Almost immediately a second body came bouncing out of the empty.

Instead of starting away on a run, however, the second person stopped
where Sandy stood beside the wiggling figure and looked down upon it.

"Hand him one!" he said in a boy's voice.

"Who is it?" asked Sandy.

"Don't know!" was the reply.

"What was he doing to you?"

"He was trying to rob me!"

"I don't think a man would get rich robbing people who ride in empties!"
laughed Sandy. "I shouldn't think their bank rolls would make much of a
hit with a bold, bad highwayman!"

"There's men riding the rods," was the reply, "who would kill a boy for
a dime! If I wasn't opposed to cruelty to animals, I'd give this fellow
a beating up right now. He tried to drag me from the car by the leg and
nearly broke my ankle!"

"I heard him dragging you across the floor!" Tommy said, coming up to
where the two boys stood. "Can you see who it is?" he added.

"He's just a tramp!" the other replied. "I saw him sneaking around the
empties just before dark."

"Why were you sleeping in an empty?" asked Sandy.

"Because I like plenty of fresh air!" replied the boy with a chuckle.

While the boys talked the tramp arose and sneaked away, limping over the
ties as if tickled to death to get out of the way of the three
youngsters.

As he disappeared in the darkness Tommy turned to the boy who had
dropped out of the car to ask him a question.

The boy was nowhere to be seen.

"Now we've gone and done it!" cried Sandy.

"I guess we have!" agreed Tommy. "We've let the third boy get away from
us! And we couldn't have done a worse thing!" he went on, "because the
boys in the mine will know that we are still in this vicinity!"

While the boys stood blaming themselves the sharp call of the Wolf pack
came to them.

CHAPTER XI

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

When Will and George came to the back of the weigh-house they heard some
one moving about at the front.

"That's probably the caretaker, taking his last look for the night,"
suggested Will. "He pokes around all the outbuildings every night before
he goes to bed. At least, he is supposed to."

"But this fellow hasn't got any lantern," urged George.

"The plot deepens!" chuckled Will.

"Can you crawl around there and see who it is," asked George, "or shall
I go? It may be a thief, or it may be Ventner, or it may be this boy
we're looking for. Anyway, we want to know who it is!"

"I'll go!" Will suggested, "and