Peet inclined his head. “For how many men?” he asked.
“Oh, five hundred, anyway, before we get through with it.” Nothing could surprise the superintendent now. He merely nodded.
“And rifles,” Tiffany added. “You’ll want a case of ’em.”
“No,” said Carhart, “I shan’t need any rifles for the P. S., but I want five hundred more at the end of the track, and, say ten thousand rounds of ball cartridges. Will you see to that, Peet?”
The superintendent grunted out, “Who’s paying for all this?” and then as neither of the others took the trouble to reply, he subsided.
“All right, then,” said Tiffany. “I’ll have your crew here—enough for the first train, anyhow. You can trust to picking up fifty or a hundred laborers in the neighborhood of Paradise. See you later.” And with this, the chief engineer took his big person away at a rapid walk.
Carhart turned to Peet and extended his hand. Dusk was falling. The headlights of the locomotives threw their yellow beams up the yard. Switch lights were shining red and white, and lanterns, in the hands of shadowy figures, were bobbing here and there. There was a great racket about them of bumping cars and squeaking brakes, and of shouting and the blowing off of locomotives. “I don’t blame you for thinking that everything’s going to the devil, Peet,” said Carhart. “But I don’t believe they’ve let you in on the situation. If I’m running risks, it’s because we’ve got to run risks.”
Peet hesitated, then accepted the proffered hand. “I suppose it’s all right,” he replied. “Tiffany seems to agree with you, and he generally knows what he’s about. But—” he paused. They were standing by a heap of merchandise. The heap was capped by a dozen crates of chickens which, awakened from their sleep, were fluttering about within their narrow coop and clucking angrily. He waved his hand. “Think of what this means to our business,” he said.
Carhart listened for a moment, then looked back to Peet. “If I were sure it would come to nothing worse than a slight disarrangement of your business, I’d sleep easy to-night.”
“It’s as bad as that, is it?”