Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-14
walker. is just a plain. unvarnished liar;
he knows q lot more than he will tell"

| walker. is just plain. unvarnished liar;
he knows a lot more than he will tell"
still. you are looking goot bit more
cheerful than you were last week." was
Lidgerwood's suggestion.
Yes; after l got the work started again
with new set of timbers. l spent three
or four days on the ground digging for
| information like dog after a wood
chuck. There are some proSpectOrS pam
ming on the bar three miles up the Gloria,
but they knew nothing-or if they knew
they wouldn't tell. That was the case
with every man 1 talked to on our side
of the river. But over across the Timan-
yoni nearly opposite the mouth Of the
Gloria. there is a little creek coming in
from the north, and on this creek.I found
lone prospector, a queer old chap, who
halls from my neck of woods up in
Michigan
Go on" said Lidgerwood when the
engineer stopped to light his pipe.
The old man told me fairy tale. all
right, Benson went on. HE was as
full of fancies as fig is of seeds. 1
have been trying to believe that what he
told me isn't altogether pipe Dream
but it sounds nightly like one. He says
that about O'Clock in the morning OF
Saturday. two weeks ago. an engine and
a single car backed down from the west
TO the Gloria bridge, and crowd Of men
swarmed off the train. loaded those
bridge timbers, and ran away with them
going back up the line to the west He
tells it all very circumstantially, though
he neglected to explain how he hap
pened to be awake and on guard at any
such unearthly hour"
Where was he when he saw all thiS?"
ION his own side of the river, of course
II was dark night and the engine had
no headlight. But the loading gang had
plenty of lanterns. and he says they made
plenty of noise
You didn't let it rest at that" said
the superintendent.
"Oh. no. indeed, I put in the entire
afternoon that day on a hand-car with
four of my men to pump il for me, and
if there is foot of the main line, side
tracks or spurs west of the Gloria bridge
that | haven't gone over, i don't know
where it Is. The next night l crossed the
Timanyoni and tackled the old pros
pector again. / wanted to check him up
see if he. had forgotten any of the lit
tie frills and details. He hadn't On the
contrary he was able to add what seems
to me a very important detail. About an
hour after the disappearance OF the one
car train with my bridge timbers he
heard something that he had heard many
times before. He says 1t was the high
! pitched song Of a circular saw. L asked
him if he was sure. He grinned and said
| he hadn't been brought up In the Michi-
gan woods without being able to recog-
nize that song wherever he might near
| it
/ "Whereupon you went hunting for saw
mills" asked Lidgerwood.
| That is just what L did, and IL there
| is one within hearing distance of that
/ old mans cabin on Quartz creek l
couldn't find 1t. But l am confident That
! there is one. and that the thieves, VINO
ever they We're. lost no time in saving
my bridge timbers up into board lumber.
and I'll bet a hen worth fifty dollars
against a no-account yellow dog that l
have seen those boards a dozen times
within the last twenty-four hours. with
out knowing it.
Didn't see anything of our switch en-
CINE while you were looking for your
bridge timbers and sawmills and other
| things. did your" queried Lidgerwood.
| No" was the quick reply. mo. but
have a think coming on that, too. My
old prospector says he couldn't make out
very we'll in the dark. but ii seemed to
him as IL the engine which hauled away
our bridge timbers didn't have any ten
der. How does that strike you?
| Lidgerwood grew thoughtful. The miss
ing engine was of the "saddle-tank type
and il had no tender. 1t was hard to be-
lieve that 1t could be hidden anywhere
on SO small a part of the Red Butte
Western system as that covered by the
comparatively short mileage I'm Timan-
yoni Park. Yet IL Ii had not been dumped
into some deep pot-hole in the river, il
was unquestionably hidden somewhere
Benson, are you sure you went ovei