -to start things going after that danged striker hopped his job? Should -I sit down and let the yard go stale and all this freight hang fire -while I waited to consult you, Mr. Hopkins?” - -“That is exactly what you should have done,” declared the supervisor -in the same decisive way. - -“Great Grief and Jumping Dromedaries!” yelled Dooley, and he literally -went up into the air. “It is no wonder the men are striking. I don’t -blame ’em! I am on strike myself from this moment——” - -He threw the clip of papers into the air, and it went hurtling over -the nearest line of boxcars. His cap he snatched from his head and -flung it yards away in the other direction. The man was for the moment -mad! - -“I’m on strike! I’m on strike meself!” he bawled. “Me, that’s never -gone out with the boys no matter what happened, for the last thutty -years. I’m on strike!” - -“You are mistaken, Dooley,” cut in the icy voice of the supervisor. -“You have not struck. You are discharged. Hand in your time and go. -You are discharged for insubordination and inefficiency. I’ll take -your keys.” - - * * * * * - -“Well,” said Ralph, talking it over later with his assistant operator -as they were trying to untangle the trains in the yard and those -waiting on the near-by blocks, “we must hand it to supervisor Barton -Hopkins. He is personally efficient. He found a day man to take poor -Dooley’s place, he got a man for the switcher, and he dressed down the -whole yard crew and set them to work again in an hour.” - -“But how long are they going to work?” grumbled the operator. “They -all act like whipped dogs. That isn’t the way to run a division.” - -“It is his way of running it. And the G.M. says he is suiting the -stockholders and directors right down to the ground. Oh, the railroad -business is on the toboggan!” - -“Ha ha!” croaked the operator. “You sound like these other old -stagers. I haven’t been in the game so long as you have, Fairbanks, -although I am older than you. The pay is good and the hours not bad. -Believe me! I’ve had worse jobs than train dispatching.” - -“Oh, so have I. But I feel at a time like this that I’d like to be -into the game right, instead of sitting up here overlooking a railroad -yard and making pin-pricks on a road map.” - -“Going back to the locomotive lever?” - -“Do you know,” said Ralph earnestly and softly, “while I was fiddling -down there on that little old yard engine, I felt _right_. I wouldn’t -want my mother to know it, for she always worried when I had a run, -but I believe I was born for the throttle. I’m an engineer, and I -always will be.” - - * * * * * - -The morning paper was full of the strike of the shopmen, and the -threat was made by McCarrey that the yardmen and switchers would be -out within twenty-four hours. - -“We’re going to stop every wheel from turning on this division of the -Great Northern,” the strike leader told the reporters. “And before we -are through, we’ll plug both ends of the system so tight that the -officials will have to come to our terms.” - -“How about the Brotherhoods?” he was asked. - -“That is bunk,” McCarrey declared. “The Brotherhood members are -practically all with us. They don’t have to strike. We are going to -strike for them. The roads can’t run trains if they have no shop -workers or maintenance of way men. The engineers and firemen won’t -take out trains after a while when they can’t get repairs made or road -work kept up or switching done. No, sir, we’ve got ’em where we want -’em. Watch us.” - -“I guess they ought to be watched, all right,” Ralph told his mother -at his late breakfast. “I wonder what Zeph is doing? I wonder where -Mr. Adair is?” - -“I should think you wouldn’t worry about them,” said the widow. “They -have their own work. You have yours, Ralph. Please don’t get mixed up -in this ugly business.” - -“I guess you are quite right, Mother,” he said gravely. “I am glad to -be in the train dispatching department. Of course, we are going to -have a great deal of trouble putting any schedule through. But I do -not believe the telegraphers will go on strike. My men, at least, are -faithful.” - -“Faithful to you or to the road?” asked his mother. - -“To both, I firmly believe,” said Ralph confidently. “Why, I can’t -understand any responsible employee going out for so little cause. -Hopkins has made them all sore, it is true. But they can’t give that -as a good reason. And the cut in wages was only threatened. The -Brotherhoods took their cut months ago, even if it was a bitter pill -to swallow. It is mainly such men as McCarrey who really are not even -railroad men. Why, he never had a job on the Great Northern, as I -understand.” - -“Do you actually believe that he followed Mr. Hopkins here to make -trouble?” - -“I bet he did. But it is Hopkins’ own fault if he gives McCarrey a -chance to make trouble.” Mrs. Fairbanks sighed. “I am sorry for his -family. You say his daughter is an attractive girl, Ralph?” - -“That’s the surest thing you know, Mother,” declared Ralph, smiling -reflectively. “I had her on the wire last evening when I sent word to -her father that the shopmen had gone out. She has a sweet voice.” - -His mother looked at him again in some doubt. - -“I never knew you to be so greatly interested in a girl before, -Ralph.” - -“I never knew a girl before who was so worth while,” he replied. “And -there’s no nonsense about her. You’ll like her when you know her, -Mother.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - NEWS FROM SHADOW VALLEY - - -This was a day to be remembered in Rockton. Ralph passed a parade of -the wildcat strikers and their sympathizers on his way to the office. -A good many of the marchers were drunk. That was bad, for it showed -that somebody was furnishing a supply of liquor forbidden under the -prohibition régime. - -“I’ve an idea,” Ralph thought to himself, “that McCarrey and Grif Falk -have a secret place to store liquor in, in that old house where Zeph -and I had our run-in with them the other night. Wish Zeph would show -up. I’d like to know what he told Mr. Adair about it.” - -He saw uniformed police at the yard gates and standing at the railroad -crossing when he got downtown. But he observed none of the men in -plain clothes he knew who belonged to the railroad police. Mr. Adair -did not believe in making a show of force at a time of trouble like -this, if it could be avoided. - -Extras of the evening papers soon began to appear on the street. Wild -rumors were rife. It was said that the maintenance of way men on other -divisions of the Great Northern were about to walk out. - -The day shifts of men in the Rockton shops had not even come to work. -The yard crews, who were more closely affiliated with the big -Brotherhoods, were remaining at work. And yet, as Ralph could easily -sense, nothing was going right in the yard or around the offices. - -The clerks in the freight offices had some kind of association with -McCarrey’s new union, and when Ralph had occasion to go down the -platform he saw these clerks buzzing like mad bees. - -“If the super comes this way these fellows will get something in their -ears they won’t want to hear,” Ralph remarked to one of the platform -men. “How do you stand, Mandell?” - -“I stand for my bread and butter. I’ve always got my wages regularly -and been treated decently by the road; at least, until this Hopkins -came. I’ve been here fifteen years and have seen five or six supers -come and go. I may be here fifteen more and see as many supers in -charge. If this Hopkins tells me I can’t spit on the platform, well, -then, I’ll go spit over the side. Ha! Them shopmen last night boiling -out of the shop because of a simple order like that! They’re a bunch -of dumb-bells.” - -All the employees did not feel the same way, however; and that Ralph -right well knew. He believed it would not take much more to cause the -yard workers, the switchmen, the freight clerks, and other employees, -to desert their jobs. - -He had very little time to give thought to this or other general -matters. That wreck in the yard the night before had balled the -service up badly. - -The Midnight Flyer had got out ten minutes late and Byron Marks had -been unable to make up even that small handicap in the four hours’ run -to Hammerfest. There was a protest from the general manager about -this. It did not touch Ralph’s department, of course; but it was sent -to him in duplicate. He knew that the supervisor would be red hot. - -When Marks brought his train back that day he had managed to make -time. Ralph himself had kept the tracks clear for him, and the old -fellow should have been thankful. But Mr. Hopkins met the express on -the platform as it steamed to a stop. - -In that cold voice of his, and with a careful selection of words that -bit like acid on a man’s soul, the supervisor reprimanded the old -engineer before his crew and all the idlers who had gathered around. -It was an unkind thing to do; and yet, there was good reason for the -supervisor’s anger. - -Ralph stood by and listened. The locomotive that drew the flyer and -this return train was practically new. It was the latest thing in a -coal-burning, Class-A locomotive. Marks had every chance, it would -seem, to make the schedule, close as it was. Another driver could have -done it, Ralph was sure. - -The old engineer swung down from the cab and allowed one of his -firemen to take the machine out to the roundhouse. He had his -lunch-can and coat with him. He stood like a whipped dog and took the -tongue-lashing the supervisor gave to him. Ralph had to go away from -there. He could not listen to it. Byron Marks did not possess a proper -sense of his own position. - -The young train dispatcher hoped that the old man would ask for a -substitute for the next run. But he appeared at night in season to -take the big locomotive out of the roundhouse. He had one virtue, at -least. Stubbornness. - -That day had been an anxious one around divisional headquarters. Ralph -had gone home for supper as usual; but he had come right downtown -again. The strikers were holding a continuous meeting in Beeman Hall -and the police were in attendance to keep the speakers from going too -far. It was told Ralph that many yardmen, switchmen and section men -had attended the meeting and that the small unions of railroad workers -were all but disorganized. - -One shop was running with a crippled crew. The supervisor certainly -was efficient himself. He could report that the wheels in that shop -were turning. Ralph saw that Mr. Hopkins was on the job this evening. -Plainclothes men, belonging to the railroad squad, were on duty about -the terminal, roundhouse, and yard. - -Every hour or so some part of the planned schedule for the trains on -the division had to be scrapped. Ralph was glad he was on hand this -evening when these changes had to be made. Johnny was a good man, but -he was beginning to get rattled. And a train dispatcher who loses his -head endangers everything. - -It was along in the evening and the traffic was easing up for a while -in the terminal yards when a message addressed to “Chief Dispatcher, -Rockton” came over the wire, and Johnny took it off. - -“Shadow Valley,” he said. “That is where the Midnight Flyer always -loses time. What kind of country is that?” - -“A wild place. The Shadow Valley Station is at this end; Oxford is at -the far end. Some fifty miles long. The Midnight Flyer stops at both -stations. Little but timber towns in between. Great tourist country in -the summer. Hullo! What’s this?” - -“It’s in code, I reckon,” said Johnny, seeing Ralph’s puzzled face. -“Haven’t you got the key? It is aimed at you, all right.” - -Ralph repeated the message aloud: - - “What is Whitey M. doing in Shadow Valley? Wake up B. - A.—X. Y. Z.” - -“That is as mysterious as a hobo Mulligan,” remarked Johnny, grinning. - -“What do you know about that!” muttered Ralph, and without explaining -to his assistant he went to the telephone booth with the telegram in -his hand. - -He was so well acquainted with the vagaries of Zeph Dallas’ mind that -he knew at once this was his signature. Zeph had just that twist to -his mind that, if he were sent for a pail of milk, he would try to -disguise both himself and the milk. - -“There must be something doing over there at Shadow Valley,” muttered -Ralph. “And ‘Whitey M.’ means just one person, and one only. I haven’t -seen that fellow since we had the run-in with him that night in the -alley. Humph!” - -He called down to the supervisor’s office. If Bob Adair was in -Rockton, Ralph believed the supervisor would know how to reach him. -Ralph knew that Mr. Hopkins was in the building. But he was surprised -to hear his voice almost immediately answer the telephone call. - -The young fellow would have been even more surprised could he have -seen who was with the supervisor at this hour. A man in a long dark -coat and slouch hat had come into the supervisor’s office unannounced -not many minutes before. Mr. Hopkins had evidently been expecting him. - -“Well, what do you find?” asked Hopkins, pushing his cigar box toward -the visitor and lighting a cigar himself. Somehow the supervisor did -not consider the use of tobacco an inefficient thing. - -“Nothing to put our finger on as yet, Mr. Hopkins,” was the reply. “Of -course we might arrest McCarrey and his right-hand man, Falk. But we -should have to let them go again for lack of holding evidence. There -was a time—during the war—when we could have stopped them. But not -now. Now a man can fire off his mouth about as much as he likes -without getting into trouble. These fellows aim their talk at the -railroad, not at the Government.” - -“You should be able to get them on some count,” declared Hopkins, -smoking energetically. “McCarrey is stirring up the strikers to make -trouble. I have had a written threat that the express passenger trains -will be stopped. You know what that would mean.” - -“All bull,” said the other shortly. - -“Perhaps. And perhaps not. I was hooted at by a gang as I came -downtown to-night. They will soon begin to throw missiles and break -windows.” - -“Then we will have them, individually,” said the visitor, with some -satisfaction. - -“Ha!” grumbled Mr. Hopkins. “Somebody lights a fire and you retrieve -the burned match. But you don’t stop the fire. The fellows you arrest -for throwing stones—or cabbages—will not be the dangerous ones. -McCarrey and Falk and those others go scot-free.” - -“They are too sharp to really break the law—unless it is with their -mouths,” the other admitted. - -“You should be able to round up the whole gang of trouble-instigators -and put them in jail.” - -“You expect the impossible.” - -“I do not know that. You have only just now come to Rockton——” - -“I have had my men here. One of my helpers spotted that hide-out I -tell you about—with the help of young Ralph Fairbanks.” - -“Ha! _That_ fellow?” - -“The smartest boy working for the Great Northern,” declared the -visitor promptly. “That old ranch McCarrey and his men hang out in is -a storehouse for liquors, I believe—and perhaps worse. I am having the -place watched. But one of McCarrey’s closest friends has disappeared. -Would certainly like to know what has become of Whitey Malone.” - -It was just at this moment that the supervisor’s telephone rang. At -this hour there were no clerks to answer the call. Mr. Hopkins excused -himself and went into the booth and closed the door. - -When he came out he was red with anger and his pale blue eyes flashed. -His visitor appeared to overlook the supervisor’s disturbance. He -said: - -“This Whitey Malone has been McCarrey’s messenger and dirt-carrier. -From the moment the shopmen struck, Whitey disappeared, so they tell -me. I am going to send out a general order to apprehend the fellow -wherever he is found. We will risk a little something. I understand he -is really on probation and the magistrate might send him to jail if he -appears not to be working.” - -The supervisor evidently had his own matters to think of. He did not -even grunt. - -“I wonder if Ralph Fairbanks knows anything about Whitey,” considered -Hopkins’ visitor aloud, and slyly watching the supervisor. - -The question finally brought the latter to life. He flushed up to his -bald brow. - -“_That_ fellow? He is perfectly useless. I will put a flea into the -directors’ ears about him,” Hopkins snarled, with unusual show of his -feelings. - -The other got up, lazily stretched himself and nodded. “Just so. -Matter of opinion, Mr. Hopkins,” he said. “Some of us think quite well -of Ralph. You see, we have known him since he was a kid-hostler about -the roundhouse. Good-night.” - -“Good-night,” returned Barton Hopkins shortly. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - A TRAGEDY - - -There was a fight down by one of the stockade gates not long after -Ralph telephoned to Mr. Hopkins to learn if the supervisor knew -anything about Bob Adair. It might as well be said that the young -train dispatcher got no satisfaction from Barton Hopkins. - -“I am not giving information of railroad affairs to anybody, -Fairbanks, and you should know that,” the supervisor had said shortly. -“If the chief detective wishes to interview you, he doubtless will -know how to find you.” - -“But I’ve got some information for him!” ejaculated Ralph. - -Mr. Hopkins hung up without further reply. He evidently considered it -sheer impudence for the train dispatcher to have called him. It was -within the next ten minutes that the row started at the yard gate. - -Ralph grabbed his cap and ran down to see what it was all about. The -time was verging toward midnight. Freight trains had been made up as -usual and sent out. But outside the railroad property a crowd had been -gathering, and the yard crews were hooted and threatened. - -The train dispatcher was too late to take any part in the fight. But -he learned that the attack had been made upon several of the members -of the night train crews that were coming in by this gate because it -was nearest to the roundhouse. - -The police had charged and aided the railroad men in driving back the -strike sympathizers. Missiles had been thrown and one of the men -attacked had had his coat torn off. When Ralph got close to this man -he saw that it was old Byron Marks, engineer of the fast express. - -“For pity’s sake, By!” he demanded, as he aided the old engineer away -from the center of the mêlée, “why didn’t you come around the other -way?” - -“I didn’t want to see that blamed supervisor again,” gasped the -engineer, wiping the blood from his scratched face. Then he held a -hand tightly upon his heart as though to still it. He was very pale, -save for crimson spots beneath his cheekbones. “I’d rather fight these -rats than talk to Hopkins.” - -“Be a man!” exclaimed Ralph. “Don’t let that man scare you.” - -“He’s no easy man to meet,” returned the old engineer. “He can put the -gaff into you, if he likes.” - -“The Brotherhood is behind you. Tell him where he gets off. The road -is short of engineers. He won’t dare tie the can to you. You know -that.” - -“Don’t talk! Don’t talk, Ralph!” whispered the engineer. “I know what -is threatening me better than you do. I’m growing old. And I can’t -afford to drop out on a pittance.” - -“Why, you must have something, Byron,” said the train dispatcher. -“After all these years at a good wage——” - -“Nothing. Just a little home. And that mortgaged. Sickness in the -family and an invalid child has taken all I could make. Death in a -wreck, or the like, is the only good thing that could come to me.” - -“My gracious! Don’t talk like that.” - -“It is true. I carry a big accident policy. If I’m killed my family is -well fixed. If I get canned, we’ll starve. That’s about the size of -it,” and the old man walked away, leaving Ralph with a lump in his -throat. - -“And I’ve been blaming this old fellow for not pulling out and letting -some younger man have his run,” thought the young train dispatcher -bitterly. “We never know! Old Byron deserves pity, not blame. A long -life gone, and nothing much to show for it. Well!” - -The rabble was driven back and broken up by the police. Two or three -rioters were arrested. And that, as Ralph knew, did more harm than -good. Every strike sympathizer that was arrested made a whole family -sore at the railroad. The strikers themselves were sharp enough to -keep away from the scene of trouble. - -The big eight-wheeler was being rolled out of the roundhouse as Ralph -turned back toward the brick station. He saw By Marks, his face washed -of blood, and now in a clean overall suit, sitting on the bench in the -driver’s side of the cabin, as the huge locomotive wheeled across the -turntable. - -“Good luck to you, old man!” cried Ralph, and waved his hand to the -grave-faced engineer. - -Afterward Ralph was glad he had given Byron this hail. The long train -of varnished cars had been standing under the train shed for half an -hour. The train on the other road rolled in at the far end of the -station and the passengers piled out and joined those already -occupying their staterooms or berths in the coaches of the Midnight -Flyer. - -Suddenly Ralph was halted. A hand had fallen heavily on his shoulder -and he turned swiftly to look at the person who had touched him. It -was the tall man in the long black coat who had been sitting in the -office of the supervisor. Ralph cried out with satisfaction. - -“Mr. Adair! I certainly am glad to see you!” - -“I was looking for you, Ralph. But I supposed you were at home at this -hour and I hated to disturb your mother,” said the chief detective of -the Great Northern system. - -“Oh, no. I am around the offices now, every night. Until this Midnight -Flyer pulls out, at least.” - -“I don’t suppose the supervisor knows that, does he?” asked Adair -dryly. - -“He knows it to-night, anyway,” said Ralph, grimly. “I was just asking -him for you—or if he knew where you were.” - -“Indeed? And he said he didn’t know?” - -“He gave me to understand that he was not giving out information to -underlings,” and Ralph laughed shortly. “Oh, well! let that pass. I -had something to show you, and here it is.” - -He hauled out the strange message that he believed had come from Zeph -Dallas. Mr. Adair read it swiftly. - -“That’s just the thing I wanted to know!” he exclaimed. “Hang that -Hopkins, anyway! He takes himself as altogether too important. Why, -Malone is the man I am after!” - -“You don’t really think that poor, half-witted fellow can be of real -importance in any conspiracy against the road?” asked Ralph, -wonderingly. - -“He has got wit enough to give evidence in court. And he is the sort -to turn state’s evidence if he is cornered. The use of such fellows as -Malone by men of the calibre of McCarrey is our main chance in -bringing the latter to book. - -“McCarrey has to engage Whitey Malone and others like him to do his -dirty work. He has some plan against the division that Malone is to -help put through. If the latter is down there at Shadow Valley, as -Zeph intimates, I am going to make that neighborhood the main point of -my investigation.” - -“But the strikers are here in Rockton!” cried Ralph. - -“Foolish as these shopmen and the other strikers are, I would not -accuse any of them of being angry enough to commit an overt act -against the road. Especially of the nature of train wrecking.” - -“I should hope not!” gasped Ralph. - -“Yet we have received written threats to that effect,” said Adair -gloomily. “This very train,” and he nodded toward the long line of -Pullmans standing beside the platform waiting for the locomotive to -back down, “is on the list of those that somebody has threatened to -stop.” - -“The Midnight Flyer?” - -“Yes. Here comes the old mill. Wait. By Marks is not the fellow for -this job, Ralph,” and the detective shook his head. - -“He’s all right!” exclaimed the young train dispatcher hastily. He was -determined to commend the aged engineer after this, not criticize him. -“I know that nobody could take that express through to Hammerfest much -better than he does. And I am the fellow who makes the schedule.” - -“Indeed?” rejoined his friend, with a curious look at Ralph. “Suppose -you were pulling this train?” - -“Humph! Think I would be any better than an experienced old engineer -like By? What nonsense, Mr. Adair!” - -But the latter only laughed. They were at the head of the train. There -was a little group of station employees and others on the platform. -Ralph was watching the slowly backing locomotive. He saw the pallid -face of Marks thrust out of the window as the great machine backed -against the head coach. The red spots in Mark’s cheeks, Ralph thought, -were slowly fading out. - -The couplings came together with a crunch of steel. The locomotive was -stopped on the instant—a pretty connection. Nobody but a skilled -operative could have done it. - -“He’s all right, old as he is!” muttered Ralph, as the two firemen -leaped down to make the air-hose and water-hose connections on either -side of the tender. - -The train dispatcher walked forward on the engineer’s side of the cab. -He looked up again at the old man in the window. Then he cried out and -leaped up the steps to the locomotive’s deck. - -Byron Marks’ head had fallen upon the window sill. His eyes were still -staring, wide open. But the color had now entirely receded from his -cheeks. When Ralph put a tentative hand upon the old man’s shoulder -the torso of his body wabbled dreadfully. - -The hand on the throttle relaxed and fell. At the instant the engineer -had made the nicely balanced coupling, he had lost consciousness! - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - ONCE MORE ON THE RAILS - - -The doctor, who had been brought from just across the street from the -station, pronounced it “heart.” Either over-excitement or over-work. -It was no accident; just a death from natural causes. - -Then, thought Ralph, how about the big accident policy Byron Marks had -carried and paid on all these years? - -But at just this moment there were other matters of importance to -think of. Supervisor Hopkins had at once bustled out to see what had -happened. In five minutes the Midnight Flyer was scheduled to pull out -of the Rockton terminal. - -“Here, boy!” he said, grabbing one of the youngsters who called the -crews from their boarding houses. “Let’s see your list. What! Nothing -but freight crews?” - -“And there ain’t one of ’em but has put in twelve hours and has got to -take his eight hours’ sleep,” said the boy. “They’d half kill me if I -tried to pry ’em out of the hay.” - -“Wait until your advice is called for, boy,” responded Mr. Hopkins -shortly. - -The boy winked behind the supervisor’s back and some of the bystanders -chuckled. The supervisor pored over the list. - -“Not a passenger engine crew free until two-thirty.” - -“And then,” pointed out the night station master, who had likewise -appeared, “that crew must take out Number Fourteen.” - -“I want none of _your_ advice, Cummings,” snapped the supervisor. - -But Cummings was a gray-haired official and not easily browbeaten. - -“You’d better listen to somebody, Mr. Hopkins,” he said doggedly. “I -know the boys on the list quite as well as you do—perhaps better, -considerin’ I’ve seen many of them growin’ up in the road’s employ. -There’s freight engineers, and there’s passenger engineers. Many an -engineer tries pulling the varnished cars and is glad to drop back -into an easy-going freight run. Though there is little on the division -that is really easy-going now.” - -“Well, well?” said Hopkins, impatiently. - -Cummings raised his eyebrows and glanced from Bob Adair to Ralph. - -“There’s not a man on that list as well able to pull Number Two-o-two -as old By was, God rest him! And he couldn’t make the grade, as the -saying is. This Midnight Flyer is a disgrace to the division!” - -“What do you mean?” demanded the supervisor angrily. - -“Just what I say. It is a disgrace. It doesn’t keep to schedule half -the time. It is the laughing-stock on the system. You know it. -Somebody has got to sit on that bench that can get better time out of -the mill than ever it has made yet.” - -“Well, we cannot think of that now. We have to send out the train. The -engineer that can show a card—any engineer—is the one we want, and -must have.” - -He wheeled as though to hurry away on his quest. Cummings tapped him -with a finger on the shoulder. - -“Wait, Mr. Hopkins,” he said. - -“What is it?” snapped the supervisor. - -“You’re going right away from about the only fellow that can help you -out,” Cummings said with some complacency. “Don’t you see this boy -here?” and he clapped a jovial hand upon Ralph’s shoulder. - -“Oh, I say!” exclaimed the young train dispatcher. “None of that, Mr. -Cummings. I am not looking for any more trouble.” - -But the old station master waved an airy hand. He held Barton Hopkins’ -attention. - -“I know that Ralph is in good standing with the Brotherhood. He is the -best little engineman there is on the division. If there is a man -to-night can take this train through to Hammerfest anywhere near on -time, it is him. The road is like a book to him—— - -“Ah! what’s the matter with you, boy?” he added, turning to face the -young fellow. “What are you—a man, or a monkey, I want to know? What -does it matter what people say or think? You are working for the Great -Northern and you’ve got the good of the road at heart. Isn’t that so?” - -“You know it!” exclaimed Ralph, half angrily. - -“All right. Here is the supervisor. He wants the best man he can get -for the job because _he_ is all for the road’s interest——” - -“I do not know that Fairbanks is fit for any such task,” put in Mr. -Hopkins, in his very coldest tone. “I doubt if one so young is fit for -any important and responsible position. At least, I am very sure that -his exhibition of engine driving in the yard here the other evening -does not bear out the ability you claim for him, Cummings.” - -“What’s that?” demanded the station master, angrily. - -“I have felt it my duty to send in, attached to the report of that -wreck in the yard the other evening, the fact that all rules of the -road were violated by Mr. Fairbanks in trying to handle the switch -engine; and, as well, that in my opinion the wreck would not have -occurred had it not been for Fairbanks’ oversight. He shunted those -heavily loaded gondolas too far into the switch——” - -“Nothing of the kind!” exclaimed Ralph, interrupting, in anything but -a respectful tone. “The train crews and yard crews are honeycombed -with treachery, and you daren’t accuse me of such a thing. I won’t -stand for _that_, Mr. Hopkins, and don’t you think it!” - -“Hold on! Hold on!” admonished Mr. Adair in his ear. - -“Now, this is too much!” cried the young train dispatcher. “I would -not help him out now at any price. Why, unless the G. M. himself told -me to take the throttle on that old mill, I wouldn’t touch it!” - -He swung on his heel, panting in his anger, and ran right against a -bulky figure in an ulster, his hat brim drawn down over his eyes. -Ralph recoiled with a surprised grunt. The man grabbed him. - -“Hold on!” he said. “I heard you. That train has got to pull out in -two minutes. I order you, Fairbanks, to get up into the cab and make -that engine behave. You’ve made the schedule. Let’s see if you can -make the Midnight Flyer conform to it. How’s that?” - -Mr. Adair broke into a hearty laugh. But neither the station master -nor Ralph, and surely not the supervisor of the division, had -previously any idea of the general manager’s presence at the terminal. -He had stood back and listened to all that had been said since the -unfortunate old engineer had been carried out of the station. - -“You take this matter entirely out of my hands, sir?” Hopkins asked, -his voice shaking. - -“I do,” rejoined the general manager. - -“I think you overlook the fact that you are interfering in my -province.” - -“No, I don’t overlook it. But you come back to the office with me, -Hopkins, and I believe I can show you where it is for the road’s -interest to send Ralph out with this train. There’s the gong!” - -“Send word to my mother!” cried Ralph to Adair, and made a flying leap -for the locomotive steps. The two firemen, who had listened in no -little interest and anxiety to the foregoing conversation, sprang to -their proper positions. They grinned for they both knew Ralph and -liked him. - -It was a fact that there was not a locomotive on the division that the -train dispatcher had not tried out at one time or another. As he had -confessed he was, after all, an engineer by instinct. He slid into the -seat so recently occupied by the dead engineer, and his hand closed on -the throttle. - -The exhaust coughed through the smokestack. The bell jangled. He let -the steam into the cylinders. The drivers groaned and rolled almost on -the instant of the conductor shouting his second “All aboard!” - -As smooth as silk, the train rolled out of the station. Adair and -Cummings waved their hands to the young fellow on whom an important -duty had again devolved. He opened the throttle up wider. The wheels -began to drum over the rail joints in a tune that thrilled his blood. - -“Once again on the rails!” he breathed. “This is the life!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - THROUGH SHADOW VALLEY - - -Hoo! Too-hoo-hoo! - -The man on the other bench pulled the whistle cord for each crossing -and station, but the huge eight-driver engine and its long tail of -varnished cars sped past the switch targets and the station lights -with no decrease of speed. - -The other fireman sprayed the coal into the firebox door, keeping an -even bed of living embers from which the lambent flames sprang like -live tongues. Occasionally Ralph stepped back upon the deck to look -over the fireman’s shoulder into the hot maw of the box. - -The two firemen changed places every hour. And Ralph did not wonder at -this. When he had served his time with the shovel and bar it was on no -such mighty machine as this that drew the Midnight Flyer. The mountain -climbers and moguls had been big enough in those days. But this was -even a more powerful locomotive than the oil-burners, of which the -Great Northern owned several. - -One man could never have fed the furnace of this engine for four -hours—the length of the run. They had to spell each other. The attempt -to make the schedule across the country from Rockton to Hammerfest was -no small job! - -The minute he had got the long train out of the Rockton yard, Ralph -had set his mind to the work of arriving at Hammerfest on time. After -all, a good locomotive engineer pulls his train with his head more -than by any bodily exertion. - -Sitting on the bench with the throttle within easy touch, Ralph for -the most part gazed ahead at the rails glimmering under the white -radiance of the headlight. It was true that he knew almost every foot -of this road as a boy knows his own back yard. - -Here, he remembered, was a level with a sharp curve at the end. He -took three-quarters of the straight stretch at top speed; then he shut -off the steam and went around the sudden curve so easily that few of -the passengers, unless they were awake, would know anything about it. - -For not only does the engineer of a fast and expensive train have to -make time, but he must run the train so well and with such precision -as to make a reputation for the road and the train which will bring -passengers back over the route. - -On the mild grades Ralph could use the steam so skillfully that the -speedometer registered the same speed as on the levels. Nor had his -firemen anything to complain of. - -“We got to hand it to you, Boss,” said one of the firemen, as Ralph -slowed to a stop at Shadow Valley Station. “You don’t waste the -precious steam. But poor old By was a hog for it, going up a grade.” - -This point was a big summer resort place and had several hotels. There -was a junction here, too, with a small line, and a Y. Of course, at -this hour of the night the station was practically empty save for the -station workers and the few people who wished to board the Flyer. - -The workers, however, were increased in number by men whom Ralph, -looking out of the cab window, marked as Mr. Adair’s operatives. Each -important station along the entire division was now guarded by -railroad detectives. Ralph hoped he might see his friend, Zeph Dallas. -The latter’s queer telegram had been sent from this station. But he -observed nobody who looked at all like the tall and gawky Zeph. - -He got the conductor’s sign and rolled out of the Shadow Valley -Station exactly on the dot of the scheduled time. That alone was an -achievement, although Ralph well knew that the hardest part of the run -was ahead. - -“Gee, Boss!” joked one of his crew, “I bet if you’d known you were -going to hold the lever on this old mill you would have given us a -little more time between here and Oxford, eh?” - -Ralph laughed good-naturedly. It was true the cook had to drink his -own broth. But when making up the schedule in the Rockton train -dispatcher’s office, the young fellow had been confident that under -ordinary conditions the Midnight Flyer should hit the stopping point -on the nick of time. Provided, of course, west-bound freight kept off -the express train’s time. - -Through Shadow Valley there were several places where the going was -hard. Ralph knew this quite well. But he had got the “feel” of the big -eight-wheeler now and he believed that it could show even greater -speed than it had ever recorded. - -When they pulled out of the station he did not let the train merely -coast down the first grade. He opened her throttle wide and she began -to rock gently on the perfectly ballasted rails. The firemen began to -exchange glances—they could not exchange speech at this speed—and -realized that poor old Byron Marks had never got such speed out of the -engine. - -Ralph, of course, was taking a chance. The grade really called for -brakes; but this was no ordinary situation. He realized that if he was -to make time at all, anywhere within the next fifty miles, it must be -right here. - -“Shadow Valley.” Well named by some old pioneer with a poetic slant to -his brain. When the moon shone the black reflections of cliffs and -trees lay across the right of way of the railroad like blankets of -black velvet. - -The locomotive headlight cut these shadows like the stroke of a -scimitar. Yard by yard the clear-way was revealed to the engineer as -the train plunged down the slope. He was taking a chance—a big -chance—Ralph knew, in opening the engine up in this way. Especially -now that there had been threats made against the road by the strikers -and their sympathizers. - -All those people in the coaches behind him—most of them peacefully -sleeping—stirred the young fellow’s thought. He had pulled a Class-A -passenger train before this night—many times, in fact—and had felt -something of the same oppression of responsibility; but this case -seemed particularly important. - -Thick forest hid the bottom of the valley. When he glanced down he -could see the pale moon silvering the tops of the firs and larches. -The express seemed plunging into a vast and bottomless pool of black -water. - -He began to pull down for the curve at the bottom of the grade. This -was always a dangerous point. Once, years before, Ralph had seen the -wreck of the head-end of a freight piled up at the foot of this cliff, -which overhung the right-of-way. - -Since that time the engineers of the Great Northern had broken off the -granite overhang of the cliff above this spot and had seemingly made a -repetition of that accident impossible. - -Yet an enemy of the road might place some obstruction on the track -just below the curve. Until the head of the locomotive was right at -the turn, Ralph could not see what was ahead. - -The road should have kept a signalman at this point, day and night. -Never before had the young fellow so understood the weight of -responsibility that rested on the engine driver’s shoulders. - -Perhaps it was because he was growing older. Or perhaps the recent sad -happening to old Byron Marks had made a deep impression on Ralph -Fairbanks’ mind. At any rate, he felt that he would never round this -curve again—or any other blind curve on the division—without -experiencing a tremor of fear. - -Suddenly a figure leaped into view, silhouetted against the silver -tree tops beyond and behind it, not on the dangerous side of the -rails. It stood upon a high bowlder across the right-hand ditch. A -tall, ghostly figure, the appearance of which made Ralph reach for the -reverse lever with nervously crooked fingers. - -Then he realized that it was some person who signalled “All clear” -with arms like those of a semaphore. Somebody then was on watch here -at this dangerous turn. - -Ralph applied the brakes carefully, gently. The long train shuddered; -but there was no harsh jouncing of the coaches. The wheels slid around -the turn. - -And as the ray of the headlight caught the figure on the bowlder for a -moment, the young railroader knew who it was. - -“Zeph!” he ejaculated, under his breath. - -The young assistant of Bob Adair had selected the most perilous point -in Shadow Valley to watch. While Zeph was there, Ralph might be pretty -sure that no harm would befall the division trains. - -He was carried past the bowlder swiftly. He leaned out to wave his arm -and try to attract the notice of his friend. But the flash of the -headlight’s ray had undoubtedly blinded Zeph for the moment and there -was no answering signal from him. However, as long as Zeph was -faithful at that post Ralph would feel little anxiety in approaching -it. - -The young engineer pulled on through the valley at top speed and then -charged the hill to Oxford with four minutes to spare. Perfect running -of a passenger train means keeping at an exact and harmonious speed -for the entire distance between stops. In this case, however, Ralph -knew that if he had not gained something on the schedule before -striking the Oxford hill he never would have made that stop, as he -did, exactly on the schedule moment. - -The worst of the run for the Midnight Flyer was then behind him. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - MORE DISCIPLINE - - -That run on the Midnight Flyer was a memorable one for Ralph -Fairbanks, not alone because of the importance of the train to the -schedule of the division, but because of the mental strain he was -under all the way. - -The general manager’s congratulatory wire that was put into his hand -when he climbed aboard his engine for the return trip from Hammerfest, -of course pleased him; but the young railroader felt that there was -something more due any engineer who pulled that Midnight Flyer and got -it into the western terminal on time, as he had. - -Up in those offices overlooking the Rockton yard, Ralph as chief of -the train dispatching crew for the division, had got a little out of -touch with the engineers and firemen. He acknowledged it now. - -He had been complaining because many of the hard-working mechanics had -not seemed to do their best in handling the division trains. Back in -the same harness that they wore, Ralph could appreciate their -difficulties again. - -“And that’s the matter with Barton Hopkins,” thought the young fellow. -“He isn’t as fit as I am, for instance, to manage these men. He never -was an engineer, or sprayed coal into a firebox. No, sir! He doesn’t -know a thing about this end of railroading, save by theory. - -“And mere theory is bound to get a man in wrong. Practise is the -thing! I wonder how Hopkins will come out of this, if the strike -becomes general? Why, the directors and stockholders who praise him so -now will fairly crucify him if things go wrong and he is shown to be -in any way at fault.” - -Ralph believed thoroughly that Barton Hopkins was at fault. Every man -he talked to on the run was criticizing Supervisor Hopkins. - -“They’re all knocking the super. The anvil chorus on Hopkins’ past, -present, and future seems to be the most popular number on the -division program,” Ralph said to his two firemen. - -“Should think you would join in, Fairbanks,” said one of them. “You’ve -got little to thank him for.” - -“There is something bigger than Barton Hopkins to consider,” replied -Ralph. - -“Sure! The rules of the Brotherhood,” was the quick reply. - -“No! The welfare of the road. The Great Northern has supported me for -some years. I mean to support it. When I can’t do so I’ll resign and -get another job. But I won’t bite the hand that has fed me for so -long.” - -“You would not strike, then, even if the Brotherhood ordered it?” -asked one of the firemen. - -“Only for some very grave reason. Not over such a silly rule as those -shopmen went out on.” - -“Oh, they had plenty of other grievances.” - -“So have we all. Everybody is sore in these times. It’s in the air. -Fault-finding seems to be a germ-producing disease,” and Ralph -grinned. “But make up your mind,” and he added this earnestly, “I am -not going to be bit by such a microbe as McCarrey. Not any!” - -Perhaps his sane and sensible speech on every possible occasion did -something toward keeping the better class of Great Northern employees -steady. But when he got back to Rockton on the return trip he found -the yards almost dead. The morning yard shift had gone out when they -found that the new order of the supervisor’s on the shop board applied -to them as well. - -At once, of course, the train dispatching department was balled up -with late freights. But as it stood, Ralph had no part of that worry -on his mind. Mr. Glidden had sent one of his best men from main -headquarters to sit at Ralph’s desk, and the latter started home -through the bustling streets, weary but satisfied. He hoped to put in -a long sleep before being called for the midnight run again. - -Was it by chance, or with voluntary intention, that the young -railroader went through the block on which Cherry Hopkins lived? He -did not always walk home that way. But it was true some thought of the -pretty girl was almost always in his mind at this time. - -He had passed the Hopkins house without looking at it and was several -yards beyond when he heard a door slam and a clear voice called to -him: - -“Ralph Fairbanks! Ralph Fairbanks!” - -Ralph wheeled to see the girl, her bobbed hair flying, running down -the path and out of the gate. But he saw something else, too. Coming -along the sidewalk and increasing his stride as he saw and heard his -daughter, was Mr. Barton Hopkins. His countenance displayed all the -dislike and disapproval of Ralph that the latter knew the supervisor -felt. - -“Oh, Ralph!” cried the unconscious Cherry. “I want to speak to you.” - -Ralph walked back to meet her. He did not intend to run from Barton -Hopkins. But he foresaw trouble for the pretty and impulsive girl. - -“Oh, Ralph Fairbanks! I have heard what you did last night. It was -fine of you—taking out the Flyer when the poor old engineer dropped -dead. What a terrible thing that was!” - -“You are right. It is a sorry thing for By’s family. I understand he -did not leave them well fixed.” - -“Won’t the Brotherhood——” - -“It will do all that is possible. But there is no real pension for an -engineer’s family. He only carried accident insurance. There must have -always been something the matter with his heart that kept him from -getting regular insurance. And he hid it.” - -“And was a criminal, thereby,” said the harsh voice of Supervisor -Hopkins behind his daughter. “Suppose that had happened—his death—when -he was driving his engine on the road? Somebody was at fault there, -and I mean to find out who. The old man should have been retired long -ago.” - -“Oh, father! If he needed the work——” - -“What do you know about that?” Mr. Hopkins said coldly. “Don’t believe -everything you hear, Cherry.” - -“But Mr. Fairbanks says——” - -“Least of all what this young man says. And now, once for all, I tell -you to drop this intimacy with Fairbanks,” he continued, starting with -his daughter toward the gate to the grounds. “I don’t care to have you -associate with him. Understand?” - -“Oh, father!” cried Cherry, almost in tears. “Ralph has been kind to -me. I am sure he has done you no harm,” Ralph overheard her reply. - -“Neither of your statements enters into the consideration at all. I -object to your associating with this fellow.” - -“Why, father!” - -“You have heard what I have said,” said Barton Hopkins bitterly. -“Fairbanks would better keep away from here. As for you, Cherry, I can -make you obey me. Let him alone. Don’t speak to him again.” - -The girl’s head went up and she stared at her father proudly. Ralph -had previously decided that she did not take much after her mouse-like -mother. In some ways she had all the assertiveness of the supervisor -himself. - -“I will obey you in every way possible, father,” she said softly but -firmly. “But I cannot pass Ralph on the street as though I did not -know him. He is my friend. He has been kind to me. I could not treat -him as you want me to.” - -“Then, young lady, I’ll send you away where you will not be likely to -cross his path. You are getting too bold and stubborn, anyway. Go in -and pack your trunk. I’ll see your mother. You shall start this very -day for your aunt’s at Selby Junction. Go into the house!” - -He hustled her up the path toward the house as though she were a small -child who had disobeyed him. Cherry was crying. As for Ralph, he had -never before so wanted to hit a man and refrained from doing it! - -“Discipline,” he growled, as he moved away. “That is what he calls it. -He runs his household and his family just as he tries to run the -division. - -“Well, sir, unless I much miss my guess, he is going to fall down, and -fall down badly, on both propositions. But poor Cherry! Wish I hadn’t -walked this way. I got her in bad. And now he’ll send her away and -I’ll probably never see her again,” he finished, with a sigh. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - FROM BAD TO WORSE - - -Ralph refrained from telling his mother anything about this recent -occurrence. He knew she would feel hurt because of what Barton Hopkins -had said. She was much more likely to resent a slight put upon her son -than Ralph was himself. - -And, in any event, there was so much else to tell the widow regarding -the happenings of the last eighteen hours that he himself quite forgot -the sting that he had first felt because of Mr. Hopkins’ unfair speech -and ungentlemanly conduct. - -But later the fact that Cherry Hopkins was to be sent away from -Rockton to get her out of Ralph’s way was a matter that returned again -and again to the young fellow’s mind. It seemed unfair, not alone to -him, but to the girl herself. - -And he fancied Mrs. Hopkins would be much disturbed by her husband’s -decision. Ralph was really sorry to be the cause of friction in the -supervisor’s family. - -“Why, if he had spoken decently—asked me like a man! He knew I could -hear all he said—meant I should—I would have promised not to speak to -Cherry or approach her in any way. Of course I would! What does he -think I am?” - -The thought of this troubled him for several days in spite of all the -other matters of serious portent which weighed upon his spirits. - -For things on the division were going rapidly from bad to worse. With -the shops practically closed, for as yet the Great Northern had not -tried to bring in strike-breakers, the rolling stock of the division -fast became crippled. There were breakdowns innumerable. Some of the -freight engines were soon ready for the scrap heap. And it made a -regular schedule, for freight at least, all but impossible. - -The influence of other officials—not that of Barton Hopkins—kept the -older maintenance of way men faithful. Most of the section hands -stayed on the job. In fact the bulk of the trouble lay in the shops -and yards at Rockton. - -There Andy McCarrey’s influence was most felt. He had some political -backing, too. And the dislike for Supervisor Hopkins was more -pronounced at this terminal than at the other, or along the line. - -Meanwhile Ralph had continued as engineman of the Midnight Flyer and -the eastbound express from Hammerfest. That his mother was far from -reconciled to this change in his work, he well knew. But she was as -loyal in her way to the best interests of the Great Northern as the -young fellow himself. - -“If the general manager asked you to do it, Ralph, of course you could -not refuse,” said Mrs. Fairbanks. “But I shall never be satisfied -until you are back in the train dispatcher’s office. I hope for your -advancement to more important positions than that of locomotive -engineer.” - -“Plenty of time for that,” said her son cheerfully. “And I know the G. -M. will not forget me. It is only for a short time, we shall hope. -This strike will not last forever.” - -But he did not tell her of the many delays and actually perilous -chances of his situation. He had been accosted on the street and -threatened by some of the strikers. The men who had broken away from -their unions as well as from the employing railroad were desperately -determined to stop every wheel on the division. - -It was Andy McCarrey’s boast that he would have the Great Northern on -its knees in a month. It seemed that he had a large strike fund at his -command. And Ralph suspected that the fellow likewise had under his -control a band of rascals who would go to any length to cripple the -railroad. - -Gangs of ill-favored fellows were hanging about the yards. He heard of -such men, too, all along the division. Tool sheds were broken into; -the gangs’ handcars were crippled; fires were set on railroad -property; numberless small crimes were committed which could not be -traced to the strikers themselves, but were undoubtedly committed at -Andy McCarrey’s behest. - -“If we could just get one thing hitched to that slick rascal, we would -put him where the dogs wouldn’t get a chance to bite him for some -time,” Bob Adair said once to Ralph. “But McCarrey is as sharp as a -needle. By the way, how much of that old tenement house did you see -the night you and Zeph found him and Grif Falk over there?” - -“Very little of it. It appeared to be practically empty. And I am sure -there were no families living in it,” Ralph replied. - -“You are right in that,” said the detective. “It is an old condemned -tenement. But somehow McCarrey has got a lease of it. Nobody seems to -know what goes on in there. And there is no good reason, as far as the -police can find, for searching the premises. - -“If I could just make sure the supply of liquor some of the men are -getting is stored there, it would give us an opening. But if we do -anything that can be proved illegal, McCarrey will have a case against -us. He has some of the sharpest lawyers in the city in his pay.” - -“Did you find Whitey Malone?” asked the engineer of the Midnight Flyer -reflectively. - -“No. Zeph has lost trace of him. But I believe the fellow is still -away from Rockton. I fancy McCarrey was afraid to trust him here. Or -he has been sent along the road on some errand that has not yet come -to a head. That boy, Zeph, is like a beagle on a trail, however. I -hope he will mark down his man before long.” - -Ralph’s own eyes were always open for the appearance of Whitey. By -night, of course, while he sat on the bench of the big locomotive that -drew the Midnight Flyer, he could not hope to see much on either side -of the twin rails over which his train sped. But coming back by -daylight he saw a good deal more. - -The eastbound express made several stops besides those four which the -Flyer made. And it was during those brief stops that Ralph picked up -most of the news he got regarding the feeling of the road’s employees -along the division. - -At Hardwell, a considerable lumbering town some miles east of Oxford -and on the slope of Shadow Valley, Ralph first heard of the “bandit.” -He saw on the platform a man with his head bandaged surrounded by a -little group of interested natives. The engineer identified the -evidently wounded man as the third trick operator and signalman at -this station. - -He could not leave his engine, of course, but the operator knew Ralph -and came down the platform to speak to him. - -“I got a nasty smash on the head this morning,” he explained. “I don’t -know who the rascal was, but he got a hundred and forty dollars of the -road’s money and my watch and stickpin.” - -“How came you to let him do that, Fiske?” Ralph asked, but with some -sympathy. - -“I was setting the signals for your own train, Fairbanks, the Midnight -Flyer. I didn’t hear the fellow come in, but just as I turned from the -levers I found him there behind me. Sure I had a gun! But it was in -the desk drawer. We haven’t had a hold-up around here for years. He -hit me on the head with the butt of his gun and I went down and out. -When I came to he had lit out with my junk and the company’s money.” - -“That is too bad,” said Ralph, as he caught sight of the conductor’s -raised arm. “What kind of looking fellow was he?” - -“Don’t know. He had a flour bag over his head. Tall, husky fellow. -That is all I know about it. The super is giving me rats over the -wire.” - -“He would,” called out Ralph, as he let the steam into the cylinders -and the train began to move. - -“Now, I wonder,” thought the young engineer, “if Whitey Malone had -anything to do with that. Or is the bandit a free-lance with no -connection with these strikers? Humph! Where is Zeph, I wonder?” - -When Zeph next appeared it was in an astonishing way. Neither Ralph -nor his queer friend was likely to forget the occasion. