Ralph, the Train Dispatcher; Or, The Mystery of the Pay Car Read online

  CHAPTER IV

  THE WIRE TAPPERS

  "I don't like it," spoke Fogg with emphasis.

  "Neither do I," concurred Ralph, "but I fancy the sensible thing to dois to make the best of it."

  "While somebody else is making the worst of it!" grumbled the oldfireman. "What brought up the confab with the old man at the terminus,anyway?"

  "He just called me into the office and gave me the warning I have toldyou about."

  "Queer--and pestiferous," said Fogg with vehemence. "I don't mind a fairand square fight with any man, but this stabbing in the back, tumblinginto man traps in the dark and the like, roils me."

  The Overland Express was on its return trip to Stanley Junction. Outsideof the incident of the recognition of the old grandfather of Glen Palmerat the bluff curve, nothing had occurred to disturb a smooth,satisfactory run. Ralph and Fogg had discussed the first incident forquite some time after it had come up.

  "I don't like the lineup," Fogg had asserted. "Here one day you runacross that old man in the company of two fellows we'd put in jail onmere suspicion. The next day we find the same old man cleaning up awreck. Is that part of some villanious programme? Did some fine playsend that chicken car down into the ditch, say?"

  "Decidedly not," answered Ralph. "It doesn't look that way at all. Evenif it did, I would vouch for young Palmer. He had no hand in it. I'lllook this business up, though, when we get back home."

  "H'm, you'd better," growled Fogg, and the fireman was back in his oldsurly suspicious mood all of the rest of the run.

  Now, on the return trip, Fogg was brought up to a positive pitch offrenzy. It was just after their layover at Rockton when a messenger hadcome from the assistant superintendent to the roundhouse. The waitinghands there knew him. He approached Ralph, addressed him in a lowconfidential tone, and the two proceeded to headquarters together. Itwas the sentiment of the majority that the young engineer of theOverland Express was "on the carpet for a call down."

  Ralph came back from the interview with the railway official with aserious but by no means downcast face. He parried the good naturedraillery of his fellow workmen. It was not until he and his fireman werewell out of Rockton on their return trip that he told Fogg what hadtaken place in the private office of the assistant superintendent.

  There was not much to tell, but there was lots left to surmise, andworry over, according to Fogg's way of thinking. The railroad officialhad pledged Ralph to treat the interview as strictly confidential,except so far as his fireman was concerned. There was trouble brewingunmistakably, he told Ralph. The latter had weathered some pretty hardexperiences with personal enemies and strikers in the past. The officialwished to prepare him to battle some more of it in the future.

  Bluntly he informed Ralph that two rival roads were "after the scalp" ofthe Great Northern. They could not reach the Overland schedule of thelatter line by fair means, and they might try to break it by foul ones.The official gravely announced that he felt sure of this. He would havelater specific information for Ralph. In the meantime, he wished him toexercise unusual vigilance and efficiency in overcoming obstacles thatmight arise to delay or cripple the Overland Express.

  Two things rather startled the young engineer, for they seemed toconfirm hints and suspicions already in the wind. In a guarded way theofficial had referred to "harmony in the train dispatcher's office." Hehad next made an allusion to the fact that if competitive rivalry grewfierce, it might attract under cover a lot of disreputable criminals,and he spoke of extra precaution when the pay trips of the line weremade, tallying precisely with suspicions already entertained by Ralph.

  It was a very cold night when the train started out on its return trip.It was clear starlight, however, and once on the free swing down theglistening rails, the exhilarating swirl of progress drove away allshadows of care and fear. The magnificent locomotive did her duty welland puffed down to the regular stop beyond The Barrens an hour afterdaylight fresh as a daisy, and just as pretty as one, Fogg declared.

  "They're going to miss us this time, I reckon," spoke the fireman withhilarity and relief, as they later covered the first fifty miles beyondthe Mountain Division.

  "If any one was laying for us, yes, it seems so," joined in Ralph. "Weare pretty well on our way, it's daytime, and likely we'll get throughsafe this trip."

  Both were congratulating themselves on the outlook as they struck thefirst series of curves that led through the long stretch of bluffs atthe end of which they had encountered the torpedo warning justseventy-two hours previous. There was no indication of any obstructionahead, and the locomotive was going at good speed.

  It was almost a zigzag progress on a six per cent. grade for a stretchof over ten miles, and five of the distance it was a blind swift whiz,shut in by great towering bluffs without a break.

  Suddenly at a sharp turn Fogg uttered a shout and Ralph grasped thelever with a quick clutch.

  "What was that?" gasped Fogg.

  "Maybe a flying rock," suggested Ralph. He spoke calmly enough, butevery nerve was on the jump. The crisis of the vigilance since the runcommenced had reached its climax of excitement and strain.

