Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-21
CHAPTER XII.-Continued.

You have no notion of what did it?'
he queried. turning abruptly upon Nc
Closkey.
only a guess and it couldn't be veri-
fled In a thousand years. The '9o went
off first. and Clay and Green both say it
felt as if rail had turned over on the
outside of the curve
What did you find when you got
here?'
"Chaos and old night-a pile of scrap
with a hole torn in the middle OF it as il
by an explosion, and a fire going
"Of course, you couldn't tell anything
about the cause under such conditions"
Not much you'd say; and yet queer
thing happened. The entire train went
of so thoroughly that it passed the point
where the trouble began before it piled
a rail had turned over on the outside OF
the curve
That proves nothing more than poor
spike holds in q few dry-rOtted cross
ties" Lidgerwood objected.
NO: there were q number of others
farther along also turned over and
broken and bent. But the first one was
the only freak
How was that?"
We'll. it wasn't either broken Or bent;
screwed the nuts Of the fish-plate bolts
and threw them await pulled out every
spike on both sides of itself and hid
them
Lidgerwood nodded gravely. Il should
say your guess has already verified itself.
All il lacks is the name Of the man who
loosened the fish-plate bolts and pulled
the spikes
That's about an
The superintendent eyes narrowed.
Tho nf a
crowd of trouble-makers yesterday,
Mac?'
II hate to say" said the trainmaster.
God knows i don't want to put 1t all
over any man unless it belongs to him.
but I'm locoed every time 1t comes to
that kind Of a guess. Every bunch OF
letters 1 see spells just one name"
Go on said Lidgerwood. sharply.
''Hallock came somewhere up this way
on 202 yesterday"
Il know" was the quick reply. -
sent him out to Navajo to meet Cruik-
shanks. the catteman with the long
claim for stock injured in the Gap wreck
two weeks ago"
Did he stop at Navajo?" queried the
Il suppose so: at any rate, he saw
Cruikshanks.
Well, haven't got any more guesses.
only notion or two. This is a pretty
stiff upgrade for 2O2-she passes here at
2:JDjust about an hour before Gay
found that loosened raii-and 1t wOuldn I
be impossible for man to drop on as
she was climbing this curve.
But now the superintendent was shak-
ing his head.
1T doesn't hold together. Mac: there
are too many parts missing. Your ny
pothesis presupposes that Hallock took
day train out of Angels. rode twelve
miles past his destination. jumped on
here while the train was in motion. pulled
the spikes on this loosened rail, and
walked back to Navajo in time to see the
cattleman and get in to Angels on the
delayed No. Is this morning. Could he
have done all these things without ad-
vertisin2 them to everybody?
Il know confessed the trainmaster
cit doesn't look reasonable"
1T lent reasonable" Lidgerwood went
on. arguing Hallock's case as il 1t were
his own. Bradford was aO2's conductor;
he'd know IL Hallock failed to get on At
Navajo. Gridley was a passenger on the
same train. and he would have known.
The agent at Navajo would be third
witness. He was expecting Hailock on
that train, and was no doubt holding
Cruikshanks. Your guesses prefigure
Hallock failing to show up when the traiI,
stopped at Navajo. and make 1t necessary
| for him TO explain to the two men who
were waiting for him why he let Brad
ford carry him by so far that 1t took
| him several hours to walk back. You see
| how incredible il all is?"
Yes, / see," said McClOskey, and when