Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-24
XII-Continued.

whats the matter with Olson?" he de-
manded HAS he forgotten how to run
since he left the Plug Mountain? Climb
up over the coal and tell him that forty
miles an hour won't do for me tonight
| The lagman picked up his lantern and
went forward, and in minute two
later the index finger of the speed re-
corder began to mount slowly toward the
| ffties. At fifty-two miles to the hour,
Ford. sitting in the observation end of the
car where he could the ghostly lines
of the rails reeling backward into the
night smelled smoke-the unmistakable
odor of burning oil In three strides he
had reached the rear platform. and a
fourth to the right-hand railing showed
| him one of the car boxes blazing to
| heaven.
| He pulled the cord of the air whistle,
and after the stop stood by. in sour silence
while the crew repacked the hot box.
Since he had made the inspectors
| carefully overhaul the truck gear in the
| Denver station there was no one to swear
| at Olson boSsed the job. did it neatly
and in silence. and no one said anything
| when the fireman. in his haste to be use
| full upset the dope kettle and got its
contents we'll sanded before he had over
taken it in its rolling flight down the
embankment.
| Ford turned away and climbed into his
car at the dope-kettle incident There
| are times when retreat is the only recipe
| for self-restraint; and in Imagination he
could see the general managers special
| ticking off the miles 10 the eastward
while his own men were sweating over
the thrice-accursed journal bearing under
| the '01.'
Now. as every one knows. hot boxes
besides being perversely incurable. are
the enemies of high SDeoC. At
forty miles to the hour the journal was
smoking again. At fortS-f1ve it burst into
| flames. Once more 1t. was patiently cooled
by bucketings of water drawn from the
engine tank, after which necessary pre-
liminary Olson spoke his mind
LAY tank We never get someveres Wit
dat hal-fer-damn brass. Meester Ford
Ay yust see if Ay can't find noder wone."
And he rummaged in the car lockers till
he did find another.
Unfortunately. however. the spare brass
proved to be of the wrong pattern-a
Pullman. instead of a p S.W. standard
Olson was a trained mechanic and a man man
Of resources and he Clipped and filed
and scraped at the mistit brass until he
made 1t serve. But when he climbed
again to the cab of his engine. and Ford
swung up to the steps of the car. the
white headlight eye of an east-bound
! freight left at siding full hours run
to the rear came in sight from the OBJ
| servation platform of the laboring spe-
| cial.
These were the inauspicious beginnings
| of the pursuit. and the middle part and
| the ending varied only in degree. All the
| way up to midnight, at which hour a
| station of bignesS to supply standard
brass was reached. the tinkered journal
bearing gave trouble and killed speed. Set
once more in running order upon it's full
quota of sixteen practicable wheels, the
special had fallen SO far behind its Den
ver-planned schedule as not only to be In
the way of everything else on the divi-
sion. but to find everything else in It's
way. Ford held on stubbornly until the
lead of the train he was trying to outrun
had increas ed to twelve hours. Then he
gave it up. directing his crew to turn the
train on the nearest .'Y' and to ask for
retracing orders to Denver. After which
he went to bed In the stateroom of the
borrowed car. and for the first time in his
experience was man handsomely beaten
by the perversity of insensate things.
The request for the retracing orders
was sent from Coauina. and when it came
clicking into the dispatchers office at
Denver sleep-sodden young man with
| an extinct cigar between his teeth rose
up out of his chair, stretched, yawned
and pointed for the door.
Going to leave US, Mr.. EckStein?" said
the trick dispatcher who was sitting at
the train table.
YES. If Mr.. Ford has changed his
mind I may as well go home and go to
bed"
Reckon he forgot something and has
to come back after it?" laughed the OPP
orator.
Maybe" said the private secretary
and he went out, shutting the door behind
him with the batlike softness and preci-
sion that was his distinguishing char
acteristic
The saunders were clicking monotonous-
ly when the trick man turned to the
lief operator who was checking Darby s
transfer sheet.
What do you suppose Eckstein was up
| to- sitting here all night, JIM
Give it up" said the relief man. ASK
me something easy
"I'll bet a hen worth fifty dollars l can
guess. He didn't want Mr.. Ford to make
time"
The relief man looked up from his
why? He didn't do anything. He
was asleep more'n half the time
Don't you fool yourself" said the
other. He heard every word that came
in about that hot box. And if the hot
box hadn't got in the way. I'll bet a
cockerel worth seventy-five dollars. to go
with that fifty-dollar hen. that he would
have tangled me up somehow till l had
shuff1ed freight train something in
Mr.. Ford's way. He's Mr.. North's man.
| body and soul; and Mr.. North doesn't
love Mr.. Ford
"Oh. rats. Billy scoffed the relief man.
getting up to fill his corncob pipe from
| lIc COUlflOH tOUdCCO DdS. Iou lie di-
ways finding a niger in the woodpile
when there isn't any. Say, that's POI ask
| ing for orders from Calotte. Why don't
| you come to life and answer en-
Frisbie. breakfastng early at the Brown
Palace on the morning following the night
| of hinderingS, was more than astonished
when Ford came in and took the I'M
occupied seat at the table for two.
Let me eat first said the beaten one
when Frisbie would have whelmed him
| with curious questions; and with the
passing of the outlets and the coffee he
| told the tale of the hndrances.
Il guess it was foreordained not to be. "
| he admitted. in conclusion. I'VE tried
mighty hard to bully it through, but the
fates were too many and too busy for
US"
"Tricks?" suggested F'risbe. suspecting
North of covering his flight with special
instructions to delay possible pursuit.
"Oh. no: nothing of that sort just the
cursed depravity of inanmate things
Every man concerned worked hard and in
good faith. 1t was luck. No one of us
happened 20 have a rabbits foot In his
pocket
You don't believe in luck laughed
the assist ant
Don't 1? know l used to say that
didn't. But after last night l can't be so
sure Of it,
well. what's the cost to u.s." inquired
Frisbie. coming down out of the high
atmosphere of the superstitious to stand
upon the solid earth of railway building
fact.
ct don't know. possibly failure There