The Mena weekly star., 1911-09-28
wed have tor tnka tha st.e. A...


 to Topeky: loikely they'd he runr,n enrains out from there on the new road. lt'll be aisy fer me ter foind out From some ay the lads down be low"
 The only equipment operating ints sheridan was construction train "len an old battered passenger coach coupled to the rear. A squad Q, heavily armed infantry rode along as protection against possible Indian raiders, but there was no crowd aboard on this special trip, as all construction work had been suspended on the line indefinitely, and most of the travel, therefore. had changed to the eastward. The coach used had partition run through it, and. as soon as the busy trainmen discovered ladies on board, they unceremoniously orove the more bibulous passengers. protesting, into the forward compart. ment. This left Hope in comparative peace, her remaining neighbors quiet. taciturn men, whom she looked at through the folds of her veil during the long. slow, exasperating journey. mentally guessing at their various oo- equations. It was an exceedingly tedi- ous, monotonous trip, the train slack ening up, and jerking forward, appar ently without slightest reason: then occasionally achieving 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. tratnmen examined the structure be. fore venturing forward, and at each stop the wearied passengers grew more impatient and sarcastic, @ per feet stream of fluent profanity being waited back whenever the door be- tween the two sections chanced to be left ajar.
 Hope was not the only woman on board, yet glance at the others was sufficient to decide their status, even had their freedom of manner and loud talking not made 1t equally obvious. Fearful lest she might be mistaken for one of the same class, she re- mained in silence, her veil merely lifted enough to enable her to peer out through the grimy 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 hills rising and falling like waves to the far horizon. Few incidents broke the dead monotony; occasionally herd of antelope appeared in the dis tance, silhouetted against the sky line, and once they fairly crept for an hour through mass of buffalo, graz ing so close that a fusillade of guns sounded from the front end of the train. A little farther along she caught glimpse of troop of wild horses oashing recklessly down into a shel- tering ravine. Yet principally all that met her strainfng eyes was ster- He desolation. Here and there a great ugly water tank reared It's hidcous shape beside the track the engine al ways pausing for fresh supply. Be side it was invariably pile of coal, few construction cars. hut hay buried under earth, loop-holed and barricaded. with several rough mer loafing about. heavily armed and in- quisitive. A few of these points had fOr hn Tn, p scenery evidencing past .glories by piles of tin cans. and all manner of debris. with occasionally vacant shack. left deserted and forlorn.
 Wearied and heartsick. Hope turned away from this outside dreariness to contemplate more closely her neigh bors on board, but found them scarce ly more interesting, Several were playing cards, others moodily staring out of the windows, while a few were laughing and talking with the girls. their conversation inane and punctu- ated with profanity. One man was figuring on a scratch pad, and Hope decided he must be an engineer em-
 
 as small merchants. saloon-keepers, and frontier riff-raff They would glance curiously at her as they marched up and down the narrow aisle, but her veil. and averted face, prevented even the boldest 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 note of her voice. But he made no effort at advances, returning immediately to his pad. oblivious to all else.
 It was growing dark, the outside world, now consisting of level plains, fading into darkness, with a few great stars 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 All by this time were fatigued Into silence. and several were asieev. finding such small comfort as was possible on the cranped seats. Hope glanced toward the heretofore noisy group at the rear--the girl near est her rested with unconscious head pillowed upon the shoulder of her man friend, ard both were sleeping. How haggard and 6hastly the wom- ans powdered face looked, with the light just above it, and all semblance of ioy gone. It was as though mask had been taken off. Out in the dark ness the engine whistled sharply and