THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA

or

LAYING TRACKS ON THE MAN-KILLER QUICKSAND

By H. Irving Handcock

CHAPTER I. THE MAN OF "CARD HONOR"

"I'll wager you ten dollars that my fly gets off the mirror before yoursdoes. "

"I'll take that bet, friend. "

The dozen or so of waiting customers lounging in Abe Morris's barbershop looked up with signs of renewed life. 

"I'll make it twenty, " continued the first speaker. 

"I follow you, " assented the second speaker. 

*Truly, if men must do so trivial a thing as squander their money onidle bets, here was a novel enough contest. 

Each of the bettors sat in a chair, tucked up in white to the chin. Eachwas having his hair cut. 

At the same moment a fly had lighted on each of the mirrors before thetwo customers. 

The man who had offered the bet was a well known local character--JimDuff by name, by occupation one of the meanest and most dishonorablegamblers who had ever disgraced Arizona by his presence. 

There is an old tradition about "honest gamblers" and "players ofsquare games. " The man who has been much about the world soon learns tounderstand that the really honest and "square" gambler is a creature ofthe imagination. The gambler makes his living by his wits, and he wholives by anything so intangible speedily finds the road to cheating andtrickery. 

Jim Duff had been no exception. His reputation was such that he couldfind few men among the residents of this part of Arizona who would meethim at the gaming table. He plied his trade mostly among simple-mindedtourists from the east--the class of men who are known in Arizona as"tenderfeet. "

Rumor had it that Jim Duff, in addition to his many years of unblushingcheating for a living, had also shot and killed three men in the past onas many different occasions. 

Yet he was a sleek, well-groomed fellow, tall and slim, and, inthe matter of years, somewhere in his forties. Duff always dressedwell--with a foundation of the late styles of the east, with somethingof the swagger of the plains added to his raiment. 

"Stranger, you might as well hand me your money now, " drawled Duff, after a few moments had passed. "It'll save time. "

"Your fly hasn't hopped yet, " retorted the second man, with the air andtone of one who could afford to lose thousands on such stupid bets. 

The second man was of the kind on which Jim Duff fattened his purse. Clarence Farnsworth, about twenty-five years of age, was as verdant a"tenderfoot" as had lately graced Paloma, Arizona, with his presence. 

Even the name of Clarence had moved so many men to laughter in thissweltering little desert town that Farnsworth had lately chopped hisname to "Clare. " Yet this latter had proved even worse; it sounded toonearly like a girl's name. 

So far as his financial condition went, Clarence had the look of onewho possessed money to spend. He was well-dressed, lived at the MansionHouse, often hired automobiles, entertained his friends lavishly, andwas voted a good enough fellow, though a simpleton. 

"My fly's growing skittish, stranger, " smiled Jim Duff. "He's on thepoint of moving. You'd better whisper to your fly. "

"I believe, friend, " rejoined Clarence, "that my fly is taking nap. Heappears to be sound asleep. You certainly picked the more healthy fly. "

Jim Duff gave his barber an all but imperceptible nudge in one elbow. Though he gave no sign in return, that barber understood, and shiftedhis shears in a way that, even at distance, alarmed the fly on themirror before Duff. 

"Buzz-zz!" The fly in front of the gambler took wing and vanished towardthe rear of the store. 

Some of the Arizona men looking on smiled knowingly. They had realizedfrom the start that young Farnsworth had stood no show of winning thestupid wager. 

"You win, " stated young Clarence, in a tone that betrayed no annoyance. 

Drawing a roll of bills from his pocket, he fumbled until he found atwenty. This he passed to Duff, sitting in the next chair. 

"You're not playing in luck to-day, " smiled Duff gently, as he tuckedaway the money in one of his coat pockets. "You're a good sportsman, Farnsworth, at any rate. "

"I flatter myself that I am, " replied Clarence, blushing slightly. 

Jim Duff continued calmly puffing at the cigar that rested between histeeth. They were handsome teeth, though, in some way, they made onethink of the teeth of a vicious dog. 

"Coming over to the hotel this afternoon?" continued Duff. 

"I--I--" hesitated Clarence. 

"Coming, did you say?" persisted Duff gently. 

"I shall have to see my mail first. There may be letters--"

"Oh, " nodded Duff, with just a trace of irony as the younger man againhesitated. 

"Life is not all playtime for me, you know, " Farnsworth continued, looking rather shame-faced. "I--er--have some business affairsattention at times. "

"Oh, don't try to join me at the hotel this if you have more interestingmatters in prospect, " smiled the gambler. 

Again Clarence flushed. He looked up to Jim Duff as a thorough "manof the world, " and wanted to stand well in the gambler's good opinion. Clarence Farnsworth was, as yet, too green to know that, too often, theman who has seen much of the world has seen only its seamy and worthlessside. Possibly Farnsworth was destined to learn this later on--after thegambler had coolly fleeced him. 

"Before long, " Farnsworth went on, changing the subject, "I must get outon the desert and take a look at the quicksand that the railroad folksare trying to cross. "

"The railroad people will probably never cross that quicksand, " remarkedJim Duff, the lids closing over his eyes for a moment. 

"Oh, I don't know about that, " continued Farnsworth argumentatively. 

"I think I do, " declared Jim Duff easily. "My belief, Farnsworth, isthat the railroad people might dig up the whole of New Mexico, transportthe dirt here and dump it on top of that quicksand, and still thequicksand would settle lower and lower and the tracks would still breakup and disappear. There's no bottom to that quicksand. "

"Of course you ought to know all about it, Duff, " Clarence made hasteto answer. "You've lived here for years, and you know all about thissection of the country. "

That didn't quite suit the gambler. What he sought to do was to raise anargument with the young man--who still had some money left. 

"What makes you think, Farnsworth, that the railroad can win out withthe desert and lay tracks across the quicksand? That's a bad quicksand, you know. It has been called the 'Man-killer. ' Many a prospector orcow-puncher has lost his life in trying to get over that sand. "

"The real Man-killer quicksand is a mile to the south of where thetracks go, isn't it?" asked Farnsworth. 

"Yes; and the first party of railway surveyors who went over the linefor their track thought they had dodged the Man-killer. Yet what they'llfind, in the end, is that the Man-killer is a bad affair, and that itextends, under the earth, in many directions and for long distances. Iam certain that railway tracks will never be laid over any part of theMan-killer. "

"Perhaps not, " assented Clarence meekly. 

"What makes you think that the railroad can ever get across theMan-killer?" persisted Duff. 

"Why, for one thing, the very hopeful report of the new engineers whohave taken charge. "

"Humph!" retorted Duff, as though that one word of contempt disposed ofthe matter. 

"Reade and Hazelton are very good engineers, are they not?" inquiredyoung Farnsworth. 

"Humph! A pair of mere boys, " sneered Jim Duff. 

"Young fellows of about my age, you mean?" asked Farnsworth. 

"Of your age?" repeated Duff, in a tone of wonder. "No! You're a man. Reade and Hazelton, as I've told you, are mere boys. They're not of age. They've never voted. "

"Oh, I had no idea that they were as young as that, " replied Clarence, much pleased at hearing himself styled a man. "But these young engineerscome from one of the Colorado, railroads, don't they!"

"I wouldn't be surprised, " nodded the gambler. "However, the Man-killeris no task for boys. It is a job for giants to put through, if the jobever can be finished. "

"Then, if it's so difficult, why doesn't the road shift the track by twoor three miles?" inquired Clarence. 

"You certainly are a newcomer here, " laughed Duff easily. "Why, my son, the railroad was chartered on condition that it run through certaintowns. Paloma, here, is one of the towns. So the road has to come here. "

"But couldn't the road shift, just after it leaves here?" insistedClarence. 

"Oh, certainly. Yet, if the road shifted enough to avoid any possibilityof resting on the big Man-killer, then it would have to go through therange beyond here--would have to tunnel under the hills for a distanceof three miles. That would cost millions of dollars. No, sir; therailroad will have to lay tracks across the Man-killer, or else it willhave to stand a loss so great as to cripple the road. "

"Excuse me, sir, " interrupted a keen, brisk, breezy-looking man, who hadentered the shop only a moment or two before. "There's a way that therailroad can get over the Man-killer. "

"What is that?" asked Duff, eyeing the newcomer's reflected image in themirror. 

"The first thing to do, " replied the stranger, "is to drop these boyengineers out of the game. These youngsters came down here four daysago, looked over the scene, and promised that they could get the trackslaid-safely--for about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. "

"Pooh!" jeered Duff, with a sidelong glance at young Farnsworth. 

"Of course it is pooh!" laughed the stranger. "The thing can it bedone for any such amount as that, and it is a crazy idea, to take theopinions of boys, anyway, on any such subject as that. Now, there's aChicago firm of contractors, the Colthwaite Construction Company, whichhas proposed to take over the whole contract for laying tracks acrossthe Man-killer. These boys figure on using dirt and then more dirt, and still more, until they've satisfied the appetite of the Man-killer, filled up the quicksand and laid a bed of solid earth on which thetracks will run safely for the next hundred years. The Colthwaite peoplehave looked over the whole proposition. They know that it can't be done. The two hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be wasted, and then theColthwaite Company will have to come in, after all, drive its pillars ofsteel and concrete, lay well-founded beds and get a basis that will holdthe new earth above it. Then the track will be safe, and the people ofthis part of Arizona will have a railroad of which they can be proud. But these boys--these kids in railroad building--humph!"

"Humph!" agreed Jim Duff dryly. 

The gambler using the mirror before him, continued to study keenly thisstranger, even after the latter had ceased talking and had gone to oneof the chairs to wait his turn. 

"You're through, sir, " announced the barber who had been trying toimprove the gambler's appearance. "Thank you, sir. Next. "

Clarence, wholly crushed by the weight of opinion, was not yet throughwith his barber. Duff, after lighting a fresh cigar, stepped over towhere the newcomer was seated. 

"Are you stopping at the Mansion House?" inquired the gambler. 

"Yes, " answered the stranger, looking up. 

"So am I, " nodded the gambler. "So I shall probably have the pleasure ofmeeting you again. "

"Why, yes; I trust so, " replied the stranger, after a quick, keen lookat Duff. Undoubtedly this newcomer was accustomed to judging men quicklyafter seeing them. 

"These boy engineers!" chucked Duff. "Humph!"

"Humph!" agreed the stranger. 

At this moment two bronzed-looking, erect young men came tramping downthe sidewalk together. Each looked the picture of health, of courage, of decision. Both wore the serviceable khaki now so common in surveyingcamps in warm climates. Below the knee the trousers were confined byleggings. Above the belt blue flannel shirts showed, yet these were ofexcellent fabric and looked trim indeed. To protect their heads and toshade their eyes as much as possible from the glare of Arizona desertsand, these young men wore sombreros of the type common in the Army. 

"This looks like a good place, Harry, " said the taller of the two youngmen. "Suppose we go inside. "

They stepped into the barber shop together, nodding pleasantly to allinside. Then, hanging up their sombreros, they passed on to unoccupiedchairs. 

Just in the act of passing out, Jim Duff had stepped back to admit them. 

"They're Reade and Hazelton, the very young engineers that the railroadhas just put in charge of the Man-killer job, " whispered one knowingcitizen of Paloma. The news quickly spread about the barber shop. 

Jim Duff already knew the boys by sight, since they were stopping at theMansion House. He uttered an almost inaudible "humph!" then passed onoutside. 

Neither Tom Reade nor Harry Hazelton heard this exclamation, nor wouldthey have paid any heed to it if they had. 

Yes; the two young men were our friends of old, the young engineers. Our readers are wholly familiar with Tom and Harry as far back as theirgrammar school days in the good old town of Gridley. Tom and Harry weremembers of that famous sextet of schoolboy athletes known at home asDick & Co. The exploits of Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton, as of DickPrescott, Dave Darrin, Greg Holmes and Dan Dalzell, have been fullytold, first in the "Grammar School Boys Series, " and then in the "HighSchool Boys Series. "

After the close of the "High School Boys Series" the further adventuresof Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are told in the "West Point Series, "while all that befell Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell has already been foundin the pages of the "Annapolis Series. "

In the preceding volume of this series, "The Young Engineers inColorado, " our readers were made familiar with the real start in workinglife made by Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton. Back in the old High Schooldays Reade and Hazelton had been fitting themselves to become civilengineers. They began their real work in the east, and had made good insterner work in the mountains in Colorado. 

Our readers all know how Tom and Harry opened their careers in Coloradoby becoming "cub engineers" with one of the field camps of the S. B. &L. Railroad. Taken only on trial, they had rapidly made good, and hadearned the confidence of the chief engineer in charge of the work. When, owing to the sudden illness of both the chief engineer and his principalassistant the road's work had been crippled, Tom and Harry had had thecourage as well as the opportunity to take hold, assume the direction, and complete the building of the S. B. & L. Within the time required bythe road's charter. 

Had the young engineers failed, the S. B. & L. , under the terms grantedby the state, might have been seized and sold at public auction. In thatcase, the larger, and rival road, the W. C. & A. , stood ready to buy outthe S. B. & L. And reap the profits that the latter road had plannedto earn. Not only had the young engineers succeeded in overcoming allnatural obstacles, but, in a series of wonderful adventures, they haddefeated the plots of agents of the W. C. & A. From that time on Tom andHarry had been famous in Colorado railroad circles. 

After the S. B. & L. Had been finished and put in operation, Tom Readehad remained with the railroad for several months, still serving aschief engineer, with Harry Hazelton as his trusted and dependableassistant. 

Now, at last, they had been lured away from the S. B. & L. By the offerof a new chance to overcome difficulties of the sort that allfighting engineers love to encounter. The Arizona, Gulf & New MexicoRailroad--more commonly known as the A. , G. & N. M. --while laying itstracks in an attempt at record-beating, had come afoul of the problemof the quicksand, as already outlined. Three different sets of engineershad attempted the feat of filling up the quicksand, only to abandon it. 

There was little doubt that the Colthwaite Construction Company, acontracting firm with years of successful experience, could have, "stopped" the quicksand, but this Chicago firm wanted far more money forthe job than the railroad people felt they could afford to spend. 

So, in a moment of doubt, and harassed by troubles, one of the directorsof the A. , G. & N. M. Had remembered the names and the performancesof Tom and Harry. This director of the Arizona road, being a friendof President Newnham, of the S. B. & L. Road, had written the latter, asking whether the services of Tom and Harry could be secured. The replyhad been in the affirmative, and Tom and Harry had speedily traveleddown into Arizona. In the few days they had been at this little town ofPaloma, they had gone thoroughly over the ground, they had studiedthe problem, and had expressed their opinion that the job could beput through creditably at a cost not exceeding a quarter of a milliondollars. 

"Go to it, then!" General Manager Curtis had replied. "You have ourroad's credit at your command, and we look to you to make good. You areboth very young, but Newnham's word is quite good enough for us. "

The day before this story opens this general manager had boarded one ofthe rough-looking construction trains and had gone back to the road'sheadquarters. 

As they sat in the barber shop now Tom and Harry were quite unaware ofthe interested notice they were receiving. This was not surprising, forboth were good, sane, wholesome American boys, with no more than theaverage share of conceit, and neither believed himself to be as much ofa wonder as some experienced railroad men credited them with being. 

"Stranger, excuse me, but you're Reade, aren't you?" inquired one of themen of Paloma who was present. 

"Yes, sir, " nodded Tom, looking up pleasantly from the weekly paper thathe had been scanning. 

"You're head of the new job on the Man-killer, aren't you?" questionedthe same man. By this time every man in the barber shop was secretlywatching the young engineers, a fact that was plain to Harry Hazelton, as he glanced up from a magazine. 

"Yee, sir, " Tom answered again. "In a way I'm at the head of it, butmy friend, Hazelton, is really as much at the head as I am. We arepartners, and we work together in everything. "

"Do you think, Reade, that you're going to win out on the job?" inquiredanother man. 

"Yes, sir, " nodded Tom. 

"You seem very confident about it, " smiled another. 

"It's just a way we have, " Tom assented good-naturedly. "We always tryto keep our nerve and our confidence with us. "

"Yet you are really sure?"

"Oh! yes, " Reade answered. "We have looked the quicksand over, and wefeel sure that we see a way of stopping the Man-killer, and forcing itto sustain railroad ties and steel rails. "

"How are you going; to go about it?" questioned still another interestedcitizen. These men of Paloma had good reason for being interested. Whenthe iron road was finished, Paloma would be an intimate part of thenow outside world. It was certain that Paloma real estate would rise tothree or four times its present value. 

"I know you'll excuse us, " replied Tom, still speaking pleasantly, "ifwe don't go into precise details. "

"Then you are going to make a secret of your plans?" inquired anotherbarber-shop idler. His tone expressed merely curiosity; Arizona men areproverbially as polite as they are frank. 

"We're somewhat secretive--yes, sir, " Tom replied. "That is only becausewe regard the method we are going to use as being mainly the concern ofthe A. , G. & N. M. No offense meant, sir, either. "

"No offense taken, " replied the late questioner. 

Tom had already, within a few minutes, made an excellent impression onthe majority of these Arizona men present. 

As to the other newcomer, who had lately spoken so warmly of theColthwaite Company, he was now silent, apparently greatly absorbed in athree-days-old newspaper that he had picked up. Yet he managed to castmore than one covert glance at the boys. 

"I have heard both of you young men spoken of most warmly, as realengineers who are going to solve the problem of the Man-killer, "declared Clarence Farnsworth, as, alighting from the barber's chair, hestrolled past the pair. 

"Thank you, " nodded Tom, with all his usual simple good nature. 

"If you make a successful job of it is will be a splendid thing for youin your professional careers, " continued Farnsworth, rather aimlessly. 

"Undoubtedly, " nodded Harry. 

The stranger who had held so much converse with Jim Duff was throughwith the barber at last. Though the day was scorchingly hot in thisdesert town, the stranger stepped along briskly until he had reached thehotel. 

The Mansion House would scarcely have measured up to the hotel standardsof large cities. Yet it was a very good hotel, indeed, for this part ofArizona, and the proprietor did all in his power for the comfort of hisguests. 

As the stranger ascended the steps to the broad porch he caught sight ofJim Duff, approaching the doorway from the inside. 

"Oh, how do you do?" was Duff's greeting. "Hot, isn't it?"

"Very, " nodded the stranger. 

"I usually have my luncheon in my room, which is large and airy, "continued Duff. "As I dislike to eat alone, I have ordered the tablespread for two. I shall be very glad of your company, stranger, if youcare to honor me. "

"That is kind of you, " nodded the other. "I shall accept with muchpleasure, for I, too, like to eat in good company. "

After a little more conversation the two ascended to Duff's room on thenext floor. Certainly it was the largest and most comfortable guest roomin the hotel, and was furnished in good taste. The main apartment wasset as a gentlemen's lounging room, Duff's bedroom furniture being in alittle room at the rear. 

Hardly had Duff pressed the bell button before there came a tap at thedoor. One waiter brought in a table for two, with the napery. This hequickly arranged. As he turned toward the door two other waiters enteredwith dishes containing a dainty meal for a hot day. 

"You may arrange everything and then leave us, John, " directed Duff. Soon the two new acquaintances were alone together, the gambler servingthe light meal with considerable grace. 

"How long have you been with the Colthwaite Company?" asked Jim Duffpresently. 

"I didn't say that I had ever been with the Colthwaite Company, " smiledthe stranger. 

"No, " admitted the gambler; "but I took that much for granted. "

Again the eyes of the two men met in an exchange of keen looks, Then thestranger laughed. 

"Mr. Duff, I realize that it is a waste of time to try to conceal ratherevident facts from you. I am Frederick Ransom, a special agent for theColthwaite Company. "

"You are down here to get the contract for filling up the Man-killerquicksand?" Duff continued, with an air of polite curiosity. 

"The contract is not to be awarded, " Ransom answered. "The A. , G. & N. M. Has decided to do the work itself, with the assistance of two youngengineers who have been retained. "

"Reade and Hazelton, " nodded Jim Duff. 

"Yes. "

"They may fail--are almost sure to do so. Then, of course, Mr. Ransom, you will have a very excellent chance of securing the contract for theColthwaite Company. "

"Why, yes; if the young men do fail. "

"Will you pardon a stranger's curiosity, Mr. Ransom? Have you laid yourplans yet for the way in which the young men are to fail?"

From most strangers this direct questioning would have been offensive. Jim Duff, however, from long experience in fleecing greenhorns, hadacquired a manner and way, of speaking that stood him in good stead. 

After a moment's half-embarrassed silence Fred Ransom burst into a laughthat was wholly good-natured. 

"Mr. Duff, You are unusually clever at reading other's motives, " hereplied. 

"I went to school as a youngster, and learned how to read the pages ofopen books, " the gambler confessed modestly. "So you have, as yet, no plan for compelling the young engineers to fail and quit at theMan-killer?"

This was such a direct, comprehensive question that Fred Ransom remainedsilent for some moments before he admitted:

"No; as yet I haven't been able to form a plan. "

"Then engage me to help you, " spoke Jim Duff slowly, coolly. "I know thecountry here, and the people. I know where to lay my finger on men whocan be trusted to do unusual things. I shall come high, Mr. Ransom, butI am really worth the money. Talk it over with me, and convince me thatyour company will be sufficiently liberal in return for large favors. "

"Oh, the Colthwaite Company would be liberal enough, " protested Ransom, "and quick to hand out the cash, at that. "

"I took that for granted, " smiled Duff, showing his white teeth. "Yourpeople, the Colthwaites, have always been accustomed to payingfor favors that require unusual talent, some courage-and perhaps apersistency of the shooting kind. "

Then the two rascals, who now thoroughly understood each other, fell toplotting. An hour later the outlook was dark, indeed, for the success ofTom Reade and Harry Hazelton. 

CHAPTER II. DUFF ASSERTS HIS "RIGHTS"

"We've a hard afternoon ahead of us, Harry, " remarked Tom Reade, as theengineer chums finished the noonday meal in the public dining room ofthe Mansion House. 

"Pshaw! We'll have more real work to do after our material arrives, "rejoined young Hazelton. "We're promised the material in four days. Ifwe get it in a fortnight we will be lucky. "

"That might be true on some railroads, " smiled Tom. "But Mr. Ellsworth, the general manager of the A. , G. & N. M. , is a hustler, if I ever metone. When we wired to him what we needed, he wired back that enough ofthe material would be here within four days to keep us busy for sometime. I believe Mr. Ellsworth never talks until he knows what he'stalking about. "

"Well, I hope you can find some work for the men to do this afternoon, "murmured Harry, as the two young engineers rose from table. "Hawkins, our superintendent of construction, has about five hundred mechanics andlaborers who will soon need work. "

"Yes, " agreed Tom. "The men took the jobs with the understanding thattheir pay would run on. "

"The day's wages for five hundred workmen is a big item of loss whenwe're delayed, " mused Hazelton. 

"There's another consideration that's even worse than the loss, " Tomwent on in a low voice. "The pay train will be here this afternoon andthe men will have a lot of money by evening. This town of Paloma isgoing to be wide open to-night in the effort to get the money away fromour five hundred men. "

"We can't stop that, " sighed Harry. "We have no control over the way inwhich the workmen choose to spend their money. "

"Want me to tell you a secret?" whispered Tom mysteriously. 

"Yes, if it's an interesting one, " smiled Harry. 

"Very good, then. I know I can't actually interfere with the way the menspend their money. But I'm going to give them some earnest advice aboutavoiding fellows who would fleece them out of their wages. "

"Go slowly, Tom!" warned Hazelton, opening his eyes rather wide. "Don'tput yourself in bad with the men, or they may quit you in a body. "

"Let them, " retorted Tom, with one of his easy smiles. "If these menthrow up their work General Manager Ellsworth will know where tofind others for us. Few of our men are skilled workers. We can findsubstitutes for most of them anywhere that laborers can be found. "

"But you've no right--"

"Of one thing you may be very sure, Harry. I'll take pains not to stepover the line of my own rights, and not to step on the rights of themen who are working for us. What I mean to do is to offer them somevery straight talk. I shall also warn them that we are quite ready todischarge any foolish fellows who may happen to go on sprees and unfitthemselves for our work. I've one surprise to show you, Harry. Waituntil Johnson, the paymaster, gets in. Then you'll see who else is withhim. "

"Are you gentlemen ready for your horses?" asked a stable boy, comingaround to the front of the hotel. 

"Yes, " nodded Tom. 

Two tough, lean, wiry desert ponies were brought around. Tom and Harrymounted, riding away at a slow trot at first. 

From an upper window Fred Ransom looked down upon them, then called Duffto his side. 

"There is your game, Duff, " hinted the agent. 

"They'll be easy to a man of my experience, " laughed the gambler. "I'vea clever scheme for starting trouble with them. "

He whispered a few words in his companion's ears, at which Ransomlaughed with apparent enjoyment. 

"You're a keen one, Duff, " grinned the agent from Chicago. 

"I've seen enough of life, " boasted the gambler quietly, "to be ableto judge most people at first sight. You shall soon see whether I don'tsucceed in starting some hard feeling with Reade and Hazelton. "

The nearer edge of the treacherous Man-killer was something more thantwo miles west of the town of Paloma. In the course of a quarter of anhour Tom and Harry drew rein near a portable wooden building that servedas an office in the field. 

Mr. Hawkins, a solid-looking, bearded man of fifty, with snapping eyesthat contrasted with his drawling speech, stepped from the building. 

"Hawkins, " called Tom, as a Mexican boy led the horses away to the shadeof a stable tent, "I see you have some men idle. "

"Nine-tenths of 'em are idle, " replied the superintendent ofconstruction. "I warned you, Mr. Reade, that our gangs would soon eat upthe little work that you left us. Out there, by the last cave-in you'llsee that Foreman Payson, has about fifty men going. They'll be throughwithin an hour. "

"And the material, even if delivered within the promised time, is stilltwo days away, " remarked Reade. "I'll confess that I don't like to seethe railroad lose so much through paying men for idle time. "

"It can't be helped, sir, " replied the superintendent. "Of course, ifyou like, you can set the laborers at work shoveling in more dirt atthe points where the last slide of the quicksand occurred. But, then, shoveling dirt in, without the timbers and the hollow steel piles willdo no good, " continued Hawkins, with a shake of his head. "It would beworse than wasted work. "

"I know all that, " Tom admitted. "To tell you the truth, Mr. Hawkins, I wouldn't mind the men's idleness quite so much if it weren't that thepay train comes in this afternoon. An idle man, not over-nice about hishabits, and with a lot of money in his pockets, is a source of danger. We're going to have five hundred such danger spots as soon as the menare paid off. "

"Don't know that, sir!" demanded Superintendent Hawkins. "The town ofPaloma is just dancing on sand-paper, it's so uneasy about getting itshand into the pile of more than thirty-eight thousand dollars that thepay train is going to bring in this afternoon. "

"I know, " nodded Tom rather gloomily. "I hate to see the men fleeced asthey're likely to be fleeced to-night. Some of our men will be so badlydone up that it will be a week before they get back to work--unlessthere is some way that we can stop the fleecing. "

"There isn't any such way, " declared Superintendent Hawkins, with an airof conviction. 

"You've surely been around rough railroading camps enough to know that, Mr. Reade. "

"I've seen a good deal of the life, Hawkins, " Tom answered, "but ofcourse I don't know it all. "

"Yet you know that you can't hope to stop railroad jacks from spendingtheir money in their own way. The saloons in Paloma will take inthousands of dollars from our lads to-night and all day to-morrow. Thegamblers will swindle them out of a whole lot more. Day after to-morrow, Mr. Reade, you wouldn't be able to borrow twenty dollars from our wholeforce. "

"It's a shame, " burst from Tom indignantly, as the three turned to gazewestward across the desert. "These men work as hard as any toilers inthe world. They receive good wages. Yet where do you find a railroadjack who, after years and years of toil on these burning deserts, hastwo or three hundred dollars of his own saved?"

Hawkins shrugged his shoulders. 

"I know all about it, " he responded, "and I grow angry every time Ithink about it. Yet how is one going to protect these, men againstthemselves?"

"I believe there's a way, " spoke Tom confidently. 

"I hope you can find it, then, Mr. Reade, " retorted Hawkins skeptically. 

"At any rate, I'm going to try. "

"What are you going to do, Mr. Reade?" demanded the superintendentcuriously. 

"You'll be with me, won't you?" coaxed Tom. 

"You'll stand with us, shoulder to shoulder. "

"I certainly will, Mr. Reade!"

"And the foremen? You can depend upon them?"

"On every one of them, " declared Hawkins promptly. "Even to the Mexicanforeman, Mendoza. He's a greaser, but he's a brick, and a white man allthe way through!"

"Call the foremen in, then--all except Payson, who is with his gang. "

Tom and Harry stepped inside the office. Mr. Hawkins strolled away, butwithin ten minutes he was back again, followed by Foremen Bell, Riversand Mendoza. 

"Two wagons have driven up, east of here, " announced Mr. Hawkins, as heentered the office building. "They've stopped a quarter of a mile belowhere and have dumped two tents. I think they're about to raise them. "

Tom stepped hastily outside, glancing eastward, where they saw what thesuperintendent had described. One of the tents had just been raised, though the pitching of it had not yet been thoroughly done. 

"What crowd is that?" Reade asked. "Who is at the head of it?"

"I see one man there--the only man in good clothes--who looks like JimDuff, " replied the superintendent, using his field glasses. 

"The gambler?" asked Tom sharply. 

"The same. "

"He's pitching his tent on the railroad's dirt, isn't he!"

"Yes, sir. "

"Come along. We'll have a look at that place. "

A few minutes of brisk walking brought the young engineers, thesuperintendent and the three foremen to the spot. 

Tent number one had been pitched. It was a circular tent, some fortyfeet in diameter. The second tent, only a little smaller, was now beinghoisted. 

"Who's in charge of this work?" asked Tom in his usual pleasant tone. 

