Page:Ralph on the Railroad.djvu/793

Rh Woods stood on the next track with his lantern as if waiting for the train to start up.

"Cars marked," he spoke. "I'll flash the glim when the coast is clear. You'll know the cases I told you about."

There was no response. The locomotive whistled, and the brakeman ran back to the caboose. Ralph lay perfectly still. The three men sat up against the railing of the car.

"Got the keys to the car ventilators?" asked one of the men, finally.

"Sure," was the response. "Say, fellows, we want to be wary. This is a clever game of ours, but I hear that the railroad company is watching out pretty close."

"Oh, they can't reach us," declared another voice, "with Woods taking care of the broken seals, and all kinds of duplicate keys, we can puzzle them right along."

Just then one of them arose to his feet. He stumbled heavily over Ralph.

"Hello!" he yelled, "who is this?"