Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1907-01-30


Then from the east came Prairie Port
age, all the way round, with a north
west rain. n 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 bucket of rain against
the windows. But the wires wouldn't
right, and stuff that no man could get
tumbled in like 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.
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
boilr'
keep STILL" 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
a clip, and Bucks leaning over read
aloud from his shoulder.
Omaha
j. f. Bucks = Trainmen from No. 70
stalled west of Rapid City-track afloat in
Simpsons cut-report Spider bridge out
send
And the current broke.
Callahans hand closed rigidly over
his pipe; Peeto sat speechless; 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 its 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.
1t 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-and
he dropped, bent, into chair and cov-
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 engine"
"Not-you're not going down there
tonight?' stammered Bucks.
Yes; 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 bridge spe
cial.
IN twenty minutes twenty men were
running twenty ways through the
storm, and live engine doomed under
the Wickiup windows.
"Phil, | 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
night" muttered Bucks as the light
ming shot the yards in blaze and a
crash rolled down the gorge. But,
wicked as it was, he could not bring
himself to countermand Something
forbade it. Evans, the conductor of
the special, ran in.
Here's your orders" exclaimed Duff
fy. Evans, pulling down his storm
cap, nodded as he took the tissue.
HALEY buttoned his leather jacket and
turned to Bucks.
"Goodby."
"Mind your track" said Bucks warn
ingly to Evans as he took Hailey's
hand. whats your permit?"
"Forty miles an hour"
Don't stretch it. Goodby, Phil" he
added, speaking to HALEY. "I'll see
you in the morning"
.In the morning" repeated HALEY.
"Goodby. Nothing more in, Duffy?"
"Nothing more"
"Come onr' With the words he push
ed the conductor through the door and
was gone. The switch engine puffed
up with the caboose. Ahead of it Ed
Peeto had coupled in the pile driver.
At the last minute Callahan asked to
go, and as the bridge gang tumbled
into the caboose the assistant superin-
tendent, Ed Peeto and HALEY climbed
into the engine. Denis Mullenix sat
on the right and with William burden.