"My manager, Mr. Bemis--Dock Bemis, " answered Jim Duff suavely, as hemoved forward to meet the party. "Dock, come here. I want you to knowMr. Reade, the engineer in charge of this job. "

Duff's manners were impudently easy and assured. The fellow known asDock Bemis, an unprepossessing, shabbily dressed man of thirty-five, with a mean face and an ugly-looking eye, came forward. 

"I'll take Mr. Bemis's acquaintance for granted, " Tom continued, with aneasy smile. "You own this outfit, don't you, Mr. Duff?"

"I've rented it, if you mean the tents, tables and chairs, " assented thegambler. "I've a stock of liquors coming over as soon as I send one ofthe wagons back. "

"What do you propose to do with all this?" Tom inquired. 

"Why, of course, you see, " smiled Duff, with all the suavity in theworld, "as your boys are going to be paid off this afternoon they'llwant to go somewhere to enjoy themselves. As the day is very hot Ithought it would be showing good intentions if I brought an outfit overhere. I'll have everything ready within an hour. "

"So that you can get our men intoxicated and fleece them more easily?"asked Tom, with his best smile. "Is that the idea?"

Jim buff flushed angrily. Then his face became pale. 

"It's a crude way you have of expressing it, Mr. Reade, if you Ill allowme to say so, " the gambler answered, in a voice choked with anger. "Iam going to offer your men a little amusement. It's what they need, andwhat they'll insist upon. Do you see? There's a small mob coming thisway now. "

Tom turned, discovering about a hundred railroad laborers coming downthe road. 

"Mr. Duff, " asked the young chief engineer, "can you show any proof ofyour authority to erect tents on the railroad's land?"

"What other place around here, Mr. Reade, would be as convenient?"demanded the gambler. 

"I repeat my question, sir! Have you any authority or warrant forerecting tents here?"

"Do you mean, have I a permit from the railroad company?"

"You know very well what I mean, Duff. "

Though Reade's tone was somewhat sharper, his smile was as genial asever. 

"I didn't imagine you'd have any objection to my coming here, " thegambler replied evasively. 

"Have you any authority to be on the railroad's land's?" persisted TomReade. "Yes or no?"

"No-o-o-o, I haven't, unless I can persuade you to see how reasonableit is that your men should be provided with enjoyment right at their owncamp. "

"Take the tents down, then, as quickly as you can accomplish it, "directed Tom, though in a quiet voice. 

"And--if I don't?" asked Duff, smiling dangerously and displaying hiswhite, dog-like teeth. 

"Then I shall direct one of the foremen to call a sufficient force, Mr. Duff, to take down your tents and remove them from railroad property. Iam not seeking trouble with you, sir; I don't want trouble. But, as longas I remain in charge here no gambling or drinking places are going tobe opened on the railroad's land. "

"Mr. Reade, " inquired the gambler, his smile fading, "do you object togiving me a word in private?"

"Not at all, " Tom declared. "But it won't help your plans. "

"I'd like just a word with you alone, " coaxed the gambler. 

Nodding, Reade stepped away with the gambler to a distance of a hundredfeet or so from the rapidly increasing crowd. 

"I expect to make a little money out of this tent outfit, of course, "explained Jim Duff. 

"I expect that you won't make a dollar out of it--on railway property, "returned Reade steadily. 

"I'm going to make a little money--not much, " Duff went on. "Now, ifI can make the whole deal with you, and if no one else is allowed tobother me, I can afford to pass you one hundred dollars a day for thetent privilege. "

Before even expectant Tom realized what was happening, Duff had presseda wad of paper money into his hand. 

"What is this?" demanded Reade. 

"Don't let everyone see it, " warned the gambler. "You'll find twohundred dollars there, in bills. That's for the first two days of ourtent privilege here. "

"You contemptible hound!" exclaimed Tom angrily. 

Whish! The tightly folded wad of bank notes left Tom's hand, landingsquarely in Jim Duff Is face. 

In an instant the gambler's face turned white. His hand flew back to apocket in which he carried a pistol. 

CHAPTER III. TOM MAKES A SPEECH ON GAMBLING

"Cut out the gun-play! That doesn't go here!" Tom uttered warningly. 

One swift step forward, and one hand caught Jim Duff by the throat. With the other hand Tom caught Duff's right wrist and wrenched away thepistol that instantly appeared in the gambler's hand. 

The weapon Tom threw on the ground, some feet away. Then, with eyesblazing with contempt, Tom Reade struck the gambler heavily acrossthe face with the flat of his hand. Hard work had added to the youngengineer's muscle of earlier days, and the gambler was staggered. 

Another instant, and Superintendent Hawkins who, with Hazelton and theforemen, had run up to them, seized Duff roughly from behind, holdinghis arms pinioned. 

Harry Hazelton picked up the revolver. Quickly opening it, he drew outthe cartridges. 

"Mr. Bell!" called Harry, and the foreman of that name hastened to him. 

"Take this thing back to the office and break it up with a hammer, "directed young Hazelton, as he passed the revolver to the foreman. Thelatter sped away on his errand. 

"Let Duff go, Mr. Hawkins, " directed Tom. "I'm not afraid of him. Duff, I wish to apologize to you for striking you in the face. I wouldn'tallow any man to do that to me. But your action in reaching for a pistolwas so childish--or cowardly, whichever you prefer to call it--that Iadmit I forgot myself for a moment. Now, you are not going to erectany tents for gambling or other unworthy purposes on the railroad'sproperty. It's bad business to let you do anything of the sort. I trustthat there will be no hard feeling between us. "

"Hard feeling?" hissed Jim Duff, his wicked-looking face paler thanever. "Boy, you needn't try to crawl back into my good graces after theway you acted toward me!"

"I'm not trying to crawl into your esteem, or to get there by anyother means, " Tom answered quietly, though with a firmness that causedsuperintendent and foremen to feel a new respect for their young chiefengineer. "At the same time, Duff, I don't believe in stirring up badblood with anyone. You and I haven't the same way of regarding your lineof business. That's the main difficulty. As I can't see your point ofview, it would be hardly fair to expect you to understand my way ofregarding what you wished to do here. Your tents will have to come downand be moved, but I have no personal feeling in the matter. How soon canyou get your tents down?"

"They are not coming down, I tell you!" snarled the gambler. 

"That's where you and I fail once more to agree, " replied Tom steadily, looking the other straight in the eyes. "It's merely a question ofwhether you will take them down, or whether I shall set our own men todoing it. "

Jim Duff had brought with him about a dozen men of his own. They werea somewhat picturesque-looking crowd, though not necessarily dangerousmen. They were mostly men who had been hired to run the gaming tablesunder the canvas. A judge of men would have immediately classified themas inferior specimens of manhood. 

So far these men had not offered to take any part in the dispute. NowDuff moved over to them quickly, muttering the words:

"Stand by me!"

As for Tom Reade, he was backed by five men, including his chum. Thoughnone of Reade's force was armed, the young engineer knew that he coulddepend upon them. 

Followed by his adherents, Duff took a few quick strides forward. Thisbrought him face to face with Reade's labors, of whom now more than twohundred were present. 

"Are you men or squaws?" called, Duff loudly. "I have brought the stuffover here for a merry night of it. This boy says you can't have yourenjoyment. Are you going to let him rule you in that fashion, or are yougoing to throw him out of here?"

There came from the crowd a gradually increasing murmur of rage. 

"Throw this boy out, if you're men!" Duff jeered. "Throw him out, I say, and send word to your railroad people to put a man here in his place. "

The murmurs increased, especially from the Mexicans, for the Mexicanpeon, or laborer, is often a furious gambler who will stake even theshirt on his back. 

Foreman Mendoza, who understood his own people, started forward, butTom, with a signal, caused him to halt. 

"Throw him out, I say!" yelled Duff shrilly. "Duff, I'm afraid you'remaking a fool of yourself, " remarked Tom, stepping forward, smilingcheerfully. 

Yet another murmur, now growing to a yell, rose from some of the men--afew of the men, too, who were not Mexicans, and a half-hearted rush wasmade in the young engineer's direction. 

"Throw him out! Hustle the boy out!" Duff urged. 

"Stop! Stop right in your tracks!" thundered Tom Reade, taking stillanother step toward the now angrier crowd. "Men, listen to me, andyou'll get a proper understanding of this affair. Jim Duff wants methrown out of here--"

"Yes! And out you'll go!" roared a voice from the rear of the crowd. 

"That's a question that the next few minutes will settle, " Tom rejoined, with a smile. "If Jim Duff wants me thrown out of here, why don't youmen tell him to do it himself?"

The force of this suggestion, with the memory of what they had recentlyseen, struck home with many of the men. A shout of laughter went up, followed by yells of:

"That's right--dead right!"

"Sail in, Jim!"

"Throw him out, Jim! We'll see fair play!"

Tom made an ironical bow in the direction of the gambler. 

"Have you men gone crazy!" yelled Jim Duff hoarsely. 

"Have you lost your nerve, Jim?" bawled a lusty American laborer. "Youwant this boy, as you call him, thrown out, and we're waiting to see youdo it. It you haven't the nerve to tackle the job, then you're not a manto give us orders!"

Tom's smiling good humor and his fair proposition had swung the balanceof feeling against the gambler. Duff saw that he had lost ground. 

"Boy, " called a few voices, "if Duff won't throw you out, then you turnthe tables and throw him out. "

"It isn't necessary, " laughed Tom. "After the tents are gone Duff won'thave any desire to remain around here. Mr. Duff, I ask you for the lasttime, will you have your men take down the tents and remove them?"

"I won't!" snarled the gambler. 

"Mr. Rivers!" called Tom. 

"Yes, sir, " replied the foreman, stepping forward. 

"Mr. Rivers, take twenty-five laborers and bring the tents down at once. Be careful to see that no damage is done. As soon as they are down youwill load them on the wagons. "

"Yes, sir. "

"On second thought, you had better take fifty men. See that the work isdone as promptly as possible. "

The Mexicans, who were in the majority, and nearly all of whom werewildly eager to gamble as soon as their money arrived, stirreduneasily. They might have interfered, but Foreman Mendoza ran among hiscountrymen, calling out to them vigorously in Spanish, and with so muchemphasis that the men sullenly withdrew. 

Foreman Rivers speedily had his fifty men, together, none of whom wereMexicans. 

"Touch a single guy-rope at your peril!" warned Jim Duff menacingly, butbig Superintendent Hawkins seized the gambler by the shoulders, gently, though, firmly, removing him from the vicinity of the tents. 

All in a flash the work was done. Canvas and poles were loaded on to thewagons. Mr. Rivers's men had entered so thoroughly into the spirit ofthe thing that, they forced the drivers to start off, and the gambler'smen to follow. 

Goaded to the last ditch of desperation, Jim Duff now strode over towhere Tom stood. No one opposed him, nor did Reade's smile fail. 

"Boy, you've had your laugh, just now, " announced the gambler, in hismost threatening, tone. "It will be your last laugh. "

"Oh, I hope not, " drawled Tom. 

"You will know more within twenty-four hours. You have treated me, withyour own crowd about you, like a dog. "

"You're wrong again, " laughed Tom. . "Jim is fond of dogs. They are finefellows. "

"You may laugh as much as you want, just now, " jeered Jim Duff. "You'vemade an enemy, and one of the worst in Arizona! I won't waste any moretalk on you--except to warn you. "

"Warn me? About what?" asked Tom curiously. 

Instead of answering, Jim Duff turned on his heel, stalking off with amajesty that, somehow, looked sadly damaged. 

"He has warned you, " murmured Superintendent Hawkins in an undertone. "That is your hint that Duff will fight you to the death at the firstopportunity. "

"May it be long in coming!" uttered Tom devoutly. 

Then, as he turned about and saw scores of laborers coming in hisdirection, Reade remembered what he wished to do. 

"Mr. Hawkins, " he continued, turning toward the superintendent, "I seethat Mr. Payson's gang is coming in from work. As all our men are nowidle, I wish you would direct the foremen to see that all hands assemblehere. I have something to say to them. "

Within ten minutes the five hundred laborers and mechanics had beengathered in a compact crowd. Now that the excitement of hustling thegambler off the scene had died away, many of the men were sorry thatthey had not made their disapproval plainer. Though Tom Reade plainlyunderstood the mood of the men, he mounted a barrel, holding up bothhands as a sign for silence. 

"Now, men, " he began, "you all know that the pay train is due herethis afternoon. You are all eager to get your money--for what? It is astrange fact that gold is the carrion that draws all of the vultures. Afew minutes ago you saw one of the vultures here, preparing to get hissupposed share of your money away from you. Does Jim Duff care a hangabout any of you? Do any of you care anything whatever for Jim Duff?Then why should you be so eager to get into one of his tents and let himtake your money away from you?

"It is true that, once in a while, a solitary player gets a few dollarsaway from a gambler. Yet, in the end, the gambler has every dollar ofthe crowd that patronizes him. You men have been out in the hot sun forweeks, working hard to earn the money that the pay train is bringingyou. Has Jim Duff done any work in the last few weeks? While you menhave been toiling and sweating, what has Duff been doing? Hasn't he beengoing around wearing the clothes and the air of a gentleman, while youmen have been giving all but your lives for your dollars, while you havebeen denied most of the comforts of living. Hasn't Duff been up at theMansion House, living on the fat of the land and smiling to himselfevery time he thought of you men, who would be ready to hand him all ofyour money as soon as it came to you? Is the gambler, who grows fat onthe toil of others, but never toils himself, any better than the vulturethat feeds upon the animals killed by others? Isn't the gambler aparasite, pure and simple? On whose lifeblood does the gambler feed, unless it's on yours?"

Tom continued his harangue, becoming more and more intense, yet carryinghis talk along in all simplicity, and with a directness that made scoresof the workmen look sheepish. 

"Whenever you find a man anywhere who professes to be working for yourgood, or for your amusement, and who gets all the benefit in the end, why don't you open your eyes to him?" Tom inquired presently. "Overin Paloma there are saloon keepers who are cleaning up their dives andopening new lots of liquor that they feel sure they're going to sell youto-night. These dive keepers are ready to welcome you with open arms, and they'll try to make you feel that you're royal good fellows and thatthey are the best friends you have in the world. Yet, to-morrow morning, how will the property be divided? The keepers of these saloons and JimDuff will have all your money and what will you have?"

Tom paused, whipping out a white handkerchief that he deftly boundaround his head, meanwhile looking miserable. 

"That's what you men will have--and that's all that you'll have left, "croaked the young chief engineer dismally. "Now, friends, is the gameworth a candle of that sort? How many of you have money in the bank? Letevery man here who has put up his hand. Not one of you? Who's keepingyour money in bank for you? Jim Duff and the sellers of poisons? Willthey ever hand your money back to you? Some of you men have dear onesat home. If one of these dear ones sends a hurried, frenzied appeal formoney in time of sickness or death what will your answer have to be?Just this: 'I have been working like a slave for a year, but I can sendyou only my love. Jim Duff, who hasn't worked in all his life, won't letme send you any money. ' Friends, is that what you're burning yourselvesblack on the desert for?"

While Tom Reade spoke Foreman Mendoza had marshaled his Mexicans and wastranslating the young engineer's words into Spanish. 

Nor was it long ere Tom's fine presentation of the matter caught the menin the nobler part of their feelings. 

"Don't blame Duff so much, " Tom finally went on. "He may be a parasite, a vulture, a feeder on blood, but you and men just like you have helpedto make the Duffs. You're not going to do so after this, are you, myfriends? You're not going to keep the breath of life in monsters whodrain you dry of life and manhood?"

"No!" came a thunderous shout, even though all of Reade's hearers didnot join in it. 

Even the Mexicans, listening to Mendoza's translation, becameinterested, despite their lesser degree of intelligence. 

Tom continued to talk against time, though he wasted few words. All thathe said went home to many of the laborers. While he was still talkingthe whistle of the pay train was heard. 

Reade quickly sent his foremen and a few trusted workmen to head off any"runners" who might attempt to come in from Paloma while the men werebeing paid off. 

As the train came to a stop Tom leaped upon a flat car behind the engineand introduced one of the newcomers--the vice president of a savingsbank over in Tucson. This man, who knew the common people, talked forfifteen minutes, after which a clerk appeared from the pay car with abook in which to register the signatures of those who wished to openbank accounts. Then the paymaster and his assistants worked rapidly inpaying off. 

That railroad pay day proved a time of gloom to many in the townof Paloma. The returning pay train carried the bank officials andtwenty-four thousand dollars that had been deposited as new accountsfrom the men. Of the money that remained in camp much of it was carriedin the pockets of men who meant to keep it there until they receivedsomething worth while it exchange. 

True, this did not trouble the majority of people in Paloma, who weresober, decent American citizens engaged in the proper walks of life. 

But Jim Duff and a few others held an indignation meeting that night. 

"We've been robbed!" complained one indignant saloon keeper. 

"Gentlemen, " observed Jim Duff, in his oiliest tones, though his facewas ghastly white, "you have a new enemy, who threatens your success inbusiness. How are you going to deal with him?"

"We'll run him off the desert, or bury him there!" came the snarlingresponse. 

"I can't believe that boy, Reade, will ever succeed in laying therailroad tracks across the Man-killer, " smiled Jim Duff darkly withinhimself. 

CHAPTER IV. SOMEBODY STIRS THE MUD

The next morning only a few of the men, some of those who had refused toopen bank accounts, failed to show up at the railroad camp. 

"There is really nothing to do this morning, " Tom remarked toSuperintendent Hawkins. "However, I think you had better dock themissing men for time off. If you find that any missing man has been goneon a proper errand of rest or enjoyment, and has not been making a beastof himself, you can restore his docked pay on the lists. "

"That's a very good idea, " nodded Hawkins. "It always angers me to seethese poor, hardworking fellows go away and make fools of themselvesjust as soon as they get a bit of pay in their pockets. Still, you can'tchange the whole face of human nature, Mr. Reade. "

"I don't expect to do so, " smiled Tom. "Yet, if we can get a hundred ortwo in this outfit to take a sensible view of pay day, and can drillit into them so that it will stick, there will be just that number ofhappier men in the world. How long have you been in this work on thefrontier, Mr. Hawkins?"

"About twenty years, sir. "

"Then it must have angered you, many a time, to see the vultures and theparasites fattening on the men who do the real work in life. "

"It has, " nodded the superintendent. "However, I haven't your gift withthe tongue, Mr. Reade, and I've never been able to lead men into theright path as you did yesterday. "

Over in the little village of tents where the idle workmen sat throughthe forenoon there was some restlessness. These men knew that there wasnothing for them to do until the construction material arrived, and thatthey were required only to report in order to keep themselves on thetime sheets. Having reported to their foremen and the checkers, theywere quite at liberty to go over into Paloma or elsewhere. A few of themhad gone. Some others had an uneasy feeling that they wouldn't like toface the contempt in the eyes of the young chief engineer if he happenedto see them going away from camp. 

"It's none of the business of that chap Reade, " growled one of theworkmen. 

"Of course it isn't, " spoke up another. "He talked to us straightyesterday, however, and showed us that it was our own business to keepout of the tough places in Paloma. I've worked under these engineersfor years, and I never before knew one of them to care whether I had ahundred dollars or an empty stomach. Boys, I tell you, Reade, has theright stuff in him, if he is only a youngster. He knows the enemies hehas made over in Paloma, and he understands the risks be has been takingin making such enemies. He proved to us that he can stand that sort ofthing and be our friend. Look at this thing, will you?"

With something of a look of wonder the speaker drew out the bankbookthat he had acquired the afternoon before. 

"I've got forty dollars in bank, " he continued, in something of a toneof awe. "Forty friends of mine that I've put away to work and do goodthings for me! If I don't touch this money for some years then I'll findthat this money has grown to be a lot more than forty dollars!"

"Or else you'll find that some bank clerk is up in Canada spending it, "jeered a companion. 

"I don't care what the clerk does. The bank will be still good for themoney. Joe, you read the papers as often as any come into camp. "

"Yes. "

"All right. The next time you find anything about a savings bank thathas failed and left the people in the lurch for their money, you show itto me. Savings banks don't fail nowadays! No, Sir!"

Other men through the camp were taking sly peeps at their bankbooks, as though they were half ashamed at having such possessions. Yet manya hard toiler in camp felt a new sense of importance that morning. Hebegan to look upon himself as a part of the moneyed world as, indeed, hewas!

"Telegram for Mr. Reade, " called one of the two camp operators, comingforward. 

Tom tore the envelope open, then stared at the following message:

"Reade, Chief Engineer. 

"Have complaint from merchants of Paloma that you have effectuallystopped the men from spending any money in the town. Not our policy tomake enemies of the towns along our line. Explain immediately. 

"(Signed) ELLSWORTH, "General Manager. "

"Hmmm!" smiled Tom, then passed the message over to SuperintendentHawkins. 

"Your newly made enemies have gotten after you quickly, Sir, " commentedthe superintendent grimly. 

"Yes, " nodded Tom. "And, of course, I can't follow any course that isn'tapproved by the general manager. I'll wire him the truth and see what hehas to say. Operator!"

"Yes, Sir, " replied the young man, turning and coming back. 

"Wait for a message, " directed Tom; then seated himself and wrote thefollowing reply:

"Ellsworth, General Manager. 

"Have not interfered in any way with honest merchants of Paloma. Men areat liberty to spend their money any way they choose. I did give the mena talk about the foolishness of spending their wages in buying liquoror in gambling. Result was that men banked about two thirds of the totalpay roll with the bank people you sent on pay train yesterday at myrequest. Also drove off a gambler who tried to erect two tents onrailroad property in order to fleece the men more speedily. 

"(Signed) READE, "Chief Engineer. "

"That will tell the general manager about the kind of merchantsthat I've been injuring, " smiled Tom, first showing the sheet toSuperintendent Hawkins and then handing it to the waiting messenger. 

"I hope Ellsworth, will be satisfied, " nodded Hawkins. "Good will is anasset for a railway, and your enemies in Paloma may be able to stir up agood deal of trouble for you. Mr. Reade, I stood with you yesterday, and I'm still with you. If Ellsworth is so cranky that you feel likethrowing the job here, then I'll walk out with you. "

"Oh, I'm not going to give up the work here, " predicted Readecheerfully. "I'm too much interested in it. Neither am I going tohave my hands tied by any clique of gamblers and dive keepers. If Mr. Ellsworth isn't satisfied, then I'll run up to headquarters and talk tohim in person. I'm not going to quit; neither am I going to be preventedfrom winning and deserving the friendship of the men who are hereworking for us. "

"Telegram for Mr. Reade, " grinned the operator, again looking in at thedoorway. 

After reading it, Tom passed over to Hawkins this message from GeneralManager Ellsworth:

"Unable to judge merits of case at this distance. Will be with yousoon. "

"That's all right, " Reade declared. 

"It looks all right, " muttered Hawkins, who knew something about theways of railroads. 

Up the track the whistle on a stationary engine blew the noon signal. 

"Feel like eating, Harry?" Tom called to his chum, who had been mildlydozing in a chair in one corner of the room. 

"Always, " declared Hazelton, sitting up and yawning. 

"Are you going to eat in town this noon, or in camp?" Tom inquired ofthe superintendent of construction. 

Hawkins was about to answer that he'd eat in camp, when he suddenlyreconsidered. 

"I guess I'll ride along with you, Mr. Reade, " he said dryly. 

Horses were brought, and the three mounted and rode away. In suchsizzling heat as beat down from the noonday sun Tom had not the heart tourge his mount to speed. The trio were soon at the edge of Paloma, whichthey had to enter through one of the streets occupied by the roughercharacters. 

Just as they rode down by the first buildings a low whistle sounded onthe heavy, dead air. 

"Signal that the locomotive is headed this way, " announced Hawkinsgrimly. "Look out for the crossing, Mr. Reade!"

Hardly had the superintendent finished speaking when a sharp hisssounded from an open window. Then another and more hisses, fromdifferent buildings. 

"A few snakes left in the grass, " Tom remarked jokingly. 

"Oh, you've stirred up a nest of 'em, Mr. Reade, " rejoined thesuperintendent. 

Tom laughed as Harry added:

"Let's hope that there are no poisonous reptiles among them. It would berough on poisonous snakes to have Tom find them. "

Then the three horsemen turned the corner near the Mansion House. Superintendent Hawkins looked grave as he noted a crowd before thehotel. 

"Mr. Reade, I believe those men are there waiting to see you. I'mcertain they've not gathered just to talk about the weather. "

There was a movement in the crowd, and a suppressed, surly murmur, asthe engineer party was sighted. 

Tom Reade, however, rode forward at the head of his party, alightingclose to the crowd, which numbered fifty or sixty men. The young chiefengineer signed to one of the stable boys, who came forward, halfreluctantly, and took the bridles of the three horses to lead them away. 

Jim Duff, backed by three other men, stepped forward. There was a worldof menace in the gambler's wicked eyes as he began, in a soft, almostpurring tone:

"Mr. Reade, " announced Jim Duff, "we are a committee, appointed bycitizens, to express our belief that the air of Paloma is not going tobe good for you. At the same time we wish to ask you concerning yourplans for leaving the town. "

There could be no question as to the meaning of the speaker. Tom Readewas being ordered out of town. 

CHAPTER V. TOM HAS NO PLANS FOR LEAVING TOWN

"My plans for leaving town?" repeated Tom pleasantly. "Why, gentlemen, I'll meet your question frankly by saying that I haven't made any suchplans. "

"You're going to do so, aren't?" inquired Duff casually. 

"By the time that my partner and I have finished our work for the road, Mr. Duff, I imagine that we shall be making definite plans to go away, unless the railroad officials decide to keep us here with Paloma asheadquarters for other work. "

"We believe that it would be much better for your health if you wentaway at once, " Duff insisted, with a mildness that did not disguise hismeaning in the least. 

Tom deemed it not worth while to pretend any longer that he did notunderstand. 

"Oh, then it's a case of 'Here's your hat. What's your hurry?'" askedReade smilingly. 

"Something in that line, " assented Jim Duff. "I venture to assureyou that we are quite in earnest in our anxiety for your welfare, Mr. Reade. "

"Whom do you men represent?" asked Tom. 

"The citizens of Paloma, " returned Duff. 

"All of them?" Reade insisted. 

"All of them--with few exceptions. "

"I understand you, of course, " Tom nodded. 

"Now, Mr. Duff, I'll tell you what I propose. I'm curious to know justhow many there are on your side of the fence. Pardon me, but I reallycan't quite believe that the better citizens of this town are behindyou. I know too many Arizona men, and I have too good an opinion ofthem. Your kind of crowd makes a lot of noise at times, and the otherkind of Arizona crowd rarely makes any noise. I know, of course, theelement in the town that your committee represents, but I don't believethat your element is by any means in the majority here. "

"I assure you that we represent the sentiment of the town, " Duffretorted steadily. 

"Much as I regret the necessity for seeming to slight your opinion, " Tomwent on with as pleasant a smile as at first, "I call for a showing ofhands or a count of noses. I'll tell you what we'll do, Mr. Duff, if itmeets with your approval. We'll hire a hall, sharing the expense. We'llstate the question fairly in the local newspaper, and we'll inviteall good citizens to turn out, meet in the hall, hear the case on bothsides, and then decide for themselves whether they want the railroadengineers to leave the town or--"

"They do want you to leave town!" the gambler insisted. 

"Or whether they want Jim Duff and some of his friends to leave town, "Tom Reade continued good-humoredly. 

Jim Duff turned, gazing back at the men with him. They represented theroughest element in the town. 

"No use arguing with a mule, Jim!" growled a red-faced man at the rearof the crowd. "Get a rail, boys, and we'll start the procession rightnow. "

"Bring a rope along, too!" called another man hoarsely. 

"Get two rails and one rope!" proposed a third bad character. "The otherkid doesn't seem to be sassy enough to need a rope. "

"Gentlemen, " broke in Harry Hazelton gravely, "if anyone of you imaginesthat I'm holding my tongue because I disapprove of my partner's course, let me assure you that I back every word he says. "

"Make it two ropes, then!" jeered another voice. 

"Reade, " continued Jim Duff, "we all try to be decent men here, and thefriends with me are a good and sensible lot of men. You have carriedmatters just a little too far. Think over what you've heard and noticedhere, and then tell me again about your plans, for quitting Paloma. "

As he spoke Jim made a gesture that kept some of the men near him fromrushing forward. Tom did not appear to notice the demonstration at all. Certainly he did not flinch. 

"I haven't any such plans, " Tom laughed. "I'm hungry and I'm goinginside to eat. "

With that, he turned his back on the crowd, with Harry behind him, bothmaking for the steps of the hotel. Superintendent Hawkins stepped inafter the boys. 

"Gentlemen, I can't do anything more, " spoke up Jim Duff, with an air ofresignation. 

"But we can!" roared some of the roughs in the crowd. A dozen of themsurged forward. The first of them swung a lariat to slip it over TomReade's neck. 

Bump! Hawkins's sledge-hammer right hand shot out, landing on thatfellow's face. With a moan the fellow collapsed on the sidewalk, his jawbroken. 

Then Tom and Harry wheeled like a flash, eyeing the idlers and roughssternly. 

"Don't go any further, " proposed Tom, his eyes growing steely, "unlessyou mean it. "

Something in the attitude of the trio of athletic figures standing readybefore them disquieted the crowd of roughs. There were armed men in thatcrowd, but all felt that they had been put in the wrong, so far, andnone of them dared draw the first weapon or fire the first shot. 

"Take that injured man to a surgeon and have his jaw set, " spoke Tomquietly. "Let the surgeon send me the bill. I'm sorry for the fellow, for I'm indirectly the cause of his being hurt. The main cause of hismisfortune was due to his being in bad company. "

"Come out of that hotel, " ordered Jim Duff, his eyes blazing as hestepped forward, though with Hawkins's cold, hard eyes on him thegambler was careful to keep his hands at his sides. "You can't getanything to eat in there!"

