TOO LATE
Two days later Ralph went down the line of the little railroad to
where it met the tracks of the Great Northern. Mr. Gibson had sent him
with some instructions to the men at work there, and at the request of
the young fireman had assigned him to work at that point.
This consisted in checking up the construction supplies delivered by
rail. Ralph had a motive in coming to this terminus of the Short Line
Route. The information he had gained from the old, crippled
railroader, Amos Greenleaf, had set him to thinking. He found Zeph
Dallas working industriously, but said nothing about his plans until
the next day.
At the noon hour he secured temporary leave of absence from work for
Zeph and himself, and went to find his friend.
Zeph was a good deal surprised when Ralph told him that they were to
have the afternoon for a ramble, but readily joined his comrade.
"Saw some friends of yours hanging around here yesterday," said the
farmer boy.
"That so?" inquired Ralph.
"Yes, Slump and Bemis. Guess they were after work or food, and they
sloped the minute they set eyes on me. Say, where are you bound for
anyway, Ralph?"
"For Wilmer."
"What for?"
"I want to look around the river near there. The truth is, Zeph, I
fancy I have discovered a clew to that missing freight car."
"What!" cried Zeph excitedly. "You don't mean car No. 9176?"
"I mean just that," assented Ralph. "Here, let us find a comfortable
place to sit down, and I'll tell you the whole story."
Ralph selected a spot by a fence lining the railroad right of way.
Then he narrated the details of his interview with Amos Greenleaf.
"Say," exclaimed Zeph, "I believe there's something to this. Every
point seems to tally somehow to what information the car finder gave
me, don't you think so? Besides, in investigating the matter, I heard
about this same wreck. And five years ago? Ralph, this is worth
looking up, don't you think so?"
Zeph was fairly incoherent amid his excitement. He could not sit
still, and arose to his feet and began walking around restlessly.
"You see, it is a long time since the car disappeared," said Ralph,
"and we may not be able to find any trace of it. The car finder, in
his investigations, must have heard of this wreck. Still, as you say,
it is worth following up the clew, and that is why I got a leave from
work for the afternoon."
"Hello," said Zeph, looking in among the bushes abruptly, "some one in
there? No, I don't see anybody now, but there was a rustling there a
minute or two ago."
"Some bird or animal, probably," said Ralph. "Come on, Zeph, we will
go to the bridge and start on our investigations."
The river near Wilmer was a broad stream. It was quite deep and had a
swift current. The boys started down one bank, conversing and watching
out. Ralph laughed humorously after a while.
"I fancy this is a kind of a blind hunt, Zeph," he said. "We certainly
cannot expect to find that car lying around loose."
"Well, hardly, but we might find out where it went to if we go far
enough," declared Zeph. "I tell you, I shall never give it up now if I
have to go clear to the end of this river."
They kept on until quite late in the afternoon, but made no
discoveries. They passed a little settlement and went some distance
beyond it. Then Ralph decided to return to the railroad camp.
"All right," said Zeph, "only I quit work to-morrow."
"What for?"
"To find that car. I say, I'm thirsty. Let us get a drink of water at
that old farm house yonder."
They went to the place in question and were drinking from the well
bucket when the apparent owner of the place approached them.
"Won't you have a cup or a glass, my lads?" he inquired kindly.
"Oh, no, this is all right," said Ralph.
"On a tramp, are you?" continued the farmer, evidently glad to have
someone to talk to.
"In a way, yes," answered Ralph, and then, a sudden idea struck him,
he added: "By the way, you are an old resident here, I suppose?"
"Forty years or more."
"Do you happen to remember anything of a wreck at the bridge at Wilmer
about five years ago?"
"Let me see," mused the man. "That was the time of the big freshet.
Yes, I do remember it faintly. It's the freshet I remember most
though. Enough timber floated by here to build a barn. See that old
shed yonder?" and he pointed to a low structure. "Well, I built that
out of timber I fished ashore. Lumber yard beyond Wilmer floated into
the creek, and all of us along here got some of it."
"What do you know about the wreck?" asked Ralph.
"Heard about it at the time, that's all. Sort of connect the freshet
with it. That was a great washout," continued the farmer. "Even sheds
and chicken coops floated by. And say, a box car, too."
"Oh," cried Zeph, with a start as if he was shot.
"Indeed?" said Ralph, with a suppressed quiver of excitement in his
tone.
"Yes. It went whirling by, big and heavy as it was."
"Say, Mister, you don't know where that car went to, do you?" inquired
Zeph anxiously.
"Yes, I do. I know right where it is now."
"You do?"
"Yes, old Jabez Kane, ten miles down the creek, got it. He is using it
now for a tool shed."
"Oh!" again cried Zeph, trembling with suspense and hope.
Ralph nudged him to be quiet. He asked a few more questions of the
farmer and they left the place.
"Ralph," cried Zeph wildly, "we've found it!"
"Maybe not," answered the young fireman. "It may not be the same
car."
"But you're going to find out?"
"It's pretty late. We had better make a day of it to-morrow."
"All right, if we can't attend to it to-day," said Zeph
disappointedly; and then both returned to camp.
Next morning early both started for the creek again. By proceeding
across the country diagonally, they saved some distance.
It was about noon when they approached a rickety, old farmhouse which
a man had told them belonged to Jabez Kane.
"There it is, there it is," cried Zeph, as they neared it.
"Yes, there is an old box car in the yard near the creek, sure
enough," said Ralph.
They entered the farm yard. The box of the car they looked at sat flat
on the ground. It had been whitewashed several times, it appeared, so
they could trace no markings on it. They approached it and stood
looking it over when a man came out of the house near by.
"Hey," he hailed, advancing upon them. "What you trespassing for?"
"Are we?" inquired Ralph, with a pleasant smile. "We mean no harm."
"Dunno about that," said the farmer suspiciously. "Was you here last
night?"
"Oh, no," answered Ralph.
"Well, what do you want?"
"I was sort of interested in this old car," announced Ralph.
"Why so?" demanded Kane.
"Well, we are looking for a car that floated down the creek here about
five years ago."
"For the railroad?" asked the farmer.
"In a way, yes, in a way, no."
"Does the railroad want to take it away from me?"
"Certainly not. They would like to know, though, if it's a car of the
Southern Air Line and numbered 9176."
"You've got it, lad. This was just that car. What's the amazing
interest in it all of a sudden? Look here," and he took them around to
the other side of the car. "Last night two boys came here; my son saw
them hanging around here. Then they disappeared. This morning I found
the car that way."
Ralph and Zeph stared in astonishment. A four-foot space of the
boards on the outside of the car had been torn away. At one point
there was a jagged break in the inside sheathing. In a flash the same
idea occurred to both of them.
"Too late!" groaned poor Zeph. "Some one has been here and the
diamonds are gone."
Ralph was stupefied. He remembered the rustling in the bushes when
they were discussing their plans the day previous. He believed that
their conversation had been overheard by some one.
Ralph asked the man to send for his son, which he did, and Ralph
interrogated him closely. The result was a sure conviction that Ike
Slump and Mort Bemis had secured the diamonds hidden in the box car
about five years previous.