Jalap Coombs

“ As Alex and the oiler ran forward the Indian sat on his horse like a statue, holding the lariat taut.
The oiler reached the prisoner first, revolver in hand.
“Get up, you!” he ordered. Sullenly the man obeyed. Removing a handkerchief from about his neck, the oiler gave it to Alex, who securely bound the man’s hands behind him. Throwing off the lassoo, they turned toward the Indian. With some wonder, they saw he was carefully examining the hoofs of the pony he was leading. Concluding the inspection with a grunt, he came forward, winding up the rope, and halted before them. ”

“ Then determinedly gripping himself he reached forward, grasped the key, and sent,
“Do you know—”
“Orr! Orr! That’s he!” cried Alex.
With a shout the entire court-room was on its feet, women waving their handkerchiefs and men cheering wildly again and again. And equally disregarding the etiquette of the court, Alex tore the handkerchief from his eyes, and leaping down beside Jack, fell to shaking his hand as though he would never let go, while Jack vainly sought to express himself, and to keep back the tears that came to his eyes. ”

“ From the prisoner came a hissing gasp. As Alex turned upon him with a sharp ejaculation of understanding, however, the man assumed an indifferent air, and strode on nonchalantly.
“What do you want?” he demanded insolently of the superintendent. “Can’t a man pull off a—a little joke without these idiots of yours going out of their heads? It was nothing more than a bit of fun me and my mate was having,” he affirmed boldly.
Superintendent Finnan smiled sardonically. “That is what the K. & Z. call it, eh?”
Alex, still with a hand on the prisoner’s arm, felt him start. ”

“ It was the chief, and the words came sharply and angrily.
“The wire was cut both sides of the village,” shot back Jack. “I think it was Raub and Simpson’s work. And two roughs chased me out of the office with a revolver. Hired by them, I suppose. I’ve fixed up an office in the barn, and am sending for a mile through a wire fence, to bridge the cut. Orr.”
For a moment the chief was too amazed to reply. Then rapidly he said: “Orr, you are a trump! But come ahead with that report now. And make the best time you ever made in your life. I’ll copy you myself.” ”

“ Later in the afternoon Alex was called to the wire by Jack, at Hammerton. “Say, what is all this you’ve gone and done, Al?” clicked Jack enthusiastically. “The afternoon papers here have a whole column story! ‘Please attach statement at once!’”
“Oh, it looks much bigger than it really was,” responded Alex modestly. “And anyway, it came about 67 through my own carelessness. I ought to have been reprimanded, instead of patted on the back.”
“Nonsense! Those hold-up men would have got you, anyway. ”

“ Teena asked.
“We left them in the bay,” Roy, the portly man, said.
“I guess so,” Eddie said, smiling. “No one ever catches any fish out over the sand bar. The fish hang around in the deeper water.”
“Well, we don’t care much for fish, anyway,” Roy said.
“Then why do you go fishing?” Teena wondered.
“We do it to get away from kids who ask silly questions,” Simms said curtly. “Now beat it and leave us alone.” He tossed the two fishing poles onto the dock and climbed out of the boat. ”

“ Alex laughed uncomfortably.
“Lie down,” the man directed. “Or, hold on! Let’s see first if you have any knives about you.” Objection would have been fruitless, and Alex of his own accord surrendered his pocket-knife.
“Now lie down.”
With what grace he could, Alex complied. Making a slip-loop in the center of the lariat, the cowman passed it over one of the boy’s ankles, and made the holding-knot as firm as he could draw it. Then passing the two ends of the rope inside one of the lower legs of the cot, he ran them across the room and secured them to his own bed. ”

“ Finnan? How am I to go?”
“You can ride a horse?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Elder will have a pony here for you by the time you are ready. And you had better take an extra blanket with you,” advised the superintendent as he turned away. “You will be living in a tent, you know.”
Half an hour later Alex, mounted on a spirited little cow-pony, with a few necessities in a sweater, strapped to the saddle, and a blanket over his shoulder, army fashion, waved a good-by to Jack and Wilson, and was off over the prairie at a lope, following the telegraph poles. ”

