"Thanks, Al," he sent. "I was
about all in, sure enough. But I am OK again now, and going to stick it
out unless 'they,' or 'it,' or whatever it is, lugs me off bodily."

"That's the talk," said Alex encouragingly. "I knew you'd make good. Just
keep on telling yourself there must be some natural explanation somehow,
and you'll win out OK."

* * * * *

"Yes, that's my cue--'a natural explanation somehow,'" Jack repeated to
himself the following afternoon as he left the big railroad boarding-house,
a half mile from the station, and set out for a walk, to think things over.

"And I believe the starting point is that talk on the wire. That
certainly is the work of an operator.

"Now, why is it heard only at this office?

"Say! Could it be on the loop? A cut-off arrangement on the station loop?

"I'll go down and look into that right now," declared Jack, and turning
about, headed for the station.

The platforms and the big freight shed were alive with the bustle of the
freight handlers, loading and unloading cars, trundling boxes and bales
from one part of the platform to another and in and out of the big shed;
and unnoticed, Jack discovered where the wires from the pole passed in
under the roof. Entering the shed, he proceeded carefully to follow their
course along the beams toward the telegraph room. He had almost reached
the partition, and was beginning to think his conclusion perhaps too
hastily drawn, when a few feet from the wall, where the light from an
opposite window struck the roof, he caught two unmistakable gleams of
copper. With a suppressed cry he made his way directly beneath, and at
once saw that the insulation of both wires of the loop had been cut
through.

"Right! I was right!" exclaimed Jack jubilantly beneath his breath. "And
I can see in a minute how it's done. Whoever it is, simply gets up there
somehow, and ticks one wire against the other--and of course the
instruments inside click as they are alternately cut off and cut on, and
the rest of the line is not affected!

"Good! I'm on the trail.

"But what can be the object of it all?"

Jack turned to look about him, and as in answer the lettering of a nearby
box caught his eye:

"VALUABLE! HANDLE WITH CARE!"

"Freight stealing! Could that be it?"

On reporting for duty that evening Jack called Alex on the wire and asked
if any freight had recently been reported missing from the Midway depot.