The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1898-06-04
lane CREEK was a rallroa'

uiN iSiOuul TEL inildl 1T NtitNA - W.
in the midst of Il scrubhy pine forest
with n sandy road crooking out from
the trees on one side and into the trees
OH the other. There were only two or
three houses, a little general store will
a porch like the visor of a military cap,
and a schoolhouse, all arranged in a
scraggy row along the railroad track.
The dusty red depot was an oasis in
the midst of a finder desert, with Il
great many telegraph wires singing
overhead.
A dozen trains whirled through Kane
Creek every day with only a shrek of
greeting and a whipping wake of fine
sand. Only two of them paid the slight
est attention TO the girl In a blue glng-
ham dress who stood in the little OBJ
servation window. One of them was
the way freight, which stopped al
Kane every time 1t came along while
the conductor handed the girl a bundle
of yellow papers and received another
Ike ii IN return. The other was The
night express. westward bound. from
ST. Paul. and running at forty miles an
hour. II was n splendid train-ten
cars. with the finest engine on the road,
big No. COG. As Its glaring eye flashed
around the bend in the direction of
Mercer the girl in the glngham dress
often thought of the great train as a
powerful and feroclous beast snortlng
and roaring westward on a race with
the sun, and she knew the hand that
trained II. When the train was a mile
away there We're always two blasts of
the whistle. Every one in Kane
thought they meant simply wake up,
look outi.i for that is what all locomo-
tiyes say at every crossing. but the girl
In the Bingham dress heard Hello.
Polly and darted out on the platform
and waved her handkerchief. As the
great train Numbered nearer a hand
was thrust from the engineers win.
dow, aud, although il was usually dark
she could see the futter Of something
white, and oftentimes as the engine
darted past the station she heard the
blurred sound of n voice and caught n
glimpse of a grimy face and a blue Jean
jacket. and then she went back to her
place In the little station with a sigh of
eontentment.
For 1t was n moment Of great Joy to
Polly Marshall when her fathers en-
CINE went through. Polly was the sta
ton agent at Kane Creek. Any one
could have told that a woman presided
in the little depot, for was there not al
ways n bouquet in the window and
dainty pictures surrounding the grimy
time tables on the walls and a kitten
curling upon the doorstep? At II Polly
has gone in MS assistant to learn teleg.
raphy. and when Clark, the agent. was
called to Mercer the company had left
the Independent girl in charge. She
and her father lived In one of the
wooden houses a stones throw back
from the depot, and since Polly's moth
er died they had been everything to
each other.
Engineer Marshall was a big, silent
man, and his companions, some of
them, thought him gruff and ill-tem-
pered. but TO Polly he was always MS
tender as n kitten. Often when she
was n little girl he took her with him
10 Mercer on his engine, and while she
sat on his black leacther seat at the
cab window. cllnglng On with both
hands. he explained TO her how the big
black creature under them was started
and stopped; what this brass crank
was for. and how, when the engine
~squeaked here or %squaeked there. a lit
tie oil was needed In this cup or In that
clevice, and Polly had learned to know
an engine as well as she knew the neat
little pantry In the house at home. In
deed, she had more than once managed
the levers and throttle, although 1t was
very heavy work for a girl to do.
1t was one night late in the fall that
Folly Marshall had need of all her
knowledge of engines. She was sitting
at her desk in the little observation
window, a shaded light throwing its
rays down on her telegraph lnstru.
ments and the sounding key clicking
sleeplly. Suddenly she was startled
by the call OF her number. Instantly
her fingers sought the keys, and she
gave the answer that signlfed that she
was all attention.
Look out for -" clicked the sound
er, and then II suddenly ceased, ant
try as she would Polly could get NJ
further communication from the sta
ton next to the eastward. What coulG
the trouble be? Polly sprang to he
feet, remembering that the night ex
press of which her father was the en-
gineer was the next train cue. Coull
anything be the matter? She ran on
on the dark platform to see that he
lights were all In place and that tn
switches were properly set, so that tn
express would slip past the station
without an accident. Then she wen
back and called up Mercer.
Cant you get Plnckney?' she asked
Pinckney was the station which ha'
sent her the warning dispatch so mys
ferrous interrupted. She knew the OPT
rator at P~inckney well. Every nigh
he told her Of the approach of her ratt
er's train and whether or not 1t la
left his station on time.
"Pinckney quiet. Can't get answer,
was the report of the wires. what
the troubleT"
Polly answered as well as she coulC
and Mercer made another attempt I
arouse Pinckney.
Her fathers train was now due.