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Chapter XVI: An Even Break
- University of Minnesota Press
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-XVIAN EVEN BREAK IT took the Hawk some twenty-five minutes to reach the spot he had selected as his objective, a spot some fifty yards east of the Conmore siding switch, and here he lay down in the grass under the shelter of the embankment. It was very quiet, very still, very dark; there was nothing in sight save the winking station lights in the distance , and the siding switch light nearer at hand. "Twenty-five thousand dollars I" said the Hawk very softly to himself. He rolled the words like some sweet morsel on his tongue. "Twenty-five thousand dollars-in cash!" The Hawk spread out one side of his coat, and under its protection, in a diminutive but steady little glow of light, the tiny flashlight played its ray upon the sheet of paper across which he had scrawled the Wire Devils' code message. "Key letter-x. One-two-three-stroke at four," muttered the Hawk-and in parallel columns set down the letters of the alphabet, one column transposed . It took the Hawk much longer to decode the message than it had taken those in the house to perform 237 ~38 THE WIRE DEVILS the same task. The Hawk was working under difficulties . A stone, none too fiat, served to rest his paper upon, and he had only two hands with which to manipulate pencil, flashlight and coat. At the expiration of perhaps half an hour the result of his work looked like this: (plkx) tfbm (e) zbyq (et) bqfs (lkg) qmbo seal waxp aper plan (k) ufec (sr) fijo (jer) embs (t) hfgs (bk) tedb ehin dlar gefr bnfe (bvw) qjdu (u) vsfp (qn) wfsn (ljp) bouf amed pict urea verm ante (1) mnfs (bg) jebo (rre) ttju (p) ujoh (11) Imer idan ssit ting sppn room And then the Hawk looked up-the throb and mutter Df a distant train was in the air. Pencil, paper and flashlight were restored to his pockets, and he drew further back from the right of way. Far down the track the way freight's headlight flashed into view. A minute passed, another, and still another . And now, where the Hawk had lain, the ground was ablaze with light-then black again; there was the roar of steam, a grind and clash and shatter ricochetting down the string of cars, the scream and shriek of brake-shoes, and then, a panting thing, as though the big mogul were drawing in deep breaths after great exertion, the way freight [3.237.46.120] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 20:22 GMT) AN EVEN BREAK fl39 came to a standstill a few yards from the siding switch. The Hawk crept forward, his eyes sweeping down the length of the train in a keen, tense gaze. There was a flat car-it showed in a curious open space, like a break in the black thread stretched along the track-but it was too far away, and too perilously close to the caboose. His eyes travelled back; and, being nearer to the train now he discerned a box· car, empty, its door open, almost in front of him. He crawled forward until he was abreast of it, and until he lay close up against the rails, looked cau· tiously up and down the length of the train, sprang to his feet, and in an instant lay stretched out far back in the interior of the car. The train moved forward, stopped again at the station, and again moved forward. The Hawk re· verted to his pencil, paper and flashlight. The code message now read: seal waxp aper pian tedb ehin dlar geEr amed pict ureo verm ante Imer .idan ssit ting room It was now simply a matter of grouping the let. ters properly, and the Hawk wrote out the message at the bottom of the sheet: Seal, wax (and) paper planted behind large framed picture over mantel Meridan (') s sitting room. The Hawk stared at it grimly. "Yes." said the Hawk, "I guess that's right 1 I !!40 THE WIRE DEVILS guess the job is wished on the young fellow to a nnish; he wouldn't have a hope, and MacVightie would never look any further." The Hawk was silent for a moment. "Twenty-five thousand dollars -in cash!" murmured the Hawk again. The way freight ran slowly, very slowly-and it had already been from ten to fifteen minutes late in reaching Conmore. At the next station the train...