d you, now, get off when I do. Don't try to call,
and don't try to run away, or I'll kill you."

The train stopped and Ralph's companion pulled back the door. He got
out, forcing Ralph with him, and proceeded directly into the timber
lining the railroad, never pausing till he had reached a desolate spot
near a shallow creek.

Then the man ordered a halt. He sat down on the ground and forced his
captive to follow his example.

"Who are you?" he demanded roughly.

"I am Ralph Fairbanks, a fireman on the Great Northern Railroad,"
promptly explained the young fireman.

"Do you know me?"

"I infer from these handcuffs and your under uniform that you are an
escaped convict," answered Ralph.

"Know a good many people, do you?"

"Why, yes, I do," answered Ralph.

"Where is Stanley Junction?"

"About forty miles north of here. I live there."

"You do? you do?" cried the convict, springing up in a state of
intense excitement. "Here, lad, don't think me harsh or mean, or
cruel, but you have got to stay with me. You would betray me to the
police."

"No, I would not," declared Ralph.

"You would, I know--it's human nature. There is a big reward out for
me. Then, too, you know people. Yes, you must stay with me."

"I can't help you any--why should you detain me?" insisted Ralph.

"I must find a man," cried the convict, more wildly than ever--"or you
must find him for me."

"What man is that?" spoke Ralph.

"Do you know a Mr. Gasper Farrington?"

"Quite well," answered Ralph, rather startled at the question.

"That is the man!" shouted the convict.

"And that is singular, for I am very anxious myself to find that same
individual," said the young fireman.

Ralph felt that he was in the midst of a series of strange adventures
and discoveries that might lead to important results, not only for the
person he had so strangely met, but for himself, as well.

This impression was enforced as he watched his captor pace up and down
the ground, muttering wildly. He seemed to have some deep-rooted
hatred for Gasper Farrington. "Revenge," "Punishment," "Justice," were
the words that he constantly uttered. Ralph wondered what course he
could pursue to get the man down to a level of coherency and reason.
Finally the man said:

"Come, get up, we must find some shelter."

After an hour of arduous tramping they came to an old barn that had
been partly burned down. There was some hay in it. The convict lay
down on this, u