14 - Young Railroaders by Francis Lovell Coombs

Teen telegraphers battle bandits, derail disasters, and outsmart thieves in Young Railroaders, a thrilling ride through America’s emerging West. Grit, brains, and bravery light the tracks.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Young Railroaders by F. Lovell Coombs, Chapter thirteen, Part two. Disappointment, however,
quickly gave place to a flutter of interest. When the
rear door opened and preceded by Jack Orr, there swept
down the aisle a tall, venerable figure in flowing robes,
white bearded, spectacled, and crowned with a tall conical hat

(00:24):
bearing strange hieroglyphics. When on Jack stepping aside and taking
an unobtrusive front seat, the aged professor mounted the platform
and solemnly surveyed his audience titters. Then a burst of
laughter swept over the schoolroom. The long yellow robe was
covered with grotesque caricatures of cats, frogs, dogs, cranes, and turtles,

(00:48):
interspersed with great black question marks. The famed Oriental turned
about toward a table, and the laughing broke out afresh.
In the center of his back was a large cat's
head with one wderfully squinting eyes. When the cat slowly
closed one distorted optic in a wink, then smiled, there
was an unrestrained shout of merriment, and those who were

(01:10):
not excitedly inquiring of one another the identity of the
seer settled back in their seats expectantly, placing the table
at the front of the platform. The professor again faced
the audience and with dignified air and deep tragic voice,
addressed them, ladies and Gentlemen's Zi chairmen have spoke. I

(01:34):
am mammood Klik, the great seer. See great mind, read
the great bump, read ze great profess laughter, I am
Z seventeen, son of Z seventeen, son of Z seventeen son,
and also have I bring for do ze magic pass.

(01:57):
Thrusting a hand within his robe, tos It Terrible, the
son of Tom, the son of Tom. The hand reappeared
and placed on the table a tiny black kitten. The
burst of laughter which created this was renewed when the
tiny animal began making playful passes at a spool on
a string, which the dignified professor held before it, remarking,

(02:21):
see the magic pass. Now Tom's a terrible will answer
the question and show he understands the English, the magician announced,
at the same time, swinging the spool out of the
kitten's sight, Tom, how old are you? The spool was
swung back the kitten began again hitting at it. Solemnly,

(02:45):
the professor counted to twenty and wished the spool away
twenty year. Correct, you see, ladies and gentlemen's the venerable cat.
He cannot make mistake. He observed a mid laughing applause.
Now Tom tells some utter ting how old is the chairman,

(03:09):
indicating the dignified elderly man at the farther end of
the platform. Five? Correct, you see he always is right? Yes,
Now Tom, how old is the reverend mister Borden? Seven? Correct? Again.
When the laughter which followed this demonstration had subsided, the

(03:31):
professor took up a new line. Earlier in the evening,
a certain John Peters, one of the town's foppish young
gallants and who now occupied a prominent front seat, had
widely announced the fact that he was present for the
express purpose of showing the mind reader up at him. Accordingly,
the first quip was directed, Now Tom tells the audience,

(03:55):
how many girls have mister John Wilberforce. Peters asked, what none? For?
The spool being held out of sight, the kitten gazed
before it stolidly, without raising a foot. Well, how many
does he think he have? The spool being returned, the

(04:15):
kitten tapped it ten times, paused, and struck it eight more,
while the resulting wave of amusement grew and the overdressed
object glowered threateningly at the figure on the platform. And
how many will he marry? What? Not? One? Well? Well,
commented the seer, to further hearty laughter. Now tell us

(04:39):
about some of the young ladies, The professor went on,
how many bows has miss Ko? While Kate orr bridled indignantly.
The spool was lowered and the kitten tapped several times
on one side, several times on the other, then, to
an outburst of laughing and clapping, sat up and began

(05:00):
hitting it rapidly with both paws. I was unable to
keep sea count, announced the seer. But apparently about the
seventy five miss Oh, she is popular with the young men. Yes,
and now tom, continued the magician. How many special lady
friend have mister Cumming, an extremely bashful member of the

(05:24):
choir twenty two? And how many young lady are in
sa choir twenty two? Ah, A strange coincidence, observed the
learned professor, amid much merriment with similar quips and jokes,
the mind reader continued, then giving the kitten into the
charge of a little girl in a front seat. Announced,