"Do you own the hotel?" Tom inquired coolly. 

"No; but you can't eat there. "

"Join us at lunch, Mr. Hawkins!" Tom invited, turning away from thegambler. The superintendent nodded, for he had no intention of leavingthe young engineers for the present. 

All three entered the hotel, while the small mob outside hooted andjeered. Tom led the way to a table in the dining room, signing to one ofthe waiters. 

Hardly had the waiter reached them when Jim Duff and the proprietor ofthe Mansion House came in. Jim, after saying a few words in a low tone, halted, while the proprietor came forward. 

"Good morning, Mr. Ashby, " nodded Tom, when he saw the proprietor headedtheir way. The latter looked rather embarrassed, but he moved a hand tosignal the waiter to withdraw. 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Reade, but I can't have you any longer at this hotel, "began Ashby. 

"Any particular reason?" Tom inquired, looking the man straight in theeye. 

"Yes; some of my other guests object to your presence here. "

"Meaning Jim Duff?" questioned Reade coolly. 

"I don't care to discuss the matter with you, Mr. Reade, but I can'tentertain you here any longer. "

"Does that apply even to this meal, Mr. Ashby?"

"It does. "

"Very good, " nodded Tom, rising. Harry and Hawkins shoved their chairsback, too, and stood up. 

"Say, but I don't like the looks of that!" announced a voicefrom another table. There were five men seated there, all of themwell-dressed and prosperous-looking traveling salesmen, who had arrivedthat morning. 

"This is a very regrettable necessity on my part, gentlemen, " beganProprietor Ashby hurriedly, and plainly ill at ease. "Some of my regularguests object to the presence of these young men, and so--"

"These young gentlemen have gotten in bad by objecting to having theirmen fleeced here in town, haven't they?" inquired the boldest of thedrummers. "I heard something about it this morning. "

"Perhaps you haven't heard all the circumstances, " suggested Ashby ingrowing embarrassment. 

"We've heard enough, anyway, " replied the same drummer briskly. "Sothese young men, who are a credit to their profession and to their hometowns, are ordered to leave here? Boys, I guess we leave, too, don'twe?"

The other traveling salesmen assented emphatically. 

Now Proprietor Ashby felt dismal, indeed. These five men were occupyingthe best quarters in his hotel, outside of those occupied by Jim Duff. It was not the loss of patronage from these men alone that troubledAshby. Traveling salesmen have their own ways of "passing around theword" and downing any hotel that depends largely on their patronage. 

"You can have all our rooms, then, Mr. Ashby, " proposed the samedrummer. "We'll have our things out and be ready for our bills withintwenty minutes. "

"But, gentlemen, be calm about this, " begged Ashby. "Finish your mealsfirst. There may be some way of arranging--"

"There is, " returned the drummer, with a smile that was a fineduplicate of Tom's own. "We know just where to arrange for the kind ofaccommodations that we want. Mr. Reade, " turning to Tom and Harry, "willyou allow me to introduce ourselves. We are aching to shake hands withyou, for we've heard all about you. "

Proprietor Ashby fidgeted at the side, while the eight departing guestspaused long enough to make their names known to each other. 

Jim Duff had vanished early, leaving the hotel man to his ownhumiliation. 

The introductions concluded, Hawkins followed the young engineers totheir room while the drummers went to their own more costly quarters andhastily packed their belongings. 

Fifteen minutes later the party stood in the office and porters werebringing down trunks. Tom and Harry, keeping most of their belongings atcamp, had only suit cases to carry. 

"Gentlemen, I think you are making a mistake, " began Mr. Ashby, as hemet the salesmen in the lobby near the clerk's desk. 

"We made a mistake in coming here, " retorted the leader of the salesmen, pleasantly as to tone, "but we're rectifying it now. Are our billsready?"

The proprietor went behind the desk to make change, while the clerkreceipted seven bills. Ashby's hands shook as he manipulated the money. 

"Dobson, " he said, in a low tone to one of the drummers, "I had intendedordering a ton of hams from you. Now, of course, I can't--"

"Quite right, " nodded Mr. Dobson cheerfully. "You couldn't get them fromour house at four times the market price. We wouldn't want our brandserved here. "

The last bill was paid. Proprietor Ashby stiffened, his backbone, tryingto look game. 

"Gentlemen, " he inquired, "where are you going from here? Won't you letme call the 'bus to take you?"

"Never mind the 'bus, Ash, " smilingly replied the leader of thedrummers, a man named Pritchard. "If you'll send the 'bus over to theCactus House with our trunks we'll be greatly obliged. "

"Certainly, gentlemen, it's a pleasure to oblige you, " murmured Ashby, with a ghastly effort to look pleasant. He watched the eight men stepoutside. Duff and his crowd had vanished. It would never do to tryany mob tricks on so many strangers who had done nothing. The mosteasy-going citizens of an Arizona town would turn out to punish such amob. 

The three railroad men had their horses brought around, but they rodeslowly, chatting with the salesmen on the sidewalk. 

In this order they reached the Cactus House, which, thirty years ago, had been famous in and around the old Paloma of the frontier days. Theproprietor, a young man named Carter, had succeeded his father in theownership of the property. It was a neat hotel, but a small one. Theelder Carter had lost a good deal of money before his death, and the sonwas now trying to build up the property with hardly any reserve capital. 

At the Cactus there was a great flurry when five such important guestsarrived and the young railroad engineers were also most heartilywelcomed. 

"Our meal time is nearly over, but I'll have something special cookedfor you right away, gentlemen, " cried young Carter, bustling about, hiseyes aglow. 

"Before you get that meal ready, " said Pritchard, drawing young Carteraside, "I want to ask you whether any man can ever be driven from thishotel, just for being decent?"

"He certainly cannot, " replied Proprietor Carter with emphasis. 

"Live up to that, son, " advised the drummer, "and I half suspect thatyou'll prosper. "

The meal finished, the three men from the railroad camp took leave oftheir new salesmen friends, mounted and rode back to camp. 

"The snakes are not all dead yet, " mused Tom quizzically, as, in ridingthrough the "tough" street again they heard hisses from open windows atwhich no heads appeared. 

"There's a letter here for you, Mr. Reade, " announced Foreman Payson, who was sitting alone in the office. 

"Who brought it?"

"I don't know his name. Never saw him before. He rode out here onhorseback. "

The envelope, though a good one as to quality, was dirty on the outside. Tom Reade hastily broke the seal and read:

"If you don't get away from Paloma pretty soon your presence will holdthe railroad up for a longtime to come! Get out, if you're wise, or therailroad will suffer with you!"

"I reckon the fellow who wrote that was sincere enough, " said Tom, as hepassed the letter over to his chum. "However, I don't like to feel thatI can be seared by any man who's too cowardly to sign his name to aletter. "

CHAPTER VI. THE GENERAL MANAGER "LOOKS IN"

Neither Tom nor Harry was stupid enough to be wholly unafraid overthe threats of the day. Both realized that Jim Duff and the latter'sassociates were ugly and treacherous men who would fight sooner thanbe deprived of their chance to fleece the railway workmen. Yet neitheryoung engineer had any intention of being scared into flight. 

"They'll put up a lot of trouble for us, " said Tom that afternoon, asthe two chums talked the matter over. "They may even go to extremities, and--"

"Shoot us?" smiled Hazelton, though there was a serious look under hissmile. 

"Yes; they may even try that, " I nodded Tom. "Though they won't make anopen attempt. They may try to get us from ambush at night. They willbe desperate, though not over brave. Recollect, Harry, that the betterelement in Paloma won't stand much nonsense. There are no braver men inthe world than are found right in Arizona, and no men more decent. "

"Barring Duff and his gang, " laughed Hazelton. 

"They're not real Arizona men. They're the kind of human vultures whoflock after large pay rolls in any place where men work without havingtheir families in near-by homes. If Duff had enough men of his own wayof thinking, they might try to ride out here to camp and clean us out. If they did, then all the decent men in this part of Arizona wouldtake to the saddle and drive Duff and his crew into hiding. After whathappened to-day you won't find Duff daring to do anything too open. "

"Excuse me, Sir, but there's a train coming, " reported Foreman Rivers, thrusting his head in at the doorway of the little office building. 

"Not a construction train?" Reade asked. 

"Can't make it out yet, sir. The whistle was reported a minute ago. "

Tom and Harry, chafing a good deal under their enforced idleness whilewaiting for materials, hastened outdoors. Soon the train was closeenough to be made out. It consisted of an engine, baggage car and oneprivate car. 

"It's one or more of the road's officials, " murmured Harry. 

"I hope it's Mr. Ellsworth, " replied Reade, as the chums walked brisklydown to the spot where the train would have to halt. 

It turned out to be the general manager, a big and capable-looking manof fifty, with a belt-line just a trifle too large for comfort, whoswung himself to the ground the instant that the train stopped. 

"I'm glad you're here, Reade, " nodded the general manager, as he caughtsight of his two young engineers. "Come back into my car. We can talkbetter there. "

Tom and Harry mounted to the platform of the car, following Mr. Ellsworth down the carpeted aisle of a very comfortable private Pullmancar. The general manager pointed to seats, threw himself into another, and then said:

"Now, tell me all about the row that you've started with the town. "

Harry's lips closed tightly, but Tom launched at once into a plain, truthful account of the affair, bringing it down to the noonday meal ofthe present day. 

"It's not clear to me just why you should feel called upon to interfereso forcefully, " said the general manager, a little fretfully. "Theworkmen are all twenty-one years of age and upwards. Couldn't theyprotect themselves if they wanted protection?"

"Yes, sir, certainly, " Tom admitted. "However, letting that fellow Duffput up his tents right on the railroad property would almost make itlook as though the road shared, or at least approved, his enterprise. "

"Oh, doubtless you were right to order the fellow off the railroadproperty, " assented Mr. Ellsworth. "But why did you go to such troubleto get the men to start new bank accounts and thus send most of theirmoney out of town?"

"May I answer that question, sir, by asking another?" asked Readerespectfully. "Did you wish the men to spend it in Paloma?"

"I don't care a hang what they do with it, " retorted the general managerhalf peevishly. "It's their own money. "

"It was you, Mr. Ellsworth, whom I wired yesterday morning, asking thatyou send down a representative of a savings bank who could open accountswith such of the men as desired. "

"Yes, and I sent you a couple of bank men. I didn't have any idea, however, that you'd get the whole town of Paloma by the ears. "

"I haven't, sir. I assure you of that. I've hurt only a few parasites--aflock of human vultures. The decent people of the town don't side withthem. "

"I wish I could be sure that we haven't offended the town as a whole, "mused Mr. Ellsworth, "The good will of the people along our line is agreat asset. "

"You're acquainted with a lot of the real people in Paloma, aren't you, Mr. Ellsworth?"

"With some of them, yes. "

"Then, while you're here, sir, I'd be glad if you'd look up some ofthese acquaintances in town and find out for yourself just how thesentiment stands. We don't wish you to feel that we're a pair oftrouble-makers who are doing our best to ruin the road with its futurecustomers. "

"I believe I will go into town, " mused Mr. Ellsworth. "Is there anautomobile anywhere about here?"

"No, sir; but our telegraph operator can wire into town for one. It willtake but a few minutes to have a car here. "

"Send for it, then. "

"Would you like to see Mr. Hawkins while you're waiting, sir?" Tomsuggested, rising. "You know Hawkins, and probably you'll be satisfiedwith his judgment. "

"Send Hawkins along. "

"Yes, sir; and we won't return for the present, unless you send for us, "Reade replied, going toward the forward end of the car. 

Superintendent Hawkins was closeted with the general manager until thearrival of the automobile. There was a frown on Mr. Ellsworth's face asthey started townward. 

"Well, " asked Harry Hazelton, with a grin on his face, as he watched thedeparting car, "are we going to be fired or praised?"

"We're going to lay the track across the Man-killer, " returned Readeresolutely. 

"How about the gambler and his bad crowd? Are we going to beat them?"

"We're going to do whatever the general manager orders, just as long aswe remain here, " replied Tom. "He's our only source of authority. If hetells me to let Jim Duff bring a cityful of tents out here and run nightor day--then that's all there will be to it. "

"I'd sooner quit, " growled Hazelton, "than knuckle to such a crew ofrascals. "

"So would I, " nodded Tom good-humoredly, "if it were my quit. But, ifMr. Ellsworth gives such orders it will be his quit, not ours. "

Harry walked restlessly up and down the little office, but Tom threwhimself down at full length on a cot in the corner. Within two minuteshe was sound asleep. 

"Humph!" growled Hazelton, as soon as he saw his chum's unconcern. Thenhe went outside to finish his tramp. 

It was toward the close of the afternoon when Mr. Ellsworth returned. Harry was out of sight as the general manager stepped directly into theoffice. 

"Reade, " he began. Deep breathing from the corner greeted him. GeneralManager Ellsworth gazed down at the sleeping form, and a new light ofadmiration dawned in his eyes. 

"So that's the young man whom they're talking of shooting, poisoningor blowing into the next world with dynamite?" he thought. "A lot thisyoung man appears to think about his enemies! There's real courage inthis young man. Reade, wake up--if you can spare the time. "

Tom opened his eyes, rubbed them, then sat up, next springing to hisfeet. 

"Not having any real work to do makes me sleepy, " laughed Tomgood-naturedly. "I trust you didn't have to call me many times, Mr. Ellsworth?"

The general manager held out his hand. 

"Reade, I've just learned in town what a plucky thing you did, andhow coolly you went through it all. A young man with your courage andpurpose simply can't be fool enough to be very far wrong. "

"Then you learned that the real Arizona people over in Paloma don't findany fault with what I did?" queried Tom. 

"Reade, what I discovered is that you have a lot of the finest manhoodin Arizona just wild with respect for you, " declared Mr. Ellsworth. Thenthe general manager lowered his voice before he resumed:

"At the same time, Reade, I've also learned that you've stirred up suchan evil nest of rattlers that you'll be fortunate if you escape withyour life. Candidly, if you feel that you'd like to leave here--"

"Do you want me to quit, sir?" demanded Tom, looking steadily into hischief's eyes. 

"I don't, " declared Mr. Ellsworth promptly. "If you and Hazelton were toquit me now I don't know where I could get another pair of men who couldput into the work all the skill and energy that you two employ. "

"Did you have dinner in town, sir?" Tom asked. 

"No, for I came out to take you two young men in. Hawkins will also bewith us at dinner this evening. He has told me about the Mansion Houseaffair, so the Cactus House shall be the railway house hereafter. Thatfellow Ashby is uneasy; I think he will be more than uneasy after awhile. "

The dinner party motored back to town. Dinner was more like a receptionthat evening, for the news of Tom's plucky fight against therough element had spread through the town. Nearly two score of menrepresenting the better part of the population of Paloma called at thehotel to shake hands with the young engineers. 

"They don't seem to care a hang about me, these men, do they, Hawkins?"laughed the general manager, as he and the superintendent stood in thebackground of the picture. 

"That's because they're Arizona men, sir, " replied Hawkins. "Theirinterest is in the man who has done the thing, not in the boss. "

"I can understand why President Newnham, of the S. B. & L. , recommendedthese young men so extravagantly. They're full of force and absolutelyfree from self-conceit. "

Finally the party motored back towards the camp. As it was after darknow, some of the citizens who had visited them escorted the slow movingcar as far as the edge of the town, but none of Jim Duff's followersappeared on the streets through which they passed. 

"Why are we going back to camp, anyway?" demanded Mr. Ellsworth. "Whynot sleep at the hotel to-night?"

"Why, I think it may be better for you to go back to the hotel, sir, "Tom proposed. "As for Harry and myself, after what has happened in townto-day, it may be as well if we are on hand at the camp to-night. Theremay be some attempt to stampede our men. The crowd in Paloma are capableof offering our men free drink, just to do us mischief. We've a lot ofstrong men in our force, but there are some weak vessels who would becaught by a free offer, and some of our work gangs would be demoralizedto-morrow. "

Mr. Ellsworth thereupon decided to return to the camp also, and, arriving there, dismissed the car. A tent was pitched for him close tothe office, and a cot rigged up in it. 

Then the party sat up, chatting, after most of the workmen had turned infor the night. 

"I'll be thankful when the material gets here, " sighed Tom. "I'm tiredof loafing. "

"It seems to me that you have been doing anything but loafing, " smiledthe general manager. 

"I want to get to work on the Man-killer. Besides, idleness is costingthe road a lot of money in wages for these men. "

"I wired this afternoon, " stated Mr. Ellsworth, "to have the materialtrains rushed forward on express schedule as soon as the stuff strikesour lines. "

"Then--" began Hawkins slowly. 

His next words were drowned out by a booming explosion to the westwardof the camp. 

"The scoundrels!" gasped Tom Reade, leaping up. "This is more of ourfriends' work! They have dynamited the most ticklish part of the work onthe Man-killer!"

CHAPTER VII. A DYNAMITE PUZZLE

"The scoundrels!" cried General Manager Ellsworth. 

He was a man who believed in working along easy lines when possible. His career as a railroad man had taught him the value of meeting otherpeople half way. Now the general manager's white face and flashing eyesrevealed the fighter in him. 

From off to the south, beyond the quicksand, came a chorus of sharp, shrill, gleeful whoops. 

"There go the curs!" flared Harry. 

Another volley of jeers reached the camp officials. 

"They are mounted on horses, " spoke Tom judicially. "They couldn'ttravel as fast on foot and yell at the same time. "

A third taunting chorus traveled over the desert. But Tom and hisfriends, in the darkness of the night, could not make out the horsemennor judge how many there were of them. 

"You'd better turn out the camp, Mr. Hawkins, " directed Tom in a calmervoice. 

The superintendent ran over to where a night engineer almost dozed athis post beside a stationary engine. 

Half a minute later a series of shrill blasts rang out over the camp. Laborers came tumbling out of the tents. Many of them had slept sosoundly that even the noise of dynamiting they had regarded only as apart of their dreams. But the whistle meant business. 

"Get the torches out, Mr. Rivers, " called Tom, as one of the foremenreported on a run. 

To Foreman Payson, Harry gave the order to marshal a hundred of the mento remain in and around the camp, alertly watchful. 

"That's a good idea, " nodded Mr. Ellsworth. "The explosion may be only atrick to, empty the camp, as a prelude to further mischief. "

Scores of torches flared in the darkness as the workmen hurriedwestward. At the head of all went Tom Reade and the general manager. 

Less than half a mile away they came upon the scene of mischief. 

"It's just what I expected, " nodded Tom, as the leading party haltedunder the flare of the torches. "You see, sir, here was the pointof greatest cave and drift in the quicksand. It's where your formerengineers found such a morass of the shifty stuff that they declared theMan-killer never could have its appetite satisfied with dirt. There wasa good log and concrete foundation laid down there, and for thirty-sixhours the sand had not shifted a particle as far as the eye coulddiscover. Now, look at it!"

Before them the top layer of desert sand had sunk away, revealing a wellor sink, one hundred and fifty feet across and the bottom at least fortyfeet below the general level. 

"I always wondered why a suspension bridge wouldn't solve the problemmore easily and cheaply than any other construction, " muttered Mr. Ellsworth, after he had gotten over his first indignation. 

"To avoid every possibility of lurking quicksand the suspension bridgewould have to be more than a mile long, " Reade answered. "Beyond, thereare other treacherous little patches of quicksand. It would cost theroad millions to put up a suspension bridge that would hold. 

"A short bridge would look all right and doubtless serve all right, fora while. Then, some fine day, part of the structure would give, and atrainload of passengers would be sucked down and out of sight by theshifting sands of the Man-killer. "

Mr. Ellsworth turned aside with a shudder. 

"I'm glad I'm not an engineer, " he said earnestly. "The responsibilityfor safety of life at this point is all yours, Reade. "

"And I'm willing enough to take it, sir, if you don't run trains overthe Man-killer until the new roadbed has stood tests that I'll put uponit. "

"It'll cost at least ten thousand dollars to repair the mischief thatthe scoundrels have done to-night, " figured Harry Hazelton thoughtfully. 

"Then, if we can find out the guilty wretches for certain, we'll seethat they earn more than that amount by enforced labor in prison, "'retorted the general manager grimly. 

"Mr. Bell!" called Tom briskly. 

"Here, sir, " reported the foreman, coming forward. . 

"Mr. Bell, I wish you'd pick out twenty-one good men. Make the brightestof the lot head of the new force of night watchmen. Place the othertwenty under his orders. Your gangs will come into play here laterthan the others, so I'll let your shift of men have the first chance atnight-watchman duty. "

"All right, sir, " nodded Foreman Bell. "Any further orders?"

"None, except that your watchmen will do their best to guard both theline of roadbed and the camp. Further, tell the night engineer to besure to have steam up so that he can blow a lot of signals at anytime inthe night. "

"Very good, sir, " and the foreman hurried away. 

"I'm disgusted with myself for having been caught in this fashion, " Tomadmitted to Mr. Ellsworth. "But I hadn't an idea that Paloma held anydynamite. I can't imagine how a frontier town on the alkali desert needsdynamite. "

"It will probably be found that someone shipped it in a hurry, "suggested Mr. Ellsworth. 

"But how? Any fellow would be detected who had it brought in on ourtrains. There has been no time to I stage I it from any other pointsince the row with Duff started. "

"It's a puzzle, " admitted Mr. Ellsworth. 

"It is, but it won't be for long, " Reade declared confidently. "Thereare ways of finding out how that dynamite got into Paloma, there must beways of finding out who caused it to be brought in. "

Then, suddenly, Tom's eyes grew wider open and brighter. 

"Mr. Ellsworth, I believe that dynamite was brought in before thetrouble opened. "

"But who would have wished to bring dynamite here until the troublestarted?"

"Anyone might be interested in doing it who wanted to see troublestart. "

"I'm afraid I don't follow you, Reade, " observed the general manager, frowning slightly. 

"There were others who wanted the job of blocking the Man-killer, " Tomwent on earnestly. "They wanted a lot more money for the job than wethought was necessary. I don't want to accuse anyone, but I am just atrifle suspicious that the concern of Chicago contractors--"

"The Colthwaite people!" broke in Mr. Ellsworth. 

"Yes; if they were bad people, and ugly business rivals--"

"How would the Colthwaite people be able to foresee that you were goingto have a fight with Jim Duff?" interposed Mr. Ellsworth. 

"I'm going after the answer, if there is one. I hope to be able to tellyou the answer one of these days. "

Tom and Harry made two trips each, in different directions, to make surethat the watch men were awake and alert. It was nearly eleven o'clockwhen the general manager and his engineers turned in for a night'srest--"subject to the approval of Jim Duff, " as Tom dryly stated it. 

No more interruptions followed during the night, however. At daylightthe watchmen sought their tents and the day force began to stir soonafter. 

After the steam whistle bad blown the breakfast call, Reade slipped awayfrom his friends to inspect the laborers at the meal. 

"There are some of your men absent, Mr. Mendoza, " Tom murmured to theMexican foreman. 

"Yes, Senor. Some of my men slipped away in the night. "

"Went off to Paloma, eh?"

Mendoza shrugged his shoulders. 

"Gambling, drinking--both, " nodded Tom. 

"Undoubtedly, Senor. "

"Get the names of your absent Mexicans, and report to me with them. "

Reade then went to the other foremen, with the same orders. 

Before Tom had seated himself at his own meal, with Harry and Mr. Ellsworth, the foremen appeared, lists in their hands. Tom rapidly ranhis finger down the lists. 

"Twenty-eight Mexicans and fourteen Americans absent from camp, " hemuttered. "Foremen, when these men come back you may tell them that theyare no longer needed. "

All four of the gang bosses looked somewhat astonished. 

"Merely for leaving camp in the night time?" Mendoza inquired. 

"Yes, under the circumstances, " nodded Tom. "If any of these men declarethat they were properly absent, and did not visit the gambling andthe drinking dives, then such men may be reinstated after they havesatisfied Mr. Hazelton, Mr. Hawkins or myself of the truth of theirstatements. "

"Some of these men will be very ugly when they find that they aredischarged, Senor, " suggested Mendoza. 

"But you are loyal to us?"

"Can you doubt it, Senor?" asked Mendoza proudly. 

"Then you will know how to handle your own fellow-countrymen. Theother foremen will be able to handle the rest of the disgruntled ones. However, as I have told you, if any man claims that he is unjustlytreated, send him to headquarters for a chance at reinstatement. "

General Manager Ellsworth had heard the conversation, but had notinterfered. As soon as the young engineers were alone he joined them attable, saying:

"Aren't you afraid, Reade, that these discharged men will hasten to joinour enemies?"

"That is very likely, sir, " Tom answered. "These missing men, however, have shown their willingness to become our enemies by leaving camp andseeking their pleasures in the strongholds of the scoundrels who arefighting to break us up. "

"That's another way of looking at the matter, " assented the generalmanager. 

"I'd much rather have our enemies outside of camp than inside, " Readecontinued. "If we took these absentees back after they've been in thecompany of rascals, then we wouldn't have any means of knowing how manyof the absentees had agreed to do treacherous things within the camp. It would hardly be a wise plan to encourage the breeding of rattlesnakeswithin the camp limits. "

It was nearly noon when the first batch of laborers, some American andsome Mexican, returned to camp. These men started to go by the checker'shut at a distance, but keen-eyed Superintendent Hawkins saw them andordered them around to the hut. 

"You'll have to wait here until your foremen are called, " declared thechecker. 

"Say, what's the trouble here!" demanded one American belligerently. 

CHAPTER VIII. READE MEETS A "KICKER" HALF WAY

"Who's your foreman?" asked the checker, a young fellow named Royal

"Payson--if it's any of your business. " replied the workman roughly. 

The others, seeing him take this attitude, were willing to let him talkfor all. Superintendent Hawkins had rounded up the foremen, and now sentthem to the checker's hut to deal with the men. 

"Some of you are my men, " said Payson, looking the lot over. "You'redischarged. "

"What's that?" roared the same indignant spokesman, a big, bull-necked, red-faced fellow. 

"Discharged, " said Payson briefly. "All of you who belong to my gang. Checker, I'll call their names off to you. "

While Payson, and then the other foremen, were calling the names, theworkmen stood by in sullen silence. When the last name had been enteredthe same bull-necked spokesman flared up again. 

"Have we no rights?" he demanded. "Is there no such thing as the rightof appeal in this camp, or are we under a lot of domineering, pettytyrants like you?"

"I'm a poor specimen of tyrant, "' laughed Payson good-naturedly. "AllI'm doing, Bellas, is following orders. Any man who feels that he wasjustified in being away, and that he ought to be kept on the pay rollshere, may make his appeal to Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Hazelton or Mr. Reade. "

"I'll see Reade!" announced Bellas stiffly. "That youngster is doing allthe dirty work here. I'll go to him straight. "

"I'll take you over to his office, " nodded Foreman Payson. 

"I'm going, too, " announced another workman. 

"So'm I, " added another. 

"One at a time, men, " advised Payson. "I think Bellas feels that he'scapable of talking for all of you. "

The other foremen restrained the crowd, while Mr. Payson led Bellas overto the headquarters shack. 

Tom looked up from a handful of old letters as the two men entered. 

"See here, you!" was Bellas's form of greeting. 

"Try it again, " smiled Tom pleasantly. 

"You're the man I want to talk to, " Bellas snarled. "What do you meanby--"

"What's your name?" asked Reade quickly. 

"None of your--"

"We can never do business on that kind of courtesy, " smiled Reade. "Mr. Payson, show the man out and let him come back when he's cooler. "

"There isn't anyone here who can show me out!" blustered Bellas, swinging his big arms and causing the heavy muscles to stand out. 

"If you don't care to behave in a businesslike way, and talk like a man, we'll do our best to show you out, " Tom retorted, still with a pleasantsmile. "What are you here for, anyway?"

"Why have I been fired?" roared Bellas. 

"Can't you guess?" queried Tom. 

"Was it for going to town and being away all night?"

"Yes, and also for not being on hand this morning. "

"There wasn't any work to do, " growled Bellas. 

"You expected to be paid for your time, and you should have been incamp, as your time belonged to the railroad by, right of purchase. Bellas, you have been drinking over in town, haven't you?"

"If I have, it's my own business. I'm no slave. "

"Ben gambling, too?"

"None of your--"

"You're in error, " Tom answered pleasantly, though firmly. "The gamblersover in Paloma are leagued with the dive keepers against us, Bellas. Youknow what they did out at the big sink of the Man-killer last night. Anyman who goes away from camp and 'enjoys' himself for hours among thosewho are trying to put us out of business shows himself to be a friend tothe enemies of this camp. Therefore the man who does that shows himselfto be one of our enemies, in sympathy if not in fact. "

"I'm no lawyer, " growled Bellas sullenly, "and I can't follow your flowof gab. "

"You know well enough what I'm saying to you, Bellas, and you know thatI'm right. Since you've been away and joined our enemies we don't wantyou here. More, we don't intend to have you here. Mr. Payson has droppedyou from the rolls, and that cuts you off from this camp. Now, I thinkyou will understand that it is some of our business whether you havebeen over in town emptying your pockets, into Jim Duff's hat. If thatis what you have been doing, then we don't want you here, and won't haveyou. If you haven't been hob-nobbing with our enemies, and paying allyou had for the privilege, then we'll look into any claims of betterconduct that you may make, and, if satisfied that you've been tellingthe truth, we'll reinstate you. "

"Oh, you make me tired--you kid!" burst from Bellas's lips. 

"This isn't an experience meeting, " Tom replied, not losing his smile, "and I'm not interested in your impressions of me. Do you wish to makeany statement advocating your right to be taken on the pay roll again?"

"No, I don't!" roared the angry fellow. "All I want to do is to show youmy opinion of you, Tommy! I can do that best by rubbing your nose in thedirt outside. "

Foreman Payson flung himself between the big, angry human bull and theyoung chief engineer. 

