The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-03-09
HAND CAR ALI, c. P. R.

ma Ocen Iravelng slowly; Tor q whole hour
it had cautiously stumbled over the loosened
fishplates with a monotonous chuggety chug,
chunkety chunk that had long ceased to
awaken any interest, sympathetic or other
wise, in our drowsy minds. Finally it stopped
altogether with a jerk, rs if it had suddenly
but conclusively realized the vanity Of any
further effort The astonished cars pulled at
their pins and pounded their buffers as if in
angry expostulation at this freak of the loco
motive, and some Of the men offered ener-
getic advice to the Deity as to what ultimate
course to pursue with the management of the
road in 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. 1.-THE rails have spread,
and it'll be two hours, maybe three, before
We start her up again"
But the time passed, the train still waited.
and we began to grumble stoutly, wondering
why, in the name of various places and
things, they chose to daily in such a dismal,
godforsaken spot. 1t was raining at Rat
Crossing; in fact it had been raining slowly,
steadily, for two days with a certain desper-
ate pertinacity. There had been no previous
drought to render such an abundance Of
water desirable; in the country through
which we passed We had noticed no fields of
parched wheat, no whitening trees, no droop-
ing vegetables, nc thirsty cattle, no Travelled
roads on which the dust required laying. On
the contrary, the lakes We're all full to over
flowing, the rivers swollen, the ravines
drowned, the swamps soaked and the tanks
SO full that the relief pipes poured forth a
continuous stream of scattering expostula-
ton
Notwithstanding this lavish excess of water
the air seemed no fresher than before the
storm, when the Thermometer in the caboose
registered 81 dogs. on the shady side of the
track. Both front and side doors were wild
open, and some of the boys, in a vain en-
deavor to produce a passing sensation Of
freshness, sat down in the semi-fuid puddles,
covered with a film of cinders, and dangled
their legs in the pour outside. But to no pur-
pose; the dir was dead, the water warm and
We continued to stifle and growl.
The view from the car was not interesting.
To the left, as far as we could see through the
endless, unfolding curtain of rain, a dismal
muskeg swamp stretched away to the south
Of the track, broken only by rare clumps of
ragged tamarack. Both slopes of the bank
were covered by long beds Of pink freweed
varied with patches of soggy pigeon grass,
and to the north lay the desolate waste Of
brule through which we had been travelling
for interminable hours. Here and there
among the shiny black poles of the burnt
trees little punches of peoples rustled their
loose leaves with a nervous activity that
seemed out Of place in the dead quiet Of their
surroundings, and their silly, feeble futter-
ing, like the barking Of a frightened cur, was
so exasperating that we could scarcely re
frain from throwing q stA:ae at the shivering
things and calling out: "Oh, shut up!"
The underbrush was thin, and the ridges
Of pink gneiss, banded with black, thrust
their bare. smooth surface through the
mottled moss like great pockmarked
shoulders Of giants %pro;Gs.ing from
their tattered shirts; in the gullies
between them the water gurgled dismally
below the tangle of dead trees, and ran away
under glossy pigeon berry leaves, on to which
the grotesque pitcher plants, opening wide
their lids, poured their surplus water. Save
by the patter Of the rain on the car top and
the pishpishing of the engine blowing off
st4au., the silence was absolute, and rendered
only more profound by the booming crash Of
a falling tree. Nothing moved but the crazy
poplar trees, and once more we marveled at
the recklessness of the men who had built q.
railroad through the dead, barren wilderness
where there was nothing but rock, water and
burnt timber.
Besides our party of engineers, detailed on
re:neasurement work, there were two stran-
gers in the car; they had blank passes from.
the chief and were going west; as they kept
to themselves, talking together most Of tbs
time and not seeming to care for our COM
paay, we had paid no especial attention to
them. Every man Of US, however, turned
suddenly as the younger Of the two, speaking
excitedly in u loud, staggering tone, inten-
eiFoA hv n sfrrnu fu-0nr sold IN h;S no~
panion:
~ tell you, Morton, that man Matt Muir
ply was the biggest coward that ever walked
this Garth; now don't you forget it!'
The information of the mans voice was so
vicious, SO mean, that VI all felt convinced
that the statement was false, and although
utterly ignorant Of the facts each Of us felt
Oh instructive desire to contradict HIM. But
before anyone could think of what to say q
deep voice from the end Of the car condensed
our feelings in the energetic and laconic an
swer: %mm m.@.M@.M .m.. @
That's d -- ie!.7
The speaker. Jack Collins, was the quietest
man on the staff and had acquired a certain
reputation for minding nobody's business but
his own. Jack was somewhat Of al enigma
to us all; we did not understand, but We all
liked him, for he had a way Of doing small
charities and helping the boys in pinch that
showed q truly good nature and q warm
heart. What his exact work was none
Of us knew; he had the name Of being a
good locator and explorer, especially among
the older men, with whom lie usually asso-
ciated; his reports never passed through
our Office, and no complaints were ever made
about the irregularity Of his work; he al
WAYS went of before Office hours with his
-1rn~oce o~1 ro$o hooE h,cf tho ~ not IN.
frequently found him lying in a secluded cor
ner reading or sleeping with his book be-
side him. He was a large, powerful fellow,
with a heavy beard that concealed half his
face. of which the only remarkable features
were a strong, determined mouth and long,
slanting black eyes that kept moving slowly
round from left to right and suddenly jumped
back to their starting point. Sometimes,
when we pressed him very hard, he told us
story or some adventure which had happened
t. him, and it was only then that his eyes
were at rest, void of expression, as If he were
reading from some far way book. He spoke
slowly, but well, in q low, even voice that
commanded the attention Of his hearers; we
never questioned the truth of his stories, and
whenever any statement seemed a trifle &
travagant we acknowledged that it must oe
oar fault if We could not understand tho cir
cums:ances. "m"
For q moment after mis- usually emphatic
denial no one spoke; the stranger had riser
at once, but seeing that Jack did not move
he sat down again, filled q fresh pipe, an6
waited. Jack was sitting on the floor at the
end Of the car looking down pensively at the
revolver that hung from his belt; after 8
short pause he looked up at the ceiling, and
in his usual slow way he told us the story OF
Matt Murphy's last work on the road.
1t had happened two years before; Iurphy
was then road master at Campbelrs Point.
and far from being thought a coward, he was
looked upon as the only man on the line who
had pluck enough to run q snow pillow at the
head Of five engines into a choked cut, and
stand firm when every plank fairly quivered
under the strain. One day, while he was
doing in his Office, for Matt was lazy when
he had nothing to do, the door opened with
q bang, and the operator, in a state Of breath.
less excitement, ran into the room.
There's q bush fire below the long bridge,
Mr.. Murphy" he called out; 1.-THE wind is
this way, and the Pacific Emigrant is due in
an hour. What the devil shall we dor
Matt started in his chair and repeated the
mans words in a dazed sort of way. bush
fre-and they are due in an hour. Ny God"
Then he got up, staggered across the room
and leaned against the wall. The baggage
master, who had overheard, stepped in from
the adjoining Office, and the operator, with q
shrug of his shoulders, turned to him and
said in q perplexed way:
"Murphy's drunk as u~sual-whatis to be