Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-05-22

dence with bridge foreman, or find
the springy side Of a roadmasters
heart, then you might hear all you
wanted about the Spider water, maybe
more; anyway full plenty, as HALEY
used to say.
The Sioux named 1t, and, whatever
may be thought of their Interpretation
of Scriptural views on land grabbing,
no man with sense ever attempted to
| improve on their names for things,
whether birds or braves or winds or
waters-they know.
Our general managers hadn't always
sense-this may seem odd, but on the
system it would excite no comment
| and one of them countenanced shame
full change in the name of the Spider
water. Some polytechnical idiot ut a,
safe distance dubbed it the Big Sandy,
and the Big Sandy it is to this day on
map and in folder, but not in the lingo
| of trackmen nor the heart Of the Sioux.
Don't say Big Sandy to trackmen and
hand out cigar. 1t will not go. Say
Spider water without any cigar, and
YOU will get word and stool and, II
you ask 1t, fine cut.
The Spider water-althOugh ours Is
the pioneer line-was there when we
first bridged 1t. It'is probably as old
as sundown and nothing like as pretty.
The banks-it has none to speak OF;
its stones-they are whiskered; its bed
full Of sand burs. Everything about
the villain stream has dilapidate, bro
ken down air. The very mud Of the
Spider water Is rusty.
So our people bridged 1t, and the trou-
BILE began. 4 number Of matters both
cred our pioneer managements-lndi-
| ans, outlaws, cabinet officers, congress
sional committees and Wall street mag
nates-but ut one time or another our
folks managed all Of them. The only
thing they couldn't at any time satls-
factorily manage was the Spider water.
Bridge after bridge they threw across
1t and into it. Year after year the Spi-
der water toyed with our civil engi-
neers and our material department.
One man at Omaha given to asthma
and statistics estimated between spells
| that the Spider water had cost us
more money than all the water courses
| together from the Missouri to the Sier-
| ras.
Then came to the West End master
| full man, Scotchman, pawky and
hard. Brodie was his name, an Edin-
| burgh man, with no end Of degrees, and
master Of every one. BrOdie came to
be superintendent Of bridges on the
| western division and to boss every wa
ter course on the plains and In the
mountains. But the Spider water took
| fall even out of Brodie. 1t swept out
| Howe truss bridge for BrOdie before
he got his bag unpacked, and there
| after Brodie who was reputed not to
care stringer for anybody. did not
conceal a distinct respect for the Spi-
| der.
BrOdie went at 1t right. He tried not
| to make friends with the Spider, for
nobody could do that, but to get ac-
quainted with it. For this he went to
| its oldest neighbors, the Sioux. Brodie
spent weeks and weeks up the Spider
water hunting. summers, and with the
Sioux he talked Spider water and drank
| fire water. That was Brodie's shame
the fire water.
But he was pawky. and he chinned
increasingly the braves and the medi-
| cine men about the uncOmmonly queer
water that took the bridges so fast
| the river that month In and month out
| couldn't squeeze up water enough to
baptize a pollywog and then Of a sud-
| den and for a few days would rage like
| the Missouri. restore to the desert its
own and living image and leave our be-
wildered rails hung up either side In
the wind.
Brodie talked cloudbursts up coun-
try, for the floods came. times. under
clear skies. and the Sioux au!kcd N
silence. He suggested an u"suspcc; cd
| inlet from some mountain stream
which maybe. times, sent It.; Storm "a
ter over low divide into the Sp,tcr.
and the red men shrugge'. then faces.
| AS q last resort and in desperation he
| hinted at the devil, and the .'kcptics
| took a quick brace with rs much as 20
say, now you are talking, and muttered
very bad medicine.
Then they gave him the lnlian stun
about the Spider water, took him
away up where once party Of Pawnees
had camped In the dust Of the river
bed to surprise the Sioux and told
Brodie how the Spider, more sudden
than buck, fieeter than pony. had come
down in the night and surprised the
Pawnees, and SO well that the next
morning there wasn't enough material
left for a scalp dance.
They took Brodie out into the ratty
bed himself, and when he said heap
dry and said no water they laughed,
Indianwise, and pointed to the sand.
Scooping little wells with their hands,
they showed him the rising and the
filling; the instant water where before
was no water. And dropping into the
wells feathers Of the grouse they show
| ed Brodie how the current c'irried
them always across the well-every
time and always, Brodie noticed
southeast. Then Brodie made Haley
dig many holes, and the Spider weiled
into them, and lie threw In bits OF note
books and tobacco: wrappers. but ai'
ways they travelled sOutheast-always
the same-and bigger fool than '5ro-
die could see that the water was all
there, only underground. But when
did it rise? asked Brodie. When the
Chinook spoke, said the Sioux. And
why? persisted Brodie. Because the
spIder woke, said the Sioux: AND
Brodie went out Of the camp OF the
Sioux wondering.
| And he planned new bridge wnicn
should stand the Chinook and the spi'
| der and the de'il himself, said Brodie
medicine or no medicine. And fuil
| seven year 1t lasted; then the fire wa
| ter spoke for the wicked Scotchman
| and he himself went out into the night
4 And after he died, miserable wrecS
\ Of man, and of very great man. the
4 Spider woke aud took his pawky bridge