CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1906-04-26

han stuck silent to the key. taking
what little work came, for l saw he
ther of the chiefs wanted to tru-,
Blackburn ut the key. He sat looking
for the most part. vacantly into TIM
fire. Callahan meantime had the orders
repeated back from .Ames and Rose
bud. 1t was as Blackburn had sail
they did lap; they had been sent just
as the order book showed. There WAS
nothing for it but to wait for Rosebud
to hear from No. l. When the nighl
operator there called the dispatches
again it brought Blackburn out of his
gloom like a thunderclap.
"Give me the key!' he exclaimed
There is Rosebud" Callahan pushed
back, and Blackburn, dropping into
the chair, took the message from the
night operator at Rosebud.
mo. in, 2:03 a. M"
Blackburn answered him, and. strange
ly, with all the easy confidence of his
ordinary sending. He sat and took and
sent like one again master of the sit.
uation.
ASK Engineer Sampson to come to
the wire" said he to Rosebud. Samp.
son, not MAZE, but his brother Arnold
was pulling No. that night.
Engineer Sampson here" came from
Rosebud presently.
"Ask Sampson where he met Specia
202 tonight"
We waited, wrought up, for in that
reply must come the answer to all the
mystery. There was a hitch at the
other end of the wire; then Rosebud
answered:
Sampson says he will tell you all
about it in the morning"
"That will not do" tapped the dis.
patcher. "This is Blackburn. Superin.
tendent Bucks and Callahan are here.
They want the facts. Where did you
meet Special 2O2?'
There was another wearing delay.
When the answer came 1t was slowly.
at the engineers dictation.
my orders were to hold at O'Fallon's
for Special 202." clicked the sounder.
repeating the engineers halting state.
ment. when we cleared Salt Rocks
siding and got down among the Quak-
ers was cutting along pretty hard to
make the canyon when l saw or
thought l saw headlight flash be.
tween the buttes across the river Ii
startled me, for / knew. the 202 special
could not be very far west of US. Any
way, made a quick stop and reversed
and backed tight as I could make II
for Salt Rocks siding Before we had
got a mile / saw the headlight again,
and l knew the 202 was against our
order. We got into the clear Just as
the special went by humming. Nobody
but our train crew and my fireman
knows anything about this
The three men in front of me made
no comment as they looked at each 9th
er. How was it possible for one train
to have seen the headlight of another
among the buttes of the Peace river
country?
1t was-possible. Just possible. But
to figure once in how many times a
vista would have opened for single
second so one engineer could see the
light of another would stagger a multi
plying machine. Chance! Well. yes,
perhaps. But there were no sugges-
tons of that nature that night under
the dispatcher's lamp at the Wickiup,
with the storm driving down the pass
as it drove that night: and yet at
Peace river, where the clouds never
rested, that night was clear. Black
burn. getting up. steadied himself on
his feet
Go in there and lie down" said Cal.
lahan to him You're used up, old fel-
low. | can see tnat. I'll take the key.
Don't say word"
Not word, Blackburn" put in
Bucks, resting his big hand on the his-
patcher's shoulder. There's no harm
done; nobody knows It. Bury the thing