Page:Ralph on the Railroad.djvu/929

Rh thoughts solely. First he dug cinders out of his blinking eyes. Then he rubbed the coating of grime and soot from his face, and began groping in his pockets. Very ruefully he turned out one particular inside coat pocket. He shook his head in a doleful way.

"Gone!" he remarked. "Lost my pocket book. Friend—a pencil, quick."

These words he spoke to Ralph, beckoning him earnestly to approach nearer.

"And a card, a piece of paper, anything I can write on. Don't delay—hurry, before I forget it."

Ralph found a stub of a pencil and some railroad blanks in his pocket, and gave them to the young inventor. Then the latter set at work, becoming utterly oblivious of his surroundings. For nearly two minutes he was occupied in making memoranda and drawing small sections of curves and lines.

"All right, got it, good!" he voiced exultantly, as he returned the pencil to Ralph and carefully stowed the slips of paper in his pocket. Then he arose to his feet. He smiled queerly as he gazed down at his tattered garments and grimed and blistered hands.

"Pretty looking sight, ain't I?" he propounded to the young engineer. "Had to do it, though. Glad I did it. Got the actual details, see?"