Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-09-28

with an old battered paeseaeA. coach
coupled to the rear, A squad Of
heavily armed Infantry roce along, a.
protection against possible indian
raiders. but there was no crowd
aboard on this special trip, 10 ali
construction work had hssu suspended
on tho lins indefinitely, and most Of
the travel therefore, had changed 70
the eastward. The coach used had
q partition ruin through Il, and, az
soon A. the busy trninnen discovered
lcdies on board. they uacessnonioas,y
drove the more bitulous passengers,
protesting, into the forward conpArt.
rent This left Hope In compare two
peace, her remaining ne!Ghbors quiet,
taciturn mon. whom she looked at
through the folds Of hcr veil during
the long, Glow, exasperating Journey,
mentally guessing at their various oc-
equations 1t was ar exceedingly tedi.
: GUS, monotonous trip, the train slack.
ening up. and Jerking forward, appor-
emily without slishIest reason; then
occasionally achieving a full stop,
while men, always Under guard, went
ahead to fix up some bit OF damaged
track, across which the engineer
dared not advance. At each bridge
spanning the numerous small streams,
trainmen examined he structure be.
fore venturipg forward. and at each
stop the wesried passengers grew
more impatient and sarcastic, a per
feet stream Of nuent profanity being
waited back whenever the door be-
tween the two sections CHANGED to he
left altar.
Hope was not the only woman on
board, yet a glance at the others was
sufficient TO decide their status, even
had their freedom of manner and loud
talking not made it equally obvious.
Fearful lest she might be mistaken
for one OF the same class, she re-
NAMED In silence. her vel! merely
lifted enough to enable her to peer
ont through the Eri:ny window at the
barren view slipping slowly past This
consisted OF the bare prairie, brown
and desolate. occasionally intersected
by some small watercourse, the low
the far horizon. Few incidents broke
the dead monotony; occasionally
herd OF antelope appeared in the dis
lance. silhouetted against the sky
line, and once they fairly crept for an
hour through a mass of buffalo, graz
Ing so c,ose that fusillaGe of guns
sounded from the front end OF the
A -
glimpse OF troop OF Wild horses
dashing reckIessiy down into a shell
tering raWne. Yet principally all
that met her strainins eyes was ster-
lie desoation. Here and there great
ugly water tank reared it's hideous
shape beside the track, the engine al
ways rausins for fresh supply. Re
side 1t was Invariably pile OF coal
few co@etl uction cars. hVt half
buried under earth. loop-holed and
barricaded. WITH several rough men
loafing about heavily armed and in
Quisitive. A few n these points had
once been terminal, the surrounding
scenery evidenclng past gories by
piles Of tin cans, and all manner OF
shack, left deserted and forlorn.
Wearied and heGrtsick. Hope turned
away from this outside drcariness 10
contemplate more closely her neigh
bors on board blu, 'ound them scarce
ly more intsres, g. Several we're
playing cards, o.h~is moodily staring
out Of the windows while few were
laughing and talking with the girls,
their conversation inane and punctu-
sted with profanity. One man was
figuring on a scratch pad. and Hope
decided he must be an engineer en-
ployed on the line; others che classed
az small merchante, saloon-k { .pers,
and frontier riffraff They would
glance curiousiy at her as they
marched up and down the narrow
aisle but her veil. and averted face.
prevented even the eoldest from
speaking Once she addressed the
conductor, and the man who was fig
uring turned and looked back at her.
evidently attracted by the soft ncte
OF her voice. But he made no effort
at advances, returning .inmsdistely 10
his pad, obliv.0us TO ali else.
IL was growing dark, the outside
weird, new consisting of level plains.
fading into darkness, with few great
yars burning overhead Trainmen lit
the few smoking oil lamps screwed
against the sides Of the car. and It's
occupants became little more than
dim shadows. Al by this time were
fauguod into silence, and several were
asleep, finding such small comfort as
was possible on the crsmpcd seats.
Hope glanced toward the heretofore
noisy group at tho resr--the girl near
est Ter rested with uncoascious head
pillowed upon the shoulder of her
man friend, and 10th were glecplng.
How haggard and CHASTITY the WON
ans powdered face locked. with the
light juAt above it, and ali senablpnce
OF Joy gone. 1t was az though a mask
had beon taaen of. Out In the dark
meas the engine whistled sharply and
then came 10 u humping stop at some
desert station. Through tho black
window few lanterns could oe seen
Pickering about and there arose the
sound OF graf voices speaking. The
slecpers inside. aroused by the sharp
stop, rolled over and swore, seeking
easier pastures. Then the front door
opened, and slammed shut, and a new
passenger entered He came down