Morris tribune., 1906-08-18

at the bridge sent in panic messages
every night and morning, but HALEY
lit his pipe with their alarms. THAT
bridge will go when the mountains
CO." was all he said.
Tuesday was his wedding date, old
Denis told Peeto. 1t was HALEY s
wooden wedding, and when he found
everybody knew they were going to
have little spread over at the cottage
Haley invited the boys up for the even
ing-sust a little celebration, HALEY
said, and everybody he spoke to wrung
his hand and slapped his iron shoulders
tia HALEY echoed good cheer through
and through.
1t was 8 O'Clock, night, and every
star blinking when HALEY looked in
again at the office for the track walk
ers' reports and the railway weather
bulletins Bucks, Callahan and Peeto
sat about Duffy, who in his shirt sleeves
threw the stuff out off the sounder as
1t trickled in dot and dash, dot and
dash over the wires. The west wire
Peace river was down. We had to get
the eastern reports around by Omaha
and the south, good 1000 miles Of a
loop, but bad news travels even round
Robin Hood loop.
And Wild Hat came first from the
west with q stationary river and the
Loup creek falling-clear-good aight
And Ed Peeto struck the table heavily
and swore it was we'll in the west
Then from the east came Prairie Port
age all the way round, with a north
west rain, rising river and anchor ice
pounding the piers badly, track in fair
shape and--and-
The wire went wrong. AS Duffy knit
his eyes and tugged and cussed a little
the wind outside took up the message
and whirled a bucket of rain against
the windows. But the wires wouldn't
right. and stuff that no man could get
tumbled in like a dictionary upside
down. And Bucks and Callahan and
HALEY and Peeto smoked, silent, and
listened to the deepening drum of the
rain Oh the TOOL.
Then Duffy wrestled nightly yet
once more, and the long way came
word of trouble in the Omaha yards
with the river at twenty-five feet and
cutting; rising at Bismarck one foot an
hour.
"Hell to pay on the Missouri, Of
course" grOWled the foreman. staring
single eyed at the inoffensive bulletin.
"Well, she don't run our way; let her
boil"
Keep STILL" exclaimed Duffy. leaning
heavily Oh the key. "Here's something
-from-the Spider"
Only the hum of the rain and the ner-
vous break of the Sounder cut the
smoke that curled from the pipes.
Duffy snatched pen and ran it across
a clip, and Bucks leaning over read
aloud from his shoulder:
Omaha.
J. +. Bucks - Trainmen from No. Is
stalled west of Rapid City-track af1oat in
Simpsons cut-report Spider bridge out
send
And the current broke.
Callahan's hand closed rigidly over
his pipe; Peeto sat speeches.; Bucks
read again at the broken message, but
HALEY sprang like a man wounded and
snatched the clip from the superin-
tendent's hand.
He stared at the running words till
they burnt his eyes, and then, with an
oath frightful as the thunder that broke
down the mountains, he dashed the clip
to the floor. His eyes snapped greenish
with fury, and he cursed Omaha,
cursed it's messages and everything
that came out of it-slow at first, but
bitter, then fast and faster until all
the sting that poisoned his heart in his
unjust discharge poured from his lips.
It flooded the room like a spilling
stream, and no man put word against
it, for they knew he stood a wronged
man. Out it came-all the rage, all the
heart burning, all the bitterness
he dropped, bent, into chair and COW
cred his face with his hands; only the
sounder clicking iron jargon and the
thunder shaking the Wickiup like
reed filed the ears about him. They
watched him slowly knot his fingers
and loosen them and saw his face rise
dry and hard and old out of his hands.
''Get up an engineer
"Not-you're not going down there
tonight" stammered Bucks.
Eyes; now-right off. Peeto, get out
your crew."
The foreman jumped for the door.
Bucks hesitated barely an instant;
then, turning where he sat, cut tele-
phone plug into the roundhouse. Gala
han saw him act and leaning forward,
spoke low to Duffy. The dispatcher,
snatching the train sheet, began in
stantly clearing track for a bridge spe-
cial.
In twenty minutes twenty men were
twenty ways through the
storm, and live engine doomed under
the Wickiup windows.
"Phil; l want you to be CAREFUL" 1t
was Bucks standing by the roadmas-
ter's side at the window as they looked
out into the storm Its bad night"
HALEY made no answer "a wicked