“ Hold-up apparently planned between Broken Gap and Hadley Corners. Probably on one of the grades of the Little Timbers. Gather a posse quickly, and make sure of capturing them. Report at HC.
“ (Signed) Jordan, X.”
66
As “B” gave his “OK” with the stumbling hesitation of blank astonishment, the line again opened. And at the first word the intense strain broke, and Alex sank forward over the table with a convulsive sob.
“Grand, my boy! Grand!” clicked the sounder. It was his father, at Bixton. He had overheard it all.
“Grand! That’s the word,” came the despatcher. ”

“ Eddie said. “Teena and I saw him out fishing a couple of times with a fat man called Roy Benton. Then I thought I saw Mr. Simms last week on the college campus.”
111
“Well, we have nearly two thousand enrolled for summer courses, you know,” his father explained. “Many of them are adults. Teachers taking extra credit courses, or studying for their masters’ degrees. I imagine a lot of them go fishing on their days off. Any reason I should know this Simms?” ”

“ I’m getting jealous.”
“I can assure you you needn’t be. It’s lots more fun reading about them. Wait and see,” said Alex.
Jack was soon to have his opportunity of “seeing,” though a more disagreeable experience was first to come.
68 V AN ELECTRICAL DETECTIVE
“Orr, Mr. Black wants you.”
Jack, who was passing through the business department of the Hammerton office, toward the stair which led to the operating room, promptly turned aside and entered the manager’s private room.
“Good morning, Jack. Sit down.
“My boy,” began the manager, “can you keep a secret?” ”

“ The loop was too large, the cowman missed it, and as the Indian pulled up in a cloud of dust, he whipped in the slack, and the noose tightened fairly about the renegade’s waist. An instant after, however, the second pony, plunging ahead of the Indian’s, threw the rider forward, slackening the lariat. In a twinkle the cowman had loosened the noose, and 321 was wriggling out of it. He had freed one foot before the Indian had recovered himself. ”

“ Five minutes later the whistler paused in the middle of a note and spun sharply about. The color left his bronzed face. A mile to the rear, on the other side of the fence, a horseman was following him at full speed. A glance at the white-faced pony told it was Munson, and turning, Alex was off, running with every ounce of his remaining energy.
The thud of the hoofs gained rapidly.
Closer they came, and Alex headed off farther from the fence. Perhaps he’ll be afraid to put the horse at the wire, he thought hopefully. He glanced back. The cowman was wheeling off for the jump. ”

“ Charles Jacomb's assiduous, earnest, uncomplaining labour in that big parish had at the very outset won for him her great regard. He did not understand how he was destroying her childlike faith in him by his saturnine little jokes.
'Mr. Jacomb,' said Nan, timidly, 'I should be so greatly obliged to you if you could find out something more for me about those sisterhoods. They must do a great deal of good. And their dress is such a protection; they can go anywhere without fear of rudeness or insult. ”

“ It was a simple piece of murderous revenge against one man, the section-foreman. And I helped spoil it.”
“Good. That’s all I want to know,” said the cowboy with decision. “Not that I care one way or the other about the affair itself. It shows you are a dangerous man to leave around loose. I’ll just take you along with me. Come on!”
“Come? Where?” said Alex, holding back in alarm.
“Never mind! Just come!” Securing a new hold on Alex’s arms, the speaker and the Italian dragged him with them back down the gorge. ”

“ A moment later the superintendent appeared. “Why, let me see,” he exclaimed on seeing Alex. “Are you not the lad I helped fix up an emergency battery at Watson Siding last spring? And who has been responsible for two or three other similar clever affairs?
“My boy, young as you are, my name’s not Cameron if I don’t see that you have a try-out at the division office before the month is out,” he announced decisively. “We need men there with a head like yours.” ”

“ The March Hare, who was shivering beside him, sobbed with joy [Pg 25] when he saw one small leg draw itself up, and an arm move a few inches, at their owner's will.
"Top-peen! Top-peen!" he cried. "You are not died!"
Toppin stared at his friend over a tea-spoon. He was sipping hot spirits-and-water, and wondering what it was. But Jack turned upon the March Hare.
"We shall be standing you head downwards in a minute, Hare. You're next door to drowning yourself. Get up, and come with me!" ”

