"See here, Fairbanks," he remarked, "such tricks as that smash up and the pay car business any road may have to tackle from time to time. We shall attend to the fellows behind those schemes all right, but it's bigger game we are after. A plot has crippled our service, corrupted our operators, stolen our private wire information. Bear this in view, and when new things come up along that line, which they are bound to do, dig out all you can under the surface that will give us a handle against the real plotter--the rival road that is trying to throw us down."
"You are going up to the train dispatcher's office?"
"I'll join you there in about half an hour, as I have some cypher messages I want you particularly to attend to. I'll tell you then about this pay car business."
Ralph had to be content with this. As he walked along he wondered what Adair would have to tell him. The fifteenth of the month was only ten days ahead, and the pay car according to usual schedule should start on the regular trip three days earlier.
Ralph was glad to get back to duty pure and simple. Seated at his desk he was soon absorbed in getting accumulated work out of the way. He was pretty busy when one of the second trick men came up to him.
"Mr. Fairbanks," he said, "I thought I would speak to you about a message I took over the commercial wire early this morning."
"Is that it." inquired Ralph, at once guessing the allusion, and producing the little yellow slip of paper that the road officer had given him.
"'From Glen Palmer,'" read the operator over Ralph's shoulder--"yes, that's the one: 'Look out for the pacer.' It came in on a jumble of stuff like a quick cut in. There was more, but I couldn't catch it. I signaled 'repeat,' but lost the sine, and it was clicked so thunderingly fast I got mixed on the letters."
"You don't know the point of sending, then?" asked Ralph.
"No. I didn't know what the other end was trying to give me: Look out for the packer? faker, pacer?"
"Hello!" said Ralph, so strangely and suddenly that the operator started at him agape.
"What's the matter?" inquired the latter, wonderingly.
Ralph did not reply. He was thinking hard. A sudden light had illuminated his mind.
"I've got it," he breathed in some mental triumph. "'Look out for the pay car!'"