The Havre herald. [volume] (Havre, Mont.) 1904-1908, 1906-04-13

exhausted into the front seat facing
the Baker heater. 1t was heavenly hot;
red hot. have loved car heater ever
since. and Baker to me Is hardly lower
than the angels. My toys began to
steam, my blood began to flow. the
train boy gave me a wormy apple, an
Irishman with a bottle of rank whisky
gave me a singer, and wanted to live
again.
curled up in the seat, and in five
minutes l was roasting-oh, such q
heavenly roast - and doing - Lord,
what heavenly doze-before that
Baker heater. All night the forward
truck beat and pounded under me. All
night | woke and slept in the steaming,
Sinking air of the hot car. And when
ever | opened my eyes | saw always
the same thing-a topping tall con-
ductor looming in the aisle, his green
hooded lamp like semaphore under
his arm. And above in the gloom a
bush Of black beard and pair of deep
set, shining eyes back under peaked
him, waking and dreaming that night
I LII luc smoker OIL NO. /.
| 1t was breaking day when he bent
over me.
''We're getting into the Bend" he
said gruttly. Got any money for
| breakfastT'
II haven't cent on Gods earth"
He put his hand in his pocket and, pull
ing out handful of loose bills, showed
one into my fingers.
'I'll take it from you, and gladly" l
said, sitting up. But I'm not a beggar
or tramp"
''Off trackf"
eyes. I'm going to enlist" His
teeth flashed. That's worse than rail-
reading, amt it?' Something came
/ into my head like a rocket.
IF | could get started railroading"-
Get started easy enough"
That's how | 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. l went into the lunch
room for coffee and sandwiches and
threw my bill at the boy. He opened
1t, looked at it and looked at me.
SWELL" / growled, for l was impu-
dent with luck and a hot stomach.
'Good, amt it?"
SMALLEST you got?"
| nodded as if had a pocketful He
! hustled around and came back with
handful of money. I said nothing, but
| when he spread it out before me sat
paralyZed. / 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 a
month, and after my first pay day /
hunted up Dave to pay him back. I
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 a
twenty dollar bill and tried to speak
/ my little piece. He did not move ex-
cept to wave back my hand.
"Oh, but I can't let you do that" !
protested.
"Put up your money, Tommie." He
called me Tommie.
mo" 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. I stole it."
It was a 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 di-
rectors to the car thinks, were giving the
company the worst Of It, 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 it discourag-
ing for the conductors the auditors stole
what little money the boys did turn in
A hard place to begin railroading the
old line was then, but that's where |
had to tackle the game, and in all tie
hard crowd | mixed with Dave Hawk
was the only big man ON the division.
thing up by comparing notes on their
collections and turning in percentages
to make their reports look right. but
| Dave was not a conspirator. never
made 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 a Wi fo
somewhere back east Of the river, they
said, that had sold him out-thats why
he was in the mountains-and he lived
among free and easy men lonely life.
| If anybody ever got close to him |
think maybe I did. though I was still
only a freight conductor when the
lightning struck the division.
1t came with clean sweep through
the general offices at the river-every-
hnfiy in rho a1.dttiro ,r+v,,ap+ tho