"Don't waste any time or heat on him, Mr. Payson, " Tom advised, slippinghis handful of letters into his coat and tossing that garment to theback of the room. "If Bellas has any grudge against me, I don't want tostop him from making his last kick. "

Tom took a step forward, his open hands hanging at his sides. He didn'tlook by any means alarmed, though Bellas appeared to be about twice theyoung chief engineer's size. 

So prompt had been Reade's action that, for a moment, Bellas lookedastounded. Then, with a roar, he leaped forward, swinging both arms andclosing in. 

Tom Reade had had his best physical training on the football gridiron. He dropped, instantly, as he leaped forward, making a low tackle andrising with both arms wrapped around Bellas's knees. Tom took two swiftsteps forward, then heaved his man, head first, out through the opendoorway. 

Bellas landed about eight feet away. He was not hurt, beyond a jolting, and leaped to his feet, shaking both fists. 

"Not unless you really insist upon it, " smiled Tom, shaking his head. "It's too warm for exercise to-day. "

"You tricky little whipper-snapper!" roared Bellas, making an angrybound for the doorway. 

Tom met his angry rush. Both went down, rolling over and over on theground. Bellas wound his powerful arms about the boy, and would havecrushed him. Though Tom hated to do it, there was no alternative but tochoke the powerful bully. Bellas soon let go, dazed and gasping. Ere thebig fellow came to his senses sufficiently to know what he was about, Reade had hoisted Bellas to one shoulder. 

Down by the checker's hut the crowd of curious workmen gasped as theysaw Tom Reade jogging along with this great load over one shoulder. Reaching the line, Tom gave another heave. Bellas rolled on the ground. He was conscious and could have gotten up, but he chose to lay where hehad fallen and think matters over. 

"Don't think I'm peevish, men, " Tom called pleasantly. "I wouldn't havedone that if Bellas hadn't attacked me. I had to defend myself. Now, while I'm here, does any man wish to make a claim for justice? Does anyman feel that he has been discharged unfairly?"

Three or four men answered, though none of the Mexicans was among thenumber. When questioned as to whether they had spent the night among JimDuff's friends all the speakers admitted that they had. Tom then madethem the same explanation he had offered Bellas. 

"That's about all that can be said, isn't it, men?" Tom asked inconclusion. "I am sorry for those of you who feel hurt, but while thereis bad blood in the air every man must choose between one camp or theother. You men chose Jim Duff, and you'll have to abide by your choice. "

"But we haven't any money, " declared one of the men sullenly. 

"Now you're just beginning to understand that Jim Duff won't be a verygood friend to a penniless man. Didn't you know that when you shook allyour change into his hat?"

"Are you going to let us starve?" growled the man. 

"You won't starve, nor need you be out of work long, " Tom retorted. "Anyman who can do the work of a railway laborer in this country doesn'thave to remain out of a job. Now, I'll ask you to get off the railroad'sground. "

Tom turned and went back to the office, while Payson and the otherforemen saw to it that the discharged men left the railroad's property. In less than half an hour the disgruntled ones were back in the worsthaunts of Paloma, spreading the news of Tom Reade's latest outrage. 

When Tom reached the office he found Mr. Ellsworth inside. 

"I saw what you did, Reade, though you didn't know I was about. Youhandled it splendidly. You made it plain enough, too, to the men thatthey had joined the enemy and thereby declared against us. "

"Message, Mr. Reade, " called the operator from the doorway. 

"The construction material train, the first one, will be here within twohours, " cried Tom, looking up from the paper, his eyes dancing. "Now wecan do some of the real work that we've been waiting to do!"

CHAPTER IX. THE MAN-KILLER CLAIMS A SACRIFICE

In the days that followed Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton were morecontinuously and seriously busy than they had ever been before in theirlives. 

Sometimes it happens that engineers come upon a quicksand thatapparently has no bottom. It will be filled and apparently the earthon top is solid. After a few days there will follow either a gradualshifting away or a sudden cave in, and the quicksand must once more beattacked. 

This condition had been experienced more than a dozen times with theMan-killer before Tom and Harry had been called to solve the problem. 

There is no definite way of attacking a quicksand. Much must dependupon the local conditions. Where it is a small one, yet of seeminglyconsiderable depth, it is sometimes quickest and cheapest to crossit with a suspension bridge, the terminal pillars resting on surefoundations. Some quicksands are overcome by merely filling in new sandor loam, patiently, until at last the trap is blocked and a permanentlysolid foundation is laid. There are many other ways of overcoming thedifficulty. 

The method hit upon by Tom and Harry, after looking over the situation, was one that was largely original with them. 

It consisted of laying logs, of different lengths, from twelve toeighteen feet, in a transverse net work filling in earth on this andallowing the structure gradually to sink where the quicksand shifted orcaved. The sideway drift, at some points, was overcome by hollow steelpiles, driven in as firmly as might be, and then filled with cement fromthe top. A line of such piles when imbedded in the ground, helps to makean effective block to side drift. 

At the outset a few feet of these steel piles were left exposed abovethe surface, their gradual settling serving as a reliable index to theevasive movements of the extensive quicksand underneath. At other pointswooden piles were driven in for the same purpose. 

General Manager Ellsworth did not spend all his time in camp. He couldnot do so, in fact, for he had many other pressing duties. However, heran over frequently, and always appeared satisfied. 

"Of course it's too early to talk confidently, Reade, " said Mr. Ellsworth, one day when the work had been going on steadily for someweeks, "but I believe you have the only right method. I have so reportedto our directors. You'll have disappointments, of course, but I hopeyou'll encounter none that you can't overcome. "

"I shan't crow until I've seen the test applied to the roadbed overthe Man-killer, " Tom replied thoughtfully. "After I've seen that testapplied a couple of times then I'm ready to go before any board andswear that the Man-killer has been tamed for all time. "

"Speed the day!" replied Mr. Ellsworth, as he climbed into his privatecar to return. "By the way, you haven't heard anything lately from JimDuff & Company?"

"Not a word, " Reade replied. "I don't believe we're yet through withRough-house camp, however. They're waiting only until our suspicions areallayed. Once in a while we lose one of our workmen to the enemy, andthen we have to discharge the poor fellow. Some of our former men havegone away, but there are about thirty of them left in Paloma, and Iimagine that they're ready to be ugly when the chance comes. The agentof the Colthwaite Company is still in Paloma. He has been here eversince we came. "

"Agent of the Colthwaite Company?" repeated the general manager, openinghis eyes. "What's his name?"

"Fred Ransom, " Tom replied half carelessly. 

"Ransom? Fred Ransom? I never heard of any Colthwaite agent of thatname. "

"He's one of the Colthwaite people's troublemakers, " Tom went on, opening his own eyes rather wide. 

"If you were sure of this why didn't you report it to me earlier?"

"Why, I supposed your railroad detectives knew all about it. And thatyou had heard of it long ago, " Reade declared. 

"I haven't heard a word of it, " continued Mr. Ellsworth, coming down thesteps of his car and standing on the ground once more. "What proof haveyou of Ransom's business here?"

"None whatever, " Tom answered cheerfully, "but I had him spotted thefirst time I heard him talking. He was too entirely positive that we'dfail. "

"That was no proof against him. "

"No; but Ransom was also certain that the Colthwaite plan was the onlyone that could bring the Man-killer to time. "

"Have you any other reason to suspect this main?" queried Mr. Ellsworth. 

"Only the fact that Ransom and Jim Duff have been close friends. "

"Where does Ransom stop?"

"At the Mansion House. He has a suite of rooms there, and entertainssome kinds of people, including Duff, very lavishly. "

"Keep your eyes on that crowd as much as possible, Reade, " directed thegeneral manager thoughtfully, as he once more climbed to the platform ofhis car. 

"I will, sir; and it might not be a bad idea to have your detectives dosomething of the sort, also. "

The general manager did not answer, except by a vague nod as his trainpulled out from the outskirts of the railway camp. 

Tom went back, called for his horse and rode to the westward for anotherlook at the Man-killer. He found Harry, also in saddle, beneath thescanty shade of a struggling tree. Hazelton's quick eyes were takingin every detail of the work being done by the several large gangs ofworkmen. 

"Tom, if we're away from here by Christmas, there's one present youneedn't make me, " smiled Hazelton wanly, as he caught sight of thecamera hanging in its leather field case at his chum's side. 

"What present is that?" Tom inquired. 

"Don't make me a present of a photograph of this awful place. It'sphotographed on my brain now, and burned in and baked there. If we everget through with the Man-killer, and get our money, I never want to seethis spot again. "

"I'm not thinking at all of the money, " Reade retorted lightly yetseriously. "I don't care about the money at present. Nothing will eversatisfy me in life again until I've beaten the Man-killer fairly andsquarely. It's the one thing I think about by day and dream of atnight. "

"I know it, " sighed Harry half pityingly. 

"Well, what else should we think about?" Tom demanded in a low voice. "Harry, we have the very job, the identical problem, that has throwndown nearly a dozen engineers of fine reputation. Why, boy, thisplace may be out on the blazing desert, and there may be a dozendiscouragements every hour, but we've the finest chance, the biggestunsolved problem in engineering that we could possibly have. It'sglorious. "

Tom's eyes glowed. 

"Go away, " grinned Hazelton mischievously, "or I'll catch some of yourenthusiasm. "

"You don't need any of it, " Reade retorted laughingly. "You've tons ofenthusiasm stowed away for future use. You know you have. "

"I suppose I have enough enthusiasm, " Harry admitted, "but I shouldlike to do some actual work. I ride out on the sands every day and sitlooking on while the real work is being done. This problem of conqueringthe Man-killer is growing monotonous. I'm tired of pegging away at thesame old task day in and day out. "

"Not quite as bad as that, " Tom declared. "There's always somethinga bit new. If you want work to do right now, ride over and show thoseteamsters where you want them to put the logs that they're bringing up. "

This was far too little to satisfy Harry's longing for "doing things, "but with a grunt he turned his horse's head and jogged away at a trot. 

Tom moved in under the shade of the tree. 

"Harry doesn't know enough to appreciate a good thing when he has it, "softly laughed Tom, grateful for the scant bit of shade. "Neither doeshe yet know that often times the brain works best when the body is atrest. "

Just then Tom heard a sudden shout from the distance, followed by achorus of excited voices. 

Instantly the young engineer's gaze turned toward the lately filled-inedge of the big sink. 

A hundred feet beyond the light platform where some laborers had beenworking Reade beheld only the head and shoulders of one of the workmen. 

"The foolish fellow--to go out so far beyond where the men are allowedto go!" gasped the young chief engineer, setting spurs to his horse. 

In a few moments Tom had reached the edge of the sink. 

"A rope!" he shouted, and seized the thirty-foot lariat that was handedhim. With this, Tom, now on foot, ran within casting distance of theunfortunate, who was being rapidly enveloped by the quicksand. 

"Come back, Mr. Reade!" bellowed Foreman Payson. "The drift is settingin on this side of you. Back, like lightning, or you're a doomed man!You'll be swallowed up by the Man-killer yourself!"

But Tom, intent only on saving the unfortunate laborer beyond, waswholly heedless of the fact that his own life was in as great danger. 

CHAPTER X. HARRY FIGHTS FOR COMMAND

"Come back, Mr. Reade!" implored Foreman Payson. 

For Tom, who had made two casts with the lariat and failed, wasknee-deep in shifting sand himself. 

"Keep cool!" the young chief engineer called over his shoulder. "I'll beback--both of us in a minute or two. "

The hapless laborer was now engulfed to his neck in the quicksand. 

"Save me! In Heaven's name get me out of this!" begged the poor fellow, frenzied by dread of his seemingly sure fate. 

"I'm doing the best I can, friend!" Tom called, as he made a fresh cast. 

This time the noose of the raw-hide lariat dropped over the laborer'shead. 

"Fight your hands free, man!" Tom called encouragingly. "Fight yourhands and chest free, so that you can slip the noose down under yourarmpits. Keep cool and work fast, and we'll have you out. Don't letyourself get excited. "

In the meantime Tom was wholly unaware that the engulfing quicksand wasreaching up gradually toward his hips. 

Foreman Payson had ceased to try to attract Tom's attention. Whateverwas to be done to save the chief engineer must be done swiftly. Therewas not another lariat, or any kind of rope at hand. 

Behind was a cloud of alkali dust. Harry Hazelton was riding as fast ashe could urge a spirited horse. 

In another moment Hazelton had reined up at the edge of the group, dismounting and tossing the reins to one of the workmen. 

"My man, you get on that horse and fly for a rope!" ordered Harry. 

This last Hazelton shot back over his shoulder, for he was pushing hisway through the rapidly forming crowd to Payson's side. Another foremanhad just come up. 

"Mr. Bell, " shouted Harry, "drive the men back who are not needed. Wedon't want to put a lot of weight on the soil here and cause a furthercave-in. "

By this time Harry was at the edge of the platform. In a twinkling hewas out on the sand. 

Grip! Mr. Payson had a strong hold on the collar of the assistantengineer. 

"Let go of me!" commanded Harry. 

"You can't go out there, Mr. Hazelton. No more lives are to be wasted. "

"Let go of me, I tell you!"

"No, sir!" insisted Foreman Payson firmly. 

"Let go of me, or I'll fight you!"

"You'll have to fight, then, " retorted Payson doggedly, maintaining hisgrip on the lad's coat collar. "Comeback here!"

Aided by another man, the foreman dragged Hazelton back to the platform. 

"Payson, I'll discharge you, if you interfere with me!" stormedHazelton. 

"Don't be a fool, sir. You can't help Mr. Reade. Be cool, sir. Keep yourhead and direct us like a man of sense. "

"Be a man of sense, and see my chum going under the sands of theMan-killer?" flared Hazelton. 

He made a bound, doubling his fists threateningly. Then three or fourmen, at a sign from Payson, seized the young assistant engineer andthrew him to the ground. 

"Tom, " called Harry, "order these fools to let me go. "

Reade, however, who had just pulled in all the slack of the rawhidelariat, and had made it fast about his own left arm, seemed whollyunaware of his own great peril. 

Tom Reade was now submerged to his waistline in the engulfing sand. 

Unless rescued within five minutes the young chief engineer was plainlydoomed to be swallowed up in the treacherous sands of the Man-killer. Only a few seconds below the shifting level of the sand would be enoughto smother the life out of him. Scores of strong men, powerless to help, watched hopelessly within a few yards of the two whose lives were beingslowly but surely snuffed out. 

The laborer, whose carelessness or ignorance had caused all the trouble, was now in the sand up to his mouth. The agonized watchers could see himgradually sinking further. 

"Keep up your nerve, friend!" called Tom, in cool encouragement. "We'llsoon have you out of that. "

Gripping the lariat with both bands, Tom gave a strong, sudden wrenchand succeeded in drawing the imperiled man out of the sand a few inches. 

Then the poor fellow began to settle again moaning piteously as he saw ahideous death staring him in the face. 

Tom Reade's own face was deathly white from a realization of the other'speril. Of his own danger the young chief engineer had not once stoppedto think. 

Harry Hazelton was again on his feet. That much Foreman Payson hadpermitted, but strong-armed laborers stood on either side of the boy, and their detaining grips were on his arm. 

Out yonder the doomed man saw the engulfing sand creeping up on a levelwith his eyes. He tried to scream, but the sand shifted into his mouth. In pitiable terror the poor fellow closed his mouth in order to delaydeath for another moment. Even to call for help would now be swiftlyfatal!

Behind came the thunder of hoofs. 

"Ropes!" shouted the horseman on Harry's mount. 

He rode past the groups of men, close to the platform. Then, leapingfrom the saddle, the rider tossed a small bundle of ropes at Harry'sfeet. All were ropes and lines--not a raw-hide among them. 

"There he goes! He's gone!" roared a score of frantic voices, as theengulfed laborer sank out of sight in the sand. 

Harry Hazelton feverishly uncoiled one of the ropes, gathering a fewfolds in his right hand. 

"Catch, Tom!" Harry shouted, making a cast. 

The line swirled through the air, then settled on the sands. 

"O-o-o-oh!" groaned Hazelton, for the rope had fallen four feet to oneside of Reade, and the latter, hemmed in as he was, could not reach it. 

"Take your time and make a sure throw, Harry!" Tom called cheerily. 

Again Hazelton made a throw--and failed. 

"Let me, have that! My head's cooler, " called Foreman Payson. 

He made two quick, steady throws, but each shot wide of the mark. 

"Let me have that!" screamed Harry, snatching the line away. 

"There are lines enough. Two men might be making throws, " spoke a quietvoice behind them. 

Payson nodded, and bent over for another line. 

All trace of the doomed laborer had now disappeared. As for Tom, thesand was reaching up under his arm-pits. The young chief engineer hadhad the presence of mind to keep his arms free, but soon they too mustbe swallowed up. 

"Good throw--whoever sent it!" cheered Tom Reade, as a finalcast--Harry's--sent a line within six inches of his face. 

Tom could not see those back at the platform, for his back was turned tothe eastward, and he could no longer swing his body about. 

"Get it under your arms-quick, Tom, or you're done for, too!" screamedHarry. 

"Keep cool, old chap!" came back the unconcerned answer. "It isn't halfbad out here. The sand feels really cool about one's body. "

"This is no time for nonsense!" ordered Hazelton hoarsely. "Have you theline fast?"

"Yes!" nodded Reade. "Haul away! Careful, but strong and steady!"

Under Foreman Payson's direction a score of men seized the other end ofthe line and then began to haul. 

Harry danced up and down in a frenzy. 

"Tom, you idiot, " he gasped. "You haven't made the line fast aboutyourself. "

"Not yet, " came the cheery answer. "That wouldn't be fair play. Haulaway on our friend out yonder. "

Tom Reade had knotted the line fast to his end of the rawhide lariatthat was tied under the shoulders of the engulfed laborer. It wasmagnificent, though seemingly a useless sacrifice of his own life forone who must already be dead. 

From some of the workmen a faint cheer went up as the slowly incomingline hauled the head of the unconscious laborer above the sand. A footat a time the body came toward them over the sand. 

Harry, however, scarcely noted the rescue. He was frantically workingwith another line, knotting it in a sort of harness under his ownshoulders. 

"Come here, some of you men!" he called. "Bear a hand here! Lively!"

Foreman Payson was instantly at the side of the young assistantengineer. 

"What are you trying to do, Mr. Hazelton?" he demanded. 

"I'm going out on the sands, " retorted Harry. "I'm going to reach TomReade. If I go under the men can aid me. "

"But that isn't a rawhide line; it's hemp, " objected Foreman Payson. 

"It's strong enough, " retorted Hazelton impatiently. 

"I don't know about that. "

"It will have to do, " insisted Hazelton. "You men get a good hold. Also, one of you play out this other line that I'm taking with me for TomReade. "

"Don't risk anything foolish, Harry!" called the voice of Tom Reade, whonow felt the sand under his chin. 

"I'm coming to you, " Tom, shouted Harry. 

"It's too dangerous. Don't!"

"I've got to come to you!"

"I tell you don't! Maybe I can get myself out. "

"Yes, you can, " jeered Hazelton. "Tom, if you went under, do you think Icould ever go back to our native town?"

"Payson!" shouted Tom. 

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't let Mr. Hazelton come--yet. Seize him!"

"I've got him, sir!"

Harry felt himself seized by the strong arms of the foreman. 

"You don't go, sir, " Payson insisted. "It's a criminal waste of life. "

"Man, unhand me. Let me go, I tell you. "

"I won't, sir. I've Mr. Reade's orders. "

"He's helpless and no longer in command, " Harry retorted. 

"He's in command enough for me, sir. "

"Payson!" Harry Hazelton's fierce gaze burned into the eyes of theforeman. "If Tom Reade dies out yonder, and you've hindered me fromsaving him--I'll have your life for forfeit!"

Before that burning look even Payson shrank back. Harry Hazelton, ordinarily the best natured of boys, was now in terrible earnest. 

"That's right, " muttered Hazelton. "Men, I take command here. Youneedn't heed any words from Reade. Now, you men on the lines watch closeand listen keenly for my orders. "

With that Hazelton darted out on the deadly, treacherous sands!

CHAPTER XI. CHEATING THE MAN-KILLER

For the first few yards the assistant engineer ran almost as well asthough on a cinder track. Then his feet sank in. Soon he stumbled. 

Then there came a time, within ten feet of Tom, when Harry felt his feetsettling in the sand despite his efforts to pull himself out. 

In the meantime the haulers on the other line had forgotten to pull thelaborer nearer to safety. 

"You men get your eyes on the job!" sternly commanded Payson, who seemedcapable of having eyes everywhere. 

Harry got out, somehow. He made a bound, landing within arm's length ofTom Reade. 

"I'm here, old chum!" gasped Hazelton. 

"I knew you'd be, " returned Tom calmly, "if there were any way of doingit. "

Harry pulled himself together and floundered still closer. 

Nor was there a moment to be lost. Tom was already reduced to the choicebetween silence and having his mouth filled with sand. 

Harry's hands worked with lightning speed. Feverishly he dug out thesand, until he had scooped away enough to bare Tom's shoulders and a fewinches beneath. 

Swoop! Down went the extra noose over Tom's lifted arms, and then downto a snug noose under his armpits. 

From the platform a cheer went up, for the unconscious laborer had justbeen hauled to safety. 

It was with a thrill of horror that Hazelton found his own legs firmlyembedded in the sand well up to his thighs. 

"Get Reade started first!" shouted the young assistant engineer. "Don'tbother with me until I give the word. "

How the line fastened to Tom tightened and strained! At times it seemedas though it must give way. 

Presently Tom's shoulder and a part of his torso were free. 

In the meantime Harry Hazelton had sunk in up to the waist line. 

"We'll haul on you, too, now, Mr. Hazelton!" sounded the voice ofForeman Payson. 

"Don't you dare do it until I give the word, " thundered back the voiceof the assistant engineer. 

With a line securely about him, Harry felt that he could afford to takethe slight chance of waiting his turn. 

He saw Tom's knees coming up out of the sand before he called:

"Now, Payson, you can give me a little boost if you like. Don't pull mein ahead of Tom Reade, however. "

Presently deafening cheers went up. Both young engineers were beingslowly, surely hauled to safe ground. 

Then Tom and Harry reached a spot where they could rise to their ownfeet and floundered. Tom started, then swayed dizzily. 

"Steady, there, old Gridley boy!" mumbled Hazelton, slipping an armaround his recovered chum. 

Then the two young engineers reached the platform and a fresh tumult ofjoyful cheering burst forth. 

"Payson, " exclaimed Harry, going up to the foreman, and holding out hishand, "will you accept my apologies for all I said to you? I had to usestrong language, or you'd have held me back from Reade. "

"I didn't believe he could be saved, " returned the foreman, with asickly smile, as he grasped Hazelton's outstretched hand. 

Tom, too weak at first to stand, had dropped to his knees at the side ofthe unconscious laborer, over whom some of the bystanders were workingin stupid fashion. 

"This man must have medical attention at once!" Tom declared. "Someof you men lift him to your shoulders. Be careful not to jolt him, buttravel at a jog all the way to the office building. Harry, can you siton your horse?"

"Surely, " said the young assistant. 

"Lucky boy, then, " smiled Reade. "I won't be able to sit in saddle forsome minutes. Ride into camp and tell the operator to wire swiftly for aphysician to come out and attend to that man. "

"But you--"

"I'm here, am I not!" smiled Reade. 

"I should say you are, Mr. Reade!" came a hoarse, friendly roar from oneof the laborers. 

Hazelton did not delay. He was soon speeding back over the desert. 

As for Tom, there were many offers of assistance, but he explained thatall he needed was to keep quiet and have a chance to get his breathback. 

Payson, in the meantime, had started the work going again, though mostof his men toiled with far less spirit than before the accident. 

Ten minutes later Tom mounted his horse and rode slowly back towardcamp. By the time he reached there he made out the automobile of aPaloma physician coming in haste. 

Tom was still weak enough to tremble as Harry stepped outside and helpedhim to the ground. 

"Harry, " Reade remarked dryly, "I'm not going to bother to thank you forsuch a simple little thing as saving my life out yonder. I am well awarethat you had the time of your life in doing it. "

"I might have had the time of my life, " returned Harry, with animitation of his chum's calmness, "if there had been more excitementabout it. It was all rather dull, wasn't it, old chap?"

Smiling, both stepped inside. Then Tom's face became grave when he sawthat the rescued laborer had not yet recovered consciousness. 

"Somewhere in the world, " murmured Reade, as he dropped to one knee andrested a finger-tip on the laborer's pulse, "there's someone--a woman, or a child, or a white-haired old man--who wouldn't wish us to let thisman die. What have you men been doing for him?"

Before the answer could be given a honk sounded at the door. Then ayoung doctor clad in white duck and carrying a three-fold medicine case, stepped inside. 

"Sucked down by the sand and hauled out again, Doc, " Tom explained. 

The physician looked closely at his patient and Harry drove out the menwho had no especial business there. 

"A little pin-head of glonoin on his tongue for a beginning, " decidedthe physician, opening his case. From one of the vials he took a smallpellet, forcing it between the lips of the unconscious man. Then, withhis stethoscope, he listened for the heart beats. 

"Another glonoin, and then we'll start in to wake up our friend, " saidthe young doctor in white duck, after a pause. 

Two or three minutes later the laborer opened his eyes. 

"You've been trying not to hear the whistle, " laughed the doctor gently. "A big fellow like you must be up and doing. "

Ten minutes later the doctor found Tom outside. 

"The man will be all right now, with a little stuff that I'll leave forhim, " smiled the visitor. "Of course there's some man in camp who canlook after a comrade to-night?"

"Doc, couldn't you do a better job if you had the man in Paloma underyour own eyes tonight?" Tom questioned. 

"Yes; undoubtedly. "

"Can you take him?"

"Yes. "

"Then do so. Give him all the attention he needs. Make out your billto the A. G. & N. M. Hand it to me, and I'll O. K. It and send it in toheadquarters for payment. If you think an automobile ride after darkwill do the poor chap good, give him one and put that in your bill, too. "

"Reade, I want to shake hands with you, " said the physician earnestly. "I've looked after railroad hands before, but this is the first time Iwas ever asked to be humane to one. Have no fear but I'll send this manback to you strong and grateful. What's his name?"

"I don't know, " returned Reade. "I don't even know to whose gang hebelongs, though I think he's one of Payson's men. "

Late the following afternoon the laborer was brought back to camp. Thefollowing morning he returned to his work as usual. 

During the next two weeks Tom and Harry directed all their energies, aswell as the labor of all of their men, to bridging over that bad spot inthe Man-killer that had so nearly claimed two lives. One after anothersix different layers of log network were put down. The open box carsbrought up thousands of tons of good soil, which was dumped down intothe layers of interlaced logs. 

"The old Man-killer must feel tremendously flattered at finding himselfso persistently manicured, " laughed Tom as he sat in saddle watching themen putting down the sixth layer. 

Steel piles, hollow and filled with cement, were being driven here, thecement not going in until the top of the pile was but four feet abovethe level of the desert. 

"Look out yonder, " nodded Harry, handing his field glass to his chum. "You can just make out a glint on the sand. That's one of our steelpiles being sucked under. "

"The explorer of a few centuries hence may find a lot of these piles, "laughed Tom. "If he does, he'll most likely attribute them to the PuebloIndians or the Aztecs, and he'll write a learned volume about the highstate of civilization that existed among the savages here before thewhite man came. "

"I'm mighty glad, Tom, that General Manager Ellsworth isn't out hereto see how many dozens of steel piles we're feeding hopelessly to theMan-killer. "

"Not one of those piles is going down hopelessly, " Tom retorted. "Someof the piles may disappear, and never be seen again, but each onewill help hold the drift at some point, near the surface, or perhaps athousand feet below the surface. "

"Only a thousand feet below the surface!" Harry grunted. "Tom, I oftenfeel certain that the Man-killer extends away down to the center of theearth and up again on the other side. Before I'm a very old man I expectto hear that several of our steel piles have shot up above the surfacein China or India. "

Hearing the noise of horse's hoofs behind him, Tom turned. He beheldFred Ransom riding out to the spot on a mottled "calico" horse. 

"Look who's here, " Reade murmured to his chum. 

"What are you going to do with him?" asked Hazelton, after a quick look. "Run him off the line?"

"I don't know, " Tom answered slowly. "Ransom is trying hard to earn aliving, you know. "

Harry snorted. That sort of estimation of Ransom, even as a joke, was alittle too much for him. 

"Mighty hot day, Reade, " called Ransom, as he reined in near the youngengineers. 

"Yes, " said Tom slowly. "If I were enjoying myself beside a bottle ofcold soda on the Mansion House porch I don't believe I'd have the energyto call for a horse and ride all the way out here in the heat. "

"Am I intruding?" demanded Ransom, with a swift, keen glance at theyoung chief engineer. 

"Oh, no, indeed!" came Tom's response. "You're as welcome as the flowersin spring. "

"Thank you. It's a fine job you're doing out here. "

"Now it's my turn to extend my thanks to you, " Tom drawled. "Your praiseis all the more appreciated as coming from a competitor. "

"A competitor!" asked Ransom quickly, and with a half scowl. "I'm not anengineer. "

"Your people are ranked as pretty fair engineers, " Reade rejoined. 

"My people? What do you mean, Reade? There isn't an engineer in ourfamily. "

"No; but the Colthwaite Company employs a good many engineers, " Tomsuggested. 

"Colthwaite?" repeated Ransom, now on his guard. "I have nothing to dowith that concern. "

"No?" asked Tom, as though greatly astonished. "Why, that's strange. "

"Why is it strange?"

"Why, " Tom Reade rejoined amiably, "everyone connected with the A. G. & N. M. Who knows anything at all about you credits you with being amember of the Colthwaite Company's gloom department. "

"Gloom department?" gasped Ransom, with a wholly innocent-looking face. "Oh, all right. I'll bite. What is a gloom department, anyway?"

