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

  CHAPTER XXIV

  THE BATTLE OF WITS

  Ralph instantly arose to his feet and unlocked the office door. He wasabout to open it when it was forcibly burst inwards in his grasp.

  "We want to get in here," vociferated a strident voice, and aconsequential-looking little fellow, wearing his coat open so that aconstable's badge showed on his vest, swept over the threshold as if hewas leading an army to an attack.

  "Certainly," said Ralph, with great politeness. "Come in,gentlemen--there's a good fire and enough chairs, I guess."

  He was interested in quickly casting his eye over the marauding group.Six men had followed the constable in hot haste. One of them, who keptclose to the officer, seemed to be his assistant. Four men, roughlooking and with fiery breaths and faces, Ralph recognized as the grouphe had seen in the town that afternoon, two of whom had followed him tothe lawyer's house.

  The real leader of the party, however, was a man whom Ralph had neverseen before. He at once surmised that this was Dorsett. The latterpushed the others aside and stepped up to Ralph insolently.

  "Who are you?" he demanded, with a scowl of suspicion and dislike.

  "I represent the brother of Mr. Glidden."

  "Oh, you do?" sneered Dorsett. "I thought you was the office boy."

  "Representative, hey?" snapped out the constable quickly. "Stand aside,Mr. Dorsett. This is the very person I wish to see."

  The official made a great ado getting a bundle of papers out of hispocket. He selected one, flopped it open and fixed an imperious eye onRalph.

  "As agent de facto, ex officio, essettery, I present a demand againstHenry William Glidden in the penal sum of four thousand one hundred andtwenty-seven dollars and ninety-eight cents. Are you authorized to paythe same, deprosedendum, or forever hold your peace."

  "I have one thousand dollars at the home of the lawyer," explainedRalph.

  "Cash?" demanded the constable, licking his chops and blinking his eyeslike a ravenous wolf at the mention of money.

  "Yes, sir, and the balance will be here in Derby before court sits inthe morning."

  "Court don't sit any more in this case," growled out Dorsett, who allalong had regarded Ralph with a leery eye. "Here's the court."

  "I say, Dorsett, the lad talks business. One thousand dollars ain't tobe sneezed at. So much on account, see? Just an appetizer. We'll gobblethe whole outfit finally. Um-m-m--" and his voice died away into a droneinto the ear of Dorsett only, who shook his head with the forciblewords:

  "No. I won't lose a minute. Get at your job instantly."

  "Ha-hum," observed the constable, flapping the document in his handimportantly and again approaching Ralph. "Ipse dixit de profundis--yourefuse to pay this just claim?"

  "It will be paid within the legal limit of time," answered Ralph.

  "The legal limit of time has elapsed," declared the constable, "aswitness this document."

  "Then I suppose you take possession?" said Ralph. "That is all right. Assoon as Mr. Glidden's brother arrives he will put up the cash or a bondand redeem the plant."

  "That can't be done," observed the constable. "Practically we arealready in possession. The plaintiff, however, has sued out a writextraordinary. As assignee of the original seller of the melting tanks,which were purchased, not on open account but on contract, and the sameheld delinquent, he has here in this document a writ of replevin. Wewant those tanks. The balance will come later."

  "Very well, gentlemen," said Ralph coolly, "if you are sure you arewithin your legal rights, go ahead."

  The constable's assistant made a rush for the iron door.

  "Only," continued Ralph impressively, "don't try it through that room."

  "Hey--why not?" demanded the constable, pricking up his ears.

  "Because the corroding vats are in action, and one minute in thatpoisonous air would smother the last one of you."

  "Hah!" ejaculated the constable, "we shall see."

  He advanced to the iron door and lifted its hasped bar.

  "Whew!" he gurgled, slamming it shut again, one whiff sending himreeling back as though he had been hit with a club.

  "Tricked us, have you," gritted Dorsett, darting a malevolent look atRalph. "Get around to the rear, you four. Smash out those barredwindows."

  "I submit," interposed Ralph calmly, "that won't do any good. The tanksare red hot and will remain so for many hours."

  "Baffled!" hissed the constable dramatically. "Dorsett, they've got thedrop on you. No, no," continued the official, lifting his hand as theinfuriated Dorsett seemed about to dash out of the office bent on anydestruction, so long as he carried out his evil designs, "law is law."

  "And you've got a writ to execute it, haven't you?" yelled Dorsett.