(05:47):
now I will read the sea head. Will some small
boys please come up and bring their heads and bumps?
Coaxing finally brought a half dozen grinning youngsters of eight
or ten to the platform. From the pocket of the
last to respond protruded the unmistakable cover of a dime
novel him. The professor seized first, and having gravely examined

(06:10):
his head, announced, ladies and gentleman's, for this boy, I
predict a great future. Never have I seen such sign
of literary taste. Yes, he will be great unless he
go west to kill the Indian, and the Indian see
him first. On turning to the head of the second boy,

(06:34):
the phrenologist started looked more sharply and slowly, straightening up, announced,
ladies and gentlemens, I have made the great discovery this boy.
Some days you will be proud to know. Never have
I seen such a lovely bump for eats the pie

(06:54):
and any kind of pie you will name. He don't care,
he will eat it, and so to continued laughter. He
went on, finding remarkable cake bumps, holiday bumps, and picnic bumps,
and proportionately underdeveloped school and chore bumps, with the exception
of one glowing example, which finally proved to have been

(07:15):
developed by a baseball bat. Then came the mind reading.
Placing a small blackboard on the front of the platform
facing the audience. The professor seated himself in a chair
ten feet behind it and invited someone to step to
the board and write. All I ask is announced the

(07:35):
mind reader, Please write, not too fast and fix the
mind on what you write, and by the thought wave,
will I tell it letter? Buy letter. The first to
respond wrote the name of his father, a doctor. Expecting
only some humorous guess as to what was written. The

(07:57):
audience was somewhat surprised when the professor or spelled out
the name correctly, only adding the humorous touch of mud
hastily corrected to m d. And as others followed with
figures and more difficult names and words, the interest of
the audience began to take on a new tone. The

(08:18):
last of the first party which had stepped forward to
write was the over dressed young man Alex had poked
some fun at and who was bent on showing him up.
He wrote, you are a faker. Explain to the audience
how I do it zen, mister Peters, retorted the professor,
in some confusion. Peters sought his seat, and the minister

(08:41):
approached the board. The interest of the audience had now
become serious and silent. Even Kate Orr, though knowing there
was trickery somewhere, was nonplussed. For Jack in the front
row appeared as immovable and as frankly interested as those
about him. Loosely folded in his lap was a newspaper,

(09:02):
which for a moment attracted Kate's suspicious eye. But watching closely,
she saw not the hint of a movement that might
have been a signal. The Minister's first word was the
name Hosea. This was promptly called off, and the writer
went on with others, gradually more difficult. Finally, in rapid succession,

(09:22):
one under the other, he wrote zedekiah a holebah Nevecudnezzar.
As readily the figure on the platform announced them, and
the reverend Gentleman turned away with an expression frankly puzzled.
Pardon me, mister professor, But since this is jenuine mind reading,

(09:43):
of course, you could read just as well with your
eyes blindfolded, could you not, would you kindly give a
demonstration that way it was Peter's. There was immediate clapping
at the suggestion and calls of yes, yes, do it.
Blindfolded in alarm, Kate, from her seat, gazed toward Jack.

(10:04):
To her surprise, he was one of the most energetic
in clapping the proposal. The professor himself, however, was plainly disconcerted,
to the particular delight of Peters and his circle of friends, who,
as the mind reader continued to hesitate, clapped more and
more loudly. Finally, the seer arose, well, ladies and gentleman's

(10:27):
if you wish, certainly, though I do read just as
good with my eyes open. This negative statement brought further
derisive laughter in clapping from Peters and his friends, which
was added to when the professor continued, will some young
lady be kind enough to lend me zee handkerchief? See

(10:49):
tiny lithal woman with plenty holes all round. Peters was
again on his feet. Here is one. It was a
large dark neckerchief, a brought for this very purpose. As
Peters stepped forward and mounted the platform, the professor removed
his spectacles with apparent reluctance. Broadly smiling, Peters threw the

(11:10):
folded kerchief over the mind reader's eyes, saw that it
fitted snugly, and tied it. Now we've got you, mister
smart of Constantinople, he whispered derisively, have see good time
and laugh? Why you may, responded the professor, and raising
his voice, he asked, will some one kindly bring sea

(11:34):
glass water? Mind reading it is dry? It was? Jack
started to his feet, passed down the room, and returned
with the desired water. Watching Kate expected to see a
consultation between the two boys as to some way out
of the apparent difficulty. Jack, however, merely placed the glass

(11:54):
in the extended hand and received it back without the
exchange of a syllable. Not only that, he returned to
the back of the hall, and, instead of resuming his
seat at the front, mounted to a window ledge at
the rear well. I am ready announced the Professor, and
I make this suggestion that mister Peters himself write see first.

