Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-09
CHAPTER V.-Continued.

CHAPTER V.-Continued.
Pressed thus sharply against the I'M
yielding fact. Benson was obliged to con-
TESS that he knew nothing at all against
the master-mechanic. nothing that could
be pinned down to day and date Ii
Gridley had the weaknesses common to
Red desert mankind. he did not parade
them in Angels. AS the head of his de-
partment he was we'll known to be a
hard hitter: and now and then. when the
blows fell rather mercilessly, the railroad
colony called him a tyrant and limited
That he. too. had a past that would not
pear inspection. But even Benson ad-
mltted that this was mere gossip.
Lidgerwood laughed at the engineers
failure to make his case, and asked,
quizzically, Where do / come in on ali
this. Jack? You have an ak to grind,
take it,
Il have. Mrs. Dawson wants M. to
take my meals at the house. I'm in .lined
to believe that she is a bit shy of Grid
ley. and maybe she thinks 1 could do the
buffer act. But as get-between ia be
chiefly conspicuous by my absence"
Sorry I can't give you an once job"
said the superintendent, in mock SYM
pathy.
$50 am I. but you can do the next best
thing. Get Fred to take you home with
you'll never go back to Maggie Donovan
and the Celestiars individual hash-hold-
ers; not II you can persuade Mrs. Daw-
SON to feed you. The alternative is to
fire Gridley out of his job
This time you are trying to make the
tail wag the dog" said Lidgerwood
.'Gridley has twice my backing in the
p. S.-W. board OF directors. Besides, he
is good fellow; and il go up on the
mesa and try to stand him of for you. it
I hnp
better fellow"
Prop it up on any leg you like. only
CO." said Benson. simply. Til take it
as personal favor, and do as much for
to warn you not to fall in love with
Faith Dawson yourself-or. on second
thought. perhaps I had better"
This time Lidgerwood's laugh was
mirthless.
mo. you don't have to, Jack. Like
Gridley. am older than I look, and
have had my little turn at that wheel;
or rather, perhaps I should say that the
wheel has had its little turn at me. You
can safely deputize me. 1 guess"
"All right and many thanks. Here's
2O2 coming in, and I'm going over to
Navajo on it. Don't wait too long before
you make up to Dawson. You'll find
him we'll worth while. after you've broken
through his SHE'LL
The merry jest on the Red Butte West
ern ran its course for another week after
the three-train wreck in the Pinons-for
week and day. Then Lidgerwood be-
gan the drawing Of the net. A new time
card was strung with McCloskey's Co
operation. and when it went into effect
notice on all bulletin boards announced
the adoption of the standard Book Of
Rules" and promised penalties in a rising
scale for unauthorized departure there
from.
Promptly the horse-laugh died away
and the trouble storm was evoked.
Grievance committees haunted the Crows
Nest. and the insurrectionary faction,
starting with the trainmen and spreading
to the track force, threatened to involve
the telegraph Observation-Disclosures to be-
come protest unanimous and in the
mass. Worse than this. the service. hap
hazard enough before, now became
chaos. Orders were misunder-
stood. whether willfully or not no court of
inquiry could determine: wrecks were of
almost daily occurrence. and the shop
track was speedily filled to the switches
with crippled engines and cars.
In such a storm of disaster and dis
order the captain in command soon finds
and learns to distinguish his loyal sup
porters, II any such there be. In the
OF untoward events Nc
Closkey was Ldgerwoods right hand,
toiling, shifting, striving and otherwise
approving himself q good soldier. But
close behind him came Gridley; always
suave and good-natured, making no COM
plants. not even when the repair work
made necessary by the innumerable
firmnesS and more discipline
This Is just what we have been need
ing for years. Mr.. Lidgerwood." he took
frequent occasion to say. "Of course, we
OF our predecessors: but il you will per-
severe. we'll pull through and be rail-
road in fact when the clouds roll by
Don't give IN an inch. Show these muck
ers that you mean business. and mean IT
all the time. and you'll win out all right"
Thus the master-mechanic, and Nc
Closkey, with more at stake and a less
insulated point of view. took il out in
good. hard blows. backing his superior
like man. Indeed in the small head
From the beginning OF hos
tilities he seemed to have made a pact
with himself not to let it be known by
any act or word of his that he was
aware OF the suddenly precipitated con-
fict. The routine duties of a chief clerks
desk are never light; Hallock's became
SO exacting that he rarely left his Office,
or the penlike continuance In which he
intrenched himself and did his work
When the fight began LidgerWood oh
II there were any secret signs Of the sat
isfaction which the revolt of the rank
and file might be supposed to awaken in
an unsuccessful candidate for the official
IL.
There were none. Hallocks gaunt face,
with the loose lips and the struggling, un-
kempt beard. was a blank: and the worst
wreck OF the three which promptly fol-
lowed the introduction Of the new rules
was noted in his reports with the calm
Indifference with which he might have
jotted down the breakage Of a section
foremans spike maui.
McCloskey. being of Scottish blood and
desert seasoned, was cool in-fghter, |
who could take punishment without WING
ing overmuch. But at the end of the !
first fortnight of the new time card he :,
his chief in the private office |
and freed his mind.
Its no use, Mr.. Lidgerwood, We can't /
make these reforms stick with the outfit |
we've got" he asserted. in sharp dis /
THE next thing on the |
docket will be strike. and you know /
what that will mean. in q country where /
he whisky Is bad and nine men out OF
every ten go fixed for trouble"
Il know; nevertheless. the reforms have
N, sri TidUerUond Loft