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - THE HOLD-UP IN SHADOW VALLEY - - -As the days slowly passed Ralph Fairbanks became very curious on one -particular point. And this was something quite aside from his -activities on the road or the strike developments. - -He wondered if Cherry Hopkins had been sent away from home as her -father had threatened. - -The young fellow never went through the street where Mr. Hopkins lived -on his way to and from his home. He would not appear to be curious -regarding the girl. He did not want to attract her father’s attention -and create more trouble for Cherry, if the latter was still in -Rockton. - -He thought highly of the young girl. As his mother had intimated, he -had never paid much attention to any particular girl before. - -“How is your friend, Cherry Hopkins?” the widow sometimes asked him. - -“Got too much to do now to think of girls,” he would return, with a -laugh. - -But perhaps neither his tone nor his laugh quite convinced Mrs. -Fairbanks that all was right. She asked shrewdly on one occasion: - -“Have you seen Miss Cherry lately?” - -“Not for a week. I believe she expected to go away. I don’t know -whether she has or has not gone.” - -“Would you like to know, Ralph?” asked his mother softly. - -At that the young fellow awoke to the discovery that his mother was -looking at him queerly. - -“Why, Mother!” he exclaimed, “you don’t suppose I care particularly -about any of the Hopkins family?” - -“I think you do about Cherry,” she returned. “And from what I have -heard about her, she is well worth your caring for—in a friendly way, -I mean.” - -“My goodness! What is all this?” asked the wondering Ralph. - -His mother smiled and shook her head at him. - -“You must not think that you can hide anything from me,” she said. -“There is a little bird comes and tells me——” - -“Hoh!” cried Ralph, interrupting. “There are a lot of those ‘little -birds.’ And I bet they all belong to the St. Mark’s Sewing Guild. Yes, -sir! What has Gossip’s tongue been saying now?” - -“Gossip can be kind as well as cruel. After all, Ralph, gossip is the -most interesting thing in the world. Newspapers and magazines and -books are full of it. Just gossip. And what I heard about you was -anything but unkind, although it did not sound good for Mr. Hopkins.” - -His mother went on to relate what she had heard from an eyewitness of -the occurrence when the supervisor had forbidden his daughter to speak -to Ralph, and then had promised to send her away from home because of -her defiance. - -“She is a girl who would make any boy a faithful friend. I admire her -very much, although I have never seen her,” Mrs. Fairbanks said. “And -I wonder at that man, Mr. Hopkins, Ralph, for picking on you the way -he does. I cannot understand it.” - -“Unfortunately,” her son told her, “I have unintentionally occasioned -Mr. Hopkins some ruffling of the temper. And, believe me, his temper -is easy to ruffle. Well, I am sorry if Cherry was sent away because of -me. It’s so foolish.” - -“Yes, I am told she has gone,” said his mother. “To Shelby Junction. -Of course, you never go as far away from Rockton as that?” - -“Not likely,” replied Ralph, laughing to hide a good bit of his -disappointment. “Nobody but the strikers is taking a vacation on this -division of the Great Northern.” - -The number of strikers increased daily. News came from points all -along the division that little bunches of workmen in various -departments had thrown down their tools and joined the strikers. -Hopkins was strongly in favor of hiring men in the East and bringing -them out to take the strikers’ places, especially in the shops. And -perhaps he was right in this desire, for the locomotives and other -rolling stock were fast becoming decrepit. - -Ralph, like most of the old-timers driving the engines, saw to it that -his toolbox was well fitted and he carried spare valves and cocks and -such small articles against chance trouble. It was not against the -rules for a locomotive engineer to tinker with his huge charge if it -broke down anywhere on the run. - -When they came back to Rockton each day, however, Ralph and his two -firemen went over the mechanism of the big eight-wheeler with -meticulous care. The firemen took example of their chief and watched -for small faults and possible breakdowns, like two cats at a -mousehole. - -Whenever the Midnight Flyer or the return eastbound express halted, -down jumped the firemen with their long nosed oilcans and squirted the -lubricant into every nook and cranny they could get at. The roundhouse -foreman sputtered like a wet firecracker about Ralph’s demands on him -for oil. - -“Better be oil than brasswork and steel,” said the young engineer. -“Don’t forget that, Mike.” - -“I don’t forget nothin’,” grumbled Mike. “But the super is watchin’ -the out-put of lubricatin’ oil. He has an idee we feed it to the cats -and grease the turntables with it. He sees a chance of savin’ the -Great Northern two cents’ worth of oil in the course of a year. Huh!” - -“Well, I am not going to buy the oil myself,” Ralph rejoined, with -conviction. “And we don’t carry a greaser’s slushpot on the Midnight -Flyer.” - -“Sure, are the wheelboxes heatin’ on you?” asked the foreman. - -“I think they need repacking. But, of course, there isn’t time between -runs to do all that. Is there another locomotive I could use to pull -the Flyer with?” - -“You know there isn’t. Not a bull in the stable, anyway, could make -the time you are getting out of that mill. Two-o-two would be an hour -late at Hammerfest.” - -“Don’t tell me that!” gasped Ralph. “I am having a hard enough time as -it is. Guess I’ll have to coax this one along until they can send you -a Class-A locomotive over from the main.” - -“And when will that be, I dunno,” muttered the pessimistic foreman. - -So Ralph was pulling out of the Rockton terminal every night with a -sort of sick feeling at the pit of his stomach. He said nothing to -anybody about this nervous apprehension—not even to his mother. It -seemed unmanly, he thought. He never knew before that he was a coward! - -That is what he called it, cowardice. But it was not. It was the -effect of increased responsibility on his mind. The threat of some -terrible accident to the train he pulled was always hanging over him. - -Strikers and their sympathizers now gathered about the crossings at -midnight when the Flyer pulled out and booed and threatened the train -crew. It was spread broadcast in the labor journals that something was -likely to happen to the crippled engines pulling the division trains. - -Passengers were warned by big posters to refrain from traveling by -this division of the Great Northern in particular, because the strike -of shopmen and maintenance of way men made it impossible for the -trains to be run safely and on time. - -But Barton Hopkins was by no means a fool. He gave an interview to the -reporters of the fair-minded journals in which he showed by schedule -that the passenger trains, at least, over the division, were -ordinarily on time. He even took advantage of Ralph Fairbanks’ -governing the engine pulling the Midnight Flyer to prove that that -important train had kept closer to the schedule since the beginning of -the strike than ever before. - -This statement to the press angered the strikers more than anything -that Hopkins had done. Its truth hurt their cause. When Ralph pulled -the Flyer out of the yards that night, at Hammerby Street the cab was -assailed with stones and rotten vegetables from a gang of hoodlums, of -course egged on my McCarrey. - -“Scab! Scab!” these fellows yelled as the broken glass tinkled about -the ears of the engineer and his two firemen. - -“Jim Perkins ought to be big enough to stop that,” urged one of the -firemen. “They say he still holds his job in the old union but has -spoken at the meetings in Beeman Hall.” - -“There is a bunch of fellows helping him stir up trouble, too,” -observed his mate. “Billy Lyons and Sam Peters and some others. But -they all keep their cards in the old union. Something rotten—something -rotten, boy, believe me!” - -This suspicion that the small unions were playing an underhanded -game—or that officers of those unions were doing so—kept many of the -wiser employees of the Great Northern in line. - -Ralph secretly told himself that that fusillade of rotten vegetables -and stones aimed at his firemen and himself in the cabin of the big -locomotive that pulled the Midnight Flyer cured both of the firemen of -any suspicion of sympathy with the men who had struck and their -supporters. - -But, after all, Ralph would have felt safer if there had been guards -riding on the train and on the locomotive, as there had been in war -times when he helped get the soldiers through to the embarkation port. -Mr. Adair, however, did not believe in a show of force. He had men in -plain clothes unobtrusively distributed along the division; but they -could not be discovered from the passengers save by those who had -inside information. - -Coming down the hill beyond Shadow Valley Station on this very morning -that the Midnight Flyer engine crew had been bombarded, Ralph chanced -to be thinking of Zeph. It was a black hour; there was not a star -visible. The locomotive was steaming well. She was going so fast, in -fact, that if there had been any obstruction on the straight track it -is doubtful if the headlight would have picked it out in time for -Ralph to have stopped the heavy train. - -But he had to take that chance to make the schedule. He knew the track -walkers of this section were all true and tried men. Under ordinary -circumstances and conditions, the inspection of this piece of track -had been made within half an hour. - -Ralph sat with his hand on the throttle. He could shut off, without -reversing, and set the brakes with two swift motions in five seconds. -The brakes were really dragging a bit on the wheels, for the curve was -near and he must ease the engine around that. - -No startling figure appeared this night on the bowlder beside the -right of way. Ralph needed no heart-stimulant, his pulse throbbed just -a little rapidly. He almost held his breath as he shut down the -throttle and the headlight flashed off the rails as the heavy engine -approached the turn. - -This was the dangerous spot. For several moments the light did not -reveal the ribbons of steel very far ahead. Behind that turn wreck and -disaster might lie! - -And yet, the young engineer dared not creep around it. To lose time on -this important run meant much to the Great Northern. He must keep on—— - -The head of the locomotive swerved and the light caught the two rails -again at a distance. The great white ray of the lamp shot into the -tunnel of blackness under the trees. - -And then, as one of the watching firemen sang out from the other side -of the cab, Ralph grabbed the reverse lever and threw it down in the -corner. He could not stop for easing her off. He slapped on the -brakes. Fire flashed from the coach wheels and a grinding and bumping -told of the damage being done because of this vicious stop. - -The occasion called for such drastic measures, however. The Midnight -Flyer was held up. What it meant, Ralph did not know, but in the -middle of the westbound track stood a man’s figure outlined by fire! - -Had he not pulled down the heavy train as he had, the locomotive would -have collided with the flaming object. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - STRANGE SIGNALS - - -The pilot of the great engine was within six feet of the flaming -figure when the train was stopped. And Ralph knew, and unhappily, that -several of the coach wheels were so badly flattened by the pressure of -the brakes that they would have to go to the shops to be replaned. - -This thought was back in his head, however. First and foremost he -wanted to know what this was ahead—this strange signal that had caused -him to bring the Flyer to such an abrupt stop. - -One of the firemen leaped to the cinder path and ran ahead. In a -moment he turned and waved his arms madly. - -“It’s a scarecrow! I believe it came out of yonder cornfield. A -scarecrow all afire!” - -He kicked the blazing figure and it fell over, the straw contents of -the old coat and trousers flaring up into a more vivid flame. - -“Somebody has played a joke on us,” shouted the other fireman. “And a -pretty poor joke, at that.” - -“Maybe it is no joke,” was Ralph’s comment. “Stilling, you go forward -with a lantern. If all’s clear at the next curve give us a high-ball. -There may be something more than a joke in this mysterious affair. -Hurry up, now!” - -Stilling ran ahead. The conductor came forward, worried about the -delay. The violent stopping of the train had awakened many of the -passengers and the Pullmans, he said, were buzzing. - -“Let ’em buzz,” replied Ralph carelessly. - -Stilling’s lantern flitted on like a firefly’s light. Ralph’s gaze was -fixed upon it. He hoped to see the sign given by the lamp that the way -was clear. - -But when Stilling reached the long curve that began nearly an eighth -of a mile beyond the point where the Flyer had been brought to a stop, -he halted—they could see that by the motion of the lantern—and then -went on slowly. By and by he signaled: - -“Come ahead—slow.” - -There was something wrong. The conductor knew this as well as the -young engineer. The former’s lantern signaled a question back to his -flagman. The latter brought in his lantern from the other curve, -signaled “All aboard!” and Ralph started forward. - -There was just slant enough to the roadbed here to make it necessary -for the engineer to keep some pressure of brakes on the wheels. The -heavy train slid down to the place where Stilling had stopped. - -When the train again came to a halt the headlight did not show the -rails for more than ten yards. But it picked out the beginning of a -short trestle by which the rails were carried over a deep ravine. - -Stilling walked back beside the huge boiler of the locomotive and -spoke no word until he was directly under Ralph’s window. He was pale. -His lips writhed before he could speak, and what he said was in a -voice so husky that the listeners could scarcely understand him. - -“One pillar’s been blown out—blown to pieces. The rails are -sagging—have to be braced before anything can get over. Great guns! if -we’d come down here at the usual speed, the old mill and every wagon -in the string would have been piled in a heap down there in the -Devil’s Den!” - -“By gum!” exclaimed the other fireman. “I thought I got some sound -like an explosion as we came down the hill. The dynamite must have -gone off only a few minutes ago.” - -“That burning scarecrow saved all our lives,” muttered Ralph. “_Who -did that?_” - -“If there are ghouls around trying to wreck the train, and there are, -then there are likewise watchers who defended us from harm. We have -somebody to thank,” said the conductor. - -There was no more comment on this mysterious thing by the train and -engine crew for some time thereafter. There was too much else to do. -Somebody had to go forward to the nearest station and telegraph for -wrecking crew and other help. - -A terrible disaster had barely been averted. The passengers aboard the -Midnight Flyer on this occasion would not be likely soon to forget the -incident. Stilling had not overstated the horror that had been -averted. - -The wires certainly buzzed now, up and down the division. The express -was delayed fully two hours, although the wrecking train was brought -down from Oxford in record time. The freights began to pile up on both -tracks. If this dastardly attempt to wreck the Midnight Flyer was the -act of the strikers, they had come near to doing what Andy McCarrey -threatened. The division might have been tied up for a couple of days -if Ralph’s train had plunged into the Devil’s Den. - -Some of the crew looked into the matter of the burning scarecrow that -had so luckily warned the engine crew of trouble ahead. The -straw-stuffed figure had been taken from a small field of corn -bordering the right of way. The owner of the field lived at some -distance, but he came over to see what had happened. - -“I was woke up by that big explosion,” he declared. “I thought it was -a blast in the quarry. Quarry is ten miles away, though. And then I -began to wonder why they were blasting at night. So I got up and -looked out, and saw the lights of the train and knew something had -happened, because it was standing still. So I came over.” - -As it chanced, Ralph heard him and he asked the farmer: - -“Have you seen any suspicious persons around here lately?” - -“Don’t know as I did. There’s been a young feller come to my place off -and on for a week or more. But he ain’t what you’d call suspicious. He -bought eggs and potatoes and such, and paid for ’em with good money. -He didn’t look bad enough to want to ditch a train. No, sir.” - -There were too many people around for Ralph to describe Zeph Dallas to -this man and try to find out if the fellow he spoke of was his friend. -Yet he could not help believing that Zeph was still in this vicinity -and that he had taken the desperate chance of stopping the Midnight -Flyer with the burning scarecrow. Yet, if this was so, why had Zeph -not remained to see if his strange signal set against the train had -done its work of warning? - -“Odd enough,” thought Ralph. “Odd enough to have emanated from Zeph’s -brain, that is sure. But where did Zeph go, if so, and why?” - -In any event, Zeph did not show up at the place before the trestle was -braced and the express moved on. Ralph got his belated train to -Hammerfest, the end of the run, two hours late. He had to start back -almost immediately with the forenoon express that was supposed to -reach Rockton at half past eleven. - -When this train reached the scene of the early morning excitement -Ralph had to ease her along very slowly. The first repairs on the -trestle were by no means permanent. - -By daylight he could see, from the cab window, the entire scene of -what had come so near being an awful catastrophe. On the south side of -the right of way at this point was a towering crag. It was covered by -scrub growth that masked the rocks, but the young engineer had once -climbed that rock and knew that there was more than one path to the -top. - -As he looked upward he saw, caught upon a bush some yards above the -level of the railroad, a garment fluttering in the breeze. He was -positive, after a moment, that it was a vest—a discarded vest. - -“Some hobo has left part of his outfit,” thought Ralph. - -But then, as he raised his eyes higher, he saw another strange signal -fluttering from a bush. It was a shirt. He could see the sleeves of -it, and it fluttered grotesquely. - -“Why?” the young engineer muttered. - -He looked farther up the steep wall and saw a cap! Something about -that cap astonished him even more than the other fluttering articles -of wearing apparel. Distant as it was, Ralph thought he recognized -that cap. It was of a mustard color, an odd color, and he remembered -that the night he had had his last adventure with Zeph Dallas in -Rockton Zeph had worn just that sort of cap! - -Then he got the signal to go ahead, and could do nothing at the moment -to investigate these matters. He pulled up the hill toward Shadow -Valley Station. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - ABOUT CHERRY - - -The first thing Ralph did on his arrival at Rockton after that -momentous round trip to and from Hammerfest, was to look up Bob Adair. -He knew where to find the chief detective now; or, at least, who to -ask about him without disturbing Supervisor Hopkins. - -He reached the detective at last. Of course Mr. Adair had heard all -about the dynamiting of the trestle pillar at Devil’s Den. He had sent -a man to make a special report on the terrible affair. But he had not -heard from Dallas and he was worried. - -“The boy’s in trouble. That is what is the matter. What you tell me, -Ralph, bears out my suspicion.” - -“I bet he set up that scarecrow and fired it to stop the Flyer,” the -engineer of that fast train observed. - -“Granted. He must have been watching in that vicinity. But the trestle -wreckers were too smart for him. The charge was exploded and the -trestle wrecked. He had not time to go to the nearest telegraph -station, so he set the fire instead. But what became of him then?” - -“I fear something bad has happened to him,” was the answer. - -“Great Scott! something is always happening to Zeph,” observed Mr. -Adair. - -“I know. But it must have been something serious for him to discard -his cap and vest and even his outer shirt. For I believe all those -things hung on the bushes up there on the crag belonged to Zeph.” - -“Perhaps he hung them there before the pillar was blown out.” - -“But what for? I don’t get it at all,” cried Ralph. “Queer as Zeph is, -he isn’t crazy. Not at all! He had a reason for making signals to -somebody, and that shirt et cetera are signals.” - -“See to-morrow when you go by if they are still there,” suggested Mr. -Adair. “Meanwhile I will have my men beat the bushes for him around -there. I will have that farmer you speak of interviewed.” - -“But if anything bad has really happened to Zeph, it will be too -late,” sighed Ralph as he turned away and started homeward. - -He could not take Mr. Adair’s easy view of the mystery. Ralph had a -fondness for Zeph. He could not forget the many times the odd fellow -had helped him or been associated with him in dangerous adventure. - -And now, it seemed to Ralph, Zeph Dallas must himself need help or he -would not have shed his garments on the side of that crag overhanging -the Devil’s Den. Ralph greatly desired to look into the matter. - -Yet, he could not do that. The general manager had put him on his -honor when he gave him the Midnight Flyer run. Ralph could not desert -that duty even to aid a friend. - -He heard about another person in trouble when he arrived at home. His -mother was full of it. - -“Did you hear that Mrs. Hopkins was very ill, Ralph?” the widow asked, -almost at once when he entered the cottage. - -“I’d be ill if I were that man’s relative,” grumbled the young -engineer. “What is the matter with her?” - -“It seems to be a long-standing trouble the doctor has been treating -her for, and now she must go under an operation. Actually, they say -she is wearing her heart out because Cherry is away from her and at -Shelby Junction. She has never been separated from her before so she -tells Mrs. Wagner. That man is awful!” - -“He is getting worse around the yards,” said Ralph. “I just heard he -accuses one of the section foremen of letting the strikers steal -dynamite so that they could blow up that trestle.” - -Mrs. Fairbanks had heard of that; but she had no idea her son’s life -had been in danger. And Ralph was not telling her too much. He was -glad she switched to Mrs. Hopkins’ illness again. - -“If Cherry is not allowed to come home, I fear her mother will never -come through the operation alive,” said the widow. “Mrs. Wagner says -the doctor declares Hopkins the hardest man to move from a decision he -ever knew. He calls it ‘mental delinquency’ on the supervisor’s part. -He says,” and Mrs. Fairbanks smiled, “if Hopkins had been spanked at -the right time when he was a boy, and spanked enough, he would not -have got the ‘self-importance complex’ and become such a nuisance to -his fellowmen.” - -“That medico knows his business!” laughed Ralph. “Ain’t it the truth? -as Zeph would say. And that reminds me, Mother. I fear Zeph is in some -trouble down the line. Mr. Adair does not know what has become of -him.” - -“That boy is always getting into some difficulty,” said the widow. “I -would not worry about him, if I were you, Ralph.” - -That day passed without any particular outbreak by the strikers in -Rockton. The police and railroad detectives had the situation pretty -well in hand about the terminal and the city yards. - -Mr. Hopkins had taken the bit in his teeth regarding the attempted -wrecking of the Midnight Flyer in Shadow Valley. One of the section -foremen near the trestle had obtained some dynamite for a specific -purpose, and the supervisor had jumped to the conclusion that this -foreman had given up the explosive to the strikers. - -This unproved assertion provoked more trouble on the entire length of -the division. The section foreman had complained to his union. The -full quantity of dynamite was promptly found in his possession, and -inside of ten hours the union officials had demanded that Mr. Hopkins -retract his accusation. - -“Now, why don’t they ask a hungry bulldog to give up a bone?” Ralph -observed, when he read this in the evening paper before leaving home -for his night run to Hammerfest. “Those fellows are as bad as the -super himself. He never handles anybody with gloves; but you can’t -handle him without having your own hands muffled. And those union -leaders ought to know it.” - -Ralph kissed his mother warmly at the door and started off for the -station, swinging his heavy lunch can. Mrs. Fairbanks never overlooked -the fact that a railroader is always hungry. And Ralph hated -restaurant food. He carried enough for a bite on the engine as well as -a hearty breakfast at the far end of his run. - -He did not go down to the roundhouse himself, but trusted to his -firemen to back the locomotive on to the westbound track and into the -train-shed. As he stood in his overalls and with his coat and lunch -kit near the open window of the telegraph room, he heard Mr. Barton -Hopkins’ voice inside. - -“Anything on, Silsby?” asked the supervisor, in his sharp, quick way. - -“No, Mr. Hopkins,” returned the night operative. - -“Rush this, then,” ordered the supervisor and then Ralph heard his -quick step going out of the room. - -The operative, Silsby, turned immediately to his key. Ralph heard him -call Shelby Junction and repeat the call until he got an answer. Then -he sent the following, Ralph reading the Morse easily as Silsby tapped -it out: - - Miss C. Hopkins, - “22 Horatio Street, - “Shelby Junction. - “Your mother ill. Old trouble, but serious. - Come home at once. - “(Signed) B. Hopkins.” - -There was the repeat back from the Shelby Junction operator, and then -Silsby gave the “O. K.” and closed his key. Ralph, waiting for the -backing in of the big eight-wheeler for Number 202, wondered if Mr. -Hopkins was, after all, as case-hardened and hard-crusted as he -appeared to be. - -The supervisor was having domestic trouble. Perhaps he loved his -mouse-like little wife, and his daughter, as well. These family -troubles might be one present cause of the supervisor’s caustic -remarks and his uncompromising attitude in railroad affairs. - -“I was telling the G. M. the officials did not look at things from the -men’s standpoint,” considered Ralph. “Perhaps the men ought to see -things from the supervisor’s standpoint, too.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - THE THREAT DIRECT - - -Had Ralph Fairbanks not been standing just outside the telegraph -office window he would not have obtained a certain bit of information -which proved, later, to be most important. - -He had heard the operator send Mr. Hopkins’ wire to his daughter, and -he knew very well that the girl would quickly respond to his and her -mother’s need. But Ralph was not at all expecting such a seemingly -prompt response as followed. - -The big illuminated clock in the train shed now pointed to a quarter -to twelve. The long string of cars belonging to the Midnight Flyer had -been backed in some time before and the gates had been opened for the -passengers to swarm aboard. The berths were all made up, of course, -and the passengers immediately went to bed. - -The young engineer, standing there idly, had his mind fixed upon the -Hopkins’ troubles. How shocked Cherry would be to learn of her -mother’s serious condition! It was true, as Ralph’s mother had said, -never before had her son thought so much of any girl as he did of -Cherry Hopkins. - -Suddenly he heard the Rockton call on the telegraph sounder. It was -rapped out a dozen times before Silsby, the operator, got to the key. - -“I, I, Rok,” was the notification Silsby gave impatiently. - -“Night letter for Super Hop. Overlooked. Shoot it,” came the reply, as -plain to Ralph’s ear as it was to Silsby’s. - -“Oh, boy!” retorted the Rockton operator. “You’re all set for trouble. -I’ll try to smooth it. Go!” - -Instantly the sounder began to click again and the Morse flowed -smoothly to the listening engineer’s ears: - - “B. Hop., Super, - “Rockton. - “Got mother’s letter. Know she is ill. - Am starting to-night on 10:40. Con. will - pass me on your book. Tell mother I am - coming. - “(Signed) C. Hopkins.” - -It was odd, but the first thought Ralph Fairbanks had on overhearing -this delayed message of Cherry Hopkins to her father was that the -Midnight Flyer would pass the 10:40 from Shelby Junction in Shadow -Valley not far from the Devil’s Den. - -This message that had been delayed by some oversight should have -reached the supervisor before he telegraphed to his daughter to come -home. Cherry had evidently read between the lines of her mother’s -letter and determined to rejoin Mrs. Hopkins, whether her father -approved or not. - -“Plucky girl!” thought Ralph. “She’s one person who doesn’t cower -before the Great-I-Am. And she is already on the iron, coming home, as -she thinks, without her father’s approval. Well, I guess the Hopkins -will have to fight their family battles without any aid from me.” - -Ralph started for the edge of the platform, for he saw the rear of the -locomotive backing in. Stilling held the throttle. This fireman would -soon apply for an engineer’s job. He handled the huge machine like a -veteran, and when the coupling was made the passengers already in -their berths aboard the train scarcely knew it, save for the long sigh -of the compressed air. - -Ralph stepped aboard while the firemen made the connections. As usual -he put his can under the seat on the driver’s side. As he stooped to -do this, he saw something white fluttering in the draught. - -It was a folded paper hung upon a nail under the seat. He could not -have missed seeing it when he set the luncheon kit down on the floor. -He picked up the paper and stood up. He unfolded it in the light of -his target lamp. Written boldly across the sheet were these words: - - “Fairbanks:—You’re due for a bump to-night. If you like - yourself, stay off the Midnight Flyer.” - -This threatening screed was unsigned. And yet, as Ralph stared at it, -he somehow felt that he had seen the careless writing before. - -Who was this who seemed to be warning him, as well as threatening him? -Was it a fake, or in earnest? Were the strikers or their friends -trying to frighten him? Or did somebody who really felt kindly toward -the young engineer believe that he should be warned of a real danger? - -And where had he seen that handwriting before? - -This last question seemed as important as the others. After the -blowing out of the trestle pillar at the Devil’s Den, Ralph could -easily believe that Andy McCarrey’s crowd would attempt other wicked -designs against the peace and safety of the road and its loyal -employees. - -That the malcontents were making a grave mistake was undoubtedly a -fact. The outrage at Devil’s Den and further attempts to wreck trains -on the division would arouse the antagonism of the Brotherhoods -instead of bringing their membership into line, as McCarrey had hoped. -Such attempts threatened the lives of the train crews. Engineers and -firemen and conductors and brakemen could not be frightened into -aiding McCarrey in his wildcat strike. That went without saying. - -Ralph had very little time to decide what he should do about this -paper that he had found under his bench. He glanced up at the clock. -Three minutes of midnight! - -But as his gaze fell to the platform again he saw the tall figure of -Mr. Adair hurrying along beside the train. Ralph leaned farther out of -the window and beckoned him. - -“What do you want, Ralph?” asked the chief detective hastily, as he -leaped up the steps of the locomotive. “I have just heard——” - -“And I’ve just found _this_.” The young engineer told him where. “And -I believe I’ve seen that writing before.” - -“Whose is it?” demanded Adair the instant he had scanned the warning -words. - -Ralph leaned closer to his ear and whispered a name. Adair started. -“No?” he cried. “Do you believe that?” - -“Compare it with that paper Zeph gave you,” urged Ralph. - -The gong sounded. The young engineer’s hand went to the throttle. The -conductor shouted “All aboard!” - -“Keep your eyes open, Ralph,” advised the chief detective, swinging -himself down. “That is no idle threat. I am going to keep the wires -hot ahead of the Midnight Flyer to-night. Never mind if you smash your -schedule all to flinders. Safety first, my boy.” - -“That is not the super’s motto,” said Ralph, rather sharply. “‘Get her -through,’ is what he wants.” - -“You should worry!” exclaimed Adair as the great drivers began to -turn. “The G. M. is behind you. I am having the whole division -watched. I’ll jack the boys up right now. But if anything happens——” - -His voice trailed off into silence. At least it was drowned by the -exhaust. The express rumbled out from under the train shed and Ralph -eased her through the yards. - -“Due for a bump to-night.” If that warning was serious, it was well -worth Ralph Fairbanks’ attention. - -“But the fellow doesn’t intimate where the bump is coming. Humph! -Perhaps he doesn’t know. I bet that Andy McCarrey, if he has planned -to hold up this train again, is not telling many people about it. - -“Just those who do his wicked work. And who are _they_? Is Whitey -Malone down there in Shadow Valley yet? Is it he whom Zeph is -watching? Did he set off the dynamite that blew out that pillar? - -“My goodness! I could ask a hundred questions along this line and get -the same answer to all. Nothing! Well——” - -The train left the outskirts of Rockton without any trouble. It ran -smoothly over the well-ballasted track. The engineer and firemen gazed -ahead keenly. All were on the alert for trouble, but Ralph did not -tell his firemen of the warning he had received. - -“Why worry them?” he thought. “It’s bad enough that I should feel as -though a sword were hanging over me.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - WHAT LIES AHEAD? - - -Whether it was wise or not, Ralph Fairbanks kept this special suspense -to himself. In truth, while a fast train like the Midnight Flyer is -under headway, the crew on the locomotive have little time for -conversation. - -The atmosphere in the cabin of such an engine as this great -eight-wheeler drawing the express was tense enough all the way. There -were but four let-ups in this mental strain which was felt by the -firemen, as well as by the engineer. The Flyer pulled down to a stop -at four stations before reaching the end of the run at Hammerfest. At -these stops only, could the men on the locomotive talk with comfort. - -More keenly than ever on this run did Ralph watch for signals. With -raised hands he and the fireman at the other side of the cab signaled -to each other the nature of the switch targets and semaphore lights as -they picked them up. - -And now and then, at some dangerous crossing or lonely, empty station, -the young engineer caught the secret signal of Mr. Adair’s police—the -double flash of an electric torch from the bushes or some other hiding -place. The chief detective’s operatives were on hand and faithful to -their trust. - -This fact reminded Ralph the more keenly of Zeph Dallas. What was he -doing? Indeed, where was he and what was his situation on this night -when so much seemed at stake? - -Fryburg was the first stop. The Midnight Flyer drew in there without a -thing having been observed suggesting the nature of the threat of -which Ralph had been warned in the paper he had found under his bench. - -The night operator at this station ran out and along the side of the -train to the locomotive. He reached up a message to Ralph and gave -another to the conductor. Under the light near his shoulder Ralph read -the following: - - Fairbanks, engineman, Train 202:— - Speed up. Fire reported in timber Shadow Valley near tracks. - “Hopkins, Super.” - -“That is what it is, then,” said the telegraph operator. “I heard an -hour ago that the sky was red over that way. But there has been no -report come in from Shadow Valley Station.” - -“Reckon the op. can’t see it there any better than you can,” said -Ralph. “You know the station is on this slope of the ridge.” - -“I like that ‘speed up,’” growled Stilling, who had read the message -over Ralph’s shoulder. “Wonder what the Great-I-Am thinks we are?” - -“He knows we’re on time, anyway,” said the conductor, and started back -along the coaches, calling “All Aboard!” - -Ralph, as he eased his locomotive into smooth action, considered the -difficulty ahead of him. It was more than a matter of keeping to -schedule. That was important enough. He confessed to himself now that -he thoroughly disliked Mr. Hopkins; but much as he disliked the -supervisor, he realized that this wire was worthy of consideration. - -If the forest fire reached the right of way before the Flyer could -descend into Shadow Valley, the train of varnished cars might not get -through at all. Taking a chance with a freight train in a burning area -of timber, as Ralph had actually done in the past, was an entirely -different matter from plunging into a conflagration with Pullman -coaches. - -Besides, the smoke and flames might cloud the vision of the engine -crew so that they could not see clearly the right of way. An obstacle -placed on the rails by the strikers, who might be the cause of the -fire itself, could derail the big locomotive in the middle of the -burning woods and place the crew of the train and the passengers in -great peril. - -Ralph could not fail to remember the strange warning he had received -before leaving Rockton. If he was “due for a bump” it might be that -the locality of the attempted wreck was in the midst of the fire. - -Shadow Valley offered every opportunity for the rascals who were -fighting the Great Northern to carry out a hold-up or cause a serious -wreck. The lower plain of the valley was a wild country of both field -and forest. There were few farmsteads, and those mostly of squatters -who had broken ground in small patches. - -Hanging above the right of way of the railroad, as at Devil’s Den, -were lofty crags, wooded for the most part, and offering plenty of -hideouts for outlaws and tramps in general. - -Ralph remembered the recent bandit scare at Hardwell. The fellow with -the flour sack over his head, of whom Fiske, the telegraph operator, -had told the engineer, was a person to consider at this time. - -That bandit might be a free lance outlaw or he might be working with -Andy McCarrey and his gang of trouble-makers. Almost, Ralph was -convinced, Zeph Dallas must know about that outlaw. Did the same -fellow dynamite the trestle pillar at Devil’s Den? - -“My gracious! how I’d like to get off this run and take a hand in -dealing with these scoundrels myself,” groaned Ralph. “I’d like to -find Zeph and learn what he knows. I just ache to get into the fight!” - -He was in peril enough. He knew that, of course. On every foot of the -way ahead lay uncertainty. But his work now was passive. He craved -action. He desired greatly to know what lay ahead. The situation was -fraught with so much uncertainty that Ralph Fairbanks was in keen -expectation of momentary disaster. - -It was a star-lit night; but with the approach of the false dawn a -misty curtain was drawn across the sky. The zenith looked as though it -were covered with a vast milky way. On the earth, even where open -fields bordered the tracks, the shadows became denser. - -Too-hoo! Hoo! shrieked the whistle of the Midnight Flyer. - -Those passengers sleeping so comfortably in their berths had no -thought for the anxiety that tugged at the heart of the young engineer -in the locomotive cab. Ralph hung out of the cab window as the pilot -struck a short curve, and tried to catch a glimpse of the right of way -ahead of the focal point of the headlight. - -He saw the flash on the instant that the fireman pulled the whistle -cord again—a long flash, then two short ones. It was the signal agreed -upon by Bob Adair and his operatives to pull down any train they -wished to board. - -Ralph had not expected that the Midnight Flyer would be stopped on any -pretext. He was all but willing to fly by without paying attention to -the signal. Then memory of the warning he had received came to his -mind and he shut off the power on the huge locomotive. He applied the -brakes gently. The long train eased to almost a standstill. - -Out of the brush beside the way popped a figure in a long coat. The -man leaped the ditch and boarded the locomotive steps. Instantly Ralph -threw off the brakes and opened the throttle. The man sagged into the -seat behind the young engineer. The latter could hear the breath -sobbing in the fellow’s throat. He glanced back at him and recognized -one of Adair’s old operatives, Frank Haley. - -“What under the sun’s the matter, Haley?” shouted Ralph, so that his -companion might hear, for the wheels were drumming again. - -“I’m not sure. I was back on the road at a house, telephoning, when -the girl on the switchboard at Shadow Valley began to broadcast -something that I got. I dropped the receiver and beat it so as to -catch you.” - -“What is the matter?” repeated Ralph anxiously. - -“There’s been a wreck—a bad one.” - -“Where?” - -“Down in the valley.” - -“Why, there’s a fire there, too!” - -“Yes. And the fire guard is out already to try to put it out. But this -is something else. A train has been derailed, and the girl says all -railroad dicks are supposed to get down there in a hurry. That is why -I took the chance of stopping the Midnight Flyer,” concluded Haley. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - TERRIBLE NEWS - - -“What train is off the iron?” asked Ralph quickly. “Anything ahead of -us? Will we be held up?” - -That was his first consideration. To think of the Flyer’s schedule as -being of the first importance had become an obsession with him. - -“I didn’t get any details,” said Haley, over the engineer’s shoulder. -“I don’t even know whether the wreck is this side or the other side of -the burning woods. But somehow I’ve got to get there. Adair’s orders.” - -“Let’s see,” ruminated Ralph, “there is Sixty-four that takes the -siding at Cole’s Station to let us pass. Hold on! She hasn’t much more -than left Shadow Valley. The only other west-bound train in our way -right now is the passenger accommodation that pulls into Oxford just -ahead of us. Number Fifty-two. Think it may be her, Haley?” - -Haley had caught most of what the engineer said. He shook his head. - -“The wreck may be on the eastbound track,” he observed. - -“You’re right at that!” exclaimed Ralph. “We pass Number Thirty-three, -eastbound passenger, this side of the Devil’s Den. Where would she be -about now? Let’s see.” - -Without looking at the printed schedule which every trainman carries, -Ralph figured out from his memory of the train dispatcher’s orders -which he had himself formulated the locality of Number 33 if it was on -time. - -“That Thirty-three comes clear from the Junction, doesn’t she?” asked -Haley, over Ralph’s shoulder. - -“Yes. She leaves Shelby Junction at ten-forty——” - -The young fellow halted in his speech. A new thought stabbed him to -the quick. Cherry Hopkins had telegraphed her father that she was -leaving Shelby Junction at that hour. If anything had happened to -Number 33 this girl was aboard it! - -He said nothing more to Haley, but gave his strict attention to the -running of the train. But the specter of the wreck ahead took on a -grimmer cast in Ralph Fairbanks’ mind. - -If there was any way of coaxing more speed out of the big locomotive, -the engineer put it to the test now. The run between Fryburg and -Shadow Valley Station was not a long one, at best. He had lost two -minutes in shutting down to let Frank Haley aboard. Ralph recovered -those two minutes and steamed into the next stop with another minute -to spare. - -Early morning though it was, the station platform was thronged. Ahead, -as Ralph and his crew could now see, the sky was blood red. The forest -fire must be of great consequence and burning a big area in the Shadow -Valley basin. - -The fire had called the curious together at the railroad; but news of -the wreck on the far side of the valley was likewise rife. The station -agent himself was on hand and brought the engineer and conductor the -messages. They read: - - “Speed up to get ahead of fire in Shadow Valley.” - - “Wreck of 33 between Hardwell and Timber Brook. Reported - spread across right of way.” - -The second message struck Ralph to the heart. He had feared it. Poor -Cherry! He felt that she might be seriously injured, or even dead. - -When he saw doctors, nurses, and a hospital outfit getting aboard one -of the Pullmans he was more than convinced that the wreck had been a -terrible catastrophe. - -“If those strikers did it, it will break the back of the strike,” -declared Haley, with confidence. - -Ralph felt no interest in the strike just then. He was visualizing -Cherry Hopkins’ pretty figure writhing in a tangle of flaming wood and -scorching iron. - -If Cherry was killed or disfigured, her mother surely would die. -Supervisor Hopkins might lose all his family at one blow! Ralph found -himself considering the supervisor’s case with a feeling of sympathy -which he had never supposed he would have for the crotchety railroad -official. - -There were several railroad detectives riding on the locomotive when -Number 202 pulled out of Shadow Valley Station; but they talked among -themselves. The crew of the locomotive had too much to do right then -to engage in any conversation. - -Ralph hung out of his window, watching the ribbons of steel ahead of -the pilot. Where the track was straight, the mild glare of the -headlight glistened along the rails for yards upon yards. He could -mark every joint of the steel rods. - -At times he glanced skyward. That angry glare quenched such light as -remained of the misted stars. The train mounted the remainder of the -grade and then took the straight pitch down to that curve on the side -of Shadow Valley which had already been the scene of several exciting -events for the young railroader. - -Now and then they flew past a closed station where only the night -lamps and switch targets revealed life. The small hamlets near these -stations, themselves endangered by the fire below—especially, if the -wind rose—were all but deserted. All the able-bodied men had joined -the State fire guard in opposing the forest fire. - -Ralph could see at last the bottom of the valley. If the fire had been -set, and for the purpose of overwhelming the railroad, the wind at -first had been against the criminals’ plans. It had spread in a -direction away from the right of way. - -The bottomlands of Shadow Valley were enveloped in crimson flames, and -the smoke rising from this pit was borne northward and away from the -line. But it was a veritable sea of fire! - -A great dead pine that had been a landmark ever since Ralph had known -this division suddenly sprang into flame as though it were by -spontaneous combustion. It stood alone on a knoll and there was little -but low brush near its base. Yet, of a sudden, it was aflame from root -to topmost twig! - -“A few of ’em like that burning near the tracks would settle us!” -thought the young engineer. “One at least would be sure to fall. If we -headed into it—good-night!” - -The men riding on the locomotive were all eagerness as the Flyer slid -down the incline. Ralph could give but a glance now and then to the -fire, for never had he watched the rails ahead more closely. - -The warning he had received before leaving Rockton still loomed -importantly in his mind. He was sure that had not referred to the -wreck of Number 33. His own train was threatened with disaster! - -His strained interest in Cherry Hopkins’ fate, however, urged him to -drive the Flyer as fast as he dared. The smooth slope into the heat -and glow of the furnace-like valley tempted him to push the engine to -the limit of her speed. Number 202 was actually flying before she was -half way to the curve this side of the Devil’s Den! - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - - THROUGH THE FLAMING FOREST - - -Again Ralph thought of the night when Zeph Dallas had leaped upon the -bowlder beside the right of way and had waved him the signal “All’s -clear” as the Flyer took the curve above Devil’s Den. But there was -nobody on guard at this point, now. - -Number 202 came rushing down to the dangerous point. Ralph shut off -the throttle and applied the brakes with judgment. He knew that he was -some minutes ahead of his schedule, but he hated to retard the train -at all. - -The wreck on the other side of the valley—the wreck of the train on -which Cherry Hopkins had taken passage for Rockton—drew Ralph like a -magnet. The news of the terrible disaster had shaken even the -detectives riding on the locomotive. - -The express took the curve. The track was clear to the next easy turn, -right at the beginning of the trestle where the pillar had been blown -out. A gang had been at work here putting in new masonry to take the -place of the impermanent pillar which now held up the trestle, but the -forest fire to the north had called them off the job. - -Every railroad employee who could possibly be spared, had been sent to -aid the State fire guard. One man was here to watch the dangerous -spot, and with his lantern he signaled the Midnight Flyer to come on. - -Ralph ran on easily to the end of the trestle, and so over it and onto -the firm ground beyond. He speeded up again. But now the heat of the -flaming forest began to be felt even in the locomotive cab. - -“Hey, Fairbanks!” shouted Frank Haley, the detective, in the -engineer’s ear. “Hey, you going to take the chance? I believe there is -a back-draught. The fire is coming this way.” - -Ralph nodded, with grimly set lips. He had noted the cloud of -flame-streaked smoke lying across the tracks not half a mile ahead. -How wide was that cloud? Were the trees directly beside the right of -way on fire now? What, indeed, was he driving the express into? - -He gripped the reverse lever. A flashlike picture of his own train -wrecked and in the midst of the flaming forest rose before Ralph’s -mental vision. Ought he to risk the unknown peril masked by the -rose-hued cloud of drifting smoke? - -But the thought of the wreck ahead called him on. Cherry in peril! -Perhaps dying of her injuries. The thought was so enthralling that the -young engineer could not bring himself to the reversal of the -locomotive’s mechanism and the pulling down of the heavy train. He did -shut off some speed. They rolled into the cloud of smoke at less than -thirty miles an hour. At that rate, he could have stopped the heavy -train within a hundred yards. - -The suspense, if not the heat from the fire, brought the perspiration -out on Ralph Fairbanks’ face as he leaned from the window. He shaded -his eyes with his hand, trying to spy through the smother of smoke. -The headlight’s beam was dimmed by the cloud. Now and then tongues of -flame seemed to leap through it, as though reaching to lap the -locomotive. - -Above and higher than the rumble of the train he now distinguished the -roar of the conflagration. With it came the loud snapping of falling -trees and explosions when dead timber burst from the heat of the fire -that consumed it at the heart. - -He realized that he was taking an awful chance, and he had taken it on -his own responsibility. At any point the pilot might crash into some -fallen monarch of the forest. - -The heat came up into his face in a suffocating wave. Ralph was forced -to draw back into the cab. He had been wise enough to close the -forward and first side window on his side of the locomotive. -Embers—flaming and white-hot—began rattling against the glass. - -A ball of fire—the torn-away top of some coniferous tree—hurtled -overhead, barely missing the smokestack, and fell flaming and smoking -upon the firemen’s side of the boiler. The varnish began to smoke. -Stilling leaped through the front window, ran along the board, and -kicked the flaming bush off the locomotive. - -The fire was sweeping closer and closer to the right of way. Ralph -realized at last that he was driving into, not through, a belt of -smoke and flame. - -Ahead, and across the valley, the forest had ignited closer to the -rails. The farther they went, the greater the danger. - -This discovery was made too late, however. Ralph realized that it -would be worse than ridiculous to stop and try to back out of the fire -zone. The flames were being swept nearer and nearer to the tracks. He -opened wide his throttle again and the Flyer drove at increased speed -into whatever fate had in store for them. - -The headlight seemed utterly quenched now by the glare of the fire. -Smoke swirled into the cab and filled their lungs. Choking and -coughing, the detectives cowered on the deck. The fireman on duty at -the furnace could scarcely see what he was about. Stilling, the other -fireman, could see no more than Ralph could ahead of the locomotive. - -Had the strikers or the ruffians employed in secret by Andy McCarrey -imagined this situation they could easily have derailed the Midnight -Flyer. Any obstacle on the track would have brought the fast train to -grief. But if the forest fire was started by McCarrey’s order, he -expected that the fire itself would halt the trains on the division. -His object, at most, was to throw the trains out of schedule, rather -than to wreck the trains. - -The Midnight Flyer’s arrival at the basin of Shadow Valley a little -ahead of her schedule, if anything, and the fact that Ralph Fairbanks -was willing to take a chance overcame the conspiracy of the strike -leaders. 202 came through the danger area without much hurt. The crew -and detectives on the locomotives suffered the most. The train was a -vestibule train for its entire length and the doors were kept closed. -Such little heat and smoke as entered the ventilators was of small -consequence. - -In a few minutes the locomotive pilot burst through the far side of -the smoke-cloud. The headlight beamed along the rails again. The -forest here lay untouched by fire on either side of the right of way. - -Haley smote Ralph on the shoulder, a congratulatory blow. - -“Good boy, Fairbanks!” he shouted. “I thought you were running us into -a hot corner one while. But you certainly know your business. How far -are we from that wreck?” - -Ralph could figure that out exactly after a glance at the first -numbered signpost. He increased the speed of the train on the instant. - -Not far ahead now lay the scene of the disaster, of which they had -secured so few particulars. Timber Brook, the little settlement -mentioned in the message that had been passed up to him at Shadow -Valley Station, was already in sight. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - - THE WRECK - - -There was a red lamp out for the Flyer just beyond Timber Brook. Ralph -pulled down to a crawl and set the pilot of his engine almost against -the lamp that had been placed between the rails. Around the next turn -was the wreckage of Number 33. - -A white-faced section hand came to Ralph’s side of the cab while the -detectives climbed down and started ahead along the right of way. - -“What happened to her?” the young engineer asked the laborer. - -“They set up two ties between the rails and the old mill was thrown -off the track. It carried half the train with it. Only one car—the -smoker—overturned, but everybody was badly shaken up.” - -“How many killed?” gasped Ralph anxiously. - -“Not a one. Lucky, I call it. And only a dozen or so hurt to any -amount.” - -The hospital outfit that had come from Shadow Valley Station went by -on a trot. Ralph was eager to leave his post and to go forward to -satisfy himself about Cherry Hopkins, but he could not do this at -once. - -He could not pull the train forward, for the locomotive of Number 33 -was across the westbound track. Finally, after some minutes of -suspense, he was informed by wire from the station just passed that -the delayed Flyer was to remain where it was until the rails were -cleared. He could not have run it back, anyway, for the fire was now -burning on both sides of the right of way. - -Leaving Stilling in command of the locomotive, and with the -conductor’s permission, Ralph finally got away and hurried around the -curve to the scene of the eastbound train’s wreck. - -The wrecking train from Oxford was on the scene, and a big crew was at -work clearing the rails. But Ralph saw that he would be very late when -he pulled into Hammerfest that morning. - -He saw Frank Haley, and the detective told him that, without a doubt, -the wreck had been caused by ghouls working in the pay of the wildcat -strike leaders. - -“They knocked out one of our guards, and he only came to after the -accident had occurred. He is in the hospital car. He tells me a -curious thing, Fairbanks.” - -“What is that?” asked the young engineer. - -“He says that at least one of the men who attacked him had his head -and face muffled in a flour sack. He had cut a hole through it to see -through. Didn’t that fellow at Hardwell report that the bandit that -held him up and robbed the station the other night was masked in that -way?” - -“He did. I talked with Fiske myself,” Ralph agreed. “And I had my -doubts then that the fellow was merely a robber. In this case it seems -to be proved that he did not wreck the train to rob the passengers.” - -“Nothing like that! It was just a ghastly thing, planned to injure the -road. If we could only connect this fellow in the flour-sack mask with -Andy McCarrey and his co-workers, we would have a case that would -surely send Andy over the road to the penitentiary.” - -“I hope you get the evidence,” said Ralph heartily. - -Ralph’s interest, however, was much more closely held by another -thing. Where was Cherry Hopkins? Had she been injured? Was she one of -those who were in the hospital car that had been brought down from -Oxford coupled to the wrecking train? - -Leaving the detective, Ralph hurried to the hospital car. A doctor who -had come down from Shadow Valley Station was just coming out. - -“Nothing much I can do,” he said cheerfully. “Everybody is in good -trim. A pretty case of compound fracture, a comminuted fracture of the -left arm, a broken nose and possibly two cases of rib fracture—can’t -really tell without an X-ray examination. And——” - -“But who are the cases, Doctor?” Ralph asked in anxiety. “Are they men -or women, or—or girls?” - -“No young people hurt at all. I should say the youngest patient was -thirty-five years of age.” - -“Great!” exclaimed the young fellow, with a sigh of relief. - -The doctor stared at him, then grinned. “You’re a sympathetic person—I -don’t think!” - -But Ralph did not stop to explain. He hurried away to mix with the -passengers of the wrecked train who hung upon the fringe of the scene -where the wreckers were hard at work. He saw few feminine passengers -in these groups, and nowhere did he see the face and figure he was in -search of. - -He entered the cars still standing on the rails and walked through -from one end to the other. Cherry Hopkins was in none of them. He -hesitated at first to speak to anybody about the girl, but finally he -saw the conductor of the wrecked accommodation. - -“Wait a moment, Mr. Carlton,” said Ralph, holding the excited man by -the sleeve. “Do you remember if the supervisor’s daughter was one of -your passengers to-night?” - -“Supervisor Hopkins’ girl?” exclaimed Carlton. “Why, yes, she was. I -mind seeing her father’s pass, viséed by him for her use. Yes, she -came with us from Shelby Junction.” - -“So I understood,” said Ralph. “Have you seen her since the accident?” - -“Why, I—No, I haven’t, Fairbanks!” - -Ralph followed Carlton back through the train. Most of the women were -gathered in one car. Carlton asked briskly if any of them had seen -Miss Cherry, Supervisor Hopkins’ daughter. - -Several of the women remembered the girl. - -“She was not hurt. I am sure of that,” said one woman whose arm was in -a sling, “for she helped bandage my arm. Then, it seems to me, she ran -out of the car to see what was going on. I have not seen her since.” - -Nobody else remembered having seen her since soon after the wreck. -Carlton, the conductor, had done all he could to aid Ralph in his -quest. The latter was forced to go back to his own train without -finding the supervisor’s daughter. - -One thing that he had learned, however, quieted the young fellow’s -anxiety. It seemed quite sure that Cherry had not been hurt when -Number 33 left the track. If she could help her fellow passengers -after the accident, she was in no need of attention herself. - -His relief was not so great, however, as he desired. He had not seen -and spoken with the girl. Three hours later, when he finally got his -train to Hammerfest, he wired the man he knew would be in charge of -the train dispatching at Rockton, this question: - - “Find out for me secretly if Miss Hopkins has arrived with - other passengers of wrecked 33.” - -Before he pulled out of Hammerfest on the return trip the answer to -his question was handed up to him by the local telegraph operator: - - “No. Hop. is crazy. What do you know? Girl disappeared at - scene of wreck.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - - WHERE IS CHERRY? - - -The responsibilities of the driver of a Class-A train such as Ralph -Fairbanks conducted are not to be belittled. His mind must be given to -the running of his locomotive, and that first of all, no matter what -else may happen. Death or disaster must not swerve the engineer from -his immediate duty. - -The express back to Rockton was now the young fellow’s charge. When he -arrived at the scene of the morning wreck the eastbound way was clear -again and he had to drive right on. With all his heart he desired to -stop the locomotive, desert it, and make personal search about the -neighborhood for some trace of the supervisor’s daughter. - -What could have happened to Cherry Hopkins? She surely had not been -injured at the time of the wreck. Then what had become of her after -she had run out of the car to view the wreckage closer? - -In no possible way, as far as Ralph could see, could Cherry have been -hurt at a later time and her injury not reported. The train crew and -passengers were all about her, or so it seemed reasonable to suppose, -while she viewed the wreck. Her disappearance was a mysterious thing! - -Ralph could not even pull down his locomotive at the place where -Number 33 had been wrecked. He got the signal from the guard beside -the tracks and had to push on. Despite the fire, that fortunately was -now blowing away from the tracks, he made the run without any trouble -and arrived at the Rockton terminal at 11:30. - -The young engineer had no desire to see Mr. Barton Hopkins at this -time. He learned from the day telegraph operator that nothing new -about Cherry had been discovered. The supervisor had become wildly -excited when he had tried to find his daughter and could not do so. It -was positive that the girl had not arrived in town. She had surely -disappeared at the scene of the wreck of Number 33. - -Ralph did not go home at once after being relieved of his duty on the -locomotive. Instead, he searched for Bob Adair. But the chief -detective had not returned. It was believed he had gone down into -Shadow Valley to examine into the wreck at first hand. - -Ralph wondered if Mr. Adair was in the supervisor’s confidence. Had -the road detective gone to Shadow Valley to look for Cherry Hopkins? -The young fellow was tempted greatly to take the first train for the -vicinity of the morning’s disaster! - -Again, and quite involuntarily, Ralph found himself passing through -the street on which the Hopkins family lived. He hesitated at the door -of the bungalow, then ventured up the walk and rang the bell. A maid -servant came to the door. - -She started back and half closed the door when she saw Ralph in his -overalls and cap. It was evident that she had been warned against -receiving employees of the railroad. - -“What do you want?” demanded the girl sharply. - -“I don’t suppose Mr. Hopkins is at home?” asked Ralph. - -“You know he ain’t supposed to be home at this time of day.” - -“And—and hasn’t Miss Cherry returned?” - -The maid broke out crying. “Ain’t you heard? She’s dead—or lost—or -something. Her father is ’most crazy about it——” - -“And Mrs. Hopkins?” Ralph interrupted. “What does she think?” - -“They don’t dare tell her. Anyway, Mrs. Hopkins isn’t here. They took -her last evening to Dr. Poole’s sanitarium. She’s going under an -operation. Miss Cherry was coming back to be with her.” - -“That’s tough,” muttered Ralph, turning away. - -He went home feeling much disturbed. Mrs. Fairbanks had not only -obtained some news of the wreck at Shadow Valley, but she had got a -garbled account of Supervisor Hopkins’ family troubles. - -“They have taken that poor woman to the sanitarium, and they say he -won’t let the girl come home to her mother,” Ralph’s mother said, -quite excitedly. “Somebody ought to talk to that Barton Hopkins.” - -“Hold on! Hold on!” advised her son. “This is one time when that -‘little bird’ of yours has got the news wrong. I positively know that -Mr. Hopkins sent for Cherry to return. She left Shelby Junction last -night on the ten-forty train—Number Thirty-three.” - -“Why, Ralph, that was the train that was wrecked!” - -“Yes, Mother,” the young fellow replied with more gravity. “And, -believe me, I’m worried enough. The Flyer was held up two hours and -more by the wreck of Thirty-three. I got a chance to search for -Cherry. She wasn’t there. She’s lost—disappeared.” - -“Disappeared?” his mother cried, in amazement. - -“Yes. She was aboard the train. The conductor remembered her. Ladies -told me they saw her after the train was derailed. She was all right -then. But she was not to be found when I inquired, and she did not -reach Rockton with the other passengers.” - -“This is awful, Ralph! What does Mr. Hopkins say?” - -“I don’t know. I’m sure I don’t want to see him. But Mr. Adair has -gone over to Shadow Valley, and perhaps he has gone to look for -Cherry. My gracious! I’d like to go myself. If I hadn’t promised the -G. M. that I would stick to the Midnight Flyer, I would be tempted -right now to throw up my job and join any search party that may look -for Cherry.” - -“Are you afraid the strikers have something to do with her -disappearance, Ralph?” asked his mother. - -“I’m afraid of what that Andy McCarrey might do. I have said from the -start that this was a personal fight between McCarrey and the super. -And Hopkins can be hurt, and hurt badly, through Cherry.” - -“And his poor wife ill as she is, too! It is dreadful,” repeated Mrs. -Fairbanks. “I do wish you could help look for her, my boy; although I -wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble.” - -“Oh, that would be all right. I am not afraid of trouble. But I can’t -go back on the G. M. He is my best friend.” - -His mother was thinking deeply. - -“Ralph, my boy,” she said, of a sudden, “isn’t it true that Zeph -disappeared down there in Shadow Valley?” - -“That’s true enough, Mother. But Zeph is a different person. He can -take care of himself. He is not a delicate girl, helpless in the hands -of such villains as Andy McCarrey and his associates. Cherry——” - -“I was just thinking,” said the widow, “that Zeph might have been -captured and imprisoned by the same men and in the same place as the -supervisor’s girl. Isn’t it possible?” - -“Humph! That’s an idea! I had forgotten Zeph since Cherry disappeared. -But it might be. Indeed, it is more than likely so. Now I wonder just -where Andy McCarrey is right now? That man they tell of in the -flour-sack mask could not be him. But, then——” - -He was more than puzzled and disturbed. Ralph was downright frightened -on account of Cherry Hopkins. And now he began to wonder if he ought -not to take Mr. Hopkins into his confidence. Although it seemed that -the supervisor must know as much about the disappearance of his -daughter as Ralph did. - -Actually the person the young engineer desired most to consult was the -road’s chief detective. But he heard nothing of that gentleman that -day or in the evening when he went down town early. There was a buzz -of excitement about the terminal offices, however, and Ralph learned -that while he had slept at home several important events had occurred. - -The police had raided the old tenement in which Ralph and Zeph Dallas -had had their adventure at night with Whitey Malone and the chief -strike leaders, Andy McCarrey and Griffin Falk. Intoxicated men coming -out of the place had been seen and a supply of liquor was found in the -very upstairs room into which Ralph had peered. - -But the attempt to arrest McCarrey or Falk in the place had failed. -They had been warned of the raid and had got out. Indeed, it was -believed they had left town. - -Another important thing was that Jim Perrin of the old shopmen’s union -had been suspended from his office. Certain men who had been close to -the traitorous Perrin were likewise under a cloud, especially Billy -Lyon, Abe Bertholdt, Mike Ranny and Sam Peters. The split in the -shopmen’s union was being healed. It was even prophesied by some that -the wildcat strike would be ended as far as the shopworkers of Rockton -were concerned within a few hours. - -These bits of news were encouraging in a general way, but Ralph -Fairbanks’ interest lay in an entirely different direction now. Much -as he had been worried about railroad affairs, in his mind the -disappearance of Cherry Hopkins at the scene of the wreck in Shadow -Valley loomed up as being far more important. - -Ralph went up to the dispatchers’ offices to talk over the schedule -with his substitute, and, also, to learn of any news that might be -rife in that department. Naturally, the boys there knew little about -Supervisor Hopkins and his troubles. - -“Just the same, the lads tell me,” said Johnny, who was Ralph’s old -assistant, “that Hopkins is getting rattled. He has stopped hunting -for faults to correct in our division system. They say he’s got a sick -wife and that his girl has run away from him.” - -“Bother gossip!” exclaimed Ralph heatedly. “Miss Hopkins has been -kidnapped, if anybody should ask you. No doubt of that. I am sorry for -Hopkins.” - -As he went down to the train-shed platform he passed the door of the -telegraph room. The operator had just been called to the instrument. -Ralph could not resist halting to listen. - -He was a quick and perfect reader of the sounder. And almost instantly -his interest was caught and held by the message coming over the wire. -In the first place it came from Timber Brook. At this hour Timber -Brook Station, near the spot where Thirty-three had been wrecked, -should be closed for the night. - -The message came haltingly. The operator sending seemed to be a -regular “ham,” as the telegraph fraternity call a poor sender. But -Ralph could not mistake the meaning of what came over the wire: - - “B. Hopkins, Super: - “If you want to see your girl again you - know who to communicate with and what it - will cost you. Be quick. We will not wait - long. We want satisfaction.” - -Ralph could not keep back an excited ejaculation. The operator swung -about to look at him. - -“What—what do you think of that?” he gasped. - -“Get a repeat!” exclaimed the young engineer. “That wasn’t the regular -operator at Timber Brook.” - -“Not much! It was a rank amateur.” The operator was repeating the -distant station’s call—TB, TB, TB, in staccato. There was no reply. -The wire was dead. “It must be a fake.” - -“No fake at all,” returned Ralph hastily. “Where is Mr. Hopkins?” - -“He told me he was going to the hospital to see how his wife was, and -he would be back. Here he is!” - -Ralph wheeled. The supervisor came striding to the door of the -telegraph room. He scowled as usual at Ralph. Then he asked the -operator: - -“Anything doing?” - -The man hesitated for a moment. Then, in silence, he handed the -supervisor the record he had made of the strange telegraph message. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - - RALPH ON THE TRAIL - - -Ralph Fairbanks had stepped back under the inimical glare of the -supervisor’s look. At that moment he had been ready to forget Mr. -Hopkins’ unkindness and unfairness to him. But the man’s plain dislike -aroused renewed antagonism in Ralph’s mind. He turned away and, in -spite of the tugging at his own heartstrings, was prepared to ignore -the supervisor’s trouble. His worst fears for Cherry had been -realized, and he suspected that the blow to her father would be well -nigh overwhelming. - -Swinging his dinner can, the young engineer went down the platform, -approaching the big locomotive he drove and which had just been -brought up from the roundhouse by his faithful firemen. But before he -arrived beside the engine he heard a cry and the quick pounding of -feet upon the cement. He glanced back over his shoulder. - -Supervisor Hopkins, white-faced and staring, was tearing along after -him, waving the telegram in his hand. The man was utterly beside -himself. At last the strain of all his troubles and anxieties had -broken him. One would scarcely have recognized the erstwhile stern and -uncompromising supervisor who had, within four months, managed to -create so much disturbance on this division of the Great Northern -Railway. - -“Pull out! Pull out!” he cried, seizing Ralph’s arm and hustling him -toward the steps of the huge locomotive. - -“Can’t pull out for four minutes, Mr. Hopkins,” Ralph said, trying to -keep his own voice and manner placid. “The schedule——” - -“Hang the schedule!” cried this former exponent of method and -exactness. “Do you know what has happened? Those demons!” He shook the -paper in his hand. “Do you know what they have done, Fairbanks?” - -“I read the message off the wire,” returned the young fellow coolly. -“I have been afraid all along that Andy McCarrey’s gang had something -to do with Miss Cherry’s disappearance.” - -“It is those bloodthirsty strikers!” gasped Hopkins. - -“The strikers are not bloodthirsty. They are men who have worked for -the railroad for years. Some of them are my neighbors and friends. -They have been badly advised in this strike, I admit. But I doubt if a -single ex-employee of this division has had anything to do with this -beastly thing.” - -“This message——” - -“You were threatened before. I guess you were threatened before you -came to Rockton, Mr. Hopkins,” said Ralph quickly. “You are pretty -sure who is the moving spirit in this dastardly crime.” - -“McCarrey. Yes, I know that. But he has men to help him. I must get to -Shadow Valley at once——” - -The gong in the train-shed roof sounded. Ralph started up the steps of -the locomotive. Hopkins remained right at his elbow. - -“You get a seat in one of the coaches where you will be comfortable, -Mr. Hopkins,” advised Ralph. “I’ll get you to the place you want to -reach as quickly as I can.” - -“I’ll ride with you. Want me to write a pass for myself?” the excited -supervisor asked. “In the locomotive I will be that much nearer the -place this message came from.” - -“Come aboard, then,” said Ralph, not even smiling. “We’ll waive the -pass for this once.” - -“All aboard!” called out the conductor from the end of the train. - -Ralph leaped to his seat and seized the lever. The supervisor followed -him into the cab. You should have seen the eyes of the two firemen! - -Supervisor Hopkins was certainly shaking. Out of the corner of his eye -Ralph watched those long, lean, red hands twitching nervously. - -“Maybe he has been under this pressure all the time,” Ralph -considered. “It might be. He is as close-mouthed as a clam. Anybody -can see that. Mr. Barton Hopkins would never confide in any person as -long as he could keep his self-control. My gracious! I never saw him -so broken up.” - -While Ralph was thinking these thoughts he was speeding up the great -eight-wheeler. The train, gaining on its pace with each revolution of -the drivers, left the Rockton yard behind. It whirled up the small -slope beyond, and then the searchlight, like a bright index finger, -pointed the way into the black cavern of the cloudy night. - -Suddenly the young engineer realized that Mr. Hopkins’ fingers were -quiet. He sat on the bench without fidgeting as he had at first. Ralph -could even sense that the man breathed regularly. - -He turned in some surprise to look into Barton Hopkins’ face. What had -changed him in this brief time? The supervisor’s gaze was fixed upon -Ralph’s left hand, the hand which rested all the time on the throttle. - -Faster and faster the train sped on. As he had promised, the young -fellow was sending the Midnight Flyer on at the best pace he could -compass. Never during the time he had handled the train had he made -better time. - -On and on they rushed, the wheels drumming over the rail-joints with a -rhythm of sound that could only be compared to faint rifle-fire. Again -and again the whistle sent its warning through the night. They rushed -past little stations and parti-colored switch targets as though they -were merely painted upon the backdrop of the night. - -Now and then a white flash told Ralph that Adair’s guards were still -on duty. “All’s well” they signaled, and he dared keep the heavy train -at top speed over stretches of road which ordinarily would call for -more cautious driving. - -The lights of Fryburg finally came into view. Distant specks like -star-shine at first. Almost immediately they were slowing down for the -town and the bell was jangling. Ralph brought the train to a -wonderfully easy stop. - -Not for a moment had he been troubled by the presence of the -supervisor behind him on the seat. He was so sure of himself that he -was never ruffled by being watched at his work. - -But as the locomotive came panting to its stop, Barton Hopkins put a -now quite steady hand upon Ralph Fairbanks’ shoulder. - -“A wonderful run, Fairbanks,” he said, in his usual stern voice. “I -had no idea you were such a master of your art. I could give you -nothing but praise for your work. And you have gained three minutes -over the schedule. I thank you.” - -For some reason Ralph felt a lump in his throat. There was something a -bit pathetic in the supervisor’s honest assurance that he appreciated -what little Ralph could do for him. The young fellow understood that -the man’s keen interest in the way the engineer handled his locomotive -had aided to calm him and had helped him gain control of himself. - -They went on from Fryburg to Shadow Valley Station at a speed quite in -keeping with the first stretch of the run. There was no red glow in -the sky ahead to-night. When Ralph had returned from Hammerfest the -day before the area of the forest fire had been much reduced. - -Again the Flyer made the swift plunge into the valley. They rounded -the curves and crossed the trestle at the Devil’s Den in safety. Under -instructions from the supervisor, the train was pulled down at Timber -Brook Station. Ralph could not stop to learn if anything had happened -there of moment. - -The supervisor got down on the lower step of the cabin and made a -flying leap to the cinder path. He waved his hand to Ralph as the -latter speeded up the train again. Then the lights of the little -station and the tall figure of the supervisor were shut out of his -sight. - -The Midnight Flyer made another of her famous runs that morning, and -Ralph brought her to Hammerfest in ample season for the connection on -the Boise City road. Although he had closely applied himself to the -running of the train, Ralph’s mind was hot with thoughts of the -mystery of Cherry Hopkins’ disappearance. - -Something his mother had said regarding Zeph Dallas’s dropping out of -sight shuttled to and fro in his thought; and at last it pointed to a -fixed fact. He thought he saw a way of helping Hopkins find the place -of captivity of his lost daughter. - -But to put this idea to the test he must have freedom. He rushed to -the telegraph office the minute he was free of the locomotive and -began to put in requests for the master mechanic. But that individual -was at neither end of the division, and at that early hour of the day -he could not be found. - -While Ralph in his anxiety was striving to reach Mr. Connoly and was -waiting outside the telegraph office, he saw an accommodation from the -west pull in, to the tail of which was attached a very familiar -private car. He could have tossed up his cap in glee as he started on -a run for the end of the platform. - -Before he reached the private car the general manager stepped down and -approached the station. He hailed Ralph genially. - -“Oh, yes, this is your end of run, isn’t it, Ralph? How are you?” - -“Terribly troubled, sir,” admitted the young engineer. - -“It seems your whole division is troubled,” grumbled the general -manager. “I have been wondering, boy, if you were not right when you -said that an official should be able to see things from the men’s -standpoint. This Hopkins——” - -“Don’t say another word against him!” gasped Ralph. “Let me tell you!” - -And he proceeded to do so—to tell the genial general manager the -particulars of everything that had happened within his ken on the -division since Barton Hopkins’ drastic rules had begun to create -friction. But mainly Ralph gave the details of the wreck in Shadow -Valley, what had led up to it, and what had now resulted from it. His -text was, after all, Cherry Hopkins. - -“You mean to say those blackguards have stolen the supervisor’s -daughter?” cried the general manager. “Why, the State police ought to -be out after them.” - -“Here’s the boy who ought to be after them,” declared Ralph boldly, -pointing to himself, and he went on to sketch for the general manager -his own belief of what should be done in the matter of searching for -Cherry. - -“If I could get excused from this run back to Rockton I’d be able to -do something. If they haven’t found her down there in Shadow Valley, I -believe I can. I’ll get back to Rockton in time to take out the -Midnight Flyer to-night.” - -“Is there an engineer here able to take over your locomotive?” - -“Ben Rogers is the man!” exclaimed Ralph. “I’ll put him wise to -everything before we reach Timber Brook.” - -“Go to it then, boy!” exclaimed the general manager. “I am sorry for -Barton Hopkins. Until this strike came he was saving money right and -left for the Great Northern. It is a pity that he has been under this -strain—if he has—all this time. I hope Adair is helping him.” - -Ralph had been quite sure that Bob Adair was giving his full attention -to the kidnapping of Cherry Hopkins, and when he dropped off his -locomotive at Timber Brook he was so assured. For he chanced to meet -Mr. Adair right at the little station. - -When they had exchanged news, Ralph found that the chief detective had -not thought of the point that Mrs. Fairbanks had put into her son’s -mind. The detectives had spent all the morning with Mr. Hopkins in -beating the forest on either side of the road—even the burned area—for -some trace of a hideout that the villains might use. - -It was learned that the Timber Brook Station had been broken into, and -one of the kidnappers had sent that message to Mr. Hopkins which Ralph -had heard off the wire. But otherwise, nobody had seen any suspicious -person about the right of way since the wreck of Thirty-three. - -“Come on!” said Ralph excitedly. “I believe my mother has the right -idea. At any rate, Mr. Adair, don’t you think it is worth putting to -the test?” - -Bob Adair agreed, and they started at once toward the Devil’s Den. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - - THE RUN IS ENDED - - -Ralph, with Mr. Hopkins, Adair, and several of the latter’s -assistants, got aboard a dirt train going across to the Devil’s Den -where the replaced pillar under the trestle was still in course of -construction. Once there, they could easily walk up the grade to that -point where the young engineer had seen fluttering from the bushes on -the side of the cliff certain articles of apparel which he believed -belonged to his friend, Zeph Dallas. - -The ragged remains of the vest and shirt still clung there. The cap -had probably been blown away. The forest fire had not run up the face -of the crag, so the wearing apparel had not been destroyed. - -“Now, it is a fact,” Ralph put forth, “that Zeph hasn’t been seen -since the night the Flyer was pulled down here for that flaming -scarecrow when the pillar at Devil’s Den was blown out. Nor has he -been heard from, has he?” - -“Not a sign of him,” agreed Adair. - -“Then make up your mind he went up this cliff, and by that path. He -probably followed the rascals who dynamited the pillar. He was so -eager that he could not even wait to see if I got his fire signal and -stopped the train.” - -“That would be just like him,” admitted Bob Adair again. - -“Zeph discarded his vest, and then his shirt and cap, to mark his -trail. I believe it should have been followed before.” - -“That sounds reasonable,” said Mr. Hopkins. “But that was some time -ago. What do you suppose has happened to him since?” - -“He was captured by the men he followed. That goes without saying. I -don’t believe they would have killed the boy,” said the chief -detective. “But they would hold him prisoner.” - -“Just as they are holding my daughter,” groaned out Mr. Hopkins. - -“Not for ransom, in Zeph’s case,” said Adair grimly. “They know nobody -would give a dollar for him.” - -“I’d give everything I’ve got for him!” cried Ralph, in some heat. - -“Well, now, come to think of it,” said Adair, with twinkling eyes, “I -don’t know but I’d give something myself to see Zeph clear of the -rascals.” - -“I guess you would!” exclaimed Ralph. “Zeph will try anything once, -but he is something more than a nut. He is faithful and brave and a -mighty good friend!” - -However, they wasted little time in discussing the fine possibilities -of the situation. Ralph knew the path up the crag pretty well, and he -led the way. Two of the detective police were left below with rifles -to watch for any person who might appear above to obstruct the -climbers. - -To climb that cliff at night must have been hard work. But by daylight -Ralph and his companions did not find it particularly difficult. In -half an hour they approached the summit of the ascent. - -On the way Ralph had made sure that the rags of garments still hanging -to the brush had actually belonged to Zeph Dallas. He even found the -yellow brown cap that had fallen upon a shelf of rock. At any rate, -Zeph had passed this way and must have left the articles for some good -and sufficient reason. - -“He expected to get into trouble, or he already was in trouble,” Ralph -said to Mr. Adair. “Think of him shedding his clothes in this way!” - -“I have got through wondering about Zeph,” admitted the chief -detective. “He is always breaking out in a new spot.” - -Ralph, however, could not feel so sure that his friend was all right. -As he led the way “over the top” he almost feared to find Zeph’s dead -body lying on the rocks. - -But the first thing he found was somebody very much alive. As Ralph -scrambled over the lip of the last shelf of rock a figure suddenly -popped into view. The head and shoulders of a man appeared just above -the young fellow. And to the latter’s surprise, those head and -shoulders were shrouded in a flour sack on which the red and green -lettering was faintly visible. - -“Here he is!” yelled Ralph, and sprang up and grabbed the fellow. The -latter had a club which he tried to use, but he had been so amazed by -the appearance of the young engineer and his party that he was quickly -overpowered. - -In fact, Ralph was astride the fellow’s body and was tearing off the -mask when Mr. Adair and Mr. Hopkins reached the ledge of rock. Ralph -exposed the flaxen head and foolish face of Whitey Malone! - -“We’ve got him, anyway, on the count of highway robbery,” said Mr. -Adair, with satisfaction. - -“What does he know about my daughter?” demanded the supervisor. - -“He’d better tell at once,” said the chief detective, “or we may throw -him over the cliff.” - -This threat he made with a wink to Mr. Hopkins and Ralph; but Whitey -did not see that wink! He was scared to the marrow of his bones, -especially when he was dragged to the edge of the rock. - -“I’ll show you! I’ll tell!” he cried. “But Andy will kill me.” - -“You tell the truth,” Mr. Adair promised, “and you will be out of jail -a good many years before Andy McCarrey gets through paying the penalty -for _his_ crimes.” - -It was a point that even Whitey Malone could appreciate. Much as he -feared McCarrey and Griffin Falk, the weak-minded fellow knew that he -could save himself much trouble by telling all he knew to the -representatives of the law. - -Back from the verge of this cliff in a thick wood was an old charcoal -burner’s cabin. Zeph Dallas, in attempting to follow McCarrey’s -ruffians who had dynamited the trestle pillar (Whitey had not been in -that crime) was captured, as Ralph believed, and was held prisoner in -the charcoal burner’s shack. - -At the time of the wreck of Number 33 in Shadow Valley, some of these -same employees of McCarrey, lurking in the bushes, had recognized -Cherry Hopkins and had seized her during the confusion. Binding her -and muffling her cries, the rascals had taken her by a roundabout way -to the same shack in which Zeph was held prisoner. - -With this information wrenched from the reluctant Whitey, Ralph, -Supervisor Hopkins, Adair and his men, went on to the cabin. They -approached it with much care, for a large band of the outlaws were on -guard. - -Ralph and Mr. Adair, who were well informed regarding the identity of -the striking shopmen, saw no ex-railroad employee in the clearing -where the shack stood. But McCarrey and his chief henchman, Falk, were -there. - -Without doubt, although McCarrey had wormed himself into the -confidence of the dissatisfied shopmen and other employees of the -division, he had done so merely for his own personal aggrandizement. -He hated the supervisor of the division and he had worked merely to -control the strike fund of the ill-advised railroaders and to hurt Mr. -Barton Hopkins. - -Chance, it seemed, had put Cherry into the power of this scoundrel. -When he heard that she had been captured he left Rockton immediately -and took up his personal fight against the supervisor. He knew Hopkins -had some money and he was determined to make him ransom his daughter. - -With this knowledge in their possession, Ralph and his companions -attacked the gang at the charcoal burner’s shack with considerable -determination. Although they had firearms, they did not have to use -them. Advancing under the chief detective’s direction on the clearing -from all sides, the rescuers clubbed their men down, frightening them -as much as they injured them. - -While the men were fighting, Ralph ran to the door of the shack. He -had already heard Zeph’s hoarse voice shouting. Ralph burst in the -door with a stone, shattering the lock. - -As he did so a man hurled himself upon the young railroader. Although -the attack was sudden and from the rear, the young fellow knew that -his antagonist was Andy McCarrey. - -“I’ve got _you_, anyway!” growled out the chief of the band of -scoundrels. “You got into that house one night. I remember you! And I -bet you gave us away.” - -He was much stronger than Ralph, and having jumped on him from behind, -he bore the youth to the ground. He was astride Ralph in an instant, -and seized upon the very dornick with which his captive had broken the -lock of the door. - -In a moment the young railroader might have been seriously hurt—even -killed! But rescue in the shape of Mr. Barton Hopkins himself arrived -in season. Reaching the spot with a clubbed rifle in his hands, the -supervisor landed the stock of the weapon on the side of McCarrey’s -head with such force that the villain toppled over, quite _hors de -combat_ for the time being. - -Before Ralph could rise the supervisor had sprung to the door of the -shack and thrown it open. The afternoon sunlight flooded into the -interior of the place and Barton Hopkins saw his daughter, bound to a -rude chair and gagged with a cloth tied across her face. - -The anxious father was the first to reach the girl. He swiftly cut her -bonds and tore off the bandage while Ralph staggered to an inner door, -that of a closet where Zeph Dallas was confined. - -“Great Jupiter and little fishes!” gasped Zeph hoarsely, when he saw -Ralph’s face. “You’ve been a long time coming. And they’ve got a girl -in prison here, too.” - -“They haven’t got anybody in prison now,” said Mr. Adair’s cheerful -voice from the doorway. “We’ve got them—and a fine bunch they are. -That was a nice swipe you gave Andy, Mr. Hopkins. It ought to be some -satisfaction to you to know that he will have to have some new teeth -if he ever wants to chew his victuals on that side of his jaw.” - -The situation had been a serious one, nevertheless, for it was later -proved that several of the men McCarrey had in his band had prison -records and were desperate criminals. The threat to injure the girl if -her father did not pay for her release might not have been an empty -one. - -“However,” said Mr. Adair, as the friends and the supervisor and -Cherry made their way to Rockton on an evening train, “this not only -cleans up the McCarrey band, but it is the end of the wildcat strike. -I don’t know that you had been so informed, Mr. Hopkins, but a -committee of the striking shopmen, and from the old union, will wait -on you to-morrow, and if you handle the situation wisely everything -will be going smoothly very soon.” - -“Perhaps I have been too stringent in my rules,” the supervisor said -slowly. “At least, I will consider what the men have to offer.” - -Cherry, hearing her father say this, nodded brightly to Ralph and -squeezed his hand for a moment. “I believe you did something to help -convince father that he was wrong about the railroad workers,” she -whispered to her friend. - -“As for the strikers themselves,” went on Mr. Adair, “the union will -get rid of Jim Perrin and those that helped him betray the union -members to McCarrey. I was able to prove to the union heads their -treachery through the written list Ralph got from Malone that night -and the warning Perrin slipped into Ralph’s engine the night -Thirty-three was wrecked. Undoubtedly Perrin believed McCarrey meant -to try again to wreck the Flyer.” - -“How did he come to consider Ralph at all?” asked Mr. Hopkins. “Is -Perrin such a close friend of yours?” and he asked the question -directly of the young man. - -“I’ll tell you,” confessed the other. “Some time ago Perrin’s crippled -daughter—a sweet little girl—needed to be treated at one of the big -Eastern hospitals. Mother and I—more mother than me,” added Ralph, -“were able to assist in sending the child there. She has come back -cured and I expect, Perrin was grateful.” - -It was evident that Mr. Hopkins’ estimation of Ralph Fairbanks -increased by leaps and bounds during that run to Rockton. When it was -ended the supervisor shook hands warmly with the young fellow before -he hastened his daughter away in a taxicab to the hospital, to see her -mother. - -“I see I have a good deal to thank you for, Fairbanks,” the supervisor -said. “Believe me, I shall not forget it.” - -However, it was a month before Ralph saw much more of the Hopkins -family, even of Cherry. During that time he continued to drive Number -202, and the troubles of all kinds on the division gradually cleared -up. - -Then another engineer was found to relieve Ralph, and he went back to -his desk as chief dispatcher for the division. It was the evening of -this day that he kept his first dinner engagement at the Hopkins’ -bungalow and met the recovered wife and mother at her own table. - -Beside Ralph, too, there sat Mrs. Fairbanks. They found that Barton -Hopkins, when he wished to be, could be a very charming host. And Mrs. -Fairbanks, as they walked homeward after dinner, repeated to her son -something she had already said about Cherry: - -“That girl is well worth knowing, Ralph.” - -“I’ll tell the world!” agreed the young train dispatcher. - - THE END - - - - - THE TOM SWIFT SERIES - By VICTOR APPLETON - UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS. - - These spirited tales, convey in a realistic way, the - wonderful advances in land and sea locomotion. Stories - like these are impressed upon the memory and their reading - is productive only of good. - - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS - TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE - TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER - TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON - TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL - TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE - - Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York - - - - - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES - By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN - - The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of - wealthy men of a small city located on a lake. The boys - love outdoor life, and are greatly interested in hunting, - fishing, and picture taking. They have motor cycles, motor - boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go - everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The - stories give full directions for camping out, how to fish, - how to hunt wild animals and prepare the skins for - stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim, etc. Full of - the spirit of outdoor life. - - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS - Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE - Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island. - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST - Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge. - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF - Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists. - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME - Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness. - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT - Or The Rivals of the Mississippi. - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS - Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run. - THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT - Or The Golden Cup Mystery. - - 12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth. - Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York - - - - - THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS - For Little Men and Women - By LAURA LEE HOPE - Author of “The Bunny Brown” Series, Etc. - 12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING - - Copyright publications which cannot be obtained elsewhere. - Books that charm the hearts of the little ones, and of - which they never tire. - - THE BOBBSEY TWINS - THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE - THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK - THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME - THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY - THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND - THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA - THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST - - Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York - - - - - THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES, - By LAURA LEE HOPE - Author of the Popular “Bobbsey Twins” Books - Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by - FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY - 12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING - - These stories by the author of the “Bobbsey Twins” Books - are eagerly welcomed by the little folks from about five - to ten years of age. Their eyes fairly dance with delight - at the lively doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown and - his cunning, trustful sister Sue. - - Bunny was a lively little boy, very inquisitive. When he - did anything, Sue followed his leadership. They had many - adventures, some comical in the extreme. - - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA’S FARM - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU’S CITY HOME - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW - BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE - - Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT -FLYER *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Ralph on the Midnight Flyer</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Allen Chapman</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67030]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER ***</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<h1>RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER </h1> -</div> -<div id='001' class='mt01 mb01 w001'> - <img src='images/illus-001.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%' /> -<p class='caption'>THE FIRE WAS SWEEPING CLOSER AND CLOSER.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='font-size:1.4em;'>RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER </div> -<div style='margin-top:1em;'>OR </div> -<div style='font-size:1.2em;margin-top:1em;'>THE WRECK AT SHADOW VALLEY </div> -<div style='margin-top:1em;'>BY </div> -<div style='font-size:1.2em;margin-top:1em;'>ALLEN CHAPMAN </div> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>AUTHOR OF “RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE,” “RALPH ON THE</div> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>ARMY TRAIN,” “THE RADIO BOYS’ FIRST WIRELESS,”</div> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>“THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE,” ETC.</div> -<div style='margin-top:1em;'>ILLUSTRATED </div> -<div style='margin-top:1em;'>NEW YORK </div> -<div>GROSSET & DUNLAP</div> -<div>PUBLISHERS</div> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>Made in the United States of America </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='font-size:1.1em;letter-spacing:0.2em;'>BOOKS FOR BOYS </div> -<div style='font-size:1.1em;'>BY ALLEN CHAPMAN </div> -<div style='margin-top:1em;'>12mo. Cloth, Illustrated.</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='margin-top:0.7em;font-weight:bold;'>THE RAILROAD SERIES </div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Bound to Become a Railroad Man</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Clearing the Track</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>RALPH ON THE ENGINE</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Mystery of the Pay Car</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Young Railroader’s Most Daring Exploit</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Wreck at Shadow Valley</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='margin-top:0.7em;font-weight:bold;'>THE RADIO BOYS SERIES </div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>THE RADIO BOYS’ FIRST WIRELESS</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Winning the Ferberton Prize</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Message that Saved the Ship</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Making Good in the Wireless Room</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Midnight Call for Assistance</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Solving a Wireless Mystery</div> -<div class='blankline'></div> -<div class='cbline'>THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='margin-top:1em;'>GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York </div> -<div>COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP</div> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;margin-top:0.5em;'>Ralph on the Midnight Flyer </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center'>CONTENTS</div> -<table class='toc tcenter' style='margin-bottom:3em'> -<tbody> - <tr><td class='c1'>I</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chI'>The Trouble-Maker</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>II</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chII'>Discipline</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>III</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chIII'>A Good Deal to Think of</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>IV</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chIV'>Zeph Fathers an Idea</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>V</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chV'>On the Heels of a Shadow</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>VI</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chVI'>Touch and Go</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>VII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chVII'>Something Bad</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>VIII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chVIII'>A Clash of Authority</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>IX</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chIX'>It Happens Again</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>X</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chX'>The Night of the Strike</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XI</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXI'>More Friction</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXII'>Treachery</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XIII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXIII'>News from Shadow Valley</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XIV</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXIV'>A Tragedy</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XV</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXV'>Once More on the Rails</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XVI</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXVI'>Through Shadow Valley</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XVII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXVII'>More Discipline</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XVIII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXVIII'>From Bad to Worse</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XIX</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXIX'>The Hold-Up in Shadow Valley</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XX</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXX'>Strange Signals</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXI</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXI'>About Cherry</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXII'>The Threat Direct</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXIII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXIII'>What Lies Ahead?</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXIV</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXIV'>Terrible News</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXV</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXV'>Through the Flaming Forest</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXVI</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXVI'>The Wreck</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXVII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXVII'>Where Is Cherry?</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXVIII</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXVIII'>Ralph on the Trail</a></td></tr> - <tr><td class='c1'>XXIX</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXXIX'>The Run Is Ended</a></td></tr> -</tbody> -</table> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' title='I—The Trouble-Maker' id='chI'> - <span style='font-size:1.4em;'>RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER</span><br/><br/> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER I</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THE TROUBLE-MAKER</span> -</h2> -<p>“What do you think, Ralph? Would any of our Great Northern employees -be foolish enough to join this wildcat strike?”</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you think yourself?” asked Ralph Fairbanks, with some -impatience in his tone. “You know these roughnecks as well as I do.”</p> - -<p>The general manager, in whose office at Rockton they were sitting, -threw up both hands and fairly snorted his disgust.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been a long time at the railroad game,” he declared; “but I -never yet understood the psychology of a maintenance of way man. No, -sir. In some things they are as loyal to the road as I am myself. And -then they suddenly go off at a tangent because of something that, for -the life of me, I cannot see is important.”</p> - -<p>“There lies the difficulty—the germ of the whole trouble,” Ralph -Fairbanks said thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>He was a young fellow of attractive personality—good looking, too. The -girls had begun to notice the young railroader, and had he not been so -thoroughly devoted to his calling—and to the finest mother a fellow -ever had—Ralph might have been somewhat spoiled by the admiration -accorded him in certain quarters.</p> - -<p>Just now, however, having been called in from the train dispatchers’ -department where he worked, the young fellow’s attention was deeply -engaged in the subject the general manager had brought up. Ralph was -an extraordinary employee of the Great Northern. His superiors trusted -him thoroughly. And having worked his way up from the roundhouse, -switch tower, as fireman and engineer, to the train dispatcher’s -grade, he was often called upon by the railroad officials for special -duties.</p> - -<p>The general manager stared at the young fellow after his last remark -for fully a minute before asking:</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by that? What is the germ of the whole trouble?”</p> - -<p>“The fact that the officials cannot see things just as the men see -them.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!”</p> - -<p>“No getting away from the fact that the laborer seldom looks at a -thing as his superior looks at it,” Ralph pursued earnestly. “A rule -promulgated by some officer of the road seems to him the simplest way -of getting at a needed result. But after it is spread on the board at -the roundhouse, for instance, it creates a riot.”</p> - -<p>“So it does. And I am hanged if I have been able to understand in some -cases why the men go off half-cocked over some simple thing.”</p> - -<p>“Not simple at all to them. It is often a rule that lops off some -cherished privilege. It may be something that looks as though it were -aimed at the laborer’s independence.”</p> - -<p>“Bah!” ejaculated the general manager with more than a little disdain -in his tone.</p> - -<p>“You see!” laughed Ralph. “You can’t see it in the same way that I -can, for instance. You make an order, say, changing the style of the -caps the men wear around the roundhouse and switch towers, and see -what a row you’ll have on your hands. Some ‘lawyer’ among ’em will see -a deliberate attempt for somebody to graft—or worse. Those caps they -get for a quarter and can buy in the little stores that crop up around -every railroad yard. The hogheads and firemen wear them. Everybody -wears them. You order that the cap hereafter worn shall be quite -different from the present cap, and you’ll start something that you’ll -never be able to stop save by buckling down to the boys.”</p> - -<p>“But why?” demanded the official. “Tell me! What is the reason? -Another cap might not cost them a penny more——”</p> - -<p>“Or might not cost them as much. That would make no difference. You -strike at his independence in changing the style of the cap. And his -independence is the most cherished possession of the railroader. You -should know that.”</p> - -<p>“I know that they think they are independent,” growled the general -manager. “But like the rest of us, they are just about as independent -as the hog on the cake of ice.”</p> - -<p>The young train dispatcher laughed again. He could really appreciate -the mental attitude of both the disgruntled railroad workers, at this -time stirred up all over the country from ocean to ocean, and the -higher officials of the road, who realized fully that unless all -branches of the railroad pulled together during the next few months -there would surely come financial wreckage to many systems.</p> - -<p>The Great Northern was really in better circumstances than many trunk -lines at the time. But on the division the headquarters of which were -here in Rockton, friction had developed. The shopmen talked strike; -the yardmen were disgruntled; the section hands of the division talked -more than they worked. Altogether the situation was so serious that -the general manager himself found it necessary to look the field over.</p> - -<p>And it was not strange that he should have called Ralph Fairbanks into -conference. Young as the latter was, he was a link between the -officials and the workmen at large.</p> - -<p>“Look here, Ralph,” said the general manager suddenly, swinging about -in his chair with one leg over its arm and pointing his lighted cigar -at the young fellow, “I’m going to ask you a pointed question. What do -you think of Bart Hopkins?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Hopkins—the division super?” returned Ralph briskly and looking -straight into the general manager’s face. “I think that Mr. Hopkins -has a lovely daughter. As the boys say, she’s a peach!”</p> - -<p>“No,” replied the general manager gloomily, “she’s a Cherry—a -different kind of fruit. But I am not asking your opinion of Cherry -Hopkins. How about Bart?”</p> - -<p>“I guess I haven’t been thinking much about him,” confessed Ralph -slowly. “He has been here in charge for three months, and to tell the -truth I have not spoken to him half-a-dozen times. He has nothing to -do, of course, with the dispatchers’ department. Mr. Hopkins is a -pleasant-spoken man.”</p> - -<p>“You know blamed well that I am not asking, either, about Bart -Hopkins’ social qualities,” said the exasperated general manager. -“What do you think of him as a railroad man? What is he doing here?”</p> - -<p>A flash of feeling came into Ralph Fairbanks’ face and he looked -steadily at his old friend and superior.</p> - -<p>“What did you expect him to do here?”</p> - -<p>“Confound it all! I don’t want to be catechised. I want you to answer -me. I want to know what you think of the man’s work?”</p> - -<p>“You want it straight, then, do you?” asked Ralph sharply.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I do.”</p> - -<p>“Then I think he will end in setting everybody by the ears and -bringing on a strike that may spread to every division of the Great -Northern. You have forced this answer from me. Remember, you must not -quote me.”</p> - -<p>“I won’t snitch,” said the general manager, with a wry grin. “I -understand. Then you take the men’s view of Bart? You believe he is a -trouble-maker?”</p> - -<p>“As sure as you are two feet high!” exclaimed Ralph, with conviction.</p> - -<p>“Huh! He has already brought about changes that have saved the -division a mint of money.”</p> - -<p>“The other changes he has made will cost the road a good deal more—if -there is a strike.”</p> - -<p>“Actually, do you believe there will be a strike, Ralph?”</p> - -<p>“If Andy McCarrey has his way, there will be. And Mr. Hopkins is -playing right into McCarrey’s hands.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t believe that Bart would deliberately do anything to bring on -trouble.”