Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-01-06
HAND CAR 4l2, C. P. R.

For the last hour the construction train
had been travelling slowly; for a whole hour
it mad cautiously stumbled over the looSened
fShpiate5 with mCnotonous chuggcty chuls,
chunEety chunk that had long ceased to
awaken any interest. sympathetic or other
wise, in our drOwsy minds Finally stopped
altogether with a jerk, as if it had suddenly
but conclusiyely realized the vanity OF any
further effort The astonished cars pulled at
:heir pins and pounded their buffers Is if in
angry e11pC5tulation al this freak Of the loco
motive. and some Of the men offered ener-
getic advice to the Deity as 10 what ultimate
course 20 pursue with the management OF the
road IL general and the long freight links in
particular Cant help it, can't help it,"
said the brakeman as he came along the top
OF the box car ahead. THE rails have spread,
and it1l be two hours, maybe three, before
we start her Up again"
But the time passed The train still waited,
and we began to grumble st0utlv, wondering
why, in the name OF various places and
things, they chose to daily in such a dismal,
godforsaken spot. 1t WIS raining ct Rat
Crossing; in fact it had been raining slowly,
steadily, for two days with a certain desper-
ate pertinacity. There had been 10 previous
drought TO render such an abundance OF
water desirable: in the country through
which w01&ssed we had noticed 20 fields Of
parched wheat. no whitening trees. no drooD-
ing vegetables. 10 thirsty cattle. TO Travelled
roads OF which The dISt required having On
the contrary, the lakes were all fulI to over
flowing, the rivers swollen, the ravines
drowned, the swamrs soaked and the tanks
So full that the relief pipes poured forth
continuous stream of scattering expostuia-
ton
Notwithstanding this lavish excess OF water
the air seemed no fresler than before tho
storm, when the Thermometer in the caboase
registered % degs. on the shady side OF the
track. Both front ana side doors we're wide
open, and some OF the boys in vain en-
deavor TO produce a passing sensation OF
freshness. sat down in the semi fluid puddles,
covered with Il film Of cinders, and dangled
their legs in the pour outside But to no pur~
pose; the air was dead, the water and
we continued to stitie and glowl.
The view from tne car was not interesting
To the LETT, a. lar as we corld see through the
endless, unfolding curtain of rain, dismal
rauskeg swamp stretched away 10 the south
of the t:-clc',, broken only by rare clamps Of
ragged taIrafacz. Both slopes of the bank
were covered hE long beds OF pink firewecd
varied yi-L pa1ches OF soggy pigeon grass,
and to tne no~.a icy the desOlate waste Of
b!7Ile tirouga which we had been travelling
for mtcrnliacbe hours. Here and there
among Tie sAiay black poles OF TIE burnt
trees lit e buari.cs Of ''popples' rusted their
loose leaves with q nervous activity that
seemed ouJ oS place r. tie dead quiet OF their
sJiIroundiu.7s, and their silly, feeble futtsr-
ing, like the barking Of q frightened cur, vas
so transporting th2J We could scarcely re
frain frol;i throwing a stone at ri,e s1iyaring
things and ca,iac ont: "On, shut up!"
The unGo-brllsh was thin, and The ridges
Of pink cro.ss. b2ndej With black. thrust
their bare, smooth surfaces through the
notified !n5ss Ike great pocknarled
shoulders Of Si2:-t5 protIudiIg from
their tattcre2 shirts: III the gullies
between thr.n tho Egater gprgled disEnaliy
below the tango 81 dead t'se5 and ran away
under glossy pigeon berry leaves on to which
the grolea4Jc BiteAer i:snts, opening wide
their Ids. poured their surplus water. Save
by the p2t.cro Of tla rain ca the car top and
the plshp:siii,lg Ui ia engine Glowing of
steam. the s. .al.cs WAS abao,-te. and rendered
only more 5scvIo:,ad b TIC booming crash Of
a falling tee. Nothing moved but the crazy
ronIsr re-. ana once more we nlarve:ed at
the vecllle.,,ll..3 c. the men who had built {,
railroad THROUGH the dead, barren wilderness
where there Mas nothing but rock, water and
burnt timber
Besides our party OF engineers, detailed on
remeasl.renlept work, there were two sti'an-
gers in tho car; thcy had blank passes from
the chief and were gong west; &s they kept
TO themselves. talking together most OF the
time and pos seeming 10 care for our com
pany. wo had paid no especial attention to
them. TveIv man oF Il, however, turned
suddenly as tas younger Of the two, speaking
eycitedgv ia :. lut4 T. s.Fcr GINS tone, inten-
siGei by 4 s.rong tEan.-, sad 20 hls com
pa,,iop:
~ tell vor. Morton, tnat man Matt Muir
rhy was the bis.-Cs5 coward tn. over walked
his Garth: .ia.s dom ysa -ofEeJ it,
Tho inloua15on Of Jae mans voice was sc
vicious. 50 mean. ina. We all fei, convinced
that the statement was i..isc. and although
utterly i.pu,,la. OF the facts each of us felt
An instructive desire II contradict him. But
before anyone could think of what 10 say 3
deep voice from tie end 0; the car condensed
,u,r feelings IN the energetic and laconic an
swer:
That's a -- Ge"
The speaker. JacA Collins, was the queteS
n,sn on the staG and had acquired a certain
reputation Tor Winding ncbodyS business bu
his own. Jack was somewhat Of an enigma
to US all; we dii not understand, but We al
liked him, Tor he had q way Of doing SINAI
charities and helping the boys in pinch thai
showed & truly 5000 nature anu Z "asH
-. \, h,3 H.. name NJ Ieinr- :