The Young Railroaders - Tales of Adventure and Ingenuity

Francis Lovell Coombs

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• Publié par: mushar
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 39
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, The
Young Railroaders, by Francis
Lovell Coombs, Illustrated by F. B.
Masters
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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Title: The Young Railroaders
Tales of Adventure and Ingenuity
Author: Francis Lovell Coombs
Release Date: June 21, 2008 [eBook #25868]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG
RAILROADERS***

E-text prepared by Roger Frank
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading
Team
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THE
YOUNG RAILROADERSTHE NEXT MOMENT THE MIDWAY JUNCTION GHOST STEPPED
GRIMLY FROM HIS BOX.
THE
YOUNG RAILROADERS
TALES OF ADVENTURE
AND INGENUITY
BY
F. LOVELL COOMBS
With Illustrations
by F. B. MASTERSNEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1910
Copyright, 1909, 1910, by
The Century Co.
Published September, 1910
Electrotyped and Printed by
C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston
To
B. R. C. AND K. L. C.
A REMEMBRANCE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. One Kind Of Wireless 3
II. An Original Emergency Battery 24
III. A Tinker Who Made Good 38
IV. The Other Tinker Also Makes Good 54
V. An Electrical Detective 68
VI. Jack Has His Adventure 86
VII. A Race Through The Flames 102
VIII. The Secret Telegram 117
IX. Jack Plays Reporter, With Unexpected
Results 132
X. A Runaway Train 146
XI. The Haunted Station 163
XII. In A Bad Fix, And Out 180
XIII. Professor Click, Mind Reader 198
XIV. The Last Of The Freight Thieves 225
XV. The Dude Operator 246
XVI. A Dramatic Flagging 262
XVII. Wilson Again Distinguishes Himself 279
XVIII. With The Construction Train 295
XIX. The Enemy’s Hand Again, And A
Capture 310
XX. A Prisoner 325
XXI. Turning The Tables 337
XXII. The Defense Of The Viaduct 357ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The next moment the Midway Junction
ghost stepped grimly from his box. Frontispiece
“Now I am going to cut your cords,” Alex
went on softly. 8
Held it over the bull’s-eye, alternately
covering and uncovering the stream of
light. 14
Threw himself at the front door, pounding
upon it with his fists. 28
In the middle of the floor, the center of all
eyes, hurriedly working with chisel and
hammer. 34
He was gazing into the barrel of a revolver. 58
But the response click did not come. 64
The clerk was colorless, but only faltered
an instant. 78
“There!” said Jack, pointing in triumph. 84
Looped it over the topmost strand, near
one of the posts. 94
There, in the corner of the big barn, Jack
sent as he had never sent before. 100
With a rush they dashed into the wall of
smoke. 108
Closer came the roaring monster. 114
“Come on! Come on!” exclaimed the man
in the doorway. 124
“How did you do it, Smarty?” snapped the
shorter man. 130
They whirled by, and the rest was lost. 154
The engineer stepped down from his cab
to grasp Alex’s hand. 158
The wait was not long. 162
Jack made out a thin, clean-shaven face
bending over a dark-lantern. 176
The stranger drew the chair immediately
before him, and seating himself, leaned
forward secretively. 182
“And it’s awfully like the light, jumpy
sending of a girl!” 196
The next instant Jack felt himself hurled
out into the darkness. 234
He saw the detective led by, his arms
bound behind him. 242
Jack rose to his knees, and began working
his way forward from tie to tie. 272
With the sharp words he again grasped thekey. 276
With the boys’ prisoner securely bound to
the saddle of the wandering horse, the
Indian was off
across the plain. 372
The Indian pulled up in a cloud of dust. 376
THE YOUNG RAILROADERS
3THE YOUNG RAILROADERS
I
ONE KIND OF WIRELESS
When, after school that afternoon, Alex Ward waved a good-by to his father,
the Bixton station agent for the Middle Western, and set off up the track on the
spring’s first fishing, he had little thought of exciting experiences ahead of him.
Likewise, when two hours later a sudden heavy shower found him in the
woods three miles from home, and with but three small fish, it was only with
feelings of disappointment that he wound up his line and ran for the shelter of
