Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1906-04-07

Big Ell Peeto still foreman OF the
bridges. hung on Hailey's steps and
| tried with his staring. swearing eve 10
| make IL all out; Ia guess what HALEY
/ expected to happen. for Il was plain he
: was thinking. Whether smoking OF
speaking. whether waking or sleeping.
he was thinking And as May turned
soft and hot into June with every ditch
bellyng and the mountains still buried.
ii put us all thinking.
On the 30th there was trouble be
| yond Wild Hat. and all our extra men.
put out there under HALEY, were fight.
ing TO hold The Rat valley levels where
they hug the river on the west slope.
It wasn't really Haileys track Bucks
sent him over there because he sent
HALEY wherever the emperor sent Ney.
Sunday while HALEY was at Wild Hat
IL began raining. Sunday II rained :;
Monday IL rained all through the noun.
tains; Tuesday it was raining from
Omaha TO Eagle pass, with the Their
mometer climbing for breath and the
barometer fiat as an adder-and the
Spider woke
Woke with the April water and the
June water and the rain water all at
once. Trackmen at the bridge Tuesday
night tagged No. 1 and reported the
! river wild and sheet ice running. A
wire from Bucks brought HALEY out
or the west and into the east and
brought him to reckon for the last time
with his ancient enemy.
He was against il Wednesday morn
ing with dynamite. All the day, the
] night and the next day the sullen roar
OF the giant powder shook the ice jams.
Two days more he spent there watch
ing. with only an occasional thunder.
bolt 20 heave and scatter the Spider
water into sudden. shivery columns Of
spray; then he wired. ice out" and
set back dragged and silent FOR home
and for sleep-ten hours out OF two
hundred. maybe. was all he reckoned
TO the good when he struck a pillow
again. Saturday night be slept. and
Sunday all day, and Sunday night
Monday about noon Bucks sent up TO
ask, but HALEY was asleep. They
asked back by the lad whether they
should wake him; Bucks sent word.
"No."
tt''atAs AllNf lNAAAHr NAt'- AtAAA ANfANaAAtlNANA
came down fresh as sunshine and all
day he worked with Bucks and the dis
patchers watching the line. The Spider
raced like the Missouri. and the men
at tbe bridge sent in panic messages
every night and morning. but HALEY
lit his pipe with their alarms "That
bridge viii go when the mountains
60" was ai he said.
Tuesday was his wedding date, old
Denis told Peeto. IL was uaIcys
wooden wedding. aud when he found
everybody knew they were going 20
have little spread over at the cottage
HALEY invited the boys up for the even
ing-iu~t "a little celebration. HALEY
said, and everybody hc spoke 20 wrung
his hand and slapped his iron shoulders
tin HALEY echoed good cheer through
and through
IL was @ 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 aud Peeto
sat about Duty. who iu his shirt sleeves
Che" the sfum o~t 80 tho sounder as
IL trickled in dot and dash. dot and
NNHAN NhfA Alt " lINNa ~ ne west wire
was good. but east everything below
Peace river was down. We had 70 get
the eastern reports around by Omaha
and the south. a good 1000 miles OF
loop, but bad news travels even round
a Robin Hood loop.
And Wild Hat came first from the
west with a stationary river and the
Loup creek falling clcar-cood night.
And Ed Pecto struck the table heavily
and swore it was we'll Ia 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
bis eyes aud tugged ana cussed a little
the wind outside took Up the message
and whirlcd a bucket Of rain against
the windows. But the wires wouldn't
right, and stun 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 on the roof.
N--NAA Af'AtA NANNAltA AulEullY Vet .
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" growIed the foreman, staring
single eyed at the inOffensive bulletin. /.
"Wen. she don't run our way; let her |
bollr'
Keep sim" exclaimed Duffy. leaning |
heavily on 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 a pen and ran it across
clip. and Bucks leaning over read |
n Nnrr fFsr.ra 4. a.. ~. IL