Bound to be an Electrician/Chapter 15
CHAPTER XV.
A MIDNIGHT MYSTERY.
It did not take very deep reasoning upon the part of the young electrician to determine that Felter and Nolan were out for no good purpose. Had their errand been a legitimate one they would, doubtless, have chosen a more fitting time. Besides, what Nolan had said about the watchman being off had given Franklin a clew as to where they were bound.
"They are going to the factory," he thought. "And it is nearly eleven o'clock! What can be in the wind?"
Felter and Nolan were floundering through the snow drift, and to avoid being seen by them the young electrician stepped toward the nearest building and crouched down behind a big box used for coal. A minute later the two factory hands passed him and continued on their way toward the fan works.
Franklin did not hesitate long in making up his mind as to what to do
"I'll follow them and see what they are up to," he said to himself. "Perhaps I may be instrumental in stopping some big crime—a robbery or something."
The young electrician wished that there had been a policeman in sight, that he might have enlisted the officer's sympathies in the shadowing of the suspected ones. But on such nights as this guardians of the peace are hard to find.
Felter and Nolan took the most direct route to the factory, passing through several narrow streets and alleyways, and never pausing excepting to catch their breath after making their way through some unusually high snowdrift. Evidently they did not dream of being followed, for neither of them looked back once during the entire trip.
Arriving at the factory yard, they walked along the high board fence until they came to a place where there was a loose board. This they shoved to one side, and a second later both disappeared from view.
With his heart beating somewhat stronger than usual, Franklin crept up to the opening in the fence and peered into the yard. The darkness and snow hid all but the gray factory building from view, and after a brief deliberation the young electrician followed in the footprints of those who had preceded him.
Franklin wished that he possessed a weapon of some sort. He was without even a stick, and he realized that should he be discovered by Felter and Nolan the two might make things decidedly warm for him.
"They'll have something to fight for," he reasoned, "and it will be much more than such a struggle as we had before."
But if he could prevent it, the young electrician wished to remain undiscovered, and with this end in view he moved forward with extreme caution across the yard and into an angle of the building.
Fortunately the wind had died away and it was now still, so that by straining his ears Franklin was able to hear the conversation of the two factory hands as they moved about not many yards away.
"Is the window unlocked?" he heard Nolan ask, after a slight scraping sound, similar to that which a person would make in climbing upon a stone window sill.
"Yes, the window is unlocked all right enough," Felter replied. "But it sticks a good deal. Brace my left foot a bit, will you?"
Franklin heard Nolan move around and then detected a slight squeak. The squeak was repeated several times as the window Felter was opening stuck, owing to the snow packed in the frame.
"Don't make too much noise," cautioned the Irish boy. "Somebody may hear you from the street."
"Oh, it ain't likely there is anybody around," returned Felter. "Now it's open. Who goes in, you or I?"
"I—I don't know," faltered Nolan. "Let's toss up for it."
"We can't toss up in the snow."
"Then here. I'll put a cent in one of my hands. The fellow who gets it goes in. Which hand do you take?"
"The left," returned the Irish boy, after a moment of indecision.
"You've won and I go in," said Felter, a little crestfallen. "Mind now and keep a strict watch. Have you got the bottle?"
"Yes, here it is."
Something wrapped up in a paper was passed over, and then Felter climbed through the open window into the workshop.
While he was gone Mike Nolan tramped about the yard and listened intently. More than once Franklin fancied he would be discovered, but each time Nolan just missed him.
The young electrician was curious to learn what Felter was doing inside the works, but he was destined, for the present, to be kept in the dark. The visit inside did not last over two minutes, and during that time Franklin was too busy keeping out of Nolan's way to see or listen for anything further.
When Felter came out again he closed the window carefully and ran to where Nolan was standing.
"Is it all right?" questioned the Irish boy, eagerly.
"Yes," was the laconic answer. "Come on, before some one sees us."
"Don't get scared at the last minute," returned Mike Nolan, who, now that the secret task was accomplished was inclined to put on a bold front.
"If you were so brave why didn't you go in," returned Felter, with something of a sneer. "Come on, I say." and off he started through the fence, with the Irish boy losing no time in trotting off behind.
Franklin was in a quandery, not knowing whether to follow the pair or go and report the secret midnight visit. He half expected to see a blaze start up or hear an explosion, but nothing of the sort occurred, everything remained as dark and quiet as before.
"It's queer, to say the least," he muttered to himself. "They would never come here at this hour of the night unless the trip was an important one. I wonder if Felter stole something?"
This was not unlikely, but Franklin could not think of anything in the shop worthy of so much trouble and so much risk. The loose tools were of small value and the machines were too heavy to be moved by a single person.
"He didn't have time to go through the shop and break into the office," speculated the young electrician. "I would give all I am worth to know just what he did do."
By this time the pair outside were well on their way, and, wondering where they were now bound, Franklin slipped through the fence and made after them.
Felter and Nolan lived in the same tenement row, and in less than half an hour Franklin tracked them to their homes.
It was now after twelve o'clock. The wind had come up once more and it was snowing again. Franklin stood on the corner for five minutes turning matters over in his mind, then, chilled to the bone, he walked to his boarding house, resolved to let matters rest until morning.
The young electrician slept but little that night. Half a dozen times he started up, certain he had heard the fire bells and that the factory was in flames. At five oclock he was up and dressed and ready for breakfast. No sooner had the meal been served than he packed his lunch basket and started for the fan works.
He was half an hour too early, and the doors were still closed. When at last the sleepy timekeeper did appear and open up, the young electrician was the first hand inside.
He looked around, but could see nothing which looked as if it had been disturbed.
"If I wasn't sure it was otherwise, I would think I had been dreaming," he said to himself. "Now, what in the world did they do last night?"
The workmen began to arrive one after another, the last batch straggling in just as the seven o'clock whistle blew. The whistle had not yet ceased its hoarse note when Franklin set to work, resolved to earn something extra that day, something to be spent in delicacies for Harry Leclair.
He worked on without interruption for a quarter of an hour. In the meantime Felter, Nolan and Jackson came in, but none of them appeared to notice the young electrician.
Suddenly Franklin felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and looking up he saw Mr. Buckman standing beside him.
"Out of my way a moment. Bell," said the superintendent, and he pushed Franklin rudely to one side.
Then the drawer of the bench in which Franklin kept some of his tools was pulled open and Mr. Buckman felt around in it and soon brought forth a bottle wrapped in a newspaper.
"So I have found you out at last, Bell, have I?" cried the superintendent, wrathfully. "I thought I would if I kept quiet long enough. You can march up to the office and get your pay."
"But, Mr. Buckman, what does it mean?" gasped the young electrician, taken completely by surprise.
"You know well enough, Bell, and I'll tell you right here that I won't waste words with you. After that machine was broken I thought I would give you another chance, but now you shall not remain in these works another hour, no, not another minute. Take your hat and coat and get your pay and leave, and don't let me ever catch you around here again."