CHAPTER XIV.
THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.
"I'll tell you," said Ted, "if you'll take a seat and keep quiet until Iget the thing straightened out in my own mind, for the incidents of thepast hour certainly have got me going."
Bud sat down and waited patiently for Ted, who was thinking deeply.
"I didn't tell you the precise object of our visit to St. Louis," beganTed, "not because I didn't trust your ability to keep a secret, but inorder to keep every one else in the dark."
"D'yer mean ter say that ye hev stalled me along ter this town ter giveme a leetle airin', an' not ter sell hosses?" asked Bud indignantly.
"Not exactly. I want to sell the horses for the top price, but there wassomething else behind it."
"A large man astraddle o' ye with a keen an' bitin' bowie at yer throat.Yer must be hard up fer amoosement."
"Not that, either," said Ted, laughing. "I manage to get all theamusement that's coming to me."
"I'm still gropin' fer enlightenment."
"Here goes, then. For a couple of months the trains on the UnionPacific, in Nebraska and Wyoming, have been running the gantlet betweenbands of train robbers. If a train missed being robbed at one place, itwas almost sure to get it at another, especially if it carried wealth ofany description."
"But ther railroads is erbout ther biggest chumps ter stand fer all thismonkeydoodle business o' train robbin' ez long ez they hev. Why don'tthey get inter ther exterminatin' business, an' clean up ther last o'them?"
"Too busy making money, I guess. But this time it is not the railroadswho are going after them."
"Who is it, me an' you?"
"Almost. By orders of the government."
"That's more like it. I don't hev no love fer a train robber, fer all Iever come in contact with wuz a bunch o' cowardly murderers, who fightlike rats when they're cornered, an' kill innercent express messengersfer amoosement er devilment. But if Uncle Sammy sez so, an' needs myhelp, he's got it right swift an' willin'."
"Well, he seems to need it, for just before we left Moon Valley Ireceived a letter from the United States secret service, telling meabout the robberies, of which I had heard something, but not much, asthey have been kept away from the newspapers as much as possible."
"Hev there been so many of them?"
"As I tell you, they have been so numerous as to lead one to believethat there was a chain of train robbers clear across the continent, andstrong and capable robbers they have proved themselves to be."
"Did they git much?"
"They have got away with a vast amount of money belonging toindividuals. They seem to have had information in advance of all the bigshipments of treasure leaving San Francisco and Carson City, Nevada, aswell as of private shipments."
"Wise Injuns, eh?"
"I should say so. They have even been able to spot shipments of UnitedStates gold en route from the mints in Frisco and Carson to Washington,and in two instances have got away with it."
"Wow! There's where your Uncle Samuel reaches out his long arms andtakes a hand in the game. How much did they get away with?"
"The chief did not say. That is not for us to know, I guess, or hedoesn't think it will make any difference with us in our enthusiasm forour work of running down and capturing that gang, or gangs, as the easemay be."
"But it wouldn't do a feller no harm ter know. I'd feel a heap moreskittish if I wuz runnin' after a million than if it wuz thirty cents."
"There's something in that, but we won't let it interfere with theperformance of our duty."
"How does the chief put it up to us?"
"He tells the facts briefly, and says: 'Go and get the robbers.'"
"That's short an' ter ther p'int. Anything else?"
"He says that the worst bunch of train robbers in ten years has beenorganized, with men operating on various railroads, and that from pastperformances it would seem that they had inside and powerful friends whowere keeping them informed as to what trains to rob. In other words, thething seems to be a syndicate of robbers operated and directed from acentral point by men of brains and resource."
"An' whar's ther central p'int?"
"St. Louis."
"Ah, I begins ter smell a mice. So yer gradooly led up ter this place,pretendin' ter sell hosses, eh?"
"No; we'll kill two birds with one stone. We'll sell the horses if wecan get our price for them, and it will be an excellent cloak to hideour real purpose, which is to try to get next to the headquarters of thetrain robbers."
"Good idee. But how aire yer goin' ter go erbout it?"
