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“ Summerfield noted the glances. "Mr. Harrington," said he, "my friend Mr. Lewis Ruthven."
"No relation of Emmet K. Ruthven, I suppose?" queried Harrington.
"Emmet K. happens to be his father," said the agent.
At once the traveling agent thawed. Emmet K. Ruthven was a name to conjure with.
"The dickens!" gasped Harrington, holding out his hand. "This is a pleasure, believe me. Your father, sir, has built more railroads in the West than any other contractor in the country." ”

“ I have followed those two packages, in all their changes and adventures, from the time the boots were handed over the counter of the express office in Burt City. How blamed simple it all is, when one puts it down in black and white! And yet, what a brain twister when one hasn't got the key to the mystery. ”

“ At one side of the soiled and dusty wrapper Ruthven found the penciled cross which he had placed on the package for purposes of identification.
"What's on your mind?" asked Martin.
"Oh, nothing much," answered Ruthven wearily. "I've had a look inside the package when it weighed the heaviest, and all I've found is the footgear. This is enough to give a man a brain storm."
"Don't pester your mind with things you can't understand," advised the cowboy. "That's the shortest cut you can take to the crazy house. ”

“ From what I can learn, we're all to ride with Durfee and Harrington on a light engine to Bluffton Seventeen is to be held there until we can overhaul her."
Long mopped his dripping, astounded face with a red bandanna handkerchief. "Well, I'll be ding-busted!" he exclaimed. "This comes mighty near bein' the limit. Huh!" he added, "here's a locomotive backin' up with a caboose. Wonder if that's our special?"
"Must be," said Perkins. "It's the old switch bumper, Sixty-seven. The way car will help to balance her, and keep her from running her nose into the roadbed." ”

“ Leaping out of bed, he opened the door and found the detective in the hall.
"Dress as quickly as you can," said the detective, "and come down. We've got our man trapped. We may not need you, but there's a man with Morrison, and I think it's just as well to have you along."
Hackett paused for no further words, and Ruthven, in some excitement, began hustling into his clothes. When he got downstairs he found the detective and another man on the porch, waiting.
"Jenkins, this is Mr. Ruthven," said the detective. "We can depend on him." ”

“ His heart sank as he thought of McKenzie and Lois. When Weasel Morrison talked against McKenzie, the Honorable Arlo McKenzie, member of the legislature, the junior partner in the firm of Long & McKenzie, what would happen? Ruthven, who had a big heart and was kindly and considerate to all, felt a clammy hand gripping his brain. How would Summerfield behave toward Lois, when the dread truth came out?
"I think Joe is a real man," Ruthven reflected, "and I'm sure that he'll act like a man. He won't give up the girl, no matter what Weasel Morrison says. What a scoundrel Morrison is, anyhow! ”

“ But we were planning only temporary deception; after the tools were out of our hands and in Morrison's again, we had already made our preparations to turn on the scheming crook. Lois," he admonished, "if you would not break my heart, be brave."
She flung up her head, tears sparkling on her cheeks. "I will, father," she answered. "Go on."
"In my haste to get rid of the burglar kit," proceeded McKenzie, "I had left out a jimmy, a special contrivance of Morrison's. It was necessary to get it into the counterfeit package. ”

“ Ruthven then went out. "I don't like the way that feller acts," went on Grandy to the girl, who had finished waiting on the customer and had walked toward the front door.
"You're foolish, pop," she answered. "I haven't ever seen a finer-looking young man than he is. What did he say his name was?"
"He didn't say. All he told me was that Tom Barton was his uncle. Anybody could drop in here and say that. Now I'll put that package on the scales jest to satisfy myself." ”

“ How were the packages exchanged?"
"I did that," spoke up Lois wearily. "At three o'clock I called at the express office and walked behind the counter. Joe did not see me for a few minutes, as he was busy at his desk. I had a satchel which I was taking to father at the store. Inside the satchel was the package of—of burglar tools. I took out the eight-pound package and left it in place of the six-pound package, which I put in the satchel, and—and then I——"
She dropped her face suddenly in her hands, stifling a sob. Her father gazed at her with sadness not unmixed with pride. ”

“ In five minutes the two partners came into the express office. "What's to pay, Joe?" wheezed Long, wiping the perspiration from his fat face as he leaned over the counter. "Think we're shippin' clockwork bombs by express, same as that holdup man done a spell ago and blowed up a car and wrecked a train? ”

“ Durfee and Harrington had just appeared, redfaced and excited, and were running toward the way car. Harrington had found a linen duster somewhere, and a hat. The linen duster was too big for him, and he had rolled back the sleeves. The hat was a soft felt, and he had pulled it down over his skullcap.
"Get on, you fellows!" Harrington yelled, looking toward Ruthven, Long, and Summerfield. "We can't let any grass grow under us—we've got to hustle." ”

