The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1904-08-25
THE LIMITED EXPRESS.
~~NOONOOO~

----~-~~~o----~~-~~~~
Go HE general manager sank into
his chair. his face CHASTITY under
the yellow rays OF the electric
light as the yellow '-hlmsy" that start
ed up at him from his desk and burned
its message into his brain, Lost"
He hung on the final word he read
there as one who repeats death sen
tence that has just been pronounced
upon him, then with a groan his head
sank on his desk and the fatal mes
sage was swept TO the floor.
The door opened and man entered
briskly-with the air Of one who is
sure of his ground. and of a welcome
'Ah, John; thought I'd find you here.
I-why-old man. what's the matter?'
the newcomers voice lost Its cheer
full ring, became anxious-"speak to
me-John's what's"
The general managers head rose
slowly; he stared at the other with
eyes that saw nothing. eyes that were
guled upon something far away.
Frank" he said slowly; Frank,
want you to answer a question-just
one-and l want the truthl Am l
crazy? Have l been crazy all these
years? Am"
For Gods sake. man. What-has
this strain turned your mind? Tell me
whats"
That's what l wanted you to tell
me, Frank" The general manager
spoke slowly. calmly. now. LOOK
be turned and reached for the dispatch. |
After a moments search he found it |
on the floor where it had fallen. |
Notwithstanding tread this. This
is the twentieth century. mani Read
it; tell me it can't be true,"
Vanished" was wrung from the
mans lips when he has hastily sur
veyed the brief message. Surely
but 1t must be authentic, all right;
ems. John-this is not the day of
Aladdin and his lamp, Disappeared
A whole train-and the limited mail,
at thatr'
mo. 6; crack train of the west
New Orleans to Los Angeles In fifty {
four hours" echoed the general man
ager mechanically.
when did you get this?" They
both sat down.
Just a moment before you came In.
But she was gone two hours ago. Dis
patcher reported that she had passed
Salton on time-6:1O-was due at Lost Il
Trail, ten miles farther west, at 500. t
where 40 was waiting for her to pass. t
When $50 came and 8 hadn't shown a
up and the Lost Trail operator wired
salton and found she had passed there
he knew something had happened, and
wired in I've lived In hell ever since. p
At 7:30 No. 49's engine cut loose and "
'tarted slowly ahead to look for 8. She $
ust pulled into Salton few minutes
Igo-6 wasn't on the trackl And the II
,alton man swears before God she o.
lasn't backed past his place! ca
Where Is she. That's what I'm II
skiing you. Frank Where Is she?. y
The cold sweat stood out on the gem h
raj managers forehead. Il
In
The big. old-fashioned clock I'm the
orner was striking II Midnight, And la
e had slept more than three hours: Il
ad slept while the crisis of his life y
vas drawing him deeper into the eter- lie
al sands somewhere down there In ps
be southern California desert, The It
eneral manager rose and flung open a W
Tindow, letting In a food of cool. III
almy air. The sleep had refreshed th
i'm, the air invigorated him. hs
When John Harding turned to leave 81
ne window there was the old-time y
auntless glitter in his eyes and the VI
ccustomed vigor in his step. He was sc
nee more the indomitable master who pr
We years before had. by his own sheer III
I'LL power and force Of personality,
lced an enraged army of employees
nd dissuaded them from calling a la,
trike that would have cost the COM -
any hundreds Of thousands of dollars. =,
he stepped toward a rack at "
ne side Of the room and unrolled n
zap. showing in detail the section of -
ie road where o had vanished. Then q.
Is finger began to travel slowly over
lie black line that zig-zagged its wsy
ross the sheet Deadlands-and the
nger passed It Simpson; still the m
,r passed on. Then salton. and az
owly 1t dragged across the line. one
ch, two-then 1t suddenly stopped. -