Ralph could do nothing better than submit to the imposition for the time being. He returned to the cab. His face was quite anxious. He called again to Griscom.
“I can’t understand it,” he said. “What can have befallen him? Keep a close watch here for a few minutes, will you?” he asked of his passenger.
Ralph took a lantern and ran down the tracks, flashed the light across the empty freights lining the tracks, and returned to the locomotive more anxious than ever.
“I can’t think what to do, Mr. Trevor,” he said.
The young man consulted his watch nervously.
“Tell you, Fairbanks, we mustn’t lose time. You can’t find your partner. Run to the tower and have the man there telegraph the circumstances and get someone to look for Griscom. We will have to run on without him.”
“Without Griscom!” cried Ralph. “Why, we cannot possibly secure a substitute this side of Dover.” 81
“Don’t need one—you know how to run an engine, don’t you?”
“In a fashion, probably, but I am worried about Mr. Griscom.”
“The towerman can attend to that. I don’t want to appear selfish, Fairbanks, but you must get this special through on time or get to some point where we can find another engineer.”