The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-05-25
The Honorable
Senator Sagebrush
Continued from Page six)

to equal the slowness or the speciaA
train. Four mortal hours were lost
on the lonely siding. There was no
station, and BloUnt could not tele-
graph. So far as he knew, the servs
ice car might stay there for a day or
a week. II was all to no purpose that
be quarreled with his conductor. The
train crew had orders to wait for
westbound II, and there was nothing
to do but to keep on waiting.
Late in the afternoon train II or
some other train came along. and the
special was once more set in motion
eastward, but at dinner time it was
again sidetracked. eighty odd miles
from its destination, and once more
at a blind siding, where there was no
telegraph Office. The car was still
standing on the siding when Blount
went to bed. But in the morning it
was In motion again, jogging now on
its leisurely way up the branch line
AT Lewiston, the town at the end Of
the branch where the right Of way
trouble had originated, Blount found
more delay, carefully planned for, as
he had now come firmly to believe.
The plaintiffs in the right of way case
were out Of town, and their lawyers
had gone TO the capital Blount saw
that he might wait a week without &c
comprising anything: hence he imme-
diately instructed his conductor to get
orders for the return. 80
hur a -
half hour the conductor came back,
to the service car 10 say that the single
telegraph wire connecting Lewiston
with the outer world was down and
that the orders for the return jour
ney could not be obtained until the
telegraph connection was restored. At
that point Blount took matters into
his own hands.
There was a mining company having
its headquarters in the isolated town,
and Blount had met the manager once
in the capital-met him Ia a social way
and had been able to show him some
little attention. Hiring a blackboard at
the one livery stable in the place, he
drove out to the Little Mary niue
and luckily found Blatchford, the
friendly manager. 1t did not take over
a minute to renew the pleasant &C.
Quaintance and to state his dilemma.
I'm hung up here with my special
train, the wires are down. and / can't
get out" was his statement of tho
crude fact. Didn't you tell me that
you owned a motorcarT
81 did" was the prompt reply. want
to borrow it,"
You beat me to it." said Blount,
laughing THAT was precisely what I
was going to beg for-the loan Of your
car. l believe you told me that you
had driven it from here to the capital"
"Oh, yes, several times. You ought
| to make it in six hours and a half or
seven at the most. Drive me down to
the burg and Ill put you in posses
sion" rr
A little later Blount found himself
handling the levers of a very service
able knockabout car equipped for hard
work on country roads. When he was
ready to go he drove down to the rail-
road yard and hunted up his conductor.
|
you may get orders from Mr.. Kit
tredge and take his car back 10 the
capital" he told the man. when you
do you may give him my eompi-
ments and tell him that 1 preferred to
run my own special train"
The conductor grinned and made NO
reply, and he was still grinning when
Il. N..N. ~. Al
graph office and spoke to the operator.
81 dunno what's up" he said, ''but.
whatever it was, the strings broke.
| Old Dave Sagebrush's son has Dor
rowed him an automobeel and gone
back to town on his own hook. Guess
you'd better call up the division dis
patcher and tell him the broken wire
gag didn't work Get a move on We
hain't got nothing to stay here for
now"
The traffic manager had left his Office
for the day, but Blount found him at
the railway club.
Just a word, Dick" he began when
be had overtaken Kittredge's accom-
plice in the grill room corridor. Exit
|
you helped him. had to borrow an
automobile TO come back in from
lewiston"
"Confound your said Gantry heart
ly.
! But that was all that he had q
chance to say, since Blount had turn
ed abruptly and was already leaving
the club TO go on to the hotel
Since the election was now no more
than three days distant the Inter
Mountain lobby was filled with groups
Of caucusing politicians. Notwith-
standing the position he had taken
and the open eyed fearlessness with
which he had discussed the political
situation publicly in every considera-
bic town In the state, Evan Blount
was still a puzzle to those whose ways
were. by need and the force Of cir
cumstance, the reverse of straightfor-
| ward.
Blount was halted half a dozen
times before he could make his way
to the elevator and the pumping