The Ordway new era., 1921-06-24
CHAPTER TX
In the Coal Yard

l knew, just as well as could De
without being able to prove it-that
we were shadowed on the trip up from
the railroad building to the hotel, and
it made me nervous. There could be
only one reason now for any such
dogging of the boss. The grafters
were not trying to find out what he
was doing; they didn't need to. be-
cause he was advertising his doings-
or Juneman was-in the newspapers.
What they were trying to do was to
catch him off his guard and do him
up-this time to stay done up.
1t was safe to assume that they
wouldn't tumble the ball second
time. Mr.. Ripley had stood the thing
fairly on its feet when he said that
our campaign was purely a one-man
proposition, so far as it had yet gone.
People who had met the boss and had
done business with him liked him;
but the old-time prejudice against
the railroad was so widespread and
so bitter that it couldn't be overcome
all at once. Juneman, our publicity
man, was doing his best, but as yet
we had no party following in the
state at large which would stand by
US and see that we got justice.
l was chewing this over while we
sat at dinner in the Billiard cafe, and
I guess Mr.. Norcross was, too. for he
didn't say much. 1 don't know whether
he knew anything about the shadow
ing business l speak of or not, but he
might have. We hadn't more than
given our dinner order when one of
Hatch's clerks, cock-eyed chap named
Kestler, came in and took a table just
far enough from ours to be out of the
way, and near enough to listen in If
we said anything.
When we finished, Kestler was just
getting his service of ice-cream; but
l noticed that he left 1t untouched
lobby. 1t made me hot enough to
want to turn on him and knock his
crooked eye out, but of course, that
wouldn't have done any good.
After Mr.. Norcross had bought some
cigars at the stand he said he guessed
he'd run out to Major Hendricks for
little while; and with that he went
up to his rooms. Though the major
was the one he named, knew he meant
that he was going to see Mrs. Sheila
l remembered what he had said to
Ripley about wOnan's giving him
germ ideas and such things, and 1
guess 1t was really so. Every time
he spent an evening at the majors
he'd come back with lot of new no.
tions for popularizing the Short Line.
When he said that, about going out
to the majors, Kestler was near
enough to overhear it. and so he waited,
lounging In the lobby and pretending
to read paper. About half-past seven
the boss came down and asked me to
call a taxi for him. did 1t; and
Kestler loafed around just long enough
to see him start Off. Then he lit out,
himself, and something in the way he
did 1t made me take out after him.
The first thing knew l was trail
ing him through the railroad yard and
on down past the freight house toward
the big, fenced-in, Red Tower coal
yards.
At the coal yard he let himself In
through a wicket in the wagon gates
and I noticed that he used q key and
locked the wicket after he got inside
put my eye to crack in the high
| stockade fence and saw that the little
shack Office that was used for scale
house was lighted up. My burnt hand
was healing tolerably well by this
time and could use 1t little. There
was slack pile just outside Of the
big gate. and by climbing to the toy
Of 1t got over the fence and crept
up to the scale-house.
A small window in one end Of thu
shack, opened about two inches at thu
bottom. answered well enough for I