Ralph walked back to meet her. He did not intend to run from Barton Hopkins. But he foresaw trouble for the pretty and impulsive girl.
“Oh, Ralph Fairbanks! I have heard what you did last night. It was fine of you—taking out the Flyer when the poor old engineer dropped dead. What a terrible thing that was!”
“You are right. It is a sorry thing for By’s family. I understand he did not leave them well fixed.”
“Won’t the Brotherhood——”
“It will do all that is possible. But there is no real pension for an engineer’s family. He only carried accident insurance. There must have always been something the matter with his heart that kept him from getting regular insurance. And he hid it.”
“And was a criminal, thereby,” said the harsh voice of Supervisor Hopkins behind his daughter. “Suppose that had happened—his death—when he was driving his engine on the road? Somebody was at fault there, and I mean to find out who. The old man should have been retired long ago.”
“Oh, father! If he needed the work——”
“What do you know about that?” Mr. Hopkins said coldly. “Don’t believe everything you hear, Cherry.”
“But Mr. Fairbanks says——”
“Least of all what this young man says. And now, once for all, I tell you to drop this intimacy with Fairbanks,” he continued, starting with his daughter toward the gate to the grounds. “I don’t care to have you associate with him. Understand?”