Hoofbeats on the Turnpike Part 20

Salt grinned in a hara.s.sed but friendly way at the girls. He was tall and freckled and not very good looking. Nevertheless, he was the best photographer on the _Star_.

"I'm afraid we took advantage of you in asking for a ride to Red Valley,"

Penny apologized.

"Tickled to have you ride along," Salt cut in. He picked up his Speed Graphic camera and slung a supply case over his shoulder. "Well, let's shove off for the wet country."

The ride by press car to Delta was far from pleasant. Salt drove too fast. The road was slippery once the auto left the pavement and ditches brimmed with brown muddy water.

At one point they were forced to detour five miles to avoid a bridge that had washed out. Instead of reaching Delta early in the day as they had planned, it was well into the afternoon before they arrived.

"Where shall I drop you girls?" Salt inquired wearily. "I'll have to work fast if I get any pictures this afternoon."

"Drop us anywhere," Penny said. "We'll spend the night with Mrs. Lear and go home by train tomorrow."

"Wonder which way it is to the Huntley Dam?"

"We'll show you the road," Penny offered. "It's directly on your way to let us off at the Malcom place. I want to stop there to see about a spinning wheel."

Guided by the two girls, Salt drove up the winding hillside road to Silas Malcom's little farm. There Penny and Louise said goodbye to him and sought to renew acquaintances with the elderly hillman. The old man got up from a porch rocker to greet them cordially.

"Well! Well! I knowed you'd come back one o' these days," he chuckled.

"Thank ye mightily fer puttin' them write-ups about Red Valley in the paper."

"I'm afraid I didn't have much to do with it," Penny said modestly. "Red Valley really is a news center these days."

"We're sittin' on a stick o' dynamite here," the old man agreed. "I'm worried about Mrs. Lear. Me and the wife want her to move up here on the hill where she'd be safe, but not that ole gal. She's as stubborn as a mule."

"And what of the Burmasters?"

"I ain't worryin' none about them. They kin look after themselves.

They're so c.o.c.k sure there ain't no danger."

"Then you feel the situation really is serious?"

Old Silas spat into the gra.s.s. "When that dam lets go," he said, "there ain't goin' to be no written notice sent ahead. The Burmaster place will be taken, and then Mrs. Lear's. After that the water'll sweep down on Delta faster'n an express train. From there it'll spread out over the whole valley."

"But why don't people move to safety?"

"Down at Delta plenty of 'em are pullin' up stakes," Old Silas admitted.

"The Burmasters are sittin' tight though and so is Mrs. Lear."

"We were planning on staying with her tonight," Louise contributed uneasily.

"Reckon you'll be safe enough," Old Silas a.s.sured her. "Water level ain't been risin' none in the last ten hours. But if we have another rain above us--look out."

After chatting a bit longer, Penny broached the matter of the spinning wheel. To her delight, Mr. Malcom not only offered to sell it for a small sum, but he volunteered to haul it to the railroad station for s.h.i.+pment.

The slow, tedious wagon ride down to Delta gave the girls added opportunity to seek information from the old man. Penny deliberately spoke of the Headless Horseman. Had the mysterious rider been seen or heard of in the Valley in recent days?

"You can't prove it by me," the old man chuckled. "I been so busy gettin'

in my crops I ain't had no time fer such goins on."

Arriving at Delta, Mr. Malcom drove directly to the railroad station.

"Joe Quigley ought to be around here somewhere," he remarked. "See if you can run him down while I unload this spinnin' wheel."

Penny and Louise entered the deserted waiting room of the depot. The door of the little station office was closed and at first glance they thought no one was there. Then they saw Joe Quigley standing with his back toward them. He was engrossed in examining something on the floor, an object that was below their field of vision.

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Quigley!" Penny sang out.

The station agent straightened so suddenly that he b.u.mped his head against the ticket counter. He stared at the girls. Then as they moved toward the little window, he hastily gathered up whatever he had been examining. As if fearful that they would see the object, he crammed it into an open office closet and slammed the door.

CHAPTER 14 _A MOVING LIGHT_

"Well, well," Joe Quigley greeted the girls cordially. "It's good to see you again. When did you blow into town?"

Louise and Penny came close to the ticket window. They were curious as to what the young station agent had hidden in the closet. However, they did not disclose by look or action that they suspected anything was wrong.

"We drove in about an hour ago," Penny replied carelessly. "We want to s.h.i.+p a spinning wheel by freight to Riverview."

"I'd advise you to send it by express," Quigley said briskly. "That way you'll have it delivered to your door and the difference will be trifling."

"Any way you say," Penny agreed.

Joe went outside with the girls. Silas already had unloaded the spinning wheel. He turned it over to the station agent and after a bit of goodnatured jos.h.i.+ng, drove away.

"I can get this out for you on No. 73," Joe promised the girls. "Come on back to the office while I bill it out."

Penny and Louise followed the station agent into the little ticket room.

Their ears were a.s.sailed by the chatter of several telegraph instruments mounted around the edge of a circular work desk.

"How many wires come in here?" Penny asked curiously.

"Three. The Dispatcher's wire, Western Union and the Message wire."

Penny listened attentively to the staccato chatter of one of the wires.

"D-A, D-A," she said aloud. "Would that be the Delta station call?"

"It is," Quigley agreed, giving her a quick look of surprise.

He sat down at the circular desk and reached for the telegraph key. After tapping out a swift, brief message, he closed the circuit.

"Get that?" he grinned at Penny.

She shook her head ruefully. "I learned the Morse code and that's about all," she confessed. "I used to practice on a homemade outfit Dad fixed up for me."