Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-30
CHAPTER XVIII.
At Silver Switch.

CHAPTER XVIII.
At Silver Switch.
| Like that Of other railroad ofiicials.
whose duties constrain them to spend
much time IN transit. Lidgerwood's desk
| work went with him up and down and
around and about on the two divisions
and before leaving his Office In the Crows
Nest to go down to the waiting special
he had thrust bunch of letters and pa
pers into his pocket to be ground through
the business mill on the run to Little
| Butte.
the rubber-bAnded bunch Of letters to the
| oblivion of the closed .sefvice-car desk.
| observed by Miss Brewster, that gave the
| presidents daughter an opportunity to
make partial amends for having turned
his business trip into car party. Be-
! fore the special was we'll out OF the
Angels yard she was commanding silence
and laying down the law for the Others.
partfcularizng Carolyn Doty, though only
| by way of transfixing eye.
Listen moment. all OF you. she
called. I'VE mustn't forget that this isn't
| planned excursion for us; it's q bush
here by our own invitation. We must
make ourselves small. accordingly, and
not bother him. Savez vous?"
Van Lew laughed, spread his long arms
and swept them all out toward the rear
platform. But Miss Eleanor escaped at
| the door and went back to Lidgel wood.
There, now!" she whispered, don't
ever say that / can't do the really hand
some thing when / try. Can you manage
to work at all with these chattere.s on
the carp
She was steadying herself against the
swing of the car, with one shapely hand
| on the edge of the desk, and he covered
it with one of his own.
he ho
one thing Impossible Is not to love you.
Eleanor. It's hard enough when You are
| unkind; you mustn't make 1t harder by
being what YOU used always to be to
me-
what a lover you are when you forget
to be self-conscious!'' she said. softly;
none the less she freed the imprisoned
hand with hasty little jerk. Then she
you are to do exactly what you were
meaning to do when you didn't know we
were coming with you. I'll make them
all stay away from you just as long as
can"
She kept her promise so well that for
an Industrious hour Lidgerwood scarcely
realized that he was not alone. For the
greater part Of the interval the sight
seers were out on the rear platform, lis
tening to Miss Brewster's stories of the
Red desert. When she had repeated ali
she had ever heard she began to invent;
and she was in the midst Of one OF the
most blood-curdiing of the inventions
when Ldgerwood, having worked through
Joined the platform party. Mss Brew
ster's animation died out and her voice
trailed away into-"and that's all; don't
know the rest of It,"
Lidgerwood's laugh was as hearty as
Van Lewis or the collegian's.
please go on he teased. Then quot
ing her: land after they had shot up
all the psaceable people in the town. they
me spoil the dramatic conclusion"
You are the dramatic conclusion to
that story" retorted Miss BrewsteH. re-
proachfully. Whereupon she immediately
wrenched the conversation aside into
| new channel by asking how far It was to
the canyon portal.
"Oniy mile or two now" was Lid
gerwood's rejoinder. Williams has been
later the one-car train. with the foaming
| torrent Of the Timanyoni for its. path-
| finder. plunged between the narrow walls
| OF the upper canyon and the race down
| the grade Of the crooked water trail
| through the heart of the mountains be-
gan.
There was little chance for speech, even
If the overawing grandeurs Of the stu
| pendous crevice. seen In their most i'm
pressive pressntment as alternating vistas
| OF stark, moonl GIFTED craes and guIches
and depths of blacklist shadow. had en-
couraged 1t. The hiss and whistle OF tfe
air-brakes. the harsh. sustained mole OF
the shrieking wheeI-fanges sheafing the
| inner edges OF the railroads on the
curves, and the suffering roar of the
268s safety valve were continuous;
deafening medley of sounds multiplied q
hundredfold by the demoniac laughter OF
the echoes.
Miss Carolyn chung to the platform
handrail. and once Lidgerwood thought
he surprised Van Lew with his arm about
her: thought 1t. and imme diately con-
Aol <tof he fcto III I'M
HOlcombe had the opposite corner OF the
| platform. and Jefferis was making 1t his
business to see to it that she Was not en-
tirely crushed by the grandeurs.
Mss Brewster, steadying herself by the
knob of the c,osed door. was not over
awed; she had seen Rocky mountain can
yons at their best and their worst many
times before. But excitement. and the
relaxing OF the conventional leash that
accompanies it. reused the spirit of dar-
ing mockery which was never wholly be-
yond can In Miss Brewster's mentaai pro-
cesses With her lips to Lidgerwood's
soon should 9 chaperon begin to make a
diversion? I'm only an apprentices. you
know. Does 1t occur to you that these
young persons need to be shocked into
better appreciation Of the conventions?"
There was small Pintsch globe In the
hollow of the umbrella roof" with its
single buraer turned down to q mere pea
Of light. Lidgerwood's answer was to
rfach up ana n0od the PLATFORM with q
sudden glow OF artific al radiance. The
chorus OF protest was immediate and re-
proachful.
.'Oh, Mr.. Lidgerwood! don't spoil the
perfect moonlight that way!" cried Miss
Doty. and the others echoed the beseech-
ing.
you'll get used to It in a minute" as
serted Lidgerwood. in good-natured sar-
casm. ut IN so dark here In the canyon
| that I'm afraid some of you might fall
| overheard or get hit by the rocks or
something
1.-THE fdea! scoffed Miss Carolyn.
Then, petulantly. to Van Lew: I'VE may
as well go in. There Is nothing more to
be seen out here
| Lidgerwood looked to Eleanor for his
cue. or at least for whit Of moral sup
| port. But she turned traitor.
| You can do the meanest things In the
name Of solcitude, Howard" she began:
but before she could finish he had reach
ed up and turned the gas OF with snap.
! A r~I,k. ~ oil ftao