(12:19):
The latter was speedily at the board as he wrote.
A silence fell. Previously, the Professor had called off each
letter as written. This time there was no response. With
a smile that gradually broadened to a laugh, Peters finished
an odd Indian name and asked a thought, Ways, haven't
gone astray already, have they, mister professor, haven't been frightened

(12:43):
off by a mere handkerchief? Surely I was wondering how
to pronounce it? Came the quiet response, I'll spell it instead.
It is m U s q u O d O
b O I T. Peters stared blankly, not more blankly

(13:07):
than the majority of the audience, however, including Kate herself.
She turned toward Jack. He appeared as surprised as Peter's. Indeed,
if there was anything suspicious, it was that Jack appeared
a trifle over astonished. As the burst of applause which
followed the first surprise was succeeded by a wave of laughter,

(13:27):
Kate turned back to discover Peters, very red in the face,
drawing on the board a picture. As she looked, a
grotesquely ugly face took shape. The face completed, there was
a renewed burst of merriment when Peters topped it with
a fool's cap, and on that sketched rough hieroglyphics. Now

(13:47):
whose picture have I drawn? He demanded loudly. Well you
tried to draw mine, responded the professor, dropping into normal English.
But as the dunce's tie is far up up the
back of his collar, I leave the audience to decide
whose it is. At this there were shouts and shrieks
of laughter, and Peter's hurriedly feeling and finding his own

(14:11):
tie far out of place, threw the chalk to the
floor and dashed back to his seat amid a perfect
bedlam of hilarity. The uproar soon subsided, however, for not
one in the crowded room, but was now thoroughly wonderstruck.
At the demonstration. Some of the older people began to
step forward, writing the most difficult names they could think of,

(14:33):
meaningless words, groups of figures. A teacher chalked a proposition
in algebra without error. All were called out promptly. The
climax was reached when one of the church elders advanced
to the board and, while writing, fixed his eyes on
something in his half opened hand. Without hesitation, the blindfolded

(14:53):
unknown announced, mister's story is writing the name of one
of the apostles, but is thinking king of a penknife.
The clapping which foalub was scattered in brief. It's simply uncanny,
exclaimed one of Kate's neighbors. Kate, glancing back toward Jack,
shook her head up there in full view. She could

(15:16):
not possibly see how he could have anything to do
with it. At this point, the minister again stepped forward.
Will you answer a few questions? He scrawled, with pleasure,
mister Borden, how old am I? Forty nine? Next September?

(15:36):
The minister ran his fingers through his hair, perplexedly. How
old is missus Borden? There was a slight pause, then,
in gallant tones, came the answer twenty two. Amid a
renewal of laughter and much clapping from the ladies. The
minister was about to turn away, when, on second thought,
he turned back and wrote name the twelve apostles for

(16:01):
the first time. The learned seer displayed signs of uneasiness.
After some stumbling, however, he completed the list with a
twinkle in his eyes. The preacher inscribed a second question,
named Joshua's Captain's Professor. Klick cleared his throat, ran his
fingers down his beard, moved uneasily in his chair, and

(16:23):
at length, while a smile began to spread over the room,
shook his head. But I'm thinking of them hard, declared
the minister, chuckling. The professor was again about to shake
his head when suddenly he paused, then replied boldly, shem Ham, Hezekiah, Hittite, Peter, Goliath, Solomon,

(16:49):
and Pharaoh. It was during the shouts of merriment following
this ridiculous response that Kate's mystification began to dissolve. Glancing
again toward her brother, she saw that, despite a show
of laughing, there was an uneasiness in his face similar
to that shown by the professor, and when presently she
saw him cast a covertly longing eye toward a pile