</p> - -<p>“No. But he’s been bitten by the efficiency bug. The swelling is a -terrible one,” said Ralph, smiling again. “Mr. Hopkins can’t seem to -see things at all from the men’s standpoint. As I said before, an -inability to see the effect of an order on the men’s minds is the germ -of most friction between the laborers and the railroad heads. McCarrey -is a bad man. He wants to lead a strike. Naturally a strike will put a -lot of money in McCarrey’s hands. These strike leaders do as they -please with strike funds—there is never any check on them.</p> - -<p>“Besides, as I believe, he has a personal enmity for Mr. Hopkins. -Somewhere in the East, where Hopkins came from, McCarrey got a grudge -against him.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I understand Barton Hopkins was in the middle of some trouble on -the Eastern Shore Railroad. He is a stormy petrel. But he is making -good here. He has saved us money,” reiterated the general manager.</p> - -<p>“Well, if money is more to the Great Northern than a loyal band of -employees,” said Ralph with some bitterness, as he got up from his -chair, “then you have got just what you want in Mr. Hopkins. I’m -telling you that I see trouble ahead. And it is coming soon.”</p> - -<p>Ralph Fairbanks felt deeply regarding the situation which had arisen -in Rockton. When he walked down past the railroad shops a little later -on his way home and looked in at the open windows, he could not fail -to notice that the shopmen were talking together in groups instead of -being busy at their various jobs.</p> - -<p>“Looks bad,” muttered Ralph. “I hated to knock the new super. -Especially when he has got such a pretty daughter,” and he smiled -reminiscently.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he started and then quickened his steps. Ahead of him he saw -a trimly dressed figure crossing the railroad at Hammerby Street. He -could not mistake the girl. Not when she had been in his mind the -previous instant.</p> - -<p>Miss Cherry Hopkins was a pronounced blonde. It was at the time when -bobbed hair was popular, and bobbed hair added to Cherry’s chic -appearance. She was slim, and of good figure. She wore a silk sweater, -a sport skirt, and a hat that was in keeping.</p> - -<p>The girl crossed the tracks and reached the sidewalk on the other -side. There were no dwellings near; only warehouses. And save for a -group of roughly dressed men loitering behind the flagman’s shanty, -there were few people near the crossing.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Ralph saw something that caused him to dart forward, shouting -angrily:</p> - -<p>“Look out, Miss Cherry! Look out!”</p> - -<p>The girl flashed a look behind her. Fortunately she dodged -involuntarily at Ralph Fairbanks’ cry, for the next instant a missile -flew over her shoulder and crashed against the end of the warehouse. -Had it struck the girl it would have hurt her seriously.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chII' title='II—Discipline'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER II</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>DISCIPLINE</span> -</h2> -<p>An over-ripe cabbage may be a dangerous missile. This one exploded -almost like a bomb against the warehouse, spattering Cherry Hopkins -all over. She screamed and ran back toward Ralph Fairbanks. A harsh -voice shouted:</p> - -<p>“Poor shot! Yer oughter smashed that Hopkins gal, Whitey.”</p> - -<p>Ralph saw that the group of fellows behind the flagman’s shack had -scattered. One long-legged fellow was ahead and evidently in some fear -of apprehension.</p> - -<p>“You wait right here, Miss Cherry!” the young dispatcher cried. “I’m -going to try to get that fellow.”</p> - -<p>He dashed along the tracks and through an alley of which he knew. He -hoped to head off the fellow called “Whitey,” who he was quite sure -had thrown the cabbage.</p> - -<p>But when he came out upon North Main Street he could not see any sign -of the hoodlum. He looked into several small stores and tenement house -halls, but the fellow had made good his escape.</p> - -<p>When he returned by the way of Hammerby Street he saw Cherry Hopkins -trying to wipe the decayed vegetable matter off her sweater and skirt. -Her pretty hat was likewise stained. When Ralph came near enough he -saw that the girl had been crying.</p> - -<p>No man or boy likes to see a girl weep.</p> - -<p>Ralph hesitated, not knowing what to say to Cherry Hopkins. He had -never been more than casually acquainted with the supervisor’s -daughter; but he did admire her.</p> - -<p>Ralph could not have failed to attract the young girl’s attention -during the three months she had spent in Rockton. In the first place, -almost everybody in the small but thriving city knew the young train -dispatcher.</p> - -<p>In the first story about Ralph, “Ralph of the Roundhouse,” the young -fellow’s beginnings on the Great Northern were fully related. His -father had been one of the builders of the Great Northern, but through -unfortunate speculations he had died poor and left Ralph and his -mother to struggle along as best they could. In addition, Mr. -Fairbanks’ partner, Gaspar Farrington, had been dishonest, and had -Ralph and his widowed mother at his mercy.</p> - -<p>How Ralph checkmated Farrington as well as the exciting incidents of -his career in the roundhouse is all narrated in that first volume of -the series.</p> - -<p>In ensuing volumes the young fellow’s career as towerman, fireman, -engineer, and in the different grades of dispatcher, is told in full. -The sixth volume, “Ralph on the Army Train,” is the story of the -youth’s work in that great part which the railroaders took in the war. -By Ralph’s individual effort, a heavily loaded train of our boys bound -for the embarking port was taken through to safety in spite of a plot -to wreck the train.</p> - -<p>He was now, some months later, back on his old job as chief dispatcher -of this division of the Great Northern. He might have had a good -position on the main line; but, in taking it, he would have had to -sacrifice some independence and, more than all, must have given up the -little home he and his mother owned in Rockton and removed the widow -from surroundings that she loved.</p> - -<p>“My chance to get a good thing will come again,” Ralph had told Mrs. -Fairbanks. “And really, I am my own boss here. Even Barton Hopkins -can’t tell <i>me</i> where to get off.”</p> - -<p>For divisional supervisor Hopkins had soon become very much disliked. -He was a good railroader—no doubt of that. But he should have been a -drill-master in a military school rather than the head of a division -of a railroad at a time when almost every railroad employee felt that -he had been whipsawed between the Government and his employing -railroad.</p> - -<p>Hopkins lacked tact; he saw nothing but the job and what he could make -of it. His god was discipline! He was upright and honest, but, as the -saying goes, he bent over backwards when he stood erect. And Ralph -Fairbanks was pretty thoroughly convinced that grave trouble was -brewing because of Mr. Hopkins’ methods.</p> - -<p>Just at this moment, however, it was Cherry Hopkins in whose affairs -the young dispatcher was deeply interested. As she tried to wipe the -stains from her skirt and “sniffled” back her tears, Ralph approached -slowly.</p> - -<p>“Now, Miss Cherry,” he begged, “don’t cry about it. If I could have -caught that fellow I would have handed him over to one of the road’s -policemen. It didn’t really hurt you——”</p> - -<p>“I’m just as mad, Ralph Fairbanks, as I can be!” interrupted the girl, -with heat. “And it is always the way wherever we go. The railroad men -seem to hate us all.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed?” rejoined Ralph thoughtfully. “Have you been troubled in -Rockton before this?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I have. And mother, too. We have been followed on the -street, and booed and hissed. Father doesn’t mind——”</p> - -<p>“I am quite sure he has not reported it to the chief detective of the -road, Mr. Bob Adair.”</p> - -<p>“Father would not report such a thing. He considers it beneath -notice.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll say that cabbage was not beneath notice!” cried Ralph. “If it -had hit you—well! Come along, Miss Cherry. Let me see you home.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t want to trouble you, Mr. Fairbanks.”</p> - -<p>“You know I live in your direction,” said Ralph, pleasantly. “We’ll -walk along together. And you tell me, Miss Cherry, who these fellows -are who have insulted your mother and you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear me, how do I know who they are?” cried the girl, -despairingly. “They are low fellows, of course. And many of them are -just boys—loafers. They do not even work for the Great Northern.”</p> - -<p>“But their fathers and brothers do, I suppose?” ruminated Ralph.</p> - -<p>“I suppose so. You see, we have to cross the railroad to do our -shopping. When we come into this district, if there is a group of -idlers hanging around they are almost sure to call after us. It is not -pleasant.”</p> - -<p>“It should be reported. But, of course, it is your father’s business,” -said Ralph thoughtfully. “I might speak to Mr. Adair. He is a friend -of mine. But unless Mr. Hopkins sanctioned any move against the -rowdies, I am afraid——”</p> - -<p>“I wish you would come in and talk to father about it,” Cherry cried -eagerly. “He might listen to <i>you</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Is he at home at this hour?” asked the young dispatcher doubtfully. -“I don’t know about saying anything to him regarding a private -matter.”</p> - -<p>“I want him to know how you drove those fellows away,” she said. “Do -come in. You know my father, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Slightly. We do not come in contact much,” Ralph said slowly.</p> - -<p>“You will like him, Mr. Fairbanks,” said the girl earnestly. “He is -really a wonderful man. Wherever he has held a position the company -has been glad of his services. He is marvelously efficient. And he is -forever planning improvements and scheming out ways of saving money -for the road. Oh, yes, they all admire him.”</p> - -<p>“The men, too?” Ralph asked shrewdly.</p> - -<p>“Oh! The laborers? I don’t know about that.”</p> - -<p>“Quite an important point, I assure you,” said Ralph grimly. “No -matter how much money an official saves the road, if he doesn’t hold -the confidence and liking of the general run of railroad workers, he -is distinctly not a success.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Do you believe that?” she cried.</p> - -<p>“I know it. Railroad workers are the most clannish men in the world. -If they have worked long for a particular road they are as loyal to -that road as though they owned it. And they resent any meddling with -the usual routine of affairs. You have got to handle them with gloves. -I fancy, Miss Cherry,” added Ralph somewhat grimly, “that your father -has thrown away his gloves.”</p> - -<p>They just then came to the Hopkins house. It was one of the best -houses in the section of Rockton in which Ralph and his mother lived. -It was rather far from the railroad and the railroad tenements; so -supervisor Hopkins’ employees were not likely to be seen often.</p> - -<p>“Come in—do,” urged Cherry, opening the gate. “There’s father at the -library window.”</p> - -<p>The young dispatcher saw Barton Hopkins looking through the pane. He -was a man with a very high forehead, colorless complexion, a -high-arched nose upon which were set astride a pair of shell-rimmed -eyeglasses, which masked pale blue eyes. One could warm up to a chunk -of ice about as readily as one could to Mr. Barton Hopkins.</p> - -<p>And yet, Ralph was sure, there was not a thing the matter with the -supervisor save that he was not human! He was a machine. His mental -powers were not lubricated with either charity or an interest in the -personal affairs of his fellow men.</p> - -<p>He stared without a semblance of emotion at Ralph Fairbanks as Cherry -urged the latter into the library and introduced the young fellow.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. I know Mr. Fairbanks,” said Mr. Hopkins, and looked the -visitor over as though he questioned if he might not in some way show -Ralph how to be more efficient in his job.</p> - -<p>When Cherry explained volubly how she had been attacked by the rowdies -at the railroad crossing and Ralph had come to her assistance, Mr. -Hopkins rose and shook hands with the visitor again. But his second -handshake was exactly like the first one. Ralph thought of grasping a -dead fish!</p> - -<p>“There are too many unemployed men hanging about the yards,” said the -supervisor in his decisive way, after Cherry had excused herself in -order to change to a clean dress. “I am about to point that out to our -police department. They should either be given a sentence to the farm -or be run out of town.”</p> - -<p>“A good many of those idlers have been employees of the road. Their -homes are here. It is not exactly their fault that they have been -thrown out of work. And they do not understand why they should be -idle.”</p> - -<p>“What is that to the Great Northern?” demanded the supervisor with -some hauteur. “A railroad is a corporation doing business for gain. It -is not a charitable organization.”</p> - -<p>“It should be both,” declared Ralph earnestly. He felt that he could -oppose this man safely. Hopkins could not touch his department. “The -way the Great Northern—and this division particularly—has kept -together a loyal bunch of workmen is by caring for those workmen and -their families through dull seasons. I understand that a man has been -lopped off each section gang of late. In three cases I know that the -man discharged owned, or was paying for, his own little home. They are -up against it, for other work is not easily obtained now.”</p> - -<p>“I have had that brought to my attention before,” answered Mr. -Hopkins, with a gesture of finality. “I repeat, it does not interest -me—or the Great Northern.”</p> - -<p>“It is going to interest you, I fear,” said Ralph warmly.</p> - -<p>“I do not understand you, Mr. Fairbanks.”</p> - -<p>“The men are getting down on you,” said the young fellow bluntly. “As -you see they insult and threaten Miss Cherry and your wife. There will -be some outbreak——”</p> - -<p>“Do you think that if I knew that to be true it would influence me in -the least?” asked Mr. Hopkins sternly.</p> - -<p>“It would better. Your wife and daughter are likely to suffer. Of -course, the discharged men will probably not have anything to do with -it; but they cannot control their sympathizers. There is talk of a -strike. If a strike comes——”</p> - -<p>“Suppose you let such matters be handled by your superiors, Mr. -Fairbanks,” said the supervisor coldly. “It is not in the province of -a train dispatcher.”</p> - -<p>“Quite true,” Ralph said, rising abruptly.</p> - -<p>Cherry had not come back into the room. He felt that he really was not -welcome here. And he feared he might be tempted to say something even -more unwise to the stiff-necked supervisor.</p> - -<p>“You will excuse me, Mr. Hopkins. I really think your daughter and -wife are in some danger if they go downtown. Pardon me for saying so.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said Barton Hopkins without an ounce of expression in -either his voice or his countenance. “Good-day, Mr. Fairbanks.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” thought Ralph, as he fumbled for the knob of the front door. -“I reckon I know where I get off with Mr. Hopkins. Oh, yes!”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chIII' title='III—A Good Deal to Think of'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER III</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>A GOOD DEAL TO THINK OF</span> -</h2> -<p>It was growing dusk as Ralph Fairbanks left the bungalow occupied by -the divisional supervisor and his family. The young fellow felt some -little disappointment at not seeing Cherry again. He believed that the -girl’s mother had deliberately kept her from coming back into the -library where the dispatcher had been talking with Barton Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“Not that I wanted to talk with the super,” considered Ralph, as he -found his way out of the house and closed the door behind him. “I -would much rather have not done so. He’s got an eye as cold as ice. I -wonder if he wasn’t hatching something in his keen brain right then to -make our department more efficient,” and Ralph chuckled grimly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, I guess I am out of his line, come to think of it. But he -is certainly going to come a cropper before he gets through in -Rockton. When the Brotherhoods begin to take notice of him, the Great -Northern will lose its——Hullo! What’s this?”</p> - -<p>As he came out through the gateway he saw several shadowy figures -across the street. The street lamps were not yet lighted in this block -and it was just dark enough for those figures Ralph saw to seem -uncertain.</p> - -<p>Of course, he had no expectation of being followed. He had no quarrel -with any branch of the union men. In fact, most of the employees on -the division were Ralph Fairbanks’ personal friends.</p> - -<p>But he looked twice at the shadowy group as he turned toward his -mother’s cottage. Again he looked back.</p> - -<p>“There he goes!” suddenly shouted a voice. “One of Hopkins’ tools. -Yah! A lickspittle of the super. Yah!”</p> - -<p>It is a fact that “sticks and stones can break your bones, but names -will never hurt you”; just the same, that old saw does not salve over -the sting of unfair vituperations. Ralph was red hot on the instant.</p> - -<p>To be dignified, too, is all very well. But Ralph knew these hoodlums -quite well enough to be sure that only one course with them would make -the proper impression. He possessed as much brute courage as any -healthy young fellow. And he did not purpose to allow these loafers to -blackguard him on the public street.</p> - -<p>The dispatcher turned swiftly and started across the street. The -several men and boys in the group yelled again. Some missile hurtled -through the dusk and fairly fanned Ralph’s cheek!</p> - -<p>“Who are you rascals?” demanded Ralph angrily. “I’ll show you a thing -or two!”</p> - -<p>He dashed at the group. None of them was very courageous, for the -crowd broke and fled before him. Some woman, looking out of the window -of a neighboring house, screamed. Ralph caught one fellow and pulled -him back, throwing him heavily to the walk.</p> - -<p>“I’ll find out who <i>you</i> are!” declared the young train dispatcher. -“What do you mean by interfering with me?”</p> - -<p>The other fellows had fled noisily. The street lights suddenly flashed -up and Ralph was able to distinguish the features of the man he had -captured.</p> - -<p>“Whitey Malone! I thought you were in jail,” the young dispatcher said -in surprise. “The judge gave you long enough there——”</p> - -<p>“I got me fine paid,” blubbered the fellow.</p> - -<p>Ralph smelled liquor on his breath. He knew Whitey Malone as a good -deal of a disgrace to the community. He had never been a real railroad -man. He was merely a hanger-on at the shops, sometimes doing odd jobs, -or being taken on the shop payroll for a few weeks.</p> - -<p>“It is too bad anybody was foolish enough to pay your fine,” declared -Ralph sternly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ve got good friends in spite of Bart Hopkins and his new rules -that turned me out of me job,” snarled Whitey.</p> - -<p>“And a good friend paid your fine?” remarked Ralph curiously. “Could -the friend be Andy McCarrey, for instance?”</p> - -<p>“You want to know too much, Fairbanks,” said Whitey sullenly.</p> - -<p>“I’m a good guesser,” rejoined the young dispatcher, dragging the -fellow to his feet. “Now, listen to me, Whitey. This time I’ll let you -go. I won’t turn you over to the police as you deserve.”</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t dare!” cried Whitey.</p> - -<p>“You tempt me too far and I’ll show you right now what I dare to do. -You keep away from Supervisor Hopkins’ house.”</p> - -<p>“Yah! You’re one of his tools, you are!” exclaimed Whitey.</p> - -<p>“Listen!” commanded Ralph, shaking him.</p> - -<p>“Ow! Ow! Ouch!”</p> - -<p>“Listen! You keep away from this street! And further, don’t you -trouble Mr. Hopkins’ wife or daughter. Remember, I’ve got your number. -If you throw another cabbage or annoy the Hopkins’ family in any way, -you’ll go to the farm.”</p> - -<p>He threw the ill-smelling fellow from him and turned sharply to walk -away. Whitey could not resist another word. He yelled:</p> - -<p>“Hopkins’ tool! You wait a while, Ralph Fairbanks. You’ll see what’s -going to happen.” Then he ran off at top speed.</p> - -<p>Ralph did not attempt to follow the fellow. To punish the half-drunken -Whitey Malone would be as useless as fencing with a windmill. If -anything was to be done to avert trouble and put fear of the law into -the bad element around the railroad yards and shops, those higher up -must feel the weight of authority. Whitey and his ilk were quite -irresponsible.</p> - -<p>Ralph told his mother the tale at the supper table, relating the -entire incident from the moment he had seen Cherry Hopkins attacked by -the rowdies.</p> - -<p>“Just the same, there is trouble brewing,” he added. “It will center -about Mr. Bart Hopkins. And yet, I can’t blame the G. M. for backing -the super up. Mr. Hopkins is a wonderfully able man. But discipline -means more to him than the contentment and happiness of his -employees.”</p> - -<p>“I am sorry if there is going to be more trouble on the road, Ralph,” -the widow said, with a sigh.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it won’t affect me any,” he said cheerfully. “I have nothing to -do with the shopmen or the maintenance of way men.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you were safely out of trouble when you got in the train -dispatchers’ department,” said Mrs. Fairbanks reflectively. “But just -see what happened in war time. Your peril on that army train——”</p> - -<p>“Shucks! Nothing like that is likely to happen again, Mother,” he -interrupted. “I’m a regular stick-in-the-mud now. Youngest chief -dispatcher of any division of the Great Northern system. Why! I’m an -old man.”</p> - -<p>“You are just as likely as ever to be tempted to do a reckless thing,” -she said, but she smiled at him. “An old man! You are just a baby to -me, Ralph, after all.”</p> - -<p>He laughed; but he blushed, too.</p> - -<p>“Don’t baby me too much, Mother,” he said. “The girls don’t think I am -a baby.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed?” she asked. “Are there more girls? I don’t know but you are -in more danger off the road, than on.”</p> - -<p>“A new one,” said Ralph frankly. He and his mother were the very best -of friends. “Didn’t I tell you the new super has a daughter? And she’s -a peach! No! I mean she is a Cherry.”</p> - -<p>“Cherry?”</p> - -<p>“Cherry Hopkins. She is the girl I saw home just now.”</p> - -<p>“Is she as pretty as her name?” asked Mrs. Fairbanks curiously.</p> - -<p>“You bet she is! I’d like to have you see her. I don’t see how such a -cold and severe proposition as Mr. Hopkins ever came by such a -daughter.”</p> - -<p>“So you think well of her, do you?” asked the widow rather wistfully.</p> - -<p>“I surely do. But I don’t know what she thinks of me. You know how -these girls are. They keep everything close. A fellow doesn’t have a -chance to learn their opinion of him. They treat ’em all alike.”</p> - -<p>“Quite right,” returned the widow. “The reticent girl keeps out of -danger.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! I don’t know how much danger she keeps out of,” said Ralph. -“But believe me, if something is not done pretty soon to appease the -shopmen it will not be safe for either Cherry or her mother to walk on -the streets.”</p> - -<p>“Well, my dear boy,” begged the widow, “I hope you will keep out of -any part in the trouble. You surely cannot help Mr. Hopkins.”</p> - -<p>“He wouldn’t let me help him if I could do so,” answered Ralph.</p> - -<p>“All the better,” his mother said with satisfaction. “If you cannot be -drawn into the trouble by either side in the controversy, very well. I -shall feel safe, at least.”</p> - -<p>“I guess I am out of it, for once,” admitted her son. “It gives a -fellow a lot to think of. I hate to see trouble come to the division. -That Andy McCarrey ought to be jailed. But, on the other hand, I feel -that Barton Hopkins is quite as much at fault. By gracious! If I were -the G. M.——”</p> - -<p>At that his mother burst into laughter. “Oh! You are looking forward -to what you would do if you were running the Great Northern,” she -jeered.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” cried her son. “I can see as far into a brick wall as -the next one. And when I know things are going wrong——”</p> - -<p>“You think you could fix them all up, Ralph?”</p> - -<p>“I know I could keep things straighter than Hopkins does. Maybe I -would not be so popular with the directors and stockholders; but I’d -run this division without having so much friction. You can bet on -that, Mother.”</p> - -<p>“I never bet,” she replied soberly, but her eyes dancing.</p> - -<p>She enjoyed hearing Ralph become enthusiastic over railroad matters. -Having been a railroader’s wife and having joined with her husband in -all his hopes and intentions, she could appreciate Ralph’s enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>“Well, if you were betting, I could give you a tip,” laughed Ralph at -last. “One of two things is going to happen. Either Mr. Hopkins will -be transferred to some other sphere of usefulness, or the division is -due to suffer the worst strike it has ever had. I am confident of -this, Mother—I am confident.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chIV' title='IV—Zeph Fathers an Idea'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER IV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>ZEPH FATHERS AN IDEA</span> -</h2> -<p>Under the present arrangement of his duties as chief dispatcher for -the division, Ralph Fairbanks seldom took the “graveyard trick,” as it -is called. Yet occasionally he went downtown and looked in at the -office in the late evening.</p> - -<p>Especially when he knew that a particular schedule was being put -through. Just now the division was handling extra wheat trains, and -although he had O.K.’d his assistant’s schedule for that night, Ralph -somehow felt that he should see if all was going smoothly on this -particular evening.</p> - -<p>The trouble over Mr. Hopkins and his daughter had perhaps gotten on -the young chief dispatcher’s nerves—if he really possessed such -things. He tried to read an exciting book of travel and adventure -after supper while his mother did some darning; but exciting things -which had happened in his own career came to Ralph’s mind so -insistently that he lost the thread of the writer’s story. With -several friends, including Mr. Bob Adair, chief of the Great -Northern’s detective force, Ralph had fought many an enemy of the road -to a standstill. There was another person, too, who was sure to turn -up in the vicinity of any railroad trouble.</p> - -<p>Ralph suddenly started out of his chair. “There!” he exclaimed, as his -mother looked at him wonderingly. “I had forgotten something. Do you -know who I thought I saw to-day downtown?”</p> - -<p>“I have no idea, Ralph.”</p> - -<p>“I believe Zeph is in Rockton. I saw a fellow who looked very much -like him passing along the street. But it was when I was in conference -with the G. M. and I could not hail him. Afterward—being mixed up in -Miss Hopkins’ trouble, and all—I forgot Zeph.”</p> - -<p>“Zeph Dallas?” repeated Mrs. Fairbanks. “I would dearly love to see -the boy again. He is so unsettled.”</p> - -<p>“He is a bird on the wing, I guess,” said Ralph. “Never know where he -will perch next. But while he is in Rockton I think I know where to -find him,” and he reached his hat down from its peg.</p> - -<p>“Will you go downtown to look him up, Ralph?” asked the widow -placidly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, ma’am. I’d like to see Zeph.”</p> - -<p>“So would I. Bring him home with you, Ralph. You know we have a spare -bed, and Zeph Dallas is just as welcome to it as though he were your -brother.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” laughed Ralph, going to the door. “Zeph is a born -vagabond. Nothing keeps him long in one place but some intrigue in -which he can have a part. He says he is preparing himself to wear Bob -Adair’s shoes.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Adair is a very fine man,” said Mrs. Fairbanks. “But his calling -is hazardous. I should not like to bring up a son to be a detective.”</p> - -<p>“Zeph never had any bringing up,” declared Ralph, as he went out, and -the echoes of his mother’s last remark, “Poor fellow!” rang in his -ears as he started downtown.</p> - -<p>Like most railroad terminal towns, Rockton had a poor section, -inhabited by railroad laborers and those hanging to their skirts, and -also a much better group of dwellings. Ralph passed through the better -part of town without, of course, apprehending any trouble.</p> - -<p>Nor was he accosted when he crossed the tracks and approached the -station, over which the dispatchers’ offices were situated. For his -first thought was, after all, of the night’s schedule. One cannot have -the responsibility that Ralph Fairbanks shouldered without having -one’s work uppermost in one’s mind all of the time.</p> - -<p>The two men on duty welcomed their young chief cheerfully. There -really was not an employee of the road about the Rockton terminal who -had not some reason for liking Ralph. They might not all agree with -him on railroad matters; but they had to respect his independence.</p> - -<p>“Fellow in here to see you a while back, Chief,” said one of the men -on duty.</p> - -<p>“Who was it?”</p> - -<p>“Nobody I ever saw before,” was the reply. “Kind of an odd stick.” -Ralph described his friend, Zeph Dallas, and the operator nodded. -“That’s the fellow. Can’t be any mistake.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t he say where he could be found?” asked Ralph.</p> - -<p>“No, Chief. A close-mouthed duck, if you ask me. He slipped in and -slid out again like an eel through a sewer pipe.”</p> - -<p>Ralph laughed. “Some metaphor, I’ll say, Johnny. Well, the sched.’s -all right, I guess?”</p> - -<p>“Things are going sweet,” he was told. “But when they come to double -up those wheat trains next week, how we going to get the new Midnight -Flyer into the clear between here and Oxford? That is what is -bothering me, Chief.”</p> - -<p>“If you want to know,” admitted Ralph, as he opened the door to -depart, “that little thing is bothering me, too.”</p> - -<p>He was not, however, bothering his mind over railroad affairs when he -descended the stairs to the yard. He was thinking of Zeph. That -peculiar and vagabondish fellow must be around Rockton for some -pertinent design. And it was evident that he wanted to see his old -chum, Ralph Fairbanks.</p> - -<p>The latter walked down the yard and looked in at the open windows of -one of the lighted shops. The night crew was at work on one of the big -freight haulers. Like a row of giant elephants a number of other -locomotives stood in the gloomy end of the shop. Repairs were away -behind schedule. He heard the hoarse voice of McGuire, one of the -oldest and most faithful shop foremen, bawling his crew out for their -clumsiness.</p> - -<p>“It’s touch and go, sure enough,” considered Ralph. “I wonder just how -much power that Andy McCarrey has over the men employed by the Great -Northern? Of course, he has no standing with any of the Brotherhoods; -but these roughnecks—Hullo! Who goes there?”</p> - -<p>He had passed the shop and had turned toward a small gate in the -stockade which he believed would be unlocked. A shadowy figure flashed -into a deeper covert of shadow beside one of the tool houses.</p> - -<p>“And only one of two classes try to hide around a railroad yard—a -crook or a yard detective. Humph!” muttered Ralph.</p> - -<p>He walked on toward the gate. But just as he got to the end of the -shed he jumped sidewise and dived into the deeper shadow with arms -outstretched. He grabbed somebody almost instantly.</p> - -<p>“Stand still!” he commanded. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”</p> - -<p>Instantly the struggling person he had seized stood still. He no -longer offered to fight for his liberty. Ralph made out that he was -tall—taller than himself—roughly dressed, and that he had lost his -hat.</p> - -<p>Then, as the young dispatcher passed his hand over the mop of hair the -fellow wore and his palm traversed the other’s face, he marked a big -and high-arched nose and high cheekbones. He had a wide mouth.</p> - -<p>“By George!” exclaimed Ralph, “I believe you are the fellow I am -looking for.”</p> - -<p>“Just so,” chuckled his prisoner.</p> - -<p>“Zeph!”</p> - -<p>“Same to you, Ralph!”</p> - -<p>The two shook hands warmly, and then Zeph picked up his cap and stuck -it sideways upon his thatch of hair.</p> - -<p>“How’s the boy?” asked Zeph, and Ralph knew he was grinning.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” chuckled Ralph. “I’m gravely disturbed over a friend -of mine——”</p> - -<p>“Is his name Andy McCarrey?” whispered Zeph, with his lips close to -his friend’s ear.</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” gasped the dispatcher. “What do you mean? I’ve been -troubled about a fellow named Dallas. But what do you know about -McCarrey?”</p> - -<p>“I know enough to believe it is not best to take his name in vain -around these yards,” muttered Zeph. “Come on out of here. I’ll give it -up for to-night. It was you I wanted to talk to, anyway, Ralph.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand you at all, Zeph,” complained the young -dispatcher, as they walked toward the gate in the yard fence.</p> - -<p>“Come on over to the Owl Lunch, and I’ll give you an earful,” said -Zeph. “The missus all right?”</p> - -<p>“She is fine, and was asking after you. When you come to town, Zeph, -you should come to our house.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t do it. No knowing who or what may be trailing me,” declared the -vagabond.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!”</p> - -<p>“That’s the truth. Right now I got the tail end of something that I -want to look up. This McCarrey——”</p> - -<p>“Is the leader of the men who are trying to engineer the wildcat -strike,” explained Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Uh-huh? He’s more than that.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” Ralph asked curiously.</p> - -<p>They stepped into the narrow space in the owl car and climbed on two -stools.</p> - -<p>“Milk and mince pie,” said Zeph.</p> - -<p>“What a stomach!” exclaimed Ralph, smiling. “Don’t you ever have -indigestion?”</p> - -<p>“That is what I’m ordering it for. I have to stay awake all night. -Can’t sleep much with cold milk and ‘graveyard pie’ fighting for -possession of the digestive tract.”</p> - -<p>“You are as bad as ever,” sighed Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Worse,” admitted Zeph, taking his first bite of the pie. Then, out of -the corner of his mouth he mumbled: “Know where I just came from?”</p> - -<p>“I have no idea. Haven’t heard from you for weeks. You can’t write, I -suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Never write letters. Have to explain ’em afterward, perhaps. Besides, -a letter has often traced a man. ‘Leave no trace’ is my motto.”</p> - -<p>“Talk sense,” urged Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Am.”</p> - -<p>“It doesn’t sound like it. Tell me what makes you so mysterious?”</p> - -<p>“I am as mysterious as this ‘graveyard pie,’ ain’t I?” suddenly -chuckled Zeph Dallas, holding up the wedge of pie to look at it. -“Hullo! Here’s a splinter,” and he picked out the bit of wood. “The -beef they ground up for this mince meat must have had a wooden leg. -Anyhow, listen.”</p> - -<p>“Shoot!” exclaimed Ralph anxiously, sipping his coffee. “Where did you -come from?”</p> - -<p>“Down the road. I was working for a few days with Section Twenty.”</p> - -<p>“A section gang hand! Believe me, that’s some job,” said Ralph, in -wonder.</p> - -<p>“Somebody has been doing some reefing down there, and Mr. Adair put me -wise to it. Eh? You don’t know what ‘reefing’ is?”</p> - -<p>“No,” admitted the dispatcher.</p> - -<p>“It’s when fellows get a chance to open cases and crates in transit, -remove the goods, fill ’em up with rocks and rubbish, and send ’em on -to the consignees. It was a pretty job, too. I didn’t find out who did -it.”</p> - -<p>“What? A failure to your account?” laughed Ralph, knowing how Zeph -prided himself upon carrying through every little job the chief -detective gave him to handle.</p> - -<p>“Not a failure yet,” mumbled Zeph. “’Tain’t finished.”</p> - -<p>“Then it brought you back here to Rockton?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing like that. There was an accident on our section and we got -over-time work last night. We had just got the tracks clear when this -new Midnight Flyer came through. Say! who’s handling the throttle on -that big engine?”</p> - -<p>“Old Byron Marks.”</p> - -<p>“Wow! That antediluvian pill?”</p> - -<p>“Seniority does it,” said Ralph briefly. “It’s the men’s own fault if -the dead ones get the best runs.”</p> - -<p>“Well, believe me,” muttered Zeph, “if old By Marks heard what I heard -last night you couldn’t hoist him into the cabin of that locomotive -with a derrick.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, Zeph?” and now Ralph Fairbanks was immensely -interested in what his peculiar friend had to say.</p> - -<p>“I tell you what, Ralph, I’ve got an idea. It’s my own idea, and it is -worth somebody’s attention.”</p> - -<p>“Let us have it,” said the dispatcher. “You have always been original, -if nothing more, Zeph.”</p> - -<p>“Many thanks, dear boy! Well, listen! This Andy McCarrey.” He stared -all about, noting that the man running the lunch wagon had stepped -out. “Take note I’ve heard a deal about that fellow up and down the -road.”</p> - -<p>“You’ve heard nothing good of him, I warrant,” grumbled Ralph.</p> - -<p>“According to which side your bread is buttered on,” was the reply. -“Most of these roughnecks swear by him.”</p> - -<p>“But not the officials,” said Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Right-o. Now, last night, as we section men stood beside the tracks -down there waiting for the Midnight Flyer to pass, I heard one fellow -say: ‘Andy McCarrey says “Thumbs up!”’ And his mate said right back: -‘Ye-as. And suppose Andy says “Thumbs down!” How about it?’</p> - -<p>“Now, you know, and I know, Ralph, the old game of ‘thumbs up and -thumbs down.’ And then, in the times of the old Roman gladiators, the -populace condemned the fallen gladiator to death or reprieved him by a -turn of the thumb. Get me?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t say I do wholly,” admitted Ralph.</p> - -<p>“That Midnight Flyer whizzed by. Those two fellows looked at it and at -old man Marks’s head sticking out of the cab window—if that’s who it -was. They were speaking of that new fast train, the crack train of -this division. Eh?”</p> - -<p>“It would seem so,” confessed Ralph, in a worried tone.</p> - -<p>“And it is in Andy McCarrey’s hands whether that train goes through -safely or not,” whispered Zeph, his lips close to Ralph’s ear again. -“That is my idea, my boy. And it is that idea that has brought me to -Rockton to-day.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chV' title='V—On The Heels of a Shadow'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER V</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>ON THE HEELS OF A SHADOW</span> -</h2> -<p>Ralph reflected upon the hint Zeph had secured from two section men -far down the division. The name of Andy McCarrey was one to conjure -with among a large part of the maintenance of way men employed by the -Great Northern. “Thumbs up” or “Thumbs down” might mean exactly what -Zeph suggested.</p> - -<p>And the Midnight Flyer—so called, because it left Rockton terminal on -the jot of midnight—was causing the divisional officials enough -trouble and anxiety in any event. The new train should run on a -schedule that called for the finest kind of human attention. The -engineer in charge should be as good a man as there was on the -division. The two firemen should be highly trained specialists in the -handling of a locomotive’s fuel and water.</p> - -<p>There were but four stops for this flyer between Rockton and -Hammerfest—a four-hour run at top speed. The locomotive pulling the -train, and returning the next day with another fast express, was quite -equal to the schedule. It was a new eight-driver, and had come out of -the Baldwin works keyed up to seventy miles an hour on a level track. -Of course, it was not expected that any engineer could hold the -Midnight Flyer to that speed for the entire length of the run; but -even the concessions made because of the heavy freight traffic over -the division at night were not sufficient to make the run an easy one.</p> - -<p>Byron Marks, one of the grizzled engineers on the Great Northern list, -was in line for the new locomotive and the new run. If the railroads -had proper pension lists, the old man should have been weeding his -garden and drawing pension money for the rest of his life.</p> - -<p>However, he was vigorous, keen-sighted, and a thoroughly active man. -He stood well in the Brotherhood and with the officials of the Great -Northern. When the choice came for engineer of the swift express, -Marks’ name headed the list. He stepped into the job.</p> - -<p>But Ralph had helped to make over the night schedule, necessary to -squeeze in the varnished train. There were stretches of twenty and -thirty miles that called for perfect running, and at a mile a minute, -for the Midnight Flyer. A stop signal, even for half a minute, might -make the train fall behind. Any little accident was likely to put her -off her speed.</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, since Byron Marks had wheeled her out of the -Rockton station a week and more before, not once had the Midnight -Flyer made Hammerfest on time. There was a connection to be made there -with the Boise City & Western that called for the flyer’s being on -time. If the Great Northern express could not keep to its schedule, -the train might as well be taken off altogether.</p> - -<p>“After what you say, Zeph,” Ralph said soberly, as the two friends -came out of the Owl Lunch wagon, “I am afraid there will not be any -hoghead envious of By Marks’ run.”</p> - -<p>“You said something,” agreed Zeph. “This McCarrey fellow——”</p> - -<p>“Sh! Speak easy of him. Don’t know who may be listening.”</p> - -<p>“Just as I thought. He’s the Big Noise around here?”</p> - -<p>“He is with the men who are anxious to strike. He has no standing with -the Brotherhoods, of course. But you know the general feeling among -railroaders just now. If the corporations get the dirty end of the -stick there are not many employees going to weep about it.”</p> - -<p>“You said something,” repeated Zeph Dallas. “Well, has this man whose -name we will not mention really got all the influence that I thought -he had?”</p> - -<p>“Among the disgruntled, I am afraid he has,” admitted Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Then he’d better be reckoned up—and watched.”</p> - -<p>“You might suggest that to Mr. Adair,” said Ralph, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>“That is what I was thinking of doing. But you see,” said the eager -Zeph, “I wanted to be sure that I really had something on the man. -Even what I heard down the line is mighty little evidence.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll admit that. But taken with what I know——”</p> - -<p>Ralph proceeded to give his friend a full account of the incidents of -this very day, when Whitey Malone had attacked both the supervisor’s -daughter and Ralph himself.</p> - -<p>“That fellow is egged on by McCarrey. I know that to be a fact. Mac is -addressing meetings in Beeman’s Hall, and circulating a lot of -literature that ought to be suppressed, and getting ready to deal the -road a dirty blow through the dissatisfied element. But what can be -proved against him?”</p> - -<p>“He ought to be run out of the place.”</p> - -<p>“You are suggesting fighting fire with fire,” Ralph rejoined, shaking -his head. “But I know what Mr. Adair will say. He will declare for -peace at any price until the enemy makes the first move.”</p> - -<p>“Hey!” muttered Zeph in Ralph’s ear. “Do you know that fellow?”</p> - -<p>They had been walking along the dark street, arm in arm. There were -few pedestrians in sight. This was a busy part of the town in -daylight, but there was little activity now.</p> - -<p>Ralph stared after the long, shadowy figure crossing the cobbled -street. There was a pale glow of lamplight just where the stranger -stepped upon the curb. For an instant his flaxen hair and red neck -were visible.</p> - -<p>“By gracious! I believe that is the fellow I told you about,” Ralph -exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Not Mac——?”</p> - -<p>“No! Malone! And I believe he’s drunk. He had been drinking this -afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“Where could he get liquor around here?”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t know. But I’d say he got it, law or no law.”</p> - -<p>“So that fellow is a friend of the Big Noise?”</p> - -<p>“A tool, anyway, of McCarrey’s.”</p> - -<p>“Wonder where he’s going?” ruminated Zeph. “Drunk or sober, he acts as -though he had something on his mind.”</p> - -<p>“There is another gate in the yard fence in that direction,” whispered -Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Come on!” urged Zeph Dallas. “I’ve another idea, Ralph.”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t you the little wonder?” chuckled the dispatcher. “What now?”</p> - -<p>“A drunken man often tells the truth when a sober man won’t. He -likewise is not to be trusted with a secret. Alcohol loosens the -tongue. Let’s get after this Whitey Malone and see if we can’t make -him tell something about McCarrey and his plans.”</p> - -<p>“Go to it, boy,” said Ralph doubtfully. “I’ll stay in the background. -Whitey has it in for me.”</p> - -<p>“Keep in sight just the same,” commanded Zeph, taking the lead with -promptness.</p> - -<p>He darted across the street and was soon close on the heels of the -shadowy Malone. Ralph looked searchingly about the block before he -ventured to follow the two. It seemed that Malone was quite alone. And -he staggered on without looking back. He did not fear being followed.</p> - -<p>The young dispatcher allowed Zeph and Malone to get well ahead of him. -As long as he could keep Dallas in sight he was satisfied. The trail -led directly past the gateway in the yard fence. They went up into the -town, crossing the railroad at Hammerby Street where Ralph had had his -adventure with Cherry Hopkins that afternoon.</p> - -<p>Beyond the warehouse that stood here was a dark and narrow lane. Under -the dim radiance of a single street lamp Ralph saw Zeph turn into this -alley. Of course, Whitey Malone must be in advance.</p> - -<p>Ralph looked around for some weapon before he ventured into the lane. -Drunk as Whitey Malone was, the fellow might have apprehended that he -was being followed, and might be prepared for an attack.</p> - -<p>“Zeph is as reckless as he can be,” thought the young dispatcher. -“I’ve seen him get into some messes before this. Ah! What’s this?”</p> - -<p>It was a spoke of a wheel lying in the gutter—a tough piece of ash as -effective in a strong hand as a policeman’s nightstick. Ralph weighted -it, spat on his palm to tighten his grip on the club, and then -ventured into the dark alley.</p> - -<p>He had not gone ten steps when he heard the creak of hinges. A door -was being opened somewhere ahead of him. But he came to a sharp corner -in the dark alleyway before he spied the opening. A faint radiance -shone into the lane.</p> - -<p>Between him and this open door was a dark figure—a stooping figure. He -made sure it was Zeph. He heard the latter “hist!” in a low tone. He -crept forward.</p> - -<p>Somebody stumbled inside the hall to which the open door gave -entrance. A harsh voice called:</p> - -<p>“That you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s me,” grumbled another voice, which Ralph recognized as -belonging to Malone.</p> - -<p>“What are you trying to do—knock the house down?” snarled the first -speaker.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you have some more light? ’Most broke my shins down here. -Ouch!”</p> - -<p>“Shut up!” commanded the other person, evidently standing at the head -of a flight of stairs. “Come up here.”</p> - -<p>Zeph had crept forward. Ralph saw the outlines of his figure at the -edge of the doorframe. Ralph had to take his tip from Zeph.</p> - -<p>“Hey!” exclaimed the fault-finding voice again. “You’ve left that door -open, Malone.”</p> - -<p>Malone’s stumbling footsteps returned down the few treads of the -stairs he had already mounted. The lamplight faded. Ralph realized -that the man at the top of the stairs was retreating with the lamp in -his hand.</p> - -<p>The next moment he realized, too, that Zeph had inaugurated one of his -perfectly crazy ventures. Instead of cowering back out of sight as -Whitey Malone came to the open door, Zeph huddled close to the -opening. When the door began to be pushed into place, the young fellow -leaped to his feet, darted forward, and encircled the half-drunken -Malone with his arms just below the knees!</p> - -<p>“Squawk!” vented the surprised Malone. He crashed down the low, -outside steps and landed on the flagstones with sufficient force to -drive the breath from his body.</p> - -<p>“Grab him, Ralph!” hissed Zeph, springing to his feet again, and -seeing his friend at his back. “I’m going up there in his place. If a -row starts, call the cops.”</p> - -<p>The next instant Zeph was inside the building and had softly closed -the door.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chVI' title='VI—Touch and Go'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER VI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>TOUCH AND GO</span> -</h2> -<p>Whitey Malone was on his face, and before he could raise his head and -shriek his objection to the treatment accorded him by Zeph Dallas, -Ralph sprang astride him and held him down. As Whitey struggled the -young dispatcher grabbed his cap from the ground and thrust it into -the fellow’s mouth. Then he twisted his hands behind him and held the -muffled rascal secure.</p> - -<p>Ralph was about to use his own handkerchief to bind Whitey’s wrists -when he remembered that it was monogrammed and might offer a clue to -his identity when the affair was over. Therefore he thrust his hand -into the side pocket of his captive’s coat.</p> - -<p>There was a bandanna there. When Ralph pulled it out of the pocket -something else came with it—something white that lay on the flagstone -while Ralph lashed Whitey’s wrists. When this job was done neatly and -to his satisfaction the young dispatcher picked up the fallen article -and rose to his feet.</p> - -<p>Whitey Malone was groaning and struggling. His cap completely muffled -his voice. He managed to roll over on his back, but he could not spit -out the cap.</p> - -<p>Ralph looked scrutinizingly at the thing he had drawn from the man’s -pocket. It was a soiled envelope, sealed. It was not bulky and there -was no address upon it as far as Ralph could see. He thrust it into an -inner pocket and then turned toward the door of the house into which -Zeph Dallas had so recklessly plunged.</p> - -<p>Zeph had instructed his friend to call the police if a row was started -upstairs. But Ralph did not want to draw the police into any -investigation of this affair. He did not know yet whether this was -railroad business or not. And, in any event, he was sure that -publicity would do no good.</p> - -<p>But he feared for Zeph’s safety. The fellow was so reckless! With -another glance at the prostrate Whitey, the dispatcher sprang up the -steps and opened the unlocked door. There was but a faint glimmer of -light in the hall and that from the floor above.</p> - -<p>Where was Zeph? Ralph dared not utter a sound. He closed the door -behind him carefully and made sure that it was tightly shut. Then he -began to grope about the lower hall of the house.</p> - -<p>He had brought the spoke of a wheel with him, and the grip of it gave -him confidence. But he did not want to pitch upon his friend by -mistake. He found no trace of Zeph, however. He believed the fellow -must have ventured immediately up the stairs.</p> - -<p>Above, Ralph heard the murmur of voices. He started up the flight, -stepping close to the wall so that the stair steps would not squeak. -This was an old and ramshackle building and every beam in it cracked -when the wind blew.</p> - -<p>Clinging to the wall, Ralph finally came so near the head of the -flight that he could see across the small hall at the top and into a -big room, the door of which was more than ajar. This loft seemed to be -poorly furnished and it certainly was poorly lighted.</p> - -<p>When the man had come to the top of the stairs with the hand lamp, he -had brought the only lamp in the place. Now it stood upon a rickety -table near one wall and he and another man were seated beside it.</p> - -<p>Surely the second person was not Zeph Dallas! And yet Ralph could not -see any sign of Zeph. He stepped up on the landing with great care, -and looked into the room. There was absolutely nobody there but the -pair at the table.</p> - -<p>Suddenly one of these moved his chair—scraped it back harshly. He -turned to look at the open door.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with you, Whitey?” he growled out. “Why don’t you -come up here? Did you get what I sent you for?”</p> - -<p>Ralph held his breath and remained perfectly still. He had no thought -of answering for Whitey Malone.</p> - -<p>But startlingly, though in muffled tone, a gruff voice said just above -him: “What’s that you want? I dunno wot you sent me for. Where’d you -send me?”</p> - -<p>The fellow at the table jumped up with an ejaculation more forceful -than polite. “That drunken bum! What’s he been doing, do you suppose, -Grif?”</p> - -<p>“You should not have trusted him, Andy,” returned the second man. “I -told you what he was.”</p> - -<p>The first speaker strode heavily toward the door. Ralph realized that -he was about to be discovered. And he knew something else, too: That -was, that his reckless friend, Zeph Dallas, was on the next flight -above, and had sought to imitate Whitey Malone’s voice.</p> - -<p>“Nice mess I’m in,” thought the young train dispatcher.</p> - -<p>He crouched, but gripping the spoke, his only weapon. If it came to a -fight, he purposed to have the best of the argument—and have it quick. -He was sure he knew who this fellow approaching the door was. The -other man did not have to repeat his name.</p> - -<p>“Whitey! what the dickens is the matter with you?” called the man. -“You know what I sent you for. Didn’t you see Perrin?”</p> - -<p>Ralph started. Perrin was a name he knew well. Jim Perrin was an -officer of the shopmen’s union. The union had an agreement with the -Great Northern which ran well into the next year. That was one reason -why the better element of union labor on the road would not discuss a -strike at this time.</p> - -<p>But, to Ralph’s mind, Jim Perrin was a sly and unfaithful fellow. He -had a bad reputation in the neighborhood where he lived. He drank and -gambled and had other habits that were inexcusable.</p> - -<p>If there was a secret association between Jim Perrin and these -men—especially with this fellow approaching the door——</p> - -<p>Ralph was thinking of this; but involuntarily his arm went up—the arm, -the hand of which gripped the spoke of the wheel. He poised the club. -And just then, as the man’s head was thrust out of the doorway like a -turtle’s out of its shell, that crazy Zeph yelled from above:</p> - -<p>“Hit him, boy! Hit him!”</p> - -<p>It startled Ralph so that he made a fumble of it. While he hesitated -the man drew back his head with a cry of rage, and the next moment he -produced a pistol and thrust it into the hall!</p> - -<p>He could not have aimed at either of the young fellows; but both of -them were startled. It was touch and go—the bullet might find its -billet in either of their bodies if the man fired.</p> - -<p>“Who’s there?” he yelled.</p> - -<p>Ralph sprang half way down the stairs. He heard Zeph going up the -other flight on the jump. The man yelled again for his comrade to aid -him in the chase.</p> - -<p>Before Ralph reached the lower door he heard a window smashed above -and knew that Zeph Dallas had found a fire escape. He tore open the -outer door of the house and bounded through. The faint lamplight from -above must have revealed his figure, for Zeph shouted:</p> - -<p>“Out of the way, below! Stand aside!”</p> - -<p>He had come down the fire escape ladder on the run. There was no -ladder to the ground, of course, and he swung from the lower platform -to drop.</p> - -<p>Ralph, hearing the men coming down the lower flight of stairs, turned -and banged to the outer door and held it. The men tried to turn the -knob, but the young train dispatcher had a grip of iron.</p> - -<p>“All right, boy!” shrilled Zeph, as he dropped. “Where’s that chap I -overturned?”</p> - -<p>“He’s thrashing on his back there,” said Ralph coolly. “Let him alone. -Be ready to run.