The San Francisco call., 1908-11-15

StOrmed around the curves anu up
the grades. The struggle against
ODDS was beginning to tell upon him
The building Of this new line, the open
ing Of the new country, was the real
end fo- which all the planning and
schemiug in the financial field had been
only the necessary preliminaries- For
himself he had craved nothing but the
privilege of building the extension, OF
rejoicing in his own handiwork and in
the new triumph OF progress and civil
ization which il would bring 10 pass.
Rut little by little the fine fire Of work
nanil-e enthusiasm was burning itself
out AGAINST the iron barriers Of petty
spite and malice thrown Up at every
turn by North and the Denver junta Of
obstructionists.
lie was at no loss to account for
North's motive. II was no longer the
contemptuous disregard OF a general
manager for one Of his subordinates
who had shown signs of outgrowing his
Sob. Il was a fight between rivals
eruals-and Ford knew that it must go
on untu one or the other should be
= -fven to the wall Thus far his an
eonist had scored every point. The
ATac1Iorroghs had been helped into the
saddle and held there. AIr. COlbrith had
been won over; the authority given
Ford by his appointment as assistant
TO the president had been annulled by
making North the first vice president
with stm higher authority. With a
firm ally I'm the president and a legion
of others In the MacMorroghs' camps,
North could discredit the best engineer
ing corps that ever took the field. and
he was doing it-successfully, as Ford
had reason TO know.
More than once Ford had been on the
point of leaving his plow in the furrow
while he should go to New York for one
more battle with the directory bat
tie which should definitely abolish
North and Mr.. Colbrith--or himself
Again and again he had weighed the
chances of winning such battle
with Brewster FOR @ leader it might be
done The time for the annual stock
holders meeting was approaching and
an election which should put the burly
copper magnate into the presidency
would be an unmixed blessing not only
FOR struggling young chief Of con-
strucuon. but for the Pacific South
western stock holders. who were sure
TO pay in the end for the present policy
OF rule or ruin
Part of the time it seemed TO Ford
that Ii was clearly his duty 10
make this fight against the graft
ers ia the Denver mana cement
North deserved no consideration,
and while Mr. Colbrith was honest
enough. his blind prejudice and narrow
mentality made him North's unwilling
accessory Three months earlier Ford
would not have hesitated. but in the
interval "a woman had come between
10 obscure all the points Of view. A
fight TO the death against the COlbrith
admin istration meant the antagonizing
Of the Adairs-Of Alicia. at least True,
she had spoken lightly of her uncle's
peculiarities: but Ford made sure she
would stand by him IN the conflict i
only for knship's sake.
AL this he was turning over in his
mind for the hundredth time while the
big 1912 hammered up The Plug noun
tain grade under the guiding hand %
the giant in blue denim. Ford, gloom
fng out upon the lighted stretch ahead
was once more finding the crucial ques-
tfou ansWerless. Should he draw out
OF the losing battle with North and
his fellow grafters and tbereby save
his chance OF winning Alicia Adalr
or should he sacrifice his love upon the
altar of ambition. abolish Mr.. COlbrith
and the crew of buccaneers his mis-
taken policy was sheltering, and win
the industrial success and a Quieted
conscience?
His decision was reached by the
time Hector was easing the throttle
lever at the summit Of Plug pass. What
must be done should be done quickly.
fright here is where you begin TO
run on your nerves." he said to the
big engineer, as the heavy engine and
car Iunged over the summit OF the
pass and began TO gather gravity mo-
mentum on the downward rush.
Hector nodded and twitched the han
die ~ the air brake cock at shorter in
tervals Ford glanced back at the follow
ing car framed in the red glow from
the opened frebox door It was surging
and bounding alarmingly over the un-
even track. not without threatenings
Of derailment Ford was willing to give
the president the full benefit Of his un-
reasonable pertinacity; but there were
others to be considered-and one above
all the others.
Easy. man; easyi" he cautioned. "If
you leave the steel on this goat track
there won't be anybody left to tell the
story. It's a thousand feet sheer in
some places along here. Suppose you
let me take her to the bottom Of the
hill"
The engineer stood aside with good
tempered grin. He had seen the chief
Of construction walking the one young
lady Of the party to the top Of Plug
pass and back, and 1t was not difficult
to account for his anxiety.
Throughout the 10 long miles OF the
mountain descent Ford crouched on
the drivers seat and put his mind
into the business Of getting down the
slides and around the sagging curves
without having a wreck. The 1928
brake equipment was modern and the
Nadia's gear was in perfect order. Now
and then on a tangent the big engine
would straighten herseR for race or a
runaway, but always the steady hand
on the aircock brought her down just
before the critical moment beyond