“ Load it up, Al," he added.
"Wait a minute!" interposed Ruthven. "Phone The Emporium and ask Long or McKenzie to come down here. We'll have one of the shippers open the package and show us what it is that shifts its weight from six to eight and nine pounds and then back to six again. Hanged if I can rest till we know more."
"I can tell you what it is," said the driver; "imagination, that's what. You'll have to hurry—I don't want to miss Seventeen."
"You've got a whole hour, even if Seventeen is on time," returned Summerfield, and went to the phone. ”

“ Ruthven nodded. "Don't call the fellow my friend, though," said he. "If he had been the man I thought he was he wouldn't have been that."
"Well, that chap is missing from among the passengers. I've gone through the train and he isn't aboard."
Ruthven started with surprise. "That means, then," he returned, "that he was the one who made the attempt on the express car!"
"I don't see how else you can figure it. His ticket read to Dry Wash, and he disappeared between Bluffton and Okaday. Why did he get off? Take it from me, he boarded Seventeen with the idea of rifling the messenger's safe. ”

“ His daughter is a fine girl and a friend of some very good friends of mine. I wish you'd reconsider, Hackett, and not get off at Burt City with this rascally prisoner of yours."
"That's all right, Ruthven," said the detective. "It's a good thing to let Weasel Morrison say to McKenzie's face whatever he's got to say about him. Lies can be nailed in that way quicker than in any other. If McKenzie sent that anonymous letter to Jenkins, tipping off the Weasel's game, then he must have had some secret source of information. ”

“ Ruthven looked around to see McKenzie, clad in a dressing gown and slippers and his gaunt face like death itself, standing there. His burning eyes were fixed upon the caller.
"Father, go back!" begged the girl. "You are not fit to be on your feet." She turned appealingly to Ruthven. "You see?" she added.
Her father, however, pushed resolutely into the room and came slowly toward a chair. "Mr. Ruthven, Lois," said he, in a tone which he strove hard to command, "is a friend. ”

“ While I was at the station, waiting for the train to come, Reeves had weighed the package, and found that it now tipped the scales at ten pounds. I heard him excitedly telling Summerfield about it over the phone. From the station, I went directly home with Lois, for I was badly shaken and needed her comfort and counsel. All we could do, after that, was to wait; yes, and worry. Now you come and tell me that Morrison has been captured, and that he is to be here this afternoon and lay bare my prison record. ”

“ MAYBE them boots gather moisture from the air," suggested the driver, with mock gravity, "and then maybe they dry out again. That's the how of it, Joe. They took on three pounds o' dampness last night, and then shed it this morning."
"If you'd dry up a little yourself, I'd like it mighty well!" growled Summerfield.
"Maybe they're seven-league boots, and full of hocus-pocus," went on Reeves, moving toward the front door with the package.
"There'll be a massacre around here if you don't quit!" yelled the agent darkly. ”

“ Martin got the hitching straps loose, and then, the instant they were freed and before he could get into the wagon, the team jumped for the middle of the street. They did not go far, however, before Ruthven stopped them by main strength. He did it so well that Martin complimented him in glowing terms and scrambled into the seat beside him.
"You'd nacherly think," said Martin, taking the reins, "that fifteen mile of runnin' from the ranch to town would smooth the kinks out of them; but no, they're just beginnin' to feel their oats. ”

“ Miss Arnold seems to have the idea that the rugged life of the ranch will make a barbarian out of me unless I have the, refining influences of feminine society.
"Bless her heart, Summerfield," he continued; "so long as I have such beautiful memories of her to cheer my mortal existence, nothing else is necessary to keep me in the straight and narrow way. But she has spoken, and I obey. It—it will give me a chance to write more frequently. I wonder if you get that?"
Impulsively Summerfield reached across the table and caught Ruthven's hand in a firm and understanding grip. ”

“ In the first place, the man might not be Weasel Morrison at all. Ruthven had a keen eye and a good memory for faces, but he had had only a quick look at one face in a car whose windows furnished a broadside of faces. ”

“ I got it for him from Thomas Barton. Do you, can you, understand the position I was in?" asked McKenzie passionately.
"It almost killed me," he continued. "But I had on hand a kit of burglar tools, the mere possession of which was a crime. I counseled with Lois. We must get rid of them. How? All we could think of that would in any way spare Wiley and myself was by sending them along to Dry Wash. Later we could warn the law officers and have them guard against Morrison's prospective criminal operations. ”

“ Gets worried about package in express car. Goes forward, mingling with other passengers who have got off the train during the wait. While messenger is busy, exchanges packages through open door of car, leaving six-pound parcel in place of the one weighing ten pounds. When extra arrives, package in express car is found to weigh six pounds, and to contain tan bluchers for Barton. Morrison sees and recognizes Ruthven from car window. Watches while Ruthven jumps on the train. Knows he is after him, and that he must get rid of burglar tools. ”

“ Now he had made up his mind to defer calling at Barton's upper ranch and to return by first train to Burt City. He was urged to this by Weasel Morrison's dark threats against McKenzie. To guard against any possibility of trouble, Ruthven thought it better to acquaint the junior partner with what had happened.
"I'm blest if I know what the Weasel has at the back of his head," said the detective, dropping into Ruthven's room while he was waiting for his clothes. "He is crazy mad at this man McKenzie, and he'll do him dirt if he can. ”

