Evening star., 1902-02-22

old, there is a flag station called Wood
Lake. so named, the section boss VIII tell
you, because there * neither tree nor d
duck pond within 1oO miles. 1T may De
that Bronco Pete got his sobriqnet on the
same principle of negations. since II Is d
matter of record that he did not KNOW d
horse from a mule and his payroll name
was John-John Simmons.
/ happened to be an involuntary wit
ness in the matter of the mule AS route
agent for the express company doing bust
ness over the c. and G. r, ! had frequent
occasion to go back and forth over the eN-
tension and on the morning in question |
had begged a seat in the engine cab. Com
ing down Whisky mountain grade a buncn
of horses grazing on the slope above the
right of way took fright. and, after racing
us for 1eD Yards, thundered down upon the
track ahead.
Pete winked solemnly at me, did what he
could to check the down grade flight of
the train, and shouted across the cab: Bet
/ kill one of en- in spite o hell. AND
so he did-an animal that looked to me like
a remarkably fine specimen of thorough
bred Normau-Percheron draft horse.
But not so to Pete. When we stopped to
take account of the damages he climbed
down and looked the quivering carcass OF
the giant thoroughbred over with lack
luster eyes.
There amt nothing on top o. Gods green
earth So ornery as derned mule. he OBJ
served And a mule he reported it.
1t was mere chance that l happened to
be on the engine at the time of the accl-
dent but ii was not altogether by chance
that Bronco Pete and / met in the division
superintendent office when the engineer
was called in to explain the mule super
intendent Savage had found out that was
a witness to the killing.
between the two, as they stood facing each
other across the office railing. Ths super
intendent was big and square-shouldered,
born driver of other men, with bushy
iron-gray beard. and eyes that shot cold
fire at delinquent. Bronco Pete was
gaunt and thin and sallow, with stoop IN
his shoulders and shuttle in his walk, ana
eyes that made you think OF a sledge-dos
fogged TO heel; or of the ESkimos desert
cousin, the coyote.
How about that Percheron of Byram $
that you killed last week? The one you re-
ported as a mule?'' rasped the master.
Pete looked up with a smile that Wouid
have softened any heart save that OF
division superintendent.
Now who's been a-lyin' to you-all about
that ornery old mule. Capn Savage! Er
have they got out a new breed o mules
that they're calm Perch ones?
The superintendent tried to withstand the
smile and the honeyed appeal, and put the
offender in the SWeatbCX.
1T won't do Simmons" he said. gruf1iy
"I can't have you killing stock every time
YOU take q train over the road. 1his time
you've stuck the company for more money
than you'll earn in year That mule OF
yours was an imported Norman stalllon.
Mr.. Graves here says you did What you
could to keep from hitting 1t after the
horses were on the track. and III take ms
word for it and let you off once more. But
II you don't quit killing stock, you'll quit
running an engine on the I. and o. H.;
that's all
Datn L
in a word for him.
"Oh. I understand all that said the su
perintendent: you can't tell me anything
about Pete He is a good runner. but he has
two pretty bad failings. he will kill stock,
and he will lie about 1t afterward If he
doesn't reform l shall have to make an ex-
ample of him.
What is his history, Mr.. Savage?' I
asked finding the time propitious for the
digging of a long-neglected mine or IN
quiry.
The superintendent laughed.
You tell, IL you can. / inherited him
from the construction force. Benton. the
chief engineer. had him running steel
train. The men say he is Tennessee
mountaineer-and further they don't say;
can't, l imagine. For all his easy-going
ways he is reticent about himself as he
is about the mules he is forever killing"
He is a puzzle to me- l said, between
puffs of my cigar.
"On which side?'
"AIl around: but chiefly on the money
side Do you happen to know what he does
with his wages?'
The superintendent shook his head
Blows it at the Gold Hill faro tables, like
the most of them, | suppose
Not at all. Every payday he brings me
what i fancy must be the major part of
his earnings and has me express II to- little
town in the Tennessee mountains"
Does eh? Keeping up the old folks, !
suppose
Hardly that, should think, unless It's
matter OF debt; he is too punctiious about
It, The order Is always made payable to
one Abel Jackson | asked him once who
squire
..Humph. that's odd Now you speak Of
II. I've noticed that he never takes a lay
off. and he is keener than any Yankee to
get In overtime. / wonder what he is pay
ing for?"
II have wondered. too"
"Well whatever 1t is he'll lose out if he
Doesn't quit killing Seth Byrams horses
and cattle" said the superintendent, dis
missing the matter in sentence. He has
had his warning, and the next thing will be
the blue envelope.
But Superintendent Savage was not quite
IS good as his word. 1t was only little
while after the Norman-Percheron mule cpl
code that 1 came upon Bronco Pete loung-
Ing in the public room of the Hotel de
Bunque in Gold HILL the mining camp at
the mountain terminus of the extension.
"How you. Pete?" said l. Having
your lay0f at this end of the run now?
derned mules O. Seth Byram's, Mistah
Graves. Seems like l caynt take a train
over Whisky now 'thout KILN some OF
'em."
"Oh; so it's a vacation without pay, is
h?"
Yep. Thirty days. Thought I might as
well wear EN- out up here as down yonder.'
The autumn frosts were yellowing the
aspens on the great hills when Bronco Pete
took his run again. Business was booming
on the extension. A new gold strike in
the guch above the terminus camp brought
an influx of prospectors miners and specu-
Iators: and with the industrial army came
It's camp followers, carrion birds and birds
or prey; the desperate cast-off drift that
the law-abiding east filings upon the shores
Of the unpoliced west.
We of the transportation line rejoicing
In crowded trains and well-loaded express
cars. called 1t an era of prosperity, paying
the cost in sleepless nights and unrestinR
days as best We might. But among all the
hungerers and thirsters after overtime
none was more avid than Broncho Pete
First in, first out" was the train crew
rule on the c. & c. r., and he never missed
q call, not even when the working pressure
rose to thirty-six hours out Of the forty
eight.
1t was in the white heat Of the rush
that he got his blue envelope. In that
day the c. & G. r. paid in good hard
money from the pay car, catching the men
Nhereyer thew were to be found: and so 1t