“What is Whitey M. doing in Shadow Valley? Wake up B. A.—X. Y. Z.”
“That is as mysterious as a hobo Mulligan,” remarked Johnny, grinning.
“What do you know about that!” muttered Ralph, and without explaining to his assistant he went to the telephone booth with the telegram in his hand.
He was so well acquainted with the vagaries of Zeph Dallas’ mind that he knew at once this was his signature. Zeph had just that twist to his mind that, if he were sent for a pail of milk, he would try to disguise both himself and the milk.
“There must be something doing over there at Shadow Valley,” muttered Ralph. “And ‘Whitey M.’ means just one person, and one only. I haven’t seen that fellow since we had the run-in with him that night in the alley. Humph!”
He called down to the supervisor’s office. If Bob Adair was in Rockton, Ralph believed the supervisor would know how to reach him. Ralph knew that Mr. Hopkins was in the building. But he was surprised to hear his voice almost immediately answer the telephone call.
The young fellow would have been even more surprised could he have seen who was with the supervisor at this hour. A man in a long dark coat and slouch hat had come into the supervisor’s office unannounced not many minutes before. Mr. Hopkins had evidently been expecting him.
“Well, what do you find?” asked Hopkins, pushing his cigar box toward the visitor and lighting a cigar himself. Somehow the supervisor did not consider the use of tobacco an inefficient thing.
“Nothing to put our finger on as yet, Mr. Hopkins,” was the reply. “Of course we might arrest McCarrey and his right-hand man, Falk. But we should have to let them go again for lack of holding evidence. There was a time—during the war—when we could have stopped them. But not now. Now a man can fire off his mouth about as much as he likes without getting into trouble. These fellows aim their talk at the railroad, not at the Government.”
“You should be able to get them on some count,” declared Hopkins, smoking energetically. “McCarrey is stirring up the strikers to make trouble. I have had a written threat that the express passenger trains will be stopped. You know what that would mean.”