Amador ledger., 1905-02-10
By FRANK H SWEET
Copyright. 1904. BY Frank H. Sweet


and he Strengthened suddenly, as
though by a great effort The dull
eyes opened and shut heavily, and
again the hand passed across the fore
head as though to force some intelli-
gence into the clogged brain. Then:
"D-don't speak like that, grille" an
unrecognizable voice mumbled. '1'm
not drunk. never drank drop in my
life. You know I-speak-true. It's
a drug" his voice drifting back again
into the stupor
The girl was beside him with swift
movement, the basket thrust into the
car, her hands placed firmly upon his
shoulders, her eyes close and gazing
straight into his, lovingly, compelling
ly.
"Ben," the voice forcing itself into
clearness and steadiness, 'look at me
now, hard. What is it? Think"
The man made supreme effort.
ut was messenger 12-Timson, you
know"
She knew. She had refused Tim
sons love.
HE offered me drink of water, and
1 took it. Then he crossed to track 8
and jumped on board his train 1t was
the one that just pulled OUT
But what did he do 1t for?"
Don't you understand, Delia?" a
sharp agony quivering in the voice.
This trip was to furnish the money
for our wedding. Timson knew it. He
planned it just before my train starts,
so l will lose the trip. There is no time
to find substitute. My train will go
without me, and the company will be
angry and discharge me for drunken
ness, and-and"-his eyes again becom-
ing dull and his form swaytng more
heavily-"and I'm losing myself. l
can't see you. Quick, grille, find the
manager and tell him it isn't drink. A
a discharged messenger cannot get
work anywhere"
He lurched forward and would have
fallen, but she caught him In her
strong, supple arms,
A quick glance both ways showed no
one was in sight The fruit train on
track 8 was just leaving the wharf, and
6 was sounding its last warning call.
Half carrying and half leading him,
she hurried messenger 16 to the near
est entrance, only few yards away.
Several drays were standing about
waiting for a job, She motioned impe,
riously to the owner of the nearest.
Listen, Ben," she said slowly, put
ing her lips close to the ears Of the now
almost insensible man in an effort to
make him hear and comprehend. 81
am going to send you home. You
mustn't worry bit. 1 will fix it all
right" He was holding his train pa
pers tightly, and she unelasped them
gently from his fingers. Then as the
draymaA came forward: "Take this
man to his home at once, IL Rue Citro-
nellie. Here is a dollar"
Inside, she again glanced sharply
around, A man was running in her di-
rection. heading toward the rear of the
train, She recognized him as a friend
Of Ben's.
Hello, Miss Deliap' he called Come
to see Ben off again, have you? He's
lucky dog. But you must excuse my
hurry. This train pulls out in three
minutes, and must reach my section"
Della could hear her heart humping
in its anxiety.
"Your section is in the rear, 1 sup
pose?" she questioned, with assumed
carelessness,
"Yes"-over his shoulder-"the eight
cen rear cars. Pm messenger %. Ben
has the forward twenty cars. 1 switch
off at Memphis for Jefferson City and
Ben goes on to Columbus"
AS he hurried away Delia's face
cleared. She had learned all she want
ed to know Placing her hands upon
the floor of the car she gave a light
spring and was within, sliding the door
quickly behind her. A few moments
later her own bell rang, and then the
car began to move forward.
She had never been on train be
fore, never been out of New Orleans,
but her father had been messenger,
and Ben had many times told her the
details of his trip. She must manipulate
the ventilators of her twenty cars so
as to have the heat just right to bring
the bananas to prime, marketable con-
dition when she reached her destina-
ton. A few degrees too much either
way might mean the loss of a good
many thousand dollars to the company.
1t was a hard trip, for the outside
thermometer rose from 81 degrees to
70 degrees in six hours, and the next
morning was back again to 81 degrees
and falling 1t meant a constant shift
ing of the ventilators, with an impos-
sibility of keeping the car thermome-
ters from fuctuating uneasily. Zero
weather would have been infinitely
preferable, for then the ventilatori1
could have remained closed and the
fruit would generate enough heat of
its own. That night and the next day
Della did not trust herself to sit down
once, for fear she might get drowsy
and momentarily relax her vigilance.
Too much depended upon obtaining the
best results just now.
She was careful to keep herself out
of sight, and this she was able to do
the more readily on account of the
fruit train making few stops. At Mem
phis the rear section was switched off
to connect with a train west, and her
own was attached to train which had
lust pulled In from Galveston. the en-