“Too bad we lost him,” said the colonel, shaking his head. “I believe it was entirely due to Mr. Rowen’s disobedience. I have ordered him into permanent arrest, until I decide what to do with him. Sound taps, Mr. Howes.”
Don thought deeply before falling asleep. “I guess I’ll keep things to myself, at least for a time,” he decided. “It all sounds so farfetched that I hate to drag out my discoveries. But that man was surely out of his chair and out of his house this night! Now that I have something definite to work on something tangible may come up before long. The next thing we had better do is to find out who that mysterious flagman was.”
16
Listening In
The following day the camp was vibrant with excitement as the cadets relived the events of the night before. Everyone, of course, lamented the fact that Rowen had unwisely frightened the ghost away, but the boys realized that there was nothing to do but wait for the ghost to walk again.
During the afternoon some of the cadets noticed a stranger enter the colonel’s tent. The caller stayed a short time and then left, taking the road which led to Rideway. Later Jordan, Don and Jim were ordered to the colonel’s tent. Having seen the visitor, they wondered if their summons was in any way connected with him.
“Come in, come in,” invited the colonel as the boys approached his quarters. “I have a job for you to do, that is, if you are willing.”
“Anything you say, Colonel,” Don replied, speaking for the group.
“Perhaps you noticed that I had a visitor this afternoon.” He looked at the three cadets before him expectantly and they nodded to affirm this. “That was Mr. Farnsworth, the superintendent of the local telephone exchange in Rideway. It seems that his night operator was suddenly taken ill this morning and will be unable to go on duty tonight. He has no extra help at this time and thought perhaps one of the cadets knew how to operate a switchboard.”
“I have run our switchboard at school a few times,” said Jim, hesitantly. “However, I imagine this one in Rideway is far more complicated.”
“Splendid!” said the colonel. “I thought I remembered correctly that you had, Jim. You will have no trouble at all with this local exchange. Mr. Farnsworth assured me that it was a simple board, else he would not have approached me. You see, this exchange is a small one and does not require a complicated system such as those one finds in large cities.”