IV
THE OTHER TINKER ALSO MAKES GOOD
One evening shortly after the beginning of the summer holidays Alex waschatting over the wire with Jack, who was now a full-fledged operator atHammerton, when the despatching office abruptly broke in and calledBixton.
"I, I, BX," answered Alex.
"Is young Ward there?" clicked the instruments.
"This is 'young Ward.'"
"Say, youngster, would you care to do a couple of weeks' vacation reliefat Hadley Corners, beginning next Monday? The man there wants to get offbadly, and we have no one here we can send."
"Most certainly I would," replied Alex, promptly.
"OK then. We'll count on you. I'll send a pass down to-night," said thedespatcher.
Thus it came about that the following Monday morning Alex alighted at thelittle crossing depot known as Hadley Corners, and for the second timefound himself, if but temporarily, in full charge of a station.
Entering the little telegraph room, he announced his arrival to thedespatcher at "X."
"Good," clicked the sounder. "And now, look here, Ward. Don't do anytinkering with the instruments while you are there. We don't want arepetition of the mix-up you got the wire into at BX through your jokinga month or so ago."
The joke referred to was a hoax Alex had played on his father theprevious First of April. Through an arrangement of wires beneath theoffice table, by which with his foot, unseen, he could make theinstruments above click as though worked from another office, he hadcalled his father to the wire, and posing as the despatcher, had severelyreprimanded him for some imaginary mistake in a train order. It had been"all kinds of a lark," until, unfortunately, the connections becamedisarranged, tying up the entire eastern end of the line for half anhour.
At the recollection of the escapade Alex laughed heartily. Neverthelesshe promptly replied, "OK, sir. I won't touch a thing." And the despatchersaying nothing more, he began calling Bixton.
"I'm here, Dad," he announced when his father answered; "and it's a finelittle place. The woods come almost up to the back of the station, andthe nearest house is a mile away. That's where I am to board. The otheroperator arranged it. It's going to be a regular little picnic."
"That's nice," ticked the sounder. "I thought you would like it." Andthen Alex again laughed as his father added, "And now, no tinkering withthings, my boy! Remember!"
"OK, Dad. I won't touch a thing. Good-by."
It was the following Monday that the "all agents" message was sent overthe wire announcing an unusually heavy shipment of gold from the BlackHill Mines, and warning station agents and operators to look out for andreport any suspicious persons about their stations. But these messages,usually following hold-ups on other roads, had been intermittently sentfor years, and nothing had happened on the Middle Western; and in histurn Alex gave his "OK," and thought nothing more about it.
A half hour later he sat at the open window of the telegraph room, deeplyinterested in the July St. Nicholas--so interested, indeed, that he didnot hear soft footfalls on the station platform without. The man camequietly nearer--reached the window. Then suddenly Alex glanced up, themagazine fell to the floor, and with a loud cry he sprang to his feet.
He was gazing into the barrel of a revolver, and behind it was ablack-masked face!
Hold-up men! The gold train!
Wildly Alex turned toward the telegraph-key. But the man leaned quicklyforward, seized him by the shoulder, and threw him heavily back into thechair. "You move again and I'll shoot!" he said sharply, and Alex sankback helpless.
Yes; hold-up men. And he had betrayed his trust. Betrayed his trust! Thatthought stood out even above his terror. Oh, if he had only kept alookout!
HE WAS GAZING INTO THE BARREL OF A REVOLVER.]
The man, who had said nothing further, presently withdrew the revolverand took a comfortable seat on the window-ledge. As the silencecontinued, Alex began somewhat to recover himself, and fell to wonderingwhat the other bandits were doing while this man was watching him.
A few moments later the answer came in a single upward click from theinstruments.
"There--wires cut, ain't they?" said his captor.
"Yes, I suppose," said Alex, bitterly.
"They sure are," said the voice from behind the mask. "And when we getthrough, them wires'll be cut so you won't be able to fix 'em up in ahurry."
Fifteen minutes later a second masked and heavily armed figure appeared."Every wire cut five poles back on either side of the station," heannounced briefly. "It'll take a lineman half a day to fix 'em up again,and we'll be twenty miles away by that time. Now we'll put the hobbles onthe youngster, and git."
Often Alex had longed for just such an adventure as this. The finaldisenchantment was anything but glorious. Roughly seizing him, the twomen forced him stiffly upright in the chair, drew his arms about the backof it, and there secured them, wrist to wrist, drawing the knot untilAlex almost cried out in pain. Then, as tightly, they bound his ankles tothe lower rungs, one on either side.
"Now one of us is going to watch from the woods for a spell--we'll leavethe back door open, so we can see right in--and if you make a move, youget this quick! See?" said one of the desperadoes, tapping his pistolsignificantly.
Therewith they passed out, leaving the rear door wide open, and in uttermisery of mind Alex watched them stride toward the trees.
Before the two bandits had crossed the open space, however, Alex's mindhad cleared. For plainly they were hurrying! Then their promise to watchhim must have been only a threat, to keep him quiet! Good! At once hebegan straining at his wrists, paused as the two men reached the edge ofthe clearing and momentarily turned, and as they disappeared amid thetrees, began struggling with grim determination.
