Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-07-14


posite side of the track, and stretched
himself out on the grass in the hollow
at the foot of the embankment. The
Fast Mails sole excuse for a stop at
Burke's Siding was the water tank
which would bring the express car to
a halt directly In front of the spot
where he now lay.
The local pulled out. and racketed
away into the night. The tail-lights
vanished. Silence fell. There was
only the chirping Of the insects now,
medley of little night sounds. Burke 8
Siding was lonely place. There was
faint yellow CLEAN from the station
windows. and there was the twinkle
of the switch lights.-no other sign of
life. 1t was pitch black--so black that
the Hawk could just barely distin-
guish the outline of the water tank
across the track.
ITS a nice night" observed the
nice night! It's strange how some
people prefer moon"
The minutes went by. ten, fifteen,
twenty OF them-a half hour--and
then. from far down the track. hoarse
thru the night, came the scream of a
whistle. From his pocket the Hawk
took out his diminutive flashlight,
thin as a pencil. 1t might have been
the winking of a FREELY, as he played
1t IN the dial of his watch
"On the dot" murmured the Hawk.
Some train-the Fast Mail. | guess,
tho. she'll be a iittrs late, at that, to-
nigilt-wllen she pulls into Sclkirk!'
A roar and rumble was in the night
again, increasing steadily in volume.
Down the right of way, in the dis
lance, a flash of light stabbed thru
the black. 1t grew brighter and
brighter The Hawk. wary Of the
spread of the powerful electric head
light, edged further away from the
trackside. And nov the rails cleaned
like polished silvei--and the water
tank stood up out Of the darkness, q
thing of monstrous size. There was
the hiss of steam, the rasp and grind
of setting brakes fhefE Unting rays
from the windows of long string OF
cnaches that trailed back to the sta
ton platform, and big ten wheeler,
like some human thirsty thing. was
painting beside the water tank.
The engineer, with his torch, swung
from the gangways for an oil around.
There was the cre;lk of the descend :
ing spout, the rush of water, and, sill
houetted against the water tank, the
Hawk could make out the fireman
standing on the back of the tender.
And now. poking with his long
spouted oil can, weirdly swallowed up
in the darkness at intervals as he
thrust the torch far in under the big
machine. the engineer moved slowly
along the side of the engine, and A.
nally disappeared around the end OF
the pilot.
The Hawk stole forward closer to
the track again, his eyes on the fire.
man, who, now that the engineers
torch was on the other side, was
more sharply outlined than before.
Came then the swish and gush Of
water as it overfowed, the spout
banged back against the water tank,
and the fireman scrambled back over
the tender into the cab. It was the
moment the Hawk had been waiting
for. Swiftly, but still crawling as a
safeguard against being seen by any
of the train crew in the rear he
moved up the embankment. and in
an instant had swung himself up be-
tween the tender and the forward
door Of the express car. There was
no platform here, of course, but the
end beam of the car, making a sort
of wide threshold, gave him ample
room on which to stand.
The roar of escaping steam drown
ed out all other sounds: the back of
the tender bid him from any chance
of observation from the cab. He
tried the door cautiously. 1t was
locked. of coursezbhere were twenty
tnousanf dsitaSs sworahs esSatenes in
the safe inside! The Hawk felt
carefully over the lock. with his fin
gers, classifying 1t in the darkness,
as it were, by the sense of touch,
and 4 produced from his pocket his
bunch Of Skeleton keys. He inserted
one of the keys. worked with it for a
moment, then shook his head, and Sc
lected another. This time he felt the
lock bolt slide back. The train was
jerking into motion now. He ex-
changed his keys for his automatic,
turned the knob softly, opened tre
door an inch, and listened. Even the
Wire Devils were not infallible, and
If by any chance the messenger
The Hawk whistled low and con-
tentedly under his breath. He had
caught glimpse of the interior OF
the car-and now he slipped quickly
thru the door, closing the door be-
hind him.
A quarter length down the car, in
the aisle made by the express pack
ages whichAwere piled high on either
side, the messenger, a young man OF
perhaps twenty-five, was huddled,
apparently unconscious, in his chair
In flash the Hawk was down the
car, and bending sharply over the
other. The man sat in helpless,
sagging attitude: he was breathing
heavily, and his, head, hanging for
ward and a little to one side. swayed
Imply with the motion Of the car
There was no question as to the mes
senger's condition--he was drugged
and we'll drugged. From the man
the Hawks eyes travelled to q sort OF
desk, or ledge, built out from the
side Of the car. and topped by pig
eonholed rack stuffed with express
forms and official manila envelopes
On the desk was a small leather
satchel containing some lunch, and q
bottle Of what was evidently cold
tea, now but barely a quarter full;