“Heavens and earth!” ejaculated the listener.  Then some of the hidden things began to define themselves in the light of this astounding revelation:  Hallock’s unwillingness to go to Flemister for the proof of his innocence in the building-and-loan matter; his veiled warning that evil, and only evil, would come upon all concerned if Lidgerwood should insist; the invasion of the service-car at Copah by the poor demented creature whose cry was still for vengeance upon her betrayer.  Truly, Flemister had many crimes to answer for.  But the revelation made Hallock’s attitude all the more mysterious.  It was unaccountable save upon one hypothesis—­that Flemister was able to so play upon the man’s weaknesses as to make him a mere tool in his hands.  But Judson was going on to elucidate.

“First off, we all thought Hallock’d kill Flemister.  Rankin was never much of a bragger or much of a talker, but he let out a few hints, and, accordin’ to Red Desert rulin’s, Flemister wasn’t much better than a dead man, right then.  But it blew over, some way, and now——­”

“Now he is Flemister’s accomplice in a hanging matter, you would say.  I’m afraid you are right, Judson,” was the superintendent’s comment; and with this the subject was dropped.

The early dawn of the summer morning was graying over the desert when the special drew into the Angels yard.  Lidgerwood had the yard crew place the service-car on the same siding with the Nadia, and near enough so that his guests, upon rising, could pass across the platforms.

That done, and he saw to the doing of it himself, he climbed the stair in the Crow’s Nest, meaning to snatch a little sleep before the labors and hazards of a new day should claim him.  But McCloskey, the dour-faced, was waiting for him in the upper corridor—­with news that would not wait.

“The trouble-makers have sent us their ultimatum at last,” he said gruffly.  “We cancel the new ‘Book of Rules’ and reinstate all the men that have been discharged, or a strike will be declared and every wheel on the line will stop at midnight to-night.”

Weary to the point of mental stagnation, Lidgerwood still had resilience enough left to rise to the new grapple.

“Is the strike authorized by the labor union leaders?” he asked.

McCloskey shook his head.  “I’ve been burning the wires to find out.  It isn’t; the Brotherhoods won’t stand for it, and our men are pulling it off by their lonesome.  But it’ll materialize, just the same.  The strikers are in the majority, and they’ll scare the well-affected minority to a standstill.  Business will stop at twelve o’clock to-night.”

“Not entirely,” said the superintendent, with anger rising.  “The mails will be carried, and perishable freight will continue moving.  Get every man you can enlist on our side, and buy up all the guns you can find and serve them out; we’ll prepare to fight with whatever weapons the other side may force us to use.  Does President Brewster know anything about this?”