Allen Chapman

“ He delivered several blows on Slavin's head and face that made Ralph shudder.
A final one sent the young pugilist reeling back against the clapboards of the house. He was blinded with blood and pain, and shouted for help in sniveling terror.
Slump kicked his feet free of the entangling horse-blankets, and darted away towards the railroad tracks.
Ralph turned in disgust from the scene. He faced Bemis, who, his curiosity awakened by the tumult, had come to the window.
"You are training with a nice crowd, Mr. Bemis," observed Ralph. "Better switch off and get back to the main tracks." ”

“ There was a lull in active duty for the veteran towerman as the noon whistles blew. Knight set the lever for a lazy switch engine taking a siding, sent the noon accommodation on her way, closed the switches after her, and gave attention to Ralph.
"Well, Fairbanks," he said, slipping his coat over one arm and changing his cap, "think you can manage?"
"I can obey orders," answered Ralph.
"That's all you have to do. The limits gives you your cue. Never forget that they are the responsible party. If they say six, make it six, if you see that it's going to bust a train of Pullmans, depot, and all. ”

“ Your knuckles are gone. See? The man who can pull a lever ever afterwards is a dandy. See?"
"I see," nodded Ralph, his lips set firmly, though his heart misgave him. "Do you mean, Mort Bemis, brute, coward, and traitor, to the honest workingman's cause, that you intend to maim me for life to satisfy a low, paltry spirit of revenge?"
"Mr. Ralph Fairbanks," declared Bemis coolly, "I--mean--just--that." ”

“ You hurry the circus manager here, and I will show up the tiger."
Simple-minded Stiggs craned his neck as if expecting to see the animal in question in Ralph's company. Then his face grew mildly reproachful.
"I didn't think you would try to hoax me, Fairbanks!" he said sorrowfully.
"I wouldn't for the world, Mr. Stiggs," said Ralph. "I have too much respect for you. Do as I say now--only hurry. Make a good bargain, for a little money won't do Mrs. Stiggs any harm. Hustle, though--for tigers are slippery customers, you know." ”

“ The headlight, the sway of the ponderous locomotive, the very sound of the long train, vague as it was, told a sure story to his practiced eye and ear.
"She must have got around the wash-out and ahead of the express," said Ralph. "Why, there's some mistake at the limits. She should have been given the long freight siding, and she has passed it, and--track 7. It's in use!"
Ralph, darting to the levers, uttered these words in a great hollow shout. ”

“ When through, he had extinguished the lights and lapsed into a weak delirium in which the two railroad men had finally found him.
"There should always be a team at the limits tower," was Knight's ultimate comment on the affair.
"Yes," the master mechanic assented--"sickness, enmity, a burned-out wire, a dozen things might come up where one man would be helpless. If it is only a messenger, we must not again leave these important points at the mercy of chance and accident."
Ralph made a note of this suggestion. He determined when the right moment came to speak a good word for Young Slavin. ”

“ The wrench with which he had armed himself was heavy, and had a very long handle. Six feet from the floor of the lower tower room, Ralph leaned as far out as he could, holding on to the ladder by one foot and one hand.
Swinging the wrench in the other hand and watching his opportunity, Ralph landed a sturdy whack directly on top of the head of the infuriated tiger.
The blow was severe enough to crack the skull of a human being. The tiger, however, only ducked its head and sneezed, but it relaxed its hold of Slavin. ”

“ There are rich men in Stanley Junction who might be induced to help him."
"Suppose you got those twenty thousand dollars bonds, Ralph," said Van suddenly. "Would you be inclined to invest?"
"I would feel it a duty, Van," responded Ralph promptly. "I believe my mother would, too. You will remember that if it was not for Mr. Gibson, we would probably be without a home to-day."
"You're a good fellow, Ralph Fairbanks!" cried Van, slapping his chum heartily on the shoulder. "I knew you'd say that. And say--I guess you're going to hear something about those bonds, soon." ”

“ Fairbanks felt certain that they would soon be in possession of the property Gasper Farrington had so long kept from them.
"I think so myself, mother," said Ralph, and then he added with enthusiasm: "Isn't it wonderful how we have prospered!"
"Yes, Ralph."
"And to think that I am to be a regularly appointed fireman," he continued.
"I can see that you are bound to be a railroad man, Ralph," answered the fond parent with a faint smile. "Well, you take after your father. I surely wish you the best of luck in your chosen calling." ”

