He had vaulted the hand-rail and was saying good-night, when Eleanor left her chair and entered the car.  He was not greatly surprised to find her waiting for him at the steps of the forward vestibule when he had gone so far on his way to his office.

“One moment,” she pleaded.  “I’ll be good, Howard; and I know that there is danger.  Be very careful of yourself, won’t you, for my sake.”

He stopped short, and his arms went out to her.  Then his self-control returned and his rejoinder was almost bitter.

“Eleanor, you must not! you tempt me past endurance!  Go back to Van—­to the others, and, whatever happens, don’t let any one leave the car.”

“I’ll do anything you say, only you must tell me where you are going,” she insisted.

“Certainly; I am going up to my office—­where you found me this afternoon.  I shall be there from this on, if you wish to send any word.  I’ll see that you have a messenger.  Good-by.”

He left her before her sympathetic mood should unman him, his soul crying out at the kindness which cut so much more deeply than her mockery.  At the top of the corridor stair McCloskey was waiting for him.

“Judson has told you what’s due to happen?” queried the trainmaster.

“He told me to look for swift trouble; that somebody had betrayed your strike-breaking scheme.”

“He says they’ll try to keep the east-bound freights from going out.”

“That would be a small matter.  But we mustn’t lose the moral effect of taking the first trick in the game.  Are the sections all in line on the long siding?”

“Yes.”

“Good.  We’ll start them a little ahead of time; and let them kill back to schedule after they get out on the road.  Send Bogard down with their clearance orders, and ’phone Benson at the yard office to couple them up into one train, engine to the caboose in front, and send them out solid.  When they have cleared the danger limit, they can split up and take the proper time intervals—­ten minutes apart.”

“Call it done,” said the trainmaster, and he went to carry out the order.  Two minutes later Bogard, the night-relief operator off duty, darted out of the despatcher’s room with the clearance-cards for the three sections.  Lidgerwood stopped him in mid-flight.

“One second, Robert:  when you have done your errand, come back to the president’s car, ask for Miss Brewster, and say that I sent you.  Then stay within call and be ready to do whatever she wants you to do.”

Bogard did the first part of his errand swiftly, and he was taking the duplicate signatures of the engineer and conductor of the third and last section when Benson came up to put the solid-train order into effect.  The couplings were made deftly and without unnecessary stir.  Then Benson stepped back and gave the starting signal, twirling his lantern in rapid circles.  Synchronized as perfectly as if a single throttle-lever controlled them all, the three heavy freight-pullers hissed, strained, belched fire, and the long train began to move out.