"To tell you the truth, I haven't an idea. We will have to do our ownscouting. If the chief knew, it is not likely that he would employ us tofind out."
"Thet's so. Well, let's be on ther scout."
"We'll still pose as ranchers with pony stock to sell, and let folksknow it. We'll go over to the stockyards right now."
"All right, but the stunt is ter keep our eyes peeled fer thertrain-robber syndicate's office."
"That's it. One never can tell when he will run onto just the thing he'slooking for when he least expects it."
"We're being shadowed," said Ted, a short time after they had left theirhotel and were walking through the streets toward the bridge that spansthe Mississippi River to East St. Louis.
"How d'yer know?" asked Bud, sending a cautious eye around.
"See that fellow with the checked suit, on the opposite side of thestreet?"
"Uh-huh!"
"He's on our trail. Don't give him a hint that we're on to him, and ifhe chases us all day he'll see that we are what we represent ourselvesto be, just plain cow-punchers."
"I'm on."
The man in the checked suit got on the same trolley car with them at thebridge, and while they were walking through the stockyards they saw himfrequently, not always in evidence, but always somewhere in theirvicinity.
They visited the offices of the commission merchants who dealt inhorseflesh, and got their prices for the sort of stock the boys had tosell, and before the day was over they had disposed of six carloads ofhorses for immediate delivery.
While they were talking the deal over with the purchaser, they noticedthat the man in the checked suit hovered around, and Ted purposelypermitted him to overhear part of the conversation about the delivery ofthe ponies.
Ted then sent a telegram to Kit Summers, informing him of the sale, andtelling him to select the sort of horses from the herds that werewanted, and to come through with them, bringing a sufficient number ofthe boys with him to protect the stock and deliver it.
When the operator took the message and began to send it, Ted noticedthat the man with the checked suit was leaning against the wall,apparently not paying any attention to what was going on. But Ted knewby the way he was holding his head that he was a telegraph operatoralso, and that he was reading the message as it went onto the wire.
"Say, Bud, we've had enough of that gentleman for one day, haven't we?"
"I shore hev."
"Then let's give him the slip."
"Easier said than done. Thet thar feller sticks like a leech ter a blackeye."
"I think we can do it."
"And how?"
"See that automobile over there? In front of that office."
"I see a long, low, rakish craft painted like an Eyetalian sunset. Ifthet is yer means o' communication with ther other side o' ther river,oxcuse me."
"Why, what's the matter with that? That's a mighty fine car."
"I reckon it is, but walkin's good ernuf fer me."
"But you'll never walk away from that shadow."
"I'll bet I kin run erway from 'his checkers' before we're halfway terSt. Looey, even if I am a cow-puncher, an' muscle bound from straddlin'a saddle fer so many years."
"What's the use, when we can run away from him in a gasoline wagon. Thatmachine is standing in front of the office of Truax & Wells, and theyhave sold a lot of cattle for us in times past. It wouldn't surprise mei
f the car belonged to one or the other of them, and that if we askedfor a lift to the other side they would be glad to let us have it."
"All right, if you're so keen on it, tackle 'em. You'll find me game terride ther ole thing. I've rid everything from a goat ter a huffier, an'yer kin bet yer gold-plugged tooth I ain't goin' ter welsh fer no olepiece o' machinery."
They entered the office, and were at once greeted by an elderly man, Mr.Truax, in a warm manner. After talking over things in general, Ted said:
"That's a fine car of yours out there, Mr. Truax."
"Funny thing about that car," said the commission merchant. "That's notmy car, and nobody seems to know whose car it is."
"That certainly is strange," said Ted. "How does it come to be standingout there?"
"It was this way, and it's a good story, but none of the newspaper boyshave been in to-day, and so I couldn't give it out: Right back of ushere is a railroad station. There's an eastbound train through here atseven-thirty every morning. She was just pulling into the station thismorning as I was unlocking the office door, and I heard a chuggingbehind me. I looked up, and here came the car with only one man in it.He pulls up short, picks up a bag, which was very heavy, for it was allhe could do to stagger along with it.
