"But I don"t see how that could be done," said Jack, when Julian hinted at this. "The deeds are in Winkleman"s name, and we have them.
How is he going to get the property, then?"
"I don"t know; but I am afraid he will get it some way."
"If he does, all we have to do is to give it up."
But this was going to be a hard job, in Julian"s estimation. He did not confess that much, but it would be disastrous to him to have to surrender those blocks of buildings. He thought of it all that day, and while he was seated in the cars, going with as much speed as steam could put forth to carry him to his destination, it still bothered him. The master mechanic was there to bid them once more a good-bye, and Julian was certain, when he turned away and hung his head down, that there were tears in his eyes.
As long as daylight lasted, Julian was busy looking out of the window as they rushed through the country; but when the lamps were lighted he began to grow sleepy.
Julian was sitting on one bench, and Jack, having turned his seat over, was sitting on the other, and, having arranged their beds, they lay down on them; but it was a long time before they fell asleep.
"Now, you see, if we had a sleeping-car we wouldn"t have to go to all this trouble," said Julian.
"Wait until you get too tired to keep your eyes open, and you won"t know whether we are in a sleeping-car or not," said Jack; "I am most ready to go off this minute."
Jack"s words came out true, for after they had given up their tickets and been furnished with a slip to put in their caps, Julian speedily lost himself in the land of dreams, and the next thing he knew Jack was shaking him by the shoulder. It was broad daylight, and the train was still whirling them onward.
"Can we get anything to eat along here?" said Julian, looking out of the window; "I am hungry."
"There is a place a few miles ahead, so I heard the conductor tell a pa.s.senger, where we will stop to get breakfast," said Jack. "That was the reason I called you. If you are anything like me, you can eat a whole pan of baked beans."
"Baked beans!" said Julian. "They have something better than that to eat on the railroad. I am going to get a breakfast that is worth the money."
There was another thing that bothered Julian, and that was, he did not have any place to wash; but Jack told him that that would be remedied when they came to their stopping-place. They rode on for a dozen miles or so, and when the whistle sounded, and the brakeman announced fifteen minutes for breakfast, they left their valises in their racks and moved up nearer the door.
"That wakes a fellow up," said Julian, as he plunged his face into a basin of water. "We have to hurry, Jack, for fifteen minutes is not a great while."
The boys" breakfast was all that could be asked, although, if the truth must be told, they were not long in eating it. Julian boarded the train first, and led the way along to their seats; but where were the valises they left there when they went out to breakfast?
"Is this our car?" said Julian, running his eyes over the pa.s.sengers.
"Why yes, this is our car," said Jack. "There is that red-faced man who sat behind you; he was sitting there when we left St. Louis. But what is the matter with you?"
"Matter enough; our valises are gone!"
"By George! So they are!"
"Say!" said the red-faced man, leaning over the back of the seat. "I saw the man who took those valises, but I supposed he was a member of your party and that you had sent him for them; therefore I did not stop him."
"What sort of a looking man was he?"
"He was a very genteel fellow, but I noticed that he toed in, and that he had a very German cast of countenance."
"I wonder if it was Claus?" said Julian.
"I don"t know what his name was, but he got the valises. Say! If I were you I would search the train, and if you find him you can make him give your property up."
"We will do it. I wonder if we are ever going to see the last of that man?"
The train had been gathering headway all the while, and was now running at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour. If Claus, or whoever stole the valises, was on the train, the boys were certain he could not jump off to escape them.
CHAPTER XI.
IN DENVER.
"Did the man find anything of value in your valises?" asked the red-faced man, as the boys turned toward the front part of the car.
"He could have bought everything I had in my valise for two dollars,"
said Jack, with a laugh. "It seems funny that he should want to put himself in danger of arrest for that"
"He got a book in mine," said Julian. "Of course I have read it before, but I wanted to read it again. Say, Jack," he continued, when the latter reached the door and was about to open it, "if the man was Claus, don"t you suppose he had an eye on that box?"
Jack released the door and leaned up heavily against it. Such an idea had never occurred to him.
"He watched us while we were in St. Louis, and when he saw us ready to come out, he got on the same train with us."
"What a lucky thing it was that we sent that box off by express!" Jack almost gasped. "Of course it was Claus, and we shall not find him on this train, either. He jumped off at that station back there."
"Let us go and see. If he is going to follow us in this way, we are going to be in a fix, the first thing you know."
Jack opened the door and went out, and Julian followed close at his heels. They went slowly through the cars, looking sharply at every man they saw on the train, but n.o.body with "a very German cast of countenance" could be seen. The next thing was to try the other end of the train. Jack led the way, as before, and when they got into their own car the red-faced man, who seemed to take an interest in their success, said, in a low tone,
"Did you find him?"
"No," replied Jack; "he must have got off at the station. We are going through the sleeping-cars, and, if he is not there, we will have to give him up."
In the next car there was no one who looked like Claus, and when they opened the door of the next car, and entered the vestibuled part of the train, they found themselves in an entry which was fitted up in the most gorgeous manner. A negro porter stood in front of the window looking out, and when he saw who the boys were, he stepped up in front of them.
"Does you want to see somebody on dis train?" he asked.
"Well, I should say we did," replied Jack. "Some one has stolen our valises, and we want to find him."
"Dat"s bad. Has you got a ticket?"
"Of course we have. Don"t you see the slips in our caps?"
"But I mean a ticket for dis part of de train. If you hasn"t got one, you can"t go in."
This was a new arrangement to Jack. The last time he travelled on the railroad it was when the hands connected with the railroad-shop gave an excursion and a picnic, and then he had no difficulty in going all over the train; but he saw the beauty of it at once.
"Then we will have to give it up," said he, turning toward the door.
"That man may be here and have our valises, and we can"t help ourselves."
"Mebbe not," said the negro. "What kind of a looking man was he? I will go over the train and look for him."