Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-15

or he thought he had; and. since green Is
merely "slow" signal. he had done no
more than to shut of the steam until he
saw the rear end of the passenger train
blocking the way.
There was no time to fight II out on the
ground, but both crews remarked that
after the first burst OF profanity Macart-
ney shut up like clam And when the
two trains were once more speeding on
| their way Macartney's fireman noticed
that his mate did not climb to the box.
He stood down on the footplate. with his
left hand gripping the throttle-a thing he
had been doing a good deal of late, as
Tom Barkley remembered.
Mccartney did not tell Phemie how near
her bit OF dress had come to figuring In
was so preoccupied as to be almost rude.
she was kinder to him than she had ever
oeen before-as Is the manner of women.
Nevertheless, he went back to his board
| ing house shortly after Agent Treadwell
returned from supper, and did not wait to
take Premie home, as was his custom.
There be some things that will strike a
man dumb even In the presence of the girl
| Of his heart, and Mccartney had fallen
| upon one Of these things-or rather, it had
fallen upon him.
On his next lay-over In Grand Butte Ma
cartney turned up at the office OF the
division surgeon.
What's that you say, Mac-want to
take the eye test? said the kindly little
SeHtteHQan WnOm the men on the DIVISION
called the "bone-jointer."
You're the first man on the road to
come in for that till he had to. What's
wrong with your"
But thought I'd like to be put through
again. And, say. doc; make 1t binding"
Surgeon Kinnebrew did make Il binding"
as binding as IL the blond giant were try
counter. 1t was all to no purpose, so far
as any discoverable flaw In Macartney's
eyes1ght was concerned. He could distin-
guish perfectly not only the primary colors,
but all the intermediate shades to the very
blending point Of blue and green by lamp
light.
Yes" said Mccartney; but there was no
assurance in him.
What made you think you were not?"
Two or three little things that l can't
explain; red and white getting tangled. or
seeming to get tangled, once in a WHILE
TITS that ID electric headlight"
growled the little doctor. i've told 'em 1t
would ruin every pair Of eyes on the road"
Yes, but"
But what?'
light"
:'oho; did. Ell? Then it's your liver, most
likely. Be careful of what you eat, and
make sure of your sleep; no overtime, mind
you, till the symptom disappears alto
gether | suppose by rights L ought to lay
you or, but l shant. You know your re-
sponsibility, and I'm going to trust you not
to take any bad chances"
Thank you, doc" and Mccartney went
to get some of the pretermitted sleep on
the spot
For a fortnight after this there were no
more Symptoms and Mccartney began
to breathe freer-and to run less like a
man whose nerve Is evaporating More
over. he won golden encomiums in his mas
terly handling of the fast mail. There was
a SoOO government penalty for the nom
delivery OF the mail on schedule time at
70 60.
this the company gave its mail engineers a
substantial bonus for all the lost time re-
gained on any divisional run. Macs DO
nus fund grew with every trim. and as
Phemie seemed to interest herself shyly In
its accumulation. Mccartney took courage
and put in his dead time in Grand Butte
haunting the housefurnishing shops
But the diappearance of the ''symptoms"
proved to be only temporary. Once again
when he was passing a freight train at a
blind siding, with the 507 plunging along at
sputtered and turned first blue and then
red. But it went white again before he
could do anything more than shut off
steam; SO nothing worse than another of
the terrible nerve-shakings came of this
Yet 1t was enough to send him to Phemie
In despair; and the next evening when thew
were alone together in the office at Lone
Pine' he made clean breast of his trou-
bleS eye-wise.
You poor boy!" she said Che was five
years her senior and big enough to make
TWO such men as her father, why didn't
you tell me before?"
Il haven't had the heart to tell anvhodv
You see, 1t means lot to me, Phemie If
ADMIT 1t as fact, I've got to throw I'D
my job"
1T would mean lot to any one Can't
you account for it in any way?'
NO Doc kinnebrew said it was liver
put, pshaW! m as strong as mule and as
well as man can be and not burst
she was sewing on piece of red stuff he
mad bought for her, and for a time her
needle flew in silence Then she said: Has
t.have You ever thought that somebody
might be playing tricks on you?"
"Macartney's tilted chair came TO the
floor with crash. by Georger' he said:
then he shook his head. II thought / had
a notion: but it won't fit all the times
rel me-, she commanded.
THE first time it happened was whom T
was passing Bart Logan's train at MAYER
lex. The next time 1 was dead-healing
with him on No. 49, Last night it was his
IRAN again that was passing at the blind
siding. But he had nothing to do with the
rlp-up on Jack mountain. He was in Grand
Butte that day
Il am afraid he has a spite at you, John.
and know he Is desperate man You
must be very careful"
That was all she would say, but it was
enough to send Mccartney off with his
neart ahre; also with a firm determination
10 lay the whole matter before the stlpar-
intenoent at the first opportunity. So much
ne owed to himself, to the company and to
those whose lives he held in his hand on
the arroW-fiight bursts of the fast mail
But the climax came first, as clinlaxes
are wont to come. When Mccartney reach
ed Grand Butte on his return trip the
superintendent was away, and Mac went
west again the following day. with the fast
mail hours late, stiff head wind blowing
a gale to make it still later, and eyery-
body swearing at the tangle the DELAYED
train with despotic rights was bound to
bring about on the division.
1t was day of petty disasters First a
not box under one of the mail cars began
TO XIII time. Then a freight train iunloed
the iron on the main line and threw the
mail still farther off, with three-hour wait
while the wrecking crew was picking nm
the remains Last of all, the 5O7 slipped
an eccentric, and though Mac and his fire.
man worked like madmen to set it, another
hour went to the bad.
Taking it all in all. Mccartney did as
wei! as the best man on the division
could have done under like hard con-
ditions. but it was long past dark when
the fast mail Numbered into the deem
mountain valley where Lone Pine nestIes
at the end Of the Mountain division.
Two miles east Of the station. when
Mccartney was getting the last possible
wheel-turn out of the 507 in a final spurr
a bot,