Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-02-24

"You pon't-You Dor
Of black substance inside. closed II UP
placed it against the far wall, III
twisted the coil. stood back rear III,
door and then pressed the button. TIL,
result was extraordinary. The who'll
Of the far wall was blown W. ard fol
some distance in front the grount
was furrowed up by the explosion
Quest replaced the instrument in III:
pocket. sprang through the OPENING
and ran for the tower house. Eehint
him IN its way to New York he coulc
see a freight train coming along. II,
could hear. too, Red GallaGher's roal
Of anger. 1t was less than fifty yards
yet as soon as he reached the shelter
Of the tower the thunder Of the freight
sounded In Quests ears. He glanced
around. Red Gallagher and his mate
were racing almost side by side to
wards him. He rushed up the narrow
stairs into the signal room. tearing
open his coat to show his Official badge
stop the freight he shouted to tbs
operator. Quick. I'm Sanford Quest
detective-special powers from the
chief commissioner"
The man moved to the signal. An
other voice Numbered in his ears. He
turned swiftly around. The Irishman's
red head had appeared at the top OF
the staircase.
Drop that signal or I'll blow you
into bits" he shouted.
The operator hesitated. dazed.
Walk towards me- Gallagher
shouted. Look here. you guy. this
will show you whether In in earnes,
or mott"
A bullet passed within a few inches
Of the operators head. He came slow
ly across the room. Below they could
hear the roa of the freight.
This amt your job" the Irishmar
continued savagely. We want the
cop, and we're going to have him"
Quest had stolen a yard or two
nearer during this brief colloquy. Gal
lagher's mate from behind shouted out
a warning just a second too late. With
a sudden kick, Quest sent the re-
volver flying across the room and be
fore the Irishman could GOV he
struck him full in the face. Notwith
standing his huge size and strength,
Gallagher ree!ed. The operator who
had just begun to realize what was
happening flung himself bodily against
the two thugs. 4 shot from the tan
gled mass Of struggling limbs whis.
tied past Quests head as he sprarg
to the window which overlooked the
track. The freight had already almost
passed. Quest steadied himself for a
supreme effort. crawled out IN the lit.
tie steel bridge and poised himself for
a moment. The last a was just be-
meath. The gap between 1t and the
previous one was slipping by. He set
his teeth and jumped on the smooth
top.
Back behind the tower Red Gala.
CHER and his mate bent with Mortified
faces over the body of the %signalman.
What the hell did you want TO plug
him for?" the latter nuttered. He
amt in the show at all. You've done
US. Red, he's cooked"
Red Gallagher staggered to his feet.
Already the horror of the murderer
was in his face as he glanced furtive-
~ around.
81 never meant to drop him" he
muttered. Il got mad at seeing Quest
get OF. That mans a devil"
wat are we going to do" the
other demanded hoarse!y.
There's the auto" Gallagher shout
ed. Come on, old man! I a fix
the wheel. If we've got to swing for
this job, we'll have something OF our
own back first"
They crawled to the side Of the
road. Gallagher's rough, hairy fingers
were still trembling. but they knew
their job. In a few minutes the wheel
was fixed. Clumsily but successfully.
the great Irishman turned the car
around away from the city.
She's a hummer" he muttered. "Ill
make her go when We get the hang OF
it. Sit tight"
They drove clumsily off. gathering
speed at every yard. Behind, IN the
shadow of the tower. the signalman
lay dead. Quest, half way to New
York, stretched fiat on his stomach,
was struggling for life with knees and
hands and feet.