It seemed a hopeless task at first, and the rawhide thongs cut cruellyinto Alex's wrists and ankles. But bravely he struggled on, wriggled andtwisted, paused for breath, and struggled again. And finally one handcame suddenly free.
It required but a few seconds to get into his pocket, reach his knife,and open it with his teeth. A moment later Alex was on his feet, andstaggered out onto the platform.
Yes, the wires were cut, five poles in either direction! Alex clenchedhis hands. After all, what could he do? To restore the line was entirelyout of the question. Had there been but one break he could not haveclimbed the pole and carried aloft that heavy stretch of wire.
And there was less than twenty minutes in which to work, to catch theOverland at Broken Gap. For undoubtedly it was beyond that point that thebandits planned holding her up--probably on one of the steep grades ofthe Little Timber hills.
Suddenly Alex uttered a gasp of hope. A moment he debated, with nervouslyclasped hands, then, exhaustion forgotten, dashed back into the littletelegraph room, found a screw-driver, and in a few minutes had loosenedfrom the table the telegraph-key and the receiving instrument. Catchingthem up, with some short ends of wire, he darted out and up the track tothe west.
Two hundred yards distant the intact end of the telegraph line droopedinto the drainage ditch. Alex caught it up and dragged it to the rails.Placing the key and relay on the end of a tie, he connected them on oneside to the rail, and on the other side to the end of the line wire.
But the responding click did not come. Alex groaned in disappointment. Hehad counted on the rails giving a "ground" connection. Then the linewould have closed, and he could have worked it to the west. Butapparently the hot weather had entirely dried out the sand beneath therails, and thus insulated them.
But he was not yet beaten. There was a ground wire at the station. Whycould he not use the rails that far, if they were insulated? With ahurrah he seized the end of the line wire, and in a few moments hadconnected it to one of the rail joints. Then, catching up theinstruments, he dashed back for the station.
Placing the instruments again on the table, he found a piece of loosewire that would reach from the instruments, out through the window, tothe rails; ran out and qui
ckly connected it to a rail joint, and, dartingback, connected the other end to the instruments. Instantly there was asharp downward click. The line was closed!
Alex could not suppress a quick "Thank Heaven!" and, trembling withexcitement, he seized the key and began swiftly calling the despatcher."X, X, X, HC," he called. "X, X--"
He felt the line open, and closed his own key. Then, in surprise, heread: "So you have been monkeying with the wires there after all, haveyou? Now look here--"
Quickly Alex interrupted, and shot back: "Train robbers are after theOverland. They held me up, and cut the wires both sides of the station. Igot free, and have made a connection through the rails--HC."
For a moment the line remained silent, while at his end of the wire thedespatcher sat bolt upright in his chair, eyes and mouth wide open. Butin another moment the despatcher had recovered himself, and, springingback to the key, began madly calling Broken Gap.
"B, B, B, X!" he called. "B, B, X! Qk! Qk!"
BUT THE RESPONSE CLICK DID NOT COME.]
Alex shot a glance at the clock, and leaned forward over the instruments,scarcely breathing. There was yet three minutes before the Overland wasdue at Broken Gap. But she did not stop there, and frequently passedahead of time. If "B" did not answer the call immediately--
The whir of "B's" was interrupted, and slowly and deliberately came an"I, I, B." Alex leaped in his chair, and again strained forward tensely.
"Has 68 passed?" hurled the despatcher.
"Just coming."
"Stop her! Flag her! Qk! Qk!"
The line opened, as though "B" was about to make a reply, then smartlyclosed again.
"Stop her! Stop her!" repeated "X."
There was a leaden, breathless silence, while Alex nervously clenched andunclenched his hands. At last the line again clicked open, and with acharacteristic deliberation that caused the nerve-strung boy a moment'shysterical laugh, "B" announced: "Just got her. She's slowing in now.What's up?"
The despatcher at "X" had regained his equilibrium, and in his usualcrisp manner he replied: "Take this for Conductor Bedford:
"Bedford: 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."
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, atBixton. He had overheard it all.
"Grand! That's the word," came the despatcher. "There's not anotheroperator on the division who would have known enough to do what he didto-day. I guess we won't bother him any more about his 'tinkering,' willwe?"
* * * * *
Only half an hour late, the mighty mogul pulling the Overland Limiteddrew panting to a stop before the little station, and in a moment Alexwas surrounded by a crowd of congratulating trainmen and passengers. Andwhen he reappeared after sending the message which notified thedespatcher of the train's safe arrival and of the capture of the twobandits, he was surprised and speechlessly confused by having pressedupon him by the enthusiastic passengers an impromptu purse ofseventy-five dollars.
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 Jackenthusiastically. "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 through my own carelessness. I ought to havebeen reprimanded, instead of patted on the back."
"Nonsense! Those hold-up men would have got you, anyway. If you had seenthem coming, they would simply have approached in a friendly way, thengot the drop on you. You had no gun.
"But, say," added Jack mock-seriously, "how is it these real high classadventures always come your way? 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 moredisagreeable experience was first to come.