The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-05-05

tiJ aS ne remembered bor,
nau gritted his teeth, throwIng +ho
ols horses back into line with . io~1.
ana because of his own shortness -;
leg' mad ordered Jim to set the broIoo
~. no-ne hadn't passed all his tbir.
Ceen years around mining-camps and
ofe-teams and horses for nothing
1nat was triumph worth wbi1a
"nen the big superintendent pravaIu
recognized his ownership and onL
scrloed more than all the others mn
together, saying as he did so. "a ia
tnat mas got that much nerve isn't a
hlu; mes man, and shall have a
mans chance" 4"
mat wasn't all that Mccarthy had
done. He had stopped the miners
from laughing at him openly. and had
always thrown all the patronage r.
sanders line that he could MCCARTHY
hao tine scorn for appearances and
invariably climbed up and took q
place by the boys side on the front
seat, from which post of vantage he
smoked and watched the handling of
the horses. Once, when Sanders had
gone 10 sleep on the way up the long
grade, because he had been up all night
Wnen the baby brother died and Joined
lather' Mccarthy, who happened to
be a passenger that day, had put his
arm around him and had driven
through before the boy knew it. Nc.
Carthy never laughed at him, and Nc
earthly was big man. A real super
1ntendent who worked many men and
who was a king up there where all
those men worked. Mccarthy was
trump.
But the Dream Lady, in the seat be.
hind him, had laughed. Sanders felt
that he hated her, but with it all there
was usefulness and a wish that she
would not laugh at him again, because
it hurt. There was something so like
music in 1t that it made Sanders wish
she would take him in her arms.
The stage-driver's mind went ram
bling away to the stories he had read
in the ten-cent books he had secured
from the miners, where the heroine
was always beautiful young lady
who always fell in love with the hero,
who, if not stage-driver, was a brave
young detective. They always mar
ried, and, as far as he could recollect,
lived happily ever after. Sanders
wasn't quite sure that he wanted to
marry the Dream Lady and live hap
PLY ever after, but he was quite posi-
tive that if she would give him
chance he would love her-would love
her very much indeed.
Why didn't Mack Mccarthy, who
was so big and so strong, and who had
such dark eyes and whose black hair
was fringed with gray marry the
young lady? He would ask him. He
did.
McCarthy's pipe almost dropped !
from his mouth in establishment, and |
his only reply was "Huh!" Then he
smoked again, and somehow Sanders |
felt rebuffed.
1t really seemed like very short |
drive that day, and when the stage
rolled up to the front of the super
intendent's Office, which had been pre-
pared as a temporary home for the
visitors, Sanders was quite surprised
at the speed they had made.
The Dream Lady relented as she
and showed her appreciation
by smiling at him and saying: Why,
you are a real stage-driver, after all,
aren't you" Sanders felt his bosom
swell with gratif1ed pride, but to play
the part we'll felt compelled to gaze
at her nonchalantly, take fresh chew
of tobacco, and make no reply.
The days changed for Sanders.
There was no longer WEAKNESS in
the drag uphill from the American
to the Golconda This was because of
the Dream Lady. Really, if he could
only talk to her when he went there
and saw her, it would be different; but
sTecch left him with abruntress in her
End he felt that all lie could
10 to preserve his dignity was to re-
train from grinning broadly, even
though he could not answer her ques-
tons. His warmth toward the big
nan increased, because he alone I'M
lerstood. He was a real friend.
There was something odd about 1t
Ill, he pondered Mccarthy took more
,ains than he used to, because he
shaved every day, and had a new hat
hat he wore when not going through
he mine. The Dream Lady, too, show
ID signs of the summers progression.
She looked at the superintendent diff
erently, and there was something in
he look that led Sanders to know !
hat she saw in this white-hatted ST. :
snt man a master of men and things.
III! he could love her for that.
The Dream Lady didn't sees to be "
s happy as she had been, and there '
,as trouble between her and her !.
lother. The boy wondered at that !.
n. scent his idle time in vain specu- d
,tiors. True, he had heard but little, =
ut it was a certainty that the Dream I
adv and her mother were not on d
cod terms. So he hatej the mother. :,
Worst of all, Mccarthy somehow u
,emed to feel the change, and San -
ers' head ached for him with a dull, II
,,nDathetic hurt which required CON