  "Something busted," added Fogg a trifle hoarsely, "something struck theheadlight and splintered it. See here," and he picked up and showed toRalph a splinter of glass that had blown in through the open window onhis side of the cab.

  "Whatever it was it's past now and no damage done," declared Ralph."There's something twisted around the steam chest, Mr. Fogg."

  "So there is," assented Fogg, peering ahead. "Guess I'll see what itmeans."

  Ralph did not have to let down speed to accommodate his expert helper.Fogg was as much at home on the running board with the train going amile a minute pace as a house painter on a first-floor scaffold. Hecrept out through his window.

  Ralph lost sight of him beyond the bulge of the boiler and whilewatching ahead from his own side of the cab. Fogg was nearly threeminutes on his tour of investigation.

  "There's something to think about," he declared emphatically as hedropped two objects on the floor of the cab.

  "What is it?" inquired Ralph with a curious stare.

  "Wait till I mend the fire and I'll show you something," said thefireman. Then, this duty attended to, he took from the floor a longpiece of wire wound around a part of a device that resembled a telegraphinstrument.

  "See here," explained the fireman excitedly, "I've got it in a word."

  "And what is that, Mr. Fogg?"

  "Wire tappers."

  "Or line repairers," suggested Ralph.

  "I said wire tappers," insisted Fogg convincedly, "and I stick to it.They were at work back there in the cut. Their line must have saggedwhere they strung it too low. Our smokestack struck it, whipped theoutfit free, stand and all, and that metal jigger there swung around andstruck the headlight."

  "What stand--was there a stand, then?" inquired Ralph.

  "Must have been, for pieces of it are out on the pilot. Say, somethingelse, too! The whole business came that way. Look at that."

  Fogg lifted a small strap satchel from the floor of the cab as he spoke.This was pretty well riddled. In the general swing of the outfit itsside must have come in contact with some sharp edged projection of thelocomotive. Then, one side torn open from which there protruded somearticle of wearing apparel, it had landed on the pilot where Fogg hadfound it.

  "Line repairers do not carry little dinky reticules like that,"scornfully declaimed the fireman. "There's a dress shirt, a fancy vestand a pair of kid gloves in it. The old man at terminus was right. Someone is trying to do up the Great Northern."

  "Put these things away carefully," directed Ralph, his face thoughtful,and as they ran on it grew anxious and serious.

  When they passed the scene of the freight wreck three days previous,they found the debris cleared away and no sign of the boy and old manwho had interested them. A wrecking crew had men at work and only alitter of kindling wood marked the scene of the tumble dow
n theembankment.

  When they reached their destination Ralph made a package of the articlesFogg had found on the pilot and proceeded to the office of the generalsuperintendent. That functuary he found to be absent. He followed thepromptings of his own mind and proceeded to the office of the roaddetective, Bob Adair.

  A bright young fellow named Dayton, the stenographer of the roaddetective, announced that Mr. Adair was off duty away from StanleyJunction.

  "How soon can you reach him?" inquired Ralph.

  "Oh, that's easy," replied Dayton.

  Adair was a warm friend of Ralph. The latter knew the official reposed agood deal of confidence in young Dayton. He decided to tell him aboutthe supposed discovery of the wire tapping outfit.

  "Good for you," commended Dayton. "You've hit a subject of bigimportance just at present, Mr. Fairbanks."

  "Is that so."

  "Very much so. I'll get word to Mr. Adair at once. He happens to be incall this side of the Mountain Division. This discovery of yours fitsin--that is, Mr. Adair will be glad to get this bit of news."

  "I understand," returned Ralph meaningly. He was a trifle surprised tosee Dayton begin a message in cypher to his chief.

  "It looks as if Mr. Adair doesn't even trust the wires just now,"soliloquized Ralph as he started for home.

  The first thing he did after supper was to undo the parcel containingthe telegraphic device and the satchel.

  The latter, as Fogg had stated, contained a shirt, a fancy vest and apair of gloves. These bore no initial or other marks of identification.They were pretty badly riddled from their forcible collision with somesharp corner of the locomotive--so much so, that a pocket, ripped clearout of place, revealed a folded slip of paper. This had suffered in themix-up, like the garments. Ralph opened it carefully.

  It was tattered and torn, sections were gouged out of it here and there,but Ralph devoted to its perusal a thorough inspection.

  His face was both startled and thoughtful as he looked up from his desk.For nearly five minutes the young railroader sat staring into space, hismind wrestling with a mighty problem.

  Ralph arose from his chair at last, put on his cap and went to thekitchen where Mrs. Fairbanks was tidying up things.

  "I'm going away for an hour or two, mother," he announced.

  "Nothing wrong, I hope, Ralph," spoke Mrs. Fairbanks, the serious mannerof her son arousing her mothering anxiety at once.

  "I don't know," answered Ralph. "It's something pretty important. I'vegot to see the paymaster of the road."