“Well, good-bye, Zeph.”
“Good-bye, Ralph. Another of my wild dreams of wealth gone.”
“Don’t fret about it, Zeph.”
“How can I help it?”
Ralph had decided to return home. He was now fully recuperated, and his vacation period would expire in a few days.
It was the evening of the day when they had discovered the missing box car only to find that others had discovered it before them. Ralph had arranged to flag a freight at the terminus of the Short Line Route and was down at the tracks awaiting its coming.
The freight arrived, Ralph clambered to the cab, waved his hand in adieu to Zeph, and was warmly welcomed by his friends on the engine.
They had proceeded only a short distance when a boy came running down an embankment. So 206 rapid and reckless was his progress that Ralph feared he would land under the locomotive. The lad, however, grasped the step of the cab, and was dragged dangerously near to the wheels. Ralph seized him just in time and pulled him up into the cab.
“Well!” commented the engineer, “it’s a good thing we were going slow. Here, land out as you landed in, kid.”
“Please don’t,” cried the boy, gazing back with tear-filled eyes and trembling all over. “Please let me ride with you.”