etrayer. Truly,
Flemister had many crimes to answer for. But the revelation made
Hallock's attitude all the more mysterious. It was unaccountable save
upon one hypothesis--that Flemister was able to so play upon the man's
weaknesses as to make him a mere tool in his hands. But Judson was going
on to elucidate.

"First off, we all thought Hallock'd kill Flemister. Rankin was never
much of a bragger or much of a talker, but he let out a few hints, and,
accordin' to Red Desert rulin's, Flemister wasn't much better than a
dead man, right then. But it blew over, some way, and now----"

"Now he is Flemister's accomplice in a hanging matter, you would say.
I'm afraid you are right, Judson," was the superintendent's comment; and
with this the subject was dropped.

The early dawn of the summer morning was graying over the desert when
the special drew into the Angels yard. Lidgerwood had the yard crew
place the service-car on the same siding with the _Nadia_, and near
enough so that his guests, upon rising, could pass across the platforms.

That done, and he saw to the doing of it himself, he climbed the stair
in the Crow's Nest, meaning to snatch a little sleep before the labors
and hazards of a new day should claim him. But McCloskey, the
dour-faced, was waiting for him in the upper corridor--with news that
would not wait.

"The trouble-makers have sent us their ultimatum at last," he said
gruffly. "We cancel the new 'Book of Rules' and reinstate all the men
that have been discharged, or a strike will be declared and every wheel
on the line will stop at midnight to-night."

Weary to the point of mental stagnation, Lidgerwood still had resilience
enough left to rise to the new grapple.

"Is the strike authorized by the labor union leaders?" he asked.

McCloskey shook his head. "I've been burning the wires to find out. It
isn't; the Brotherhoods won't stand for it, and our men are pulling it
off by their lonesome. But it'll materialize, just the same. The
strikers are in the majority, and they'll scare the well-affected
minority to a standstill. Business will stop at twelve o'clock to-night."

"Not entirely," said the superintendent, with anger rising. "The mails
will be carried, and perishable freight will continue moving. Get every
man you can enlist on our side, and buy up all the guns you can find and
serve them out; we'll prepare to fight with whatever weapons the other
side may force us to use. Does President Brew