St. Tammany farmer., 1903-04-25
He handed the note to me. Holding
it where the light fell upon it, I read:

ne HdnQc0 e1e uOLe TO Hlc. 11Oluluy
it where the lightsfell upon it, I read:
Conductor Chas. Davis, No. 81: Ny
daughter, Grace Henderson, has left
home and I have reason to think she Is
on your train. If so, send her back by
the bearer JACOB HENDERSON,
"Division Superintendent"
I think that / must have given a
more forcible exclamation than had
Davis when I read the note, for now
it was half plain to me. 81. @
'Tkere's something queer about
this,' said, slowly, as I passed back
the note "Is she aboard your train
now?'
rs she aboard my train now?' he
repeated in surprise. ''No, she is not,
back to that old skinfint, unless she
wanted to. She is not a girl to leave
home without some good reason, I
know that. I'd take her along to
where she wanted to go, and keep my
mouth shut. That's just about what
I'd do.''
"All right then. Charlie" I said
slowly, for I had been think
ing very fast. "Pl just put her
aboard your train now and send her
along. She's up there in my cab"
Davis looked at me moment in
surprise, then puckered up mis- lips
into prolonged whistle. I then
told him, in as few words as possible,
how she happened to be there, and,
without word, he opened Hender-
sons note again and wrote on the
back: E
Jacob Henderson, Esq:
mo. 27 has overtaken me, and your note
delivered. Your daughter is not aboard
my train, nor has she been up to the
present time. c. W. DAVIS,
Conductor No. 37.''
"There, Ned,'' he exclaimed, as he
handed the note back to me. ''Take
that back to the 'old man. 1t does
not say that she will not be aboard
my train after the present time.
Now we must hustle"
I explained the situation briefly to
Grace, and, not without little regret
on my part, the transfer was quickly
made. 1 bade her good-by and, after
little handshake, climbed up into
nv cab and started to run back to
the junction.
I suppose I must have been rather
glum on the way back. Nick did not
say much and I said less, barely an
swering few necessary questions,
for was wondering what it all
meant.
1t was just past midnight when we
rolled back into the roundhouse yard.
Henderson was there, waiting for us,
and he came rushing out as soon as
he heard us crossing the switches
outside.
''Where is she?'' he cried, jumping
up into the cab almost before the en-
gine had stopped.
I feigned ignorance, and passed him
the note in reply. Nick was doing
the excentrics, and heard nothing.
He would not have known any more
about it than l did. Nick was one of
the kind that knew when it was best
to know nothing.
Some prodigious oaths escaped
Henderson's lips as he read the lines
from Davis, but as they were not di-
rected at me, I had nothing to say.
I had done my work according to his
orders. Then he walked off without
another word and left US there alone.
That was not the last of it, how
ever. The next morning was called
into Henderson's private Office and
put through series of questioning
that would have done credit to a
criminal lawyer; but when | left his
august presence, Jacob Henderson
was no wiser regarding the matter
than when l came in.
He also had Nick up before him
and asked him a few questions, but
the honest fellow knew 40 more
about it than I pretended to know,
so, on the whole, Henderson got but
very little information from either
of US.
A few days later I met Davis on
the street, and, as he came Up and
shook hands with me cordially, he
looked at me strangely.
Ned" he began, perhaps you
don't. know it, but you have won that
girls everlasting gratitude, if not to
use stronger expression, for what
you did that night. It was close
rub, though. She told me all about
it before we got into Hampton.
ct seems that the sold man is
only her guardian after all. Her
parents died when she was a child,
and she has lived with him ever since.
He was determined that she should
marry old Bailey, who owns the big
gest half of the road, but she OBJ
1ected, and as she had not lived quite
long enough to be her own mistress
she was a few weeks short-she
couldn't do any better than to run
away.
1.-THE danger is over now, and she
can choose for herself. Better go up
and see her, Ned. She's stopping
with a friend. Here's her address,
1t may be quite needless for me to
state that 1 took Charley's advice and
found time to go and call upon Grace
very soon after. There was some
thing in her brown eyes when l left
her that encouraged me to call again
and often.
While Jacob Henderson was still
turning the adjacent country upside
down in search of her, quietly mar
ried her. &
The "old man. was angry and pro-
fame when at last he heard of it and
the part 1 had played. but he passed
over Grace's personal fortune with
out protest.
That was my last run on an en-,
gine, although, strange to say, neither