“ He slipped on a coat and was down the ladder in a jiffy. Once out of the tower, he ran across the tracks in the direction of the depot.
Passing a switch shanty, a figure stepped from its side directly in his path. A challenging voice said quickly:
"Hold on, there, Ralph Fairbanks."
"Oh, you, Slavin?" said Ralph. "Don't delay me. I am in a hurry."
"I see you are. No need," proclaimed Slavin coolly, seizing and detaining Ralph's arm. "You're trying to overtake a friend, aren't you?" ”

“ This was John Griscom, the veteran engineer who had impressed Ralph into service the day of his first railroading experience when the yards at Acton had caught fire.
Griscom was on his way to the roundhouse to get his locomotive in trim for a regular afternoon trip. His dinner pail swung from his arm. He was such a practical old fellow that Ralph wondered at his taking an interest in anything so trifling as circus excitement.
"What's the excitement, Mr. Griscom?" he asked.
"Animal loose."
"Indeed? When did it escape?"
"That's what's worrying the circus people. They don't know. ”

“ He seized the crowbars in turn lying on the roadbed. He gave them a swing, sending them in among the long grass at the side of the embankment.
"Done quite neatly," spoke Bemis. "Now then, fellows--back the way we came. Horse and wagon all ready?"
"Yes," assented one of the tramps.
"Make it lively, then. We can get around to the switch off where that car has come to a stop, in about an hour."
"Then for the safe, and a fortune apiece!" cried Ike excitedly. "Say, Mort, the five hundred we lost on the races looks a fleabite to what we'll divide up in the next two hours!" ”

“ He came up to the lurker, grabbed his arm, and still at full momentum ran him twenty feet along from the window. He did not wish to startle the inmates of the house. The astonished boy he had seized Ralph landed against the side of a summerhouse. He never let go of him. His prisoner wriggled in his grasp.
"Hey, what's this?" he began.
"Who are you and what are you up to?" challenged Ralph sharply. "What!" he cried, loosening his hold in stupefaction. "Van--Van Sherwin!"
"Hello!" muttered his companion, now faced squarely about, and staring in turn. "It is you, Fairbanks? ”

“ Ralph was momentarily bewildered. The quartette were about to separate the last car from the train. Why?
Ike and his helper got their crowbars each under a wheel. They budged the car, and got it fairly started. Then they yelled to the other two, and, dropping the crowbars, joined them in pushing the car along by sheer shoulder strength.
Ralph stared after them in doubt and concern. Then as they took a switch with rusted rails, he clearly saw their object.
The wheels of the detached freight car, striking a sharp slant, ran away from the persons who had started it up. ”

“ Perhaps my clear head, and willing hands, and genuine love for the business, fit me to be just the person to fill the gap when these unavoidable troubles come along. Besides, if someone does not go through the apprenticeship, where will the service be when Jack Knight and the other old hands have retired? I want to be, as I expect to be, a thorough railroad man," pursued Ralph with resolution, "and first-class, or nothing. In order to do so, I must know every step of the service, from roundhouse to train dispatcher's desk. I have started up the ladder. I can't afford to slip one rung. ”

“ He knew that Ralph must have a graphic story to relate.
"Mr. Fairbanks," he said anxiously, as the two terminated their conversation, "I hope you will give me a brief interview."
"Really, I couldn't think of it," answered Ralph, with a genial smile. "A tiger escaped from the circus and hid in the switch tower. That's about the facts of the case."
"You're a deal too modest," snorted old Jack. "You see, he's a stickler for railroad ethics," he explained to the reporter. "Well, that's all right in a young man, for the company usually want to give out their own reports to the press. ”

“ Stiggs," called down Ralph, "are these people going to pay you for your trouble?"
"Oh, sure," replied Stiggs animatedly. "See there--they gave me a whole package of tobacco."
Ralph regarded the simple-minded railroad pensioner pityingly. He fixed a censorious glance on the circus manager. The latter flushed and looked embarrassed.
"He said that was all he wanted," stammered the man.
"Oh, well, that won't do at all," declared Ralph. "Your animal has done some damage--in fact, came very nearly doing a great deal of damage. Besides that, Mr. Stiggs is a poor man. ”

