Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-07-18

~ fleeing from New York
49, city, their migrations
finally ending in that thriving western
city-Denver. Then the CRIME of the
engine was on Cables hands and deep
beneath his skin; the roar of irou and
steel and the rush of wind were ever in
his ears, the quest of danger in his
eye, but there were love, pride and a
new ambition in his heart Now. in
1898, David Cables hands were white
and strong; the CRIME was gone; the
engineers cap had given way to the
silk tile of the magnate and the shovel
was Il memory
But his case was not unique in that
day and age of pluck and luck. Many
another man had gone from the bottom
to the top with the speed and security
of the elevator car in the lofty sky
scrapers. In the heartless revolution
of few years he became the sue
cessor of his western benefactor. The
turn that had been kind to him was
unkind to his friend and predecessor.
The path that led upward for David
Gable ran the other way for the train
master. who years afterward died in
his greasy overalls and the close fit
ting cap of an engineer One night
Gable read the news of the wreck
with all the joy gone from his heart.
From the cheap, squalid section of
town known as Railroad End Cables
rising influence carried him to the well
earned luxury. The lines of care and
toll mellowed in the face of his pretty
wife as the years rolled by. Her come
~ figure shed the cheap raiment of
hard old days and took on the plum
age of prosperity. Trouble, resent
ment and worry disappeared as if by
magic, smoothed out by the satiny
touch of comforts fingers. She went
upward much faster than her husband.
for her ambitions were less exacting
She longed to shine socially. He loathed
the thought of it. But Cable was
proud of his wife. He enjoyed the
transition that lifted her up with
steady strength to the plane which
fitted her best. as he regarded it, She
had stuck by him nobly and uncom-
plainingly through the vicissitudes; it
delighted him TO give her the pleas
ures.
Frances Gable was proud, but she
had not been too proud to stand beside
the man with the greasy overalls and
to bend her fine young strength to
work in unison with his. Together.
facing the task, cheerfully they had
battled and won
There were days when it was hard to
smile. but the next day always brought
with it a fresh sign of hope The
rough, hard days in the far west cul-
minated in his elevation TO the Office
of general manager of the great rail-
road system. whose headquarters and
home were in the city of Chicago. At
tanning this high place two years prior
to the opening of this narrative, he
was regarded now as one of the brain
lest railroad men and slated to be pres
ident of the road at the next meeting.
Barely past fifty years OF. age, David
Cable was in the prime of life and use
fulness. Age and prosperity had i'm
proved him greatly. The iron gray of
his hair, the keen brightness of his
face, the erect and soldierly carriage Of
a." PSiSOi, hldtc Hllu al SITlklIS inquire,
His wife. ten years his junior, was one
of the most attractive women in Chi
cago. Her girlish beauty had refined
under the blasts of adversely. Years
had not been unkind to her. In a way
she was the leader of a certain set. but
her social ambitions were not content.
There was a higher altitude in fash
ions realm. Money, influence and per-
severance were her allies, social des-
potism her only adversary.
The tall, beautiful and accomplished
daughter of the Cables was worshiped
by her father with all the warmth and
ardor of his soul. Times there Were
when he looked in wonder upon this
arbiter of not few manly destinie:
and for his life could not help asking
himself how the Creator had given
him such being for child. comment
ing ON the fact that she bore resem
blance to neither parent.
For years Mrs. Cable had lived in nc
little terror of. some day being found