"Why, Teddy!" he called through the open door.
"What?"
"The opposition cars are not here. The other train must have
carried them on. I wonder if those fellows are stealing a march
on us?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes; come out and see for yourself."
Teddy stumbled out to the platform, gazed about sleepily and
looked solemn.
"No, not here," he said, turning back into the car.
Phil was worried. He could not imagine exactly what the plans of
his rivals might be.
"I will wire on to the next stand as soon as the telegraph office
opens, and find out if they are there," he decided.
In the meantime Teddy was taking his time about dressing, while
the men of the crew were hurrying into their clothes. Phil did
the same, then dropped from the car and walked about the yards,
rather expecting to find the cars of his rivals hidden behind
freight cars.
They were nowhere in sight.
"Well, it cannot be helped, even if we are beaten into the
next stand. This is a small place, but an important one.
I cannot afford to skip it, no matter if the other
fellows have."
Teddy went about his morning duties as usual, solemn faced
and silent, but there was a triumphant gleam in his eyes that
Phil Forrest as yet had failed to observe.
Phil was pacing up and down on the platform station, waiting
uneasily for the operator to appear.
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