“I got so anxious I arranged for a special at Hillsdale,” explained Glidden to Ralph. “Just by luck I ran across the lawyer, waiting for a train.”
It was after Bartlett and the tramp had shut down the furnaces and appeared in the office room and the foreman explained Ralph’s clever plans of the night, that the lawyer approached the young train dispatcher and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder.
“Young man,” he said, “did you ever study law?”
“No, sir. Somewhere along the line I would like to, but just now railroading takes up my time.”
“H’m. Very good. Well, if you ever want to, I’ll give you a job.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Yes,” added the lawyer, with a bright admiring glance at Ralph’s face, “in fact, after your clever work to-night, I think I would be willing to take you into partnership.”
[CHAPTER XXV—A WILD NIGHT]
“Tic-tac!”--“annul train 22--blockade at Fox Center”--“25-25-25-45 stalled at Morey Gap.” “Fast freight derailed--switch 19 outside of Abingdon.”
“Whew!” exploded the first trick man at dispatcher’s headquarters. “Did you get all that, Fairbanks?”