Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-06-28

HIS IIoNSu ltSell quito chpttpte VI I'LL
and more than this without any out
side and highly specialized assistance,
and 1t would appear is in no whit
inferior in resource and develish in
gcnuity to the best, or worst, that
Sing Sing has to offer in the shape Of
this so-called Hawk; but, out OF con-
lecture, one question naturally sug-
gests itself. Granting the presence of
the Hawk, is he here as Il rival OF
the criminals whose existence we are
already only too well aware, or is he
one of them thru old-time associa-
tons before Sing Sing put tenn
porary check upon his activities?"
There was n more-virnlent out
pouring of wrath at tho intolerable
extent to which the community, it's
life and property, was being en-
dangered. and a promise of summary
vengeance upon the criminals II
caught.
"Quite sol" murmured the Hawk.
lowering his feet slowly to tho floor.
II guess 1t wouldn't be healthy to
get caught around these parts.
have q feeling that 1t would be the
nearest telegraph pole instead OF a
trial."
He tossed the newspaper back on
the table. The sounder, spasmodic
in Its chatter, for the moment was
still. All was silence, profound, alb
solute. Then the clock struck, loud.
resonant, smashing thru the silence,
startling. And at the same instant
ho low. fv,x tall
The Hawk snatched a pencil from his
pocket and jerked his body forward
then relaxed again.
"Stray stuff" he muttered. Got
In ahead Of him. Well get it In a
minute now"
Pencil poised In hand, the flash
light playing on the blank sheet of
paper before him, the Hawk waited.
The sounder ceased--and almost in
stantly broke again. rafting sharply
thru the room. The Hawk nodded, as
his pencil began to travel across the
paper.
"'mtlky'---stroke at five. Two three
one tonight" he said aloud.
Without pause, without hesitation,
without the slightest indication of
spacing to break it's continuity. the
sounder ratified on--and finally. us
abruptly as 1t had begun, it stopped.
On the sheet of paper the Hawk
had written this:
He reached out for the pad. tore off
another sheet, and In two parallel
columns set down the letters OF the
alphabet. one column transposed.
There was a faint smile on his lips,
as he turned again to the cipher and
began to write in another line OF let
ters under the original message.
II wonder what Poe and his pre-
dominant .'e' would do with this!" he
chuckled. "'Combl'-stroke two. Key
letter--stroke three" He frowned the
next instant. whats this! All
stroke three instead OF only one
He completed the transposition,
stared at this several lines which were
now scattered with vertically crossed
out letters, whistled low under his
breath. and grim look settled on his
face.
The message now read.
Combination in upper drawer left
side divisional paymaster Cs) desk.
Ten thousand In safe tonight Put
Number One on job
The Hawk stood up, plugged out"
the station circuit, and, gathering up
the two sheets of paper he had used.
put them in his pocket; then, leaving
the door of the operators room open
behind him, as he had found it, he
stepped out from the station to the
platform, and, with his skeleton key,
relocked the station door. He stood
for q moment staring up and down
the track. The switchlights blinked
back at him confidentially. He list
ened. The easthound freight, from
which he had jumped some twenty
minutes before, would cross Extra
No. SO, the west-bound way freigth,
at Elkton, seven miles away, but
there was no sound of the latter as
yet.
He turned then, and, jumping from
the platform to the track, swung into
a dog-trot along the road-bed The
Hawk smiled cohtentedly to himself.
It was all timed to a nicely! A mile
or SO to the west the right of way
rose in stiff grade that the way
freight would be able to negotiate at
no better speed than the pace at
which q man could crawl He could
make the distance readily, board her
there, and the way freight would get
him to Selkirk-and the divisional
paymaster's office!--by about mid
night.
He ran on, the swing and ease Of a
trained athlete in his stride. And, as
he ran, he took the sheets of paper
from his pocket, and, tearing them
into small fragments, scattered the
pieces at intervals here and there.
He reached the foot of the grade,
and paused to look back along the
track, as suddenly from behind him
came the hoarse scream of an engine
whistle. That was the way freight
now. whistling perfunctorily for the
deserted station! He had made the
grade in plenty of time, tho the
nearer to the top he could get the
better. for the freight requiring all
the initial impetus it could attain,
would hit the foot Of the grade wide
open. ~.
The Hawk broke into run again,
glancing constantly back over his
shoulder as he sped on up the grade.
And then, when he was well on to-
ward the summit, opening the night
like a blazing disk as it rounded a
curve. he caught the CLEAN Of the
headlight. It grew larger and larger,
until, beginning to fling luminous