“Perhaps they fancied we knew too much and gave up the experiment of robbing the pay car.”
“Well, she’s through--now for the other one. How is it?”
“Heavy snow, but she’s making time,” reported Ralph, glancing at the remaining card. “83 is a hundred miles out of Rockton. Just passed Shoreham on the Mountain Division.”
“Say, those fellows will never guess what they’ve missed till it’s too late, hey?”
“It seems so,” nodded Ralph.
There was a lapse of messages now. Only the ceaseless grind of press dispatches clicked from the instrument over in the corner. Ralph sat back and took a breathing spell.
The pay car had gone through--the dummy pay car rather--which had left the Junction at eight o’clock that morning. It had been loaded up pretentiously with the apparent usual bags of coin and little safes that were used on regular trips. These, however, contained no money. The paymaster went aboard ostentatiously. The doors and windows were securely locked as usual. Inside, however, were half a dozen men armed to the teeth. The dummy pay car was a bait for the robbers. They had not appeared. The cypher message to Ralph just received told him that the train had reached terminus without hindrance or damage.
“Now for the other one,” Glidden had said. This meant a good deal. The “other one” was the real pay car, loaded with real treasure. To checkmate any possible attack, the railroad officials with great secrecy had loaded up an ordinary baggage car with the pay safes and bullion in transit for banks. It was proposed to distribute this in parcels at section centers out of the usual routine.
So far it looked as if it would be smooth sailing except for the snow storm. No. 83 was reported as having passed over one hundred miles on the route. There was a train hand on guard on the front platform of the car and two guards inside, according to the advices Ralph had received.
The impromptu pay car had been hitched to the rear of a long train of milk cars. This had been done because she was to be switched at four different points before she reached Stanley Junction. The pay safes had been boxed up and burlapped, giving the appearance of ordinary freight.