“ Wallace looked dubious. “I've scraped along without one so far. You see, although I'm living now in bachelor apartment, I travel a good deal, and I've learned to do pretty well for myself. To tell the truth, I'm afraid you wouldn't have enough to occupy you.”
“I think I could make myself useful,” urged Coombs “I'm a pretty good cook too—nothing fancy, you know; but I could please you, I'm sure. I could also,” with that half-impudent (illegible text) of his eyes, “wear any half-worn clothes you have. We are enough of a size to be twins.”
“I've noticed that too,” said Ramsey. ”

“ It may come in useful some day,” Alex added. “Good day.”
“That’s just what I was thinking myself, Al,” declared Jack. “We must practice it.”
Following the disappearance of the out-going passengers, a group of newcomers appeared at the farther car door.
“Here comes someone I know,” Jack observed. “The big man in front—Burke, a real estate agent.”
The tall, heavy-featured man passed them and took the seat immediately behind.
“He didn’t speak to you,” commented Alex.
“I’m glad he didn’t. He’s no friend; just knew him, I meant,” responded Jack. “He is a proper 202 shark, they say. ”

“ Jalap, which has taken its name from the town of Jalapa, whence it was once forwarded to Vera Cruz, grows naturally on all the mountains of the Terre-Tempérée. Unfortunately, the Indians destroy the plant by taking away all its turbercles, and the time is not far distant when this drug, so much used in Europe, will, like quinine, become very scarce.
I drew close to the precipice, and perceived l'Encuerado more than twenty feet below me crawling, with all the skill of a monkey, over an almost smooth surface. I ordered him to come up to us again ”

“ At this there was a general laugh, and glancing about for an explanation, Alex saw Elder, Superintendent Finnan’s personal clerk and aide de camp, hastily remove a cartridge-belt and revolver from his waist and toss them into his bunk.
Elder was the one unpopular man in the telegraph-car. An undersized, aggressively important individual, just out of college, and affecting a stylish khaki hunting-suit, natty leather leggings and a broad-brimmed hat, he bore himself generally as though second in importance only to the construction superintendent himself. ”

“ Teena gasped as they reached the base of the lighthouse. “There seem to be more steps every time we climb it.”
Eddie smiled and shifted the lunch sack to his other hand. “You’re getting old, Teena,” he teased.
“Welcome aboard, mates,” a deep, kindly voice spoke from nearby.
They turned and saw Captain Daniels standing outside the door of his living quarters, a tiny three-room cottage located about fifty feet from the base of the lighthouse.
“Oh, hello, Captain Daniels,” Teena called. “Sure glad you’re home.”
“Home?” the former sea captain said, smiling. “A lightkeeper is always home.” ”

“ A difficult thing that, to hit the precise medium between too lengthy a wait and too short. He could not remember exactly what Dunbar had said as to that.
"Do you think I've waited long enough Jabez?" he asked.
"Well, if you'd forgotten something, sir," said Jabez, "you'd want to be sure of finding it before the house is sleeping. They don't bolt this door, sir," he continued in a whisper, "because Mr. Crispin don't like to be bolted in. His fancy. After half-past one or so one of they Japs is around. ”

“ Let's race for the best boxes!" said Armitage. "We shall be in the water long before the other slow-coaches have reached the baths. One, two, three—off!"
Now Toppin was one of the group behind, and being naturally fleet of foot, a race was a thing he could not resist. So he took to his heels and pursued them.
Jack Brady and the March Hare were walking with Toppin, and if it had been practicable, the Hare would have accompanied him in the race, but if there was one thing of which the March Hare was incapable, it was running. Jack, who had found this out, checked him from making the attempt. ”

“ I don't. Shall we ask Anderson's opinion?"
"No, Jack, I beg and implore you to keep it dark. Of course I should never do it again. But Simmons and Bacon have sworn not to bring me into the affair. Toppin knows it was his own fault, and is a bit ashamed of it. There's only the March Hare besides yourself. I thought perhaps you might persuade him—"
A shadow darkened the open entrance. There was a stamping on the door-mat, and then Mr. Anderson appeared on the stairs. Jack advanced to meet him.
"Finished your bath, Brady?"
"Yes, sir. I mean, I haven't had one. All [Pg 28] the rest have. ”