“ I don't care to be famous, or infamous, just because my father happens to be well known. What I want to do is to make my own way and not pose as the family pet. At Uncle Tom's lower ranch I'm pulling down fifty dollars a month, and Hoover, the foreman, says I earn every cent of it. Emmet K. isn't the fellow to push a man ahead just because the man happens to be his son. ”

“ Next he looked at the package, blew the dust off the scales, and weighed the shipment very carefully for himself. He peered at the hilarious Reeves in astonishment.
"I weighed that package an hour or two ago," he declared, "and it weighed eight pounds!"
"Yes, you did!" cried Reeves. "Trouble with you is, Joe, Lois McKenzie has got you buffaloed. You don't know whether you're afoot or horseback, right side up or standin' on your head. Who buys from Geigel, huh? Who——"
The door opened, and some one walked in. A cheery voice called: "Howdy, Summerfield!" ”

“ Go to McKenzie and tell him I'm on his trail. That's all. Warn him to pull out—to drop everything and pull out—before I get there."
"You can't hurt Arlo McKenzie," said Jenkins.
"We'll see," answered Morrison. "Come on—get me away from here. I want to get into some dry clothes."
He moved away, drawing Jenkins along with him. The detective would also have left the place had Ruthven not pointed to the bushes.
"There's a satchel in there," remarked Ruthven. "Morrison threw it off the speeder as we neared the bridge. ”

“ The package weighed six pounds!
The agent staggered to the water cooler and took a drink. Then he unbuttoned his collar. "I've got to have air," he gasped.
"I don't see why," said Al. "You're fuller of hot air than a balloon. Say, you make me tired. Is this all for Seventeen? Gi'me that!" he added, holding out his hand for the Barton package. "It's goin' west, and I want to tote it away from this hang-out before Joe gets any worse'n he is."
Ruthven was examining the package, his eyes wide with amazement. "Look here, Summerfield!" he called. The agent walked over to him. "See that?" ”

“ It was only recently that McKenzie had bought a share in the business, and Long began explaining to him about these particular bluchers.
"They're for Tom Barton, at Dry Wash," he said. "For the last six years, regular, Barton has sent to The Emporium for a pair of them oak-sole, laced-knee contraptions. Funny how a man's got to have the same thing right along when he once gets stuck on it. Barton's got a ranch down here in charge of a foreman named Hoover, but he stays mostly up at Dry Wash himself. Him and his men are good customers of ours, Arlo, and we got to treat him white. ”

“ With only half the old pair left, Barton's got to have the new ones. Have they come?"
"There's a package here, and I allow it's just about the size to hold a pair of boots. But it's awful heavy, William."
"Light or heavy, I got to put right back with that package. Put a bag o' flour, a side o' bacon, and a case o' termaters in the wagon. I'll get the package and what mail there is, and hustle to run out the return trail."
"Why don't you drive a team that's got some respect for you, William?" ”

“ Truly, we weave a tangled web when we start to deceive. And I was not yet through with my tinkering with the Barton shipment. About ten o'clock I received a telegram—this;" and he handed the yellow slip to Ruthven. The latter read:
Inclose full canister with goods. ⁠M.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"For 'canister' read 'revolver,'" said McKenzie. "The term is used occasionally by crooks. In this instance, of course, Morrison used it to disguise the other word. He was sending the message to a storekeeper; hence, to others not informed, it must have seemed innocent enough. ”

“ The package weighed more than six pounds—he knew it! Turning the package end-up, he looked for the pencil mark. It was there! So Durfee and Harrington had made a mistake, after all. The Barton parcel was overweight, just as when it had left Burt City! ”

“ The idea was to let Morrison carry the package containing the boots, meet Wiley on his way from Dry Wash to the ranch, and exchange one package for the other. If Morrison were caught by the detective with a parcel containing a pair of boots, it would be infinitely better for him than being caught with the burglar kit. As for Wiley, since the package was addressed to Barton—whose integrity could not be questioned—if he was taken with the package of tools, he had a chance to escape suspicion. ”

“ Collected two bits from your father-in-law elect, Arlo McKenzie. Why?"
"It weighs eight pounds, son. Go into the storeroom and get it and see for yourself."
Reeves looked startled. Then he rushed for the storeroom and got the Barton package from a shelf by the window. Summerfield leaned against the counter with a complacent smile while Al laid the package on the scales. "Say, Joe," the driver whooped, "what you givin' me?"
"Eight pounds, eh?" queried Summerfield. ”

“ But how in blazes did they come to be on the bridge with that hand car and speeder?"
"It's all right," explained Jenkins. "The smaller chap is a notorious crook, and this other man here is after him. The man is Weasel Morrison, and he did that job at Monte Carlo. We had him and a pal bottled up at Jennifer's boarding house in Dry Wash, and Morrison slipped away from us. Ruthven followed him." ”