“Chief dispatcher, Ohio Division,” clicked out the little instrument. “A special train consisting of combination coach and private car will leave Cincinnati east-bound about ten o’clock to-morrow morning. You will have your best engines ready to take it through to Wadsworth, and from there to Parkersburg. This special is to run without orders, its time to be governed only by the maximum speed of the engine, and is to be given a clear track with rights over everything. It must be expedited in every way possible.”
A. G. Round,
“General Manager”
Mr. Plumfield whistled softly, as the message ended.
“Who do you suppose it is?” he asked. “The Emperor of Germany?”
“That’s certainly an unusual order,” agreed Allan.
“I never saw but one like it before,” added Mr. Plumfield. “That was when the president of the road was somewhere in the west, and his wife was reported dying back at Baltimore. We gave him right of way then.”
“Did he get there in time?” asked Allan.
“Oh, she didn’t die. Maybe it was his presence saved her. Anyway, his train covered the two hundred miles from Cincinnati to Parkersburg at an average speed of fifty-three miles an hour. That was going some.”
“We’ll see if we can beat it to-morrow,” Allan answered, and turned to the task of clearing the track for the special.