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the thing I’m most ready for,” admitted Zeph. “Come on!”</p> - -<p>Ralph leaped away from the door and followed his friend up the alley. -They were a block away in two minutes, and were not followed. Ralph -overtook Zeph and dragged him down to a walk.</p> - -<p>“Gee!” exclaimed Dallas, “that was a close call——”</p> - -<p>“And a silly one,” declared the train dispatcher. “Another of the -times when you jumped without looking. You had no business in that -house.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I had. Wasn’t that Andy McCarrey?”</p> - -<p>“It was.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll know him again then. I never saw him before.”</p> - -<p>“If that is all you wanted,” said Ralph with some scorn, “I could have -pointed him out to you a dozen times a day. He doesn’t hide himself.”</p> - -<p>“Huh! He was hiding away to-night, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps. But it did you no good to let him know that his actions were -observed and his private messenger followed.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! You mean that Whitey?”</p> - -<p>“That is whom I mean.”</p> - -<p>“I bet he had something on him we ought to have got hold of,” said -Zeph, with sudden excitement. “Did you hear what McCarrey said? And -was that Jim Perrin he meant, do you suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Like enough,” said Ralph soberly. “I am afraid Jim is into this -strike scheme with both feet.”</p> - -<p>“The union ought to bounce him.”</p> - -<p>“He has a lot of friends. But perhaps if it could be proved that he -had a secret agreement, or understanding, with McCarrey——”</p> - -<p>“Wish we’d searched that Whitey,” growled out Zeph, shaking his head -mournfully.</p> - -<p>“If you didn’t always jump into a thing without first looking!” -exclaimed Ralph. “Well, where are you stopping?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got a room on Pearl Street. You know the place? But I didn’t -think of sleeping to-night.”</p> - -<p>“And you won’t, after that milk and mince pie and the acrobatic -activities you have just indulged in,” said Ralph, chuckling. “I’ll go -over to the room with you. We can talk there. I’ve got something to -show you.”</p> - -<p>“Huh?” questioned Zeph, curiously.</p> - -<p>In five minutes they reached the poorly furnished rooming-house in -which Zeph was usually sheltered when he came to Rockton. It seemed as -though he had a horror of living in good quarters, or as ordinarily -respectable people lived.</p> - -<p>“You surely are foolish, Zeph,” declared Ralph. “There’s a good bed -and room at your disposal at our house. Mother was only speaking of it -this evening. And yet you prefer a ranch like this.”</p> - -<p>“As I told you, I never know what sort of a mess I may be getting -into. Don’t want to make your mother trouble. Couldn’t think of doing -more than coming to Sunday dinner and eating chicken.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a promise,” agreed Ralph, smiling. “I’ll order a pair of -chickens from the butcher in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“Now, what’s the big idea?” asked Zeph, softly, closing his room door -after having pulled the electric light chain to illuminate the place.</p> - -<p>Ralph looked at him grimly. “Yes,” he said, “Whitey had been on an -errand for McCarrey, and probably to Jim Perrin’s house. He was -bringing some message, or the like, from Jim.”</p> - -<p>“You’re guessing,” said Zeph. “We ought to have searched Whitey, as I -said.”</p> - -<p>Ralph drew out the sealed envelope that he had taken from Whitey -Malone’s pocket with his bandanna. He held it out to Zeph.</p> - -<p>“I guess this is what Whitey carried,” he said quietly.</p> - -<p>“Gee, you did search him!” exclaimed the other happily. “You smart -kid!”</p> - -<p>“The luck of fools,” rejoined Ralph, with some disdain. “If it is -anything of importance I can’t accept praise any more than you can.”</p> - -<p>But Zeph was already tearing open the envelope.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chVII' title='VII—Something Bad'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER VII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>SOMETHING BAD</span> -</h2> -<p>Ralph Fairbanks sat down on the edge of the narrow bed and watched -Zeph open the envelope. He had all the curiosity that his friend had -about the contents of it, but he displayed more placidity. Zeph was -always as eager as a bird dog on the scent.</p> - -<p>“What do you suppose this is?” he murmured, drawing out a folded piece -of paper.</p> - -<p>“A doctor’s prescription?” suggested Ralph grimly.</p> - -<p>Zeph gave a look, then uttered a disappointed ejaculation.</p> - -<p>“Shucks! Why, it’s only a list of names. Not another thing. Four -names. Shucks!”</p> - -<p>Ralph held out his hand for the paper and Zeph gave it up, his face -screwed into an expression of disappointment.</p> - -<p>“It’s a roast for us,” he muttered.</p> - -<p>But Ralph made no comment—at first. He read aloud the column of names.</p> - -<p>“Lyons, Bertholdt, Mike Ranny, Peters.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know ’em?” asked Zeph, with some curiosity.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps. I know Mike Ranny. He has a brother Bob. Bob takes out -Number Eighty-two. He is a good engineer. But Mike is a shopman. Yes, -I guess I can identify him.”</p> - -<p>“And those others?” asked Zeph.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps. But that isn’t the first thing to do. Here is a list of -names that Whitey was carrying to Andy McCarrey. Very secret about it. -And we are led to believe the list was coming from Jim Perrin.”</p> - -<p>“All right! All right!” returned Zeph impatiently. “What’s the -answer?”</p> - -<p>“I can find out if Perrin really wrote these names down. I’ll do so -to-morrow first thing. Then we may identify the four persons named. -Just why Lyons, Bertholdt, Peters and Mike Ranny are named here to -Andy McCarrey, we can only surmise. But we may believe that the four -men belong to the shopmen’s union and Perrin has selected them for -some certain matter which McCarrey wishes put over.”</p> - -<p>Zeph merely nodded his head and humped his shoulders forward, staring -in Ralph’s face.</p> - -<p>“But remember, we are only supposing these things. Got to identify the -writing of the names and the men owning them,” the young dispatcher -continued.</p> - -<p>“Huh!” exclaimed Zeph. “And even then we won’t know anything. Got to -wait till something happens. Gee!”</p> - -<p>“You come to me to-morrow noon and I’ll know something,” said Ralph, -rising and putting away the paper in his wallet. “And then, I think, -we’d better get in touch with Mr. Adair.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to have something to show him,” murmured Zeph. “Something -good.”</p> - -<p>“You are more likely to have something bad to show him,” returned -Ralph seriously. “I believe, Zeph, that this Andy McCarrey, with Jim -Perrin to help him, could swing more than half of the shopmen in -Rockton.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a queer proposition. How does it come this McCarrey butts in -here? And him not a union man, nor even an employee of the Great -Northern?”</p> - -<p>“I give it to you straight, Zeph,” sighed Ralph, buttoning his coat -over the wallet. “I believe McCarrey followed the new supervisor -here.”</p> - -<p>“What!”</p> - -<p>“No ‘what’ about it. Mr. Hopkins—the G. M. admitted it to me—got into -trouble on an eastern railroad. This McCarrey had a run-in with Barton -Hopkins there. As soon as Mr. Hopkins took hold here at Rockton as -supervisor of the division, McCarrey appeared.”</p> - -<p>“And then the trouble started?” demanded Zeph.</p> - -<p>“You said it. It looks like a personal fight, more than anything else, -between McCarrey and the super.”</p> - -<p>“But why do our men lend themselves so easily to the leadership of an -outsider like McCarrey?”</p> - -<p>“He’s got their number, I guess,” grumbled Ralph. “He knows how Mr. -Hopkins starts friction with the men. ‘Discipline!’ Humph!”</p> - -<p>“He’s a regular red flannel shirt, is he?” grumbled Zeph Dallas. “I -heard he had everybody scratching. Has he jumped you yet, Ralph?”</p> - -<p>“Not much. And I don’t suppose he’ll try to. We get our orders from -Mr. Glidden at main headquarters.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” remarked Zeph wisely, “I never saw one of these wiseacres who -try to tell everybody their business, who didn’t butt in more or less -on things that didn’t concern ’em. But, of course, Mr. Hopkins can -talk turkey to the men in all other branches of the service on this -division.”</p> - -<p>“He can and does. And he has got the men so sore that they are willing -to be led by anybody who promises to help them get square with the -super. McCarrey needs only to sit back and wait, and things will come -his way.”</p> - -<p>“That club you had just now ought to have come his way,” sighed Zeph. -“Going? Well, good-night, Ralph.”</p> - -<p>“Good-night. Better go to bed—if the mince pie and milk will let you -sleep. And don’t fail to show up at the offices to-morrow noon.”</p> - -<p>Ralph went home in a very serious frame of mind. His mother was -serious, too, the next morning, when she found the coat he had worn -the evening before had a great rent in it and two buttons torn off.</p> - -<p>“I never knew it to fail, Ralph,” she said, rather sharply for her, -“that when Zeph Dallas comes around you get into trouble. You have -been in a fight. Look at that scratch on your cheek. What did you do -last night?”</p> - -<p>“You are a wonderfully close observer, Mother,” said Ralph, laughing. -“How is it you always see so much?”</p> - -<p>“Indeed?” and she smiled ruefully at him. “Why shouldn’t I observe -every little thing about my son? At least, until some other woman has -a better right to him.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me!” complained Ralph, with twinkling eyes. “You talk as -though I was in danger of being kidnapped.”</p> - -<p>“How do I know? There was the young lady you were talking of at -supper.”</p> - -<p>“And I believe she and her family are going to be in more trouble -before it is all said and done,” muttered Ralph.</p> - -<p>But he got out of explaining in detail about his adventure with Zeph -Dallas the previous evening. He knew, however, his mother was merely -in fun about Cherry Hopkins. Secretly, whenever Ralph thought of the -pretty blonde girl, he felt anxiety for her safety. Such rascals as -Whitey Malone and the other fellows who would do Andy McCarrey’s -bidding might really do Cherry serious harm.</p> - -<p>He went to the dispatchers’ offices early, saw that the day-trick men -were getting on all right, and then went in search of a timekeeper -who, he knew, was to be trusted. This gray-haired employee of the -Great Northern was one of those loyal men who considered any blow at -the road a blow at their own livelihood and future prospects.</p> - -<p>“Think you could recognize Jim Perrin’s writing wherever you saw it, -John?” the young chief dispatcher asked.</p> - -<p>“Jim Perrin, is it? A bad egg. It is too bad he leads so many around -by the nose. I know his handwriting well. I ought to. He has been -signing for his pay check for ten years here.”</p> - -<p>“Look at this,” said Ralph, thrusting the list of four names in front -of the timekeeper. “What do you think?”</p> - -<p>The man studied the names through his spectacles. Then he nodded.</p> - -<p>“I know them, too,” he said. “They are all in the shops here. Billy -Lyons, Abe Bertholdt, Micky Ranny, brother of Bob, the hoghead, and -Sam Peters. Yes, I know ’em all.”</p> - -<p>“That is not just what I asked you,” Ralph explained. “Who do you -think wrote those names on that paper?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Oh!” cried the timekeeper. “That’s the idea, is it?” He squinted -at the four brief lines of writing. “Who wrote ’em down for you, is -it? What is this, Mr. Fairbanks? One of the new super’s efficiency -tricks, I dunno?”</p> - -<p>“Now, John!” exclaimed Ralph, laughing, “do you think I would lend -myself to any of his nonsense?”</p> - -<p>He turned around while the timekeeper was chuckling and saw Mr. Barton -Hopkins standing behind them in the doorway of the little office. The -supervisor stared at the young train dispatcher with a very grim -visage indeed. Without doubt he had heard enough to understand the -meaning of Ralph’s reply to the timekeeper.</p> - -<p>When the supervisor had turned on his heel and disappeared, Ralph said -to the timekeeper, with no shadow of change in his voice:</p> - -<p>“Well? How about it?”</p> - -<p>The man fumbled the leaves of a ledger and finally compared the -writing on the sheet of paper with something in the ledger. He -beckoned Ralph closer.</p> - -<p>“Look there, now, Mr. Fairbanks. D’you see where he has signed for his -check last week? And I could show you a hundred other signatures. -There’s the P in Peters and the same letter in Perrin. They’re like -two peas in a pod, ain’t they, now?”</p> - -<p>“I believe you!”</p> - -<p>“The little r’s in Perrin are like the little r in Bertholdt and in -Peters. D’you see?”</p> - -<p>“I see.”</p> - -<p>“That’s your answer. Jim Perrin wrote them four names with his own -fist. I’d swear to it.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, John,” Ralph replied soberly. “I may have more to say to -you about this later. Keep it to yourself.”</p> - -<p>“Sure, sir, I’ve the tight lip on me,” said the timekeeper.</p> - -<p>Ralph wished, as he went back to his office, that he had had “the -tight lip” as well. He had allowed his tongue to get him in bad with -Mr. Barton Hopkins. The supervisor was the kind of man that would not -easily forget a slight.</p> - -<p>“He’ll easily forget that I saved his daughter from that gang -yesterday,” thought Ralph. “But he will remember that I spoke -slightingly of him to another employee.</p> - -<p>“I told Zeph something bad was likely to be the word he sent Mr. -Adair. Guess the ‘something bad’ may be connected with my peace of -mind. I’m going to be on the lookout from now on for Mr. Barton -Hopkins to get his gaff into me.”</p> - -<p>It came sooner than Ralph really expected.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chVIII' title='VIII—A Clash of Authority'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER VIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>A CLASH OF AUTHORITY</span> -</h2> -<p>When Zeph Dallas showed himself in Ralph’s office about noon the -latter had several points which he could lay before the enthusiastic -amateur sleuth.</p> - -<p>“But you musn’t go it alone any longer, Zeph,” the young train -dispatcher said. “There’s something going to break soon, and Mr. Adair -will want to know all you get wise to, and as fast as you discover it. -What do you suppose he sends you roosters out along the line for, your -health?”</p> - -<p>Zeph grinned. “I know he is combing every division for information -regarding a possible strike. The Great Northern doesn’t want to bring -in a private detective agency with their guards if it can be helped. I -know.”</p> - -<p>“All right—you know so much! Listen to this,” and Ralph told him of -his discovery through the aid of the old timekeeper. “And now here is -this man who was with Andy McCarrey last night.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s that? Whitey Malone? I just saw him, sobered up, but with two -beautiful black eyes.”</p> - -<p>“We never gave him those,” declared Ralph. “I bet McCarrey pitched -into him for losing the list Perrin sent by him. Well, that other man -I heard McCarrey call ‘Grif’ must be Griffin Falk, and he acts as -McCarrey’s secretary, or right-hand man. Mac is no literary character. -He can talk, but the words have to be put into his mouth. They say -Grif writes his speeches and handles all his correspondence.”</p> - -<p>“Then we know quite some to tell Mr. Bob Adair,” said Zeph, with -satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“You are right we do. Here is this list. I have written beside -Perrin’s writing the full names of the four men and what they do in -the shops and how they stand in the union. They will have to be -watched from now on. Well, it is nothing in my young life. I am going -to tend to my knitting and keep out of any trouble, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>Zeph fairly giggled. “I hear you,” he said. “But you won’t be able to -sit up in this conning tower of yours and calmly watch a ruction down -below without getting into it, and getting in with both feet.”</p> - -<p>“No, no! Nothing like that,” declared Ralph, smiling and shaking his -head as his friend departed.</p> - -<p>The young train dispatcher really meant what he said. He hated to see -things going wrong for the division—for the whole Great Northern -system, in fact. But he had his job, and his place in the railroad -system, and he did not mean to step aside.</p> - -<p>He considered himself quite invulnerable where he sat. He was -independent of everybody save his good friend, Glidden, at main -headquarters. As long as he managed to drive through his schedules -with some kind of regularity, Ralph felt that nobody could actually -hurt him with the company.</p> - -<p>But not long after luncheon one of the callboys came to the door of -his little private office and said:</p> - -<p>“Mist’ Hopkins wants you, Mist’ Fairbanks. Just told me. Right now.”</p> - -<p>“Wants me?” queried Ralph, in more surprise than apprehension. “The -super?”</p> - -<p>“Yep. Bet you he’s got some new way for you to run the trains. Two on -the same track, mebbe, to save wear on the iron,” and the saucy -youngster went away, chuckling.</p> - -<p>That is the way the entire force was considering the supervisor. Not -even the callboys had proper respect for the bothersome official.</p> - -<p>Ralph hesitated a little before responding to the request of Mr. -Hopkins. Hopkins had absolutely no authority over the train -dispatcher’s department. In fact, the divisional officers took orders, -to a degree, from the train dispatchers. For that department “lapped -over” onto the main and other divisions of the Great Northern. Ralph -had to handle trains to and from the other divisions of the system.</p> - -<p>So he hesitated about answering the call to Mr. Hopkins’ office. Any -other man in Hopkins’ place would have come to Ralph’s room and said -his little say, whatever it was. The day when a supervisor could call -a train dispatcher to account was long since past in railroading.</p> - -<p>Ralph looked over what was being done in his outer office before -descending the flight to the supervisor’s room. It was at the busiest -time of the day and the young chief dispatcher kept his eye constantly -on what was going on during every afternoon. He had his best men on -duty at night.</p> - -<p>Hopkins was drumming impatiently on his desk with a pencil when Ralph -entered. The latter secretly wished to tell him that that drumming was -“waste energy.” But the supervisor’s face did not encourage any -expression of humor.</p> - -<p>“I have been waiting for you, Mr. Fairbanks,” he said sharply.</p> - -<p>Ralph wanted to tell him the nearest way to get to his office, but he -hit it back, and waited.</p> - -<p>“I want to put a proposition before you,” said the supervisor. “I have -turned my thought considerably to the train dispatching on this -division. It might be greatly improved.”</p> - -<p>At that Ralph straightened up and his lips became a grim line.</p> - -<p>“I can refer you to Mr. Glidden at main headquarters,” he said -bluntly. “He will undoubtedly be glad to take up any matter of the -kind with you. I have no jurisdiction.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes! I understand all that,” said the supervisor, with a wave of -his hand. “But you know I have practically a free hand here——”</p> - -<p>“I have not been so informed. I still take all my orders from Mr. -Glidden,” and Ralph spoke doggedly.</p> - -<p>“Listen, young man! You are in no position to war with me. In my -opinion you are quite too young for your responsible position, -anyway.”</p> - -<p>“That can be taken up with the general manager if you choose,” said -Ralph, with a sigh, turning away. “He gave me the job.”</p> - -<p>“Wait!” exclaimed Hopkins coldly. “You are a very smart young man; but -you do not know everything—not even about your job.”</p> - -<p>“I admit the truth of your last statement, anyway,” said Ralph, -grinning slightly. “In my line there is always something to learn.”</p> - -<p>“Listen to me, then. I can tell you something.”</p> - -<p>“Very well, Mr. Hopkins,” said Ralph. “If you really have something of -importance to say, I am here to listen.”</p> - -<p>Ralph was not soothing in his speech. But he had heretofore been -obliged to assert himself over older men in some authority in order to -hold his position. Supervisor Hopkins was intruding, and Ralph felt -that the matter had to be stopped right here and now.</p> - -<p>“You understand, Fairbanks,” said the supervisor, “that I have not -called you down here for any picayune matter.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what you called me away from my duties for,” said Ralph -brusquely. “It must be important. I am listening.”</p> - -<p>“I do not attempt to order you to do anything.”</p> - -<p>“You seem to expect me to obey your call in the very busiest part of -the day.”</p> - -<p>“That is along the line of which I wish to speak,” said Hopkins -composedly. “I think you should be much more closely connected with -your work in the daytime. You have three men in your office between -seven in the morning and seven at night. Now, if you handled the early -short watch and the late short watch yourself——”</p> - -<p>“You mean the dog-watches?” demanded Ralph, in surprise.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I mean that you could easily arrange your hours so that you -could handle the train traffic between seven and nine a. m. and five -and seven p. m. I mean——”</p> - -<p>“What’s this?” demanded Ralph, not only in astonishment, but with -anger. “You want me to come down as early as seven and go away as late -as seven at night? What sort of hours are those?”</p> - -<p>“Remember, I am only suggesting,” said Hopkins coldly. “I take it that -you have the interest of the Great Northern at heart.”</p> - -<p>“And a little of the interest of Ralph Fairbanks at heart,” returned -the young fellow angrily. “Why, what chance would I have for any -freedom? I come down at nine now and go away at five. Why should I go -back to the key during the dog watches?”</p> - -<p>“If you will do so I can show you how you may get rid of one -operator.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t wish to get rid of one operator. I ought really to have -another. Let me remind you, Mr. Hopkins, the strain on a train -dispatcher and his assistants, especially under the schedules we have -to make on this division just now, is something fierce! You don’t know -what you are talking about, Mr. Hopkins.”</p> - -<p>“I know exactly what I am talking about, young man,” said the -supervisor grimly, and those eyeglasses of his seemed fairly to -sparkle. “I am pointing out to you a way in which you can save the -road one man’s salary——”</p> - -<p>“Tell that to the stockholders—don’t tell it to me!” cried Ralph -angrily. “If I can find some way of making them see at headquarters -that I need another man, I am going to do so. I know what is needed in -my department. You don’t. Keep your hands off!”</p> - -<p>Hopkins spoke again before the train dispatcher reached the door.</p> - -<p>“You would better consider my offer of advice, Fairbanks,” and his -voice was like ice. “I give you a chance, first.”</p> - -<p>“To whom will you give the second chance?” demanded Ralph, looking -back at him.</p> - -<p>“I shall place my advice before the proper authorities. They have -hired me to make this division efficient in every way. I do not like -to go over your head——”</p> - -<p>“Don’t let that bother you,” answered Ralph. “I shall not hold it -against you, Mr. Hopkins, if you manage to take your ideas before a -special meeting of the board. Nobody save John Glidden is going to -give me my orders. You may as well understand that right now. -Good-day!”</p> - -<p>He swung out of the room, closing the door with an emphatic bang. He -felt a decided warmth of satisfaction because of this throwing of his -glove at Mr. Hopkins’ feet. Yet he thought, too:</p> - -<p>“Well, that does settle me with Miss Cherry. I am persona non grata -there for the rest of the chapter. Humph! What cheek—what cold, brass, -gall—that man has!”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chIX' title='IX—It Happens Again'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER IX</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>IT HAPPENS AGAIN</span> -</h2> -<p>As soon as he got back to the train dispatchers’ department Ralph put -in a call for main headquarters and Mr. John Glidden. After a time the -switchboard operator called him and Ralph went into the booth.</p> - -<p>“How do the schedules go, Ralph?” asked Mr. Glidden, after briefly -greeting his young friend. “I hear you are having trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Trouble enough. That Midnight Flyer is the worst thing on our hands -just now, however.”</p> - -<p>“Number Two-o-two?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. Two hundred and two. Believe me! It’s like crowding a fat -man through a Pullman ventilator.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what else is the trouble?”</p> - -<p>“As I have told you a dozen times, Mr. Glidden, we are short-handed.”</p> - -<p>“I know! I know, boy! But this system is having an economical streak -and I am afraid I cannot squeeze you through another assistant, Ralph. -Not just now.”</p> - -<p>“It better be now, or it will be too late,” declared Ralph. “This -efficiency expert that is running things at this terminal is going to -get to the board and show ’em that I can run this office with a -cripple and a fifteen year old boy, I shouldn’t wonder.”</p> - -<p>“You mean the super?” exclaimed Mr. Glidden.</p> - -<p>“I see you are a good guesser.”</p> - -<p>“Barton Hopkins is the limit!” exclaimed the chief dispatcher of the -Great Northern. “I had no idea he would have the impudence to -interfere in our affairs.”</p> - -<p>“I’m telling you. He has just now told me how I can work two shifts a -day myself and so save one man’s salary.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t pay the least attention to him, Ralph!” said Mr. Glidden -earnestly.</p> - -<p>“Just the same I have an idea that you are going to hear from him. And -he’ll go higher up. He is as persistent as a red ant.”</p> - -<p>“And just about as useful,” growled out Glidden over the wire. “And I -never did see that ants were of much use in spite of all the -philosophers. They are just a nuisance when they get into the sugar.”</p> - -<p>This made Ralph laugh, and when he hung up the telephone receiver he -felt better. He knew he had a friend at headquarters who would do his -best to look out for his interests.</p> - -<p>That afternoon, however, he had the sample of Mr. Hopkins’ dislike for -him that he had expected. When he left the railroad building and -walked down South Main Street to do an errand for his mother, he saw a -little electric runabout take the crossing at Hammerby Street and turn -toward one of the big department stores. He knew the car at a glance, -for he had seen Cherry Hopkins and her mother driving it many times.</p> - -<p>The women entered the store and Ralph went on about his business. Half -an hour later he was returning when he spied several young men walking -ahead of him toward the department store into which Mrs. Hopkins and -Cherry had disappeared. One of these fellows the train dispatcher -identified as Whitey Malone.</p> - -<p>As the gang lurched along the sidewalk, taking up more than their -share of the way, Ralph fell to a slower pace and watched them. -Opposite the Hopkins car the gang halted. Whitey stooped and seemed to -be examining the wheels on that side. Ralph quickened his pace, for he -had a feeling that Whitey Malone would do almost any mean trick which -might hurt any of the Hopkins family.</p> - -<p>In a moment Malone got to his feet and started after his friends. A -small boy walking near Ralph began to giggle.</p> - -<p>“What’s all the joy, kid?” the young dispatcher asked curiously.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you see that?” demanded the youngster.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t see anything, I guess,” rejoined the puzzled Ralph.</p> - -<p>“That white-headed feller turned a cute trick then. Say, they are all -doing it! I seen a car last night—”</p> - -<p>At that moment Mrs. Hopkins and Cherry came out of the store. A clerk -followed them with bundles. The girl jumped in first and started the -motor. In half a minute her mother and the bundles were likewise -stowed away and the door of the car slammed.</p> - -<p>Ralph had halted. He did not want to pass them again. The boy, -giggling still, went along to stand and watch the car. Cherry started -and turned it, heading for the Hammerby Street crossing. Ralph noticed -that the flagman was just coming out of his shack.</p> - -<p>The young dispatcher slipped his watch into his palm and looked at it. -Number 43 was about due—was even now wheeling into the mouth of the -yard half a mile away. The run-about would have plenty of time to -cross the track.</p> - -<p>Then with a sudden intake of breath, the young fellow started. He had -seen something—evidently the thing the youngster was laughing his head -off about. The tires on the near side of the Hopkins’ car were being -deflated.</p> - -<p>“That scoundrel!” exclaimed Ralph.</p> - -<p>He knew instantly what Whitey Malone had done. The fellow had loosened -the air valves and gradually, as the weight of the car pressed on the -tires, the inflated rubber flattened. Before the car reached the -crossing it was bumping on that side, and Ralph saw Cherry slowing -down and looking out to see what the matter was.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately the girl did not stop immediately. While she was puzzled -about the hobbling car, she ran on. She was half way across the -tracks—exactly straddling the inbound rails, in fact—when the motor -stalled!</p> - -<p>The flagman, who was waiting to drop the gates when the supervisor’s -car got over, immediately lost his head. He screamed and ran toward -the car, waving his flag. The thunder of the oncoming train grew -rapidly, vibrating on the air. Ralph leaped away after the automobile.</p> - -<p>The flagman, seeing the car stop dead, rushed back and dropped the -gates! If the girl could have got the runabout started again, she was -shut off from escape.</p> - -<p>“And right on the inbound rails!” gasped Ralph.</p> - -<p>He saw the car could not be moved. He did not even speak to Cherry as -he ran. But he grabbed the red flag out of the crossing-man’s hand and -started up the track, waving it madly.</p> - -<p>It was a straight way for several rods. He knew the engineer would -soon see him. Yet he almost held his breath until he heard the shriek -of the locomotive whistle as it called for “brakes” and knew that the -driver had set the compressed air as he called the brakemen to their -unexpected duty.</p> - -<p>The high front of the big machine plowed toward him, looking as though -it could not be stopped at all! Ralph stepped out from between the -rails when the pilot was almost upon him. He saw the fireman hanging -out of the window on his side of the cabin, staring earnestly ahead. -The runabout seemed doomed. And the two occupants of the car had not -attempted to get out!</p> - -<p>“Great heavens, if she hits it!” murmured the young train dispatcher.</p> - -<p>He started on a staggering run back to the crossing. He was aware that -a crowd was gathering, seemingly by magic, on both sides of the -crossing. From the south appeared a tall figure that burst through the -narrow opening at the end of the gate and started for the endangered -automobile.</p> - -<p>Fire flew from the brakeshoes of the train and the grind and hiss of -the iron threatened flat tires on more than one wheel. Ralph, the -breath sobbing in his throat, continued to stumble on over the cinder -path.</p> - -<p>The tall figure he knew was that of Mr. Barton Hopkins. The supervisor -had chanced to come along just in season to see the danger of his wife -and daughter.</p> - -<p>But Ralph knew well enough that the man—no more than Ralph -himself—could do nothing to aid the victims of this threatened -disaster.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chX' title='X—The Night of the Strike'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER X</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THE NIGHT OF THE STRIKE</span> -</h2> -<p>The locomotive stopped—and there was no crash such as Ralph had -expected. He was only a few yards behind the high step of the great -machine down which the fireman swung himself.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with those boobs?” demanded the latter. “Blocking -the road like this—huh! Wait till the super gets wise to it. He’s got -just what it costs to stop a train figgered out into cents and mills.”</p> - -<p>Ralph grabbed him by the shoulder and shot into his ear: “Muffle down, -Haney! That’s the super himself there, and it is his wife and girl in -the car.”</p> - -<p>“Great Glory and Jerusalem!” gasped the fireman. “Thanks, Fairbanks. -He’ll be as sore as a boil over this. And it’s a wonder that we didn’t -smash the thing to splinters, for our brakes don’t work any too well. -The old mill ought to be in the shops right now.”</p> - -<p>The fireman slipped back to warn the engineer. Ralph went on to the -crossing. Mrs. Hopkins and Cherry had now got out of the runabout. The -girl was actually keeping the woman from falling, the latter was so -much overcome. But Cherry flashed Ralph an illuminating look. Her eyes -were like stars.</p> - -<p>The supervisor knew exactly what to do in the emergency. Already he -had ordered the gate raised and had beckoned to some idlers to come -and lift the car. He did not take hold himself, but he ordered them -what to do. In fact, Ralph helped lift the runabout over the tracks -and out onto Hammerby Street.</p> - -<p>“That will do, men. Thanks,” said Mr. Hopkins coldly. He turned to his -daughter. “How did it happen? Your wheels are deflated.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I did not understand what had happened until we were on -the crossing, Papa,” Cherry replied.</p> - -<p>“Somebody must have done it when the car was standing before the -store,” said Mrs. Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Ralph Fairbanks!” whispered Cherry, suddenly seizing the -young fellow’s hand.</p> - -<p>Hopkins wheeled and stared coldly at Ralph. “Just what has Mr. -Fairbanks done to be thanked for, Cherry?” the supervisor asked.</p> - -<p>“He stopped the train, Papa,” declared the girl firmly.</p> - -<p>“Humph! The engineer stopped the train, to be exact,” said her father -and then turned to haul the pump out from under the car seat.</p> - -<p>Ralph tipped his hat to the ladies and walked away.</p> - -<p>“In my opinion, Barton Hopkins is a pretty small man,” the train -dispatcher thought. “In any case, I may as well make up my mind to one -fact: If he can ‘get’ me he will. He is as cold-blooded as a snake. -And I guess I would better keep away from Miss Cherry, or she will get -into trouble.</p> - -<p>“Just the same,” he concluded, “she’s a fine girl. She could not bear -to see the little thing I did for them ignored. But, goodness me, how -the rank and file of the men hate her father!”</p> - -<p>He did not tell his mother this time of the happening. He had learned -it was better not to give the widow details of any possible danger -that he stepped into. She only worried the more about him when he was -out from under her eye.</p> - -<p>The newspapers had begun to talk of the wildcat strike extending to -this division of the Great Northern, and Mrs. Fairbanks read enough -about it in her favorite evening sheet. Ralph might have told her a -deal more—and much more to the purpose—had he chosen to.</p> - -<p>The feeling in the shops was a matter for grave discussion among the -officials. The older employees, and the men in the stronger -Brotherhoods, thought of and talked of little else. If the shopmen and -maintenance of way men went out there was bound to be trouble.</p> - -<p>Most railroad systems keep only one jump ahead of disaster in the busy -season. Locomotives and all other rolling stock have to be watched and -inspected just as closely and carefully as a good family doctor -watches his patients. A turn in the shops for the great moguls and -eight-wheelers comes more frequently than the public suspects. This -averts accidents more surely than block-signal systems or perfect -train dispatching.</p> - -<p>Of late the shopmen had been lax in their work, just as the section -men had been lax in their department. Disgruntled employees of any -corporation are dangerous. In the railroad business they are -frightfully so.</p> - -<p>Every evening when the shifts changed in the shops and yard, groups of -men stood around and talked. Sometimes some “soap-box orator” made a -speech just outside the railroad property. The railway police could -not disturb these meetings, but they worked with the city police and -soon had them stopped.</p> - -<p>At once Andy McCarrey and others got up in Beeman Hall and shouted -about the wrongs of the workingman and how the police were governed by -the corporation.</p> - -<p>“Hot air! Hot air!” said John, the old timekeeper, to Ralph. “Just the -same, Jim Perrin is doing his dirtiest in the union, too. Mark my -word, Mr. Fairbanks; there’s something going to break—and soon.”</p> - -<p>Ralph, however, went on the even tenor of his way and fully believed -that whatever happened, it would not affect him. He would have liked -to see Zeph Dallas again or hear from Bob Adair.</p> - -<p>But Zeph had disappeared right after Ralph’s last interview with him -and, day or night, the train dispatcher had seen no sign of the -fellow. He was so troubled over the night schedules, however, that -every evening he went downtown again after supper.</p> - -<p>“I never knew you to be so particular about your dispatching, Ralph,” -his mother complained. “Do you really expect trouble?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you, Mother,” he said, trying to smile. “When we have to -crowd the trains so close I naturally feel anxiety. I’ve got good men -on the job. But some night I expect that Midnight Flyer or some other -important train to stall and ball up the entire schedule.</p> - -<p>“These wheat trains clutter up the east-bound tracks all night long. -We have had two breakdowns within forty-eight hours this week. The -yard was not cleared of west-bound freight this morning until nine -o’clock. We’re in a mess!”</p> - -<p>“But they cannot hold you responsible for any of the trouble,” his -mother declared loyally.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. The way the super looks at me when we meet—— Humph! But -of course, Mother, I feel responsibility. I want the trains to get in -and out on time. The reports going back to main headquarters aren’t -encouraging. Although Mr. Glidden is mighty nice about it.”</p> - -<p>“He would be,” declared Mrs. Fairbanks. “He understands.”</p> - -<p>Just the same, her confidence did not greatly encourage Ralph. The day -schedule did not much trouble him, but at night it grew worse and -worse. As he had feared, with the increased number of wheat trains -trying to get through, there being a big movement of grain to Europe -at this time, most other freight was side-tracked. The passenger -trains, too, were displaced.</p> - -<p>Two mornings in succession the Midnight Flyer got to Hammerfest so -late that the Boise City connection was lost. Passengers had to wait -two hours. Yet the train could not be started earlier than midnight -from Rockton because the connection from the east could not be made.</p> - -<p>“Old Byron Marks is a has-been,” the master mechanic said to Ralph on -one occasion. “But what can <i>I</i> do? It is out of my hands. The old man -can’t make the time, and he knows it. But he doesn’t want to fall down -on the run, either. You know what that would mean.”</p> - -<p>“It would give the super a chance to demand his withdrawal,” said -Ralph.</p> - -<p>“You bet. And Bart Hopkins is only waiting for that. If he had his -way, and if it wasn’t for the Brotherhoods, he’d scrap every man with -gray hair on the division.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t anybody talk with Byron and show him how to get out -gracefully?”</p> - -<p>“He’s as touchy as a hen with a brood of chicks. I’d like to send him -back to a switch engine. We need on that Flyer somebody like you, -Ralph. Yes, sir, it’s a run that calls for young blood!”</p> - -<p>But Ralph raised both hands and gestured him away from his desk. “No, -no! Tempt me not!” he cried. “Haven’t I trouble enough of my own right -here and now?”</p> - -<p>“But if I have to take Byron off for incompetency, and that certainly -will kill the old man, whom shall I put in his place? Every good man -is needed. This blamed new eight hour rule—well, it’s good in some -ways, of course; but it makes us short-handed.”</p> - -<p>The official went away grumbling. He, too, had his troubles. He had to -take his orders from the supervisor and some of them were not to his -taste.</p> - -<p>It is said that only the weight of the last straw broke the camel’s -back. It needed some particular event to start the conflagration that -promised to overwhelm the division, if not the whole Great Northern -system. It was as small a thing as the idea of the change in the style -of the men’s working caps that Ralph had put before the general -manager some weeks before.</p> - -<p>A new order was pasted on the shop board one evening—an order -promulgated by the supervisor and from his office. It was a notice to -the effect that the call boys, or others, were not to be sent out to -the lunch places near the shops to purchase lunches for the men who -wanted them, save in the men’s own time.</p> - -<p>That meant that nobody could send for anything to eat and drink until -the whistle blew for recess. As the lunch places and delicatessen -stores were sure to be crowded at those particular hours, either all -the workmen would have to bring cans, or those that did not must wait -half or three-quarters of an hour before they ate.</p> - -<p>The boys who did these errands for the shop-men were paid so meagerly -that their time cost the company but little. It was certainly a -picayune piece of business. But probably Mr. Hopkins had figured it -out to his own satisfaction that several dollars a year might be saved -to the Great Northern.</p> - -<p>Somebody read the inconspicuous notice on the board soon after the -night crew started working in the shops. Ralph chanced to be in the -train dispatchers’ offices when he heard the roar of the machinery in -the nearest shop subside and finally cease entirely. He went to the -window and looked out.</p> - -<p>“What’s happened, Chief?” asked his assistant, sitting at the -telegraph instrument.</p> - -<p>“I can’t make it out. Why! there goes Benson, the stationary engineer. -He’s shut down the power! Why, Johnny, they are crowding out of the -shop!”</p> - -<p>“Strike!” ejaculated the operator, and opened his key.</p> - -<p>“Wait! Let me be sure,” cried Ralph, and darted to the door and down -the stairs to the yard.</p> - -<p>It was only a few rods to the first shop. He saw the men, angry and -blusterous, crowding out of the doors like disturbed ants. He found -one coherent man whom he knew, and got the story of the supervisor’s -latest order.</p> - -<p>“Hold on! What are you fellows going to do?” Ralph demanded of this -man.</p> - -<p>“We’re going to hold a meeting. Beeman’s Hall. We’ll stand no more of -this blamed foolishness. Anyhow, we won’t stand for that cut in wages -they say is coming. I tell you, Fairbanks; the whole road is going to -the dogs.”</p> - -<p>“And you propose to help it go there, do you?” Ralph demanded.</p> - -<p>But he knew it was useless to argue the matter. The men were red hot. -They were discarding the advice and the orders of their own union -officials. Andy McCarrey was about to see his cherished plans come to -fruition.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXI' title='XI—More Friction'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>MORE FRICTION</span> -</h2> -<p>Ralph Fairbanks disliked to do it. But it seemed that he was the first -responsible person about the railroad building to mark the beginning -of the wildcat strike of the shopmen. Somebody had to tell Barton -Hopkins, and it seemed the duty devolved upon him.</p> - -<p>“The old man will be mighty sore,” said Johnny, the operator. “I’d -better shoot the news to main headquarters, hadn’t I?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Ralph, going into the telephone booth.</p> - -<p>He asked the operator for Mr. Hopkins’ house number. It was not very -late in the evening and he knew Mr. Hopkins could not have gone to -bed. But it was several minutes during which he heard the indicator -buzzing again and again, before he received any answer.</p> - -<p>Then it was not the supervisor’s sharp voice that said: “Mr. Hopkins’ -residence. What is wanted?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my gracious, Miss Cherry! Is that you?” asked the young train -dispatcher, anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Ralph Fairbanks! What has happened?”</p> - -<p>In spite of his excitement Ralph noted—and was glad!—that the girl -recognized his voice so quickly.</p> - -<p>“I am at headquarters, Miss Cherry! Something has happened that your -father should know about.”</p> - -<p>“He has gone out. We expect him back any moment. Tell me what it is, -Mr. Fairbanks!”</p> - -<p>“The men have struck!”</p> - -<p>“What—what made them?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it was coming. It could not be helped,” Ralph hastily assured -her. “I don’t know how far it will spread. Tell your father as soon as -you see him, will you, please? I will stay here till he comes. Don’t -know: Maybe the yardmen will go out. If they do——”</p> - -<p>He hung up without finishing his sentence. Through the glass door of -the cabinet he had seen one of the call boys rush into the outer -office.</p> - -<p>“Hey! Where’s Fairbanks?” the boy demanded. “Hey, Mist’ Fairbanks! -Dooley wants you down the yard.”</p> - -<p>“Dooley? At the switch shanty? What for?”</p> - -<p>“The feller driving the kettle has flew the coop!” answered the -excited boy. “They are all striking!”</p> - -<p>“Not one of the engineers?” gasped Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Aw, that feller’s a new one. He wasn’t long on the job. Been talking -strike ever since he started to work here,” explained the call boy, -keeping alongside of Ralph as the latter started down the wide stairs. -“He is a no-good, take it from me. Dooley’s near ’bout crazy. He -started to chase the feller back on the kettle with a switchbar, but -the man could run too fast. Somebody’s got to take the throttle on -that kettle or there won’t be no more switchin’ done in this yard -to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Why haven’t you been sent for a substitute?” the train dispatcher -asked the voluble youth.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t one on the list that ain’t done his eight-hour shift and four -overtime. All but the crews for the regular runs. You wouldn’t expect -me to go after old By Marks, would you, to drive that yard kettle?”</p> - -<p>Ralph laughed shortly. He was very well aware how short the division -was of engineers and firemen. The twelve-hour rule, while it was a -good thing and a needed improvement, had disorganized the entire Great -Northern crew system. The system had never got properly into step with -the new idea.</p> - -<p>Just why Dooley should have called him, Ralph did not guess at first. -Save that he might be the only person in authority about the -headquarters at this hour. Dooley never had shown much initiative as -yardmaster. But he was a good worker.</p> - -<p>He came at the young train dispatcher, swinging his arms and yelling -at the top of his voice:</p> - -<p>“What do you know about this? These—these puppy-dogs! That fried egg -that run the switcher—Aw! What’s the use talkin’? He’s took it on the -run. He’d better. I’d have knocked his head off if he hadn’t run twice -as fast as I could with my game leg.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the answer, Dooley? What do you suppose I can do for you?”</p> - -<p>“You can handle that kettle. You’ve got to——”</p> - -<p>“What, <i>me</i>?” gasped Ralph. “I’m not an engineer any more. You want to -ruin my reputation, Dooley?”</p> - -<p>“Stop blitterin’,” scolded the old yardmaster. “I know you, Ralph -Fairbanks. You are workin’ for the Great Northern just as I am. Look -at the fireboy there, Jimmy. He stuck. But he ain’t allowed by the -rules to handle the throttle that his superior deserted.”</p> - -<p>“And you expect me to break the rules?”</p> - -<p>“You still have your Brotherhood card. I know it. You are in good -standing. We have got to show these mutts that real men don’t throw -the road down—and cut off their own food supply—to run after that -crazy Andy McCarrey.”</p> - -<p>“All right. I’m with you, as far as that goes,” said Ralph quickly. -“But I don’t know about this thing you ask me to do. My own job——”</p> - -<p>“You are not on the job now. That I know full well,” said the anxious -yardmaster. “Do, for the love of Mike, Ralph, get aboard that dirty -little kettle and kick together the cars for west-bound Eighty-seven. -She’s scheduled to leave the yard, as you well know, in twenty-five -minutes,” and he snapped his big watch back into his pocket.</p> - -<p>“What will the super say?” asked Ralph weakly.</p> - -<p>The idea was taking hold of him. After all, the blood in his veins was -the blood of the engine-driver! Once an engineer, always an engineer. -Ralph could not get away from the fact that his fingers thrilled—and -always would thrill—to the touch of the throttle and the Johnson bar.</p> - -<p>Dooley wildly said his say about the supervisor while he grabbed -Ralph’s arm and half dragged him over to the steaming switch engine. -Jimmy, the faithful fireman, stood on the little deck.</p> - -<p>“You know Mist’ Fairbanks, Jimmy,” said the yardmaster. “He’ll help us -out. The saints will be good to you, boy, for sticking to the -fireshovel and bar. Now, git busy. Here’s the list for Eighty-seven, -Ralph. I’ve kept the crew together. Nagle is captain. Go to it!”</p> - -<p>He hurried away as Ralph slowly climbed aboard. The young fellow had -no more right on the little switcher than an outsider. But the -situation demanded drastic action. And if Mr. Hopkins did not appear -to interfere, Ralph might help out the old yardmaster in this -emergency.</p> - -<p>In a way, too, he was helping himself. If Eighty-seven did not get out -of the yard somewhere near on time, the train would ball up the train -dispatcher’s schedule.</p> - -<p>Ralph grabbed the suit of overalls the fireman threw him and struggled -into them. The steam was up and there was plenty of coal in the -bunker. He tried the water-gauge himself, then felt out the various -levers and cocks under his hand. A lantern was giving him the “high -sign” down the yard. He opened her up carefully and trundled the -little engine out on the cluttered track.</p> - -<p>Under the radiance of the fixed bull’s-eye beside him, Ralph -scrutinized the numbers of the cars in the string he was expected to -pick up. Here were four gondolas loaded with pig-iron first on the -list. Really, in making up a well-balanced freight, these four cars -should come about the middle of the train, to “stiffen her back.” So -much weight next the locomotive made hard switching and, when the -regular engine crew took the train for the western pull, they -certainly would blame the yard crew for making it up so clumsily.</p> - -<p>But Ralph saw that the four gondolas fairly “blanked” the remainder of -the train—like a broken cork in the neck of a bottle. Had there been -full and plenty of time, he would have shunted the heavy cars upon a -siding and picked them up after laying out about half the cars that -were on the list the yardmaster had given him.</p> - -<p>Nagle, the conductor of Eighty-seven, ran along and boarded the -switcher as Ralph dropped her down to couple on to the gondolas. -Nagle’s eyes popped open like a scared cat’s when he saw who was -handling the switcher’s throttle.</p> - -<p>“Jerusalem! is the G. M. himself going to take a hand in this strike, -too, I dunno?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder. I have seen him take to the deck of a mountain -hog himself on occasion, Nagle,” admitted Ralph.</p> - -<p>“It’s right you are. And more than me is remembering that same, Ralph, -when these crazy loons ask us to go out with them against the orders -of our Brotherhood chiefs. We’ve worked hand in hand with the old G. -M. and many another of the brass-collared crew on this road. These -poor simps that are following McCarrey will be sorry enough in the -end.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear one man talking sense, Nagle,” said Ralph. “Now, -how do these cars stand?”</p> - -<p>“Of course, you know, these four you’ve grappled are the worst of the -lot?”</p> - -<p>“It looks so. And whoever drove them in here must have known he was -going to make the yard crew trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Like enough. There are more soreheads on this division at the present -time than you can shake a stick at! And no wonder. That super——”</p> - -<p>“Old stuff! Old stuff, Nagle!” advised Ralph, in haste. “Time is -flying.”</p> - -<p>“What will you do with these four gondolas?”</p> - -<p>“I am going to throw them onto number four switch. They can’t stay -there but five minutes, of course, for Number Twenty-eight is due -then. But if we work smartly we may get half-a-dozen boxes tacked on -ahead of the gondolas.”</p> - -<p>“Good boy!” and the conductor swung down to the cinder path.</p> - -<p>“Put a couple of huskies on those gondolas. They must brake at the -right time,” warned Ralph.</p> - -<p>The conductor waved his hand. A moment later, as Ralph eased the heavy -quartette of cars into motion, he saw two brakemen climb aboard—one at -the head and one at the tail of the four. He knew that, properly -governed by the hand brakes, those two brakemen could place the -gondolas just right on number four siding.</p> - -<p>It was a short piece of track. It opened at the lower end right out -onto the eastbound main track. The switcher dragged the heavy cars up -and out into the clear and then “kicked” them off onto the short -siding.</p> - -<p>The coupling pin was tripped and the switcher came to a stop. Ralph -leaned far out to watch the rolling stock slow down.</p> - -<p>“Looks to me as though that far brakie is taking his time winding up,” -the fireman shouted.</p> - -<p>“Who is that fellow? Hi! Make the switch on the fly, Jimmy, and we’ll -run down——”</p> - -<p>“Here comes Twenty-eight, sir!” said Jimmy quickly. “If that fellow -hasn’t stopped her in the clear——”</p> - -<p>They just then got the high sign from down the yard. The long freight -then due was steaming in. Ralph had a feeling that all was not right -with those heavy gondolas. They had been stopped, and of course were -braked. Yet the fellow on the tail-end seemed to have been very slow -about the work. He was the only person who knew whether or not the -four cars of pigiron were too near the main track.</p> - -<p>The switcher had to answer the far signal. Ralph ran her ahead and -then backed onto the cross-over and so upon the long siding where he -was to pick up the next batch of cars. The whistle of Twenty-eight’s -locomotive suddenly emitted a signal.</p> - -<p>“Something’s the matter, boss!” yelled Jimmy, swinging himself up to -the deck again.</p> - -<p>And on the heels of what he said, and before the switcher carried them -within sight of the tail-end of the four gondolas, there sounded a -ripping crash that awoke the echoes over half of Rockton! On the -instant the head-end of Twenty-eight, save her locomotive, was -scattered over both main tracks. The yard was blocked!</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXII' title='XII—Treachery'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>TREACHERY</span> -</h2> -<p>The heavy freight train broke in two. The locomotive plowed on for a -few rods, and stopped. The switcher which Ralph Fairbanks was driving -stopped just opposite the wreck.</p> - -<p>One glance was all that was necessary to show Ralph the cause of the -disaster. The four heavily laden gondolas had been allowed to run a -few feet too far. The corner of the gondola at the end stuck out over -the curve of the switch and the first box car on Number Twenty-eight -had caught upon its steel corner.</p> - -<p>This corner had ripped the sides of two box cars open; then the ruined -cars had crashed over onto the other main track. Two following cars -had jumped the rails and——</p> - -<p>“A four hour job for the wrecking crew, aside from the damage done,” -declared Ralph to Nagle, when he came running up with Dooley, the -yardmaster. “Where is the brakie you sent to guard that tail-end, -Nagle?”