The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-10-12
S()AE TYPES
On COACHES
Travellers in The West and
Their Talk
TWO MOUNTAIN GIRLS
One Man Who Knew All About
the Egg Business.

For two young. underground girls to
sit on the steps Of jolting, narrow
gauge car. throw peach-skins down can
ons that yawn thousand feet below, and
cry cut gayly 70 the section workmen
standing back stinly against the noun
tainside as the train PUSHES past, may not
be tie conventional or prudent thing
But 1t Is fun for the girls. And If the
way from Snverton TO Pueblo. Col. is
long and the charm Of ''yelIowbac
Is fieeting. who can say what may amuse
two vigorous mountain mat0ens
The We're tell. stopping little too much
for grace and trihe loose-hung. one was
dark, with some distant suggestion Of
French-the other lwth her Wild blue eyes
and light hair fitted the Celtic name
crudely lcttered on the cover Of Hearts
and the Moth. The obsecvant traveller.
two seats away. coming up from New
Mexico. was alone. he felt the tedious
ness Of the slow climb up to the ten
thousand feet summit and the zigzag
descent His eace took on the melancholy
cast Of resignation. and ne laughed at
himself when a hand glass. which the
nght-haired girl openly manipulated.
showed him a scrap Of his gloom. The
girl with the glass saw the travellers
lace change in the mirror. and turning
70 her sister. pointed il out Then for
minute or two studied the traveller
IN the glass
Evidently the man could be trusted The
dark, graver girl turned square around
and held out a bag CT delicious peaches
The traveller ate a peach and asked for
"a second. Where do they grow" he
queried
In the San Juan valley" answered the
dark girl. You must ike them, She
added. The traveller thought them good
SAID SO, and then told Of his recent jaunt
down the valley Of the Chama and into
the Gallinos Mountains.
Don't they raise peaches down there?''
the blonde questioned The other cut in
TO say that she had heard that the Mex
leans raised fruit They're too trihing
10 tend fruit trees, she explained. The
traveller thought that New Mexico would
soon wake up and develop Irrigation
There's a ditch goes down near Silver
ton. said the light-haired girl I've fol-
lowed It down for ten miles, but I didn't
find any farms or peaches. SO / quit it,
They ship the fruit in from the San
Juan valley-lots of il cones up to the
mines. The dark girl guessed that the
traveller had reached the age when prac-
teal economics would be interesting.
The train has passed over the summit
had exchanged its Two hard breathing
little engines for ore that sighed easily
as It slid around the multitude OF curves.
only thin cloud of white smoke float
ing from its stack The traveller was
still shvering in the unaccustomed chill I
OF the mountaia-top when the dark girl
leaning far out Of the open window. sud
oenly exclaimed
Come on. lets go out to the plat
fern and get some fresh air. She was
dressed IN sor3e very thin, half-lace ma
terial but her face was flushed. If you
want some more peaches yOu'u have to
Gene. too. The blonde held the paper
lag towards the traveller. lie followed, +
10 sit far back. hugglng brake-rod while /
the two girls clambered down to the step 4
next the last. --ere they sat. casting bits /
OF the paper bag. scraps OF peach-skins /
and quick bursts of song to whatever /
wild things that lived in the gulches. Now 1
and then one would lean swiftly out, /
catch the rush OF wind in her hair. then /
Ciaw back laughing The hronzed merry
faced brakeman passed once, leaning 4
over TO shout faceuous warning TO /
the girls. and went on, smiling at the /
defiant tons OF the answer The trav- /
tller did not warn them. Tor he saw the /
firm security Of their apparently danger
Gus seat.
The observant traveller shivered for a
minute. sat politely ten minutes longer.
then FED back TO the car. He closed tho
windows that had been opened near has
eeat. and sat rubbing his stinened limbs.
After time the girls came in. The dark
sister crowded close 70 the reopened win
dow and took the blonde head on her
shoulder. They snuggled ike two small
children. The traveller sat back, his
cellar turned up to his ears. wondering
anew at the capabIity and the practical
sanity Of these mining-town women. lie
could have guessed that their aunt in
Pueblo would wait conteutedly until the
two climbed out. stin and sleepy. at Two
o'clock OF a chilli summer morning. They
said a very pleasant good-by as +hey
left the car. the blonde crumplins the
emptied paper bag 20 show the ohser-
want traveller that the san Juan peaches
had been eaten.
The civn engineer had 4 searching eye
lie wanted 10 talk 10 some one The OBJ
servant trsR eiler had opened 4 newspaper
when he came into the smoking compart-
r4ent. and was skirting q huge picture
or Gov. Taft reading scattered scraps OF
news as 10 the progress OF negotiations
Of the Philippines friars question. The
ctvil engineer fixed the picture with his
eye. glanced around TO discover who
would listen. and addressed the traveller.
! was out there for TWO years
IN the Philippines the traveller Ques-
se-,nea politely.
Yes sir; one year IN the til Colorado
Volunteers. then a year IN the Govern
nsnt enEineoring service" lie stopped
10 let the statement take effect One or
two OF the smokers land aside their news
papers and hitched around To face the
SPEAKER. The Colorado Express was
sticking across the plain west OF Dodge
city. The civil engineer WAS in his shirt
sleeves. and his shoes were OK h had
s;ept through from Kansas city on the
long seat OF the smoker.
He had taken his customary stimulant
already: he opened his bag 10 OFFER the
traveller.
i always had s little OF that good STUFF.
OF hand in the Philippines. he explain
ed. - mans simply sot 10 look after
himself over there. OF course. I never
take II 10 excess-vou can do II 4. that
climate. That amt an unhealthy country