. That did not, however, deter him
from going to keep the appointment. He cut a stout cudgel and
proceeded to the old railroad bridge named in the note.

The young fireman glanced keenly about him, but for some time did not
get a view of anybody in the vicinity. Finally from a clump of bushes
up the incline a handkerchief waved. Ralph climbed the embankment to
find himself facing Ike Slump.

The latter was ragged and starved-looking. To Ralph it appeared that
the ex-roundhouse boy had been having a decidedly hard time of it
recently.

"You needn't carry any stick around here," said Slump, sullenly. "You
needn't be afraid of me."

"Not at all," answered Ralph, "although your actions in the past
would warrant my having a whole battery around me."

"That's done with," asserted Slump, quite meekly. "Bemis is up there a
little ways. You needn't be afraid of him, either."

"What are you getting at with all this talk, Ike?" inquired Ralph.

"Why, we want to be friends."

"What for?"

"Because--because we're tired of starving and being hunted and the
like," said Slump. "You have won out, we are beaten. We want to work
together."

"I declare I don't understand what you are driving at," said Ralph.
"Come, Ike Slump, play no more crafty games. It don't pay. Be honest
and straight. What did you bring me here for?"

"To make some money for both of us."

"In what way?"

"You would give a good deal to find Gasper Farrington, wouldn't you,
now?"

"I certainly am anxious to locate that man, yes," answered Ralph
frankly.

"All right, we know where he is."

"And you are willing to make amends, I suppose, for your past
misconduct by telling me where Farrington is to be found, so that I
can have him arrested."

"Well, I guess not!" cried Mort Bemis, coming upon the scene. "We want
pay for what we do. We want a hundred dollars to begin with. A lot
more when you get that money he owes you."

"My friends," said Ralph, promptly turning from the spot. "Not a cent.
I don't believe you know how to act square. You don't show it by your
present proposition. If you really want to be helped, and if you are
sorry for your past wrong doing, come back to Stanley Junction, tell
the truth, take your punishment like men, and I will be your good
friend."

"Well, you're a bold one," sneered Slump, getting very angry. "You
won't help us out, then?"

"With money--on your promise? No. I shall find Gasper Farrington
finally without y