The deceptive Rivers had left false telegrams purposely in Zeph’s way. He had got up fictitious interviews with his confederates to which Zeph had listened, believing himself a shrewd eavesdropper.
They put up a plausible plan which diverted his investigations entirely from their real intentions, and this was how he never dreamed for a moment that they had the slightest hint as to the starting of the substitute pay car out of Rockton.
The day of that event they had sent Zeph on a fool errand to pretended accomplices at a desolate spot thirty miles from any railroad. Returning to the old camp of the conspirators the next morning foot sore and wearied, Zeph had found it utterly abandoned. The crowd had deserted him for good, and he was left “to hold the bag,” as he ruefully expressed it.
There was “one great big thing” that Zeph had done, however, and Ralph encouragingly told him so. He had managed to get possession of papers and lists that gave the names and plans of the conspirators who were acting for the rival road, and also the cypher telegraphic code they used.
So valuable did Adair consider this information, that he declared it would not only result in proving where the real responsibility rested for the various loss and damage of late to the Great Northern, but he believed that when confronted with the proofs the Midland Central officials, rather than court legal proceedings would foot every dollar of the expensive bill run up by their spies, even to the pay car loss.
So, after telling Ralph that he should spend a day in consultation with the superintendent and others at Stanley Junction, and to advise him at once of any new discoveries of importance, the road officer left Ralph and Zeph hopefully to their own devices.
At exactly ten o’clock the next morning as the general superintendent and Adair sat in earnest consultation at headquarters. Glidden arrived in great haste with a telegram.
“A pink, sir,” he reported to the head officer. “Was in cypher. From Fairbanks.”
“Hello!” commented Adair, rising from his chair interested. “That’s good. He never wastes electricity unless he has something to tell.”
“Why,” almost shouted the superintendent, roused up to tremendous excitement, “he has found the missing pay car!”