The Topeka state journal., 1906-05-19


my little piece. He did not move ex-
cept to wave back my hand
on. but can't let you do that,
Put up your money, Tommie." He
called me Tommte
No he repeated, putting by my
hand. his face set hard-and when
Dawes face did set it set stony. Put
up your money You don't owe me
anything. I stole it
It was a queer deal out on the West
End IN those days. It was a case of
wide open from the river TO the Rock
les Every on the line from the
directors to the car thinks. were giving
the company the worst of it. The sec
tion hands hooked the ties for the
maintenance, the painters drank the
alcohol for the shellacs the purchas-
ing agent had more fast horses than
We had locomotives. and what made
it discouraging for the conductors the
auditors stole what little money the
boys did turn in.
hard place to begin railroading
the old line was then. but that's where
I had to tackle the game, and in all
the hard crowd I mixed with Dave
Hawk was the only big man on the di-
vision. There were others there who
fixed the thing up by comparing notes
on their collections and turning IN per-
centages to make their reports look
right, but Dave was not a cOnSplraUOr,
never made a confidant of any man in
his stealing or his spending and de-
spised their figuring. He did as he
pleased and cared for no one. No su-
perior had any terror for Dave. He
had wife somewhere back east of
the river. they said, that had sold him
out"that's why he was in the noun
tains-and he lived among free and
easy men a lonely life IF anybody
ever got close to him I think maybe I
did. though I was still only a freight
conductor when the lightning struck
the division
It came with a clean sweep through
the general offices al the river-every-
body in the auditing department, the
executive heads down TO general man
ager and q whole raft of East End
conductors. It was shake-out from
top to bottom, and the bloods on our
division went white and sickly very
fast
OF course it 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 a year earlier. and Haverly. his
successor. an exdispatcher and as big
a knave as there was on the payroll
let the men out right and left with the
sole idea of saving his own scalp. BY
the time I was put up TO a passenger
train the old force was pretty much
cleared out except Dave.
Every day almost we looked to see
him go. Everybody loved him be-
cause he was a master railroad man.
and everybody except Dave himself
was apprehensive 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 after
ward 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, To-
cused one day up in the old Office in an
unexpected way
Haver1y's own seat got so hot that
bedevilled by his fears of losing it 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 at 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 it was
somebody's head of; every night a new
alarm Dave alone ignored it all He
was through it all the shining mark
the daredevil target. Yet he bore a
charmed life and survived every last
associate Then Haverly asked him to
resign. Dave. bitter and angry. faced
sign -
cts come to a showdown mutter-
ed the superintendent uneasily after
minutes talking. DO you want to re-
Dave eyed the mountains coldly
No.
you will have to-
Have to-" Hawk whirled dark as a
storm Have to? Who says so2
The superintendent shifted the pa
perweight on the desk uncomfortably.
Why should I resign" demanded
the old conductor angrily- Resign p
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 I don't re-
sign for anybody. Discharge mel I
don't ask any odds of you
Raverly met 1t 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
There was no change after except
that darker. moodier. lonelier than ever,
Dave moved along on his runs. the last
of the old guard Better railroad man
than he never took a train out Of di-
vision Stress of wind or stress of
weather, storm flood or blockade,
Dave Hawks trains came and went on
time or very close. So he rode, grim
old privateer, with his letters Of
marque on the company's strong box,
and Haverly trembled night and day till
that day came that fear had foretold
to him A clap of thunder struck the
Wickfup, and Haverlys head fell low,
and Dave Hawk sailed boldly on.
I was extra passenger man when
John Stanley Bucks took the West
End He came from south of our
country. and we heard great things
about the new superintendent and about
what would happen as soon as he got
into the saddle. What few of the old
men in the WickiuD were left looked
at Bucks just once and began to ar
range their temporal affairs His ap-
pearance bore out his reputation Only
everybody. while pretty clear in his
own mind as to what he would do
that is. as 10 what he would have TO
do-wondered what Dave would do.
He and Bucks met. [ couldn't for
the life of me help thinking when
they struck hands. this grizzled noun
taineer and this contained strong, SOL
dierIy5 executive who had come to COM
nnand rs of another nesting I once