The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-12-06
"My mind amt any differen.

SS aAASSl(o oI lOC
desk. making a feeble pretense of
working. but when the hands of the
clock drew around to s and the en-
CINE had not puffed down the track to
couple to the train Fallon went out on
the platform.
Redway was sitting on the baggage
truck putting at his cigar. Several pas
sengers paced the platform. and both
of the day coaches We're about half
filled.
"Where's the engine?' demanded
Fallon. Redway moved his cigar hat
he might grin the broader.
Pm on a strike" he explained. 1.-The
engines in the house"
"Strike!!" shouted Fallon. What YOU
strikin' about? You had a raise last
spring.
Its not about money!" explained the
engineer. II saw Sadie last night, and
she says she won't marry me until you
say she can. I'm on strike until you
give the go ahead ORDER"
Fallon glared impotently. There was
no one else in town who could run an
engine except Sim Dugan. who fired
for Redway. Sim was sitting on the
truck by his boss and only smiled
pleasantly when Fallon offered him
double and even triple pay to take the
train out. Some of the passengers
crowded about to watch the fun, and
in the end the superintendent beat a
retreat to his Office. where presently he
wired to Greenville for help.
But Greenville was unsympathetic.
Something of Redway's plan the office
knew, and Fallon's ~pompousness had
not made friends for him. Greenville
declared fatty that they could spare
neither engine nor engineer, and when
the division headquarters was appeal
ed to Fallon was told to settle the
matter himself. In theory the G. and
B. S. was an Independent road, with
Its w corporate entity, and head
quarters was not interested in it's af-
fairs. Several heavy wrecks had filled
the repair shops With locomotives, and
there We're rot enough to properly
equip the division, to say nothing OF
loaning one to so unimportanl a branch
line.
In desperation Fallon wired the main
offices of the l.. and ", and their reply
! was even more curt. The western strike
was growing worse, and the message
suggested that if Fallon could not man.
age without the assistance of the en-
tire system a strike of one engineer he
had better resign and let the Office boy,
II he had one, take charge.
All this took time, INC the station
was filed with the intending travellers,
who were anxious to start upon their
journey. The cause of the strike had
been whispered about, and the passen-
gers took turns coming to the general
office, which was also the baggage
room, and demanding that the strike
be broken n communication restored.
Fallon grew desperate. Hardy, one
Of the heaviest stockholders OF the,
l.. and w., had been born In Bay Side,
and his summer cottage over on the
point was always open to his old ac-
Quaintances when the owner was there.
II the story should reach Hardy
through complaint on the part of one
of the town people, there might be
trouble. With a gesture of despair he
opened the door and called Sadie into
consultation.
"see ii you can't fx things up" he
pleaded. Don't give In unless you
have to, but as a last resort-well, l
suppose III have to let you marry
him."
With a hug and q. kiss, Sadie darted
to the window and threw up the sash.
"1t's all right, Mart!" she called. "Tll
ride down with you and get the ring"
Il told you as a last resort" groaned
Fallon. you might have talked hin
out of the strike"
"Small chance of that" laughed the
girl as from b roundhouse came the
pun of the exhaust. "As official strike
breaker of the road l saw long ago.
that only complete surrender would be
effective"
Strike breakerg!' grunted Fallon.
"There would have been another
strike in the morning." she explained.
1.-THE telegraph department and the
train dispatcher were going out in
sympathy"
Its darned little sympathy you
have" growled Fallon. "What do you
suppose Hardy will say if he hears Of
this?"
promised me Il wedding present
If l broke the strike" explained he
girl calmly. He wired this morning
to know what the trouble was, and
told him"
For a moment lNallon pondered the
situation, then he rose to his feet, with
a sigh.
"There won't be any more strikes"
he said Its all in the family low"
Why She Sang the Hymn.
A we'll known bishop relates that
While on a recent visit to the south he