Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-03-29

iuu 1T EN- siIiait. you uiu. crleu
one. and the man, looking round, saw
that it was the tall mountaineer who
had sat behind him in the car. why,
BOYS" laughed the mountaineer, 'he
fit of the hull crew on them" He was
still laughin:, when Il newcomer strobe
out Of the bush ana joined them.
Whats up:" this one asked.
Hello. Doe. YOU jeS' missed it"
Tie lan!i mounianeer pointed in ex-
n'aa:tion 10 tha stranger among them,
and the nswco omer eyed him keenly.
well. WHAT'S il all about?' he de-
m:n.r,i I hc ".ory was told. spiced
with Il linw OF complimentary oatEs.
al? picture draw3 of The one man ba,-
ding couragtou,iy with the oppressO.,
aa4 Wien it WI; Lais,!eL the NAN they
lad called Zoe reached out his hand.
"Gogu Tor YOU" lie cried. I'm right
glad 10 meet you. Ny names Burdie.'
"Ch." said the other slowly. Yer
Doc n.:r,lie. t.cn?
~, ..i.t you air. You must hearn tell
on me-"
les" said the other. his eyes gleam-
ing. Il surely have
Six weeks h\d passed since Flanders
departure wEfou. word OF sign from
him. The chief, uneasy Ut his long
absence, was wondering whether be
had not been too harsh, too ready to
send him upon this mission, where
death. in sense, was wagered rs the
stakes. New. the best that Tower
could do WAS TO promise himself that
ON tie following day he would send out
Il trailer 10 l.nd what had become Of
the missing man.
Down The main line at this moment
the operator III Guamo Siding. in soil
| tury possession of the place, WAS deep
ly lameniing the chance that had set
him Gown rs the surveying monarch OF
all lis loneliness. Outside. the face OF
the landscape glimmered in the tortur-
inS heat; the air droned with the shrill
voices Of Il myriad of insects. and the
breeze, vcritablc furnace breath. add
| ed TO the inferno with the dust II drew
up III lis tram. In desperation the o.,
orator set to filing points on his sounu-
ers and keys, but this only increas, Il.
his torment The raSp of the tool ad
| ed TO the manifold sounds from IL -
superheatrd world outside driving him
to the brink of desperation. In dis
gust he threw down his file, shook the
beads of hst sweat from his brow and
was tapping IL glass Of tcpid water
from the barrel in the corner when II
lew voice broke in ON his reflections:
say. you there.
At the window beside the keyboard Il
hand was holding up the curtain, and
underneath appeared Il face, dust stain
ed. burned 10 copper red and set with
two marvelously cleaning eyes. Star.
tied, tie operator dropped the tin cup
Gathering to the floor and leapcd to one
side. The next instant he was with his
back to the wall. Il pistol cleaning In
! the dull lignt Of the shaded station.
What do you want!" he demanded
shriily.
"Wcl, swan" laughed the man.
"The hot has got on yer nerves. SON
ny. amt it? Put down that gun, you
chuckle headed brass FOUNDER! amt
| goin' to hurt you"
put th. opnrotor was foo old n bird
| to be trapped. The man that had left
the place before him had been trapped
| in Just such way and tied down 10
| his desk, the western mail had been
tagged almost in front Of the sidin,
and the express and postal cars had
been dynamited first and then rihed uf
| their valuables. Make move If you
dare. shrilled the operator. drawing
bead on the head in the window. Don't
you dare"
In answer the man tossed scrap Of
paper through the window. Quick.
YOU! Rush that to the main office. Tell
'em to dupe it to the chief-Tower, l
mean. Get a hustle on an then ske-
daddle out er this! You hear me? Ske-
daddle. yamoose lively, cause it'll be
hotter here afore long than the hottest
dog days that Gehenna ever saw. But
don't YOU forgit to send that dispatch,
or by Sam Houston you won't be wuth
the fat to fry doughnut mex time we
rrn agcther. Adios. sonny. an look out
iOr Yourself.
The face vanished from the window.
and the operator. a palsy upon hin.
still stood shaking against the wall.
Outside. the sounds of the day resumed
.nair droning intonation. the breeze
ri.hcd fitfully. and. though he crack. i
his ears listening for some sign of
stcalthy attack. he became at last COLI
vinced that he was alone. With his re-
yolver still ready he tiptoed across the
floor and snatched up the scrap of pa-
per- Then, with a sharp glance about,
he read and at the next instant had
jumped to his instrument "G-x,
"G-x," "G-X," he called, his hand
banging the key at frantic speed
"G-x," "G-X," "G-x." Somewhere
down the line another station, noting
The extreme haste of al operator no.
toriously slow, cut IN with the query,
whats up?' Letter by letter Guamo
Siding cursed him for his interference,
the key ratified and shook with reiterat-
ed appeal, "G-x," "G-x," Ok and
then the main office answered.
Flattening the paper before him, the
operator laid his pistol upon 1t and
bent with vigor to his key. With eager
hand he hammered the brass till the
room rang with the staccato clicking,
but at every other letter he glanced
fsarfully over his shoulder. The dis
patch said:
l. Rush supt. and dupe to Tower. chief OF
Secret service Doc Burdle's gang will
hold up western mail 9:i5 east side long
trestle beyond Guamo Siding. Six In the
gang. | make seven. Do not shoot man
in white hat That's me. FLANDERS.
P. Slower will explain sig.
The operator added to this a message
of his own. This lets me out. I'm go
ing to scoot" Five minutes later, when
the uproar in the train dispatcher's Of
| fee had calmed bit, the wire was al-
1|