Finally seeking and finding the dead level at the exact centre of the tunnel, the hand car appeared to have come to a stop. Ralph shook himself together and proceeded for some little distance forward. He was guided by the sound of low wailings and sobs. He landed finally against the end of the hand car.
"h.e.l.lo, there!" he challenged.
"O--oh! who is it?" was blubbered out wildly. "O--oh, mister! I did not do it. Teddy Nolan gave it a shove, and away it went--boo-hoo!"
Ralph read the enigma promptly. Mischievous boys at play beyond the north end of the tunnel had been responsible for the sensational descent of the hand car. He groped about it now and discovered a tiny form clinging to the boxed-up gearing in the centre of the car.
"You stay right still where you are," ordered Ralph, as he located the handles of the car and began pumping for speed.
"Oh, yes, sir, I will."
"It"s probably too late to think of heading off or overtaking those fellows," decided Ralph, "but I"ve got to get this hand car out of harm"s way."
It was no easy work, single handed working the car up the slant, but Ralph made it finally. He found a watchman dozing in the little shanty near the entrance to the tunnel. The man was oblivious to the fact of the hand car episode, and of course the same as to the two men who had doubtless long since escaped from the tunnel and were now safe from pursuit. Ralph did not waste any time questioning him. As he was ditching the hand car the ragged urchin who had made a slide for life into the tunnel took to his heels and scampered away.
The young railroader thought next of the paymaster. Ralph made a sharp run of it on foot through the tunnel. He did not find Mr. Little where he had left him, but came across him sitting on a bench at the first flagman"s crossing, evidently patiently waiting for his return.
"Well, what luck," challenged Mr. Little.
"None at all," reported Ralph, and recited the events of the past fifteen or twenty minutes.
"That"s pretty lively going," commented Mr. Little, looking Ralph over with an approving and interested glance. "I managed to limp this far.
I"ve wrenched my foot. I don"t think it amounts to much, but it is quite painful. I"ll rest here a bit and see if it doesn"t mend."
"Shall I help you to the house, Mr. Little?" suggested Ralph.
"Maybe--a little later. I want to know about this business first--the smashed window and those burglars. Come, sit down here on the bench with me and tell me all about it, Fairbanks."
"They are not burglars," a.s.serted Ralph.
"What are they, then?"
"What I hurriedly hinted to you some time back--spies."
"Spies?"
"Yes."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I had better tell you the whole story, Mr. Little."
"That"s it, Fairbanks."
Ralph began with the queer-acting trio who had first attracted his suspicions several days previous. He did not leave out the details of his interview with the a.s.sistant superintendent at Rockton.
"Why, Fairbanks," exclaimed the paymaster, arising to his feet in positive excitement, "this is a pretty serious business."
"It strikes me that way, sir."
"If these two men were not incidental burglars, and nothing is missing at the house, they were after information."
"Instead of booty, exactly," responded Ralph, in a tone of conviction.
"And if that is true," continued the paymaster, still more wrought up, "they show a system of operation that means some big design in their mind. Give me the help of your shoulder, Fairbanks. I"ve got to get to the house and to my telephone right away."
A detour of the walled-in runway was necessary in order that they might reach Mr. Little"s home. The paymaster limped painfully. Ralph himself winced under the weight of his hand placed upon his shoulder, but he made no complaint. His right arm was growing stiff and the fingers of that hand he had noticed were covered with blood.
By the time they reached the paymaster"s home, his family had returned.
Mr. Little led Ralph at once to the library and sank into his armchair at the desk.
"Why," he exclaimed after a glance at Ralph, "you are hurt, too."
"Oh, a mere trifle," declared the young engineer with apparent carelessness.
"No, it"s something serious--worth attending to right away," insisted the paymaster, and he called to his wife, introduced Ralph, and Mrs.
Little led him out to the kitchen.
In true motherly fashion she seated him on a splint bottomed chair at the sink, got a basin of hot water and some towels, some lint and a bottle of liniment, and proceeded to attend to his needs like an expert surgeon.
Where Ralph"s hand had swept the steel rail when his a.s.sailant in the tunnel had knocked him off his footing, one arm had doubled up under him, his fingers sweeping a bunch of metal splinters. These had criss-crossed the entire back of his hand. Once mended up, Ralph was most solicitous, however, to work his arm freely, fearing a wrench or injury that might temporarily disable him from road duty.
"I"ve got the superintendent over the "phone," said Mr. Little, as Ralph reentered the library. "He"s due at an important lodge meeting, and can"t get here until after nine o"clock. See here, Fairbanks," with a glance at the injured hand which Ralph kept to his side in an awkward way, "you"d better get home and put that arm in a sling."
"I think myself I"d better have a look at it," acknowledged Ralph. "It feels pretty sore around the shoulder."
"You have a telephone at your house?" inquired the paymaster.
"Yes, sir."
"I may want to call you up. If I don"t, I feel pretty sure the superintendent will, when we have talked over affairs."
Mr. Little insisted on his hired man hitching up the family horse to drive Ralph home. Mrs. Fairbanks at a glance read pain and discomfort in her son"s face as he entered the sitting room. Ralph set her fears at rest with a hasty explanation. Then after resting a little he told her all about his adventures of the evening.
"It seems as if a railroader must take a double risk all the time," she said in a somewhat regretful tone.
"It"s a part of the business to take things as they come, mother,"
observed Ralph. "It"s a fight nowadays in every line where there is progress. The Great Northern is in the right, and will win, and it is my duty to help in the battle."
When he came to look over his injured arm Ralph found a pretty bad bruise near the shoulder. His mother declared that it would need attention for some days to come.
"By which you mean, I suppose," remarked Ralph with a smile, "that you want to coddle me off duty. Can"t be done, mother. I must stay on deck as long as I can pull a lever. Ouch!"
Ralph winced as he happened to give his arm a twist.
"You may change your mind by morning, my son," observed Mrs. Fairbanks, with a slight motherly triumph in her tone.
When Ralph arose the next day he remembered those words. His arm was so stiff he could scarcely bend it at the elbow, and his hand was badly swollen. He had just finished breakfast when there came a ring at the telephone, which Ralph answered.