"The town of
Paloma is just dancing on sand-paper, it's so uneasy about getting its
hand into the pile of more than thirty-eight thousand dollars that the
pay train is going to bring in this afternoon."
"I know," nodded Tom rather gloomily. "I hate to see the men fleeced as
they're likely to be fleeced to-night. Some of our men will be so badly
done up that it will be a week before they get back to work--unless
there is some way that we can stop the fleecing."
"There isn't any such way," declared Superintendent Hawkins, with an air
of conviction.
"You've surely been around rough railroading camps enough to know that,
Mr. Reade."
"I've seen a good deal of the life, Hawkins," Tom answered, "but of
course I don't know it all."
"Yet you know that you can't hope to stop railroad jacks from spending
their money in their own way. The saloons in Paloma will take in
thousands of dollars from our lads to-night and all day to-morrow. The
gamblers will swindle them out of a whole lot more.
Pages:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43