Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/72

58 Ten minutes more passed and the train came to a halt at a town of considerable importance. Just ahead, on the track, a freight car, running into a switch, had been derailed, and it was announced that the train would be held up an hour, if not longer.

"This is beastly luck!" exclaimed the stranger, as he came back from the smoker. "A whole hour to wait, and just because a freight car is off the track. The management ought to be indicted!"

"Your bag fell to the floor a while ago," said Dave. "I picked it up. I hope nothing was broken."

"So do I. Well, I'm not going to stay here all day, even if the grip is heavy," went on the stranger. And he walked from the car, lugging his valise with him.

Not caring to remain seated for a full hour, Dave followed the man to the platform, and saw him disappear in the vicinity of a hotel near the railroad. Then the boy walked up past the engine to look at the derailed freight car.

A gang of men were working slowly, and so little was being done that the youth soon tired of looking on. He took a walk around the square and gazed into the hotel the stranger had entered. The man was at the bar, partaking freely of some strong liquor.