“Not in there,” replied the superintendent, “We want you to occupy the pay car here. Everything is ready for you.”
“All right,” said Ralph.
“Come on, then.”
The superintendent unlocked the heavy rear door of the pay car, led the way to the tightly sealed front compartment, and there Ralph found a table, chair, cot, a pail of drinking water and some eatables.
“You can make yourself comfortable,” said the official. “There will probably be no trouble, but if there is, operate this wire.”
The speaker pointed to a wire running parallel with the bell rope to both ends of the train. On the table lay a rifle. The only openings in the car were small grated windows at either end.
The official left the car, locking in Ralph. The 139 young fireman observed a small safe at one end of the car.
“Probably contains a good many thousands of dollars,” he reflected. “Well, here is a newspaper, and I shall try to pass the time comfortably.”
By getting on a chair and peering through the front ventilator, Ralph could obtain a fair view of the locomotive. The train started up, and made good time the first thirty miles. Then Ralph knew from a halt and considerable switching that they were off the main rails.
“Why,” he said, peering through the grating, “they have switched onto the old cut-off between Dover and Afton.”