The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-11-23


Walton from the surveyed line would en-
able passengers to get what's in our view
now. He asked how much the line
would be heightened by my plan. A
hundred yards, I answered. And SUBJ
mitted a map showing how the tracks,
after coming out from the tunnel, might
make small detour to this very spot in
stead of going behind mass of rocks
that will completely hide this'-and
comprehensive gesture of one arm fol-
lowed his sweep of vision.
Places that get their names on impulse
are apt to have appropriate ones. Camps
of railway makers in hitherto unbro-
ken country are not often miscalled. An
ensuing town on the same site may be
unmeaningly named as a permanency,
but the inspirations that afford tran
sient nomenclature, are usually descrip-
tive. 1t was so in the case of Overlook.
The railway tunneled through the
mountain and emerged at height of
thousand feet above wide valley. Mary
had daily, and all day long, sat overlook
ing the prospect.
at first, but familiarity had blunted the
keenness of her appreciation. AS shown
to her anew it was like fresh disclos-
ure. Gerald Heath stood holding the
boughs aside which otherwise obscured
part of the view. He appeared to feel
that if he was not the painter of this
enormous landscape he, at least, had the
proprietary interest of discoverer, and
it was with something of the air of an art
collector proudly extolling his choicest
possession that he turned his eyes from
it to Mary Warmer. The expression of
admiration on her face, although quiet
and delicate, was quite satisfactory, for
a moment only, and then the delight
passed out of her visage, as though ex-
PEELED by some physical pang. 1t was
the suddenness of the change, for it was
of itself very slight, that made it per-
ceptible. Gerald instinctively turned to
look for the cause.
Into the picture had come human
figure. A few yards in front of the hut
stood man. In relation to the landscape
far beyond he was gigantic, and the shade
CT the trees made him devilishy black by
contrast with the sunlight of heaven that
illumined the rest. He was thus for an
instant in silhouette. and it CHANGED that
his sharp outlines included facial pro-
file, with the points of mustache and
beard, giving satanic suggestion to an &C
cidental attitude of malicious intrusion.
/ The illusion was almost startling, but it
was momentary, and then the form be-
came the commonplace one of Tonic
Ravelli, who walked under the shelter.
! "Do-a I eentrude?' he asked, with an
Italian accent and an Italian bearing. 81
suppose no-eh? Thece ees plaza bees
ness?''
Mary's small departure from bust
nesslike, perfunctory manner ended at
once. She took the scrap of paper which
Ravelli laid on her desk, and without a
word translated its writing into tele-
graphic clicks. Ravelh was a sub-con-
tractor, and this was one of his frequent
communication with officials at the COM
ny'scity Office. The response was likely
to be immediate, and he waited for it.
''To get the full value of this view"
Gerald Heath resumed, and now he ad-
dressed himself to Mary directly, as
though with almost purpose of ignor-
ing Ravelli, to whose greeting he had
barely responded, you need to come
upon it suddenly-as I once did. We
had been for months blasting and dig
ging through the mountain. Every days
duty in that hole was like spell of i'm
prisonment in dark, damp dungeon.
And your men, Ravelli, looked like a
chain gang Of convicts."
''You woulda no dare say so mooch to
theira faces" Ravelli retorted, with an
insolence that was Enthusiastically inten-
tional.
"Oh, 1 didn't mean reflection on
Them" said Gerald, disregarding the
others quarrelsome aggressiveness. "We
all look rascally in the mud, drip and
CRIME of tunnel work. And your gang
of swarthy Italians are bound to have a
demoniac aspect under ground"
1t was more carelessly than intention
ally that Gerald thus provoked Ravelli
There had been dislike between them
growing out of friction between their
respective duties as a civil engineer and
sub-contractor, for the former was neces.
sarily a critic of the latter's work But
, they had never quarreled, and Gerald
saw nothing on this occasion, as Ravelli
seemed to, for any outbreak of temper.
''Bettare be civil witha your tongue,
Ravelli sneered.
"Well, think so, too, as we are with
, lady"
''Zat ees whya 1 inseest you treata me
: as one gentleman"
So it seemed that he was especially re-
, gardful of how he figured in the presence
, of Mary Warmer.
+ Like one gentleman? Oh, will treat
, you like two gentlemen-so politely,
: and Gerald began to again nonchalantlJ
white the birchen pole. II was going
, to tell how, when at last we broke
, through the rock at this end Of the tun
/ mel, l happened to be right there.
, blast tore out an aperture several fee1
wide. We saw daylight through the
, smoke. We rushed pell-,nell over the
! broken stone, and struggled with ont
, another to get through first. 1t was
why, it was you, Ravelli, wasn't it,
whom tusseled with, YES we gotintt
the breach together. You tried to pusl
3 me back. You couldn't-of course 20,
couldn't" and the narrator's reference
Y to his own superior strength was exas
t peratingly accompanied by glance no
: free from contempt.
4 ''Eet was-a all cen fun," Ravell
: smilingly explained to Mary, and the,