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

  CHAPTER XX

  A TRUSTY FRIEND

  "Understand, Fairbanks?"

  "Perfectly, Mr. Adair."

  "The pay car goes through on regular schedule out of Stanley Junction."

  "Yes, sir."

  "With enough ammunition ahead to settle the hash of any possiblemeddlers. We'll make the test. Then the other end. A split up at the endof each section, and if the gang get ahead of us on that arrangement,they are cleverer than I thought they were."

  All this would have been Greek to a person not acquainted with the factsof the case. The colloquy terminated a whispered confidential talkbetween Ralph and Bob Adair in the chief dispatcher's office. The roadofficer seemed to throw the pay car off his mind after a statement thatRalph was one of six persons who knew what was about to happen, namely,the President and superintendent of the road, the assistantsuperintendent, the paymaster and Adair himself.

  "There will be something to keep track of Tuesday night," observedAdair. "You've got your instructions for that occasion."

  "Yes, well in mind," said Ralph. "One moment before you go, Mr. Adair. Ihave told you about the 'pacer' message."

  "Yes," nodded the road officer, "and your explanation looks plausible."

  "I don't want to judge from appearances. You see, I feel like givingGlen Palmer a show."

  "That's fair enough, Fairbanks. I can't help thinking, though, that heor his grandfather have had some dealings with the crowd we are after."

  "It is only a theory," persisted Ralph, "but I figure it out that theold man, Glen's grandfather, is some veteran telegrapher. He isn't rightin his mind, and perhaps, without Glen knowing it, he was approachedsecretly by the conspirators. Perhaps they have benefited from hisknowledge of telegraphy in tapping the wires."

  "You say the boy, too, is an expert operator?"

  "From what I learn, yes," answered Ralph. "His grandfather wouldnaturally teach him."

  Adair shrugged his shoulders. It was evident he considered circumstancesagainst the Palmers, for he said:

  "I don't like their sudden disappearance. I don't fancy, either, whatSlump remarked about young Palmer being a jail bird."

  "That looks bad enough," admitted Ralph, "but please consider thatmessage on the piece of board thrown through the window of the station."

  "Well?"

  "Didn't that show that Glen Palmer was trying to get some word to me?"

  "Maybe."

  "Under difficulties, too. I believe that he was a prisoner, perhaps shutinto some freight car, but managing to send adrift that word to me."

  "You're pretty loyal to anyone you like, Fairbanks."

  "I want to do the poor fellow justice," responded Ralph. "Then later,that fragment of message 'Look out for the pay car.' I can't helpthinking that the boy is straight, and wants to warn and help us."

  "Hope so," said Adair brusquely. "A short time will tell. I shall soonround up the crowd, and if young Palmer is in wrong with them I shallfind it out."

  It seemed like getting down to a decidedly humdrum existence, routineduty at the dispatcher's desk after the exciting experience preceding.When Glidden came on duty he merely smiled in his grim way, with thewords to Ralph:

  "In harness again, eh? I reckon things will smooth down now."

  Ralph hoped so. He believed it, too, as a few days went by and in thekeen zest and interest of his new work he partially forgot the activeissues of the conspiracy, which seemed to have been checked or subdued.

  With the departure of Grizzly and Mason the suspicious and treacherouselement seemed to be eliminated from the main office. The tricks of theenemy and their methods were now known to the dispatching force, andthey were constantly on their guard. A new private code was adopted byRalph, and a system of checking up through repeats that pretty wellsafeguarded them against crooked messages.

  Mrs. Fairbanks was congratulating herself that affairs had quieted downpermanently and was enjoying the days that brought Ralph home for theevening each day, when a new ripple on the surface of affairs set thingsin vivid action again.

  Ralph had come home to dinner and was spending a few minutes in casualconversation with his mother after the meal, when the door bell rangsharply. Ralph answered the summons to find Glidden standing outside,his face pale and anxious, and so nervous over something that he couldnot stand still in the same position for a single minute.

  "Any trouble, Mr. Glidden?" inquired Ralph quickly.

  "Only of my own," responded the old operator. "See here, I want you todo something for me. It's a hurry business. Just tell your mother not toworry if you are away to-night."

  "Is there a probability that I will be?" inquired Ralph.

  "If you consent to do me the favor of my life, yes," declared Gliddenquickly. "See here, I've fixed everything."

  The operator shoved a slip of paper towards Ralph. It was a briefpermission for Ralph to go off for twenty-four hours.

  "I had to act quick," explained Glidden, "so I got that end of it fixeddirectly."

  "I hardly understand, Mr. Glidden."

  The old operator glanced at his watch and grabbed the arm of hiscompanion.

  "Come on," he insisted. "There's no time to lose. We can talk as we walkalong. I don't want to bother you with my family troubles, Fairbanks,but I need a reliable friend."

  "I am certainly at your service."

  "Thanks. It's your way, you can't help it," commented the erraticoperator. "Here's the situation: I have a brother in business at Derby."

  "That's seventy-five miles down the line."

  "Exactly. It seems that he owns a new mill. I don't know exactly what hedoes, but it's in the metal manufacturing line. He has invented aprocess for making a substitute for Babbitt metal."

  "They use some of it at the shops, I remember," said Ralph.

  "A man named Dorsett, who was his partner, started in the same lineafter selling out and contracting not to do so. His process is no good,and he wants to get my brother to a point where he will treat with him."

  "I see," nodded Ralph, much interested.

  "It seems that my brother in starting in for himself had to run in debtfor his principal machinery. His old partner managed somehow to buy thedebt from the machinery people. He has put the screws to my brother, gotout an execution for four thousand dollars against him, and unless thatamount and the costs of the judgment are paid by tomorrow, he takespossession, and my brother loses everything."

  "There's lots of mean work in the world, and this is one of the hardcases," observed Ralph.

  "The worst of it is," continued Glidden, "my brother never let me knowabout the tight fix he was in. I never should have heard of it if he hadnot got sick in bed. He could do no business and his lawyer wrote to me.I got the letter only an hour ago. You see how fast I must work. I'vegot to raise that four thousand dollars before court time tomorrow."

  "Four thousand dollars?" repeated Ralph seriously--"that's a big sum ofmoney, Mr. Glidden."

  "Yes, for a poor man like me, but brother John shall have it. I can'tsee a good twenty thousand dollar investment wrecked to satisfy themalice of an enemy. See here--take that," and Glidden extended a packageand Ralph regarded it wonderingly.

  "What is it, Mr. Glidden?" he inquired.

  "One thousand dollars--five years' savings, I just drew it from the bankhere. I want you to take the three o'clock train for Derby. Go to mybrother's lawyer, whose address I will give you. Pay him that onethousand dollars, and see if he can't use it to stave off proceedingsuntil I get on hand bright and early tomorrow morning with the balanceof the money."