</p> - -<p>“The rascal!” yelled the conductor. “He’s taken it on the run. We -haven’t had him on the line but a few weeks. It is my opinion there -are a lot of wabblies got jobs on this division just for the chance of -hurting the road.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll fix ’em if I catch ’em!” yelled Dooley, almost frothing at the -mouth he was so wild.</p> - -<p>The whistle was blowing the signal for the wrecking crew. All that -Ralph could do was to go on with his task. As it happened, the wreck -would not interfere with getting Number Eighty-seven out of the yard.</p> - -<p>He picked up one bunch after another of the cars numbered on his list, -while the derrick was being brought up to clear the tracks and jack -the unhorsed cars upon the rails again. Ralph knew that his assistant -would be much troubled by this break in the schedule; but there were -certain routine things to do about it, and that was all. Trains would -have to be held outside in both directions until the main tracks in -the yard were cleared.</p> - -<p>Not more than twenty minutes late the young fellow saw the big mogul -backed down to the long string of cars and coupled on. The switcher -was steaming on a side track, waiting for the next job. Eighty-seven -pulled out of the yard safely and soon its parting hoot-too-hoot! -could be heard beyond the hill.</p> - -<p>“Now what?” asked Ralph, as Dooley came along with another clip of -papers in his hand.</p> - -<p>So much had been going on during the last few minutes that he had -quite forgotten his own schedule. The excited Dooley was about to pass -him up his list for the next freight when a tall figure came striding -across the tracks from the vicinity of the wreck.</p> - -<p>“Cheese it!” gasped the fireman. “Here comes the Great-I-Am.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Barton Hopkins showed in his face about as much expression as -Ralph had ever seen him display. And that expression was one of anger.</p> - -<p>“What is going on here, Yardmaster?” he demanded harshly. “Are you -ready with your report on that accident yonder?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know much about it,” said the boss doubtfully. “I didn’t see -it. Mebbe Mr. Fairbanks, here——”</p> - -<p>This was shifting the responsibility in good truth. At another time -Ralph might have been angry at Dooley. But he knew that the old man -was much perturbed. Mr. Hopkins turned his scowling visage on the -young train dispatcher.</p> - -<p>“What is Mr. Fairbanks doing on that switch engine?” asked the -supervisor. “I understand that he was at fault in this accident. He -kicked the pig-iron cars too far over the switch.”</p> - -<p>“Look here, Mr. Hopkins!” exclaimed Ralph, leaning from the window of -the little cabin in sudden heat. “Who told you any such thing as -that?”</p> - -<p>“I am so informed. My informant will doubtless appear at the proper -time—when the case is thrashed out in my office.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll have some testimony to bring in, too, at that,” said Ralph -hotly. “Only I doubt right here and now, Mr. Hopkins, your power to -take me into your office. I am train dispatcher of this division——”</p> - -<p>“Stick to your job, then,” put in Mr. Hopkins sharply. “I ask you: -What are you doing on that switch engine?”</p> - -<p>Ralph came down from the deck on the run. He tore off the overalls. -His face blazed. He had to wait a moment to control his voice he was -so angry.</p> - -<p>“If you think I have stepped in here where I have no business, believe -me, I can get out,” he said. “I had no idea of turning in a time card -for what I was doing. I helped out because I wanted to see things -move. Dooley——”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Dooley much overstepped his authority when he allowed you to -drive that switcher. He knew it—and knows it, now.”</p> - -<p>“What in thunder would I have done, Mr. Hopkins?” broke in the excited -yardmaster. “Not a man on the list could I call——”</p> - -<p>“It was a matter to put up to your superior.”</p> - -<p>“Well, now!” roared the angry old man, “where was <i>you</i> when I needed -to start things going after that danged striker hopped his job? Should -I sit down and let the yard go stale and all this freight hang fire -while I waited to consult you, Mr. Hopkins?”</p> - -<p>“That is exactly what you should have done,” declared the supervisor -in the same decisive way.</p> - -<p>“Great Grief and Jumping Dromedaries!” yelled Dooley, and he literally -went up into the air. “It is no wonder the men are striking. I don’t -blame ’em! I am on strike myself from this moment——”</p> - -<p>He threw the clip of papers into the air, and it went hurtling over -the nearest line of boxcars. His cap he snatched from his head and -flung it yards away in the other direction. The man was for the moment -mad!</p> - -<p>“I’m on strike! I’m on strike meself!” he bawled. “Me, that’s never -gone out with the boys no matter what happened, for the last thutty -years. I’m on strike!”</p> - -<p>“You are mistaken, Dooley,” cut in the icy voice of the supervisor. -“You have not struck. You are discharged. Hand in your time and go. -You are discharged for insubordination and inefficiency. I’ll take -your keys.”</p> - -<div style='height:1em;'></div> -<p>“Well,” said Ralph, talking it over later with his assistant operator -as they were trying to untangle the trains in the yard and those -waiting on the near-by blocks, “we must hand it to supervisor Barton -Hopkins. He is personally efficient. He found a day man to take poor -Dooley’s place, he got a man for the switcher, and he dressed down the -whole yard crew and set them to work again in an hour.”</p> - -<p>“But how long are they going to work?” grumbled the operator. “They -all act like whipped dogs. That isn’t the way to run a division.”</p> - -<p>“It is his way of running it. And the G.M. says he is suiting the -stockholders and directors right down to the ground. Oh, the railroad -business is on the toboggan!”</p> - -<p>“Ha ha!” croaked the operator. “You sound like these other old -stagers. I haven’t been in the game so long as you have, Fairbanks, -although I am older than you. The pay is good and the hours not bad. -Believe me! I’ve had worse jobs than train dispatching.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, so have I. But I feel at a time like this that I’d like to be -into the game right, instead of sitting up here overlooking a railroad -yard and making pin-pricks on a road map.”</p> - -<p>“Going back to the locomotive lever?”</p> - -<p>“Do you know,” said Ralph earnestly and softly, “while I was fiddling -down there on that little old yard engine, I felt <i>right</i>. I wouldn’t -want my mother to know it, for she always worried when I had a run, -but I believe I was born for the throttle. I’m an engineer, and I -always will be.”</p> - -<div style='height:1em;'></div> -<p>The morning paper was full of the strike of the shopmen, and the -threat was made by McCarrey that the yardmen and switchers would be -out within twenty-four hours.</p> - -<p>“We’re going to stop every wheel from turning on this division of the -Great Northern,” the strike leader told the reporters. “And before we -are through, we’ll plug both ends of the system so tight that the -officials will have to come to our terms.”</p> - -<p>“How about the Brotherhoods?” he was asked.</p> - -<p>“That is bunk,” McCarrey declared. “The Brotherhood members are -practically all with us. They don’t have to strike. We are going to -strike for them. The roads can’t run trains if they have no shop -workers or maintenance of way men. The engineers and firemen won’t -take out trains after a while when they can’t get repairs made or road -work kept up or switching done. No, sir, we’ve got ’em where we want -’em. Watch us.”</p> - -<p>“I guess they ought to be watched, all right,” Ralph told his mother -at his late breakfast. “I wonder what Zeph is doing? I wonder where -Mr. Adair is?”</p> - -<p>“I should think you wouldn’t worry about them,” said the widow. “They -have their own work. You have yours, Ralph. Please don’t get mixed up -in this ugly business.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you are quite right, Mother,” he said gravely. “I am glad to -be in the train dispatching department. Of course, we are going to -have a great deal of trouble putting any schedule through. But I do -not believe the telegraphers will go on strike. My men, at least, are -faithful.”</p> - -<p>“Faithful to you or to the road?” asked his mother.</p> - -<p>“To both, I firmly believe,” said Ralph confidently. “Why, I can’t -understand any responsible employee going out for so little cause. -Hopkins has made them all sore, it is true. But they can’t give that -as a good reason. And the cut in wages was only threatened. The -Brotherhoods took their cut months ago, even if it was a bitter pill -to swallow. It is mainly such men as McCarrey who really are not even -railroad men. Why, he never had a job on the Great Northern, as I -understand.”</p> - -<p>“Do you actually believe that he followed Mr. Hopkins here to make -trouble?”</p> - -<p>“I bet he did. But it is Hopkins’ own fault if he gives McCarrey a -chance to make trouble.” Mrs. Fairbanks sighed. “I am sorry for his -family. You say his daughter is an attractive girl, Ralph?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the surest thing you know, Mother,” declared Ralph, smiling -reflectively. “I had her on the wire last evening when I sent word to -her father that the shopmen had gone out. She has a sweet voice.”</p> - -<p>His mother looked at him again in some doubt.</p> - -<p>“I never knew you to be so greatly interested in a girl before, -Ralph.”</p> - -<p>“I never knew a girl before who was so worth while,” he replied. “And -there’s no nonsense about her. You’ll like her when you know her, -Mother.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXIII' title='XIII—News from Shadow Valley'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>NEWS FROM SHADOW VALLEY</span> -</h2> -<p>This was a day to be remembered in Rockton. Ralph passed a parade of -the wildcat strikers and their sympathizers on his way to the office. -A good many of the marchers were drunk. That was bad, for it showed -that somebody was furnishing a supply of liquor forbidden under the -prohibition régime.</p> - -<p>“I’ve an idea,” Ralph thought to himself, “that McCarrey and Grif Falk -have a secret place to store liquor in, in that old house where Zeph -and I had our run-in with them the other night. Wish Zeph would show -up. I’d like to know what he told Mr. Adair about it.”</p> - -<p>He saw uniformed police at the yard gates and standing at the railroad -crossing when he got downtown. But he observed none of the men in -plain clothes he knew who belonged to the railroad police. Mr. Adair -did not believe in making a show of force at a time of trouble like -this, if it could be avoided.</p> - -<p>Extras of the evening papers soon began to appear on the street. Wild -rumors were rife. It was said that the maintenance of way men on other -divisions of the Great Northern were about to walk out.</p> - -<p>The day shifts of men in the Rockton shops had not even come to work. -The yard crews, who were more closely affiliated with the big -Brotherhoods, were remaining at work. And yet, as Ralph could easily -sense, nothing was going right in the yard or around the offices.</p> - -<p>The clerks in the freight offices had some kind of association with -McCarrey’s new union, and when Ralph had occasion to go down the -platform he saw these clerks buzzing like mad bees.</p> - -<p>“If the super comes this way these fellows will get something in their -ears they won’t want to hear,” Ralph remarked to one of the platform -men. “How do you stand, Mandell?”</p> - -<p>“I stand for my bread and butter. I’ve always got my wages regularly -and been treated decently by the road; at least, until this Hopkins -came. I’ve been here fifteen years and have seen five or six supers -come and go. I may be here fifteen more and see as many supers in -charge. If this Hopkins tells me I can’t spit on the platform, well, -then, I’ll go spit over the side. Ha! Them shopmen last night boiling -out of the shop because of a simple order like that! They’re a bunch -of dumb-bells.”</p> - -<p>All the employees did not feel the same way, however; and that Ralph -right well knew. He believed it would not take much more to cause the -yard workers, the switchmen, the freight clerks, and other employees, -to desert their jobs.</p> - -<p>He had very little time to give thought to this or other general -matters. That wreck in the yard the night before had balled the -service up badly.</p> - -<p>The Midnight Flyer had got out ten minutes late and Byron Marks had -been unable to make up even that small handicap in the four hours’ run -to Hammerfest. There was a protest from the general manager about -this. It did not touch Ralph’s department, of course; but it was sent -to him in duplicate. He knew that the supervisor would be red hot.</p> - -<p>When Marks brought his train back that day he had managed to make -time. Ralph himself had kept the tracks clear for him, and the old -fellow should have been thankful. But Mr. Hopkins met the express on -the platform as it steamed to a stop.</p> - -<p>In that cold voice of his, and with a careful selection of words that -bit like acid on a man’s soul, the supervisor reprimanded the old -engineer before his crew and all the idlers who had gathered around. -It was an unkind thing to do; and yet, there was good reason for the -supervisor’s anger.</p> - -<p>Ralph stood by and listened. The locomotive that drew the flyer and -this return train was practically new. It was the latest thing in a -coal-burning, Class-A locomotive. Marks had every chance, it would -seem, to make the schedule, close as it was. Another driver could have -done it, Ralph was sure.</p> - -<p>The old engineer swung down from the cab and allowed one of his -firemen to take the machine out to the roundhouse. He had his -lunch-can and coat with him. He stood like a whipped dog and took the -tongue-lashing the supervisor gave to him. Ralph had to go away from -there. He could not listen to it. Byron Marks did not possess a proper -sense of his own position.</p> - -<p>The young train dispatcher hoped that the old man would ask for a -substitute for the next run. But he appeared at night in season to -take the big locomotive out of the roundhouse. He had one virtue, at -least. Stubbornness.</p> - -<p>That day had been an anxious one around divisional headquarters. Ralph -had gone home for supper as usual; but he had come right downtown -again. The strikers were holding a continuous meeting in Beeman Hall -and the police were in attendance to keep the speakers from going too -far. It was told Ralph that many yardmen, switchmen and section men -had attended the meeting and that the small unions of railroad workers -were all but disorganized.</p> - -<p>One shop was running with a crippled crew. The supervisor certainly -was efficient himself. He could report that the wheels in that shop -were turning. Ralph saw that Mr. Hopkins was on the job this evening. -Plainclothes men, belonging to the railroad squad, were on duty about -the terminal, roundhouse, and yard.</p> - -<p>Every hour or so some part of the planned schedule for the trains on -the division had to be scrapped. Ralph was glad he was on hand this -evening when these changes had to be made. Johnny was a good man, but -he was beginning to get rattled. And a train dispatcher who loses his -head endangers everything.</p> - -<p>It was along in the evening and the traffic was easing up for a while -in the terminal yards when a message addressed to “Chief Dispatcher, -Rockton” came over the wire, and Johnny took it off.</p> - -<p>“Shadow Valley,” he said. “That is where the Midnight Flyer always -loses time. What kind of country is that?”</p> - -<p>“A wild place. The Shadow Valley Station is at this end; Oxford is at -the far end. Some fifty miles long. The Midnight Flyer stops at both -stations. Little but timber towns in between. Great tourist country in -the summer. Hullo! What’s this?”</p> - -<p>“It’s in code, I reckon,” said Johnny, seeing Ralph’s puzzled face. -“Haven’t you got the key? It is aimed at you, all right.”</p> - -<p>Ralph repeated the message aloud:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>“What is Whitey M. doing in Shadow Valley? Wake up B. A.—X. Y. Z.”</p> - -</blockquote> -<p>“That is as mysterious as a hobo Mulligan,” remarked Johnny, grinning.</p> - -<p>“What do you know about that!” muttered Ralph, and without explaining -to his assistant he went to the telephone booth with the telegram in -his hand.</p> - -<p>He was so well acquainted with the vagaries of Zeph Dallas’ mind that -he knew at once this was his signature. Zeph had just that twist to -his mind that, if he were sent for a pail of milk, he would try to -disguise both himself and the milk.</p> - -<p>“There must be something doing over there at Shadow Valley,” muttered -Ralph. “And ‘Whitey M.’ means just one person, and one only. I haven’t -seen that fellow since we had the run-in with him that night in the -alley. Humph!”</p> - -<p>He called down to the supervisor’s office. If Bob Adair was in -Rockton, Ralph believed the supervisor would know how to reach him. -Ralph knew that Mr. Hopkins was in the building. But he was surprised -to hear his voice almost immediately answer the telephone call.</p> - -<p>The young fellow would have been even more surprised could he have -seen who was with the supervisor at this hour. A man in a long dark -coat and slouch hat had come into the supervisor’s office unannounced -not many minutes before. Mr. Hopkins had evidently been expecting him.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you find?” asked Hopkins, pushing his cigar box toward -the visitor and lighting a cigar himself. Somehow the supervisor did -not consider the use of tobacco an inefficient thing.</p> - -<p>“Nothing to put our finger on as yet, Mr. Hopkins,” was the reply. “Of -course we might arrest McCarrey and his right-hand man, Falk. But we -should have to let them go again for lack of holding evidence. There -was a time—during the war—when we could have stopped them. But not -now. Now a man can fire off his mouth about as much as he likes -without getting into trouble. These fellows aim their talk at the -railroad, not at the Government.”</p> - -<p>“You should be able to get them on some count,” declared Hopkins, -smoking energetically. “McCarrey is stirring up the strikers to make -trouble. I have had a written threat that the express passenger trains -will be stopped. You know what that would mean.”</p> - -<p>“All bull,” said the other shortly.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps. And perhaps not. I was hooted at by a gang as I came -downtown to-night. They will soon begin to throw missiles and break -windows.”</p> - -<p>“Then we will have them, individually,” said the visitor, with some -satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“Ha!” grumbled Mr. Hopkins. “Somebody lights a fire and you retrieve -the burned match. But you don’t stop the fire. The fellows you arrest -for throwing stones—or cabbages—will not be the dangerous ones. -McCarrey and Falk and those others go scot-free.”</p> - -<p>“They are too sharp to really break the law—unless it is with their -mouths,” the other admitted.</p> - -<p>“You should be able to round up the whole gang of trouble-instigators -and put them in jail.”</p> - -<p>“You expect the impossible.”</p> - -<p>“I do not know that. You have only just now come to Rockton——”</p> - -<p>“I have had my men here. One of my helpers spotted that hide-out I -tell you about—with the help of young Ralph Fairbanks.”</p> - -<p>“Ha! <i>That</i> fellow?”</p> - -<p>“The smartest boy working for the Great Northern,” declared the -visitor promptly. “That old ranch McCarrey and his men hang out in is -a storehouse for liquors, I believe—and perhaps worse. I am having the -place watched. But one of McCarrey’s closest friends has disappeared. -Would certainly like to know what has become of Whitey Malone.”</p> - -<p>It was just at this moment that the supervisor’s telephone rang. At -this hour there were no clerks to answer the call. Mr. Hopkins excused -himself and went into the booth and closed the door.</p> - -<p>When he came out he was red with anger and his pale blue eyes flashed. -His visitor appeared to overlook the supervisor’s disturbance. He -said:</p> - -<p>“This Whitey Malone has been McCarrey’s messenger and dirt-carrier. -From the moment the shopmen struck, Whitey disappeared, so they tell -me. I am going to send out a general order to apprehend the fellow -wherever he is found. We will risk a little something. I understand he -is really on probation and the magistrate might send him to jail if he -appears not to be working.”</p> - -<p>The supervisor evidently had his own matters to think of. He did not -even grunt.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if Ralph Fairbanks knows anything about Whitey,” considered -Hopkins’ visitor aloud, and slyly watching the supervisor.</p> - -<p>The question finally brought the latter to life. He flushed up to his -bald brow.</p> - -<p>“<i>That</i> fellow? He is perfectly useless. I will put a flea into the -directors’ ears about him,” Hopkins snarled, with unusual show of his -feelings.</p> - -<p>The other got up, lazily stretched himself and nodded. “Just so. -Matter of opinion, Mr. Hopkins,” he said. “Some of us think quite well -of Ralph. You see, we have known him since he was a kid-hostler about -the roundhouse. Good-night.”</p> - -<p>“Good-night,” returned Barton Hopkins shortly.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXIV' title='XIV—A Tragedy'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XIV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>A TRAGEDY</span> -</h2> -<p>There was a fight down by one of the stockade gates not long after -Ralph telephoned to Mr. Hopkins to learn if the supervisor knew -anything about Bob Adair. It might as well be said that the young -train dispatcher got no satisfaction from Barton Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“I am not giving information of railroad affairs to anybody, -Fairbanks, and you should know that,” the supervisor had said shortly. -“If the chief detective wishes to interview you, he doubtless will -know how to find you.”</p> - -<p>“But I’ve got some information for him!” ejaculated Ralph.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hopkins hung up without further reply. He evidently considered it -sheer impudence for the train dispatcher to have called him. It was -within the next ten minutes that the row started at the yard gate.</p> - -<p>Ralph grabbed his cap and ran down to see what it was all about. The -time was verging toward midnight. Freight trains had been made up as -usual and sent out. But outside the railroad property a crowd had been -gathering, and the yard crews were hooted and threatened.</p> - -<p>The train dispatcher was too late to take any part in the fight. But -he learned that the attack had been made upon several of the members -of the night train crews that were coming in by this gate because it -was nearest to the roundhouse.</p> - -<p>The police had charged and aided the railroad men in driving back the -strike sympathizers. Missiles had been thrown and one of the men -attacked had had his coat torn off. When Ralph got close to this man -he saw that it was old Byron Marks, engineer of the fast express.</p> - -<p>“For pity’s sake, By!” he demanded, as he aided the old engineer away -from the center of the mêlée, “why didn’t you come around the other -way?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t want to see that blamed supervisor again,” gasped the -engineer, wiping the blood from his scratched face. Then he held a -hand tightly upon his heart as though to still it. He was very pale, -save for crimson spots beneath his cheekbones. “I’d rather fight these -rats than talk to Hopkins.”</p> - -<p>“Be a man!” exclaimed Ralph. “Don’t let that man scare you.”</p> - -<p>“He’s no easy man to meet,” returned the old engineer. “He can put the -gaff into you, if he likes.”</p> - -<p>“The Brotherhood is behind you. Tell him where he gets off. The road -is short of engineers. He won’t dare tie the can to you. You know -that.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t talk! Don’t talk, Ralph!” whispered the engineer. “I know what -is threatening me better than you do. I’m growing old. And I can’t -afford to drop out on a pittance.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you must have something, Byron,” said the train dispatcher. -“After all these years at a good wage——”</p> - -<p>“Nothing. Just a little home. And that mortgaged. Sickness in the -family and an invalid child has taken all I could make. Death in a -wreck, or the like, is the only good thing that could come to me.”</p> - -<p>“My gracious! Don’t talk like that.”</p> - -<p>“It is true. I carry a big accident policy. If I’m killed my family is -well fixed. If I get canned, we’ll starve. That’s about the size of -it,” and the old man walked away, leaving Ralph with a lump in his -throat.</p> - -<p>“And I’ve been blaming this old fellow for not pulling out and letting -some younger man have his run,” thought the young train dispatcher -bitterly. “We never know! Old Byron deserves pity, not blame. A long -life gone, and nothing much to show for it. Well!”</p> - -<p>The rabble was driven back and broken up by the police. Two or three -rioters were arrested. And that, as Ralph knew, did more harm than -good. Every strike sympathizer that was arrested made a whole family -sore at the railroad. The strikers themselves were sharp enough to -keep away from the scene of trouble.</p> - -<p>The big eight-wheeler was being rolled out of the roundhouse as Ralph -turned back toward the brick station. He saw By Marks, his face washed -of blood, and now in a clean overall suit, sitting on the bench in the -driver’s side of the cabin, as the huge locomotive wheeled across the -turntable.</p> - -<p>“Good luck to you, old man!” cried Ralph, and waved his hand to the -grave-faced engineer.</p> - -<p>Afterward Ralph was glad he had given Byron this hail. The long train -of varnished cars had been standing under the train shed for half an -hour. The train on the other road rolled in at the far end of the -station and the passengers piled out and joined those already -occupying their staterooms or berths in the coaches of the Midnight -Flyer.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Ralph was halted. A hand had fallen heavily on his shoulder -and he turned swiftly to look at the person who had touched him. It -was the tall man in the long black coat who had been sitting in the -office of the supervisor. Ralph cried out with satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Adair! I certainly am glad to see you!”</p> - -<p>“I was looking for you, Ralph. But I supposed you were at home at this -hour and I hated to disturb your mother,” said the chief detective of -the Great Northern system.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no. I am around the offices now, every night. Until this Midnight -Flyer pulls out, at least.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose the supervisor knows that, does he?” asked Adair -dryly.</p> - -<p>“He knows it to-night, anyway,” said Ralph, grimly. “I was just asking -him for you—or if he knew where you were.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed? And he said he didn’t know?”</p> - -<p>“He gave me to understand that he was not giving out information to -underlings,” and Ralph laughed shortly. “Oh, well! let that pass. I -had something to show you, and here it is.”</p> - -<p>He hauled out the strange message that he believed had come from Zeph -Dallas. Mr. Adair read it swiftly.</p> - -<p>“That’s just the thing I wanted to know!” he exclaimed. “Hang that -Hopkins, anyway! He takes himself as altogether too important. Why, -Malone is the man I am after!”</p> - -<p>“You don’t really think that poor, half-witted fellow can be of real -importance in any conspiracy against the road?” asked Ralph, -wonderingly.</p> - -<p>“He has got wit enough to give evidence in court. And he is the sort -to turn state’s evidence if he is cornered. The use of such fellows as -Malone by men of the calibre of McCarrey is our main chance in -bringing the latter to book.</p> - -<p>“McCarrey has to engage Whitey Malone and others like him to do his -dirty work. He has some plan against the division that Malone is to -help put through. If the latter is down there at Shadow Valley, as -Zeph intimates, I am going to make that neighborhood the main point of -my investigation.”</p> - -<p>“But the strikers are here in Rockton!” cried Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Foolish as these shopmen and the other strikers are, I would not -accuse any of them of being angry enough to commit an overt act -against the road. Especially of the nature of train wrecking.”</p> - -<p>“I should hope not!” gasped Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Yet we have received written threats to that effect,” said Adair -gloomily. “This very train,” and he nodded toward the long line of -Pullmans standing beside the platform waiting for the locomotive to -back down, “is on the list of those that somebody has threatened to -stop.”</p> - -<p>“The Midnight Flyer?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Here comes the old mill. Wait. By Marks is not the fellow for -this job, Ralph,” and the detective shook his head.</p> - -<p>“He’s all right!” exclaimed the young train dispatcher hastily. He was -determined to commend the aged engineer after this, not criticize him. -“I know that nobody could take that express through to Hammerfest much -better than he does. And I am the fellow who makes the schedule.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed?” rejoined his friend, with a curious look at Ralph. “Suppose -you were pulling this train?”</p> - -<p>“Humph! Think I would be any better than an experienced old engineer -like By? What nonsense, Mr. Adair!”</p> - -<p>But the latter only laughed. They were at the head of the train. There -was a little group of station employees and others on the platform. -Ralph was watching the slowly backing locomotive. He saw the pallid -face of Marks thrust out of the window as the great machine backed -against the head coach. The red spots in Mark’s cheeks, Ralph thought, -were slowly fading out.</p> - -<p>The couplings came together with a crunch of steel. The locomotive was -stopped on the instant—a pretty connection. Nobody but a skilled -operative could have done it.</p> - -<p>“He’s all right, old as he is!” muttered Ralph, as the two firemen -leaped down to make the air-hose and water-hose connections on either -side of the tender.</p> - -<p>The train dispatcher walked forward on the engineer’s side of the cab. -He looked up again at the old man in the window. Then he cried out and -leaped up the steps to the locomotive’s deck.</p> - -<p>Byron Marks’ head had fallen upon the window sill. His eyes were still -staring, wide open. But the color had now entirely receded from his -cheeks. When Ralph put a tentative hand upon the old man’s shoulder -the torso of his body wabbled dreadfully.</p> - -<p>The hand on the throttle relaxed and fell. At the instant the engineer -had made the nicely balanced coupling, he had lost consciousness!</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXV' title='XV—Once More on the Rails'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>ONCE MORE ON THE RAILS</span> -</h2> -<p>The doctor, who had been brought from just across the street from the -station, pronounced it “heart.” Either over-excitement or over-work. -It was no accident; just a death from natural causes.</p> - -<p>Then, thought Ralph, how about the big accident policy Byron Marks had -carried and paid on all these years?</p> - -<p>But at just this moment there were other matters of importance to -think of. Supervisor Hopkins had at once bustled out to see what had -happened. In five minutes the Midnight Flyer was scheduled to pull out -of the Rockton terminal.</p> - -<p>“Here, boy!” he said, grabbing one of the youngsters who called the -crews from their boarding houses. “Let’s see your list. What! Nothing -but freight crews?”</p> - -<p>“And there ain’t one of ’em but has put in twelve hours and has got to -take his eight hours’ sleep,” said the boy. “They’d half kill me if I -tried to pry ’em out of the hay.”</p> - -<p>“Wait until your advice is called for, boy,” responded Mr. Hopkins -shortly.</p> - -<p>The boy winked behind the supervisor’s back and some of the bystanders -chuckled. The supervisor pored over the list.</p> - -<p>“Not a passenger engine crew free until two-thirty.”</p> - -<p>“And then,” pointed out the night station master, who had likewise -appeared, “that crew must take out Number Fourteen.”</p> - -<p>“I want none of <i>your</i> advice, Cummings,” snapped the supervisor.</p> - -<p>But Cummings was a gray-haired official and not easily browbeaten.</p> - -<p>“You’d better listen to somebody, Mr. Hopkins,” he said doggedly. “I -know the boys on the list quite as well as you do—perhaps better, -considerin’ I’ve seen many of them growin’ up in the road’s employ. -There’s freight engineers, and there’s passenger engineers. Many an -engineer tries pulling the varnished cars and is glad to drop back -into an easy-going freight run. Though there is little on the division -that is really easy-going now.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well?” said Hopkins, impatiently.</p> - -<p>Cummings raised his eyebrows and glanced from Bob Adair to Ralph.</p> - -<p>“There’s not a man on that list as well able to pull Number Two-o-two -as old By was, God rest him! And he couldn’t make the grade, as the -saying is. This Midnight Flyer is a disgrace to the division!”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” demanded the supervisor angrily.</p> - -<p>“Just what I say. It is a disgrace. It doesn’t keep to schedule half -the time. It is the laughing-stock on the system. You know it. -Somebody has got to sit on that bench that can get better time out of -the mill than ever it has made yet.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we cannot think of that now. We have to send out the train. The -engineer that can show a card—any engineer—is the one we want, and -must have.”</p> - -<p>He wheeled as though to hurry away on his quest. Cummings tapped him -with a finger on the shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Wait, Mr. Hopkins,” he said.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” snapped the supervisor.</p> - -<p>“You’re going right away from about the only fellow that can help you -out,” Cummings said with some complacency. “Don’t you see this boy -here?” and he clapped a jovial hand upon Ralph’s shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I say!” exclaimed the young train dispatcher. “None of that, Mr. -Cummings. I am not looking for any more trouble.”</p> - -<p>But the old station master waved an airy hand. He held Barton Hopkins’ -attention.</p> - -<p>“I know that Ralph is in good standing with the Brotherhood. He is the -best little engineman there is on the division. If there is a man -to-night can take this train through to Hammerfest anywhere near on -time, it is him. The road is like a book to him——</p> - -<p>“Ah! what’s the matter with you, boy?” he added, turning to face the -young fellow. “What are you—a man, or a monkey, I want to know? What -does it matter what people say or think? You are working for the Great -Northern and you’ve got the good of the road at heart. Isn’t that so?”</p> - -<p>“You know it!” exclaimed Ralph, half angrily.</p> - -<p>“All right. Here is the supervisor. He wants the best man he can get -for the job because <i>he</i> is all for the road’s interest——”</p> - -<p>“I do not know that Fairbanks is fit for any such task,” put in Mr. -Hopkins, in his very coldest tone. “I doubt if one so young is fit for -any important and responsible position. At least, I am very sure that -his exhibition of engine driving in the yard here the other evening -does not bear out the ability you claim for him, Cummings.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” demanded the station master, angrily.</p> - -<p>“I have felt it my duty to send in, attached to the report of that -wreck in the yard the other evening, the fact that all rules of the -road were violated by Mr. Fairbanks in trying to handle the switch -engine; and, as well, that in my opinion the wreck would not have -occurred had it not been for Fairbanks’ oversight. He shunted those -heavily loaded gondolas too far into the switch——”</p> - -<p>“Nothing of the kind!” exclaimed Ralph, interrupting, in anything but -a respectful tone. “The train crews and yard crews are honeycombed -with treachery, and you daren’t accuse me of such a thing. I won’t -stand for <i>that</i>, Mr. Hopkins, and don’t you think it!”</p> - -<p>“Hold on! Hold on!” admonished Mr. Adair in his ear.</p> - -<p>“Now, this is too much!” cried the young train dispatcher. “I would -not help him out now at any price. Why, unless the G. M. himself told -me to take the throttle on that old mill, I wouldn’t touch it!”</p> - -<p>He swung on his heel, panting in his anger, and ran right against a -bulky figure in an ulster, his hat brim drawn down over his eyes. -Ralph recoiled with a surprised grunt. The man grabbed him.</p> - -<p>“Hold on!” he said. “I heard you. That train has got to pull out in -two minutes. I order you, Fairbanks, to get up into the cab and make -that engine behave. You’ve made the schedule. Let’s see if you can -make the Midnight Flyer conform to it. How’s that?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Adair broke into a hearty laugh. But neither the station master -nor Ralph, and surely not the supervisor of the division, had -previously any idea of the general manager’s presence at the terminal. -He had stood back and listened to all that had been said since the -unfortunate old engineer had been carried out of the station.</p> - -<p>“You take this matter entirely out of my hands, sir?” Hopkins asked, -his voice shaking.</p> - -<p>“I do,” rejoined the general manager.</p> - -<p>“I think you overlook the fact that you are interfering in my -province.”</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t overlook it. But you come back to the office with me, -Hopkins, and I believe I can show you where it is for the road’s -interest to send Ralph out with this train. There’s the gong!”</p> - -<p>“Send word to my mother!” cried Ralph to Adair, and made a flying leap -for the locomotive steps. The two firemen, who had listened in no -little interest and anxiety to the foregoing conversation, sprang to -their proper positions. They grinned for they both knew Ralph and -liked him.</p> - -<p>It was a fact that there was not a locomotive on the division that the -train dispatcher had not tried out at one time or another. As he had -confessed he was, after all, an engineer by instinct. He slid into the -seat so recently occupied by the dead engineer, and his hand closed on -the throttle.</p> - -<p>The exhaust coughed through the smokestack. The bell jangled. He let -the steam into the cylinders. The drivers groaned and rolled almost on -the instant of the conductor shouting his second “All aboard!”</p> - -<p>As smooth as silk, the train rolled out of the station. Adair and -Cummings waved their hands to the young fellow on whom an important -duty had again devolved. He opened the throttle up wider. The wheels -began to drum over the rail joints in a tune that thrilled his blood.</p> - -<p>“Once again on the rails!” he breathed. “This is the life!”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXVI' title='XVI—Through Shadow Valley'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XVI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THROUGH SHADOW VALLEY</span> -</h2> -<p>Hoo! Too-hoo-hoo!</p> - -<p>The man on the other bench pulled the whistle cord for each crossing -and station, but the huge eight-driver engine and its long tail of -varnished cars sped past the switch targets and the station lights -with no decrease of speed.</p> - -<p>The other fireman sprayed the coal into the firebox door, keeping an -even bed of living embers from which the lambent flames sprang like -live tongues. Occasionally Ralph stepped back upon the deck to look -over the fireman’s shoulder into the hot maw of the box.</p> - -<p>The two firemen changed places every hour. And Ralph did not wonder at -this. When he had served his time with the shovel and bar it was on no -such mighty machine as this that drew the Midnight Flyer. The mountain -climbers and moguls had been big enough in those days. But this was -even a more powerful locomotive than the oil-burners, of which the -Great Northern owned several.</p> - -<p>One man could never have fed the furnace of this engine for four -hours—the length of the run. They had to spell each other. The attempt -to make the schedule across the country from Rockton to Hammerfest was -no small job!</p> - -<p>The minute he had got the long train out of the Rockton yard, Ralph -had set his mind to the work of arriving at Hammerfest on time. After -all, a good locomotive engineer pulls his train with his head more -than by any bodily exertion.</p> - -<p>Sitting on the bench with the throttle within easy touch, Ralph for -the most part gazed ahead at the rails glimmering under the white -radiance of the headlight. It was true that he knew almost every foot -of this road as a boy knows his own back yard.</p> - -<p>Here, he remembered, was a level with a sharp curve at the end. He -took three-quarters of the straight stretch at top speed; then he shut -off the steam and went around the sudden curve so easily that few of -the passengers, unless they were awake, would know anything about it.</p> - -<p>For not only does the engineer of a fast and expensive train have to -make time, but he must run the train so well and with such precision -as to make a reputation for the road and the train which will bring -passengers back over the route.</p> - -<p>On the mild grades Ralph could use the steam so skillfully that the -speedometer registered the same speed as on the levels. Nor had his -firemen anything to complain of.</p> - -<p>“We got to hand it to you, Boss,” said one of the firemen, as Ralph -slowed to a stop at Shadow Valley Station. “You don’t waste the -precious steam. But poor old By was a hog for it, going up a grade.”</p> - -<p>This point was a big summer resort place and had several hotels. There -was a junction here, too, with a small line, and a Y. Of course, at -this hour of the night the station was practically empty save for the -station workers and the few people who wished to board the Flyer.</p> - -<p>The workers, however, were increased in number by men whom Ralph, -looking out of the cab window, marked as Mr. Adair’s operatives. Each -important station along the entire division was now guarded by -railroad detectives. Ralph hoped he might see his friend, Zeph Dallas. -The latter’s queer telegram had been sent from this station. But he -observed nobody who looked at all like the tall and gawky Zeph.</p> - -<p>He got the conductor’s sign and rolled out of the Shadow Valley -Station exactly on the dot of the scheduled time. That alone was an -achievement, although Ralph well knew that the hardest part of the run -was ahead.</p> - -<p>“Gee, Boss!” joked one of his crew, “I bet if you’d known you were -going to hold the lever on this old mill you would have given us a -little more time between here and Oxford, eh?”</p> - -<p>Ralph laughed good-naturedly. It was true the cook had to drink his -own broth. But when making up the schedule in the Rockton train -dispatcher’s office, the young fellow had been confident that under -ordinary conditions the Midnight Flyer should hit the stopping point -on the nick of time. Provided, of course, west-bound freight kept off -the express train’s time.</p> - -<p>Through Shadow Valley there were several places where the going was -hard. Ralph knew this quite well. But he had got the “feel” of the big -eight-wheeler now and he believed that it could show even greater -speed than it had ever recorded.</p> - -<p>When they pulled out of the station he did not let the train merely -coast down the first grade. He opened her throttle wide and she began -to rock gently on the perfectly ballasted rails. The firemen began to -exchange glances—they could not exchange speech at this speed—and -realized that poor old Byron Marks had never got such speed out of the -engine.</p> - -<p>Ralph, of course, was taking a chance. The grade really called for -brakes; but this was no ordinary situation. He realized that if he was -to make time at all, anywhere within the next fifty miles, it must be -right here.</p> - -<p>“Shadow Valley.” Well named by some old pioneer with a poetic slant to -his brain. When the moon shone the black reflections of cliffs and -trees lay across the right of way of the railroad like blankets of -black velvet.</p> - -<p>The locomotive headlight cut these shadows like the stroke of a -scimitar. Yard by yard the clear-way was revealed to the engineer as -the train plunged down the slope. He was taking a chance—a big -chance—Ralph knew, in opening the engine up in this way. Especially -now that there had been threats made against the road by the strikers -and their sympathizers.</p> - -<p>All those people in the coaches behind him—most of them peacefully -sleeping—stirred the young fellow’s thought. He had pulled a Class-A -passenger train before this night—many times, in fact—and had felt -something of the same oppression of responsibility; but this case -seemed particularly important.</p> - -<p>Thick forest hid the bottom of the valley. When he glanced down he -could see the pale moon silvering the tops of the firs and larches. -The express seemed plunging into a vast and bottomless pool of black -water.</p> - -<p>He began to pull down for the curve at the bottom of the grade. This -was always a dangerous point. Once, years before, Ralph had seen the -wreck of the head-end of a freight piled up at the foot of this cliff, -which overhung the right-of-way.</p> - -<p>Since that time the engineers of the Great Northern had broken off the -granite overhang of the cliff above this spot and had seemingly made a -repetition of that accident impossible.</p> - -<p>Yet an enemy of the road might place some obstruction on the track -just below the curve. Until the head of the locomotive was right at -the turn, Ralph could not see what was ahead.</p> - -<p>The road should have kept a signalman at this point, day and night. -Never before had the young fellow so understood the weight of -responsibility that rested on the engine driver’s shoulders.</p> - -<p>Perhaps it was because he was growing older. Or perhaps the recent sad -happening to old Byron Marks had made a deep impression on Ralph -Fairbanks’ mind. At any rate, he felt that he would never round this -curve again—or any other blind curve on the division—without -experiencing a tremor of fear.</p> - -<p>Suddenly a figure leaped into view, silhouetted against the silver -tree tops beyond and behind it, not on the dangerous side of the -rails. It stood upon a high bowlder across the right-hand ditch. A -tall, ghostly figure, the appearance of which made Ralph reach for the -reverse lever with nervously crooked fingers.</p> - -<p>Then he realized that it was some person who signalled “All clear” -with arms like those of a semaphore. Somebody then was on watch here -at this dangerous turn.</p> - -<p>Ralph applied the brakes carefully, gently. The long train shuddered; -but there was no harsh jouncing of the coaches. The wheels slid around -the turn.</p> - -<p>And as the ray of the headlight caught the figure on the bowlder for a -moment, the young railroader knew who it was.</p> - -<p>“Zeph!” he ejaculated, under his breath.</p> - -<p>The young assistant of Bob Adair had selected the most perilous point -in Shadow Valley to watch. While Zeph was there, Ralph might be pretty -sure that no harm would befall the division trains.</p> - -<p>He was carried past the bowlder swiftly. He leaned out to wave his arm -and try to attract the notice of his friend. But the flash of the -headlight’s ray had undoubtedly blinded Zeph for the moment and there -was no answering signal from him. However, as long as Zeph was -faithful at that post Ralph would feel little anxiety in approaching -it.</p> - -<p>The young engineer pulled on through the valley at top speed and then -charged the hill to Oxford with four minutes to spare. Perfect running -of a passenger train means keeping at an exact and harmonious speed -for the entire distance between stops. In this case, however, Ralph -knew that if he had not gained something on the schedule before -striking the Oxford hill he never would have made that stop, as he -did, exactly on the schedule moment.</p> - -<p>The worst of the run for the Midnight Flyer was then behind him.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXVII' title='XVII—More Discipline'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XVII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>MORE DISCIPLINE</span> -</h2> -<p>That run on the Midnight Flyer was a memorable one for Ralph -Fairbanks, not alone because of the importance of the train to the -schedule of the division, but because of the mental strain he was -under all the way.</p> - -<p>The general manager’s congratulatory wire that was put into his hand -when he climbed aboard his engine for the return trip from Hammerfest, -of course pleased him; but the young railroader felt that there was -something more due any engineer who pulled that Midnight Flyer and got -it into the western terminal on time, as he had.</p> - -<p>Up in those offices overlooking the Rockton yard, Ralph as chief of -the train dispatching crew for the division, had got a little out of -touch with the engineers and firemen. He acknowledged it now.</p> - -<p>He had been complaining because many of the hard-working mechanics had -not seemed to do their best in handling the division trains. Back in -the same harness that they wore, Ralph could appreciate their -difficulties again.</p> - -<p>“And that’s the matter with Barton Hopkins,” thought the young fellow. -“He isn’t as fit as I am, for instance, to manage these men. He never -was an engineer, or sprayed coal into a firebox. No, sir! He doesn’t -know a thing about this end of railroading, save by theory.</p> - -<p>“And mere theory is bound to get a man in wrong. Practise is the -thing! I wonder how Hopkins will come out of this, if the strike -becomes general? Why, the directors and stockholders who praise him so -now will fairly crucify him if things go wrong and he is shown to be -in any way at fault.”</p> - -<p>Ralph believed thoroughly that Barton Hopkins was at fault. Every man -he talked to on the run was criticizing Supervisor Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“They’re all knocking the super. The anvil chorus on Hopkins’ past, -present, and future seems to be the most popular number on the -division program,” Ralph said to his two firemen.</p> - -<p>“Should think you would join in, Fairbanks,” said one of them. “You’ve -got little to thank him for.”</p> - -<p>“There is something bigger than Barton Hopkins to consider,” replied -Ralph.</p> - -<p>“Sure! The rules of the Brotherhood,” was the quick reply.</p> - -<p>“No! The welfare of the road. The Great Northern has supported me for -some years. I mean to support it. When I can’t do so I’ll resign and -get another job. But I won’t bite the hand that has fed me for so -long.”</p> - -<p>“You would not strike, then, even if the Brotherhood ordered it?” -asked one of the firemen.</p> - -<p>“Only for some very grave reason. Not over such a silly rule as those -shopmen went out on.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, they had plenty of other grievances.”</p> - -<p>“So have we all. Everybody is sore in these times. It’s in the air. -Fault-finding seems to be a germ-producing disease,” and Ralph -grinned. “But make up your mind,” and he added this earnestly, “I am -not going to be bit by such a microbe as McCarrey. Not any!”</p> - -<p>Perhaps his sane and sensible speech on every possible occasion did -something toward keeping the better class of Great Northern employees -steady. But when he got back to Rockton on the return trip he found -the yards almost dead. The morning yard shift had gone out when they -found that the new order of the supervisor’s on the shop board applied -to them as well.</p> - -<p>At once, of course, the train dispatching department was balled up -with late freights. But as it stood, Ralph had no part of that worry -on his mind. Mr. Glidden had sent one of his best men from main -headquarters to sit at Ralph’s desk, and the latter started home -through the bustling streets, weary but satisfied. He hoped to put in -a long sleep before being called for the midnight run again.</p> - -<p>Was it by chance, or with voluntary intention, that the young -railroader went through the block on which Cherry Hopkins lived? He -did not always walk home that way. But it was true some thought of the -pretty girl was almost always in his mind at this time.</p> - -<p>He had passed the Hopkins house without looking at it and was several -yards beyond when he heard a door slam and a clear voice called to -him:</p> - -<p>“Ralph Fairbanks! Ralph Fairbanks!”</p> - -<p>Ralph wheeled to see the girl, her bobbed hair flying, running down -the path and out of the gate. But he saw something else, too. Coming -along the sidewalk and increasing his stride as he saw and heard his -daughter, was Mr. Barton Hopkins. His countenance displayed all the -dislike and disapproval of Ralph that the latter knew the supervisor -felt.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ralph!” cried the unconscious Cherry. “I want to speak to you.”</p> - -<p>Ralph walked back to meet her. He did not intend to run from Barton -Hopkins. But he foresaw trouble for the pretty and impulsive girl.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ralph Fairbanks! I have heard what you did last night. It was -fine of you—taking out the Flyer when the poor old engineer dropped -dead. What a terrible thing that was!”</p> - -<p>“You are right. It is a sorry thing for By’s family. I understand he -did not leave them well fixed.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t the Brotherhood——”</p> - -<p>“It will do all that is possible. But there is no real pension for an -engineer’s family. He only carried accident insurance. There must have -always been something the matter with his heart that kept him from -getting regular insurance. And he hid it.”</p> - -<p>“And was a criminal, thereby,” said the harsh voice of Supervisor -Hopkins behind his daughter. “Suppose that had happened—his death—when -he was driving his engine on the road? Somebody was at fault there, -and I mean to find out who. The old man should have been retired long -ago.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, father! If he needed the work——”</p> - -<p>“What do you know about that?” Mr. Hopkins said coldly. “Don’t believe -everything you hear, Cherry.”</p> - -<p>“But Mr. Fairbanks says——”</p> - -<p>“Least of all what this young man says. And now, once for all, I tell -you to drop this intimacy with Fairbanks,” he continued, starting with -his daughter toward the gate to the grounds. “I don’t care to have you -associate with him. Understand?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, father!” cried Cherry, almost in tears. “Ralph has been kind to -me. I am sure he has done you no harm,” Ralph overheard her reply.</p> - -<p>“Neither of your statements enters into the consideration at all. I -object to your associating with this fellow.”</p> - -<p>“Why, father!”</p> - -<p>“You have heard what I have said,” said Barton Hopkins bitterly. -“Fairbanks would better keep away from here. As for you, Cherry, I can -make you obey me. Let him alone. Don’t speak to him again.”</p> - -<p>The girl’s head went up and she stared at her father proudly. Ralph -had previously decided that she did not take much after her mouse-like -mother. In some ways she had all the assertiveness of the supervisor -himself.</p> - -<p>“I will obey you in every way possible, father,” she said softly but -firmly. “But I cannot pass Ralph on the street as though I did not -know him. He is my friend. He has been kind to me. I could not treat -him as you want me to.”</p> - -<p>“Then, young lady, I’ll send you away where you will not be likely to -cross his path. You are getting too bold and stubborn, anyway. Go in -and pack your trunk. I’ll see your mother. You shall start this very -day for your aunt’s at Selby Junction. Go into the house!”</p> - -<p>He hustled her up the path toward the house as though she were a small -child who had disobeyed him. Cherry was crying. As for Ralph, he had -never before so wanted to hit a man and refrained from doing it!</p> - -<p>“Discipline,” he growled, as he moved away. “That is what he calls it. -He runs his household and his family just as he tries to run the -division.</p> - -<p>“Well, sir, unless I much miss my guess, he is going to fall down, and -fall down badly, on both propositions. But poor Cherry! Wish I hadn’t -walked this way. I got her in bad. And now he’ll send her away and -I’ll probably never see her again,” he finished, with a sigh.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXVIII' title='XVIII—From Bad to Worse'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XVIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>FROM BAD TO WORSE</span> -</h2> -<p>Ralph refrained from telling his mother anything about this recent -occurrence. He knew she would feel hurt because of what Barton Hopkins -had said. She was much more likely to resent a slight put upon her son -than Ralph was himself.