The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-14
as11slzs.s7 Izs''''.ll-'-s By Alice Clarlxe%


 coPyrishtsd, 1907. by c H. lssi suseliffe- he pocketed N the letter. John Dufford looked at him over hls steel-bowed spec
 When I was a lad" he said severely. young men did not pick and choose. They were glad to take what they could get. You want to marry my daughter and have come to me to ask s~r work to prove yourself worthy of her. give you a letter to my superintendent and you calmly ask the na- ture of the employment" clothes ''te'' to lay in,S Marsdsn explained in
 Any man who works needs plain. serv- iceabie clothes" said the cider man re- provinsiy. II would suggest tnas s go1 1
 "Yes, sir" answered Marsden obedientiy.
 Nov, 1t is clearly ,.nderstood.'' Dufford hold hold any reooinmanicstlon with my, daughter for two years. That is agreed to-" T promise" the end of two years find that my su- perintendent gives good report of your in- dustry. shall withdraw my objeottion to He swung back to his desk, and Jim Marsden, placing the letter in his pocket, book. left the office. There. wes q far well cheap outfitters shop. and when the night train pulled out for the west> Marsden vas
 1t was ions before sleep came to him. It l seemed unjust that John Dufford should m sist upon 8 two-year's apprentlfeshtps Dps if Jacob could serve seven years and again seven years for Rachel. he should be able
 The old man had no particular objection to him save that he had inherited ms hoaey tSaa he % shouia s'n not even write Iarjoris lest he work upon her Aympathies, seemed particularly hard. but Duffcrd was hard man, and if Marsden wanted Mar3orie TOT his wife, he could only bow to the dietum. It was four days before he landed in the | little Colorado town which was the near next morning n six-hour ride brought him to the desoiate collection of buildings grouped around the shaft rro Of the , mine. ,nors 1 wealth for the company of which Dufford
 The superintendsnt vas easily found. and he glanced over the letter Msrsden pre-
 Al right" he said cursiy. Had any RGuas or steam engines,' said Marsdsn.
 You know very weii,'' was the sharp response ''Can you fire an engine"
 II can." was the quiet answer though l merely 6 matter of shoveling coal. Isn't It. !"
 "shoveling the coal right, corrected the
 sSa Bunk sssss tnsn so ts eineer and tell him that you're Jim and that Casey is to show you how to fire.
 He turned to attend to another man who had entered. and feelins himself dismissed. Jim turned away.
 Inquiry developed the facN~thnt vhe bunk | house was the long. low shed where the men slept and ate. The Chinanan fin charge of the place showed him where to put his trunk at the side of narrow cot | and presently, clad in a suit of overalls, | Him stfolled into the engine room and pre- sented himself to the enginea
 T am Jfm," he said simply. MT. Travers said that Casey was to show me how to fire"
 Tell Casey" he said, and went on with | his oiling.
 deftly elicited the information as to Jin's | place of mailing and other facts, he | made 1t apparent that Mir. Travers was | right when he said that r was not merely 1 a question of shoveling coal,
 Coal cost much when 1t had to be brought | from the railroad by a horse-car system, l the cars going down loaded with ore and l coming back with the. coal when 1t vas needed. Every shovelful had to be thrown | just where 1t was needed to feed the fire evenly, and Jim's arms ached AS he strovs Ito learn the proper twist of the shovel to l land the coal in the desired spot
 ! If was two weeks before he could be | trusted on a trick alone. but at last Casey proraounced himself satisfied with Jim's ! ability and he reigned over the stoke pit