The Irish standard., 1908-03-14
CHAPTER I,
Arrow and Fire.

Half century ago the great region
between the Missouri and the Sierra
Nevadas, except for Denver. Salt Lake
City. and few mining camps. was
trackless, forestless desolation known
only to Indian, coyote. and venture
some emigrant. Yet two men under
the golden wing of the government
planted a line of lonely posts, and
linked them with a chain of stage
coaches. Over this treacherous way
sped daily messages, men and treas.
ure; sped. and arrived-if frost and
Indians permitted.
Late on an autumn afternoon tho
Overland Mail was toiling sunward up
a western rampant of the Rocky noun
tains. Two passengers were on the
box with the driver The center man,
booked as Alfred Vincent, was slight.
fair, and, to the superficial eye. young
to boyishness. His air of one bred
to the best of city refinements con-
trasted sharply with his fellow-trav-
eler, who had been introduced as Mr..
Phineas Cadwallader. though the
driver afterwards called him BLOW.
hard Cad" which nickname he vindi-
Gated by constant stream of gossip.
But an astute observer would have
seen that he was trying to penetrate
the reserve, the slight mystery that
surrounded his fellow-traveler.
Yet whatever the mystery. Alfred
Vincent was now posting westward
with letter in his pocket signed by
Coils p. Huntington. and directed to
Leland Stanford. governor of Cali
fornia. and president of the Central
Pacific Railroad company. Alfred paid
slight heed to the others His impa'
tient imagination winged him far from
present inaction. over mountain and
desert. to the far west, to unguessed
conflicts Of the future.
"Holy Mackinaw! Only fools would
think of building railroad through
this God-forsaken country"
The caustic sentence reused Alfred
from his reverie; and Phineas noted
that railroad" was the magic word
that broke the spell. The driver, Will
liam Dodge. better known as Uncle
Billy" readjusted his quid Of comfort.
spat with precision. and touched up a
tagging leader with the tip of his rod
long whiplash. well, I'm not taking
the chances Of calling Goveno' Stan.
ford fool"
"Of course he amt. He don't intend
to build any railroad, either Not over
the Sierras, anyway. He's got bet
ter thing" Phineas' sidewise look dit
gently sought rift in Alfred's mask.
"Meaning?" Uncle Billy questioned.
"That Dutch Flat Swindle. Those
e. P. fellers have their wagon road
built over the Sierras. and"
GLOW in blazes can they build rail.
road. Cad, without a wagon road?
Don't they have to feed cir advance
construction camps? And won't they
have to do it for years.. while they
cut their miles OF tunnels?'
ooh, they'll put their railroad
through to Dutch Flat maybe; but
from there on they'll go it by mules;
take all the toll they can get from the
$12,OO0,O00 freightage Nevada pays
every year to the transportation COM
panies The G. P. people want bite
of Louis McLane's pie, that's ALL
They're going to get it. you bet!"
The driver smiled; yet his low, leisure
~ words seemed a fiat.
"Not by a jugful!" Phineas lifted
his voice and pounded the air; and
Alfred detected the sham note, the
bid for effect What do you suppose
we are doing along the line? Why,
San Francisco merchants can sit in
their offices and sell to all California,
to Nevada. Idaho and southern Ore
gon, at any price they choose to name.
And McLane and all the other trans
portation folks can haul the goods at
their own figures; they won't even let
the towns have post offices because
they like to carry letters at half a dol
lar apiece San Francisco bays full of
ships, and the mountains are full of
gold; and we're getting 1t going both
ways, out and in"
Eyes, yo're taking too much" the
driver replied. "Yo're killing yo'
gold-egg goose"
Phineas' smile was unpleasant. ooh,
no! She's hearty yet. And we won't
divvy up the eggs, either, with those
seven by-nine shopkeepers in-that mud
hole they call Sacramento. Do you
suppose we'll let them make fishing
pond of the bay, and winter water
ing-place of San Francisco? Not on
your gold toothpick!"
Uncle Billy's eye flashed its first
hint of resentment. "Stanfords worst
enemy wouldn't think of calling him
seven-by-nine; and reckon California
voters'll have something to say. lie.
lands got right smart influence with
them"
YES. They voted both state and
city bonds. didn't they, Mr.. Dodge?''
Vincent asked, joining the converse
ton at last.
"Oh, call me Uncle Billy" said the
driver. Its so long since anyone
called me Dodge. need an introduce
ton to the name"