Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-12-25
THE NIGHT
WAS DARK
BY G. E. Dipewall.
Copyright, 1901, by C. E, Dingwall.



Up A DHETuER this is n love
VA MA ~ story or not Won viii
AH AE have to iudre for vour.
w W. self Tho Incidents are
" " somewhat MACMILLAN and
/ have never been able TO decide MS to
its character in that respect.
Kirby is married. and / will make the
assertion with the confidence of ono
who knows that man who is ON.
ployed by any of the big contractors
Jumping from one place ia another six
months or n year here md thcn off to
some Other mart of tho country nor
haps a couple of thousand miles away.
for another six months or n veor nnd
mixing up daily with the class of
which n good nort of controctor,s
force is composed and spending his nav
every nav night rs the majority do.
has no right to have n woman fled to
him. 1t is far from fair to the woman
1t is cruel. IT is the. one hight on
Kirby's upright and honorable though
somewhat adventurous career.
1t was when we were up in central
Wisconsin double tracking piece of
railroad that the accident here related
occurred. The accident was Kirby's
marriage. We had n long stretch of
line to be double tracked that year,
with considerable altering of the orig
inal grades and curves, making neces-
sary almost half mile of very heavy
rock cut and a long and high fill across
a valley on the new alignment. Our
construction Office. warehouse and re-.
pair shops were at Antioch, a central
point for all of the work. We estab.
lished the office in residence which
we had rented for the purpose. We
lived up stairs and had n negro cook
to prepare our meals and look to our
comfort after business hours.
Kirby and Chaplin, Triggers by trade,
ran two pile drivers that were employ
ed in building light and temporary
trestle across the valley for the dump
cars that would be used in building up
this high Flip or embaniment when
we began making the accompanying
cut in the neighboring hill. This was
some 10 or II miles down the road
from Antioch. Kirby and Chaplin and
the pile driver engineers, the time
keeper and some of the railroads en-
cheering help boarded and lodged at a
small country hotel near the FILL" that
was kept in style commensurate with
his rates by one Conrad. We had near
ly n thousand men on that work, all in
camps distributed along the line of the
railroad.
1t happened this way:
Kirby had been ordered down to the
site of the rock cutting to erect der.
rick, and to do this he would have to
get IN very early in the morning and
drive to Antioch. at which point he
would board construction train going
down the line with men and materials.
He made his nreparations the night be.
fore, grumbling all the while at his Ill
luck at having to leave his warm bed
on a dark. cold and probably wet De.
cember morning. ordered his rig for
$3.50 and crept beneath his blankets be-
fore the other boarders had ceased
their usual nightly hilarity in the rooms
below.
Chapin was among the last to turn
in, Chapin is a sound sleeper under
ordinary circumstances. but the night
was very cold. no fire was in his room,
and the only means of heating was a
smoke pine from the stove in the sa-
loon below. which passed I'M through
his sleeninr chamber. That gave off
little or no warmth when the fire burn.
ed low. Chanin awole in the middle
If the night. and. the cold preventing
him from pettinp ia sleen again. he
iumned ont of he'd with the intention
of finding additional covering. The
nronrietor was of n frugal nature. he
lieyinp NOT in the lnxuries of this life
and nroyided no fleecy blankets read,
Mt flo foot of tbe he'd for use in mr.
emergency In truth IT was very mucl
in fills hotel as in most others enconn
tered on contract work when avn,
from cities n cose of the hest man get
fine tho available comforts or the foot
on the table. for That matter. and thu
rest uatt;np what tbev could
So Cbonin NOT finding in his room
what ba souoht for sailed out into tb,
hall and fried tho doors of tbe rooms
nm tbot floor All wern locked wifi,
tho excention of the last ono Mt tbe end
of tbn hail which was Kirbv,s This
be onenod and stennod in he pronef
his way to the he'd and ottemnted +,
orouso tho sleaner and intores+ hin, In
tbe search for warmth Thinking thot
nossiblv Kirbv might have an extra
blanket IN his he'd or in his room.
ooh J<irbv,o he said There was nc
answer.
''Kirby, got any blanketsY
The sleeper snored on, blissfully un
conscious of the other mans dilemma.
Say, you, let me have blanket
continued Chaplin.
Kirby did not move. Chaplin did az
he would have been done by.
"Well, then" lie said, ~ will take
them" And. gathering up handful
OF blankets, he remorselessly Jerked
thp COVERING from IL iphv and rtlShpT