nce."

"Murder, or something of that kind, eh?"

"All I know is that I was sent by a man who said the telegram must go
at the earliest possible moment."

"Very well, come in and write it. I'll see if the Albany office will
answer my call."

Jet walked into the waiting-room so excited that he failed to notice
the strangers, who crowded behind him; but stood where their faces
would be in the shadow.

After a moment's reflection he wrote the following:

"TO THE CHIEF OF POLICE,
"Albany, N.Y.

"Send more men at once; they have us foul. My messenger will wait at
the station until assistance arrives.

HARVEY."

It was a simple matter for the strangers to read this by looking over
Jet's shoulder, and as soon as they had done so they slipped quietly
out of the building where the following conversation might have been
heard:

"That's the boy Joe and Bob brought up from New York."

"I thought so, and now he is working for Harvey."

"Who has gone to the house in the woods to pull the boys, and has got
the worst of it."

"I don't reckon we could prevent the operator from sending that
message?"

"Not without putting ourselves in the hole."

"We can make sure though that the boy isn't here to show them the place
when the officers arrive."

"Which forces us to stay here another day, and according to the looks
of things I don't think it safe. What made the fools come after
agreeing to lay over in the city till we showed up?"

"That's what I can't say. It's enough to know we've got to bear a
hand, for if one of the crowd is caught all hands stand a good chance
of being sent up."

"Shall we nab the boy as soon as the train passes?"

"No; I've got a better plan than that. We'll wait till the western
express arrives, and make him think we're the officers who have come in
reply to his telegram."

"Then we must keep out of sight. Let's take a turn around the town
where he won't be likely to see us."

The men walked quietly away, and in the depot Jet was congratulating
himself upon having been able to give the alarm so quickly.

The operator had been very eager to learn why officers should be
summoned from the city; but Jet professed entire ignorance of the
matter, repeating again and again that he had only brought the message
from a stranger a short distance up the road, and the questioner
finally ceased trying to extract information.

There was no difficulty about getting a telegram through, and