an old log-cabin a hundred yards back from the stream.
Scarcely had Alex reached the doorway of the deserted house when he was
startled by a chorus of excited voices from the rear. He turned quickly to a
window, and with a cry sprang back out of sight. Emerging from the woods,
excitedly talking and gesticulating, was a party of foreigners who had been
4working on the track near Bixton, and in their midst, his hands bound behind
him, was Hennessy, their foreman.
For a moment Alex stood rooted to the spot. What did it mean? Suddenly
realizing his own possible danger, he caught up his rod and fish, and sprang
for the door.
On the threshold he sharply halted. In the open he would be seen at once, and
pursued! He turned and cast a quick glance round the room. The ladder to the
loft! He darted for it, scrambled up, and drew himself through the opening just
as the excited foreigners poured in through the door below. For some
moments afraid to move, Alex lay on his back, listening to the hubbub beneath
him, and wondering in terror what the trackmen intended doing with their
prisoner. Then, gathering courage at their continued ignorance of his
presence, he cautiously moved back to the opening and peered down.
The men were gathered in the center of the room, all talking at once. But he
could not see the foreman. As he leaned farther forward heavy footfalls
sounded about the end of the house, and Big Tony, a huge Italian who had
recently been discharged from the gang, appeared in the doorway.
“We puta him in da barn,” he announced in broken English; for the rest of thegang were Poles. “Tomaso, he watcha him.”
“An’ now listen,” continued the big trackman fiercely, as the rest gathered
5about him. “I didn’t tell everyt’ing. Besides disa man Hennessy he say cuta da
wage, an’ send for odders take your job, he tella da biga boss you no worka
good, so da biga boss he no pay you for all da last mont’!”
The ignorantly credulous Poles uttered a shout of rage. Several cried: “Keel
him! Keel him!” Alex, in the loft, drew back in terror.
“No! Dere bettera way dan dat,” said Tony. “Da men to taka your job come to-
night on da Nomber Twent’. I hava da plan.
“You alla know da old track dat turn off alonga da riv’ to da old brick-yard?
Well, hunerd yard from da main line da old track she washed away. We will
turn da old switch, Nomber Twent’ she run on da old track—an’ swoosh! Into
da riv’!”
Run No. 20 into the river! Alex almost cried aloud. And he knew the plan
would succeed—that, as Big Tony said, a hundred yards from the main-line
track the old brick-yard siding embankment was washed out so that the rails
almost hung in the air.
“Dena we all say,” went on Big Tony, “we alla say, Hennessy, he do it. We say
we caughta him. See?”
Again Alex glanced down, and with hope he saw that some of the Poles were
hesitating. But Tony quickly added: “An’ no one else be kill buta da strike-
break’. No odder peoples on da Nomber Twent’ disa day at night. An’ da
trainmen dey alla have plent’ time to jomp.
“Only da men wat steala your job,” he repeated craftily. And with a sinking
6heart Alex saw that the rest of the easily excitable foreigners had been won.
Again he moved back out of sight. Something must be done! If he could only
reach the barn and free the foreman!
But of course the first thing to do was to make his own escape from the house.
He rose on his elbow and glanced about.
At the far end of the loft a glimmer of light through a crack seemed to indicate a
door. Cautiously Alex rose to his knees, and began creeping forward to
investigate. When half way a loud creak of the boards brought him to a halt
with his heart in his mouth. But the loud conversation below continued, and
heartily thanking the drumming rain on the roof overhead, Alex moved on, and
finally reached his goal.
As he had hoped, it was a small door. Feeling cautiously about, he found it to
be secured by a hook. When he sought to raise the catch, however, it resisted.
Evidently it had not been lifted for many years, and had rusted to the staple.
Carefully Alex threw his weight upward against it. It still refused to move. He
pushed harder, and suddenly it gave with a piercing screech.
Instantly the talking below ceased, and Alex stood rigid, scarcely breathing.
Then a voice exclaimed, “Up de stair!” quick footsteps crossed the floor
towards the ladder, and in a panic of fear Alex threw himself bodily against the
do