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“Lewis and Minalgo were nearest by,” said Bell, not happy with his answer

“‘And the for the much-loved baseball poem “Casey at the Bat,” “‘and the latter was a cake”’

Bell nodded agreeh his roster, said, “I’ll e of Redding”

“Glendale, hell I’d move ‘em to Mexico”

“So would I, if I could spare the hty far off I don’t think we have to worry too much about Glendale It’s seven hundred old watch “We’ve done all we can tonight I’ve got an extra room in my hotel suite If I can sneak you past the house dick dressed like that”

Abbott shook his head “Thanks, but when I cah the kitchen earlier, Miss Anne’s cook proht supper”

Bell shook his head at his old friend “Only you, Archie, could spend the night in a whorehouse and sleep with the cook”

“I checked the train schedule,” Abbott said “Give ht flyer to San Francisco”

“I was planning to,” said Bell, and strode quickly into the night, heading for the railroad station

5

AT MIDNIGHT, BENEATH A STARRY SKY, A MAN DRESSED IN A SUIT and a slouch hat like a railroad official worked hand and foot levers to propel a three-wheeled Kalamazoo Velocipede track-inspection vehicle between Burbank and Glendale The track was smooth on this recently coeles line Roith his ar nearly twenty miles per hour in eerie silence broken only by the rhyth over the joints between the rails

The Velocipede was used to watch over the section gangs who replaced worn or rot

ted crossties, taned rails, pounded down loose spikes, and tightened bolts Its fraer that connected theht ash, its treads of cast iron The entire vehicle weighed less than one hundred fifty pounds One man could lift it off the rails and turn it in the opposite direction or get out of the way of a train The Wrecker, no cripple except when he needed a disguise, would have no trouble tu it down an embankment when he was done with it

Tied to the empty seat beside him were a crowbar, track wrench, spike puller, and a device that no section gang would dare leave on the rails It was a hook, nearly two feet long, fashioned from a cast-iron boat anchor from which one fluke had been removed

He had stolen the Velocipede He had broken into a clapboard building at the edge of Burbank freight depot where the Southern Pacific section inspector stored it and manhandled it onto the rails In the unlikely event that soe constable saw hi the ht, his suit and hat would buy him two seconds of hesitation Ample time to deliver a silent ansith the blade in his boot