"It's a comparatively recent piece of business apparatus, " smiled Tom. "It is employed by big corporations as a club with which to hit smallercrowds that want some of the business of life. The gloom departmentmight be called the bureau of knocking, or the hit-in-the-neck shift. "

"Is that what you accuse me of doing for the Colthwaite Company?" askedFred Ransom, his scowl deepening. 

"Oh, the accusation isn't all mine, " Tom assured him unconcernedly. "Some of it belongs elsewhere. "

"Your suspicions are utterly unwarranted, " retorted Ransom, chokingslightly. 

"It's a lot of comfort to hear you say so, " Tom rejoined, as smilinglyas ever. 

"You're on the wrong track this time, anyway, " Ransom asserted boldly. "Still, I don't suppose you want me out here. "

"On the contrary, I greatly enjoy seeing you here, " Tom declared. "I'mvery grateful for the praise you offered me a moment ago. "

"You're welcome, " returned the Colthwaite agent, trying hard to smile. "However, I won't take up your time. Good afternoon. "

"Good afternoon, then, " nodded Tom. "Drop in again, won't you? Any timewithin working hours. "

"Confound that fellow Reade!" muttered Ransom angrily as he rode back toPaloma. "He knows altogether too much--or suspects it. I shall have tocall Jim Duff's attention to him!"

"Why did you string the fellow so?" asked Harry when the chums werealone once more. 

"I didn't, " Reade retorted. "I came very close to giving him straightinformation. "

"Now he'll be more on his guard. "

"That won't do him any good, " Tom yawned. "He has been on his guardall along, yet we found him out. For that matter, any man who livesregularly at the Mansion House these days is open to our suspicion. "

For the Mansion House, ever since Tom's having been ordered away, hadbeen a losing proposition. Now and then a traveling salesman stoppedthere, though not many. 

"By the way, Harry, " predicted Tom, as the chums were riding back toPaloma at the close of the afternoon, "look out, in about three of fourdays, for a new and permanent guest at the Cactus House. "

"Who's coming?" inquired Hazelton. 

"Whatever man the Colthwaite Company decides to send to the Cactus Houseas soon as headquarters in Chicago receives Ransom's report. I thinkwe'll know that new chap, too, when he shows up. Also, you'll find thatthe new man is either an avowed enemy of Ransom, after a little, or elsehe won't choose to know Ransom at all. "

"That's pretty wild guessing, " scoffed Harry Hazelton. 

"Wait three or four days, and see whether it's guessing or one of thefine fruits of logic, " proposed Reade. "Incidentally, the Colthwaitepeople will wonder why it didn't occur to them before to send one oftheir gloom men to live at the Cactus. Fact is, I've been looking forthe chap for more than a fort-night. "

CHAPTER XII. HOW THE TRAP WAS BAITED

It was the evening of the day after Harry, who had insisted on trudgingup and down the line all day, instead of using his horse, had a touch ofheat headache. 

He was not in a serious condition, but he needed rest. He dropped intoone of the chairs on the Cactus House porch and prepared to doze. 

"Is there anything I can get for you, or do for you, old chap?" inquiredTom, coming out on the porch after supper and looking remarkablycomfortable and contented. 

"No; just let me doze, " begged Harry. "I feel a trifle drowsy. "

"Then, if you're going to give a concert through your nose, " smiled Tom, "I may as well protect myself by going some distance away. "

"Go along. "

"I believe I'll take a walk. Probably, too, the ice cream man will bericher when I get back. "

Tom went down into the street and sauntered along. He had walked but afew blocks when he met another young man in white ducks. 

"Doc, I'm looking for the place where the ice cream flows, " Readehinted. "Can I tempt you?"

"Without half trying, " laughed Dr. Furniss the young physician who hadgone out to camp to attend the Man-killer victim. 

As they were seated together over their ice cream, Dr. Furniss inquired:

"By the way, do you ever see my one-time patient nowadays?"

"The fellow we exhumed from the Man-killer?"

"The same. "

"I see him every morning, " laughed Tom. "Really, I can't help seeinghim, for the man puts himself in my way daily to say good morning. Andas yet I haven't learned his name. "

"His name is Tim Griggs, " replied Dr. Furniss. "He's a fine fellow, too, in his rough, manly way. He's wonderfully grateful to you, Reade. Do youknow why?"

"Haven't an idea. "

"Well, Tim's sheet anchor in life is a little girl. "

"Sweetheart?"

"After a fashion, " laughed the young doctor. "The girl is his daughter, eight years old. She's everything to Tim, for his wife is dead. Thechild lives with somewhat distant relatives, in a New England town. Tim sends all his spare money to her, and so the child is probably welllooked after. Tim told me, with a big choke in his voice, that, if theMan-killer had swallowed him up, it would have been all up with thelittle girl, too. When money stopped coming the relatives would probablyhave set the child to being household drudge for the family. Tim has around dozen of different photos of the child taken at various times. "

"Then I'm extra glad we got him out of the Man-killer, " said Tom ratherhuskily. 

"I knew you'd be glad, Reade. You're that kind of fellow. "

"Tim Griggs, then, is probably one of our steady men, " Tom remarked, after a while. 

"Steady! Why the man generally sends all of his month's pay, exceptabout eight dollars, to his daughter. From what he tells me she isa sharp, thrifty little thing. She pays her own board bill with herrelatives, chooses and pays for her own clothes, and puts the balance ofthe money in bank for herself and her father. "

"Does Tim ever go to see her?"

"Once in two years, regularly. He'd go east oftener, but it costs toomuch money. He'd live near her, but he says he can earn more money downhere on the desert. Tim even talks about a college education for thatidolized girl. She looks out just as sharply for her daddy. Whenever Timis ready to make a trip east, she sends him the money for his fare. Thetwo have a great old time together. "

"Tim may marry again one of these days, and then the young lady may nothave as happy a time, " remarked Tom thoughtfully. 

"I hinted as much to Griggs, " replied Dr. Furniss, "but he told me, pretty strongly, that there'll be no new wife for him until he hashelped the daughter to find her own place in life. "

"Say!" muttered Tom, with a queer little choke in his voice. "The heroesin life generally aren't found on the high spots, are they?"

"They're not, " retorted the doctor solemnly. 

Half an hour later, after having eaten their fill of ice cream, Dr. Furniss and Engineer Reade parted, Tom strolling on alone in thedarkness. 

"I can It get that fellow Griggs out of my mind, " muttered Tom. "Tothink that a splendid fellow like him is working as a laborer! I wonderif he isn't fitted for something better--something that pays better?Look out, Tom Reade, you old softy, or you'll be doing somethingfoolish, all on account of a primary school girl in New England whomyou've never seen, and never will! I wonder--hello!"

As Tom had walked along his head had sunk lower and lower in thought. His sudden exclamation had been brought forth by the fact that he hadbumped violently into another human being. 

"Cantch er look out where you're going?" demanded an ugly voice. 

"I should have been looking out, my friend, " Tom replied amiably. "Itwas very careless of me. I trust, that I haven't done you serious harm. "

"Quit yer sass!" ordered the other, who was a tall, broad-shouldered andvery surly looking fellow of thirty. 

"I don't much blame you for being peevish, " Reade went on. "Still, Ithink there has been no serious harm done. Good night, friend. "

"No, ye don't!" snarled the other. "Nothing of the slip-away-easy style, like that!"

"Why, what do you want?" I asked Tom, opening his eyes in genuinesurprise. 

"Ye thick-headed idiot!" rasped the surly stranger. "Ye--"

From that the stranger launched into a strain of abuse that staggeredthe young engineer. 

"Say no more, " begged Reade generously. "I accept your apology, just asyou've phrased it. "

"Apology, ye fool!" growled the stranger. 

"That won't do. Put up your hands!"

"Why?"

"So ye can fight, ye--"

"Fight?" echoed Tom, with a shake of his bead. "On a hot night likethis? No, sir! I refuse. "

Tom would have passed peaceably on his way, but the stranger suddenlylet go a terrific right-hander. Had Tom Reade received the blow he wouldhave gone to the ground. But the young engineer's athletic trainingstood by him. He slid out, easily and gracefully, but was compelled towheel and face his assailant. 

"Don't, " urged Tom. "It's too hot. "

"I'm hot myself, " leered the stranger, dancing nearer. 

"You look it, " Tom admitted. "If you don't stop dancing, you'll soon behotter. It makes me warm to look at you. "

"Stop this one, ye tin-horn!" snarled the stranger. 

"Certainly, " agreed Tom, blocking the blow. "However, I wish youwouldn't be so strenuous. One of us may get hurt. "

This last escaped Reade as he blocked the blow, and again displayed aneat little bit of footwork. 

"Let's see you stop this one!" taunted the bully. 

"Certainly, " agreed Tom, and did so. 

"And this one. And this! Here's another!"

By this time the blows were raining in fast and thick. Tom's agilefootwork kept him out of reach of the hard, hammer-like fists of thestranger. 

Tom had been bred in athletics. He was comparative master of boxing, but before this interchange of blows had gone far the young engineerrealized that he had met a doughty opponent. 

What Tom didn't know was that his present foe was an ex-prizefighter, who had sunk low in the scale of life. 

What the lad didn't even suspect was that the man had been hired to picka fight with him, and that the fight was for desperate stakes. 

"Have you pounded me all you think necessary?" asked Tom coolly, aftermore than a minute's hard interchange of blows in which neither man hadgained any notable advantage. 

"No, ye slant-eared boob!" roared the assailant. "Ye--"

Here he launched into another stream of abuse. 

"You said all that before, " remarked Tom, with a new flash in his eyes. Then fully aroused, he went to work in earnest, intending to drive hisopponent back and down him. 

The fighting became terrific. There was little effort now to parry, foreach fighter had become intent on bringing the other to earth. 

Tom was soon panting as he fought, for his opponent was heavier, tallerand altogether out of the youth's fistic class. 

"If I can only reach his wind once, and topple him over!" thought Reade. 

A blow aimed at his jaw he failed to block. The impact sent the youngengineer half staggering. Another blow, and Tom dropped, knocked out. 

At that very instant a street door near by opened noiselessly. 

"I've got him, " leered the bully, bending over the senseless form of TomReade. 

"Bring him in!" ordered a voice behind the open doorway. 

CHAPTER XIII. TOM HEARS THE PROGRAM

Throwing his arms around Tom, the bully lifted him and bore him inside, dropping him on the floor in the dark. 

"He's some tough fighter, " muttered Tom's assailant. "I didn't know buthe'd get me. "

"No; he couldn't, " replied the other voice. "I was just opening the doorso I could slip out and give him a clip in the dark. "

"He's coming to, " muttered the bully. "Ye'll have to tell me what youwant done with him. "

The speaker had knelt by Tom, with a hand roughly laid against the youngengineer's pulse. Neither plotter could see the boy, for no light hadbeen struck in the room. 

"Pick him up, " ordered the one who appeared to be directing affairs. "Ifhe comes to while you're carrying him you can handle him easily enough, can't you?"

"Of course. Even after he knows pie from dirt he'll be dazed for a fewminutes. "

"Come along with him. "

"Strike a light. "

For answer the director of this brutal affair flashed a little glow froma pocket electric lamp. 

The way led down a hallway, through to the back of the house, and thencedown a steep flight of stairs into a cellar. 

The man who appeared to be in charge of this undertaking had brought alantern, holding it ahead of the man who carried Tom's unconscious form. 

"Dump him there, " ordered the man with the lantern. 

"He's stirring, " reported the fighter, after having dropped young Readeto the hard earthen floor. 

"Take this then, " replied the other, who, having hung the lantern ona hook overhead, had stepped off beyond the fringe of darkness. He nowreturned with a shotgun, which he handed to the fighter who had attackedthe young chief engineer in the street. 

"Do you want me to shoot him?" whispered the other huskily. 

"If you have to, but I don't believe it will be necessary. The cubwill soon understand that his safety depends entirely on doing as he istold. "

"Say, " muttered Tom thickly. He stirred, opened his eyes, then sat up, looking dazed. 

"Don't move or talk too much, " advised the man with the shotgun. As hespoke, he moved the muzzle close to Reade's face. 

"Hello!" muttered Tom, blinking rather hard. 

"Hello yourself. That's talking enough for you to do, " snapped thebully. 

"Was that the thing you hit me over the head with at the finish?"inquired the young engineer curiously. 

"Careful! You're expected to think--not talk, " leered his captor. "Ifye want something to think about ye can remember that I have fingers onboth triggers of this gun. "

"I can see that much, " Tom assented. "Why do you think that it'snecessary to keep that thing pointed at me? Have you got me in a placewhere you feel that facilities for escaping are too great?"

The word "facilities" appeared too big for the mind of the bully tograsp. 

"I don't know what ye're talkin' about, " he grumbled. 

"Neither do I, " Tom admitted cheerily. "My friend, I'm not going toirritate you by pretending that I know more than you do. In fact, I knowless, for I have no idea what is about to happen to me here, and that'ssomething that you do know. "

"No; I don't, " glared his captor, "and I don't care what is going tohappen to you. "

Back of the fringe between light and darkness steps were heard on thecellar stairs. Then someone moved steadily forward until he came intothe light. 

"Hello, Jim!" Tom called good-humoredly. 

"Don't try to be too familiar with your betters, young man!" came thestern reply. 

"Oh, a thousand pardons, Mr. Duff, " Tom amended hastily. "I didn'tintend to insult your dignity. Indeed, I am only too glad to find youresolved to be dignified. "

"If you try to get fresh with me, " growled the gambler, "I'll knock yourhead off. "

"Call it a slap on the wrist, and let it go at that, " urged Tom. "I'mvery nervous to-night, and a blow on the head might make me worse. "

"Nothing could make you worse, " growled, Duff, turning on his heel, "andonly death could improve you. "

"Then I'm distinctly opposed to the up-lift, " grinned Tom, but Duffhad disappeared into a darker part of the cellar and the young engineercould not tell whether or not his shaft had reached its mark. 

"Ye wouldn't be so fresh if ye had a good idea of what ye're up againstto-night, " warned the bully with the gun. 

"I fancy a good many of us would tone down if we could look ahead forthree whole days, " Tom suggested. 

Other steps were now heard on the stairs. The newcomers remained outsidethe illuminated part of the cellar until still others arrived. 

"Now, gentlemen, " proposed the voice of Jim Duff, "suppose we have alook at the troublemaker. "

"They can't mean me, " Tom hinted to his immediate captor. 

"Shut up!" came the surly answer. 

Fully a dozen men now moved forward. With the single exception of Duff, each had a cloth, with eye-holes, tied in place over his face. 

"My, but this looks delightfully mysterious!" chuckled Tom. 

"You be still, boy, except when you answer something that calls for areply, " ordered Jim Duff, who had dropped all of the surface polish ofmanner that he usually employed. "This meeting need not last long, andI'll do most of the talking. "

"Won't these other gentlemen present be allowed to do some of thetalking?" the young engineer inquired. 

"They don't want to, " Duff explained gruffly. "That might lead to theirbeing recognized. "

"Oh, that's the game?" mused Tom Reade aloud. "Why, I thought they hadthe handkerchiefs over their faces because--"

"Shut up and listen!" warned Jim Duff. 

". .. Because, " finished Tom, "they wanted me to feel that everything wasbeing done regularly and in good dime-novel form. My, but they do looklike some of the fellows that Hen Dutcher used to tell us about. Henused to waste more time on dime novels than--"

"Shut up!" again commanded Duff. "These gentlemen feel that there is noneed of their being recognized. "

"Then why didn't Fred Ransom, of the Colthwaite Company, cover up thescar on his chin?" retorted Reade. "Why didn't Ashby, of the MansionHouse, invent a new style of walking for the occasion?"

Both men named drew hastily back into the shadow. Tom chuckled quietly. 

"I could name a few others, " Tom continued carelessly. "In fact--I thinkI know you all. Gentlemen, you might as well remove your masks. "

"Club him with the butt of the gun, if he talks too much, " Duff directedthe bully, who had stepped back a few paces as the men formed a circlearound the young engineer. 

"Did you ever try to stop water from running down hill, Duff, " Tominquired good-humoredly. 

"What has that to do with--" began the gambler angrily. 

"Nothing very much, " Tom admitted. "Only it's a waste of time to try tobind my tongue. The only thing you can do is to gag me; but, from somethings you've let drop, I judge that you want me to do some of thetalking presently. "

"We do, " nodded Duff, seeking to regain his temper. "However, it won'tdo you any good to attempt to do your talking before you've heard me. "

"If I've been interfering with your rights, then I certainly owe you anapology, " Tom answered, with mock gravity. "May I beg you to begin yourspeech?"

"I will if you'll keep quiet long enough, boy, " Jim Duff retorted. 

"I'll try, " sighed Reade. "Let's hear you. "

"This committee of gentlemen--" began the gambler. 

"All gentlemen?" Tom inquired gravely. 

"This committee, " Duff started again, "have concerned themselves withthe fact that you have done much to make business bad here in Paloma. You have prevented hundreds of workmen from coming into Paloma to spendtheir wages as they otherwise would have done. "

"Some mistake there, " Reade urged. "I can't control the actions of mymen after working hours. "

"You've persuaded them against coming into town, " retorted Duff sternly. "None of the A. G. & N. M. Workmen come into Paloma with their wages. "

"I'm glad to hear that, " Tom nodded. "It's the effect of taking goodadvice, not the result of orders. "

Some of the masked listeners stirred impatiently. 

"It's all the same, " Jim growled. "Your men don't come into town, andPaloma suffers from the loss of that much business. "

"I'm sorry to hear it. "

"So this committee, " the gambler went on, "has instructed me to informyou that your immediate departure from Paloma will be necessary if youcare to go on living. "

"I can't go just yet, " Tom declared, with a shake of his bead. "My workhere at Paloma isn't finished. "

"Your work will be finished before the night is over, if you don'taccept our orders to leave town, " growled Duff. 

"Dear me! Is it as bad as that?" queried Reade. 

"Worse, as you'll find! What's your answer, Reade?"

"All I can say then, " Tom replied innocently, "is that it is too bad. "

Clip! Jim Duff bent forward, administering a smart cuff against theright side of the sitting engineer's face. 

"Don't do that!" warned Tom, leaping lithely to his feet. He faced thegambler coolly, but the lad's muscles were working under the sleeves ofhis shirt. 

Duff drew back three steps, after which he faced the boy, eyeing himsteadily. 

"Reade, you've heard what we have to say to you. That you can't go onliving in Paloma. Are you ready to give us your word to leave Palomabefore daylight, and never come back?"

"No, " Tom replied flatly. 

"Then, " sneered the gambler, fixing the gaze of his snake-like eyes onthe young chief engineer, "I'll tell you what we have provided for you. We shall take you to the edge of the town, at once, and there hang youby the neck to a tree. After you've ceased squirming we'll fasten thiscard to you. "

From another man present Jim snatched a printed card, bearing thislegend:

"Gone, for the good of the community!"

CHAPTER XIV. THE COUNCIL OF THE CURB

"How soon are you going to carry out your plans?" Reade demanded. 

"Then you won't leave Paloma?"

"I certainly won't--as far as my own decision goes, " Reade repliedfirmly. "Furthermore, I should feel the utmost contempt for myself if Iallowed you to drive me away from here before my work is completed. "

"You're a fool!" hissed Duff. 

"And you're a gambler, " Tom shot back. "If you won't change your trade, why should you expect me to change mine?"

"I reckon, gentlemen, " said Duff, turning to the others present, "thatthere's no use in wasting any more time with this fellow. He'd ratherbe hanged to a tree than take good advice. If the rest of you agree withme, I propose that we take the cub to his tree at once. "

Several spoke in favor of this plan. Tom, seeing this, felt his heartsink somewhat within him, though he was no more inclined than before toaccede to the demands of the rascals. 

"Grab him! Throw him down; tie and gag him, " were the gambler's orders. 

Two men nearest the young engineer sprang at him. 

"We'll play this game right through to the finish, then!" burst fromTom's lips, and there was something like fury in his voice. 

Biff! Thump!

Two of the townsmen of Paloma, wholly unprepared for resistance, wentdown before the engineer's telling blows. 

"Your turn, Duff!" rumbled Reade's voice, as he sprang forward andlaunched a terrific blow at the gambler. 

Duff went down, almost doubling up as he struck. He had been hitsquarely on the jaw with a force that made even Tom Reade's hardenedknuckles ache. 

"Shoot him!" rose a snarl, as others moved toward the boy. 

"All right!" assented Tom, his voice ringing cheerily despite his anger. "Be cowards, as comes natural to you. Yet, if you have the courage ofreal men I'll agree to fight my way out of this place, meeting you oneat a time. "

"What's that noise up in the street?" suddenly demanded Ashby, in a toneof sudden fear. 

"Run up and find out, if you want to know, " proposed Tom, who stoodpoised, ready for another assailant to come within reach of his fists. 

Stealthily, on tip-toe, the bully who had first engaged Reade in thestreet fight, was now trying to get up behind the young engineer. Thebully held the shotgun ready to bring down on the lad's head. 

"There's some row up there, " continued Ashby. "There, I heard shots!"

"Brave, aren't you?" jeered Tom. 

Three or four of the masked cowards started for the steep stairway. 

Even the bully with the clubbed shotgun must have been seized with fear;for, though in position to strike, he quickly lowered the weapon andlistened. 

Bump! smash! sounded, though not directly overhead. 

Then from the hallway above came the noise of the treading of many feet, while a voice roared hoarsely:

"Spread through the house, boys! If they've done anything to Mr. Reade, then break the necks of every white-livered rascal you can find!"

"Fine!" chuckled Tom, while the masked faces in the cellar turned evenwhiter than the cloths covering them. "That voice sounds familiar to me, too. "

Over the hubbub of voices above sounded some remonstrating tones, asthough others were urging a less violent course. 

"It's the workmen from the camp!" guessed Hotelman Ashby, in a voicethat shook as though from ague. 

"Sounds like it, " chuckled Tom. "Cheer up, Ashby. If it's our railroadcrew I'll try to see to it that they don't do more than half kill you!"

Then, raising his voice, Tom called gleefully:

"Hello, there! You'll find us in the cellar. "

"Why don't you kill that fool!" muttered Jim Duff, who, still dazed, struggled to sit up. 

"Hush, man, for goodness sake!" implored the badly frightened Ashby. 

Duff, with rapidly returning consciousness, now leaped to his feet, drawing his pistol and springing at Reade. 

"Hold on!" Tom proposed coolly. "You're too late!"

The sudden flooding of light into the place and the rush of hobnailedshoes on the stairs recalled even the gambler's scattered senses. 

"There they are!" yelled a voice. "Grab 'em! Be careful you don't hitMr. Reade. "

In another instant the cellar was the center of a wild scene. Railwaylaborers flooded the little place. While some held dark lanterns thatthrew a bright glow over the scene, others leaped upon the masked ones, tearing the cloths from their faces. 

"Serve 'em hot!" roared the same rough voice. 

"Stop!" commanded Tom Reade, leaping forward where the light wasbrightest and into the thick of the struggling mass of humanity. 

"Stop, I tell you!"

His commands fell upon deaf ears. It was impossible to restrain thesemen. 

Here and there the lately masked men drew pistols, though not one ofthem had a chance to use his weapon ere it was wrested from him. 

Pound! slam! bang! A medley of falling blows filled the air, nor was itmany seconds later when cries of pain and fear, and appeals for mercywere heard on all sides. 

Tom had recognized his own railroad workers, and was throwing himselfamong them, doing his utmost with hands and voice to stop the brief butwild orgy of revenge on the part of the workmen who idolized him. Intheir present rage, however, Tom could not at once restrain them. Timeand again he was swept back from reaching Tim Griggs, who was easily thecenter of this volcanic outburst of human passion. 

"Boys!" roared Tim. "We'll want to know these coyotes to-morrow. Blackthe left eye of each rascal. I'll black both of Jim Duff's. "

Two heavy, sodden impacts sounded during a brief pause in the noise, attesting to the fact that the gambler had been decorated. 

"Stop all this! Stop!" roared Tom Reade. "Men, we're not savages, justbecause these other fellows happen to be! Stop it, I tell you. Are thereno foremen here?"

"I'm trying to reach you, Mr. Reade, " called the voice of SuperintendentHawkins. "But this is a heavy crush to get through. "

In truth it was. There were more than a hundred laborers in the cellar, while the stairs were blocked by a mob of enraged workmen. 

"Stop it all, men!" Tom again urged, and this time there was silence, save for his own strong voice. "We don't want to prove ourselves to beas despicable as the enemy are. Bring 'em up to the street, but don't bebrutal about it. We'll look the scoundrels over so that we'll know themto-morrow. Come along. Clear the stairs, if you please, men!"

Tom was now once more in control, as fully as though he had his force oftoilers out on the desert at the Man-killer quicksand. 

So, after a few minutes, all were in the street. Here fully two hundredmore of the railroad men, many of them armed with stakes and other crudeweapons, held back a crowd of Paloma residents who swarmed curiouslyabout. 

"Let me through, men. Let me through, I tell you!" insisted the voiceof Harry Hazelton, as that young assistant engineer struggled with thecrowd. 

Then, on being recognized, Harry was allowed to reach the side of hischum. 

"Mr. Reade!" called a husky-toned voice, "won't you order your mento let me through to see you? I want to talk with you about tonight'soutrage. "

Tom recognized the speaker as a man named Beasley, one of Paloma's mostupright and courageous citizens. 

"Let Mr. Beasley through, " Tom called. "Don't block the streets, men. Remember, we've no right to do that. "

A resounding cheer ascended at the sound of Tom's voice. In the light ofthe lanterns Tom was seen to be signaling with his hands for quiet, andthe din soon died down. 

"Mr. Reade, " spoke Beasley, in a voice that shook with indignation, "thereal men of this town would like an account of what has been going onhere to-night. If Duff and his cronies have been up to anything thathurts the good name of the town we'd like the full particulars. You menthere--don't let one of the rascals get away. Jim Duff and his gang willhave to answer to the town of Paloma. "

"Men, " ordered Reade, "bring along the crew you caught in the cellar. Don't hurt them--remember how cowardly violence would be when we haveeverything in our own hands. "

"The men of Paloma will do all the hurting, " Mr. Beasley announcedgrimly. 

Tom's own deliberate manner, and his manifest intention of not abusinghis advantage impressed itself upon the decent men of Paloma, who nowswarmed about the frightened captives from the cellar. 

"I know 'em all, " muttered Beasley. "I'll know 'em in the morning, too. So will you, friends!" he added, turning to the pressing crowds. 

"Start Jim Duff on his travels now!" demanded one angry voice. 

"By the Tree & Rope Short Line!" proposed another voice. 

Jim was caught and held, despite his straggles. Active hands swarmedover his clothing, seeking for weapons. 

"Gentlemen! Gentlemen!" appealed Tom sturdily, making his resonant voicetravel far over the heads of the throng. "Will you honor me with yourattention for three or four minutes?"

"Yep!" shouted back one voice. 

"You bet!" came another voice. 

"Go ahead and spout, Reade. We'll have the hanging, right after!"

There was nothing jovial in these responses. Tom Reade knew menwell enough to recognize this fact. Moreover, Tom knew the plain, unvarnished, honest and deadly-in-earnest men of these south-westernplains well enough to know the genuine fury of the crowd. 

Arizona and New Mexico have long been held up as states where violenceand lynch law prevail. The truth is that Arizona and New Mexico have nomore lynchings than do many of the older states. An Arizona lynching canonly follow an upheaval of public sentiment, when honest men are angeredat having their fair fame sullied by the acts of blackguards. 

"Friends, " Tom went on, as soon as he could secure silence, "I am anewcomer among you. I have no right to tell you how to conduct youraffairs, and I am not going to make that mistake. What you may do withJim Duff, what you may do with others who damage the fair name of yourtown, is none of my business. For myself I want no revenge on theserascals. They have already been handled with much more roughness thanthey had time to show to me. I am satisfied to call the matter even. "

"But we're not!" shouted an Arizona voice from the crowd. 

"That's your own affair, gentlemen, " Reade went on. "I wish tosuggest--in fact, I beg of you--that you let these fellows go to-night. In the morning, when the sun is up, and after you have thought overthe matter, you will be in a better position to give these fellowsfair-minded justice--if you then still feel that something must be doneto them. That is all I have to say, gentlemen. Now, Mr. Beasley, won'tyou follow with further remarks in this same line?"

Mr. Beasley looked more or less reluctant, but he presently compliedwith Reade's request. Then Tom called upon another prominent citizen ofPaloma in the crowd for a speech. 

"Let the coyotes go--until daylight, " was the final verdict of thecrowd, though there was an ominous note in the expressed decision. 

In stony silence the crowd now parted to let Jim Duff and his fellows goaway. 

Within sixty seconds the last of them had run the gauntlet of contemptand vanished. 

"Someone told me, " scoffed Beasley, "that a gambler is a man of courage, polish, brains and good manners. I reckon Jim Duff isn't a real gambler, then. "

"Yes, he is!" shouted another. "He's one of the real kind--sometimessmooth, but always bound to fatten on the money that belongs to othermen. "

"Jim can leave town, I reckon, " grimly declared another old settler. "Wehave savings banks these days, and we don't need gamblers to carry ourmoney for us. "

"Speech, Reade! Speech!" insisted Mr. Beasley good-humoredly. 

From some mysterious place a barrel was passed along from hand to hand. It was set down before the young chief engineer, and ready hands hoistedhim to the upturned end of the barrel. 

"Speech!" roared a thousand voices. 

Tom, grinning good-humoredly, then waved his arms as though to still thetumult of voices. Gradually the cheering died down, then ceased. 

Bang! sounded further down the Street, and the flash of a rifle wasseen. 

Tom Reade, his speech unmade, fell from the barrel into the arms ofthose crowded about him. 

