The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-03-29

4
| called me Tommie
No" he repeated, putting by my
hand: his face set hard, and when Dawes
| face did set it set stony. Put up your
money; you don't owe me anything. l
stole it."
1t was a queer deal out on the West
End in those day. It was a case of wide
open from the river to the Rockies.
| Everybody on the line, from the direc-
| tors to the car thinks, were giving the
| company the worst Of it. The section
hands hooked the ties for the mainten-
ance, and the painters drank the alcohol
| for the shellac, the purchasing agent had
| more fast horses than we had locomo-
tives, and, what made it discouraging for
the conductors the auditors stole what
little money the boys did turn in.
| A hard place to begin railroading, the
| old line was then: but that's where |
| had to tackle the game. and in all the
| hard crowd l mixed with Dave Hawk
was the only man on the division There
were others there who fixed the thing
| up by comparing notes on their collec-
lions and turning in percentages to make
| their reports look right; but Dave was
not consnirator-never made conf
| dent of any man in his stealing or his
| spending, and despised their figuring He
| did as he pleased and cared for no one:
| no superior had any terror for Dave. He
| had wife somewhere back east of the
| river, they said, that had sold him out
| that's why he was in the mountains
and he lived among free and easy men
| a lonely life. If anybody ever got close
to him | think maybe l did. though I
was still only a. freight conductor when
the lightning struck the division.
1t came with "a clean sweep through
| the general offices at the river Every
body in the auditing department. the
| executive heads down to general manager
| and whole raft of East End conduc-
| tors. 1t was a shake-up from top to
bottom, and the bloods on our division
went white and sickly very fast.
OF course it was somebody's gain.
When the heads of our passenger con
ductors began to drop they began setting
up freight men, Rocksby had resigned
a year earlier, and Haverly, his sue
| cessor. an eX-dispatcher. and as big a
knave as there was on the payroll. let
| the men out right and left with the sole
| idea of saving his own scalp. BY the
| time l was put up to a passenger train
| the old force was pretty much cleared
out except Dave.
| Every day almost We looked to see him
go. Everybody loved him because he
was a master railroad man, and every
body except Dave himself was appre-
| hensive about his future He moved on
just the same, calm and cold as ice wa
| ter, taking the same old chances, reck-
| less of everything and everybody.
| never knew till afterward, but the truth
was Haverly, with all his bluff talk, was
| just enough afraid Of Dave Hawk to
| want to let him alone. The matter,
| though. focused one day up in the old
office in an unexpected way.
Haverly's own seat got so hot that,
! bedeviled by his fears of losing it and
| afraid to discharge Dave, who now sail
| ed up and down the line reckless as any
pirate of the Spanish Main, he covered,
called Dave into the little roomra at the
Wickiup and asked him to resign In all
| the storm that ragged on the division the
| old conductor alone had remained calm.
| Every day it was somebody's head off
every night a new alarm. Dave alone
ignored it all He W. Tough it all the
shining mark, the daredevil target yet
he bore a charmed life and survived every
| last associate Then Haverly asked him
| to resign Dave, bitter angry, faced him
with black words in his throat.
Its come to a howdoWn" muttered
| the superintendent uneasily after a min
ute's talking "Do you want to re-
sign?"
| no h. -,
you'll have To-
"Have to-" Hawk whirled dark as a
storm Have to? Who says SOP"
The superintendent shifted the paper
weight on the desk uncomfortably.
"Why should | resign" demanded the
old conductor, angrily. 'Resign?" He
rose from his chair. You know I'm a
thief You're thief yourself You
helped make me one. I've carried more
men for you than for anybody else on
the whole division. I don't resign for
anybody. Discharge. damn you. don't
ask any odds of you"
HaverIy met 1t sullenly, yet he didn't
dare do anything. He knew Dave could
| ruin him any day he chose to open his
mouth What he did not know was that
Dave Hawk was nodded in a class of
men different from his own. Even dis
honor was safe in the hands of Dave
| Hawk.
There was no change after except that,
darker. moodier lonelier than ever Dave
moved along on his runs, the last of the
| Old Guard. Better railroad man than he
never took a train out Of division
Stress of wind or of weather,
storm flood or blockade, Dave Hawks
| train came and went on time, or very
close. So he rode, grim old privateer,
with his letters of marque, on the com
pany's strong box, and Haverly trembled
night and day till that day came that
| fear had foretold to him. a clap of
| thunder struck the Wickiup and Haver-
| lys head fell low; and Dave Edwk sailed
| boldly on.
l was extra passenger man when John
Stanley Bucks took the West End He
came from south of our country and we
heard great things about the new super
intendent and about what would happen