THE DYNAMITERS
"Well," said Mr. Simms, "that is a providential discovery, certainly!
If they had been allowed to reach that car of dynamite and set off all
that stuff there would have been precious little left of us or the
factories tomorrow morning. Now the question is what to do to prevent
them from doing anything else?"
"I think we'd better leave the car just as it is, and even fix
something under that sacking to look like the dynamite," said Jack.
"If they get to it at all they will be in a terrible hurry, certainly,
and they won't stop to look to see if it's the right stuff. Then, if
we are watching them we can catch them red-handed, and it will be just
the ones that are making all the trouble that will be caught. Big Ed
Willis and his gang are perfectly willing to sneak up in the night and
set some dynamite to blow up innocent people, but they'll leave others
to bear the brunt of their crimes, every time."
"That's a good idea," said Carew. "I think we'd better fix that up
right away, Mr. Simms. Now, how about you, boys? Do you think you can
keep a sharp enough lookout to be able to spot those fellows when they
come in?"
"Yes, sir, I do! They'll be careful to dodge the places that would
ordinarily be watched. I think they'll try to come in by the fence
near the railroad spur. They'll know that the main gates would be
closely guarded, and the spur itself. But the fence near the spur is
easy to climb, and I think that's where they'll try to get in."
"And I'll tell you how to catch, them, too, Mr. Carew," said Pete
Stubbs. "They'll have to get inside the car to fix that dynamite, you
know, and get it ready to set off, and if Jack and I are right behind
them, I don't see why we can't lock them inside the car. Then, if the
gate is open, we can start the car rolling down the grade, and it will
run right outside of the yard and down toward the freight yard. If we
really catch them we'll have plenty of time to give the alarm, and they
can be taken right out of the car. If they made a racket here they
might make trouble."
"That's so," said Jack. "I think Pete's got the right idea, Mr. Carew.
You see, those strikers, if they have an inkling of what's going to
happen, are likely to be pretty close by, watching for the chance to
rush in after the explosion, if I know anything about the way Big Ed
manages things."
"You mean they might make an attempt at a rescue?"
"That's just the danger I should guess, sir. Big Ed and his precious
friends probably plan to set a time fuse, and then disappear, and get
as far as possible away before the explosion, so that they can have
witnesses to prove that they were a long way off when the explosion
took place."
They spent the afternoon not in sleep, as Jack and Pete had planned to
do, but in going all over the ground outside the shops of the big
factory, trying to determine the places most likely to be selected by
Willis and his gang in their effort to reach the dynamite. Then, when
they were satisfied that they had inspected the whole place, and that
they could find their way even if they were blindfolded, Jack and Pete
rested.
After supper Mr. Simms insisted that they should have some sleep. He
told them they would have a hard night's work ahead of them, and that,
as there was no telling at what time the attempt to reach the dynamite
would be made, they must guard against the danger of getting sleepy.
"We're still depending a good deal on you two," he said, "although you
have, of course, already made the complete success of this plot
impossible. But if they got to that car without being seen, and
discovered that their dynamite had been taken away, they might still
make an effort to set the whole place on fire, and, if they succeeded
in that, and had a mob outside to hamper the firemen, there might be
terrible damage, that would cripple the company for a long time."
It was about ten o'clock when Pete and Jack, in their Scout uniforms,
hard to detect at any distance, even in broad daylight, and making them
almost invisible at night, took up their vigil. The place seemed to be
as silent and deserted as a tomb. Lights were few and far between, but
each of them carried an electric torch supplied by Mr. Carew. These
they did not intend to use except in an emergency, since to use them
would mean betraying their position to the enemy, and it was their
chief opportunity to succeed that they were not known to Willis and the
others to be in the place at all. The strikers would be on the lookout
for regular watchmen, not for keen-eyed boys.
There was a high wall around the greater portion of the grounds, topped
with broken glass, so that the place was really well fortified against
the attack of a mob. But the danger tonight was even greater than it
would have been from a mob, more insidious, and harder to guard against.
The two Scouts, to make sure, if that were possible, that there should
be no surprise, agreed to patrol the whole wall, and thus have the best
possible chance of seeing anyone who tried to climb over. They could
do this, meeting in the center of the trip, and leaving no spot
unwatched for more than two or three minutes.
"If I hear anyone, Pete, or see anything wrong," said Jack, "I'll give
the Patrol call--the cry of a crow."
"Sure! I'll understand, if I hear it, and I'll give the same call if
I'm the one that sees something."
"Right! If we hear that call the one who hears it will stop patrolling
at once and go for the sound."
"They can't see us if we keep in the shadow, can they, Jack?"
"I don't believe so, Pete. It is a pretty heavy shadow, and anyone
coming over the wall is likely to have his eyes more or less dazzled by
the arc lights on the other side."
"Don't call unless you have to, Pete. Remember that they're not fools,
these fellows, and they're apt to know that such a call means danger,
even if they don't know who's here. We don't want just to scare them
off--they might come back if we did that. We want to catch the
ring-leaders."
They started from the railroad spur, so they would meet there each time
as they completed a round of the walls, since that was where they felt
the enemy was most likely to appear.
"Sleepy, Pete?" asked Jack, when they had been at it nearly an hour.
"I would be, I think, if I wasn't walking around, Jack. That's fine,
though. It helps to keep me awake."