CHAPTER XV. MR. DANES INTRODUCES HIMSELF

Daylight found Jim Duff and some of his cronies of the night beforeeither absent from Paloma, or else securely hidden. 

Fred Ransom, the Colthwaite Company's representative, had also vanished. 

Proprietor Ashby, of the Mansion House, was reported to be skulking inhis hotel, as he did not show his face on the streets. 

Morning also brought calmer counsel to the real men of Paloma. They werenow glad that they had not sullied themselves by acts of violence. 

No one, when daylight came, entertained the belief that Tom Reade wouldsuffer from any further attempts at violence, for now the little coterieof so-called "bad men" in the town were thoroughly frightened. 

Tom had not been hit by the rifle shot. He had fallen as a matter ofprecaution, fearing that a second shot would speed on the heels of thefirst. 

The fellow who had fired that shot at Tom had not lingered long enoughto place himself in risk of Arizona vengeance. Even before some ofthe men in the crowd had had time to discover that Reade, unhurt, waslaughing over his escape, a score or more had darted down the street, only to find that the unknown whom they sought was safely out of theway. 

"We'll search the town from one end to the other, " one excited citizenhad proposed. 

"We'll make a night of it. "

"Don't do anything of the sort, " Tom had urged. "You'll terrorizehundreds of women and children, who have no knowledge of this affair. Jim Duff's little evening of celebration is ended and now the wisestthing for you to do is to return to your homes. Mr. Hawkins!"

"Here, sir, " answered the superintendent of construction. 

"Get our men together and return to camp. They'll need sleep against thetoil of to-morrow. Let every man who wants to do so sleep an hour ortwo later in the morning. Men of the A. , G. & N. M. , accept my heartiestthanks for the splendid manner in which you turned out to help me, though as yet I'm ignorant of how it all came about. "

Nor was it until the next day that Tom Reade learned from Hazelton justwhat had caused the laborers to tumble out of their beds and rush intotown to serve him. 

That night Tim Griggs had been prowling about the streets of Paloma, suspicious of Reade's enemies, and watching for the safety of theyoung chief engineer who had saved him from the savage appetite of theMan-killer quicksand. 

It had chanced that Tim had caught a glimpse of the finish of the fighton the street, and was just in time to see the young chief engineerlifted and carried into that unoccupied house, the property of the hotelman, Ashby. 

Tim's first instinct had been to seek help in town--in that veryneighborhood. Tim was suspicious, and afraid that he might by mistakeappeal to some of Tom's enemies. 

So, while running through the streets searching for Hazelton, Tim hadespied an automobile standing idle in front of a house. Having someacquaintance with automobiles, Tim had cranked up and leaped intothe vehicle, speeding straight to camp, where he gave the alarm. Menanswered by hundreds, Mendoza keeping his Mexicans in camp to watch theproperty there. 

Harry was aroused by the tumult, for he had just gone to his room, intending to turn in. 

Having roused the camp, Tim ran the car back to town at the head of theswarming little army and returned to the spot where he had seized theautomobile. 

"It's all over now, old fellow, " Tom declared to his chum cheerily, rising from his office chair as one of the whistles blew and the menknocked off for their noonday meal. "What happened last night won'thappen again. "

"Just the same, Tom, I almost wish you'd carry a pistol after this, "Harry remarked, as the two engineers went to their horses, mounted andstarted toward town for their own meal. 

"Bosh!" almost snapped Tom. "You know my opinion of pistols. They arefor policemen, soldiers and others who have real need to go armed. Onlya coward would pack a pistol day by day without needing it. "

So the matter was dropped for the time being. 

At the hotel Tom and Harry went to their accustomed seats in the diningroom. Their food was brought and the two young engineers fell to workcheerfully. Just then a well-dressed man of perhaps thirty years enteredthe dining, room, spoke to one of the waiters, and came over to theengineers' table. 

"Messrs. Reade and Hazelton?" he inquired pleasantly. 

"Yes, " Harry nodded. 

"May I make myself known?" asked the stranger. "My name is Danes--FrankDanes. "

Harry in turn gave his own name and that of Tom. 

"I wonder if you would think it intruding if I invited myself to joinyou at this table?" the stranger went on. 

"By no means, " Tom responded cordially. "We'll be glad of your company. It will stop Hazelton and myself from talking too much shop. "

"Oh, by all means talk shop, " begged Danes, as he slipped into a chairat one side of the table. "I shall enjoy it, for I am interested inyou both. In fact, I took the liberty of asking the waiter to point yougentlemen out to me. "

"So?" Tom inquired. 

Danes had the appearance of being a well-to-do easterner, and announcedhimself as a resident of Baltimore. 

For some minutes the three chatted pleasantly, Harry, however, doingmost of the talking for the engineers. When Tom spoke it was generallyto put some question. 

"Do you ever permit visitors to go out to the Man-killer?" Danesinquired toward the end of the meal. 

"Sometimes, " Tom answered. 

"I shall be very grateful if you will accord me that privilege. "

"We shall be very glad to invite you out there some time, " Tom answeredpleasantly. 

"To-day?" pressed the stranger. "I have nothing to do this afternoon. "

"Some other day would suit better, if you can arrange it conveniently, "Reade suggested, as he rose. 

Then they left Danes, securing their horses and riding back over thescorching desert. 

"How do you like Danes?" Harry asked, after they had ridden somedistance. "He seems a very pleasant fellow. "

"Very pleasant, " Tom nodded. 

"Why didn't you let him come along?"

"Because I don't like Danes' employers. "

"His employers?" Harry repeated, puzzled. 

"Yes; he is employed by the Colthwaite Company. "

"What?" Hazelton started in astonishment. "How do you know that, Tom?"

"I don't know it, but I'm sure of it, just the same, " was Reade'sanswer. 

"It maybe so, " Harry agreed. "What makes you suspect him?"

"Well, in the first place, Danes, if that's his name--said he hailedfrom Baltimore. Yet he had none of that soft, delightful southern accentthat you and I have noticed in the voices of real southern men. Danesuses two or three words, at times, that are distinctly Chicago slang. Moreover, I'm certain that the man knows a good deal about engineeringwork, though he won't admit it. "

"We'll have to watch him, then, " muttered Harry. 

"We don't need to tell him anything, nor do we need to bring him outhere to see how we are filling in the Man-killer. If we don't tell Danesmuch he may not last long. The Colthwaite people ought soon to growtired of keeping agents here who don't succeed in hindering our work. "

"Whew! I shall be glad of a sleep to-night, after all the excitement oflast night, " declared Hazelton, as the young engineers rode into Palomaat the close of the day's work. 

On the porch, lolling in a reclining chair with his feet elevated to therailing, sat Frank Danes. 

"Back from toil, gentlemen?" was his pleasant greeting. 

"Long enough to get sufficient sleep to carry us through to-morrow, " wasTom Reade's unruffled response. 

"You do look tired, " assented Danes, rising and coming toward them. "YetI hear that, personally, you don't have hard work to do. "

"We don't work at all, if you take that view of it, " Harry retorted. "Yet there's a thing called responsibility, and many wise men havedeclared that it takes more out of a man than hours of toiling with pickand shovel. "

"Oh, I can believe that's so, " agreed Danes. "Going into dinner now?"

"After a bath and a change of clothing, " Tom replied. 

"Then, if you really don't mind, I'll wait and dine at the same tablewith you. "

"If you can wait that long we shall be charmed to have your company, "Tom assured him as the young engineers stepped inside. 

Frank Danes half started as they left him. 

"Reade's tone sounded a bit peculiar, " muttered the newcomer to himself. "I wonder why? Perhaps I have forced myself a little too much upon himand Reade has taken a dislike to me. "

If Tom had taken a dislike to the newcomer, Danes could not be sure ofit from the young chief engineer's manner at table. Harry Hazelton, too, was almost gracious during the meal. 

"They're a pair of half-smart, half-simple boobs, " decided Danes, as hesmoked a cigar alone after dinner. 

"Tom, I think your great intellect has gone astray for once, " remarkedHazelton, in the privacy of their room upstairs. 

"I never knew that I had any great intellect, " Reade laughed. "However, I was born to be suspicious once in a while. I suppose you werereferring to Frank Danes. "

"Yes; and he appears to be a mighty decent fellow. "

"I'm sure I hope he is, " yawned Tom. "I'm willing to give him thebenefit of the doubt. I'm going to bed, Harry. What do you say?"

Hazelton was agreeable. Within twenty minutes both young engineers weresound asleep. 

It was after midnight when cries of "fire!" from the street arousedthem. 

Tom Reade threw open the door to be greeted by a cloud of stiflingsmoke. 

"Hustle, Harry!" he gasped, making a rush to get into his clothing. "Wecan get out, I think, but we haven't any time to spare. This old trap isablaze. It won't last many minutes!"

Trained in the alarms and the hurries of camp life, the young engineersall but sprang into their clothes. 

"Come on, Harry!" urged Tom, throwing open the door. "We can make it. "

They started, when, from the floor above, a woman's frantic appeals forhelp reached them. Children's cries were added to hers. 

"Get to the street, Harry!" shouted Tom. "I'm going upstairs. There'd beno satisfaction for me in reaching the street if I abandoned that womanand her babies to their fate. One of us can do the job as well as two!"

CHAPTER XVI. DANES SHIVERS ON A HOT NIGHT

Almost immediately after the cries of "fire" the bell at the firestation pealed out. 

Paloma's volunteer fire department turned out quickly, running to thescene with a hand engine, two hose reels and a ladder truck. 

By this time, however, the whole of Paloma appeared to be lighted upwith the brisk blaze. Tongues of flame shot skyward from the burninghotel, while small blazing embers dropped freely into the street. 

"Is everyone out? Everyone safe? Anyone missing?" panted Carter, theyoung proprietor of the Cactus House. 

The disturbed guests ranged themselves about Carter, who looked themover swiftly. 

"Where are Mrs. Gerry and her two babies?" demanded the hotel man, hischeeks blanching. 

None answered, for no one had seen the woman and her children. 

"They must be in the house, " cried Carter. 

At that instant a woman's face appeared, briefly, at a window on thethird floor. Her piercing cry rang out, then her face vanished, a cloudof smoke driving her from the open window. 

"Hustle the ladders along!" begged the hotel man hoarsely. "We mustrescue that woman and her children. Her husband will be here in morning. What can we say to him if we allow his wife and children to perish inthe flames?"

In a few moments a long ladder had been hauled off the track and bravemen rushed it to the wall, two men starting to ascend the moment it wasin place. 

In another moment they came sliding down, balked. Flames had envelopedthe upper end of the ladder. It had to be hauled down, buckets of waterbeing dashed over the blazing sides. 

"You can't get a ladder up on any part of that wall to the third floor, "called the chief of the fire department hoarsely, as he broke through athick veil of smoke. "You'll have to try the rear. "

"Where are Reade and Hazelton?" called a voice. 

"Reade!"

"Hazelton!"

There was no answer. A hundred men turned, looking blankly at theirnearest fellows. 

"They've gone down in the flames!" called another voice. 

"Reade and Hazelton have lost their lives!"

"That'll make their enemies happy!" groaned one man, and other voicestook it up. 

"Carter, " shouted one big man, running to the proprietor, "if this blazeis the work of a fire-bug, then look for Reade and Hazelton's enemies. They have the most to gain by the death of those young fellows!"

A hoarse yell went up from the crowd. All of a sudden it seemed plain toevery man present that the hatred for Tom and Harry in certain quartersfully accounted for the fire. 

"Get a rope! Lynch somebody!" shouted one voice after another. 

"First of all, let's find a way to get that woman and her babies out!"Carter appealed, frantically. 

Scores of voices took up this cry, and numbers of men hastened around tothe rear of the little hotel in the wake of the laddermen. 

"We must find Reade and Hazelton, too, " shouted others. 

"Then we'll lynch someone for this night's business!"

The cry was taken up hoarsely. 

Two ladders were quickly hoisted at the rear. Almost before they hadbegun to hoist, the laddermen and spectators felt that it was a uselessattempt. 

Nor did the doors and passages seem to offer any better avenue ofescape. 

Chug, chug, chug! sounded a touring car close at hand. An automobilestopped, Dr. Furniss jumping out. 

"Anyone in danger!" shouted the young doctor. 

"Yes; a woman and her children. Also Reade and Hazelton!"

"It's all right, then, " nodded Furniss, looking relieved. "Tom Reade andHarry Hazelton have gone to the aid of the woman. "

"If I could only believe that!" gasped Proprietor Carter. "We've triedthe ladders, and we've tried the corridors of the house. It's a ragingfurnace in there. "

Dr. Furniss looked on rather calmly. 

"I'm merely wondering on which side of the house those two engineerswill appear with the woman and her children, " he declared. 

For the fourth time a ladder was being vainly raised at the rear. Suddenly a shout rang out. In the basement a window was unexpectedlyknocked out from the inside. 

Through the way thus cleared leaped a young man so blackened with smokeas to be unrecognizable, though it was Hazelton. 

Before those who first espied the young man recovered from theirsurprise, a pair of arms from the inside handed out the body of a childto Hazelton. 

Then came another child. Next the senseless body of a woman was handedout. 

Dr. Furniss was the first to recover, from delighted amazement. In abound he was on the spot, taking care of one of the children himself andbawling to others to bring the rest of the family. 

Tom Reade, looking more like a burnt-cork minstrel in hard luck thanlike his usual self, sprang through the window way and followed. 

"Here, you people--stand back!" roared Tom, elbowing his way along. "Dr. Furniss and his patients want room and air. Stand back!"

"It's Reade!" yelled a dozen men in delight. 

"Well, what of it?" asked Tom coolly, as he followed Furniss. "Was thereanyone here who expected that I'd be lost?"

"Hurrah! Where's Hazelton?"

"Who wants me?" demanded the other unrecognizable, smoke-blackenedfigure. 

"They're both safe!"

"Oh--cut it out, " begged Tom good-humoredly. "You can't lose an engineeror even kill him. Doc, what's the report?"

"All three are alive, " replied Dr. Furniss, "but they'll need care andnursing. Here, help me place them in my car. Someone get in and ridewith me--I'll need help. You, Reade!"

"No, " responded Tom with emphasis, as he looked down at his discoloredself. "If the lady saw me when she opened her eyes, she'd faint again. I'd scare the kiddies into convulsions. A bath for me!"

A man from the crowd quickly stepped into the tonneau of the car, readyto care for the woman and her children while the physician drove his carhome. 

"Hello, Reade! My congratulations on your getting out. 'Twas a bravedeed, too, to save that poor woman and her children. "

Frank Danes pressed through the crowd about the car, reaching out toseize Reade's hand. 

Into Tom's face flashed a sudden look that few had ever seen there. 

It was a look full of contempt that the young chief engineer bent on theman who had greeted him. 

"Your hand!" cried Danes, in a voice ringing with admiration. 

"Don't you touch me!" warned Reade, his voice vibrating with anger. 

"Why--what--" began Danes, then reached his own right hand for Tom's. 

"Make way for this 'gentleman' to fall!" roared Reade, then swung acrushing blow that landed squarely in Danes's face. 

The latter went down in a heap. 

There had been no explanation of the seemingly unprovoked blow, butthe crowd surged forward, snatching Danes's body up as though he weresomething of which these men were anxious to be rid. 

"Did he set the hotel afire?" demanded one man in husky tones. 

"Did he?" chorused the crowd. 

"Lemme through! Here's a rope!"

Then followed wild sounds that could not be distinguished as words. These men of Paloma seemed bent upon fighting for the possession ofFrank Danes, who, having now recovered his senses, emitted shrillappeals for mercy. 

"Here's the fire-bug! Here's the human match!"

"To the nearest tree!"

"I've got the rope ready!"

In another thirty seconds Frank Danes would have been dangling from alimb of the nearest tree. Again Reade and Hazelton sprang into action. 

"Stand back, men--please do!" begged Tom, fighting his way through thethinnest side of the crowd. "Don't kill any man without a trial. "

"You know that this tenderfoot fired the hotel, don't you?" asked oneman hoarsely. 

"I've reason to suspect that he did--"

"That's enough for us!" roared a hundred voices. 

"But I've no positive proof of Danes' guilt, " Tom insisted. 

"To the tree with him!"

"Not while I've breath left in my body!" Tom blazed forth desperately. "Come, Harry!"

Hazelton sprang to his chum's side, the two fighting desperately todrive away the men who held Frank Danes captive. 

"Wait a few hours at least, men!" Tom appealed earnestly. "Don't doanything now that you'll be sorry for to-morrow. "

Other men of calm judgment began to see the force of Reade's remarks. 

Tom and Harry were swiftly backed by such reinforcements that thetrembling wretch was torn from his would-be destroyers. 

"Reade, " sobbed Frank Danes, "as long as I live I'll never forget yoursplendid conduct. "

"Shut up!" retorted Tom roughly. "I don't want to have to knock you downagain. It might start a riot that no man could quell. "

"Pass the skulking tenderfoot out to us!" implored some of the men onthe edge of the crowd, among whom was the man with the spare rope. 

"No! We won't disgrace the town with a lynching, " Tom shot back. "Waituntil cool judgment has had time to do its work. "

"Bear a hand there!" roared Harry. "Help the firemen to save the nextbuilding. Follow me!"

Thus led, the fickle crowd started to the aid of the firemen. 

"Come with me, Danes, " whispered Tom hoarsely, sternly. "Keep yourdistance, however, or I shall lay violent hands on you. "

Once out of the glare of light cast by the burning of the hotel, TomReade pointed down a dark side street. 

"There's your way, Danes, " whispered Reade. "Skip! Be far from Paloma bydaylight--or nothing will save you. "

"Do you consider me responsible for that fire?" faltered Danes. 

"Hazelton and I went through that fire, " Tom retorted sternly. "We hada hard fight to save that woman and her babies, and were nearly chokedwith the fumes of the coal oil with which the fire was kindled. Icouldn't swear, in court, Danes, that you started the blaze, but yourcoat and your hands have the odor of coal oil. "

Dane's face turned pale, his legs shaking under him. 

"So, you see, " continued Tom savagely, "you'll do well to escape beforeanyone else notices the smell of coal oil on you. "

"You've been mighty good to me--and I--" chattered Danes. 

"Shut up, as I advised you before!" rasped Tom Reade. "I've been as goodto you as I'd be to a rattlesnake. Get out of Arizona before the men ofthis town suspect--understand--you?"

"I will, " Frank Danes agreed, his teeth chattering. 

"Don't ever show your face again in this part of the world. "

"I won't, Reade. Again, my thanks--"

"Shut up!" Tom insisted. "Thanks from you would make me feel like atraitor to the community. Skip! Carry word to the Colthwaite Company, however, that their latest scheme against us has failed like theothers!"

At mention of the Colthwaits, Danes turned and fled in earnest. 

"That was their second attempt, " muttered Tom grimly, as he turned backto where the flames still held dominion. "I wonder if I shall be aslucky when the third attempt against me is made?"

CHAPTER XVII. TIM GRIGGS "GETS HIS"

In another hour the spot where the hotel had stood was marked only by ashapeless mass of smoking embers. 

The citizens of the town went back to their beds. Mrs. Gerry and herchildren had recovered consciousness and had found a friendly lodgingfor the night. 

The rescue performed by Tom and Harry had been a simple enoughachievement. 

Shut off from every other means of escape, they remembered thedumbwaiter that ran from the kitchen up to the floors above. 

The two little children were sent down on the dumb-waiter, Harry ridingon the top of the wooden frame. Mrs. Gerry's rescue was delayed untilHarry could send the dumb-waiter up to the third floor, where she andTom awaited its return. Aided by Tom, she descended to the kitchenwithout accident; then Tom followed, sliding down the rope. It was butthe work of a moment to break through the basement window and pass thewoman and her children out to safety. 

Morning found Proprietor Carter somewhat resigned to his loss. True, the hotel had been destroyed and the embers must be removed, but bothbuilding and contents had been fairly well insured. 

"I'm a few thousand out, " said the hotel man philosophically, "but Ihave my ground yet, and, the insurance money will allow me to rebuild. , and put up a more modern hotel. Of course I'll be a few thousand dollarsin debt, to start with, but after a short while I'll have earned themoney that I've lost. "

"Why did you smile when poor Carter was talking about his loss?"demanded Harry, as the chums strolled away in search of breakfast. 

"Did I?" asked Tom, looking suddenly very, sober. 

"There was a broad grin on your face?"

"Carter didn't see it, did he?"

"I don't know; but why, the grin, Tom?"

"I'll tell you after I see what answer I receive to a telegram that I'vesent. "

"Tom Reade, you always were provoking!"

"Now I'm doubly so, eh?"

"Oh, well, I don't care, " muttered Harry. "I can wait; I'm not verynosey. "

By noon General Manager Ellsworth arrived on the scene of the labors ofthe young engineers, out at the site of the big quicksand. 

"You can run the work here this afternoon, Harry, " Tom declared. "Ishall want to put in my time with Mr. Ellsworth. "

"Was he the answer to your telegram?"

Tom offered no further information, but hurried away to meet the generalmanager, who had come out to camp in an automobile hired at Paloma. Manager and chief engineer now toured slowly toward town, Harry watchingthem as long as they were in sight. 

"Tom has something big in the wind, " muttered Hazelton. "It must besomething about the hotel fire. What can it be? At any rate, I'll wagerit's something that pleases my chum wonderfully. "

Nor did Tom return until late in the afternoon. He came back alone. 

"Well?" demanded Harry. 

"Yes, " nodded Tom. "It's well. "

"What is?"

"The game. "

"What is the game?"

"When you hear about it--" Reade began. 

"Yes, yes--"

"Then you'll know. "

"Tom Reade, do you know, I believe I'm quite ready and willing to thrashyou?" cried Harry in exasperation. 

"Please don't, " Tom begged. 

"Then tell me what you've been so mightily mysterious about. "

"I will, " returned Reade. "I'd have told you hours ago, Harry, only I'mafraid you would have been demoralized with disappointment if the thinghad failed to go through. Harry, to-day I've been meddling in otherpeople's business. Congratulate me! I put it through without gettingmyself thumped or even disliked, by anyone. Both sides to the deal are'tickled to death, ' as the saying runs. "

"You said you were going to tell me, " remarked Hazelton, trying hard torestrain his curiosity for a minute or two longer. 

"Sit down and listen, " Tom urged his chum, handing him a chair in theirlittle shack of an office. 

Then, indeed, Tom did pour forth the whole story. As Harry listened abroad grin of contentment appeared on his face, for one of Hazelton'slovable weaknesses was his desire to see other people get ahead. 

Just as Tom finished, a figure darkened the doorway. 

"I'm ready to go, sir, " announced Tim Griggs. 

"Go where?" inquired Harry. 

"I've fired Griggs, " observed Tom Reade. 

"What! After all that he did for you the other night?" demandedHazelton, aghast. "After the man saved your--"

"Oh, I'm quite satisfied to be fired, Mr. Hazelton, " Tim Griggs brokein. "In fact, I'm very grateful to Mr. Reade. He has certainly given mea big boost forward in the world. "

"What are you going to do now, Griggs?" Harry asked. 

"You'd better address him as 'Mr. Griggs, ' Harry, " Tom hinted. "He is aforeman now, at six dollars a day, and entitled to his Mister. "

"Foreman?" Harry repeated, while Gregg's grin broadened. 

"Yes, " Tom continued. "Mr. Griggs is to be foreman on the new job thatI've just been telling you about in town. After this, if Mr. Griggs iscareful to behave himself, he's likely always to be a foreman on somejob or other for the A. , G. & N. M. "

Harry sprang forward, seizing the hand of Tim Griggs and shaking it withenthusiasm. 

"Bully old Griggs! Lucky old Griggs!" Hazelton bubbled forth. "Mr. Griggs, you'll believe from now on what I've always believed--that it'sa great piece of luck in itself to be one of Tom Reade's friends. "

"It surely has been great luck for me, sir, " Griggs answered. "The bestpart of all, " he added, with a husky note in his voice, "is what itmeans to that little girl of mine. When I get into town to-night I ingoing to sit down and write that little daughter a long letter all aboutthe grand news. She'll be proud of her dad's good luck! She's only eightyears old, but she's a great little reader, and she writes me letterslonger than my own. "

"If you'll wait a minute, Mr. Griggs, " proposed Tom, "we'll be able togive you a ride into town. The general manager gave me authority to rentand use an automobile after this. It's out there waiting now. "

The new foreman gratefully accepted the invitation. Within five minutesthe chauffeur had stopped the car in Paloma and Tim Griggs got out to goto his new boarding place in the town. 

"God bless you, Mr. Reade!" he said huskily, holding out his band. "You've done a lot for me--and my little girl!"

"No more than you've done for me, " smiled Tom. "Anyway, you haven'treceived more than you deserve, and you never will in this little oldworld of ours. "

"I don't know about that, " replied the new foreman, a sudden flushrising to his weather-beaten face. "It all seems too good to be true. "

"You'll find it to be true enough when you draw your next pay, Griggs, "laughed Tom. "Then you'll realize that you aren't dreaming. In themeantime your dinner is getting cold at your boarding place. Don't letyour new job spoil your appetite. "

When Tom and Harry rode into town at noon the following day they behelda scene of great activity at the site of the destroyed Cactus House. Allthe blackened debris had been carted away during the morning by alarge force of men. Now, derricks lay in place, to be erected inthe afternoon. A steam shovel had been all but installed and a largestationary engine rested on nearly completed foundations. 

George Ashby, proprietor of the Mansion House, who had dared, during thelast two days, to show himself a little more openly on the streets ofPaloma, halted just as Tom and Harry stepped out of the automobile tolook over the scene of Foreman Griggs's morning labors. 

"Looks as if the Cactus House might be rebuilt, " remarked Ashby, burningwith curiosity. 

"No, " said Tom briefly. 

"Carter is going to change the name?" inquired Ashby. 

"No. Carter doesn't own this land any more. "

"He doesn't own the land?" Ashby asked. "What's going to be put up here, then? A business block?"

For a moment Ashby thrilled with joy. Of late the Cactus House hadseriously cut in on the profits of the Mansion House. Ashby had, in fact, been running behind. Now, if the Mansion House were to behenceforth the only hotel in town, Ashby saw a chance to prosper on amore than comfortable scale. 

"Ashby, " Tom went on, rather frigidly, "I won't waste many words, forI'm afraid I don't like you well enough to talk very much to you. TheA. , G. & N. M. Has bought this land from Mr. Carter. The railroad isgoing to erect here one of the finest hotels in this part of Arizona. Itwill have every modern convenience, and will make your hotel look like amill boarding house by contrast. When the new hotel is completed it willbe leased to Mr. Carter. With his insurance money, and the price ofthe land in bank, Carter will have capital for embarking in the hotelbusiness on a scale that will make this end of Arizona sit up and dosome hard looking. "

As he listened Proprietor Ashby's jaw dropped. His color came and went. He swallowed hard, while his hands worked convulsively. With the finenew hotel that was coming to Paloma the owner of the Mansion House sawhimself driven hopelessly into the background. "Reade, this new hotelgame is some of your doings, " growled the hotel man. 

"I'm proud to say that it is partly my doing, " Tom admitted, with asmile. "Harry, let's go along to the restaurant. I'm hungry. "

As the two young engineers stepped into the car and were driven away, Ashby dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands. 

"So I'm to be beaten out of the hotel game here, am I!" the hotel manasked himself, gritting his teeth. "I'm to be driven out by Reade, thefellow whom I once kicked out of my hotel! Oh--well, all right!"

CHAPTER XVIII. TRAGEDY CAPS THE TEST

"Pass the signal!" directed Tom. 

A railroad man with a flag made several swift moves. Down the track anengineman, in his cab, answered with a short blast of, the whistle. Thenhe threw over the lever, and a train of ten flat cars started along inthe engine's wake. 

It was the first test--the "small test, " Tom called it--of the trackthat now extended across the surface of the Man-killer. 

On each flat car were piled ten tons of steel rails, to be used furtheralong in the construction work. With engine, cars and all, the loadamounted to one hundred and fifty tons, the pressure of which wouldbe exerted over a comparatively short strip of the new track that nowglistened over the Man-killer. 

Mounted on his pony, Harry Hazelton had galloped a considerable distancedown the track. Now, halted, he had turned his pony's head about, watching eagerly the on-coming train. 

For two weeks the laborers had been working on the roadbed now runningover the Man-killer. Ties had been laid and rails fastened down. Apparently the Man-killer had done its worst and had been balked, aseemingly secure roadbed now resting on the once treacherous quicksand. 

Construction trains, short and lightly laden, had been moving out overthe newly filled in soil for many days, but the train now starting atthe edge of the terrible Man-killer was heavier than any equipment thathad before been run over the ground. 

The president of the A. , G. & N. M. R. R. Was there, flanked by half adozen of the leading directors of the road. There were other officialsthere, including General Manager Ellsworth. 

"I see Hazelton out yonder, " murmured the president of the road. "Butwhere's that young man Reade, now at the moment when the success of hiswork is being tested?"

"Goodness knows, " rejoined Mr. Ellsworth. "As likely as not he's back inthe office, taking a nap after having given the engineman his signal. "

"Asleep!" repeated the president. "Can he be so indolent or soindifferent as that?"

"You may always depend upon Tom Reade to do something that wouldn't beexpected of him, " laughed Mr. Ellsworth. "It isn't that he slights bigduties, or even pretends to do. If he has vanished, and has gone tosleep, then it is because he feels so sure of his work that he takes nofurther interest in the test that is being made. "

"But if an accident should happen?" asked the president of the A. G. &N. M. R. R. 

"Then I can promise you that you'd see Reade, on his pony, shootingahead as fast as he could go to the scene of the trouble. "

These more important railroad officials had come out to camp inautomobiles. Now they followed on foot as the train rolled on to theland reclaimed from the Man-killer. 

Superintendent Hawkins and his foremen also went along on foot toobserve whether the track sank ever so little at any point. 

