And as the ray of the headlight caught the figure on the bowlder for a moment, the young railroader knew who it was.
“Zeph!” he ejaculated, under his breath.
The young assistant of Bob Adair had selected the most perilous point in Shadow Valley to watch. While Zeph was there, Ralph might be pretty sure that no harm would befall the division trains.
He was carried past the bowlder swiftly. He leaned out to wave his arm and try to attract the notice of his friend. But the flash of the headlight’s ray had undoubtedly blinded Zeph for the moment and there was no answering signal from him. However, as long as Zeph was faithful at that post Ralph would feel little anxiety in approaching it.
The young engineer pulled on through the valley at top speed and then charged the hill to Oxford with four minutes to spare. Perfect running of a passenger train means keeping at an exact and harmonious speed for the entire distance between stops. In this case, however, Ralph knew that if he had not gained something on the schedule before striking the Oxford hill he never would have made that stop, as he did, exactly on the schedule moment.
The worst of the run for the Midnight Flyer was then behind him.
CHAPTER XVII
MORE DISCIPLINE
That run on the Midnight Flyer was a memorable one for Ralph Fairbanks, not alone because of the importance of the train to the schedule of the division, but because of the mental strain he was under all the way.
The general manager’s congratulatory wire that was put into his hand when he climbed aboard his engine for the return trip from Hammerfest, of course pleased him; but the young railroader felt that there was something more due any engineer who pulled that Midnight Flyer and got it into the western terminal on time, as he had.
Up in those offices overlooking the Rockton yard, Ralph as chief of the train dispatching crew for the division, had got a little out of touch with the engineers and firemen. He acknowledged it now.