“I made it once in my own car in two hours and fifty-five minutes, with two stops for water. Why?”
“Oh, I was just curious to know. Two fifty-five, eh? And how long would it take to get the special train ready?”
“Fifteen or twenty minutes, perhaps, on a rush order.”
Sprague sat back and began to fold his napkin carefully in the original creases.
“As I have said before, I don’t want to pose as an alarmist, Maxwell; but if I were you, I’d have that special train hooked up and ready to pull out—and I’d keep it that way, on tap, so to speak.”
The railroad man rose to the occasion promptly.
“Beginning to-night?” he asked.
“Yes, beginning to-night.”
“Has Jennings gone back?”
“He has. He went over on the evening train. Your man Tarbell kept cases on him while he was here. He spent most of the day with Higginson and Healy in The Times-Record office.”