  "Not with violence, my dear sir--not with violence," mildly intimatedthe constable. "I fear we have proceeded with undue haste. I assumedthat the plant would be inactive."

  "It was, up to last evening."

  "On that hypothesis we took out a writ for immediate seizure of certainspecified chattels. You may enter, seize, and distrain. You may stretcha point and force a door or smash a window, but you have no warrant tobatter down a wall. If you did--red hot, see?" and with a rather sicklysmile the speaker went through a pantomime of seizing and brisklydropping an overheated object.

  "Then take possession," commanded Dorsett stormily. "Get this youngmarplot out of here and let no more of his ilk in again."

  "Sorry," retorted the constable, "but there again we have checkmatedourselves. Relying to your statements we took extreme measures to tearout the tanks and later put a custodian in charge. We cannot now legallyenter here or remain here except on a new writ of possession."

  Now was Ralph's hour of triumph and he could not refrain from smiling tohimself. Dorsett noticed it and thrashed about like a madman. He did notassault the quiet unpretentious lad who held him and his scowlingmyrmidons at bay, but he looked as if he would like to have done so.

  Finally Dorsett quieted down. He drew the constable to one side of theroom and they held a rapid consultation. Then the constable's assistantwas beckoned to join them, and later two of Dorsett's allies.

  This trio left the office instructed by the constable to hasten to themagistrate in the next township who had issued the replevin writ, andsecure a broader document for possession of the premises.

  Calm fell over the place at their departure. Meantime the furnaces atthe rear of the plant roared on merrily, and Ralph mentally calculatedhow long it would be before they cooled down and Dorsett got his itchingfingers in play to cripple and destroy.

  Perhaps an hour went by. The marauding party was lounging and dozing.Ralph bent his ear to listen as a locomotive whistle in the distancetold of the passage of a train from the north.

  The young dispatcher knew the schedule like a book. No train was duetill daybreak. A second outburst of tooting signals informed andelectrified him.

  "A special!" he murmured, fired up magically. "Can it be possible--"

  Ralph paused there, checking the wild thoughts, or rather hopes, thatthronged his mind. He was thinking of the belated lawyer as well as ofthe old telegraph operator.

  The office clock gave out three sharp strokes as there was a commotion.Some one tried the door. It was not locked and opened at the touch.Ralph jumped to his feet with an irrepressible cry of gladness.

  Two men entered. One was the old headquarters dispatcher, Glidden. Hiscompanion, a peaked faced, shrewd eyed man, Ralph intuitively acceptedas the Derby lawyer.

  "Hello!" shot out the latter spicily--"visitors, friends. How's this,Dorsett?"

  "We've come to stay, that's how it is," growled out the man addressed.

  "I think not," spoke up Ralph quickly. "They have stolen a march on you,Mr. Glidden. They came with a replevin writ, found it of no effect, andhave now sent to some renegade justice outside of the township for awrit of possession."

  "Have, eh?" said the lawyer. "Well, I fancy they won't use it. Here,you, c
onstable--what's your authority?"

  "Demand--four thousand one seventy-seven ninety-eight," pronounced theofficial, waving a document.

  "How is it, Mr. Glidden?" inquired the lawyer.

  The old dispatcher rammed his hand in his shirt and drew out aformidable roll of bank notes.

  "I've got thirty five hundred here," he said. "Fairbanks has athousand."

  "I left it in the safe up at your house," explained Ralph to the lawyer.

  "All right, I guess my check is good for that balance, eh, constable?"

  "Yes, surely," answered the officer obsequiously, thinking of furtherlegal business.

  "Cancel the judgment," ordered the lawyer. "Now, then, Dorsett, I reckonwe can dispense with your company."

  The baffled conspirators sneaked away with dark mutterings. The lawyerhailed through the speaking tube.

  "I got so anxious I arranged for a special at Hillsdale," explainedGlidden to Ralph. "Just by luck I ran across the lawyer, waiting for atrain."

  It was after Bartlett and the tramp had shut down the furnaces andappeared in the office room and the foreman explained Ralph's cleverplans of the night, that the lawyer approached the young traindispatcher and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder.

  "Young man," he said, "did you ever study law?"

  "No, sir. Somewhere along the line I would like to, but just nowrailroading takes up my time."

  "H'm. Very good. Well, if you ever want to, I'll give you a job."

  "Thank you, sir."

  "Yes," added the lawyer, with a bright admiring glance at Ralph's face,"in fact, after your clever work to-night, I think I would be willing totake you into partnership."