"Same here! I've heard of being so tired that you can go to sleep
standing up, or even when you're walking about, but it doesn't seem
possible to me."
For a long time they kept up the patrol. All sorts of strange noises
startled them, but, with their training as Boy Scouts, which had
accustomed them to the night noises of the woods, and to keeping their
heads, they did not give the alarm. At last, however, after Jack had
met Pete and passed on, he heard the sound of a crow's call.
Gently and silently he slipped back. As he came near the spur he saw
two dark figures climbing over the wall. And a moment later Pete,
moving with the stealth of an Indian, touched his hand.
"I guess they're here, Jack," he whispered, tense with excitement and
delighted that the long vigil was over at last.
Big Ed Willis was easy to recognize. The other man was a stranger to
them, and, since both wore handkerchiefs over the upper part of their
faces, it was impossible to tell what he looked like.
The strikers, full of their murderous intention, moved quietly and
cautiously along toward the car, which stood by itself. It was on a
sharp grade, but a billet of wood held it in place. The two Scouts,
hardly daring to breathe, lest they be heard, followed the men not more
than twenty paces behind them. They wore moccasins instead of their
stout Scout shoes, so that their movements were without noise, and they
could see and hear everything the two men did.
"We'll both have to get in the car," they heard Big Ed whisper. "The
stuff's heavy, and we want to fix the fuses in there, so that we'll
have less time to spend out in the open, where someone might see us."
"Right!" said the other man. "Come on, then!"
"As soon as they get inside, Pete," whispered Jack, now, with a little
thrill of exultation at the way the strikers were walking into the trap
set for them, "kick that bit of wood that holds the car out of the way.
I don't believe it will start moving right away. Then rush around and
help me with the door, if I need you."
"All right, Jack! Be ready to slam it shut as soon as you hear me
coming, will you?"
In a moment, as Jack crouched outside the door, with the heavy hasp in
his hand, he heard the slight jar that showed that Pete had done his
part. At once he slid the door close, and pushed the hasp in. With
Pete to help him, they had it securely locked in a moment, so that no
one inside could hope to get out. Then, while a yell of rage and
surprise, mingled with terror, came from inside the car, the two boys
leaned all their weight against it. So slight was the resistance it
could offer, owing to the grade, that it started to roll at once.
"Come on, Pete," cried Jack. "Get aboard the car--swing up the way the
brakemen do."
Yelling in triumph, to let Carew and the others know that they had
succeeded, the two Scouts leaped to the top of the car. A man had been
stationed in a nearby building, and, as he saw the car begin to move,
he leaped to the gates and opened them. Then he swung aboard and
joined the two boys on the top of the car.
Carew had telephoned to the freight yard as soon as he knew the men
were locked in the car, and by the time it rolled into the freight yard
and came to a stop on the level section of track there a score of men
stood ready to capture the strikers as they emerged. The regular
police were not on hand, but Captain Haskin, and some of his railroad
detectives, well armed, were ready and waiting, and they were so strong
that there was no chance for Ed Willis and his chum to make a
successful rush.
"Surrender, you two!" cried Haskin, as the door was opened. "Don't
attempt to escape or make any trouble, or you'll be riddled with
bullets. We've got you covered!"
"Don't shoot, boss! We'll come down!"
Big Ed Willis, all the bluff stripped from him, so that his real
cowardice was exposed, was the speaker. His tone trembled and terror
filled him. He crawled out abjectly, and held up his hands for the
handcuffs which Haskin at once fitted on.
"You're a fine sort of a low hound!" exclaimed the other. "I thought
you were a man, Willis, when you proposed this game. I'd never have
gone in with you if I'd thought you were going to quit cold this way."
But he saw that he could do nothing, single-handed, against such a show
of force as Haskin and his men made, and he, too, came out of the car
and surrendered. Haskin whipped the handkerchief from his face, and
Jack, with a cry of surprise, saw that he knew him. It was Silas
Broom--the man of the burning launch.
"That's Broom, Captain Haskin--the man that escaped!"
"I thought so," said Haskin, grimly. "He has some other names, but
that will do for the present. You see it didn't do you any good to
have that film destroyed, Broom!"
"I didn't do that," cried Broom. "So help me, I didn't!"
"I never said you did, did I?" asked Haskin, with a smile that wasn't
pleasant to see. "Better wait until you're accused of a crime next
time before you're so ready to deny it. The cap seemed to fit you when
I threw it."
Broom, snarling, turned on Jack then.
"It's you, is it, you young whelp?" he gritted. "I might have guessed
it. It's a pity I didn't smash your brains out the other day when I
had you in my power. You're the one that's been in the way every time
we've turned a trick for the last two weeks. But we'll get you yet--be
sure of that!"
"Never mind him, Jack," said Pete. "He talks mighty big, but he can't
do anything to you. Every time they've tried it, they've got into
pretty serious trouble. I guess they'll learn to let you alone before
long. If they don't, they'll all be in jail anyhow, won't they,
Captain Haskin?"
"It looks that way, my boy," said the detective. "Take these fellows
off, men. Turn them over to the police at headquarters. Tell them
that Mr. Simms and the railroad will both make a complaint. The
federal marshal will be after them, too, for trying to transport
dynamite on a railroad car. That's a very serious offense nowadays,
under the Interstate Commerce Law."