The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-16
u Joe baMddy's Courfsbip. K.

Not while father lives. Who but me
could get along with him? Please don't
ask me. dear
And so two fond hearts mourned.
Joe proposed tackling the old man
himself boldly demanding his daugh-
ter's hand; but Annie begged him not
to imperial what little comfort she had
in life. To his suggestion that she
might be able to talk her father over,
she replied that she had ever known
him to recede from a position he had
once taken. So they were obliged TO
content themselves with such clandes-
tine meetings as they could get, though
they found them far from satisfactory.
Old Dave had run one side of the
steamboat express for years, and he
tyrannized over his partner, easy-go-
ing Harry Joyce, as he did over every
body else. Dave owned the engine,
and everything pertaining to her; there
was no disputing that. In the big bliz-
zard of 49, poor Harry stayed with her
in a snowdrift for thirtysix hours, and
went home and died of pneumonia a
week later.
Everybody said it was a happy re-
/ lease.
/ Joe Halliday, being the senior freight
engineer, was promoted to the vacancy.
| Here was a combination with ven
! geance, Joe would much have pre-
/
| turn for a passenger train. Annie was
| thrown into a state of mind, and all
hands on the road kept their ears
metaphorically inclined for the epic
! sion. Dave said nothin, and nobody
| had the temerity to ask his opinion.
Thee was one enormous gain. any
way: Joe and Dave were never at
home on the same day; consequently
| the proverbially rocky road of true
! love Immediately assumed a smooth
ness most delightful. With Dave 100
miles I'D the road the young couple
felt safe in deserving the gate In faVor
of the parlor
The steamboat train was always late.
on this end, the steamers delayed II,
anywhere from 10 to 80 minutes, anu,
of course lots of things can happen to
Law ont a fast eastbound train between
Chicago and tide water. Dave had al
WAYS opposed tearing the engine 10
pieces and burning coal to make up an
extra five minutes. So poor harry
for the sake OF peace-had alwa-rs run
lust as Dave told him to. But Joe was
ambitious: old fogy notions has no
charms for him. He began making
changes at once. He keyed her up all
round, took up lost motion all over
her. started up the feed on the oil cups,
crawled into the front end ana did
things to the diaphragm and noZzle,
and swedged open the meshes OF the
spark netting to let her breathe He
got the valves reset, by promising TO
stand between the roundhouse fore
man and cranky Dave. He famllar-
lied himself with and mastered her
net vices, spread the light to con-
ductors. enthused the fireman, and
went for a new record
Joe said nothing to Annie of the new
methods he was inaugurating. but her
father became well nigh unbearable;
however. she saw Joe every other day,
so the law of compensation more than
evened matters up.
Dave snorted about in futile rage for
a week. He told his troubles to no one;
would hardly admit of their existence
himself 1t was incomprehensible that
"a kid Just off of freight should pre-
sumo to maui about and overhaul his
engine But there was no let-up to the
dissertation. and at last it became I'M
bearable: so down he came one morn
ing before Joe got away. Stepping up
to him with the air of a man who was
bound to do or die, he said:
Say, young man, if you can't git
along with this engine the way she is.
you better look for another job; I'm
gittin' about sick o this monkey bust