“Got you,” came the faint voice; and then: “Hold the wire open a minute.” Presently the voice began again and went on for some little time, and when it stopped, Larry took his turn at asking for a hold.
“It’s Smithy talking,” he told Dick hurriedly. “Mr. Ackerman is with him—just got back from Red Butte. Smith says that Mr. Ackerman says it’s mighty important to know just what the O. C.’s present plan is; what they’re going to do when they get to our canyon. He wants us to find out if we can, but insists that we mustn’t get into danger. Wait—they’re talking again.”
This time the receiver droned away for a full minute. At the end Larry said, “All right; maybe we’ll have to wait until after dark. Yes, sir, we’ll be all kinds of careful. Good-by.”
“More cautions,” he explained. “It was Mr. Ackerman, himself, this time. He seems awfully anxious for fear we’ll get into trouble. Yet he says it’s very important that our folks should know as soon as possible just what the O. C. means to do. You heard what I told him.”
The first thing they did after making this report was to go over the field again, foot by foot, as you might say, while the daylight lasted and with the help of the excellent field-glass. Larry jotted down the findings in his note-book as Dick reported them.
“That is a steam shovel over yonder; I can see the puffs of steam. But there is a locomotive, too; that means that they’ve got their connecting track that near. Now down in the valley: I’m counting the men loading the wagons ... fifty-four of ’em. Yep; more wagons coming in all the time with ties and rails; I can count eighteen of ’em besides those going and coming in the gulch. Say, Larry, couldn’t we slip down there where the working gangs are and maybe find out something that way? I should think we might be able to lose ourselves in a crowd that big.”
Larry looked at his watch.
“Six o’clock; they’ll be changing shifts before long. It’ll be easier to do it then.”
They waited, snatching a bite of supper in the meantime. While they were eating, the whistle of a donkey engine sounded, the working shifts were changed, and carbide flares began to flame out in the gulch below.
“Time’s up,” said Dick, cramming in the last mouthful. “We’d better be crawling down the hill before it gets too dark.”