</p> - -<p>And, in any event, there was so much else to tell the widow regarding -the happenings of the last eighteen hours that he himself quite forgot -the sting that he had first felt because of Mr. Hopkins’ unfair speech -and ungentlemanly conduct.</p> - -<p>But later the fact that Cherry Hopkins was to be sent away from -Rockton to get her out of Ralph’s way was a matter that returned again -and again to the young fellow’s mind. It seemed unfair, not alone to -him, but to the girl herself.</p> - -<p>And he fancied Mrs. Hopkins would be much disturbed by her husband’s -decision. Ralph was really sorry to be the cause of friction in the -supervisor’s family.</p> - -<p>“Why, if he had spoken decently—asked me like a man! He knew I could -hear all he said—meant I should—I would have promised not to speak to -Cherry or approach her in any way. Of course I would! What does he -think I am?”</p> - -<p>The thought of this troubled him for several days in spite of all the -other matters of serious portent which weighed upon his spirits.</p> - -<p>For things on the division were going rapidly from bad to worse. With -the shops practically closed, for as yet the Great Northern had not -tried to bring in strike-breakers, the rolling stock of the division -fast became crippled. There were breakdowns innumerable. Some of the -freight engines were soon ready for the scrap heap. And it made a -regular schedule, for freight at least, all but impossible.</p> - -<p>The influence of other officials—not that of Barton Hopkins—kept the -older maintenance of way men faithful. Most of the section hands -stayed on the job. In fact the bulk of the trouble lay in the shops -and yards at Rockton.</p> - -<p>There Andy McCarrey’s influence was most felt. He had some political -backing, too. And the dislike for Supervisor Hopkins was more -pronounced at this terminal than at the other, or along the line.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Ralph had continued as engineman of the Midnight Flyer and -the eastbound express from Hammerfest. That his mother was far from -reconciled to this change in his work, he well knew. But she was as -loyal in her way to the best interests of the Great Northern as the -young fellow himself.</p> - -<p>“If the general manager asked you to do it, Ralph, of course you could -not refuse,” said Mrs. Fairbanks. “But I shall never be satisfied -until you are back in the train dispatcher’s office. I hope for your -advancement to more important positions than that of locomotive -engineer.”</p> - -<p>“Plenty of time for that,” said her son cheerfully. “And I know the G. -M. will not forget me. It is only for a short time, we shall hope. -This strike will not last forever.”</p> - -<p>But he did not tell her of the many delays and actually perilous -chances of his situation. He had been accosted on the street and -threatened by some of the strikers. The men who had broken away from -their unions as well as from the employing railroad were desperately -determined to stop every wheel on the division.</p> - -<p>It was Andy McCarrey’s boast that he would have the Great Northern on -its knees in a month. It seemed that he had a large strike fund at his -command. And Ralph suspected that the fellow likewise had under his -control a band of rascals who would go to any length to cripple the -railroad.</p> - -<p>Gangs of ill-favored fellows were hanging about the yards. He heard of -such men, too, all along the division. Tool sheds were broken into; -the gangs’ handcars were crippled; fires were set on railroad -property; numberless small crimes were committed which could not be -traced to the strikers themselves, but were undoubtedly committed at -Andy McCarrey’s behest.</p> - -<p>“If we could just get one thing hitched to that slick rascal, we would -put him where the dogs wouldn’t get a chance to bite him for some -time,” Bob Adair said once to Ralph. “But McCarrey is as sharp as a -needle. By the way, how much of that old tenement house did you see -the night you and Zeph found him and Grif Falk over there?”</p> - -<p>“Very little of it. It appeared to be practically empty. And I am sure -there were no families living in it,” Ralph replied.</p> - -<p>“You are right in that,” said the detective. “It is an old condemned -tenement. But somehow McCarrey has got a lease of it. Nobody seems to -know what goes on in there. And there is no good reason, as far as the -police can find, for searching the premises.</p> - -<p>“If I could just make sure the supply of liquor some of the men are -getting is stored there, it would give us an opening. But if we do -anything that can be proved illegal, McCarrey will have a case against -us. He has some of the sharpest lawyers in the city in his pay.”</p> - -<p>“Did you find Whitey Malone?” asked the engineer of the Midnight Flyer -reflectively.</p> - -<p>“No. Zeph has lost trace of him. But I believe the fellow is still -away from Rockton. I fancy McCarrey was afraid to trust him here. Or -he has been sent along the road on some errand that has not yet come -to a head. That boy, Zeph, is like a beagle on a trail, however. I -hope he will mark down his man before long.”</p> - -<p>Ralph’s own eyes were always open for the appearance of Whitey. By -night, of course, while he sat on the bench of the big locomotive that -drew the Midnight Flyer, he could not hope to see much on either side -of the twin rails over which his train sped. But coming back by -daylight he saw a good deal more.</p> - -<p>The eastbound express made several stops besides those four which the -Flyer made. And it was during those brief stops that Ralph picked up -most of the news he got regarding the feeling of the road’s employees -along the division.</p> - -<p>At Hardwell, a considerable lumbering town some miles east of Oxford -and on the slope of Shadow Valley, Ralph first heard of the “bandit.” -He saw on the platform a man with his head bandaged surrounded by a -little group of interested natives. The engineer identified the -evidently wounded man as the third trick operator and signalman at -this station.</p> - -<p>He could not leave his engine, of course, but the operator knew Ralph -and came down the platform to speak to him.</p> - -<p>“I got a nasty smash on the head this morning,” he explained. “I don’t -know who the rascal was, but he got a hundred and forty dollars of the -road’s money and my watch and stickpin.”</p> - -<p>“How came you to let him do that, Fiske?” Ralph asked, but with some -sympathy.</p> - -<p>“I was setting the signals for your own train, Fairbanks, the Midnight -Flyer. I didn’t hear the fellow come in, but just as I turned from the -levers I found him there behind me. Sure I had a gun! But it was in -the desk drawer. We haven’t had a hold-up around here for years. He -hit me on the head with the butt of his gun and I went down and out. -When I came to he had lit out with my junk and the company’s money.”</p> - -<p>“That is too bad,” said Ralph, as he caught sight of the conductor’s -raised arm. “What kind of looking fellow was he?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t know. He had a flour bag over his head. Tall, husky fellow. -That is all I know about it. The super is giving me rats over the -wire.”</p> - -<p>“He would,” called out Ralph, as he let the steam into the cylinders -and the train began to move.</p> - -<p>“Now, I wonder,” thought the young engineer, “if Whitey Malone had -anything to do with that. Or is the bandit a free-lance with no -connection with these strikers? Humph! Where is Zeph, I wonder?”</p> - -<p>When Zeph next appeared it was in an astonishing way. Neither Ralph -nor his queer friend was likely to forget the occasion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXIX' title='XIX—The Hold-Up in Shadow Valley'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XIX</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THE HOLD-UP IN SHADOW VALLEY</span> -</h2> -<p>As the days slowly passed Ralph Fairbanks became very curious on one -particular point. And this was something quite aside from his -activities on the road or the strike developments.</p> - -<p>He wondered if Cherry Hopkins had been sent away from home as her -father had threatened.</p> - -<p>The young fellow never went through the street where Mr. Hopkins lived -on his way to and from his home. He would not appear to be curious -regarding the girl. He did not want to attract her father’s attention -and create more trouble for Cherry, if the latter was still in -Rockton.</p> - -<p>He thought highly of the young girl. As his mother had intimated, he -had never paid much attention to any particular girl before.</p> - -<p>“How is your friend, Cherry Hopkins?” the widow sometimes asked him.</p> - -<p>“Got too much to do now to think of girls,” he would return, with a -laugh.</p> - -<p>But perhaps neither his tone nor his laugh quite convinced Mrs. -Fairbanks that all was right. She asked shrewdly on one occasion:</p> - -<p>“Have you seen Miss Cherry lately?”</p> - -<p>“Not for a week. I believe she expected to go away. I don’t know -whether she has or has not gone.”</p> - -<p>“Would you like to know, Ralph?” asked his mother softly.</p> - -<p>At that the young fellow awoke to the discovery that his mother was -looking at him queerly.</p> - -<p>“Why, Mother!” he exclaimed, “you don’t suppose I care particularly -about any of the Hopkins family?”</p> - -<p>“I think you do about Cherry,” she returned. “And from what I have -heard about her, she is well worth your caring for—in a friendly way, -I mean.”</p> - -<p>“My goodness! What is all this?” asked the wondering Ralph.</p> - -<p>His mother smiled and shook her head at him.</p> - -<p>“You must not think that you can hide anything from me,” she said. -“There is a little bird comes and tells me——”</p> - -<p>“Hoh!” cried Ralph, interrupting. “There are a lot of those ‘little -birds.’ And I bet they all belong to the St. Mark’s Sewing Guild. Yes, -sir! What has Gossip’s tongue been saying now?”</p> - -<p>“Gossip can be kind as well as cruel. After all, Ralph, gossip is the -most interesting thing in the world. Newspapers and magazines and -books are full of it. Just gossip. And what I heard about you was -anything but unkind, although it did not sound good for Mr. Hopkins.”</p> - -<p>His mother went on to relate what she had heard from an eyewitness of -the occurrence when the supervisor had forbidden his daughter to speak -to Ralph, and then had promised to send her away from home because of -her defiance.</p> - -<p>“She is a girl who would make any boy a faithful friend. I admire her -very much, although I have never seen her,” Mrs. Fairbanks said. “And -I wonder at that man, Mr. Hopkins, Ralph, for picking on you the way -he does. I cannot understand it.”</p> - -<p>“Unfortunately,” her son told her, “I have unintentionally occasioned -Mr. Hopkins some ruffling of the temper. And, believe me, his temper -is easy to ruffle. Well, I am sorry if Cherry was sent away because of -me. It’s so foolish.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am told she has gone,” said his mother. “To Shelby Junction. -Of course, you never go as far away from Rockton as that?”</p> - -<p>“Not likely,” replied Ralph, laughing to hide a good bit of his -disappointment. “Nobody but the strikers is taking a vacation on this -division of the Great Northern.”</p> - -<p>The number of strikers increased daily. News came from points all -along the division that little bunches of workmen in various -departments had thrown down their tools and joined the strikers. -Hopkins was strongly in favor of hiring men in the East and bringing -them out to take the strikers’ places, especially in the shops. And -perhaps he was right in this desire, for the locomotives and other -rolling stock were fast becoming decrepit.</p> - -<p>Ralph, like most of the old-timers driving the engines, saw to it that -his toolbox was well fitted and he carried spare valves and cocks and -such small articles against chance trouble. It was not against the -rules for a locomotive engineer to tinker with his huge charge if it -broke down anywhere on the run.</p> - -<p>When they came back to Rockton each day, however, Ralph and his two -firemen went over the mechanism of the big eight-wheeler with -meticulous care. The firemen took example of their chief and watched -for small faults and possible breakdowns, like two cats at a -mousehole.</p> - -<p>Whenever the Midnight Flyer or the return eastbound express halted, -down jumped the firemen with their long nosed oilcans and squirted the -lubricant into every nook and cranny they could get at. The roundhouse -foreman sputtered like a wet firecracker about Ralph’s demands on him -for oil.</p> - -<p>“Better be oil than brasswork and steel,” said the young engineer. -“Don’t forget that, Mike.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t forget nothin’,” grumbled Mike. “But the super is watchin’ -the out-put of lubricatin’ oil. He has an idee we feed it to the cats -and grease the turntables with it. He sees a chance of savin’ the -Great Northern two cents’ worth of oil in the course of a year. Huh!”</p> - -<p>“Well, I am not going to buy the oil myself,” Ralph rejoined, with -conviction. “And we don’t carry a greaser’s slushpot on the Midnight -Flyer.”</p> - -<p>“Sure, are the wheelboxes heatin’ on you?” asked the foreman.</p> - -<p>“I think they need repacking. But, of course, there isn’t time between -runs to do all that. Is there another locomotive I could use to pull -the Flyer with?”</p> - -<p>“You know there isn’t. Not a bull in the stable, anyway, could make -the time you are getting out of that mill. Two-o-two would be an hour -late at Hammerfest.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t tell me that!” gasped Ralph. “I am having a hard enough time as -it is. Guess I’ll have to coax this one along until they can send you -a Class-A locomotive over from the main.”</p> - -<p>“And when will that be, I dunno,” muttered the pessimistic foreman.</p> - -<p>So Ralph was pulling out of the Rockton terminal every night with a -sort of sick feeling at the pit of his stomach. He said nothing to -anybody about this nervous apprehension—not even to his mother. It -seemed unmanly, he thought. He never knew before that he was a coward!</p> - -<p>That is what he called it, cowardice. But it was not. It was the -effect of increased responsibility on his mind. The threat of some -terrible accident to the train he pulled was always hanging over him.</p> - -<p>Strikers and their sympathizers now gathered about the crossings at -midnight when the Flyer pulled out and booed and threatened the train -crew. It was spread broadcast in the labor journals that something was -likely to happen to the crippled engines pulling the division trains.</p> - -<p>Passengers were warned by big posters to refrain from traveling by -this division of the Great Northern in particular, because the strike -of shopmen and maintenance of way men made it impossible for the -trains to be run safely and on time.</p> - -<p>But Barton Hopkins was by no means a fool. He gave an interview to the -reporters of the fair-minded journals in which he showed by schedule -that the passenger trains, at least, over the division, were -ordinarily on time. He even took advantage of Ralph Fairbanks’ -governing the engine pulling the Midnight Flyer to prove that that -important train had kept closer to the schedule since the beginning of -the strike than ever before.</p> - -<p>This statement to the press angered the strikers more than anything -that Hopkins had done. Its truth hurt their cause. When Ralph pulled -the Flyer out of the yards that night, at Hammerby Street the cab was -assailed with stones and rotten vegetables from a gang of hoodlums, of -course egged on my McCarrey.</p> - -<p>“Scab! Scab!” these fellows yelled as the broken glass tinkled about -the ears of the engineer and his two firemen.</p> - -<p>“Jim Perkins ought to be big enough to stop that,” urged one of the -firemen. “They say he still holds his job in the old union but has -spoken at the meetings in Beeman Hall.”</p> - -<p>“There is a bunch of fellows helping him stir up trouble, too,” -observed his mate. “Billy Lyons and Sam Peters and some others. But -they all keep their cards in the old union. Something rotten—something -rotten, boy, believe me!”</p> - -<p>This suspicion that the small unions were playing an underhanded -game—or that officers of those unions were doing so—kept many of the -wiser employees of the Great Northern in line.</p> - -<p>Ralph secretly told himself that that fusillade of rotten vegetables -and stones aimed at his firemen and himself in the cabin of the big -locomotive that pulled the Midnight Flyer cured both of the firemen of -any suspicion of sympathy with the men who had struck and their -supporters.</p> - -<p>But, after all, Ralph would have felt safer if there had been guards -riding on the train and on the locomotive, as there had been in war -times when he helped get the soldiers through to the embarkation port. -Mr. Adair, however, did not believe in a show of force. He had men in -plain clothes unobtrusively distributed along the division; but they -could not be discovered from the passengers save by those who had -inside information.</p> - -<p>Coming down the hill beyond Shadow Valley Station on this very morning -that the Midnight Flyer engine crew had been bombarded, Ralph chanced -to be thinking of Zeph. It was a black hour; there was not a star -visible. The locomotive was steaming well. She was going so fast, in -fact, that if there had been any obstruction on the straight track it -is doubtful if the headlight would have picked it out in time for -Ralph to have stopped the heavy train.</p> - -<p>But he had to take that chance to make the schedule. He knew the track -walkers of this section were all true and tried men. Under ordinary -circumstances and conditions, the inspection of this piece of track -had been made within half an hour.</p> - -<p>Ralph sat with his hand on the throttle. He could shut off, without -reversing, and set the brakes with two swift motions in five seconds. -The brakes were really dragging a bit on the wheels, for the curve was -near and he must ease the engine around that.</p> - -<p>No startling figure appeared this night on the bowlder beside the -right of way. Ralph needed no heart-stimulant, his pulse throbbed just -a little rapidly. He almost held his breath as he shut down the -throttle and the headlight flashed off the rails as the heavy engine -approached the turn.</p> - -<p>This was the dangerous spot. For several moments the light did not -reveal the ribbons of steel very far ahead. Behind that turn wreck and -disaster might lie!</p> - -<p>And yet, the young engineer dared not creep around it. To lose time on -this important run meant much to the Great Northern. He must keep on——</p> - -<p>The head of the locomotive swerved and the light caught the two rails -again at a distance. The great white ray of the lamp shot into the -tunnel of blackness under the trees.</p> - -<p>And then, as one of the watching firemen sang out from the other side -of the cab, Ralph grabbed the reverse lever and threw it down in the -corner. He could not stop for easing her off. He slapped on the -brakes. Fire flashed from the coach wheels and a grinding and bumping -told of the damage being done because of this vicious stop.</p> - -<p>The occasion called for such drastic measures, however. The Midnight -Flyer was held up. What it meant, Ralph did not know, but in the -middle of the westbound track stood a man’s figure outlined by fire!</p> - -<p>Had he not pulled down the heavy train as he had, the locomotive would -have collided with the flaming object.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXX' title='XX—Strange Signals'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XX</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>STRANGE SIGNALS</span> -</h2> -<p>The pilot of the great engine was within six feet of the flaming -figure when the train was stopped. And Ralph knew, and unhappily, that -several of the coach wheels were so badly flattened by the pressure of -the brakes that they would have to go to the shops to be replaned.</p> - -<p>This thought was back in his head, however. First and foremost he -wanted to know what this was ahead—this strange signal that had caused -him to bring the Flyer to such an abrupt stop.</p> - -<p>One of the firemen leaped to the cinder path and ran ahead. In a -moment he turned and waved his arms madly.</p> - -<p>“It’s a scarecrow! I believe it came out of yonder cornfield. A -scarecrow all afire!”</p> - -<p>He kicked the blazing figure and it fell over, the straw contents of -the old coat and trousers flaring up into a more vivid flame.</p> - -<p>“Somebody has played a joke on us,” shouted the other fireman. “And a -pretty poor joke, at that.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe it is no joke,” was Ralph’s comment. “Stilling, you go forward -with a lantern. If all’s clear at the next curve give us a high-ball. -There may be something more than a joke in this mysterious affair. -Hurry up, now!”</p> - -<p>Stilling ran ahead. The conductor came forward, worried about the -delay. The violent stopping of the train had awakened many of the -passengers and the Pullmans, he said, were buzzing.</p> - -<p>“Let ’em buzz,” replied Ralph carelessly.</p> - -<p>Stilling’s lantern flitted on like a firefly’s light. Ralph’s gaze was -fixed upon it. He hoped to see the sign given by the lamp that the way -was clear.</p> - -<p>But when Stilling reached the long curve that began nearly an eighth -of a mile beyond the point where the Flyer had been brought to a stop, -he halted—they could see that by the motion of the lantern—and then -went on slowly. By and by he signaled:</p> - -<p>“Come ahead—slow.”</p> - -<p>There was something wrong. The conductor knew this as well as the -young engineer. The former’s lantern signaled a question back to his -flagman. The latter brought in his lantern from the other curve, -signaled “All aboard!” and Ralph started forward.</p> - -<p>There was just slant enough to the roadbed here to make it necessary -for the engineer to keep some pressure of brakes on the wheels. The -heavy train slid down to the place where Stilling had stopped.</p> - -<p>When the train again came to a halt the headlight did not show the -rails for more than ten yards. But it picked out the beginning of a -short trestle by which the rails were carried over a deep ravine.</p> - -<p>Stilling walked back beside the huge boiler of the locomotive and -spoke no word until he was directly under Ralph’s window. He was pale. -His lips writhed before he could speak, and what he said was in a -voice so husky that the listeners could scarcely understand him.</p> - -<p>“One pillar’s been blown out—blown to pieces. The rails are -sagging—have to be braced before anything can get over. Great guns! if -we’d come down here at the usual speed, the old mill and every wagon -in the string would have been piled in a heap down there in the -Devil’s Den!”</p> - -<p>“By gum!” exclaimed the other fireman. “I thought I got some sound -like an explosion as we came down the hill. The dynamite must have -gone off only a few minutes ago.”</p> - -<p>“That burning scarecrow saved all our lives,” muttered Ralph. “<i>Who -did that?</i>”</p> - -<p>“If there are ghouls around trying to wreck the train, and there are, -then there are likewise watchers who defended us from harm. We have -somebody to thank,” said the conductor.</p> - -<p>There was no more comment on this mysterious thing by the train and -engine crew for some time thereafter. There was too much else to do. -Somebody had to go forward to the nearest station and telegraph for -wrecking crew and other help.</p> - -<p>A terrible disaster had barely been averted. The passengers aboard the -Midnight Flyer on this occasion would not be likely soon to forget the -incident. Stilling had not overstated the horror that had been -averted.</p> - -<p>The wires certainly buzzed now, up and down the division. The express -was delayed fully two hours, although the wrecking train was brought -down from Oxford in record time. The freights began to pile up on both -tracks. If this dastardly attempt to wreck the Midnight Flyer was the -act of the strikers, they had come near to doing what Andy McCarrey -threatened. The division might have been tied up for a couple of days -if Ralph’s train had plunged into the Devil’s Den.</p> - -<p>Some of the crew looked into the matter of the burning scarecrow that -had so luckily warned the engine crew of trouble ahead. The -straw-stuffed figure had been taken from a small field of corn -bordering the right of way. The owner of the field lived at some -distance, but he came over to see what had happened.</p> - -<p>“I was woke up by that big explosion,” he declared. “I thought it was -a blast in the quarry. Quarry is ten miles away, though. And then I -began to wonder why they were blasting at night. So I got up and -looked out, and saw the lights of the train and knew something had -happened, because it was standing still. So I came over.”</p> - -<p>As it chanced, Ralph heard him and he asked the farmer:</p> - -<p>“Have you seen any suspicious persons around here lately?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t know as I did. There’s been a young feller come to my place off -and on for a week or more. But he ain’t what you’d call suspicious. He -bought eggs and potatoes and such, and paid for ’em with good money. -He didn’t look bad enough to want to ditch a train. No, sir.”</p> - -<p>There were too many people around for Ralph to describe Zeph Dallas to -this man and try to find out if the fellow he spoke of was his friend. -Yet he could not help believing that Zeph was still in this vicinity -and that he had taken the desperate chance of stopping the Midnight -Flyer with the burning scarecrow. Yet, if this was so, why had Zeph -not remained to see if his strange signal set against the train had -done its work of warning?</p> - -<p>“Odd enough,” thought Ralph. “Odd enough to have emanated from Zeph’s -brain, that is sure. But where did Zeph go, if so, and why?”</p> - -<p>In any event, Zeph did not show up at the place before the trestle was -braced and the express moved on. Ralph got his belated train to -Hammerfest, the end of the run, two hours late. He had to start back -almost immediately with the forenoon express that was supposed to -reach Rockton at half past eleven.</p> - -<p>When this train reached the scene of the early morning excitement -Ralph had to ease her along very slowly. The first repairs on the -trestle were by no means permanent.</p> - -<p>By daylight he could see, from the cab window, the entire scene of -what had come so near being an awful catastrophe. On the south side of -the right of way at this point was a towering crag. It was covered by -scrub growth that masked the rocks, but the young engineer had once -climbed that rock and knew that there was more than one path to the -top.</p> - -<p>As he looked upward he saw, caught upon a bush some yards above the -level of the railroad, a garment fluttering in the breeze. He was -positive, after a moment, that it was a vest—a discarded vest.</p> - -<p>“Some hobo has left part of his outfit,” thought Ralph.</p> - -<p>But then, as he raised his eyes higher, he saw another strange signal -fluttering from a bush. It was a shirt. He could see the sleeves of -it, and it fluttered grotesquely.</p> - -<p>“Why?” the young engineer muttered.</p> - -<p>He looked farther up the steep wall and saw a cap! Something about -that cap astonished him even more than the other fluttering articles -of wearing apparel. Distant as it was, Ralph thought he recognized -that cap. It was of a mustard color, an odd color, and he remembered -that the night he had had his last adventure with Zeph Dallas in -Rockton Zeph had worn just that sort of cap!</p> - -<p>Then he got the signal to go ahead, and could do nothing at the moment -to investigate these matters. He pulled up the hill toward Shadow -Valley Station.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXI' title='XXI—About Cherry'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>ABOUT CHERRY</span> -</h2> -<p>The first thing Ralph did on his arrival at Rockton after that -momentous round trip to and from Hammerfest, was to look up Bob Adair. -He knew where to find the chief detective now; or, at least, who to -ask about him without disturbing Supervisor Hopkins.</p> - -<p>He reached the detective at last. Of course Mr. Adair had heard all -about the dynamiting of the trestle pillar at Devil’s Den. He had sent -a man to make a special report on the terrible affair. But he had not -heard from Dallas and he was worried.</p> - -<p>“The boy’s in trouble. That is what is the matter. What you tell me, -Ralph, bears out my suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“I bet he set up that scarecrow and fired it to stop the Flyer,” the -engineer of that fast train observed.</p> - -<p>“Granted. He must have been watching in that vicinity. But the trestle -wreckers were too smart for him. The charge was exploded and the -trestle wrecked. He had not time to go to the nearest telegraph -station, so he set the fire instead. But what became of him then?”</p> - -<p>“I fear something bad has happened to him,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“Great Scott! something is always happening to Zeph,” observed Mr. -Adair.</p> - -<p>“I know. But it must have been something serious for him to discard -his cap and vest and even his outer shirt. For I believe all those -things hung on the bushes up there on the crag belonged to Zeph.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he hung them there before the pillar was blown out.”</p> - -<p>“But what for? I don’t get it at all,” cried Ralph. “Queer as Zeph is, -he isn’t crazy. Not at all! He had a reason for making signals to -somebody, and that shirt et cetera are signals.”</p> - -<p>“See to-morrow when you go by if they are still there,” suggested Mr. -Adair. “Meanwhile I will have my men beat the bushes for him around -there. I will have that farmer you speak of interviewed.”</p> - -<p>“But if anything bad has really happened to Zeph, it will be too -late,” sighed Ralph as he turned away and started homeward.</p> - -<p>He could not take Mr. Adair’s easy view of the mystery. Ralph had a -fondness for Zeph. He could not forget the many times the odd fellow -had helped him or been associated with him in dangerous adventure.</p> - -<p>And now, it seemed to Ralph, Zeph Dallas must himself need help or he -would not have shed his garments on the side of that crag overhanging -the Devil’s Den. Ralph greatly desired to look into the matter.</p> - -<p>Yet, he could not do that. The general manager had put him on his -honor when he gave him the Midnight Flyer run. Ralph could not desert -that duty even to aid a friend.</p> - -<p>He heard about another person in trouble when he arrived at home. His -mother was full of it.</p> - -<p>“Did you hear that Mrs. Hopkins was very ill, Ralph?” the widow asked, -almost at once when he entered the cottage.</p> - -<p>“I’d be ill if I were that man’s relative,” grumbled the young -engineer. “What is the matter with her?”</p> - -<p>“It seems to be a long-standing trouble the doctor has been treating -her for, and now she must go under an operation. Actually, they say -she is wearing her heart out because Cherry is away from her and at -Shelby Junction. She has never been separated from her before so she -tells Mrs. Wagner. That man is awful!”</p> - -<p>“He is getting worse around the yards,” said Ralph. “I just heard he -accuses one of the section foremen of letting the strikers steal -dynamite so that they could blow up that trestle.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairbanks had heard of that; but she had no idea her son’s life -had been in danger. And Ralph was not telling her too much. He was -glad she switched to Mrs. Hopkins’ illness again.</p> - -<p>“If Cherry is not allowed to come home, I fear her mother will never -come through the operation alive,” said the widow. “Mrs. Wagner says -the doctor declares Hopkins the hardest man to move from a decision he -ever knew. He calls it ‘mental delinquency’ on the supervisor’s part. -He says,” and Mrs. Fairbanks smiled, “if Hopkins had been spanked at -the right time when he was a boy, and spanked enough, he would not -have got the ‘self-importance complex’ and become such a nuisance to -his fellowmen.”</p> - -<p>“That medico knows his business!” laughed Ralph. “Ain’t it the truth? -as Zeph would say. And that reminds me, Mother. I fear Zeph is in some -trouble down the line. Mr. Adair does not know what has become of -him.”</p> - -<p>“That boy is always getting into some difficulty,” said the widow. “I -would not worry about him, if I were you, Ralph.”</p> - -<p>That day passed without any particular outbreak by the strikers in -Rockton. The police and railroad detectives had the situation pretty -well in hand about the terminal and the city yards.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hopkins had taken the bit in his teeth regarding the attempted -wrecking of the Midnight Flyer in Shadow Valley. One of the section -foremen near the trestle had obtained some dynamite for a specific -purpose, and the supervisor had jumped to the conclusion that this -foreman had given up the explosive to the strikers.</p> - -<p>This unproved assertion provoked more trouble on the entire length of -the division. The section foreman had complained to his union. The -full quantity of dynamite was promptly found in his possession, and -inside of ten hours the union officials had demanded that Mr. Hopkins -retract his accusation.</p> - -<p>“Now, why don’t they ask a hungry bulldog to give up a bone?” Ralph -observed, when he read this in the evening paper before leaving home -for his night run to Hammerfest. “Those fellows are as bad as the -super himself. He never handles anybody with gloves; but you can’t -handle him without having your own hands muffled. And those union -leaders ought to know it.”</p> - -<p>Ralph kissed his mother warmly at the door and started off for the -station, swinging his heavy lunch can. Mrs. Fairbanks never overlooked -the fact that a railroader is always hungry. And Ralph hated -restaurant food. He carried enough for a bite on the engine as well as -a hearty breakfast at the far end of his run.</p> - -<p>He did not go down to the roundhouse himself, but trusted to his -firemen to back the locomotive on to the westbound track and into the -train-shed. As he stood in his overalls and with his coat and lunch -kit near the open window of the telegraph room, he heard Mr. Barton -Hopkins’ voice inside.</p> - -<p>“Anything on, Silsby?” asked the supervisor, in his sharp, quick way.</p> - -<p>“No, Mr. Hopkins,” returned the night operative.</p> - -<p>“Rush this, then,” ordered the supervisor and then Ralph heard his -quick step going out of the room.</p> - -<p>The operative, Silsby, turned immediately to his key. Ralph heard him -call Shelby Junction and repeat the call until he got an answer. Then -he sent the following, Ralph reading the Morse easily as Silsby tapped -it out:</p> - -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Miss C. Hopkins</span>,</div> -<div class='cbline'>  “22 Horatio Street,</div> -<div class='cbline'>    “Shelby Junction.</div> -<div class='cbline'>“Your mother ill. Old trouble, but serious.</div> -<div class='cbline'>Come home at once.</div> -<div class='cbline'>“(Signed) <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>B. Hopkins</span>.”</div> -</div> -</div> -<p>There was the repeat back from the Shelby Junction operator, and then -Silsby gave the “O. K.” and closed his key. Ralph, waiting for the -backing in of the big eight-wheeler for Number 202, wondered if Mr. -Hopkins was, after all, as case-hardened and hard-crusted as he -appeared to be.</p> - -<p>The supervisor was having domestic trouble. Perhaps he loved his -mouse-like little wife, and his daughter, as well. These family -troubles might be one present cause of the supervisor’s caustic -remarks and his uncompromising attitude in railroad affairs.</p> - -<p>“I was telling the G. M. the officials did not look at things from the -men’s standpoint,” considered Ralph. “Perhaps the men ought to see -things from the supervisor’s standpoint, too.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXII' title='XXII—The Threat Direct'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THE THREAT DIRECT</span> -</h2> -<p>Had Ralph Fairbanks not been standing just outside the telegraph -office window he would not have obtained a certain bit of information -which proved, later, to be most important.</p> - -<p>He had heard the operator send Mr. Hopkins’ wire to his daughter, and -he knew very well that the girl would quickly respond to his and her -mother’s need. But Ralph was not at all expecting such a seemingly -prompt response as followed.</p> - -<p>The big illuminated clock in the train shed now pointed to a quarter -to twelve. The long string of cars belonging to the Midnight Flyer had -been backed in some time before and the gates had been opened for the -passengers to swarm aboard. The berths were all made up, of course, -and the passengers immediately went to bed.</p> - -<p>The young engineer, standing there idly, had his mind fixed upon the -Hopkins’ troubles. How shocked Cherry would be to learn of her -mother’s serious condition! It was true, as Ralph’s mother had said, -never before had her son thought so much of any girl as he did of -Cherry Hopkins.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he heard the Rockton call on the telegraph sounder. It was -rapped out a dozen times before Silsby, the operator, got to the key.</p> - -<p>“I, I, Rok,” was the notification Silsby gave impatiently.</p> - -<p>“Night letter for Super Hop. Overlooked. Shoot it,” came the reply, as -plain to Ralph’s ear as it was to Silsby’s.</p> - -<p>“Oh, boy!” retorted the Rockton operator. “You’re all set for trouble. -I’ll try to smooth it. Go!”</p> - -<p>Instantly the sounder began to click again and the Morse flowed -smoothly to the listening engineer’s ears:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p style='text-indent:0'>“<span style="font-variant:small-caps">B. Hop., Super,</span><br/>“Rockton.</p> -<p>“Got mother’s letter. Know she is ill. Am -starting to-night on 10:40. Con. will pass me on your book. Tell -mother I am coming.</p> -<p style='text-align:right'>“(Signed) <span style="font-variant:small-caps">C. Hopkins</span>.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>It was odd, but the first thought Ralph Fairbanks had on overhearing -this delayed message of Cherry Hopkins to her father was that the -Midnight Flyer would pass the 10:40 from Shelby Junction in Shadow -Valley not far from the Devil’s Den.</p> - -<p>This message that had been delayed by some oversight should have -reached the supervisor before he telegraphed to his daughter to come -home. Cherry had evidently read between the lines of her mother’s -letter and determined to rejoin Mrs. Hopkins, whether her father -approved or not.</p> - -<p>“Plucky girl!” thought Ralph. “She’s one person who doesn’t cower -before the Great-I-Am. And she is already on the iron, coming home, as -she thinks, without her father’s approval. Well, I guess the Hopkins -will have to fight their family battles without any aid from me.”</p> - -<p>Ralph started for the edge of the platform, for he saw the rear of the -locomotive backing in. Stilling held the throttle. This fireman would -soon apply for an engineer’s job. He handled the huge machine like a -veteran, and when the coupling was made the passengers already in -their berths aboard the train scarcely knew it, save for the long sigh -of the compressed air.</p> - -<p>Ralph stepped aboard while the firemen made the connections. As usual -he put his can under the seat on the driver’s side. As he stooped to -do this, he saw something white fluttering in the draught.</p> - -<p>It was a folded paper hung upon a nail under the seat. He could not -have missed seeing it when he set the luncheon kit down on the floor. -He picked up the paper and stood up. He unfolded it in the light of -his target lamp. Written boldly across the sheet were these words:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>“<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Fairbanks</span>:—You’re due for a bump to-night. If you like yourself, -stay off the Midnight Flyer.”</p> - -</blockquote> -<p>This threatening screed was unsigned. And yet, as Ralph stared at it, -he somehow felt that he had seen the careless writing before.</p> - -<p>Who was this who seemed to be warning him, as well as threatening him? -Was it a fake, or in earnest? Were the strikers or their friends -trying to frighten him? Or did somebody who really felt kindly toward -the young engineer believe that he should be warned of a real danger?</p> - -<p>And where had he seen that handwriting before?</p> - -<p>This last question seemed as important as the others. After the -blowing out of the trestle pillar at the Devil’s Den, Ralph could -easily believe that Andy McCarrey’s crowd would attempt other wicked -designs against the peace and safety of the road and its loyal -employees.</p> - -<p>That the malcontents were making a grave mistake was undoubtedly a -fact. The outrage at Devil’s Den and further attempts to wreck trains -on the division would arouse the antagonism of the Brotherhoods -instead of bringing their membership into line, as McCarrey had hoped. -Such attempts threatened the lives of the train crews. Engineers and -firemen and conductors and brakemen could not be frightened into -aiding McCarrey in his wildcat strike. That went without saying.</p> - -<p>Ralph had very little time to decide what he should do about this -paper that he had found under his bench. He glanced up at the clock. -Three minutes of midnight!</p> - -<p>But as his gaze fell to the platform again he saw the tall figure of -Mr. Adair hurrying along beside the train. Ralph leaned farther out of -the window and beckoned him.</p> - -<p>“What do you want, Ralph?” asked the chief detective hastily, as he -leaped up the steps of the locomotive. “I have just heard——”</p> - -<p>“And I’ve just found <i>this</i>.” The young engineer told him where. “And -I believe I’ve seen that writing before.”</p> - -<p>“Whose is it?” demanded Adair the instant he had scanned the warning -words.</p> - -<p>Ralph leaned closer to his ear and whispered a name. Adair started. -“No?” he cried. “Do you believe that?”</p> - -<p>“Compare it with that paper Zeph gave you,” urged Ralph.</p> - -<p>The gong sounded. The young engineer’s hand went to the throttle. The -conductor shouted “All aboard!”</p> - -<p>“Keep your eyes open, Ralph,” advised the chief detective, swinging -himself down. “That is no idle threat. I am going to keep the wires -hot ahead of the Midnight Flyer to-night. Never mind if you smash your -schedule all to flinders. Safety first, my boy.”</p> - -<p>“That is not the super’s motto,” said Ralph, rather sharply. “‘Get her -through,’ is what he wants.”</p> - -<p>“You should worry!” exclaimed Adair as the great drivers began to -turn. “The G. M. is behind you. I am having the whole division -watched. I’ll jack the boys up right now. But if anything happens——”</p> - -<p>His voice trailed off into silence. At least it was drowned by the -exhaust. The express rumbled out from under the train shed and Ralph -eased her through the yards.</p> - -<p>“Due for a bump to-night.” If that warning was serious, it was well -worth Ralph Fairbanks’ attention.</p> - -<p>“But the fellow doesn’t intimate where the bump is coming. Humph! -Perhaps he doesn’t know. I bet that Andy McCarrey, if he has planned -to hold up this train again, is not telling many people about it.</p> - -<p>“Just those who do his wicked work. And who are <i>they</i>? Is Whitey -Malone down there in Shadow Valley yet? Is it he whom Zeph is -watching? Did he set off the dynamite that blew out that pillar?</p> - -<p>“My goodness! I could ask a hundred questions along this line and get -the same answer to all. Nothing! Well——”</p> - -<p>The train left the outskirts of Rockton without any trouble. It ran -smoothly over the well-ballasted track. The engineer and firemen gazed -ahead keenly. All were on the alert for trouble, but Ralph did not -tell his firemen of the warning he had received.</p> - -<p>“Why worry them?” he thought. “It’s bad enough that I should feel as -though a sword were hanging over me.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXIII' title='XXIII—What Lies Ahead?'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>WHAT LIES AHEAD?</span> -</h2> -<p>Whether it was wise or not, Ralph Fairbanks kept this special suspense -to himself. In truth, while a fast train like the Midnight Flyer is -under headway, the crew on the locomotive have little time for -conversation.</p> - -<p>The atmosphere in the cabin of such an engine as this great -eight-wheeler drawing the express was tense enough all the way. There -were but four let-ups in this mental strain which was felt by the -firemen, as well as by the engineer. The Flyer pulled down to a stop -at four stations before reaching the end of the run at Hammerfest. At -these stops only, could the men on the locomotive talk with comfort.</p> - -<p>More keenly than ever on this run did Ralph watch for signals. With -raised hands he and the fireman at the other side of the cab signaled -to each other the nature of the switch targets and semaphore lights as -they picked them up.</p> - -<p>And now and then, at some dangerous crossing or lonely, empty station, -the young engineer caught the secret signal of Mr. Adair’s police—the -double flash of an electric torch from the bushes or some other hiding -place. The chief detective’s operatives were on hand and faithful to -their trust.</p> - -<p>This fact reminded Ralph the more keenly of Zeph Dallas. What was he -doing? Indeed, where was he and what was his situation on this night -when so much seemed at stake?</p> - -<p>Fryburg was the first stop. The Midnight Flyer drew in there without a -thing having been observed suggesting the nature of the threat of -which Ralph had been warned in the paper he had found under his bench.</p> - -<p>The night operator at this station ran out and along the side of the -train to the locomotive. He reached up a message to Ralph and gave -another to the conductor. Under the light near his shoulder Ralph read -the following:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p style='font-variant:small-caps'>Fairbanks, engineman, Train 202:—</p> -<p>Speed up. Fire reported in timber Shadow Valley near tracks.</p> -<p style='text-align:right'>“<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Hopkins</span>, Super.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>“That is what it is, then,” said the telegraph operator. “I heard an -hour ago that the sky was red over that way. But there has been no -report come in from Shadow Valley Station.”</p> - -<p>“Reckon the op. can’t see it there any better than you can,” said -Ralph. “You know the station is on this slope of the ridge.”</p> - -<p>“I like that ‘speed up,’” growled Stilling, who had read the message -over Ralph’s shoulder. “Wonder what the Great-I-Am thinks we are?”</p> - -<p>“He knows we’re on time, anyway,” said the conductor, and started back -along the coaches, calling “All Aboard!”</p> - -<p>Ralph, as he eased his locomotive into smooth action, considered the -difficulty ahead of him. It was more than a matter of keeping to -schedule. That was important enough. He confessed to himself now that -he thoroughly disliked Mr. Hopkins; but much as he disliked the -supervisor, he realized that this wire was worthy of consideration.</p> - -<p>If the forest fire reached the right of way before the Flyer could -descend into Shadow Valley, the train of varnished cars might not get -through at all. Taking a chance with a freight train in a burning area -of timber, as Ralph had actually done in the past, was an entirely -different matter from plunging into a conflagration with Pullman -coaches.</p> - -<p>Besides, the smoke and flames might cloud the vision of the engine -crew so that they could not see clearly the right of way. An obstacle -placed on the rails by the strikers, who might be the cause of the -fire itself, could derail the big locomotive in the middle of the -burning woods and place the crew of the train and the passengers in -great peril.</p> - -<p>Ralph could not fail to remember the strange warning he had received -before leaving Rockton. If he was “due for a bump” it might be that -the locality of the attempted wreck was in the midst of the fire.</p> - -<p>Shadow Valley offered every opportunity for the rascals who were -fighting the Great Northern to carry out a hold-up or cause a serious -wreck. The lower plain of the valley was a wild country of both field -and forest. There were few farmsteads, and those mostly of squatters -who had broken ground in small patches.</p> - -<p>Hanging above the right of way of the railroad, as at Devil’s Den, -were lofty crags, wooded for the most part, and offering plenty of -hideouts for outlaws and tramps in general.</p> - -<p>Ralph remembered the recent bandit scare at Hardwell. The fellow with -the flour sack over his head, of whom Fiske, the telegraph operator, -had told the engineer, was a person to consider at this time.</p> - -<p>That bandit might be a free lance outlaw or he might be working with -Andy McCarrey and his gang of trouble-makers. Almost, Ralph was -convinced, Zeph Dallas must know about that outlaw. Did the same -fellow dynamite the trestle pillar at Devil’s Den?</p> - -<p>“My gracious! how I’d like to get off this run and take a hand in -dealing with these scoundrels myself,” groaned Ralph. “I’d like to -find Zeph and learn what he knows. I just ache to get into the fight!”</p> - -<p>He was in peril enough. He knew that, of course. On every foot of the -way ahead lay uncertainty. But his work now was passive. He craved -action. He desired greatly to know what lay ahead. The situation was -fraught with so much uncertainty that Ralph Fairbanks was in keen -expectation of momentary disaster.</p> - -<p>It was a star-lit night; but with the approach of the false dawn a -misty curtain was drawn across the sky. The zenith looked as though it -were covered with a vast milky way. On the earth, even where open -fields bordered the tracks, the shadows became denser.</p> - -<p>Too-hoo! Hoo! shrieked the whistle of the Midnight Flyer.</p> - -<p>Those passengers sleeping so comfortably in their berths had no -thought for the anxiety that tugged at the heart of the young engineer -in the locomotive cab. Ralph hung out of the cab window as the pilot -struck a short curve, and tried to catch a glimpse of the right of way -ahead of the focal point of the headlight.</p> - -<p>He saw the flash on the instant that the fireman pulled the whistle -cord again—a long flash, then two short ones. It was the signal agreed -upon by Bob Adair and his operatives to pull down any train they -wished to board.</p> - -<p>Ralph had not expected that the Midnight Flyer would be stopped on any -pretext. He was all but willing to fly by without paying attention to -the signal. Then memory of the warning he had received came to his -mind and he shut off the power on the huge locomotive. He applied the -brakes gently. The long train eased to almost a standstill.</p> - -<p>Out of the brush beside the way popped a figure in a long coat. The -man leaped the ditch and boarded the locomotive steps. Instantly Ralph -threw off the brakes and opened the throttle. The man sagged into the -seat behind the young engineer. The latter could hear the breath -sobbing in the fellow’s throat. He glanced back at him and recognized -one of Adair’s old operatives, Frank Haley.</p> - -<p>“What under the sun’s the matter, Haley?” shouted Ralph, so that his -companion might hear, for the wheels were drumming again.</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure. I was back on the road at a house, telephoning, when -the girl on the switchboard at Shadow Valley began to broadcast -something that I got. I dropped the receiver and beat it so as to -catch you.”</p> - -<p>“What is the matter?” repeated Ralph anxiously.</p> - -<p>“There’s been a wreck—a bad one.”</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“Down in the valley.”</p> - -<p>“Why, there’s a fire there, too!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. And the fire guard is out already to try to put it out. But this -is something else. A train has been derailed, and the girl says all -railroad dicks are supposed to get down there in a hurry. That is why -I took the chance of stopping the Midnight Flyer,” concluded Haley.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXIV' title='XXIV—Terrible News'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXIV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>TERRIBLE NEWS</span> -</h2> -<p>“What train is off the iron?” asked Ralph quickly. “Anything ahead of -us? Will we be held up?”</p> - -<p>That was his first consideration. To think of the Flyer’s schedule as -being of the first importance had become an obsession with him.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t get any details,” said Haley, over the engineer’s shoulder. -“I don’t even know whether the wreck is this side or the other side of -the burning woods. But somehow I’ve got to get there. Adair’s orders.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s see,” ruminated Ralph, “there is Sixty-four that takes the -siding at Cole’s Station to let us pass. Hold on! She hasn’t much more -than left Shadow Valley. The only other west-bound train in our way -right now is the passenger accommodation that pulls into Oxford just -ahead of us. Number Fifty-two. Think it may be her, Haley?”</p> - -<p>Haley had caught most of what the engineer said. He shook his head.</p> - -<p>“The wreck may be on the eastbound track,” he observed.</p> - -<p>“You’re right at that!” exclaimed Ralph. “We pass Number Thirty-three, -eastbound passenger, this side of the Devil’s Den. Where would she be -about now? Let’s see.”</p> - -<p>Without looking at the printed schedule which every trainman carries, -Ralph figured out from his memory of the train dispatcher’s orders -which he had himself formulated the locality of Number 33 if it was on -time.</p> - -<p>“That Thirty-three comes clear from the Junction, doesn’t she?” asked -Haley, over Ralph’s shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Yes. She leaves Shelby Junction at ten-forty——”</p> - -<p>The young fellow halted in his speech. A new thought stabbed him to -the quick. Cherry Hopkins had telegraphed her father that she was -leaving Shelby Junction at that hour. If anything had happened to -Number 33 this girl was aboard it!</p> - -<p>He said nothing more to Haley, but gave his strict attention to the -running of the train. But the specter of the wreck ahead took on a -grimmer cast in Ralph Fairbanks’ mind.</p> - -<p>If there was any way of coaxing more speed out of the big locomotive, -the engineer put it to the test now. The run between Fryburg and -Shadow Valley Station was not a long one, at best. He had lost two -minutes in shutting down to let Frank Haley aboard. Ralph recovered -those two minutes and steamed into the next stop with another minute -to spare.</p> - -<p>Early morning though it was, the station platform was thronged. Ahead, -as Ralph and his crew could now see, the sky was blood red. The forest -fire must be of great consequence and burning a big area in the Shadow -Valley basin.</p> - -<p>The fire had called the curious together at the railroad; but news of -the wreck on the far side of the valley was likewise rife. The station -agent himself was on hand and brought the engineer and conductor the -messages. They read:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>“Speed up to get ahead of fire in Shadow Valley.”</p> - -<p>“Wreck of 33 between Hardwell and Timber Brook. Reported spread across -right of way.”</p> - -</blockquote> -<p>The second message struck Ralph to the heart. He had feared it. Poor -Cherry! He felt that she might be seriously injured, or even dead.</p> - -<p>When he saw doctors, nurses, and a hospital outfit getting aboard one -of the Pullmans he was more than convinced that the wreck had been a -terrible catastrophe.</p> - -<p>“If those strikers did it, it will break the back of the strike,” -declared Haley, with confidence.</p> - -<p>Ralph felt no interest in the strike just then. He was visualizing -Cherry Hopkins’ pretty figure writhing in a tangle of flaming wood and -scorching iron.</p> - -<p>If Cherry was killed or disfigured, her mother surely would die. -Supervisor Hopkins might lose all his family at one blow! Ralph found -himself considering the supervisor’s case with a feeling of sympathy -which he had never supposed he would have for the crotchety railroad -official.</p> - -<p>There were several railroad detectives riding on the locomotive when -Number 202 pulled out of Shadow Valley Station; but they talked among -themselves. The crew of the locomotive had too much to do right then -to engage in any conversation.</p> - -<p>Ralph hung out of his window, watching the ribbons of steel ahead of -the pilot. Where the track was straight, the mild glare of the -headlight glistened along the rails for yards upon yards. He could -mark every joint of the steel rods.