Ralph saw that it was useless to oppose his vigorous friend and champion. He left the shanty forthwith, and went up to the depot. It was some time before he could locate Mr. Adair. When he finally found him, and explained simply that Slavin wished to see him, the road detective joined him briskly, and look pleased.
"About Slump, I suppose?" he inquired eagerly.
"I think it is," answered Ralph.
"Good," said Adair. "The company thinks that bailing out business was rushed through. The bond was only five hundred dollars. They don't understand old Farrington's peculiar interest in the matter, and we have been ready to rearrest Slump for a week."
Adair gave prodigious start as, entering the crossings shanty, his eyes lit on the faces of Slavin's two prisoners.
"Whew!" he whistled slowly--"you seem to have had some trouble with your friends, Mr. Slavin."
"You hear my story, and see if I gave them any more than they deserved," said Slavin, and he stood up, looking like a judge and talking like a judge, and narrated the incidents of the preceding hour.
"Now then, Mr. Adair," added Slavin, "these fellows brag of having a friend in that old miser, Gasper Farrington. I tell you that I happen to know that he has tried all kinds of ways to scare and bribe my friend here, Fairbanks, away from Stanley Junction. I suppose he's rich, and so tricky you can't connect him with their doings, but you can cage these fellows safely, and I want you to do it."
"The railroad company will certainly insist that Slump's bond be raised from five hundred dollars," spoke Adair. "You told me that Bemis very nearly wrecked a train by magnetizing the levers at the depot switch tower. Can you prove it?"
"I can," nodded Slavin emphatically.