Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-03-29
THE CHAPTERS
Copyright, r9a. by The Bobbs-Msrrill compsnyl
F RAN cIs LYN D E

l had marked the hour o{ itS handing in, he had the good sense to hang uI the entire wire business of the railroad until the thing was safely out of hii ofice. It was half-past nine when the all important cipher got itself written out
 in the headquarters o1ice at the cap
 ital; and for two anxious hours tho
 receiving operator tried by all means in his power to find the general coun' sel-tried and failed. For, to make the chain of mishaps complete in all its links, Kent and Lor1ng were spending the evening at Miss Portda Van Brooks, having been bidden to meet a man they were both willing to 'culu- vate-Oliver Marston, the lieutenant governor. And for this cause it want ed but five minutes of midnight when Kent burst into Loring's bedroom on the third floor of the Clarendon, ca tastrophic news in hand. For heavens sake, read that" he gasped; and Loring sat on the edge of the bed to do it. :<1*
 So! they've sprung their mine at last" he said, quietly, when he had mastered the purport of Hunnicott's war news.
 Kent had caught his second wind in the moment of respite, and was set- ting into the collar in a way to strain the working harness to the breaking point.
 Its a put-up job from away back" :" he gritted. "If I'd had the sense of a pack-mule should have been on the lookout for just such trap as this. Look at the date of that message!"
 The general manager did look, and shook his head. Received. 3:45 p. m.; forwarded, 9:17 p. m That will cost somebody his job. What do we do?"
 We get busy at the drop of the hat. Luckily, We have the news, though I'll bet high it wasn't Hawks fault that this message came through with no more than eight hours delay. Get into your clothes, man! The minutes are precious, now!"
 Loring began to dress while Kent walked the floor in a hot fit of impa- tience.
 "The mastodonic cheek of the thing!" he kept repeating, until Lor- ing pulled him down with another quiet remark.
 Tell me what we have to do, David. I am a little lame in law matters"
 Do? We have to appear in Judge MacFarlane's court tomorrow after noon prepared to show that this thing is only a hold-up with a blank car fridge. Hawk meant to take snap judgment. He counted on throwing the whole thing up against Hunni- colt, knowing perfectly well that lit tie local attorney at a way-station couldn't begin to secure the necessary affidavits"
 Loring paused with one end of his collar flying loose.
 Let me understand" he said. Do we have to disprove these charges by afidavits?"
 Certainly; that is the proper re- joinder-the only one, in fact" said Kent; then, as great doubt laid hold of him and shook him: You don't mean to say there is any doubt about our ability to do it?"
 "Oh. no; I suppose not, if 1t comes to a showdown. But I was thinking of your man Hunnicott. Doesn't it occur to you that he is in just about as good a fix to secure those afidavits in Gaston as We are here, David?"
 Good Lord! Do you mean that we have to send to Boston for our ammu- nition?"
 Haven't we? Don't you see how nicely the thing is timed? Ten days later our transwestern reorganization would be complete, and we could swear our own officers on the spot. These people know what they are about"
 Kent was walking the floor again, but nov the strength of the man was coming uppermost.
 Never mind: we'll wire Boston. and then we'll do what we can here. Could you get me to Gaston on a spe- cial engine in three hours?"
 Yea"
 Then we have till II o'clock to- morrow 10 prepare. I'll be ready by that time"
 David. you are a brick when il comes to the infighting." said the gen. eral manager; and then he finished buttoning his collar.
 CHAPTER \. WITHOUT BENEFIT OF CLERGY.