“He took over this morning.”
“Maybe I’ll ankle down to Dock 10 and talk to him.”
“Better wrap yourself in cellophane first,” Jerry advised. “That is, if you value your peaches and cream complexion.”
Penny was not certain what the reporter meant, but a little later, approaching the coal docks, she understood. Nearby was a private railroad yard and cars were being loaded from the many mountains of coal heaped on the ground. With the wind blowing toward the river, the dust laden air blackened her hands and clothing.
Penny stood for a moment watching a coal car race down from a steep switch-back, and then wandered along the docks in search of Mr. Oaks.
She came presently to the barge for which she searched. There was no sign of anyone aboard. A long ladder ascended from the dock to the vessel’s deck. Penny hesitated and then decided to climb it. When she was midway up, a man, his face blackened with coal, stepped from a shed.
“Hey, where you think you’re going?” he shouted sternly.
“I’m looking for Mr. Oaks,” Penny explained, hugging the ladder.
“Oaks? The new watchman?”
“Yes. He’s aboard, isn’t he?”