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[Illustration: For a beginner that's the best schedule I ever saw.]




RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER

OR

THE MYSTERY OF THE PAY CAR

BY

ALLEN CHAPMAN

AUTHOR OF "RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE," "RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER,"
"RALPH ON THE ENGINE," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America




THE RAILROAD SERIES

By Allen Chapman

Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated

    RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man
    RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER Or, Clearing the Track
    RALPH ON THE ENGINE Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail
    RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS Or, The Trials and Triumphs of
        a Young Engineer
    RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER Or, The Mystery of the Pay Car

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York




Copyright, 1911 by GROSSET & DUNLAP

Ralph, the Train Dispatcher




CONTENTS
    CHAPTER I--THE OVERLAND EXPRESS
    CHAPTER II--THE WRECK
    CHAPTER III--TROUBLE BREWING
    CHAPTER IV--THE WIRE TAPPERS
    CHAPTER V--IKE SLUMP
    CHAPTER VI--IN THE TUNNEL
    CHAPTER VII--DANGER SIGNALS
    CHAPTER VIII--THE OLD SWITCH SHANTY
    CHAPTER IX--A SUSPICIOUS DISCOVERY
    CHAPTER X--THE TRAIN DISPATCHER
    CHAPTER XI--MAKING A SCHEDULE
    CHAPTER XII--AT THE RELAY STATION
    CHAPTER XIII--"HOLD THE LIMITED MAIL!"
    CHAPTER XIV--OLD 93
    CHAPTER XV--CHASING A RUNAWAY
    CHAPTER XVI--THE WRECK
    CHAPTER XVII--A STRANGE MESSAGE
    CHAPTER XVIII--THE SLUMP "SECRET"
    CHAPTER XIX--ON THE LOOKOUT
    CHAPTER XX--A TRUSTY FRIEND
    CHAPTER XXI--A DASTARDLY PLOT
    CHAPTER XXII--HOLDING THE FORT
    CHAPTER XXIII--ONE MINUTE AFTER TWELVE
    CHAPTER XXIV--THE BATTLE OF WITS
    CHAPTER XXV--A WILD NIGHT
    CHAPTER XXVI--AN AMAZING ANNOUNCEMENT
    CHAPTER XXVII--THE STOLEN PAY CAR
    CHAPTER XXVIII--THE "TEST" SPECIAL
    CHAPTER XXIX--"CRACK THE WHIP!"
    CHAPTER XXX--THE PAY CAR ROBBER
    CHAPTER XXXI--QUICK WORK
    CHAPTER XXXII--CONCLUSION




CHAPTER I

THE OVERLAND EXPRESS


"Those men will bear watching--they are up to some mischief, Fairbanks."

"I thought so myself, Mr. Fogg. I have been watching them for some
time."

"I thought you would notice them--you generally do notice things."

The speaker with these words bestowed a glance of genuine pride and
approbation upon his companion, Ralph Fairbanks.

They were a great pair, these two, a friendly, loyal pair, the grizzled
old veteran fireman, Lemuel Fogg, and the clear-eyed, steady-handed
young fellow who had risen from roundhouse wiper to switchtower service,
then to fireman, then to engineer, and who now pulled the lever on the
crack racer of the Great Northern Railroad, the Overland express.

Ralph sat with his hand on the throttle waiting for the signal to pull
out of Boydsville Tracks. Ahead were clear, as he well knew, and his
eyes were fixed on three men who had just passed down the platform with
a scrutinizing glance at the locomotive and its crew.

Fogg had watched them for some few minutes with an ominous eye. He had
snorted in his characteristic, suspicious way, as the trio lounged
around the end of the little depot.

"Good day," he now said with fine sarcasm in his tone, "hope I see you
again--know I'll see you again. They're up to tricks, Fairbanks, and
don't you forget it."

"Gone, have they?" piped in a new voice, and a brakeman craned his neck
from his position on the reverse step of the locomotive. "Say, who are
they, anyway?"

"Do you know?" inquired the fireman, facing the intruder sharply.

"I'd like to. They got on three stations back. The conductor spotted
them as odd fish from the start. Two of them are disguised, that's
sure--the mustache of one of them went sideways. The old man, the
mild-looking, placid old gentleman they had in tow, is a telegrapher."

"How do you know that?" asked Ralph, becoming interested.

"That's easy. I caught him strumming on the car window sill, and I have
had an apprenticeship in the wire line long enough to guess what he was
tapping out. On his mind, see--force of habit and all that. The two with
him, though,