“ I will run back and save what I can in the house."
"No, no," demurred the old woman quickly. "There is nothing worth saving. The furniture is old and insured. So is the house. Oh, I am so thankful to you!" she cried fervently.
"That is all right," said Ralph. "I am sorry to see you homeless."
"How did the fire come?" questioned the woman. "From Gasper Farrington's new railroad?"
"Yes," said Ralph, "some oil cars on the switch spur took fire, and exploded."
"Then he is responsible!" cried the woman eagerly. "And his factory is burning up, isn't it? ”

“ The bar was wrenched from his grasp by his formidable brute foe. He saw it twisted up like a bit of flexible licorice. The tiger made a spring. Its bristling form filled the doorway almost as quickly as Ralph had sped through it. ”

“ Davis.
"The poor lady has suffered a great deal of trouble," she remarked. "Her mind was none too strong. It is wicked to torture her further, Ralph, can we do nothing to force Mr. Farrington to tell where she is?"
"He would deny having ever heard of Mrs. Davis," asserted Ralph convincedly. "Of course, if any mishap or failure comes to Van, and he doesn't report soon, I will see a lawyer and try and compel Farrington to some action. He is a shrewd, cruel man, though, mother. I am afraid our only hope is in Van, or the recapture of Slump and Bemis." ”

“ Ralph flushed with emotion. He could not speak.
"Good!" commented blunt old Jack. "The president is a brick. You're another one, Mr. Superintendent, and you don't lose, let me tell you, by warming up a thrifty employee's heart by giving him the real stuff, right from the shoulder, when he deserves it."
The superintendent smiled and bowed, and went on his way.
"Stiff as a poker, looks as if his only thought was to catch a chance to fire someone," observed Knight, watching the prim, dignified official crossing the tracks below. "Look at him--cold as an iceberg. ”

“ The circus manager knew this young man to be a reporter on the local paper, in the quest of a sensation. He could not risk an effective free advertisement by an exhibition of niggardliness on the part of the proprietors of the circus.
"Sure," he said importantly; "our people spare no expense in catering to the great show-going public. They spent six thousand dollars in caging the famous Calcutta Tom, the wonder of the animal universe, and--
"You went over all that this noon," said Ralph, in a business-like way. "What about the fifty dollars?"
"Have you got the tiger?" ”

“ Mort Bemis, poor and mean, or Gasper Farrington, rich and mean. Which carries out what mother has often said: 'Money is not everything.'"
Ralph dismissed his enemies from his mind, whistling cheerily at his tasks. He thought a good deal about Mrs. Davis. He was anxious to get through work and hurry home, to learn if she had called on his mother, and if she had imparted to Mrs. Fairbanks any explanation of her strange acquaintance with his dead father, and of her still more strange fear of Gasper Farrington.
From five until seven o'clock the tracks were kept pretty full. ”

“ As a locomotive backing three express cars passed the tower and took the sheds tracks, old Jack observed:
"You'll do. I'll drop in later. Your shift runs till 9 P.M. Then Doc Bortree will relieve you."
"All right, Mr. Knight. And thanks for all your trouble in teaching me," said Ralph.
The old towerman disappeared down the trap ladder. Ralph did not sit down. He was alone now, and it would take time and experience to dissipate the natural tension of anxiety he felt.
"It's a big responsibility for a boy," he spoke musingly. ”

“ He waved his hand to Griscom in adieu, and looked all about him.
South Dover was a switching and make-up point for the accommodation of Dover freight transfers. It had a dozen sidings and spurs. Freight coming into Dover on a north destination was switched here, and made ready to be taken up by through trains.
A man on a track bicycle had just set some lights. He whirled away towards Dover as Ralph stood looking about him.
No other human being was in sight. On a near siding stood half a dozen freight cars. Over on another track, near the water tower, stood a dead freight dummy. ”

“ He said to me, though, that if any treachery or influence got you the jacket in this position, if he had to fire every other man along the line, he'd find a place for you in the train dispatcher's office at double pay."
"He is a good friend," said Ralph, with emotion--"and you, too, for giving me the warning, Mr. Knight. Knowing what I do, though, I think I can take care of myself. ”

“ Davis a fair living.
"And he never paid me a cent," she sobbed out. "Last Saturday my last cent went for flour. Yesterday I used up the last bread in the house. I haven't eaten a morsel this blessed day. The man who owns the house threatens to turn me out if I don't pay the six dollars rent by six o'clock to-night, and all for that rascally, thieving Bemis! A full-grown man, and robbing and cheating a poor lone widow like me!"
Ralph glanced up and down the rails. Then he glided over to the clothes closet at the end of the tower room and secured his dinner pail. ”