It was none of Harry Hazelton's particular business to watch whether thetracks sank slightly. That duty could be better performed by the foremenwho had had charge of the track laying. Yet Hazelton, as he watched, found himself growing impatient. 

"Here!" Harry called to a near-by laborer. "Take my horse, please. "

In another instant the young assistant engineer was on foot, followingthe slowly moving train as it rolled along over the ground where, monthsbefore, not even a man could have strolled with safety. 

"Do you see any sagging of the track, Mr. Rivers?" Harry called. 

"No, sir. Not as much as a sixteenth of an inch at any point, " respondedthe foreman. "The job has been a big success. "

"We can tell that better after the track has held loads of from five toeight hundred tons, " Harry rejoined. "I believe, however, that we havethe tricks of the savage old Man-killer nailed. "

Exultation throbbed in Harry's heart. Outwardly, he did not trusthimself to reveal his great delight. He still followed, watchinganxiously, until the train had passed safely over the Man-killer. 

Then a great cheer went up from more than a thousand throats, for manypeople had come out from Paloma to watch the test. 

The train had gone a quarter of a mile past the western edge of thehuge and once treacherous quicksand. Now the engine was on a temporaryturn-table, waiting to be turned and switched back to bring the trainback over the Man-killer at a swift gait. 

"Where's Mr. Reade?" called the president of the road, gazing backward. "Someone go for him. I wish him to be here to see the test made with thetrain under fast speed. "

"I'll get Reade, sir, " answered Harry, motioning to have his ponybrought to him. 

Hazelton vanished in a cloud of desert dust. 

When he next appeared there was another pony, and Reade astride it. 

"You sent for me, sir, " said Tom, riding close to the president, thendismounting. 

"Yes, " Mr. Reade. "I believed that you should be here to see the testtrain return. "

"Very good, sir, " was Tom's quiet reply. He signaled for a workman tocome and take charge of his pony. 

In a few minutes the short but heavy train started, gaining headwayrapidly. By the time it struck the edge of the possibly conqueredquicksand it was moving at the rate of forty miles an hour. 

Across the Man-killer the train continued for a mile in the direction ofPaloma. 

"Now, let us all inspect the track, " suggested the president of therailroad company. "Call up the autos. "

"Will you let me make a suggestion, sir!" queried Tom. 

"Go ahead, Mr. Reade. "

"Then, sir, let Mr. Hazelton and myself ride out along the track first, that we may see if the whole course is safe. "

"That heavy train just went over at fast speed and nothing disastroushappened, " protested the president. 

"Probably the entire course is still safe, sir?" Tom assented. "Yet, on the other hand, it is possible that the fast moving train may havestarted the quicksand at some point. The next object that passes over, even if no heavier than an automobile, may meet with disaster. Mr. Hazelton and I can soon satisfy ourselves as to whether the roadbed hassagged at any point along the way. We shall ride nothing heavier thanmustangs. "

"There is something in what you say, Mr. Reade. Go ahead. We will waituntil we have your report. "

Tom and Harry accordingly mounted, riding off at a trot. Yet atsome sections of the line they rode so slowly, studying the groundattentively, that it was fully half an hour before they had crossed thefurther edge of the Man-killer. 

"The engineers are signaling us, Mr. President, " reported GeneralManager Ellsworth. "They are motioning us to go forward. "

Accordingly the party of railway officials entered their automobiles andstarted slowly off over the Man-killer. 

"Ride back and meet them, Harry, " Tom suggested. "Show them that onepoint that we noticed. "

Hazelton accordingly dug his heels into the flank of his pony, startingoff at a gallop. 

Two or three minutes passed. Then Mr. Ellsworth leaped from his seatin the foremost automobile, standing erect in the car and pointingexcitedly. 

"Look there!" he shouted lustily. "What's happening?"

Away off, at the further side of the Man-killer, a horseman had suddenlyridden into sight from behind a sand pile. His swiftly moving ponyhad gotten within three hundred yards of the chief engineer before Tomlooked up to behold the newcomer. 

From where the railroad officials watched they could hear nothing, though they saw a succession of indistinct spittings from something inthe right hand of the horseman. 

"It's a revolver the fellow's shooting at Mr. Reade!" gaspedSuperintendent Hawkins, leaping into the car beside the general manager. "Turn your speed on, man--make a lightning lash across the Man-killer!"

Away shot the automobile, not wholly to the liking of two eastern menwho sat in the directors' car. 

Tom Reade had realized his danger. Having nothing with which to fight, Reade had sprung his horse eastward and was racing for life. 

The unknown had emptied his weapon, but that did not deter him, for, continuing his wild pursuit, the stranger could be seen to draw anotherautomatic revolver. 

The bullets striking all about Tom's pony ploughed up the sand. 

Within a minute the men in the speeding automobile were close enough tohear the sputtering crackle of the pistol shots. 

"There goes Hazelton right into the face of death!" gasped Mr. Ellsworth, who remained in a standing position. "Foolish of the boy, butmagnificent!"

Harry had turned some time before, but now those in the automobile sawthat Hazelton was riding squarely to Tom's side, despite the constantfusillade of bullets. 

Both pistols were now emptied, but the pursuer, letting his reins fallon the neck of his madly galloping pony, was inserting fresh cartridgesin the magazine chambers of his pistols. 

CHAPTER XIX. THE SECRET OF ASHBY'S CUNNING

At a considerable distance behind the automobile came another rescueparty. This was made up of about two score of Arizona horsemen. Many ofthese men were armed. At the saddle bows of some of the hung raw-hidelariats that the owners unwound as they sped forward. 

Tom Reade, with the pursuer slowly, but steadily gaining upon him, haddiscovered the identity of the man who seemed bent on his destruction. 

As Hazelton drew nearer Tom waved his left hand frantically at his chum. 

"Turn about, Harry! Ride back like the wind!" shouted Tom. "It's Ashby, and he's shooting to kill. About face--you young idiot!"

Harry took no notice of the warning, reining in only slightly, thenwheeling and riding in a line with Reade, though about forty feet to oneside of him. 

Ashby, a wild light in his eyes, heavily armed, and riding madly, keptup a continuous fire in his effort to destroy the young chief engineer. 

Honk! Honk! honk! came the warning from the automobile horn. The cardashed at full speed toward the vengeful rider, as though about to runhim down. 

George Ashby, however, was not easily intimidated. One swift glance hadassured him that the automobile bore no armed men. He therefore merelyswung his horse out of the path of the on-coming car and continued toaim at Reade, though he now took more time between shots. On Hazelton hedid not waste a shot. 

Helplessly and vainly the automobile whizzed by pursuer and pursued. 

"Ashby, stop this madness!" cried Mr. Ellsworth hoarsely. 

The pursuing rider never faltered. Now the party of Arizona horsemenwere riding nearer. Two or three of the leaders drew revolvers, openingfire on the mad hotel man, though the range was as yet too great foreffective work. 

In another thirty seconds George Ashby would doubtless have dropped tothe dust of the dessert, riddled with lead. Suddenly, however, he gavehis horse's head a sharp turn to the right. In an instant he was ridingback, shooting no more, and Tom Reade had passed safely out of range. 

With wild whoops the Paloma horsemen dashed on. Their mounts were notspent as was that of the hotel man. 

"Don't shoot the fellow, if you can help it!" Tom Reade had called, asthe horsemen swept by him. "Rope Ashby if you can. "

Suddenly the hotel man's mount was seen to stagger slightly. It wassufficient to pitch Ashby, who was not on his guard. 

With wilder whoops the Arizona men spurred their ponies on. There wasa whirring of lariats and no less than three nooses had fallen over thehotel man's head. 

There came a brief interval in which the men, swooping down on thecaptive, concealed him from the view of others. 

Out of this crush soon came order. Then it was seen that Ashby had beenroped securely and was being led back to the railroad camp. 

"We've got the scoundrel, with four ropes hitched to him, " called one ofthe captors. 

"One rope will be enough as soon as we can find a tree. "

The party was riding into the railroad camp now, and a dense crowdpressed forward to see the face of the keeper of the Mansion House. 

Ashby was chuckling gleefully. If any fear of the consequences of hislawless behavior oppressed him, he was far from betraying the fact. 

"Be gentle with him, friends, " Tom urged, riding forward. 

"Yes; we ought to be gentle with every rattlesnake, " came an answer fromthe crowd. 

Ashby laughed harshly. 

"You can't hurt me, neighbors, " declared the hotel man. "I'm bulletproof. Any man who fires at me will find that the bullet will reboundand bit him. Tie me up to a tree, if you like. You'll find that I won'tchoke. I'll just slide back to earth as often as you tie me up. "

"Just what I thought, " murmured Tom. 

"What do you think?" demanded Mr. Ellsworth from the car. 

"The man's as mad as a March hare, " replied Reade. 

"Humph! He's merely shamming, " retorted the general manager. 

"Stow the funny business, Ashby!" came the advice from the crowd. "Youcan't fool us into believing that you're crazy. "

"Crazy?" repeated the hotel man, a look of amazement creeping into hisface. "Of course I'm not crazy. I'm the only sane man in this crowd. "

Men began to look wonderingly at the hotel man, though many stillbelieved that Ashby was cleverly shamming insanity in order to save hisneck from being stretched. 

"Doe Furniss! Come over here!" called Reade. "Gentlemen, this is aquestion for Doe Furniss. Don't think of doing anything to the fellowuntil you've heard from Doc. Make way for the doctor, gentlemen. "

At a sign from Dr. Furniss the captors led Ashby's horse onward untilthe office shack was reached. Here two men freed the captive from hishorse and led him inside. Dr. Furniss followed them and the door wasclosed. 

"Let's get away from here, " urged Tom Reade. "A big crowd hanging aboutis sure to excite the poor fellow. "

"Reade, you're too soft and easy, " grunted a Paloma man in the crowd. "The only thing that makes Ashby crazy is that he didn't get you. "

"He did 'get' me, however, " laughed Tom, displaying four bullet holesthrough his shirtsleeves, and two more that pierced his hat. "Ashby gotas much of me as I'd want any marksman to get. "

Having withdrawn to a distance, the crowd waited. 

It was nearly half an hour before Dr. Furniss stepped outside. Now hewalked swiftly over to the edge of the crowd. 

"Gentlemen, " remarked the physician, "you are justified in feeling verywell pleased that you didn't lynch Ashby. The poor fellow is as insaneas a man could well be. He imagines Mr. Reade has hurt his business andis determined to kill him. I'll send for a straightjacket and then we'llhustle him away to the asylum. "

At this moment a wild yell sounded from the shack, to be echoed from thecrowd. George Ashby, seemingly possessed of the strength of half adozen men, had wrenched himself free of his captors, felling both likea flash. Then the hotel man leaped to his horse, freeing it and startingoff at a mad gallop. 

Instantly a score of men set off after the fugitive, swinging theirlariats as they rode. 

Crack! Crack! Bang!

Snatching still another automatic revolver from one of his saddle bags, Ashby was now firing at those riding behind him. 

The line of horsemen wavered somewhat. They might have fired in return, and have brought down their quarry, but no brave man likes to think ofshooting a lunatic. 

So, still firing as he went, Ashby once more reached the edge of thequicksand. 

Now, riding as fast as he could urge his pony, the hotel man dashed outon the Man-killer. 

Nor was he riding over the part that had been rendered safe by the youngengineers. 

Instead, he was riding to the southward of the railroadproperty--straight out where he was likely to find a speedy death in theengulfing sands. 

"Stop, Ashby! Come back!" shouted a dozen voices. "You'll be swallowedup in the quick-sands. "

Brave as they were, the pursuers now rein up sharply. It seemed to themsheer madness to ride out thus to their certain deaths. 

"Ashby is crazy, all right, " remarked bronzed man. "None but an insaneman would ride out there. "

Somewhat tardily automobile parties started in pursuit. These vehicleswere halted at the edge of the quicksand. Tom and Harry had also comethis far. 

In the background the halted crowd watched in suspense as George Ashbygalloped over the treacherous sand. 

Several times the pony's hoofs were seen to sink, yet each time theanimal seemed able to draw his feet out of the sand and go on again. 

"It's a crazy man's luck, " cried an Arizona man thickly. "Of course, here and there on the Man-killer there are safe, sound spots, and Ashbyis having the luck of his life in hitting all the sound spots in gettingacross. But I wouldn't follow him for a thousand dollars a minute!"

The mad hotel man was soon lost to view on the other side of one of thelittle hills of sand. 

There would have been little sense in trying to follow him or to headhim off, even by more roundabout courses. Ashby was now far enough awayto elude any pursuit that might start. 

"I wonder if Reade has any idea of what he's up against now?" murmuredthe mayor of Paloma. "That crazy man is loose, and sooner or later he'llbe heard from again. "

CHAPTER XX. DUFF PROMISES THE "SQUARE DEAL"

Altogether the day had been a hugely satisfactory one to the young chiefengineer. 

The first test had been made, and, all had passed off well, for, in TomReade's easy-going, fearless mind the peculiar doings of George Ashbydid not figure at all as a part of the day's work. 

"Harry, we've every reason to feel proud of ourselves" mused Tom aloud, as he undressed in the shack that night. 

"You feel pretty certain that we've conquered the Man-killer, do you?"Hazelton asked, as he laid down the book he had been reading. 

Of late, since the burning of the Cactus House, the chums had slept inthe shack, though still getting many of their meals in town. 

"Oh, of course you know that we haven't won, the whole fight yet, " Readewent on. "We've plenty of work to do here still before we pronouncethe job finished. But to-day's shows that our plan for filling in thisparticular, kind of quicksand was a sound one. You know the president ofthe road said that words failed to express his complete approbation ofour work. "

"We certainly have been remarkably fortunate--so far, " Harry admitted. "Yet I must confess, Tom, that I'm still nervous. "

"Then it must be over Ashby, " Tom laughed. 

"Ashby be hanged!" Hazelton retorted. "I haven't given him a thoughtthis evening. No, I'm still nervous about our job here. The first testwas all right--that is, it was all right to-day. But these quicksandsare treacherous. Our roadbed may be all right for a fortnight, and mayseem as safe as we could wish it to be. Then, all of a sudden, withinsixty seconds, it may sink before our very eyes. Suppose it were to sinkwhile a trainload of human beings was passing over it!"

"You might as well dismiss all such thoughts, " Reade counseled. "I tellyou, Harry, we've proved that our principle is sound. Now, we will goahead and finish the job. When we go away from here I, for one, shallfeel certain that the Man-killer must behave for all time to come. Harry, there's a limit to the shifting tendency of a quicksand, andto-day's test proves to me that we've found it. We've won. I wish I wereas sure of a dozen other things as I am that we've won out here to-day. "

"All right, then, " smiled Hazelton. "You're a smarter engineer than Iam, Tom, old fellow. If you're satisfied, then I'm bound to be, for I'llback your judgment in engineering against my own. "

"That's rather more praise, Harry, than I expect or wish, " Readerejoined soberly. "But I don't see how the Man-killer can ever againassert himself against the A. G. & N. M. 's roadbed. "

"Oh, I'm only an old croaker, I know, " Harry confessed. "I've got a bluestreak on to-night. Or else it's a fit of apprehension about somethingor other. I feel as if--"

Crack! crack!

Outside two shots rang suddenly out, to be followed by a dozen swift, scattering reports. 

"Mr. Reade! They--" began a voice outside, then stopped abruptly. 

Tom hustled on his clothing again with a speed that seemed to partakeof magic. Then, with Harry close upon his heels, he rushed to the door, jerking it open. 

"Just the pair we want!" snarled a voice that proceeded from behind amask. 

A dozen masked men pressed into the room. Tom and Harry put their fistsinto instant action, but it availed them nothing. 

In a twinkling they were borne to the floor. At lightning speed bothwere rolled over and bound. 

From the tents of the laborers, beyond hoarse voices sounded as the menwere awakened by the shots. 

"Get back there, you idiots!" commanded a voice outside. "If you don't, you'll think that a Gatling gun factory has blown up about your ears. "

Reports rang out sharply as a dozen revolver shots were fired into theair. 

Now, dazed with the suddenness of the attack, Reade and Hazelton weredragged into the open. 

Their two night watchmen, who had gone down bravely, now lay wounded onthe ground, their weapons snatched from them. 

"Hoist 'em along, boys, " ordered a gruff voice. 

Tom and Harry were carried on the shoulders of men, and moved along ata swift pace. Only half a dozen of the raiders needed to remain somewhatin the rear, firing an occasional shot to prevent the unarmed laborersfrom swarming to the attack. 

"Hoist 'em up! Tie 'em on! Get under way quick! There'll be a big noiseraised after us soon, " declared the same directing voice. 

Tom and Harry were fairly thrown upon the backs of horses, and therelashed fast. 

"Mount and get away, " ordered the commander of this strangest of nightraids. 

Two men, each leading a pony to which a captive was lashed, rode off inone direction. Groups of two or three rode away in other directions, theblackness of the night swallowing them up. 

It was going to be a difficult task for pursuers to know which directionto take in order to come up with Reade and Hazelton in time to save themfrom the fate that lay just ahead of them!

For audacity and dash the raid could not have been better planned. 

From camp not a shot was fired, for the watchmen had had the onlyweapons and these had been seized by the invaders. 

"Our foremen might telegraph to camp, " thought Tom swiftly, as he felthimself being carried away. "But I'll wager that these smart scoundrelsdidn't forget to cut the wire before springing the raid. "

For the first two or three minutes Harry's, slower moving mind hardlygrasped more than the fact that their enemies appeared to have won acomplete triumph. 

"There isn't much doubt as to what they'll do with us, " thoughtHazelton, with a slight shudder. "These rascals will move too fast forpursuit to overtake them early. What they in intend to do with us can bedone in a very few minutes. "

Neither young engineer really expected to live to see daylight. From thefirst, after having incurred the anger of a certain lawless elementin Paloma, the young engineers had understood fully that threats oflynching them had not been idly made. 

"There'll be a stir, though, " Tom Reade muttered to himself. "The A. G. & N. M. Officials won't let this crime go by without a determined effortto bring the offenders to justice. Detectives will search this communityin squads, and everyone of these masked gentlemen is likely to get hisdeserts. "

Within the next half hour the galloping horses had covered fully fivemiles. Now the leader of the crowd led the way down into a deep gully inthe sand. 

"Hold up, men, " ordered the leader, and the cavalcade came to a stop, horses panting. 

"Tumble the cattle off into the dirt, " was the next order, and it wasobeyed, Tom and Harry rolling in the bitter alkali dust. 

"Now, gentlemen, I believe I will take command, " spoke one of theparty of horsemen, in his most suave voice, as he removed his mask. Thespeaker, as Reade knew at once, was Jim Duff, the gambler. 

"That's all right, Jim, " nodded the former leader. 

"Jake, ride back a few hundred yards and keep a sharp lookout, "suggested Duff blandly. "The pursuers may come in automobiles. We'll cutthe ceremonies here short and leave nothing but lifeless bodies for therescue parties to find. "

Stakes were driven and the horses picketed. 

"Bring along our guests, " suggested Jim Duff, with a touch of humor thatthe occasion rendered grisly. 

Thereupon Tom and Harry were once more jerked to their feet. 

"Ye can walk, I reckon, and don't have be toted, " observed one of thescoundrels. 

"We're wholly at your service, sir, " rejoined Tom mockingly. 

"And equally at your pleasure, " Harry suggested dryly. 

Two hundred yards further on the halted close to a pair of stunted treesof about the same size. 

"Gentlemen, you may as well remove your masks on this hot evening, "suggested Jim Duff. The face coverings came off. Reade and Hazeltonsurveyed their captors as the chance offered, being careful not tobetray too great curiosity. 

"I see one gentleman here whom I had expected to find, " remarked Tomquietly. 

"Me?" hinted Duff. 

"Well, yes; you, for one, but I refer to that excellent host, Mr. Ashby, of the Mansion House. "

With a start George Ashby turned on Reade, coming closer and grinningferociously into the face of the young chief engineer. Tom, however, managed to muster a smile as he went on:

"How do you do, Mr. Ashby? Your performance of this afternoon mystifiedme a good deal. I had never expected to find myself on a shootingacquaintance with you. "

Three or four of the rascals chuckled at this way of putting it, butProprietor Ashby snarled like a wild animal. 

"As for you, Mr. Duff, " Reade resumed, "I confess that I have never beenable to understand you. "

"You will to-night, " smiled Duff, with bland ferocity. "I can promiseyou, as a gambler, that I am going to give you a square deal. "

"Fine!" glowed Tom. "I am delighted to hear that you have reformed, then. "

This' time there was a general laugh. Jim Duff flushed angrily. 

"Reade, what you never understood about me is that I belong to the ranksof the square gamblers. "

"I didn't believe there were any such gamblers, " Tom replied in a voiceof surprise. "It is still hard for me to believe. How can any man besquare and honorable when he won't work, but fattens on the earnings ofothers? Has that idea any connection with honor?"

"Stop that line of talk, you young hound!" ordered Duff, striding up tothis bold young enemy. All the slight veneer of polish that Duff usuallyaffected had vanished now. His eyes blazed with rage as he doubled hisfist and struck Reade full in the face, knocking him down. One of thebystanders jerked Tom to his feet. 

"Speaking of the square deal, " Tom observed, "I now insist upon it. Duff, you knocked me down when my hands were tied. If you're not acoward I request that you order my hands freed--and then repeat yourblow if you dare. "

"You'll stay tied, " retorted Duff grimly. 

"I knew it, " sighed Reade. "What's the use of talking about honor andsquare dealing where a gambler is concerned? Loaded dice, marked cardsor tying a man before you dare to hit him--it's all the same to yourkind. "

"Shut up that talk, you hound, or I'll pound you stiff before we goon with what's been arranged for you!" raged the gambler, shaking hisclenched fist in the face of the young engineer. 

"Go slowly, Jim, " advised one of the men present. "Of course we knowwhat we're to do to this young pup, and we all know what he thinksof you. But some of the rest of us have different ideas as to how ahelpless enemy ought to be treated. "

"You, Rafe Bodson!" snarled Duff, turning on the last speaker. "Are youone of us? Do you belong to our side, or are you a spy for the othercrowd?"

"Got your gun with you, Duff?" inquired Bodson calmly. 

"Yes, " snapped the gambler. 

"Get it out in your hand, then, before, you talk to me any more in thatfashion. "

"He won't, " mocked Tom. "He doesn't dare, Bodson. Your hands are nottied. "

"Cut it out, Rafe! Quit it!" ordered one of the other men in the crowd. "We won't let this tenderfoot split our ranks. You're one of us, andyou'll stand by us. "

"Not if there's going to be any more hitting of tied men, " retortedBodson sulkily. "There's a limit to what a man can stand. "

"Thank you, my friend, " broke in Tom Reade mildly. "But don't go to anytrouble on our account. There are few if any others in this crowd whocan understand the meaning of fair play--the gambler least of all. "

"I'll take that out of you, Reade!" blazed Jim Duff. "I'll--"

"You'll do nothing while the kid's hands are tied, " objected Bodson, stepping between the pair. "Act fair and square, Jim, as a man shouldact. "

"That's the argument, Rafe, " remarked another man, also steppingforward. 

"Bully for you, Jeff Moore, " replied Rafe. "Now, remember, friends, we're not calling for anything except that Jim Duff live up to theprogram he just published for himself--the square deal. "

Several murmurs of protest came from the other raiders. 

"I reckon, Rafe, you and Jeff had better step back and let the rest ofus handle this thing, " advised one of the party. "The pair of you aretoo chicken-livered for us. "

"It's a lie, as anyone in Paloma knows, " Rafe retorted coolly. "No--putup your shooters, " as the hands of five or six men slid to their belts. "There's no need of bad blood between us. All I ask is for Jim Duff tostep back out of this. "

"Am I the leader here or am I not?" demanded Duff boldly. "Wasn't it myinterests that were first assailed by these fresh tenderfeet! Didn't yougentlemen come out to-night, to help me attend to my affair? Didn'tyou turn also to avenge the blow that has been dealt these cubs to poorGeorge Ashby's prosperity?"

At hearing himself so sympathetically referred to, Ashby threw himselfforward, a short, double-barreled shotgun in his hands. 

"Yes, you, get back, you white-livered cowards!" commanded Ashbyhoarsely. "You let Duff and myself and the rest of us here handle theseyoung hounds as they deserve to be treated. You, Rafe and Jeff, get outof this. You've no business here. You belong to the enemies of businessinterests in Paloma. The rest of us will settle with these businessdestroyers. "

Ashby's eyes glowed with the unbridled fury of the lunatic. Yet RafeBodson did not waver. 

"Gentlemen, " he demanded coldly, "for what purpose did you bring theseyoung fellows out here?"

"To lynch 'em!" came the hoarse murmur. 

"Then go ahead and do it, like men, " ordered Bodson. "There are thetrees. You have your ropes, and your men are ready. Remember, nocowardly treatment of young fellows whose hands are tied. Go on with thelynching and get it over with!"

CHAPTER XXI. A SPECIALIST IN "HONOR"

"Sir! Stop it, I tell you, " quivered Duff, again stepping to the front. "These young hounds shan't die until I've made them apologize for everyinsulting word they've said to me. "

"Fine!" glowed Tom with enthusiasm. 

"Great!"

"What ails you now, Reade?" demanded Duff, his face again darkening. 

"You've just promised us that we shall live forever, " returned Tomdryly. 

Then he added, with a sigh:

"But I suppose that's only another lie--another specimen of a gambler'shonor. "

"Stand aside, Bodson! Moore, you get out of the way!" snarled thegambler, his anger again depriving him of all reason. "I'll have my waywith these young hounds before we string 'em up. "

"Let me at 'em!" implored Ashby, fingering his shotgun nervously. "Getout of my way. I don't want to pepper anyone else. "

But Bodson and Moore, bad as they were some respects, stood theirground. 

"Are you going to let us at them?" insisted Duff, his voice now brokenand harsh from anger. 

"Not for the purpose of bullying them!" insisted Rafe, without moving. "Jeff, you're with me, aren't you?"

"Right by your side, pardner. "

"Come on, then, boys!" called Duff, the note of rally in his tone. "Helpme to drive this pair of traitors out of your company. "

Like a flash Bodson's revolver was in his band. The muzzle covered thegambler. 

"Jim Duff, down on your knees before I blow your bead off!"

The gambler started back, his face paling. 

In the same instant Jeff Moore had also drawn his revolver, and held itready for the first hostile sign from anyone in the group. 

"What's the matter with you, Rafe?" demanded the gambler, in ahalf-coaxing tone. 

"Nothing, " Bodson assured him calmly, "except that I'm going to blowyour head off if you aren't down on your knees before I've countedthree! One--two--th--"

Duff dropped to his knees, holding his hands high in air. 

"Now apologize for calling us traitors, " admonished Rafe. "Do ithandsomely, too, while you're about it. "

"Rafe, " protested Jim Duff, "you, know that I said what I did onlybecause I was angry. I know you're a gentleman, and you know that I knowit. If I've hurt your feelings, I'm sorry, a thousand times over. "

"Jim, you're a good deal of a sneak, aren't you?" inquired Rafe, in avoice that sounded pleasant enough, but which carried a warning in itstone. 

"Yes, " Duff admitted. "I guess I'm a good deal of a sneak. "

"Get up on your feet, then. We understand one another, " said Bodson. "Goahead, if you want to, and carry out your plans for a merry evening. Butdon't make the mistake of calling ugly names again, and don't forget allyou've said about the square deal. Hang these tenderfeet, if that's whatyou want to do, but don't hit men without first giving them a chance tohit back. "

Duff, shaking partly from fear, though more from a sense of hishumiliation, rose to his feet. For a moment he stood choking down hisvaried emotions. Then, with an attempt at his old-time, suave banter, heinquired:

"Are you young gentlemen ready for the collar and neck-tie party thatwe've planned to give you?"

"As ready as you are, " observed Tom dryly. 

"And you?" asked Duff, turning to Hazelton. "Are you ready?"

"I'm not particular about feeling a lariat around my neck, " Harryanswered, "but I'll follow my friend Reade anywhere--even where youpropose to send us. "

"Ay, but that's courage of the kind you don't expect to find in a blamedtenderfoot!" remarked Jeff Moore, resting a hand first on Tom's shoulderand then on Harry's. 

"Why?" asked Tom. "Does it surprise you?"

"It shore does, " replied Jeff. 

"Is courage a matter of geography, then?" Tom inquired. 

"I--I--pardner, you've got me there, " Jeff admitted, looking puzzled. "Yet, somehow, I never looked for much courage in a fellow who hailedfrom east of the Mississippi. "

George Ashby had been looking on during the last few moments, his eyesglittering strangely. Yet, as he said nothing, the attention of theothers had turned from him. 

Jeff Moore happened to turn just in time to see the muzzle of theshotgun turned fully on Tom Reade's waist line, and Ashby's forefingerresting on one of the triggers. 

Bang! spoke the gun, a sheet of flame leaped forth. 

Tom Reade did not even start. All his nerve had come to the surface inthat instant. He was unharmed, for Jeff's sweeping arm had knocked asidethe muzzle of the gun and the shot had entered the leg of one of theraiders. 

"What'd you do that for, Jeff?" groaned the injured man, sinking to thealkali dust. 

But Moore was busy with the mad hotel keeper, having clinched with him, and now being engaged in taking away the shotgun, one barrel of whichwas still loaded. 

"Stand back there, friends, " warned Rafe Bodson, who still held hisrevolver in his right hand. "We don't want to see any more of the partyhurt. "

Jeff had the gun in a moment, despite the insane fury with which Ashbyfought. 

"Take care of this, Rafe, " requested Jeff, turning over the gun, whichBodson received with his left hand. 

Ashby, momentarily free, sprang at the new bolder of the weapon, butMoore tripped him and fell upon him. 

