“Yes, sir,” declared the young rowdy volubly. “They’ve worked out the sentence on the stoke pile, and I owe the state nothing. I’m as free in Stanley Junction as any goody-goody boy in the burg, and I want you to know it.”
“All right, Ike,” said Ralph, pleasantly enough, “hope you’ll improve the chance to make good, now you’ve got the opportunity.”
“You bet I will,” retorted Slump, with a strangely jubilant chuckle.
“That’s good.”
“Don’t go, I’ve got something else to say to you.”
“I’m pressed for time, Slump--”
“Oh, you can spare me a minute. It may do you some good. Say, you’ve managed to climb up some while I’ve been locked up, haven’t you?”
“I’ve had good steady work, yes.”
“I’d give an arm for just one run on that dandy Overland Express of yours,” observed Slump.
“Why don’t you work for it, then,” questioned Ralph. “It’s in any boy who will attend strictly to business.”