(17:12):
of bibles in the next window, she turned back to
the platform, silently laughing. She thought she had discovered the
source of the thought waves. The success of the brazenly
invented answer to the last question, meantime, had quite restored
the professor's confidence, and as the minister went on, he
continued to respond in the same ridiculous fashion, claiming on

(17:36):
the minister's protest that he was only reading the thought
waves as they came to him. And finally the pastor
laughingly gave it up. At the next and final demonstration,
mystification of another kind came to the observant Kate. Rising
to his feet, the mind reader announced that he would
now inform a few of the stronger thinkers before him

(17:59):
the same subject of their thoughts, and both in his
manner and tone, Kate noted an unmistakable nervousness. Glancing toward Jack,
she saw that his face also was grave, and with
a stirring of apprehension of she knew not what she waited.
The first thought which reaches me began, the professor is

(18:22):
from Miss Mary Andrews. Miss Andrews thinks her pretty tok
is on straight. It's not quite I think one pin
is coming out. Following this laughingly applauded reading, the speaker
informed Miss James that she was thinking her lace collar
was not loose behind, which was quite correct, as also

(18:45):
was mister Story's impression that there was not a long
blonde hair on his coat collar. Dere was not. Then
Kate distinctly saw the speaker take a deep breath. Mister
Joseph Potter is a strong thinker. He proceeded. I read
several thoughts from mister Potter, the old farmer, to whom

(19:08):
the whole performance had appeared as nothing less than magic
leaned out into the aisle, breathless and staring. It seems
to me, mister Potter, the mind reader went on, it
seems to me you are thinking about some important business deal,
some big deal concerning land. The old man's mouth opened. Also,

(19:35):
it seems to me that this land may be worth
a great deal more than. There was an exclamation, a commotion,
and Burke, the real estate man, was on his feet.
A moment he stood, staring as though doubting his ears.
Then catching up his hat, he said, in a loud voice, Come,
mister Potter, we must go that other engagement. You know

(19:57):
I had forgotten it. The old man sprang up and
brushed Burke aside. Go On, go on, he cried, toward
the figure on the platform. The startled audience gazed from
one to another. Saval arose. It seems to me, resumed
Alex quietly, that there is a waterfall on your farm,

(20:20):
and that hold on there, hold on. The words came
in a shout, and springing into the aisle, Burke strode
toward the platform, purple with rage. What do you mean?
What are you doing? Who is this man? He demanded
at the top of his lungs. I demand to know
what does he mean? By swiftly hobbling down the aisle

(20:43):
behind him, The old man attempted to pass, roughly, Burke
pushed him back. The minister stepped forward. Mister Burke, what
do you mean? What does this man here mean by
by yes, by what mister Burke, by making reflections against me?
Shouted Burke, I demand an explanation. I but, my dear sir,

(21:07):
I am sure nothing was said. The old man dodged by,
ran to the edge of the platform and cried, in
a thin, high voice, do you mean my farm? My farm?
N Burke wants to buy. There was a momentary silence,
during which here and there could be heard long indrawn gasps. Then, abruptly,

(21:29):
Alex tore the bandage from his eyes, swept off the
hat and beard, and stepped to the front. There need
be no further mystery about this, he declared, in a
grimly steady voice. On the train this morning, Jack ore
and I accidentally overheard from Burke, came a scream. He

(21:49):
sprang forward with raised fists, faltered and suddenly, whirling about,
dashed down the aisle for the door and out, and
in the breathless silence, which followed. Alex completed his explanation
as the old man climbed the platform steps and extended
his shaking hand. The applause that burst from every corner
of the room fairly rattled the windows, and as the

(22:12):
uproar continued and Alex sprang hastily to the floor, he
was surrounded by a jostling, enthusiastic crowd of strangers, from
whom in vain he sought to escape. Some minutes later,
enjoying tea and cake in a circle which included the minister,
the latter smilingly remarked, but you haven't yet explained the
rest of the mysterious doings, Master Alex. Aren't you going

(22:36):
to enlighten us all around? Prefer to keep it a secret? Eh? Well,
if you will promise us another exposition, I'm sure we
will agree not to press you, declared the minister heartily.
And as matter of fact, save Kate, no one has
yet solved the mystery, not even the janitor, although, on

(22:56):
cutting the grass a few days later, he picked up
beneath one of the schoolroom windows an unaccountable piece of
fine copper wire. End of chapter