ike the looks of things," he said to Ralph, as they started
on the homeward run. "The central union backs us, and the company is
bound to fight the strikers to a finish. A lot of men are going down
to take the places of the strikers. We are carrying them on this
train, and serious trouble will begin as soon as the new men go to
work."

Two days later the freight traffic of the Great Northern was
practically tied up. The situation had become positively alarming. The
strikers had gathered strength of numbers through intimidation, and
the coming of new workers had aroused animosity.

Car loads of perishable fruits and the like were rotting in the yards,
men were beaten, engines crippled, orders mixed up, crown sheets
burned and cars smashed on open switches.

The Limited Mail was annulled as a regular train, and Griscom and
Ralph and all other passenger employes placed on the irregular list.
One day a man would take out the Mail, the next day he would be
running freight empties to the city.

Some cars on siding along the route had been set on fire, and Griscom
and Ralph were ordered down the line to pick up freight strays and
haul them to the yards at Dover. It proved an unpleasant task.
Strikers annoyed them in every way possible. Finally with a mixed
train of about twenty cars they arrived at Afton, and took the sidings
to gather in half-a-dozen gondolas.

The spot was remote from the main tracks. Ralph had to do the
coupling. He had run back, bound on this duty in the present instance,
when, just as he reached the end of their train, three ill-appearing
men stepped into view from a dismantled switch shanty.

"Drop your signaling," spoke one of the three, advancing menacingly
towards Ralph.

"Hardly," responded Ralph calmly, "seeing we want these cars."

"You don't take them," retorted the man, placing himself between the
halted train and the cars beyond.

Ralph calmly gave the signal to the engine. The train backed. The man
had to jump quickly out of the way. Ralph set the coupling pin, gave a
quick signal and sprang into the first empty car. The man who had
spoken to him followed him through the opposite open doorway.

"Fetch him out!" cried his two companions, running along the side of
the car. "Maul him, and send him back to Stanley Junction as a lesson
to the others."

The man attempted to seize Ralph and the latter resisted. The fellow
called to his companions, and they sprang into the car. Ralph, try