"Slump, the scamp."
"Where is he?"
The crowd made a search, but it was unavailing--Ike Slump had "jumped his job" permanently, to all appearances, for his locker was empty.
The fireman came out of the office.
"She's all right," he announced to Denny, "but the old man's terribly broken up. Better go in and give him a word."
"All right," said Denny--"you come, too, Fairbanks."
"I'd rather not," said Ralph--"I've got work to do."
"You take a rest and eat your dinner before you do anything else," advised the big watchman.
The noon whistle sounded just then and dispersed the crowd. Ralph went over to a bench and brought out his dinner pail.
His arm was sore and smarting, but he was not at all seriously crippled, and he sat thoughtfully eating his lunch and wondering how the damage to the wall would be repaired.