Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-07-10
said, sitting up. "But I'm not beggar
or tramp"
"OfP trackY

That's how l happened to show him
my Victoria. He gave me card to the
trainmaster; and next day I went to
braking for Allbers, who, by the way.
was the biggest liar ever knew.
But the morning got into Medicine
Bend that first time on No. ! I had
another scare. went into the lunch.
room for coffee and sandwiches and
threw my bill at the boy. He opened
1t, looked at 1t and looked at me.
"Well," l growled, for l was impu-
dent with luck and hot stomach.
Good, amt it?"
Smallest you gotT
nodded as II l had pocketful. He
hustled around and came back with a
handful of money. l said nothing, but
when he spread 1t out before me sat
paralyzed. I had just assumed that
Dave had given me dollar. Sinkers,
deducting the price Of two coffees and
six sandwiches from the bill, counted
out $3.50 for me.
That change kept me running for q
month, and after my first pay day
hunted up Dave to pay him back.
found him In the evening. He was sit
ting alone on the eating house porch,
his feet up against the rail, looking at
the mountains in the sunset.
"Never mind" he said as held out Il
twenty dollar bill and tried to speak
my little piece. He did not move ex-
cept to wave back my hand.
"Oh, but ! can't let you do that" l
protested.
Put up your money, Tommie." He
called me Tommie.
NO" he repeated, putting by my
hand, his face set hard - and when
Dawes face did set 1t set stony. "Put
up your money. You don't owe me
anything. stole it."
1t was queer deal out on the West
End In those days. 1t was a case Of
wide open from the river to the Rockies.
Everybody on the line, from the d.
rectOrs to the car thinks, were giving the
company the worst Of 1t. The section
hands hooked the ties for the mainte-
nance, the painters drank the alcohol
for the shellac, the purchasing agent
had more fast horses than we had loco
motives, and what made 1t discourag-
Ing for the conductors the auditors stole
what little money the boys did turn in.
A hard place to begin rallroading the
old line was then, but that's where !
had to tackle the game, and In all the
hard crowd 1 mixed with Dave Hawk
was the only big man on the division.
There were others there who fixed the
thing up by comparing notes on their
collections and turning In percentages
to make their reports look right, but
Dave was not a consplrator. never
made a confidant 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 q 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 was still
only freight conductor when the
lightning struck the division.
1t came with clean sweep through
the general offices ut the rlver-every-
body in the auditing department, the
executive heads down to general man.
ager, and a whole raft of East End con-
ductors. 1t was shake-out from top
to bottom, and the bloods on our divi-
sion went white and sickly very fast.
OF course 1t was somebody's gain.
When the heads Of our passenger con-
ductors began to drop they began set
ting up freight men. Rocksby had re-
signed year earlier, and Haverly. his
successor. an eX-dispatcher and as big
Il knave as there was on the payroll,
let the men out right and left with the
ole idea Of saving his own scalp. By
the time l was put up to passenger
tain 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 master railroad man. and ev-
erybody except Dave himself was ap-
prehensive about his future. He moved
on just the same, calm and cold as
Ice water, taking the same old chances,
reckless Of everything and everybody.
I never knew till afterward. but the
truth was Haverly, with all his bluf
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 1t and
afraid to discharge Dave, who now
sailed UP and down the line reckless as
any pirate of the Spanish main, he
covered, called Dave into the little
room ut 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 1t was
somebody's head of; every night new
alarm. Dave alone ignored it all. He
was through 1t all the shining mark.
the daredevil target. Yet he bore q
charmed life and survived every last
associate. Then Haverly asked him to
resign. Dave, bitter angry, faced him
with black words In his throat.
"It's come to showdown" mutter'
ed the superintendent uneasily after
minutes talking. "Do you want to
resignT
Dave eyed the mountains coldly
"No."
"You will have to-
"Have to?" Hawk whirled dark as a
storm. Have to? Who says so?
The superintendent shifted the paper
weight on the desk uncomfortably.
"Why should l 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. l don't re-
sign for anybody. Discharge me! ]
don't ask any odds of YOU"
Haverly mot it 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 mold
ed in a class of men different from his
own. Even dishonor was safe In the
hands Of Dave Hawk.