I sprang up. I had forgotten that I had signed Robert Smith on the books.
"I'm the man!" I cried, and five minutes later I was a free man, again breathing the pure, fresh air of the outside world.
With rapid footsteps I hurried from this unpleasant locality and made my way down town.
At the time I write the railroad hadn't yet reached Searchlight.
The nearest point of construction was Manvel, Cal., twenty-three miles away.
By mere good fortune I learned that morning that the railroad company was shipping men through the Red Cross Employment Bureau to Manvel for construction work.
I lost no time in visiting the Red Cross Agency, and was given a pass over the Santa Fe Railroad to Manvel.
There were thirty-odd men in the crew I shipped with, mostly foreigners.
We rode all night, and about 12 o'clock next day we reached Manvel.
By keeping my eyes and ears open along the trip I easily spotted the men who had shipped out of Los Angeles as a means of reaching Searchlight.