Page:Harvey O'Higgins--Silent Sam and other stories.djvu/345

Rh them to prod up cattle— Four of them got aboard. I noticed they did n't get on till they saw me on, after the train started; and then I noticed that they all sat together in two seats, instead of each man sprawling over as many seats as he could cover, the way drovers usually did. And when I came to collect their fares, instead of having passes—drovers always traveled on passes—they paid their four dollars each.

"That made me suspicious. I 'd heard the company was putting detectives on the cars—'spotters'—and I had made up my mind that if I ever saw any on my train, I 'd hand in my resignation. The more I looked at those men the more sure I was they were detectives. I spent most of the trip to Dayton turning over in my mind a hot letter I was going to write when I turned in my badge.

"We got to Dayton about three-thirty. We were to change engines there. The yardmaster came to report the engine off the track, down the yards. These four fellows were in the restaurant with me— That 's another thing drovers would n't do. They 'd wait for their breakfasts till they got to Cincinnati—and when they heard about the engine they went down the yards with me to help get her back on the rails. 'Well,' I said to myself, 'you lads are certainly anxious to get on.' They carried the blocks and worked as hard as the best of us. I was a little puzzled, but between being hurried because we were going to be so late that we 'd miss connections at the 'Transfer'—and angry because the old man had put 'spotters' on me—I