</p> - -<p>At times he glanced skyward. That angry glare quenched such light as -remained of the misted stars. The train mounted the remainder of the -grade and then took the straight pitch down to that curve on the side -of Shadow Valley which had already been the scene of several exciting -events for the young railroader.</p> - -<p>Now and then they flew past a closed station where only the night -lamps and switch targets revealed life. The small hamlets near these -stations, themselves endangered by the fire below—especially, if the -wind rose—were all but deserted. All the able-bodied men had joined -the State fire guard in opposing the forest fire.</p> - -<p>Ralph could see at last the bottom of the valley. If the fire had been -set, and for the purpose of overwhelming the railroad, the wind at -first had been against the criminals’ plans. It had spread in a -direction away from the right of way.</p> - -<p>The bottomlands of Shadow Valley were enveloped in crimson flames, and -the smoke rising from this pit was borne northward and away from the -line. But it was a veritable sea of fire!</p> - -<p>A great dead pine that had been a landmark ever since Ralph had known -this division suddenly sprang into flame as though it were by -spontaneous combustion. It stood alone on a knoll and there was little -but low brush near its base. Yet, of a sudden, it was aflame from root -to topmost twig!</p> - -<p>“A few of ’em like that burning near the tracks would settle us!” -thought the young engineer. “One at least would be sure to fall. If we -headed into it—good-night!”</p> - -<p>The men riding on the locomotive were all eagerness as the Flyer slid -down the incline. Ralph could give but a glance now and then to the -fire, for never had he watched the rails ahead more closely.</p> - -<p>The warning he had received before leaving Rockton still loomed -importantly in his mind. He was sure that had not referred to the -wreck of Number 33. His own train was threatened with disaster!</p> - -<p>His strained interest in Cherry Hopkins’ fate, however, urged him to -drive the Flyer as fast as he dared. The smooth slope into the heat -and glow of the furnace-like valley tempted him to push the engine to -the limit of her speed. Number 202 was actually flying before she was -half way to the curve this side of the Devil’s Den!</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXV' title='XXV—Through the Flaming Forest'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THROUGH THE FLAMING FOREST</span> -</h2> -<p>Again Ralph thought of the night when Zeph Dallas had leaped upon the -bowlder beside the right of way and had waved him the signal “All’s -clear” as the Flyer took the curve above Devil’s Den. But there was -nobody on guard at this point, now.</p> - -<p>Number 202 came rushing down to the dangerous point. Ralph shut off -the throttle and applied the brakes with judgment. He knew that he was -some minutes ahead of his schedule, but he hated to retard the train -at all.</p> - -<p>The wreck on the other side of the valley—the wreck of the train on -which Cherry Hopkins had taken passage for Rockton—drew Ralph like a -magnet. The news of the terrible disaster had shaken even the -detectives riding on the locomotive.</p> - -<p>The express took the curve. The track was clear to the next easy turn, -right at the beginning of the trestle where the pillar had been blown -out. A gang had been at work here putting in new masonry to take the -place of the impermanent pillar which now held up the trestle, but the -forest fire to the north had called them off the job.</p> - -<p>Every railroad employee who could possibly be spared, had been sent to -aid the State fire guard. One man was here to watch the dangerous -spot, and with his lantern he signaled the Midnight Flyer to come on.</p> - -<p>Ralph ran on easily to the end of the trestle, and so over it and onto -the firm ground beyond. He speeded up again. But now the heat of the -flaming forest began to be felt even in the locomotive cab.</p> - -<p>“Hey, Fairbanks!” shouted Frank Haley, the detective, in the -engineer’s ear. “Hey, you going to take the chance? I believe there is -a back-draught. The fire is coming this way.”</p> - -<p>Ralph nodded, with grimly set lips. He had noted the cloud of -flame-streaked smoke lying across the tracks not half a mile ahead. -How wide was that cloud? Were the trees directly beside the right of -way on fire now? What, indeed, was he driving the express into?</p> - -<p>He gripped the reverse lever. A flashlike picture of his own train -wrecked and in the midst of the flaming forest rose before Ralph’s -mental vision. Ought he to risk the unknown peril masked by the -rose-hued cloud of drifting smoke?</p> - -<p>But the thought of the wreck ahead called him on. Cherry in peril! -Perhaps dying of her injuries. The thought was so enthralling that the -young engineer could not bring himself to the reversal of the -locomotive’s mechanism and the pulling down of the heavy train. He did -shut off some speed. They rolled into the cloud of smoke at less than -thirty miles an hour. At that rate, he could have stopped the heavy -train within a hundred yards.</p> - -<p>The suspense, if not the heat from the fire, brought the perspiration -out on Ralph Fairbanks’ face as he leaned from the window. He shaded -his eyes with his hand, trying to spy through the smother of smoke. -The headlight’s beam was dimmed by the cloud. Now and then tongues of -flame seemed to leap through it, as though reaching to lap the -locomotive.</p> - -<p>Above and higher than the rumble of the train he now distinguished the -roar of the conflagration. With it came the loud snapping of falling -trees and explosions when dead timber burst from the heat of the fire -that consumed it at the heart.</p> - -<p>He realized that he was taking an awful chance, and he had taken it on -his own responsibility. At any point the pilot might crash into some -fallen monarch of the forest.</p> - -<p>The heat came up into his face in a suffocating wave. Ralph was forced -to draw back into the cab. He had been wise enough to close the -forward and first side window on his side of the locomotive. -Embers—flaming and white-hot—began rattling against the glass.</p> - -<p>A ball of fire—the torn-away top of some coniferous tree—hurtled -overhead, barely missing the smokestack, and fell flaming and smoking -upon the firemen’s side of the boiler. The varnish began to smoke. -Stilling leaped through the front window, ran along the board, and -kicked the flaming bush off the locomotive.</p> - -<p>The fire was sweeping closer and closer to the right of way. Ralph -realized at last that he was driving into, not through, a belt of -smoke and flame.</p> - -<p>Ahead, and across the valley, the forest had ignited closer to the -rails. The farther they went, the greater the danger.</p> - -<p>This discovery was made too late, however. Ralph realized that it -would be worse than ridiculous to stop and try to back out of the fire -zone. The flames were being swept nearer and nearer to the tracks. He -opened wide his throttle again and the Flyer drove at increased speed -into whatever fate had in store for them.</p> - -<p>The headlight seemed utterly quenched now by the glare of the fire. -Smoke swirled into the cab and filled their lungs. Choking and -coughing, the detectives cowered on the deck. The fireman on duty at -the furnace could scarcely see what he was about. Stilling, the other -fireman, could see no more than Ralph could ahead of the locomotive.</p> - -<p>Had the strikers or the ruffians employed in secret by Andy McCarrey -imagined this situation they could easily have derailed the Midnight -Flyer. Any obstacle on the track would have brought the fast train to -grief. But if the forest fire was started by McCarrey’s order, he -expected that the fire itself would halt the trains on the division. -His object, at most, was to throw the trains out of schedule, rather -than to wreck the trains.</p> - -<p>The Midnight Flyer’s arrival at the basin of Shadow Valley a little -ahead of her schedule, if anything, and the fact that Ralph Fairbanks -was willing to take a chance overcame the conspiracy of the strike -leaders. 202 came through the danger area without much hurt. The crew -and detectives on the locomotives suffered the most. The train was a -vestibule train for its entire length and the doors were kept closed. -Such little heat and smoke as entered the ventilators was of small -consequence.</p> - -<p>In a few minutes the locomotive pilot burst through the far side of -the smoke-cloud. The headlight beamed along the rails again. The -forest here lay untouched by fire on either side of the right of way.</p> - -<p>Haley smote Ralph on the shoulder, a congratulatory blow.</p> - -<p>“Good boy, Fairbanks!” he shouted. “I thought you were running us into -a hot corner one while. But you certainly know your business. How far -are we from that wreck?”</p> - -<p>Ralph could figure that out exactly after a glance at the first -numbered signpost. He increased the speed of the train on the instant.</p> - -<p>Not far ahead now lay the scene of the disaster, of which they had -secured so few particulars. Timber Brook, the little settlement -mentioned in the message that had been passed up to him at Shadow -Valley Station, was already in sight.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXVI' title='XXVI—The Wreck'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXVI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THE WRECK</span> -</h2> -<p>There was a red lamp out for the Flyer just beyond Timber Brook. Ralph -pulled down to a crawl and set the pilot of his engine almost against -the lamp that had been placed between the rails. Around the next turn -was the wreckage of Number 33.</p> - -<p>A white-faced section hand came to Ralph’s side of the cab while the -detectives climbed down and started ahead along the right of way.</p> - -<p>“What happened to her?” the young engineer asked the laborer.</p> - -<p>“They set up two ties between the rails and the old mill was thrown -off the track. It carried half the train with it. Only one car—the -smoker—overturned, but everybody was badly shaken up.”</p> - -<p>“How many killed?” gasped Ralph anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Not a one. Lucky, I call it. And only a dozen or so hurt to any -amount.”</p> - -<p>The hospital outfit that had come from Shadow Valley Station went by -on a trot. Ralph was eager to leave his post and to go forward to -satisfy himself about Cherry Hopkins, but he could not do this at -once.</p> - -<p>He could not pull the train forward, for the locomotive of Number 33 -was across the westbound track. Finally, after some minutes of -suspense, he was informed by wire from the station just passed that -the delayed Flyer was to remain where it was until the rails were -cleared. He could not have run it back, anyway, for the fire was now -burning on both sides of the right of way.</p> - -<p>Leaving Stilling in command of the locomotive, and with the -conductor’s permission, Ralph finally got away and hurried around the -curve to the scene of the eastbound train’s wreck.</p> - -<p>The wrecking train from Oxford was on the scene, and a big crew was at -work clearing the rails. But Ralph saw that he would be very late when -he pulled into Hammerfest that morning.</p> - -<p>He saw Frank Haley, and the detective told him that, without a doubt, -the wreck had been caused by ghouls working in the pay of the wildcat -strike leaders.</p> - -<p>“They knocked out one of our guards, and he only came to after the -accident had occurred. He is in the hospital car. He tells me a -curious thing, Fairbanks.”</p> - -<p>“What is that?” asked the young engineer.</p> - -<p>“He says that at least one of the men who attacked him had his head -and face muffled in a flour sack. He had cut a hole through it to see -through. Didn’t that fellow at Hardwell report that the bandit that -held him up and robbed the station the other night was masked in that -way?”</p> - -<p>“He did. I talked with Fiske myself,” Ralph agreed. “And I had my -doubts then that the fellow was merely a robber. In this case it seems -to be proved that he did not wreck the train to rob the passengers.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing like that! It was just a ghastly thing, planned to injure the -road. If we could only connect this fellow in the flour-sack mask with -Andy McCarrey and his co-workers, we would have a case that would -surely send Andy over the road to the penitentiary.”</p> - -<p>“I hope you get the evidence,” said Ralph heartily.</p> - -<p>Ralph’s interest, however, was much more closely held by another -thing. Where was Cherry Hopkins? Had she been injured? Was she one of -those who were in the hospital car that had been brought down from -Oxford coupled to the wrecking train?</p> - -<p>Leaving the detective, Ralph hurried to the hospital car. A doctor who -had come down from Shadow Valley Station was just coming out.</p> - -<p>“Nothing much I can do,” he said cheerfully. “Everybody is in good -trim. A pretty case of compound fracture, a comminuted fracture of the -left arm, a broken nose and possibly two cases of rib fracture—can’t -really tell without an X-ray examination. And——”</p> - -<p>“But who are the cases, Doctor?” Ralph asked in anxiety. “Are they men -or women, or—or girls?”</p> - -<p>“No young people hurt at all. I should say the youngest patient was -thirty-five years of age.”</p> - -<p>“Great!” exclaimed the young fellow, with a sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>The doctor stared at him, then grinned. “You’re a sympathetic person—I -don’t think!”</p> - -<p>But Ralph did not stop to explain. He hurried away to mix with the -passengers of the wrecked train who hung upon the fringe of the scene -where the wreckers were hard at work. He saw few feminine passengers -in these groups, and nowhere did he see the face and figure he was in -search of.</p> - -<p>He entered the cars still standing on the rails and walked through -from one end to the other. Cherry Hopkins was in none of them. He -hesitated at first to speak to anybody about the girl, but finally he -saw the conductor of the wrecked accommodation.</p> - -<p>“Wait a moment, Mr. Carlton,” said Ralph, holding the excited man by -the sleeve. “Do you remember if the supervisor’s daughter was one of -your passengers to-night?”</p> - -<p>“Supervisor Hopkins’ girl?” exclaimed Carlton. “Why, yes, she was. I -mind seeing her father’s pass, viséed by him for her use. Yes, she -came with us from Shelby Junction.”</p> - -<p>“So I understood,” said Ralph. “Have you seen her since the accident?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I—No, I haven’t, Fairbanks!”</p> - -<p>Ralph followed Carlton back through the train. Most of the women were -gathered in one car. Carlton asked briskly if any of them had seen -Miss Cherry, Supervisor Hopkins’ daughter.</p> - -<p>Several of the women remembered the girl.</p> - -<p>“She was not hurt. I am sure of that,” said one woman whose arm was in -a sling, “for she helped bandage my arm. Then, it seems to me, she ran -out of the car to see what was going on. I have not seen her since.”</p> - -<p>Nobody else remembered having seen her since soon after the wreck. -Carlton, the conductor, had done all he could to aid Ralph in his -quest. The latter was forced to go back to his own train without -finding the supervisor’s daughter.</p> - -<p>One thing that he had learned, however, quieted the young fellow’s -anxiety. It seemed quite sure that Cherry had not been hurt when -Number 33 left the track. If she could help her fellow passengers -after the accident, she was in no need of attention herself.</p> - -<p>His relief was not so great, however, as he desired. He had not seen -and spoken with the girl. Three hours later, when he finally got his -train to Hammerfest, he wired the man he knew would be in charge of -the train dispatching at Rockton, this question:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>“Find out for me secretly if Miss Hopkins has arrived with other -passengers of wrecked 33.”</p> - -</blockquote> -<p>Before he pulled out of Hammerfest on the return trip the answer to -his question was handed up to him by the local telegraph operator:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>“No. Hop. is crazy. What do you know? Girl disappeared at scene of -wreck.”</p> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXVII' title='XXVII—Where Is Cherry?'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXVII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>WHERE IS CHERRY?</span> -</h2> -<p>The responsibilities of the driver of a Class-A train such as Ralph -Fairbanks conducted are not to be belittled. His mind must be given to -the running of his locomotive, and that first of all, no matter what -else may happen. Death or disaster must not swerve the engineer from -his immediate duty.</p> - -<p>The express back to Rockton was now the young fellow’s charge. When he -arrived at the scene of the morning wreck the eastbound way was clear -again and he had to drive right on. With all his heart he desired to -stop the locomotive, desert it, and make personal search about the -neighborhood for some trace of the supervisor’s daughter.</p> - -<p>What could have happened to Cherry Hopkins? She surely had not been -injured at the time of the wreck. Then what had become of her after -she had run out of the car to view the wreckage closer?</p> - -<p>In no possible way, as far as Ralph could see, could Cherry have been -hurt at a later time and her injury not reported. The train crew and -passengers were all about her, or so it seemed reasonable to suppose, -while she viewed the wreck. Her disappearance was a mysterious thing!</p> - -<p>Ralph could not even pull down his locomotive at the place where -Number 33 had been wrecked. He got the signal from the guard beside -the tracks and had to push on. Despite the fire, that fortunately was -now blowing away from the tracks, he made the run without any trouble -and arrived at the Rockton terminal at 11:30.</p> - -<p>The young engineer had no desire to see Mr. Barton Hopkins at this -time. He learned from the day telegraph operator that nothing new -about Cherry had been discovered. The supervisor had become wildly -excited when he had tried to find his daughter and could not do so. It -was positive that the girl had not arrived in town. She had surely -disappeared at the scene of the wreck of Number 33.</p> - -<p>Ralph did not go home at once after being relieved of his duty on the -locomotive. Instead, he searched for Bob Adair. But the chief -detective had not returned. It was believed he had gone down into -Shadow Valley to examine into the wreck at first hand.</p> - -<p>Ralph wondered if Mr. Adair was in the supervisor’s confidence. Had -the road detective gone to Shadow Valley to look for Cherry Hopkins? -The young fellow was tempted greatly to take the first train for the -vicinity of the morning’s disaster!</p> - -<p>Again, and quite involuntarily, Ralph found himself passing through -the street on which the Hopkins family lived. He hesitated at the door -of the bungalow, then ventured up the walk and rang the bell. A maid -servant came to the door.</p> - -<p>She started back and half closed the door when she saw Ralph in his -overalls and cap. It was evident that she had been warned against -receiving employees of the railroad.</p> - -<p>“What do you want?” demanded the girl sharply.</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose Mr. Hopkins is at home?” asked Ralph.</p> - -<p>“You know he ain’t supposed to be home at this time of day.”</p> - -<p>“And—and hasn’t Miss Cherry returned?”</p> - -<p>The maid broke out crying. “Ain’t you heard? She’s dead—or lost—or -something. Her father is ’most crazy about it——”</p> - -<p>“And Mrs. Hopkins?” Ralph interrupted. “What does she think?”</p> - -<p>“They don’t dare tell her. Anyway, Mrs. Hopkins isn’t here. They took -her last evening to Dr. Poole’s sanitarium. She’s going under an -operation. Miss Cherry was coming back to be with her.”</p> - -<p>“That’s tough,” muttered Ralph, turning away.</p> - -<p>He went home feeling much disturbed. Mrs. Fairbanks had not only -obtained some news of the wreck at Shadow Valley, but she had got a -garbled account of Supervisor Hopkins’ family troubles.</p> - -<p>“They have taken that poor woman to the sanitarium, and they say he -won’t let the girl come home to her mother,” Ralph’s mother said, -quite excitedly. “Somebody ought to talk to that Barton Hopkins.”</p> - -<p>“Hold on! Hold on!” advised her son. “This is one time when that -‘little bird’ of yours has got the news wrong. I positively know that -Mr. Hopkins sent for Cherry to return. She left Shelby Junction last -night on the ten-forty train—Number Thirty-three.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Ralph, that was the train that was wrecked!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mother,” the young fellow replied with more gravity. “And, -believe me, I’m worried enough. The Flyer was held up two hours and -more by the wreck of Thirty-three. I got a chance to search for -Cherry. She wasn’t there. She’s lost—disappeared.”</p> - -<p>“Disappeared?” his mother cried, in amazement.</p> - -<p>“Yes. She was aboard the train. The conductor remembered her. Ladies -told me they saw her after the train was derailed. She was all right -then. But she was not to be found when I inquired, and she did not -reach Rockton with the other passengers.”</p> - -<p>“This is awful, Ralph! What does Mr. Hopkins say?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I’m sure I don’t want to see him. But Mr. Adair has -gone over to Shadow Valley, and perhaps he has gone to look for -Cherry. My gracious! I’d like to go myself. If I hadn’t promised the -G. M. that I would stick to the Midnight Flyer, I would be tempted -right now to throw up my job and join any search party that may look -for Cherry.”</p> - -<p>“Are you afraid the strikers have something to do with her -disappearance, Ralph?” asked his mother.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid of what that Andy McCarrey might do. I have said from the -start that this was a personal fight between McCarrey and the super. -And Hopkins can be hurt, and hurt badly, through Cherry.”</p> - -<p>“And his poor wife ill as she is, too! It is dreadful,” repeated Mrs. -Fairbanks. “I do wish you could help look for her, my boy; although I -wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that would be all right. I am not afraid of trouble. But I can’t -go back on the G. M. He is my best friend.”</p> - -<p>His mother was thinking deeply.</p> - -<p>“Ralph, my boy,” she said, of a sudden, “isn’t it true that Zeph -disappeared down there in Shadow Valley?”</p> - -<p>“That’s true enough, Mother. But Zeph is a different person. He can -take care of himself. He is not a delicate girl, helpless in the hands -of such villains as Andy McCarrey and his associates. Cherry——”</p> - -<p>“I was just thinking,” said the widow, “that Zeph might have been -captured and imprisoned by the same men and in the same place as the -supervisor’s girl. Isn’t it possible?”</p> - -<p>“Humph! That’s an idea! I had forgotten Zeph since Cherry disappeared. -But it might be. Indeed, it is more than likely so. Now I wonder just -where Andy McCarrey is right now? That man they tell of in the -flour-sack mask could not be him. But, then——”</p> - -<p>He was more than puzzled and disturbed. Ralph was downright frightened -on account of Cherry Hopkins. And now he began to wonder if he ought -not to take Mr. Hopkins into his confidence. Although it seemed that -the supervisor must know as much about the disappearance of his -daughter as Ralph did.</p> - -<p>Actually the person the young engineer desired most to consult was the -road’s chief detective. But he heard nothing of that gentleman that -day or in the evening when he went down town early. There was a buzz -of excitement about the terminal offices, however, and Ralph learned -that while he had slept at home several important events had occurred.</p> - -<p>The police had raided the old tenement in which Ralph and Zeph Dallas -had had their adventure at night with Whitey Malone and the chief -strike leaders, Andy McCarrey and Griffin Falk. Intoxicated men coming -out of the place had been seen and a supply of liquor was found in the -very upstairs room into which Ralph had peered.</p> - -<p>But the attempt to arrest McCarrey or Falk in the place had failed. -They had been warned of the raid and had got out. Indeed, it was -believed they had left town.</p> - -<p>Another important thing was that Jim Perrin of the old shopmen’s union -had been suspended from his office. Certain men who had been close to -the traitorous Perrin were likewise under a cloud, especially Billy -Lyon, Abe Bertholdt, Mike Ranny and Sam Peters. The split in the -shopmen’s union was being healed. It was even prophesied by some that -the wildcat strike would be ended as far as the shopworkers of Rockton -were concerned within a few hours.</p> - -<p>These bits of news were encouraging in a general way, but Ralph -Fairbanks’ interest lay in an entirely different direction now. Much -as he had been worried about railroad affairs, in his mind the -disappearance of Cherry Hopkins at the scene of the wreck in Shadow -Valley loomed up as being far more important.</p> - -<p>Ralph went up to the dispatchers’ offices to talk over the schedule -with his substitute, and, also, to learn of any news that might be -rife in that department. Naturally, the boys there knew little about -Supervisor Hopkins and his troubles.</p> - -<p>“Just the same, the lads tell me,” said Johnny, who was Ralph’s old -assistant, “that Hopkins is getting rattled. He has stopped hunting -for faults to correct in our division system. They say he’s got a sick -wife and that his girl has run away from him.”</p> - -<p>“Bother gossip!” exclaimed Ralph heatedly. “Miss Hopkins has been -kidnapped, if anybody should ask you. No doubt of that. I am sorry for -Hopkins.”</p> - -<p>As he went down to the train-shed platform he passed the door of the -telegraph room. The operator had just been called to the instrument. -Ralph could not resist halting to listen.</p> - -<p>He was a quick and perfect reader of the sounder. And almost instantly -his interest was caught and held by the message coming over the wire. -In the first place it came from Timber Brook. At this hour Timber -Brook Station, near the spot where Thirty-three had been wrecked, -should be closed for the night.</p> - -<p>The message came haltingly. The operator sending seemed to be a -regular “ham,” as the telegraph fraternity call a poor sender. But -Ralph could not mistake the meaning of what came over the wire:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p style='text-indent:0;'>“<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>B. Hopkins</span>, Super:</p> - -<p>“If you want to see your girl again you -know who to communicate with and what it -will cost you. Be quick. We will not wait -long. We want satisfaction.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Ralph could not keep back an excited ejaculation. The operator swung -about to look at him.</p> - -<p>“What—what do you think of that?” he gasped.</p> - -<p>“Get a repeat!” exclaimed the young engineer. “That wasn’t the regular -operator at Timber Brook.”</p> - -<p>“Not much! It was a rank amateur.” The operator was repeating the -distant station’s call—TB, TB, TB, in staccato. There was no reply. -The wire was dead. “It must be a fake.”</p> - -<p>“No fake at all,” returned Ralph hastily. “Where is Mr. Hopkins?”</p> - -<p>“He told me he was going to the hospital to see how his wife was, and -he would be back. Here he is!”</p> - -<p>Ralph wheeled. The supervisor came striding to the door of the -telegraph room. He scowled as usual at Ralph. Then he asked the -operator:</p> - -<p>“Anything doing?”</p> - -<p>The man hesitated for a moment. Then, in silence, he handed the -supervisor the record he had made of the strange telegraph message.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXVIII' title='XXVIII—Ralph on the Trail'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXVIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>RALPH ON THE TRAIL</span> -</h2> -<p>Ralph Fairbanks had stepped back under the inimical glare of the -supervisor’s look. At that moment he had been ready to forget Mr. -Hopkins’ unkindness and unfairness to him. But the man’s plain dislike -aroused renewed antagonism in Ralph’s mind. He turned away and, in -spite of the tugging at his own heartstrings, was prepared to ignore -the supervisor’s trouble. His worst fears for Cherry had been -realized, and he suspected that the blow to her father would be well -nigh overwhelming.</p> - -<p>Swinging his dinner can, the young engineer went down the platform, -approaching the big locomotive he drove and which had just been -brought up from the roundhouse by his faithful firemen. But before he -arrived beside the engine he heard a cry and the quick pounding of -feet upon the cement. He glanced back over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>Supervisor Hopkins, white-faced and staring, was tearing along after -him, waving the telegram in his hand. The man was utterly beside -himself. At last the strain of all his troubles and anxieties had -broken him. One would scarcely have recognized the erstwhile stern and -uncompromising supervisor who had, within four months, managed to -create so much disturbance on this division of the Great Northern -Railway.</p> - -<p>“Pull out! Pull out!” he cried, seizing Ralph’s arm and hustling him -toward the steps of the huge locomotive.</p> - -<p>“Can’t pull out for four minutes, Mr. Hopkins,” Ralph said, trying to -keep his own voice and manner placid. “The schedule——”</p> - -<p>“Hang the schedule!” cried this former exponent of method and -exactness. “Do you know what has happened? Those demons!” He shook the -paper in his hand. “Do you know what they have done, Fairbanks?”</p> - -<p>“I read the message off the wire,” returned the young fellow coolly. -“I have been afraid all along that Andy McCarrey’s gang had something -to do with Miss Cherry’s disappearance.”</p> - -<p>“It is those bloodthirsty strikers!” gasped Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“The strikers are not bloodthirsty. They are men who have worked for -the railroad for years. Some of them are my neighbors and friends. -They have been badly advised in this strike, I admit. But I doubt if a -single ex-employee of this division has had anything to do with this -beastly thing.”</p> - -<p>“This message——”</p> - -<p>“You were threatened before. I guess you were threatened before you -came to Rockton, Mr. Hopkins,” said Ralph quickly. “You are pretty -sure who is the moving spirit in this dastardly crime.”</p> - -<p>“McCarrey. Yes, I know that. But he has men to help him. I must get to -Shadow Valley at once——”</p> - -<p>The gong in the train-shed roof sounded. Ralph started up the steps of -the locomotive. Hopkins remained right at his elbow.</p> - -<p>“You get a seat in one of the coaches where you will be comfortable, -Mr. Hopkins,” advised Ralph. “I’ll get you to the place you want to -reach as quickly as I can.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll ride with you. Want me to write a pass for myself?” the excited -supervisor asked. “In the locomotive I will be that much nearer the -place this message came from.”</p> - -<p>“Come aboard, then,” said Ralph, not even smiling. “We’ll waive the -pass for this once.”</p> - -<p>“All aboard!” called out the conductor from the end of the train.</p> - -<p>Ralph leaped to his seat and seized the lever. The supervisor followed -him into the cab. You should have seen the eyes of the two firemen!</p> - -<p>Supervisor Hopkins was certainly shaking. Out of the corner of his eye -Ralph watched those long, lean, red hands twitching nervously.</p> - -<p>“Maybe he has been under this pressure all the time,” Ralph -considered. “It might be. He is as close-mouthed as a clam. Anybody -can see that. Mr. Barton Hopkins would never confide in any person as -long as he could keep his self-control. My gracious! I never saw him -so broken up.”</p> - -<p>While Ralph was thinking these thoughts he was speeding up the great -eight-wheeler. The train, gaining on its pace with each revolution of -the drivers, left the Rockton yard behind. It whirled up the small -slope beyond, and then the searchlight, like a bright index finger, -pointed the way into the black cavern of the cloudy night.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the young engineer realized that Mr. Hopkins’ fingers were -quiet. He sat on the bench without fidgeting as he had at first. Ralph -could even sense that the man breathed regularly.</p> - -<p>He turned in some surprise to look into Barton Hopkins’ face. What had -changed him in this brief time? The supervisor’s gaze was fixed upon -Ralph’s left hand, the hand which rested all the time on the throttle.</p> - -<p>Faster and faster the train sped on. As he had promised, the young -fellow was sending the Midnight Flyer on at the best pace he could -compass. Never during the time he had handled the train had he made -better time.</p> - -<p>On and on they rushed, the wheels drumming over the rail-joints with a -rhythm of sound that could only be compared to faint rifle-fire. Again -and again the whistle sent its warning through the night. They rushed -past little stations and parti-colored switch targets as though they -were merely painted upon the backdrop of the night.</p> - -<p>Now and then a white flash told Ralph that Adair’s guards were still -on duty. “All’s well” they signaled, and he dared keep the heavy train -at top speed over stretches of road which ordinarily would call for -more cautious driving.</p> - -<p>The lights of Fryburg finally came into view. Distant specks like -star-shine at first. Almost immediately they were slowing down for the -town and the bell was jangling. Ralph brought the train to a -wonderfully easy stop.</p> - -<p>Not for a moment had he been troubled by the presence of the -supervisor behind him on the seat. He was so sure of himself that he -was never ruffled by being watched at his work.</p> - -<p>But as the locomotive came panting to its stop, Barton Hopkins put a -now quite steady hand upon Ralph Fairbanks’ shoulder.</p> - -<p>“A wonderful run, Fairbanks,” he said, in his usual stern voice. “I -had no idea you were such a master of your art. I could give you -nothing but praise for your work. And you have gained three minutes -over the schedule. I thank you.”</p> - -<p>For some reason Ralph felt a lump in his throat. There was something a -bit pathetic in the supervisor’s honest assurance that he appreciated -what little Ralph could do for him. The young fellow understood that -the man’s keen interest in the way the engineer handled his locomotive -had aided to calm him and had helped him gain control of himself.</p> - -<p>They went on from Fryburg to Shadow Valley Station at a speed quite in -keeping with the first stretch of the run. There was no red glow in -the sky ahead to-night. When Ralph had returned from Hammerfest the -day before the area of the forest fire had been much reduced.</p> - -<p>Again the Flyer made the swift plunge into the valley. They rounded -the curves and crossed the trestle at the Devil’s Den in safety. Under -instructions from the supervisor, the train was pulled down at Timber -Brook Station. Ralph could not stop to learn if anything had happened -there of moment.</p> - -<p>The supervisor got down on the lower step of the cabin and made a -flying leap to the cinder path. He waved his hand to Ralph as the -latter speeded up the train again. Then the lights of the little -station and the tall figure of the supervisor were shut out of his -sight.</p> - -<p>The Midnight Flyer made another of her famous runs that morning, and -Ralph brought her to Hammerfest in ample season for the connection on -the Boise City road. Although he had closely applied himself to the -running of the train, Ralph’s mind was hot with thoughts of the -mystery of Cherry Hopkins’ disappearance.</p> - -<p>Something his mother had said regarding Zeph Dallas’s dropping out of -sight shuttled to and fro in his thought; and at last it pointed to a -fixed fact. He thought he saw a way of helping Hopkins find the place -of captivity of his lost daughter.</p> - -<p>But to put this idea to the test he must have freedom. He rushed to -the telegraph office the minute he was free of the locomotive and -began to put in requests for the master mechanic. But that individual -was at neither end of the division, and at that early hour of the day -he could not be found.</p> - -<p>While Ralph in his anxiety was striving to reach Mr. Connoly and was -waiting outside the telegraph office, he saw an accommodation from the -west pull in, to the tail of which was attached a very familiar -private car. He could have tossed up his cap in glee as he started on -a run for the end of the platform.</p> - -<p>Before he reached the private car the general manager stepped down and -approached the station. He hailed Ralph genially.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, this is your end of run, isn’t it, Ralph? How are you?”</p> - -<p>“Terribly troubled, sir,” admitted the young engineer.</p> - -<p>“It seems your whole division is troubled,” grumbled the general -manager. “I have been wondering, boy, if you were not right when you -said that an official should be able to see things from the men’s -standpoint. This Hopkins——”</p> - -<p>“Don’t say another word against him!” gasped Ralph. “Let me tell you!”</p> - -<p>And he proceeded to do so—to tell the genial general manager the -particulars of everything that had happened within his ken on the -division since Barton Hopkins’ drastic rules had begun to create -friction. But mainly Ralph gave the details of the wreck in Shadow -Valley, what had led up to it, and what had now resulted from it. His -text was, after all, Cherry Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“You mean to say those blackguards have stolen the supervisor’s -daughter?” cried the general manager. “Why, the State police ought to -be out after them.”</p> - -<p>“Here’s the boy who ought to be after them,” declared Ralph boldly, -pointing to himself, and he went on to sketch for the general manager -his own belief of what should be done in the matter of searching for -Cherry.</p> - -<p>“If I could get excused from this run back to Rockton I’d be able to -do something. If they haven’t found her down there in Shadow Valley, I -believe I can. I’ll get back to Rockton in time to take out the -Midnight Flyer to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Is there an engineer here able to take over your locomotive?”</p> - -<p>“Ben Rogers is the man!” exclaimed Ralph. “I’ll put him wise to -everything before we reach Timber Brook.”</p> - -<p>“Go to it then, boy!” exclaimed the general manager. “I am sorry for -Barton Hopkins. Until this strike came he was saving money right and -left for the Great Northern. It is a pity that he has been under this -strain—if he has—all this time. I hope Adair is helping him.”</p> - -<p>Ralph had been quite sure that Bob Adair was giving his full attention -to the kidnapping of Cherry Hopkins, and when he dropped off his -locomotive at Timber Brook he was so assured. For he chanced to meet -Mr. Adair right at the little station.</p> - -<p>When they had exchanged news, Ralph found that the chief detective had -not thought of the point that Mrs. Fairbanks had put into her son’s -mind. The detectives had spent all the morning with Mr. Hopkins in -beating the forest on either side of the road—even the burned area—for -some trace of a hideout that the villains might use.</p> - -<p>It was learned that the Timber Brook Station had been broken into, and -one of the kidnappers had sent that message to Mr. Hopkins which Ralph -had heard off the wire. But otherwise, nobody had seen any suspicious -person about the right of way since the wreck of Thirty-three.</p> - -<p>“Come on!” said Ralph excitedly. “I believe my mother has the right -idea. At any rate, Mr. Adair, don’t you think it is worth putting to -the test?”</p> - -<p>Bob Adair agreed, and they started at once toward the Devil’s Den.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chXXIX' title='XXIX—The Run Is Ended'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XXIX</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.1em'>THE RUN IS ENDED</span> -</h2> -<p>Ralph, with Mr. Hopkins, Adair, and several of the latter’s -assistants, got aboard a dirt train going across to the Devil’s Den -where the replaced pillar under the trestle was still in course of -construction. Once there, they could easily walk up the grade to that -point where the young engineer had seen fluttering from the bushes on -the side of the cliff certain articles of apparel which he believed -belonged to his friend, Zeph Dallas.</p> - -<p>The ragged remains of the vest and shirt still clung there. The cap -had probably been blown away. The forest fire had not run up the face -of the crag, so the wearing apparel had not been destroyed.</p> - -<p>“Now, it is a fact,” Ralph put forth, “that Zeph hasn’t been seen -since the night the Flyer was pulled down here for that flaming -scarecrow when the pillar at Devil’s Den was blown out. Nor has he -been heard from, has he?”</p> - -<p>“Not a sign of him,” agreed Adair.</p> - -<p>“Then make up your mind he went up this cliff, and by that path. He -probably followed the rascals who dynamited the pillar. He was so -eager that he could not even wait to see if I got his fire signal and -stopped the train.”</p> - -<p>“That would be just like him,” admitted Bob Adair again.</p> - -<p>“Zeph discarded his vest, and then his shirt and cap, to mark his -trail. I believe it should have been followed before.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds reasonable,” said Mr. Hopkins. “But that was some time -ago. What do you suppose has happened to him since?”</p> - -<p>“He was captured by the men he followed. That goes without saying. I -don’t believe they would have killed the boy,” said the chief -detective. “But they would hold him prisoner.”</p> - -<p>“Just as they are holding my daughter,” groaned out Mr. Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“Not for ransom, in Zeph’s case,” said Adair grimly. “They know nobody -would give a dollar for him.”</p> - -<p>“I’d give everything I’ve got for him!” cried Ralph, in some heat.</p> - -<p>“Well, now, come to think of it,” said Adair, with twinkling eyes, “I -don’t know but I’d give something myself to see Zeph clear of the -rascals.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you would!” exclaimed Ralph. “Zeph will try anything once, -but he is something more than a nut. He is faithful and brave and a -mighty good friend!”</p> - -<p>However, they wasted little time in discussing the fine possibilities -of the situation. Ralph knew the path up the crag pretty well, and he -led the way. Two of the detective police were left below with rifles -to watch for any person who might appear above to obstruct the -climbers.</p> - -<p>To climb that cliff at night must have been hard work. But by daylight -Ralph and his companions did not find it particularly difficult. In -half an hour they approached the summit of the ascent.</p> - -<p>On the way Ralph had made sure that the rags of garments still hanging -to the brush had actually belonged to Zeph Dallas. He even found the -yellow brown cap that had fallen upon a shelf of rock. At any rate, -Zeph had passed this way and must have left the articles for some good -and sufficient reason.</p> - -<p>“He expected to get into trouble, or he already was in trouble,” Ralph -said to Mr. Adair. “Think of him shedding his clothes in this way!”</p> - -<p>“I have got through wondering about Zeph,” admitted the chief -detective. “He is always breaking out in a new spot.”</p> - -<p>Ralph, however, could not feel so sure that his friend was all right. -As he led the way “over the top” he almost feared to find Zeph’s dead -body lying on the rocks.</p> - -<p>But the first thing he found was somebody very much alive. As Ralph -scrambled over the lip of the last shelf of rock a figure suddenly -popped into view. The head and shoulders of a man appeared just above -the young fellow. And to the latter’s surprise, those head and -shoulders were shrouded in a flour sack on which the red and green -lettering was faintly visible.</p> - -<p>“Here he is!” yelled Ralph, and sprang up and grabbed the fellow. The -latter had a club which he tried to use, but he had been so amazed by -the appearance of the young engineer and his party that he was quickly -overpowered.</p> - -<p>In fact, Ralph was astride the fellow’s body and was tearing off the -mask when Mr. Adair and Mr. Hopkins reached the ledge of rock. Ralph -exposed the flaxen head and foolish face of Whitey Malone!</p> - -<p>“We’ve got him, anyway, on the count of highway robbery,” said Mr. -Adair, with satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“What does he know about my daughter?” demanded the supervisor.</p> - -<p>“He’d better tell at once,” said the chief detective, “or we may throw -him over the cliff.”</p> - -<p>This threat he made with a wink to Mr. Hopkins and Ralph; but Whitey -did not see that wink! He was scared to the marrow of his bones, -especially when he was dragged to the edge of the rock.</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you! I’ll tell!” he cried. “But Andy will kill me.”</p> - -<p>“You tell the truth,” Mr. Adair promised, “and you will be out of jail -a good many years before Andy McCarrey gets through paying the penalty -for <i>his</i> crimes.”</p> - -<p>It was a point that even Whitey Malone could appreciate. Much as he -feared McCarrey and Griffin Falk, the weak-minded fellow knew that he -could save himself much trouble by telling all he knew to the -representatives of the law.</p> - -<p>Back from the verge of this cliff in a thick wood was an old charcoal -burner’s cabin. Zeph Dallas, in attempting to follow McCarrey’s -ruffians who had dynamited the trestle pillar (Whitey had not been in -that crime) was captured, as Ralph believed, and was held prisoner in -the charcoal burner’s shack.</p> - -<p>At the time of the wreck of Number 33 in Shadow Valley, some of these -same employees of McCarrey, lurking in the bushes, had recognized -Cherry Hopkins and had seized her during the confusion. Binding her -and muffling her cries, the rascals had taken her by a roundabout way -to the same shack in which Zeph was held prisoner.</p> - -<p>With this information wrenched from the reluctant Whitey, Ralph, -Supervisor Hopkins, Adair and his men, went on to the cabin. They -approached it with much care, for a large band of the outlaws were on -guard.</p> - -<p>Ralph and Mr. Adair, who were well informed regarding the identity of -the striking shopmen, saw no ex-railroad employee in the clearing -where the shack stood. But McCarrey and his chief henchman, Falk, were -there.</p> - -<p>Without doubt, although McCarrey had wormed himself into the -confidence of the dissatisfied shopmen and other employees of the -division, he had done so merely for his own personal aggrandizement. -He hated the supervisor of the division and he had worked merely to -control the strike fund of the ill-advised railroaders and to hurt Mr. -Barton Hopkins.</p> - -<p>Chance, it seemed, had put Cherry into the power of this scoundrel. -When he heard that she had been captured he left Rockton immediately -and took up his personal fight against the supervisor. He knew Hopkins -had some money and he was determined to make him ransom his daughter.</p> - -<p>With this knowledge in their possession, Ralph and his companions -attacked the gang at the charcoal burner’s shack with considerable -determination. Although they had firearms, they did not have to use -them. Advancing under the chief detective’s direction on the clearing -from all sides, the rescuers clubbed their men down, frightening them -as much as they injured them.</p> - -<p>While the men were fighting, Ralph ran to the door of the shack. He -had already heard Zeph’s hoarse voice shouting. Ralph burst in the -door with a stone, shattering the lock.</p> - -<p>As he did so a man hurled himself upon the young railroader. Although -the attack was sudden and from the rear, the young fellow knew that -his antagonist was Andy McCarrey.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got <i>you</i>, anyway!” growled out the chief of the band of -scoundrels. “You got into that house one night. I remember you! And I -bet you gave us away.”</p> - -<p>He was much stronger than Ralph, and having jumped on him from behind, -he bore the youth to the ground. He was astride Ralph in an instant, -and seized upon the very dornick with which his captive had broken the -lock of the door.</p> - -<p>In a moment the young railroader might have been seriously hurt—even -killed! But rescue in the shape of Mr. Barton Hopkins himself arrived -in season. Reaching the spot with a clubbed rifle in his hands, the -supervisor landed the stock of the weapon on the side of McCarrey’s -head with such force that the villain toppled over, quite <i>hors de -combat</i> for the time being.</p> - -<p>Before Ralph could rise the supervisor had sprung to the door of the -shack and thrown it open. The afternoon sunlight flooded into the -interior of the place and Barton Hopkins saw his daughter, bound to a -rude chair and gagged with a cloth tied across her face.</p> - -<p>The anxious father was the first to reach the girl. He swiftly cut her -bonds and tore off the bandage while Ralph staggered to an inner door, -that of a closet where Zeph Dallas was confined.</p> - -<p>“Great Jupiter and little fishes!” gasped Zeph hoarsely, when he saw -Ralph’s face. “You’ve been a long time coming. And they’ve got a girl -in prison here, too.”</p> - -<p>“They haven’t got anybody in prison now,” said Mr. Adair’s cheerful -voice from the doorway. “We’ve got them—and a fine bunch they are. -That was a nice swipe you gave Andy, Mr. Hopkins. It ought to be some -satisfaction to you to know that he will have to have some new teeth -if he ever wants to chew his victuals on that side of his jaw.”</p> - -<p>The situation had been a serious one, nevertheless, for it was later -proved that several of the men McCarrey had in his band had prison -records and were desperate criminals. The threat to injure the girl if -her father did not pay for her release might not have been an empty -one.</p> - -<p>“However,” said Mr. Adair, as the friends and the supervisor and -Cherry made their way to Rockton on an evening train, “this not only -cleans up the McCarrey band, but it is the end of the wildcat strike. -I don’t know that you had been so informed, Mr. Hopkins, but a -committee of the striking shopmen, and from the old union, will wait -on you to-morrow, and if you handle the situation wisely everything -will be going smoothly very soon.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I have been too stringent in my rules,” the supervisor said -slowly. “At least, I will consider what the men have to offer.”</p> - -<p>Cherry, hearing her father say this, nodded brightly to Ralph and -squeezed his hand for a moment. “I believe you did something to help -convince father that he was wrong about the railroad workers,” she -whispered to her friend.</p> - -<p>“As for the strikers themselves,” went on Mr. Adair, “the union will -get rid of Jim Perrin and those that helped him betray the union -members to McCarrey. I was able to prove to the union heads their -treachery through the written list Ralph got from Malone that night -and the warning Perrin slipped into Ralph’s engine the night -Thirty-three was wrecked. Undoubtedly Perrin believed McCarrey meant -to try again to wreck the Flyer.”</p> - -<p>“How did he come to consider Ralph at all?” asked Mr. Hopkins. “Is -Perrin such a close friend of yours?” and he asked the question -directly of the young man.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” confessed the other. “Some time ago Perrin’s crippled -daughter—a sweet little girl—needed to be treated at one of the big -Eastern hospitals. Mother and I—more mother than me,” added Ralph, -“were able to assist in sending the child there. She has come back -cured and I expect, Perrin was grateful.”</p> - -<p>It was evident that Mr. Hopkins’ estimation of Ralph Fairbanks -increased by leaps and bounds during that run to Rockton. When it was -ended the supervisor shook hands warmly with the young fellow before -he hastened his daughter away in a taxicab to the hospital, to see her -mother.</p> - -<p>“I see I have a good deal to thank you for, Fairbanks,” the supervisor -said. “Believe me, I shall not forget it.”</p> - -<p>However, it was a month before Ralph saw much more of the Hopkins -family, even of Cherry. During that time he continued to drive Number -202, and the troubles of all kinds on the division gradually cleared -up.</p> - -<p>Then another engineer was found to relieve Ralph, and he went back to -his desk as chief dispatcher for the division. It was the evening of -this day that he kept his first dinner engagement at the Hopkins’ -bungalow and met the recovered wife and mother at her own table.</p> - -<p>Beside Ralph, too, there sat Mrs. Fairbanks. They found that Barton -Hopkins, when he wished to be, could be a very charming host. And Mrs. -Fairbanks, as they walked homeward after dinner, repeated to her son -something she had already said about Cherry:</p> - -<p>“That girl is well worth knowing, Ralph.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell the world!” agreed the young train dispatcher.</p> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='margin-top:1.0em;'>THE END </div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div>THE TOM SWIFT SERIES</div> -<div>By VICTOR APPLETON</div> -<div>UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.    INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS.</div> -</div> -<blockquote> -<p>These spirited tales, convey in a realistic way, the wonderful -advances in land and sea locomotion. Stories like these are impressed -upon the memory and their reading is productive only of good.</p> - -</blockquote> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS</div> -<div class='cbline'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div>Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES</div> -<div>By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN</div> -</div> -<blockquote> -<p>The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a -small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are -greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have -motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go -everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories -give full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild -animals and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how -to swim, etc. Full of the spirit of outdoor life.</p> - -</blockquote> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island.</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge.</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists.</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness.</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Rivals of the Mississippi.</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run.</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT</div> -<div class='cbline'>Or The Golden Cup Mystery.</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth.</div> -<div>Grosset & Dunlap,   Publishers,    New York</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div>THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS</div> -<div>For Little Men and Women</div> -<div>By LAURA LEE HOPE</div> -<div>Author of “The Bunny Brown” Series, Etc.</div> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>12mo.   DURABLY BOUND.   ILLUSTRATED.   UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING </div> -</div> -<blockquote> -<p>Copyright publications which cannot be obtained elsewhere. Books that -charm the hearts of the little ones, and of which they never tire.</p> - -</blockquote> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;'>Grosset & Dunlap,   Publishers,    New York </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div>THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES,</div> -<div>By LAURA LEE HOPE</div> -<div>Author of the Popular “Bobbsey Twins” Books</div> -<div>Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by</div> -<div>FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY</div> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>12mo.   DURABLY BOUND.   ILLUSTRATED.   UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING </div> -</div> -<blockquote> -<p>These stories by the author of the “Bobbsey Twins” Books are eagerly -welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. -Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of -inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue.</p> - -<p>Bunny was a lively little boy, very inquisitive. When he did anything, -Sue followed his leadership. They had many adventures, some comical in -the extreme.</p> - -</blockquote> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA’S FARM</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU’S CITY HOME</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW</div> -<div class='cbline'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; '> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;'>Grosset & Dunlap,   Publishers,    New York </div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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