The Somerset reporter., 1903-09-17
n Va ANAA AA AAIN/NA1\AINA
ON THE BITTER
CREEK RUN
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
BY W. BERT FOSTER


Besides observed Lester. rolling
himself cigarette with an air of fnal-
ity, you will get your hands and face
! all smut, and-think of your clothes,
Eyien'
But Eyylyn was not to be dissuaded.
Write me the order, Lester" she COM
manded. 'What is the good of being
the daughter of man who OWNS a
railroad aud the sister of a boy who
thinks he owns the Bitter Greek divi-
sion If can't ride in the cabY
But Jim Lestrange"-
"Mr. Lestrange is nothing whatever
to me. Merely because we used to
know him when we were children
makes no difference. He is only the
engineer"
"Humph Member when he and you
tried to elope together in his goat
wagon and with Il pound of crackers
and some cheese that mother had sent
you to the store for, EVE? Lessee;
you were about five then, weren't your
Evylyn's glance would have withered
anybody but an older brother. She
marched away with the order address
ed to the engineer of the western spe-
cial, her head in the air and deepened
color in her check.
The fact that Jim Lestrange had been
playmate OF her extreme youth did
not freeze Mis-, EYylyn Grantham. She
remembered that her mother had
soundly spanked her for the escapade
Lester had mentioned, and with the
smart of that ehastisement her interest
in Jim had expired.
In fact, soon after that fateful day
the Granthams had gone east. Only
during visits to the town of her birth
did EvylAn hear of Jim. The Gran
thams went up the social and financial
scale by leaps and bounds. Jim Lee
strange, with pair of strong hands
and some brains, had, to Evylyn's
mind, scarcely risen at all.
Certainly the sooty faced fellow in O
greasy cap and overalls who took her
pass when she reached the platform
beside which Ninety and its long
train of vestibule cars stood would
have made strange figure in the par
lors of her eastern friends. And to her
mind his Good morning, Miss Evie,
was extensively familiar. She stepped
aboard the painting locomotive without
answering and heartily wishing shC
had not come.
But what an adventure to tell the
girls of when she went back The
crack fier of the Bitter Creek division
was becoming popular. Some of her
friends had been through the canyon
and seen its marvels from the windows
of parlor car, but no girl in her set
had dared ride from Logger to McMa-
hon Station the towns guarding the
entrance and exit of the canyon, in the
cab Of big Nlnety-nine.
You better sit over on this side
MISS the fireman said respectfully
motioning to his own side of the cab
But Miss Evylyn thought him officious
and crept in behind the lever and
squeezed into the engineers seat. She
did not know much about the huge ma.
chine on which she was to ride and
considered it a personal affront when
jim Lestrange swung himself aboard
and stepped up in front of her, OBJ
structing her view of the landscape
from the front window of the cab.
Under his tight fitting jersey she
saw the muscles of his shoulders and
arms slip back and forth-like the con
tracing of the tigers tendons under
its tawny hide-When he stretched his
left hand back to seize the lever. He
waited, glancing ahead. for the CON
ductor's signal. There was something
fascinating in his tense though easy
pose. The compressed air signal spit
overhead. Instantly the hand on the
lever frightened. There was scarcely a
Jar as Ninety-nine, taking deep breaths,
pulled out of the Logger station.
There is little in the Bitter Creek
canyon to please the eye of tourists
but 1t certainly awes them. Sheer
walls rise so high that only for an
hour at midday is the bottom of the
gorge flooded with sunlight Through
this the single track of the division
ing the whitened torrent upon trestle-
work. Around these piles the water
roars when at its full, seeking to teal
down the Instructions man has placed
In Its path.
you should have chosen pleasant
er day for your ride, Miss Evie," Jim
said casually. ITS been raining this
morning and the creek will be high.
And shouldn't be surprised If we got
more of 1t before long. The canyon
will be dark"
She sat stiffiy upright in her corner
of the narrow seat and made no reply.
But the rain came ere the western
special plunged into the gloom of the
gorge. Jim reached behind her and
shut the sliding pnne to shield her
from any chance gust. In doing SO
the sleeve of his Jersey touched her
shoulder and she shrank aside, but he
seemed utterly unconscious.
The train swept into the canyon and
sped over the glistening rails like a
fiery eyed serpent. 1t was dark and the
girl shivered. Suppose the angry creek
should wrench free some portion of the
trestework? She only breathed wifi
confidence when the train was upon the
solid lodges of rock, which had been
carved out of the cliffs by the water
ages before.
Suddenly the shovel fell from the
freman's hands, ringing again upon the
iron running board. He reached over