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“At least forty”

“He’s forty-two and extreirls would call him quite a catch”

“I’d rather catch mumps”

Lillian refilled her glass and Bell’s Then she said, “Eht hop off the train in Sacramento and disappear while Mr Bell and I steam our way north?”

“Not in this life, dear You are too young-and far too innocent-to travel without a chaperone And Mr Bell is too”

“Too what?”

Emma Comden smiled

“Interesting”

THE WRECKER HURRIED UP the lu on the crossties so as notthe ballast

He carried a four-foot-long crowbar that weighed thirty pounds On his back was a Spanish-Ahteen-ounce cotton duck with a rubberized flap Its straps tugged hard on his shoulders In it were a heavy two-gallon tin of coal oil and a horseshoe he had lifted fro the hundreds of ons

The chillelse that took hinize There was actually a hint of snow on the wind Although it was a clear night, he could feel winter co early to the mountains He increased his pace, as his eyes adjusted to the starlight The rails shone in front of hi the cut

A tall, long-legged, fit man, he cli the clock He had less than two hours untilthe darkness with its full light, he would be a sitting duck for the railway police patrolling on horseback

After a mile, he came to a Y junction where the spur split The left-hand spur, which he had been cliht veered to join the newly completed main line to the south He checked the switch that controlled which spur was connected

The switch was positioned so that a train descending from the lumber mill would be routed toward the construction yard He was tempted to send the heavy car on to the main line Properly timed, it would collide head-on with a northbound locomotive But such a collision would block the tracks so the dispatchers would have to stop all trains, which would block his only way out from this end of the line

The grade continued, a little lighter, and he increased his pace After anotherIt was still there!