CHAPTER XIV
THE WRECK OF THE LIMITED
The door of the station opened, and the ticket agent rushed in. At aglance he sized up the situation, the girl on the shelf, screaming, theexcited professor holding his hands over the bananas and three more orless startled boys looking on.
“What’s the matter?” demanded the agent. “Mildred, has anythinghappened? Have these people annoyed you?”
“Oh, no, father. It’s a mouse--a mouse in the bananas, but thegentleman has captured it. But he acted so queer--he called out so,and--and----” She stopped, on the verge of tears.
The agent took a step forward. His manner was rather threatening. Jerrysaw that it was time to explain at once.
“It’s all right,” he said in a quiet voice. “We did start to have alittle fun with our friend,” and he nodded at Bob, “but we had nointention of annoying the young lady. We----”
“Oh, no, they didn’t annoy me, father,” the girl said earnestly. “It’sonly the mouse.”
“It isn’t a mouse at all!” broke in the professor. “It is a very rarespecimen of a long-tailed scorpion and----”
“Oh, a scorpion!” screamed the girl. “That’s worse! Oh, daddy, get apoker, or something, and kill the horrid thing. I saw one once, allcovered with long hairs--a big spider--Ugh!”
“You are thinking of a tarantula, my dear young lady,” said theprofessor calmly. “This is a scorpion, which is entirely different. Butthis species is harmless, I do assure you. It wouldn’t bite a fly. Iam very fortunate to have captured it. I saw it on the bananas as soonas I took off the cover, and I knew I must get it at once, or it wouldescape. There, I have it safe,” and he slid a glass cover on the box,and held out to view some sort of an insect, like a crayfish, with anextra long tail, which was squirming about under the glass.
“There is the little beauty!” cried the professor with enthusiasm. “Itis worth at least ten dollars, and I am willing to pay that much towhoever owns it,” and he glanced at the girl.
“Ugh! Take the horrid thing away!” she cried. “Are you sure there areno more?”
“Not a one. I wish there were,” said the professor, looking carefullyamong the bananas.
“Then I’ll come down,” went on the lunch girl, as she blushinglydescended. “I’m sorry I made a scene, but I thought it was a mouse.”
“That’s all right,” spoke Jerry gallantly. “It was our fault forwanting lunch at this unearthly hour.”
“Oh, I always serve lunch at this time,” spoke the girl. “There’s quitea crowd comes in from the Denver Express, and they’re ’most alwayshungry. They’ll be here in about an hour, won’t they, father? Is thetrain on time?”
“About,” replied the agent. “But I don’t exactly understand. Iseverything all right now?”
“I think so,” said Jerry, and he explained how he and Ned had startedto have fun with Bob, how they had made up their minds to have a lunch,and how Professor Snodgrass had discovered the scorpion amid thebananas. He told what a learned man the scientist was, always on thelookout for specimens. Uriah Snodgrass was, by this time, painlesslypreserving his scorpion, and making notes about it, forgetting hisdesire to eat. Not so Bob, however, who was eagerly waiting for the hotchicken pies.
The excitement soon quieted down, and matters having been satisfactorilyexplained the ticket agent became very friendly. He told the boys how hehad secured the privilege of running the lunch counter at the station,and how his daughter, after the death of her mother, had taken charge ofit. By this time the meal was ready, and even the professor sat up andate.
“But I don’t see why you serve meals so late,” said Jerry, for it wasnow after ten o’clock.
“Oh, we have to accommodate the passengers of the Denver Express,”explained Miss Harrison, the lunch-girl. “At least they call it anexpress, though it doesn’t go very fast.”
“And it comes from Denver?” asked Ned.
“No, it goes _to_ Denver,” she said.
“To Denver?” cried Jerry.
“Yes, it’s the last train out of here to-night. It gets to Denverto-morrow noon, when it’s on time, and that isn’t very often. But thereare always a lot of travelers who like to stop off here for lunch. Thetrain waits ten minutes for a freight to clear. So I always come backhere after supper to serve a little lunch. I won’t have much left,though, if you people come in often,” and with a mischievous look onher face she glanced at Bob.
“A train to Denver!” cried Jerry. “That’s good news. I didn’t knowthere were any more. I supposed when we lost the Limited we werestranded here for the night. Boys, there’s a chance yet of beatingNoddy Nixon!” he cried.
