He's no
more Darwin K. Anthony's son than--"
"Darwin K. Anthony!" exclaimed the railroad man, in amazement.
"Did he claim that?"
"He did, and he--" The speaker checked himself with admirable
diplomatic caution. "Say, he's taught me one thing, and that is
that it doesn't pay to butt into other people's business. I played
him to lose, and he won; and I got into a fine mess over it."
Weeks wrinkled his face into a ludicrous expression of mournful
disgust. "I couldn't pick a winner if there were two horses in the
race and one of them had a broken leg. Whether his name is Anthony
or Locke makes no difference to me. I got in 'Dutch' for meddling,
and Alfarez lost his job for arresting him. It's only a damn fool
who gets stung twice in the same spot. I'm through."
"You'll get your money. Anthony told me he'd square up on pay-
day."
Weeks snorted at this. "Why, I've got it already. I've been paid.
Mrs. Cortlandt sent me her check." He stared at his companion
curiously. "Funny, isn't it, how I got called down and Ramen
Alfarez got fired on his account? What does it mean?" He winked
one red eye in a manner that set Runnels to thinking deeply.
XVI
"8838"
For a few days after this conversation the Master of
Transportation was in doubt as to what course he should pursue.
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