West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-07-12

dues, he made his passes. nc sat I'm MS
place. What more could bo rcQulred2
II they put him In post OF honor, he
filled IL with silent dignity II they set
him TO guard the outer portal he guard.
ed we'll II was pcrilous, rather, for
visiting frater or even a local brother
90 try getting past Delaroo II he was
rusty In the ritual. Not Maize Sampson
himself could work the outer guard
without the countersiRn. II he forgot Il
In the hurry OF getting 20 lodge he had
10 cool his heels In the outer air till Il
came back. DolaroO was pitiless.
In the cab he was as taciturn as he
was In the lodge or under the kerosene
lamp at Simpsons, he just listened.
But his fring was above any man's
who ever stocked the 20I. Delaroo made
more steam ON less coal than any man
In the roundhouse. Nelghbor began 10
hold him up as n model Cor the division,
aud the boys found that the way TO
jolly Ncighhor was To say nice things
about Dclaroo. The head OF the mo
tive power would brighten out OF u sulk
at the mention OF DclarOos name. and
lac finally fixed up n surprise for the
Indian man. One night after Delaroo
came In Neighbor, In the blum way he
liked TO use IN promoting man. told
Del0roo he could have an engine: a
good one, ono OF the Il class. as much
finer a machine thnn the old 204 as
Duny's chronomoter was than n prize
package watch. Denroo never said
aye. yes or no. hc merely listened
Ncighbor never had promotion re-
ceived I'm just that way; IL nearly gave
him the apoplCXy.
But IL Delaroo treated the proposal
coolly. not 80 Maze Sampson. When
the news OF the offer reached him.
Majc went into an unnccountable 1ut-
ter. He acted at first exactly as II no
wanted TO hold his man back. which
was dead against cab ethics. Finally
he 0sscntcd, but his cheeks went flabby
ana his eyes hollow. and he showed
more worry than his creditors Nobody
understood Il. yet there was evidently
something on, and tho majors anxiety
increased until Delnroo, the Indian fire-
man and knight companion Of the An
Client Order of Drulds and Fluids. COM
pletely took Nelghbors breath by de-
clinlng the new engine. That was n
West End wonder He said IL II made
no odds he would stay on the 20I.
The men all wondered Then some
thing new came up, and the thing was
forgotten. Maze Simpsons checks nu-
ed out ngnIn. ho regancd his usual
ncrve and swore on the money question
harder than ever
After that II was pretty generally
understood that Delaroo and Maize
Sampson and the POI were fixtures.
Noighhor never gave any one a chance
10 decline un engine mo-o than once.
The boys all knew. II Delaroo didn't.
that he would be nrnR long time aft
or throwing that chance by. ana he
was.
The combination came 20 be regard
cd ns eternal When the sloppy 20I
hove IN sight little Delaroo ana Big
Maize Sampson were known to bc be-
hind the boiler pounding Up and down
the mountains, up and down year In
and year out Big engines came into
the division and bigger All the time
the division was crowding on The mo-
tive power and putting IN the mann
moth types until when the 2Gi was
stalled alongside a consolidated or a
mogul skyscraper she looked like an
ancient beer glass set next an import
ed stein.
With the POI when the 800 or the
LOO class were concerned II was sim
ply case of keep out OF our way or
get smashed, Maze Sampson or no
Maize Sampson, money question or no
money question. Benevolent benefits
frateInally proposed or anteroom sig
nails cOnfdcntinlly put forth by the
baldheadcd 2G4 were OF no sort OF CON
sequence with the modern giants that
pulled thousand tons IN string up a
1000 foot grade at better than twenty
miles an hour. II was clear yet cold,
"You old tug get out Of our way, will
your And the fast runners. like
Moore and HnwkswOrth and Mullen
and the Crowleys, Tim and Syme, had
about as much consideration for MAZE
ana his financial theories as their ma
chimes had for his machine. His finn
CROW freight outfit didn't cut much OF
figure I'm their track schedules.
So the Maze Sampson combination,
but quite as brassy as though II had
rights Of the first class. dodged the big
fellows up and down the line pretty
successfully until the government be-
gan pushing troops into the Philippines
and there came days when n Rocky
mountain sheep could hardly have kept
out OF The way Of the extrns that tore,
kissing and booming, over the noun
tnlns for Frisco For time the traffic
came bot-8O hot we were pressed 20
hnndlc g. There was good bit OF
diminishing on the part Of the passen-
ger department 10 get the business and
then tremendous skirmishlng IN the
operating department 20 deliver the
goods. Every broken down coach I'm
Che back yards was scrubbed up for
the soldier trains We aimed 90 XIII
just as few g. possible Of the boys On
route % the islands though That may
have been q mistaken mercy. How
ever. we handled them we'll Not a
man IN khaki got away from us in
wreck. and IN the height Of the push
wo put more I've stock into South Oma.
hn. car Tor car. than has ever gone IN
before or since.
It was November md great weather
for running and when the rails were
not springinR under the soldiers west
bound they were humm'ug under tho
steers castbound Maje Sla.1. %. with
his beer kegs md h.s crH.t, and his
2Gi nad his 5ebulghted freGu hugged
the s'dinR5 pretty close That week
Some of The trains had plrt OF tho
rights and others bad tIp remainder.
The 2Gi and her train took what was
left. which threw MAZE Sampson most
Of the time on the wornout. rundown
scrap rails that made corduroy roads
Of the passing tracks Then came the
night that MouItop. the Philippine com
mandanL went through on bis special.
with his stan and hls baggage and his