The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-28

digging for information like a dog aft CT a woodchuck. There are some pros- pectors banning on the bar three miles up the Gloria, but they knew nothing, or if they knew they wouldn't tell. That was the case with every man talked to on our side of the river. But over across the Timanyoni, nearly op- posite the mouth of the Gloria,- there is a little creek coming in from the north, and on this creek 1 found lone prospector, a queer old chap who halls from my neck of woods up in Michigan"
 "Go on," said Lidgerwood when the engineer stopped to light his pipe.
 "The old man told me a fairy tale, all right" Benson went on. 'He was as full of fancies as a fig is of seeds have been trying to believe that what he told me isn't altogether a pipe dream, but it sounds nightly like one He says that about o'clock in the morning of Saturday, two weeks ago. an engine and a single car backed down from the west to the Gloria bridge and crowd of men swarmed off the train, loaded those bridge tim bers and ran away with them, going back up the line to the west. He tells 1t all very circunstantially. though he neglected to explain how he happened to be awake and on guard at any such unearthly hour."
 "Where was he when he saw all Gis:'
 "On his own side of the river, of course. It was dark night. and the engine had no headlight. But the loading gang had plenty of lanterns, and he says they made plenty of noise"
 "You didn't let it rest at that?' said the superintendent.
 "Oh, no. indeed! I put in the entire afternoon that day on a handcar with four of my men to pump it for me. and if there is foot of the main line, side tracks or spurs west of the Gloria bridge that 1 haven't gone over don't know where it is. The next night l crossed the Timanyoni and tackled the old prospector again. I wanted to check him up--see if he had forgotten any of the little frills and details. He hadn't. On the contrary. he was able to add what seems to me very im- portant detail About an hour after the disappearance of the one car train with my bridge timbers he heard some thing that he had heard many times before. He says it was the high pitch ed song of a circular saw. 1 asked him if he was sure. He grinned and said he hadn't been brought up in the Mich igan woods without bsing able to rec ognize that song wherever he might hear it."
 "Whereupon you went hunting for sawmills?" asked Lidgerwood.
 'That is just what did, and if there is one within hearing distance of that old mans cabin on Quartz creek l couldn't find if. But l am confident that there is one and that the thieves, whoever they were, lost no time in saving my bridge timbers up into board lumber. and I'll bet hen worth $50 against a no account yellow dog that have seen those boards a dozen times within the last twenty four hours without knowing it.''
 Didn't see anything of our switch engine while you were looking for your bridge timbers and sawmills and other things, did you?" queried Lidgerwood.
 "No," was the quick reply; mo, but I have a think coming on that too. My old prospector says he couldn't make oII ;,, I,r hat {, ed to him as if the engine which hauled away our bridge timbers didn't have any tender. How does that strike you?"
 Lidgerwood grew thoughtful. The missing engine was of the saddle tank type, and it had no tender. It was hard to believe that it could be hidden anywhere on so small part of the Red Butte Western system as that covered by the comparatively short mileage in Timanyoni Park Yet if it had not been dumped into some deep pot hole in the river it was unQues- tionably hidden somewhere.
 "Benson. are you sure you went over all the line lying west of the Gloria bridge?" he asked pointedly.
 "Every foot of it, Up enc side and down the other. No; hold on. There is that old spur running up on the eastern side of Little Butte It's the one that used to serve Flemister's mine when the workings were on the eastern slope of the butte.s I didn't go over that spur. It hasn't been used for years. AS I remember it, the switch connections with the main line have been taken out
 You're wrong about that,' said Lidgerwood definitely. "McCloskey thought so. too. and told me that the frogs and point rails had been taken out at Silver Switch. at both of the main line ends of the Y, but the last time I was over the line I noticed that the old switch stands, were there and that the split rails were still in place."
 To Be Continued.)