tered. "I hear
voices."

These guided Ralph, and he followed their indication. At last he came
to a halt near an open space, where the men he was following had
stopped.

"Here we are, Ames," were the first distinct words that Ralph heard
spoken.

"Why, one of these men must be the farmer that Zeph worked for,"
decided Ralph.

"All right, you're safe enough up here. Got the plunder here, have
you?" was asked.

"Yes. I will show you the exact spot, and you come here after we have
got the bulk of the stuff to a new hiding place, take it as you can,
dispose of it, and keep us in ready money until we feel safe to ship
our goods to some distant city and realize on them."

"I'll do just that," was replied. "What are you leaving here for?"

"Adair, the road detective, is after us, we understand, and this is
too dangerously near the railroad."

"That's so," replied the person Ralph supposed to be Ames. "All right,
I'll not miss on my end of the case. Only, don't send any more
packages of the silk to friends. The one Slump sent might have got you
into trouble."

"I never knew he did it at the time," was responded. "I raised a big
row when I found out. You see, Evans, the man he sent it to, is in
with us in a way, and is a particular friend of Ike Slump, but it was
a big risk to send him goods that might be traced right back to us.
Safe hiding place, eh?"

The speaker had proceeded to some bushes guarding the entrance to a
cave-like depression in the dirt, gravel and rocks. He re-appeared
with some packages for his companion. Then both went away from the
spot.

"Why," said Ralph, with considerable satisfaction, "this is the hiding
place of the plunder. I am in possession, and what am I going to do
about it?"

The discovery had come about so easily that the young fireman could
scarcely plan out a next intelligent move all in a moment.

"Ames is an accomplice of the thieves," he decided, "who are going to
use Joe's wagon to remove the bulk of this plunder. They will soon be
here. What had I better do--what can I do?"

Ralph went in among the bushes as the men had done. He took a glance
at a great heap of packages lying in a depression in the rocks. Then
he advanced a few steps towards the edge of the cliff.

Ralph looked down fully two hundred feet into the railroad cut. This
was almost the spot where the landslide had stopped the Dover night
freight. The main tracks were clear now, but on a gravel pit siding