about
noon
On the return trip Ralph kept a sharp lookout as they neared the cut . There was no second appearance of the Canaries , however , nor the next night , nor that following . The young engineer found no opportunity of visiting the place , but he kept his plan to do so constantly in mind . It was two days later as he made the short cut to the roundhouse about noon , that Ralph was greeted by a new discovery that fairly took his breath away . He had stepped aside to wait till a locomotive with one car attached passed the crossing . The peculiar oddness of the car at once attracted his attention . It was an old tourist car , used only on far western railroads .