"The bell on the engine was ringing for the start when he runs throughthe arcade there as fast as he could with the heavy bag, and justcatches the rear of the train as it comes along. He manages to hoist thebag onto the rear platform steps, and is running along trying to get on,and the train picking up speed with every revolution of the wheels. Ithought sure he would be left, or killed, for he wouldn't let go, whenthe conductor came out on the rear platform, saw him, and jerked himaboard by the collar."
"Didn't he say anything about his machine?" asked Ted.
"Not a word. That's what I thought so strange about it. But, thinks I,some one will come for it after a while. Perhaps, thinks I, he was insuch a hurry to make the train that he left home without a chauffeur,who will be along when he wakes up."
"And no one has appeared?"
"There she lays, just as he left her. When my partner came down, I spoketo him about it. He's a fan on motoring. That's his car over there; thatwhite one. When I spoke to him about it, he went out and looked it over.
"'That car don't belong here,' says he. 'There's no number of the makeron it, and everything that would serve to identify it has been takenoff. Besides, I don't think the license number is on the square.'
"That excited my curiosity, and I called up the license collector'soffice and asked him whose motor car No. 118 was. In a few minutes hecalls me and says it belongs to Mr. Henry Inchcliffe, the banker. I getsMr. Inchcliffe on the phone and asks him if his car is missing, and hesays he can look out of the window as he is talking and see it besidethe curb with his wife sitting in it. 'What is the color of your car?'says I. 'Dark green, picked in crimson. Why do you ask?' says he. Itells him that an abandoned car is standing in front of our place withhis number on it. But he says he guesses not, for his number looms uplike a sore thumb, hanging on the axle of his car in front of the bank,and I rings off. That's the story of the car."
"Since it belongs to no one in particular, I've a mind to borrow it, andput it in a garage over on the other side. It'll be ruined if it staysout here in the weather," said Ted.
"I don't care," said Mr. Truax. "It wasn't left in my care, and Ihaven't got much use for the blamed thing, anyhow. Take it along. If theowner comes and proves property, I suppose you'll give it up?"
"Sure thing. I'll telephone you the name and address of the garage whereI leave it, so that if there is any inquiry for it you may directinquirers there. But I've got a hunch that this car was thrown away,having served its purpose."
"Great Scott! that's a valuable thing to throw away."
"Yes, but the man who abandoned it probably thought it a goodsacrifice."
"How is that?"
"What do you suppose was in that bag he carried?"
"Couldn't say, but it was pretty heavy."
"It would hold a good deal of paper money, wouldn't it?"
"If the bills were of big enough denomination, I should say you couldpack away a million in it, for it was a powerful big sack."
"Well, suppose the man whom you saw jump out of the car and get aboardthe train had stolen the car, or even if he had owned it, and had made abig haul, and it was contingent upon his getting away with the moneythat he abandon the car."
"That's possible. But there has been no big robbery to cover that partof the theory."
"You don't know. There may have been a big robbery, and it has not beenmade public. Not all robberies are reported to the public. If they were,there would be slim chance for the authorities to catch the thieves."
"Perhaps so. Say, Mr. Strong, you're a deputy United States marshal,ain't you?"
"Yes. Both Mr. Morgan and I are in the government service."
"I've been thinking over what you said about a possible robbery, andperhaps you've got it right. I believe you'd better take that car along.You might need it as evidence some day."
"That occurred to me."
"Can you run the pesky thing."
"Yes; I learned to run a motor car long ago. It is, like everything elsea fellow can know, mighty useful to me in my business."
"All right, take her along."
The man in the checked suit was nowhere in sight, but as Ted started upthe abandoned motor car he came running out of a doorway.
"Hi, there! Come back with that car!" he yelled, running after them inthe middle of the road. But Ted let her out a couple of links, and in amoment the man in checks was out of sight.
Ted Strong's Motor Car Page 14
