“We actually heard from the railmaster himself,” the older of the two signalman said.  “He said to tell you that nothing had changed, and that Phoenix was sending out a party on horseback rather than sending one of their locomotives. They have a good 30 miles to go, so if they’re lucky they reach the last signal tower that’s working at their end before nightfall. Oh, and there’s been no sign of any of the trains that disappeared. The Governor has been asking questions, because he had constituents with  the train that doesn’t seem to be here. Important constituents.”

“Very good,” Gordon said.  “Expect a lot of signal traffic, you’ll have to cope with it. A shame they haven’t gotten phone lines out to you yet. That was supposed to happen next month.  In any event, send my message ‘nothing out of the ordinary’  and wait for the repeat.”

After not long, the message was repeated by Prescott.  Gordon wandered back to the caboose to chivvy deputies and linemen back on board.  

Back at the locomotive, he tooted his whistle twice, and engaged the throttle. Once again, the locomotive and its three cars following gradually began rolling forward.

“No new news,” Gordon said.  “Winston, the railmaster said your granddad wanted you to tell him why compasses haven’t been working too good in this area for the last couple of years. Any idea? Mind you, railroad tracks stay put, so I really don’t have to worry about which way is north. It’s a double rail, so I just stay on the right.”

“Yes, sir,” Winston answered.  “He asked me a few times, so I borrowed one of his horses and enough gear, went out with a deputy some fair distance, and checked with several compasses. They were all pointing the same way, but sometimes it was the wrong way.  Sometimes it was the right way. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but when the north of the compass is pointing straight at the sunrise something isn’t right.”

“And you’re supposed to be a really sharp fellow,” Gordon said, “so if you couldn’t figure it out it must be strange.”

“Yes. Strange it was. I finally wrote off to several places on the East Coast where there are people who know a whole lot more about practical compasses than I do. I even tried the Navy. Yes, I can see it’s a desert, but the Navy worries a lot if their ship compasses stop working.”

“And here comes Tower Two,” Gordon said.  “Someday these signals will all be electrical, run from Phoenix or Prescott, but not quite yet. Not reliable enough on this major a route.”