“Good!” exclaimed Ned. “Then we’ll do it.”
“Sure--we--blub--ugh--will,” added Bob, his mouth full of chicken pie.
“Then finish up!” ordered Jerry. “We’ll arrange to have the auto lefthere, and take our baggage on with us. In Denver to-morrow noon! That’sfine!”
“If you’re on time,” put in the agent. “I meant to tell you aboutthat last train, but I had some freight matters to look after, and itslipped my mind. She’ll be along here pretty soon. Better get yourtickets, and have your baggage checked if you’re going.”
“Yes, and we’ve got to attend to our auto,” said Jerry.
“And my specimens!” cried the professor. “I think I will express backto the college those I have, and begin on a new lot. Oh, how lucky I amto get the long-tailed scorpion!”
“Oh, don’t speak of it!” cried Miss Harrison.
While Ned ran the auto to the nearest garage and arranged to have itcared for while the boys were in the West, Jerry and Bob bought thetickets for Denver, and had the baggage checked. That is, Jerry didmost of the work, while Bob paid occasional visits to the lunch counter.
“Say, Bob,” asked Jerry at length. “Is it the girl or the grub thatyou’re fondest of?”
“Ah--er--both!” stammered the fat lad. “Those chicken pies were fine!”
There was some little time to wait after all their preparations weremade, for the Express was late, as usual, and in the interim the boysand the professor struck up quite an acquaintance with Mr. Harrisonand his daughter. Bob even insisted on buying a lot of sandwiches totake along on the train, for he said he might get hungry in the nightjourney to Denver.
“Well, it’s better than staying in town all night,” remarked Jerry,when the agent informed him that their train would soon pull in. “But Iwish we had caught the Limited.”
“Well, maybe we’ll get ahead of Noddy yet,” suggested Ned.
The Express pulled in, and a score of hungry passengers besieged prettyMiss Harrison. She waved good-bye to the boys and the professor, andthen began handing out food. Our friends got aboard, and settledthemselves comfortably for the trip to Denver. At last they wereunderway again.
Through the night rushed the Express. Jerry and his friends had takensleeping berths, and they stretched out for a long rest, as they weretired. There was some regret that Noddy was ahead of them, but thiscould not be helped.
“What do you think Noddy will do when he gets to Denver; if he arrivesahead of us?” asked Ned of Jerry, who had the berth below him.
“I don’t know. I hope he doesn’t find out where our airship is, and tryto damage that.”
“He wouldn’t dare!”
“Oh, Noddy would do anything. Still, there’s no use in worrying untilwe have to.”
“Say, will you boys get quiet and go to sleep?” begged a nervous manacross the aisle. “I’ve got to get up early.”
“Sorry we disturbed you,” spoke Jerry. “Good-night, Ned.”
“Good-night.”
“Thank goodness!” grunted the fussy man.
There was silence for a moment. Then, from the berth just forward ofJerry, came an inquiry.
“Jerry, did you see what I did with that specimen of the long-tailedscorpion?”
“Oh, mercy!” screamed a woman from somewhere
in the car. “I hate bugs!”
“You expressed it back to the college with the other things, ProfessorSnodgrass,” answered the tall lad.
“Oh, so I did. Good-night.”
“Good-night.”
“Thank goodness!” grunted the fussy man.
There was silence throughout the sleeping car. The train swung onthrough the night, making occasional stops. Then came a long run.
Suddenly there was a grinding of brakes. The train was halted sosuddenly that many of the passengers slipped down to the ends of theirberths, all crumpled up. There was a series of shrill whistles.
“What’s the matter?” cried the fussy man. “Are you boys cutting upagain? Can’t you let a man sleep in peace? I’ve got to get up early!”
“Hello! Hello!” cried the professor. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” answered Jerry. “It isn’t us, anyhow,” he added, forthe benefit of the fussy man.
Just then a brakeman came hurrying through the car.
“What’s up?” asked Jerry, poking his head through the curtains of hisberth.
“Wreck!” was the brief reply. “The Denver Limited, right ahead of us,has jumped the track. Our engineer stopped just in time, or we’d havebeen into her.”
“The Limited wrecked!” gasped Jerry. “It’s a good thing, after all,that we missed it!”
Then, from somewhere ahead, came screams and cries, and the crash ofaxes on wood.