The other men stood by as though fascinated, not interfering. Perhapsthey felt that their safety depended upon Ashby's being disarmed. 

There was a short, sharp scuffle on the ground after which Moore rose, leaving the hotel man with his hands tied behind his back. 

"And I request, " remarked Moore, "that no gentleman present cut theknots that I have tied. It'll be a favor to me to have Ashby left alonefor the present. "

"Now, then, Rafe or Jeff, " spoke the gambler, mustering up what remainedof his courage, "since you two have taken charge of affairs, won't yoube good enough to inform us what your pleasure is?"

"We're not in charge, " retorted Bodson sullenly. "All we've undertakento do is to look out for the square deal that you promised, Duff, andwhich you didn't exhibit in a way that we liked. As for the rest, goahead when you like--but don't do any more hitting with your fists. "

"We'll go ahead with the lariat, then?" hinted Duff eagerly. 

"If that's the pleasure of the gentlemen, " Bodson agreed, bowingslightly. 

To the gambler it seemed the opportune moment to rush matters. 

"Bring up lariats, two of you, " Duff ordered, turning around to theothers. "And don't waste time over it. "

The rawhide ropes were brought. The gambler himself tied the nooses, testing them to see that they ran freely. 

"Bring Reade and Hazelton under the trees, " was Duff's next order, which was obeyed. Bodson and Moore, their weapons still in their hands, followed, keeping keen watch over the way the affair was conducted. 

"Any choice of trees Reade?" inquired Jin Duff. 

"None, " answered Tom shortly. His face was pallid and set, though he didnot show any other sign of fear. 

"Hazelton?"

"One tree is as good as another, " Harry answered in a strangely quietvoice. 

In the midst of an impressive silence, and with motions that seemedoddly unreal to the tended victims, Duff placed the two young engineers. A lariat was thrown over a low limb of each of the trees. Then, withslightly trembling hands the gambler adjusted a over the neck of eachbound boy. 

CHAPTER XXII. TOM AND HARRY VANISH

"How d'ye like that, Rafe?" queried Jeff Moore, as Jim Duff stepped backand viewed the young engineers with a diabolical smile before giving thefatal signal. 

"I don't like it, " muttered Bodson. 

"No more do I. "

"Shall we stop it?"

"Yes. I'm sick of Jim Duff. This night has turned me against thesmooth-tongued coward. "

"Get busy, then, Rafe!"

"Shall we stand the crowd off and set the boys free?"

"Pump both of your shooting-irons loose into the air--I'll do the rest, "replied Moore. 

Cr-r-r-rack! Pointing his weapons skyward, Bodson had quickly obeyedMoore's command. 

"Now, what--" began one of the raiders, wheeling instantly. 

"Rafe's going to give 'em a proper send off, " grinned one of Duff's men. 

"No!" shouted the other. "That's a bluff. He and Jeff are trying toqueer the whole game. "

With cries of anger, several of the men sprang toward Jeff, who hadbared his sheath knife and was about to free Tom and Harry. 

"Here--stop that, you traitors!" roared Duff, leaping forward. 

"I've four shots left, Jim, " remarked Rafe Bodson calmly, as he ceasedfiring. "Call me names, if you think it wise. "

Like a flash Duff drew one of his own revolvers. Before he had timeto fire, however, three men threw themselves between Bodson and thegambler. 

"Stop talking gun play, Rafe, " warned one of the three. "Act like agentleman. "

"I've forgotten how to do that, " Rafe remarked. "I've traveled with thisoutfit too long. "

"Put up your guns. Then we'll attend to this pair of youngsters. "

"My guns remain in my hands, " Bodson declared coolly. "I expect to diewith my boots on to-night. I reckon Jeff has figured it out the sameway. "

"I have, " Moore answered coolly, as he stepped over beside Bodson. Then deliberately, yet with an indescribably swift motion, he drew tworevolvers. 

"Stand out, Jim Duff! Be a man, for once in your miserable career, "ordered Rafe Bodson. "Don't try to protect yourself by hiding behind thebodies of men who don't know any better than to follow your lead. "

Jim Duff didn't accept the challenge. Instead, he crouched behind two ofhis followers, taking deliberate aim with his revolver at Bodson. 

But he never fired that cowardly shot. Like a flash from the sky came aninterruption that created panic among the assembled scoundrels. 

"Here we have 'em, gentlemen, " announced the steady voice ofSuperintendent Hawkins from the western end of the gully. "Get 'em allrounded up. If they've done Mr. Reade and Mr. Hazelton any injury thendon't let one of them get away alive. "

The low sand piles near by seemed swarming with men. The steel barrelsof firearms glistened even in the darkness. 

The scout had been sent out to the eastward. None had thought ofwatching the western approach to the gully. 

"Shoot, boys!" screamed Jim Duff, wheeling in a sudden frenzy ofdesperation. He fired straight in the direction of Hawkins's voice. 

In another instant the air was rent with the sound of shots. Flashesfrom many revolvers lit up the darkness almost as well as torches couldhave done. 

Jim Duff, having started his followers to firing, stole off in thedarkness, leaving them to bear the brunt of the return fire of Hawkinsand his men. 

George Ashby lay on the ground bound as he had been left, his sawed-offshotgun not far away and his belt full of shells. 

"Rouse yourself, Ash!" muttered the gambler, as he slashed the hotelman's bonds with his knife. "Get your gun, but don't use it now. Movequickly, and we'll get away from here and take Reade and Hazelton withus. Put your mind on your work, Ash, and follow my orders. Don't try tothink too much for yourself. Here, this way!"

The scene of the fighting had already shifted from the immediateneighborhood of the twin trees. Duff guided his mad companion along inthe darkness until they halted close to where the two engineers stoodbound, powerless to join in the fray. 

"Shall we shoot them here and now?" whispered Ashby, a wild lightglittering in his eyes. 

"No, " returned Duff. "We'll sneak up behind them, club them withrevolvers and carry, them off. Then we can do as we please with them. You quiet Hazelton and I'll attend to Reade. "

The two scoundrels crept up behind their victims. 

A moment later Duff quickly cut the lariat about the neck of Tom Reade, who had been rendered unconscious from the terrific blow dealt him bythe gambler. Ashby had been equally successful in "quieting" Hazelton. 

"Now hustle, " ordered Duff. "You pick up Hazelton. I'll take Reade. Carry 'em over your shoulder--that's the way to do. Now, follow me anddon't make a sound. We'll please ourselves this night with what we'll doto the meddling pair!"

With Tom Reade over his shoulder, senseless and inert, Duff started offin the darkness, while the rattle of firearms continued. 

George Ashby, muttering to himself, followed with Harry Hazelton. 

The gambler staggered slightly under the weight of his human burden. Yethe moved rapidly, a strange eagerness lighting up his eyes. 

Jim Duff knew that he would never again dare to enter the town ofPaloma, yet the gambler thirsted, before fleeing to new scenes, to berevenged on Tom Reade. With that object in view, Duff was willing totake great risks. 

As for Ashby, who, still clutching his shotgun in his left hand, staggered along under the burden of Hazelton's weight, the hotel man wasno longer responsible for his actions. Rage and wickedness had made hima maniac, who might be restrained but could not be punished by law. 

Within two minutes the firing behind them died out. Soon there weredistant sounds of searching. Plainly Hawkins and the other friends ofthe young engineers were hunting diligently for Tom and Harry. 

"Dump your man, Ashby, " commanded Jim Duff, halting at last. "It willbe a mistake to go too far. Their friends won't expect to find 'em soclose, and they'll soon be searching farther away. "

So Ashby dropped Harry on to the sand beside Tom. Then the wickedestpossible gleam came into the hotel man's eyes as he loaded his shotgun. 

"We'll fill 'em full of lead right here and now, " whispered the hotelkeeper. "Then we'll be sure that they can't get away from us again. "

"Not so fast!" retorted Duff warningly. "We can't shoot now. If we do, there'll be no way to get out of this alive. Look yonder!"

Duff swung his mad friend around, pointing to a gleam of light thatshone out over the desert. 

"An automobile, " muttered the gambler. "And there's another--andanother! There must be six or eight of them out to-night, and all of 'emcrammed with fighting men. A shot would bring two or three carloads ofugly fellows down upon us. "

"What are we going to do, then?" demanded the hotel keeper, in amenacing tone. 

"Wait awhile, " urged the gambler. "You're seeing what the plan of theenemy is. They're circling about, but they're further out from the gullythan we are. The cars will go on cutting larger and larger circle, andall the time getting farther away from us. In half an hour the cars andthe men will be so far away that we need give no thought to them. Thenwe can attend to Reade and Hazelton. "

"What are you going to do with them?" demanded Ashby in a whisper, hiscunning eyes lighting with a fire of added eagerness. 

"We'll get 'em awake, first of all, " nodded Jim Duff. "Then we'll attendto them. "

"Remember, they ruined my business!" whispered the hotel man. 

"Well, didn't they ruin my business, too?" snarled Duff. "Didn't theycant like a pair of hypocrites, and turn hundreds of their workmenagainst coming in to play in my place? Didn't these young hounds keepme from winning thousands of dollars of railroad money? Ash, I tell you, these young fellows have hit me hard! First, they broke up my games. Next, they talked their men out of going into Paloma and spendingmoney for drink. Why, Ash, next thing you know, they would have broughtmissionaries to Paloma to convert men and to build churches!"

As Ashby glared at the unconscious boys from under his black brows helooked as though he believed them capable of all the wickedness that JimDuff's imagination had charged against them. 

"I can't wait!" groaned the hotel man. "Just one barrel of shot apieceinto each of 'em!"

"No, no, no, Ash! Haven't I always been your good friend?"

"You surely have, Jim Duff, " admitted the mad hotel man. "You're the oneman alive to-night that I'd trust. "

"Then trust me a little further, " coaxed the gambler virtuously. "Trustto my brains tonight, George, and you'll feast on revenge!"

"But you keep me waiting so long for it!" complained the lunatic. 

"Don't you trust me, George?"

"You know I do, Jim Duff. "

"Then trust me a little longer. Be quiet, and be patient. "

"But--"

"Sh!" warned Duff suddenly, throwing himself flat on the ground. "Downwith you, Ash!"

"What is it?" whispered the hotel man in the gambler's ear as he toosank to the ground. 

"Sh!" once more warned the gambler. "Use your eyes, George. Look outover the sand in the darkness. Do you see two men prowling this way?"

"Yes, " assented the hotel man, after a pause. 

"They're looking for us--enemies, George. Use all your cunning. Aboveall, be silent and lie low! Don't make a move, unless I tell you to doso. Show your trust in me, Ash, as you've never shown it before. If youdon't, we'll be cheated out of our revenge!"

CHAPTER XXIII. RAFE AND JEFF MISCALCULATE

The two men whom the craven gambler had sighted were coming slowlyonward, their movements suggesting a good deal of care and watchfulness. 

Nor did they come in a wholly straight line. That they did not suspectthe nearness of Jim Duff and his mad companion was plain at a glance. 

"Burrow in the sand!" whispered the gambler in Ashby's ear. "Quiet! Beready, but don't do anything unless I give you the word. "

"When you do give me the word, " trembled the hotel man, "I'll kill 'emboth. "

"Not unless we have to do so--remember!" ordered the gambler. "We want, if possible, to take 'em alive. "

Let us now go back to the two men whom Duff and Ashby were watching soclosely. 

They were Rafe Bodson and Jeff Moore. 

Both had come out of the recent fighting unharmed. Neither Rafe nor Jeffhad fired a shot at the invading forces led by Hawkins. Instead, thepair had slipped stealthily away, until they had gotten out of theimmediate zone of the hot firing. Then they hid under some bushes. 

"An hour ago I'd have felt like a sneak, not standing by the gang anybetter, " whispered Jeff uneasily. 

"Same here, " Rafe admitted. "In fact, I'm wondering whether I actedstraight in running off like this. "

"Aren't you sure about it in your own mind?" asked Jeff slowly. 

"Almost, " Rafe returned. "All that bothers me is not sticking by thesame crowd that we started out with to-night. As for Jim Duff--"

"He's poison, and deadly poison at that, " broke in Jeff. 

"That's just what he is, pardner. "

"Yet I used to like Duff pretty well. "

"So did I, " nodded Jeff. "But that was when I thought he had some sand. "

"The fellow's a skulking coyote!"

"A coyote is brave, compared with Jim Duff, " contended Jeff Moore. 

"Reade and Hazelton showed the real sand!"

"I never thought tenderfeet could be as brave, " glowed Moore. 

"Jeff, I reckon Reade and Hazelton aren't real tenderfeet any more. They've been west some time. But, then, such fellows wouldn't betenderfeet even if they lived in New Jersey all the time. Couragebelongs in some fellows, no matter where they work. "

"The fighting seems to be over, " observed Jeff Moore. 

"Then the friends of the two engineers must have found them, " suggestedBodson. 

"It doesn't sound like it over there. The newcomers seem to be doing alot of hunting in the gully. "

"Let's move in closer, " proposed Rafe. 

Crawling on their stomachs, the pair moved in closer. As they arrived, unseen, they were in time to see the late fighting men clamber intotheir automobiles. Hawkins could be heard giving directions for thefurther search for Reade and Hazelton. 

Then the cars started away. 

"What do you reckon?" demanded Jeff, looking at Bodson. 

"I reckon some of Duff's crowd slipped out of the fight, got the twoyoungsters, and slipped away with them, " Bodson answered. 

"Then it was Duff--he was one of 'em, " returned Jeff, with a strongconviction. "From what I've seen of Duff to-night he'd rather do arunning trick than a fighting one. "

"It would take two to carry both youngsters away. Who was the otherone?" Rafe wondered aloud. 

"Most likely the fellow who'd mind Duff best. "

"That must mean poor George Ashby. "

"Let's slip into the gully and see what we can find. "

One fact learned in the gully astonished both investigators. Despite thevolleys that had been fired no dead or wounded men lay about. Of courseHawkins could have taken any injured men away in the automobiles. Plainly the raiders had been equally fortunate in getting their woundedaway on their horses. Mounted men familiar with the desert would knowmany paths where horses could travel, but where automobiles could notfollow. 

"Our hosses are gone, " discovered Jeff a few moments. 

"Of course, " nodded Rafe. "The crowd we were out with wouldn't be slowin a simple little piece of every-day honesty like stealing hosses!"

"I'm through with any such gang after this, Rafe. How about you?"

"I'm shore going to be careful about the kind of company I pick. But, Jeff, we'll have to travel away from these parts. No good company aroundhere would welcome us. They wouldn't like the only references we couldgive, Jeff. "

"Oh, shore, we'll have to travel, " agreed Moore. "That is, if thesheriff doesn't take up our tickets before we get started. "

"All this talk isn't showing us what became of Reade and Hazelton, "remarked Rafe Bodson. "Let's go back under the trees and see if wecan find what has become of Reade and Hazelton. Before I change mypost-office box I'm going to try to do those two youngsters a goodturn. "

So the pair had started off. Yet, like the automobile searchers, Jeffand Rafe did not expect to run across Tom and Harry and their captors soclose to the gully. 

For this reason the pair proceeded without very much caution at theoutset. 

Even now, after Duff and Ashby had sighted them, Moore and Bodson haltedtwice to light matches and examine the trail that their keen eyes haddiscovered as moving westward from the gully. 

"Now, I reckon we've got the general direction, " muttered Rafe Bodsonwhen, after having once more discovered the tracks he turned and got thegeneral course. "We know the way to head. "

"Then we won't light any more matches, " suggested Jeff. "It might get usinto trouble. "

Accordingly they kept on, guiding themselves now by their generalknowledge of the country. 

Jim Duff and Ashby were well concealed, not only by the sand, but by alittle fringe of brush as well. 

Hence it is not to be wondered at that Bodson and Moore went forward tobe astonished by a sudden movement in the sand, followed by a hail of"Gentlemen, get your hands up, or take your medicine!"

The command came in Jim Duff's tones. 

He was barely thirty feet away from the surprised pair, one of hisrevolvers leveled so to drop Bodson at a touch of the trigger. 

George Ashby's sawed-off shotgun looked squarely at the region boundedby Jeff Moore's belt. 

"It's your turn, gentlemen, " agreed Rafe, he put his hands in the air. 

"You've got us--be decent, " grinned Jeff, as he, too, raised his handsupward. 

"Get your hands up higher!" ordered Jim Duff in his deadliest tone. These men were now helpless, and the gambler merely chuckled inwardly atthe thought. 

"Is this where we shoot them?" queried the mad hotel keeper. 

"Yes--after a minute or two!" nodded Jim Duff, who wished first todetermine whether the automobiles of the searching party were moving toonear to them. 

"I can hardly wait for the word!" quivered Ashby. 

CHAPTER XXIV. CONCLUSION

"How long are we to keep our hands up, Duff?" questioned Jeff. 

"Quiet, " hissed the gambler. "I'm listening. "

"If it's for friends of ours, " grimaced Rafe Bodson, "you needn't listenany longer. We haven't any friends in either crowd now. "

"Quiet, I tell you!" snarled Duff. 

No noise of moving automobiles came to the gambler's keen ears in thedarkness of the night. 

"Ready, " faintly whispered Duff, giving Ashby a slight nudge. 

"Shoot 'em?" whispered the mad hotel man. 

"Yes; you hit Jeff. I'll take care of Rafe!"

Just then darkness fell upon the gambler. He was knocked flat andsenseless by a blow of a fist from behind. 

In the same instant a man leaped upon George Ashby, bearing him toearth. 

Bang! The noise of the discharging shotgun broke on the night'sstillness. Bang! crashed the other barrel. 

The muzzle had been pointed skyward, however, and both charges ofbuckshot had been driven off into space, to fall to the earth many yardsbeyond. 

"Reade! Hazelton!" choked Rafe Bodson, leaping forward. "You fellowscertainly have grit! Here, Hazelton, let me help you with that loco(crazy) hotel man. "

Jeff, in the meantime had rolled Jim Duff over on his back, then sat onhim. When Duff returned to consciousness he found himself gazing intothe muzzle of an automatic revolver. 

Harry and Bodson made a quick, sure job of tying Ashby's wrists with acord that Rafe supplied. 

"You think you've stopped me, don't you?" snarled the hotel man, wildwith rage. 

"We stopped you in time to keep you from shooting down two men who wereat your mercy, " retorted Harry sternly. 

"What's that?" gasped Rafe. 

"They were going to shoot you with your hands in the air, " Tom declared. 

"That's another of your lies, Reade, " snarled the gambler. 

"It's you who are doing the lying, Duff, " rejoined Tom stiffly. "I cameto my senses just in time to hear you tell Ashby to kill one man whileyou killed the other. "

"So that was the game, was it?" said Jeff. 

"No, it wasn't, " snapped Jim Duff. 

"Shut up, " ordered Jeff unbelievingly. "Duff, we've seen enough of youto-night to know that an Apache has ten times as much honor as youhave, and a rattlesnake has twenty times as much decency. You lying, miserable, white-livered, smooth-tongued, poisonous reptile in humanform. If you open your mouth to say another word you'll have me so wildthat I'll pull the trigger of this automatic before I intend to do so. "

"Thank goodness you had become conscious too, Harry!" breathed Tomfervently. "I don't believe I could have knocked both men over in timeto prevent a killing. I managed to get my hands free just in time to geton the job. "

"I had known for some moments what was going on around me, " Hazeltonreplied. "But I was lying with my eyes closed, and keeping mighty quiet. I was trying to hear your breathing, so I could decide whether you hadcome to your senses, when all of a sudden you sat up and freed my hands. Ugh!" he added with disgust, as he reached up and slipped the remnant ofrawhide noose from around his neck. 

"What'll we do with this snake and, his weak-minded brother?" asked Jeffdryly. "Tie 'em up and ship 'em into Paloma?"

"Fire off your revolver two or three times, " suggested Tom, who hadcaught a faint, far away sound of an automobile. "That may bring amachine over here. "

"You shoot, Rafe, " urge Moore. "I'll want to keep my weapon handy forthis crooked card-sharp. "

Rafe obligingly emptied one of his revolvers into the air. From adistance came the honk of an automobile horn, as though in answer tothe signal shots. Soon the noise of an automobile engine became moredistinct. Finally the body of a large car loomed up in the darkness. Afew shouts brought the car to the spot. 

"This you, Mr. Reade?" called the joy voice of Superintendent Hawkins. "And Hazelton, safe, also?"

All five seats in this car were occupied. Six more men had to be crowdedin somehow, after Jim Duff had been tied with his hands behind him. Mostof them had to stand. 

"Back to Paloma, as fast as you can go with safety, " ordered Mr. Hawkins, as soon as all were inside. "Gracious, but there'll be a joyfuldemonstration back in camp as soon as the good word is received. "

As the car sped along over the desert the story was told of how thepursuit had been made. 

It was Mr. Hawkins who had tried to wire from camp into town, callingfor cars and posses to go in pursuit of the raiders. 

As Tom had imagined at the outset, the raiders had cut the railroadtelegraph wire. Discovering this, Mr. Hawkins had leaped on to the bareback of a horse at camp and had covered the distance at a gallop. 

Men had been quickly rounded up within the very few minutes that wereneeded in getting the cars out and ready to run. There were hundreds ofmen in Paloma who had grown to despise Duff and all the evil crew behindthe gambler. 

From the outset the leaders of the posse, on hearing, of the directionfirst taken by the fleeing raiders, had calculated on the gully as theprobable place of halting. 

While the posse was still on the way out to the gully, and at somedistance away, the sound of Ashby's discharging gun had reached them. Reasoning that the raiders would probably place a guard only on the townend of the gully, the posse had made a wide detour, so as to approachthe gully from the westward. Leaving the cars at a considerabledistance, the pursuers, with Mr. Hawkins at their head, had made quicktime on foot. 

In the fighting that had followed five men of the posse had been hit, though none dangerously. These wounded men, after the fight, had beensent back to Paloma in one of the automobiles. 

"We saw some of the raiders fall during the lighting, " said Mr. Hawkins, "but their friends made a quick retreat and got all hands back to theirhorses. We felt sure they didn't have you, Mr. Reade and Mr. Hazelton, so we let the raiders slip away and spent our time in trying to findwhere you had been taken or if you had escaped. Well, it's all rightnow!"

As the automobile party approached the town, searchlights from othercars showed the remaining pursuers had heard the signals sounded by thehorn of the first automobile and were returning. 

As the returning men entered the outlaying streets the little town wasfound to be anything but a quiet community. Despite the early morninghour, the streets were crowded. 

"Where's the chief of police?" inquired Mr. Hawkins, as the first carentered the town and pulled up. 

"I'll find him for you, Cap, " offered a man on horseback. 

"If you will be so good. "

As the horseman galloped away Hawkins signed to the others to step out. 

"Duff, we're not going to be troubled with your company much longer, "smiled Hawkins. 

Tom and Harry had already leaped down to the sidewalk when the gamblerwas helped to alight. Duff's hands were still behind his back though, unknown to his captors, he had succeeded in working them free. 

With a stealthy movement the gambler suddenly reached forward, drawing arevolver from another man's holster. 

Ere the owner was aware of the loss of the weapon Duff took full aim atTom Reade. 

Crack!

It was the pistol of a deputy sheriff that spoke first. That officerhad been the only one to detect the gambler's action, and he had firedinstantly. 

Jim Duff sank, to the sidewalk, groaning while the deputy sheriff drylyexplained the cause of his firing. A loaded revolver was still grippedin Duff's right hand, though the gambler was too weak and in too muchpain to fire. 

Dr. Furniss' office was near by, and the young physician, sharing in thepopular excitement, was awake. He came out on the run, bending over thewounded man to examine him. "Duff, " said Dr. Furniss gravely, after abrief examination, "I deem it my duty to tell you that you've dealt yourlast card. Have you any wishes to express before we move you?"

"I--want to--talk to--Reade, " groaned the injured man. 

"Certainly, " replied Tom, when the request was repeated to him. Steppingsoftly to where the gambler lay on the sidewalk, Reade bent over him. 

"Duff, " said Reade gravely, "you and I haven't always been the bestof friends, but I can say honestly that I'm sorry to see you in thisplight. I hope that you may recover, yet get some happiness out oflife. "

But the gambler's eyes blazed with ferocity. 

"Don't waste any soft soap on me, Reade, " he said slowly, and with manypauses. "The Doc is a fool. I'm going to get well, and there will bejust one happiness ahead of me. That will be to find you, wherever youmay be, and to what I tried to do to you to-night. "

"Can't you forget that sort of thing, Duff?" asked Tom gravely. "Notthat I'm afraid of you; you've seen enough of me to-night to know thatI'm not afraid of you. But I'm afraid for you. You're close to eternity, Duff, and I'd like to see you go to your death with a calm, hopeful, decent mind. I'd like to see you go with a hope of a better lifehereafter. "

"Don't give me any of your canting talk, Reade, " snarled the gamblerweakly. 

"I'm not going to do so, " sighed Tom, rising. "I'm afraid it would beuseless. Try to remember, Duff, that I allow myself to have no hardfeelings against you. If you possibly can recover I shall be glad tohear that you've done so. "

Then Tom stepped over to Dr. Furniss' side, whispering to him:

"Doc, you'll see to it that some clergyman is called, won't you? Anyclergyman that is the most likely to reach the heart and the soul of ahardened fellow like Jim Duff. "

Dr. Furniss nodded. Men appeared with an old door that was to be used asa stretcher. On this the gambler was placed, and the physician gave himsuch immediate attention as could be supplied on the sidewalk, for JimDuff had been shot through the right lung. Then the bearers lifted thedoor, bearing the gambler back to the now gloomy Mansion House, the doctor following. Ashby, who had been strangely quiet after theshooting, was taken to the local police station and placed in a cell. 

Just after the two had been taken care of, and while the crowd stilllingered, a young man pushed his way through to the center of the crowd. 

"I heard that Jim Duff had returned to town, " began the young man. Thespeaker was Clarence Farnsworth, the foolish young easterner who hadbeen sadly fleeced by the gambler. 

"Yes; Duff came back, " said Mr. Hawkins, quietly. 

"Where is he?" asked Farnsworth. "I must leave in the morning, and I oweDuff seven hundred dollars. I want to pay it to him. "

"Money you lost gambling with Duff?" questioned Hawkins. 

"It's a debt of honor that I owe Mr. Duff, " Farnsworth replied, flushingconsiderably. 

"Son, take one little hint from me, " continued Hawkins. "No money everlost to a gambler in card playing is a debt of honor. It's merely theliability of a chump and a fool. No gambler ever uses any real honor. Men of honor work for the money that they need or want. Duff had asmooth way of talking, an agreeable manner with his profitable victims, but he never had a shred of honor. It isn't possible to be a gambler anda man of honor. If you've seven hundred dollars that you lost to Duff atcards, put it in your pocket and get out of Paloma as soon as you can. Duff won't need the money, anyway. He's down at the Mansion House, dyingof a bullet wound that he got through his last piece of trickery. I hateto speak harshly of a dying man, but I'd like to see you get a grain ortwo of common sense into your head, boy. "

Again Farnsworth flushed, but three or four seasoned Arizona men whostood near by added their advice, in line with that of Mr. Hawkins. Clarence soon edged away. 

An hour after daylight Jim Duff died. Dr. Furniss and the others whowere with the gambler at the last were unable to state that Duff hadoffered any expression of regret for his evil life, or for his lastwicked acts. 

Jim Duff died as he had lived. 

George Ashby was sent to an asylum and his property sold for hisbenefit. After a year he was discharged as cured. He has vanished, swallowed up in some other community, and nothing more has been heard ofhim. 

Trailed by detectives of a fire insurance company, Frank Danes was sooncaught and brought back to Arizona. He was fairly convicted of havingset the old Cactus House on fire, though he could not be persuaded toadmit himself an agent of the Colthwaite Company. Fred Ransom, the otheragent, is believed to be still in the employ of the Colthwaite Company's"gloom department. "

Mr. Hawkins is still in the employ of the A. , G. & N. M. So are foremenBell, Rivers and Mendoza. 

Tim Griggs proved himself so thoroughly while foreman at the buildingof the new rail-road hotel in Paloma, that he has gone on to other andbetter work. Griggs is now a prosperous man, and, best of all, he hashis little daughter with him. 

Lessee Carter has flourished in the new railroad hotel. Rafe Bodson andJeff Moore are his clerks. 

The day came when Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton were able to apply thefinal and most severe test to the roadbed that ran across the Man-killerquicksand. Their work was finished, and finished splendidly, addinganother great triumph to their record as young engineers. 

"These hot countries are fine, for a while, " grunted Harry Hazelton, asthe young engineers left Paloma in a special Pullman car that GeneralManager Ellsworth had sent for their use. 

"They are fine, in fact; but one gets tired of working on a blisteringdesert. I hope our next long undertaking will be in a country where icegrows as one of the natural fruits. "

"Greenland, for instance?" smiled Tom Reade. 

"Alaska, at all events, " responded Harry hopefully. 

"Do you know where I'm figuring on making my next stop?" Tom inquired. 

"Where?"

"In good old Gridley, the town where we were born, boy! I'm fairlyaching for a sight of the good old town. Will you go with me?"

"For a few weeks, yes, " Harry agreed. "But after that little rest?"

"After our visit to the good old home town, " Tom Reade replied, "we'llgo anywhere on earth where a good, big chance for engineering offers. Harry, we've yet nearly all of our work ahead of us to do if we're evergoing to be real, Class A engineers!"

That our young engineers found still greater work awaiting them will bediscovered in the next volume in this series, which is published underthe title, "The Young Engineers in Nevada; or, Seeking Fortune on theTurn of a Pick. "

In this narrative we find our young friends wholly away from railroadwork, but engaged in an even greater undertaking. The adventuresawaiting them were more exciting than any they had yet encountered. Fameand fortune, too, offered a greater opportunity. How the young engineersembraced the opportunity will be made plain to our readers. 

THE END