The new era., 1911-12-07

4 the eastward. The coach used had
a partition run through 1t. and, as
soon as the busy trainmen discovered
ladies' on board. they unceremoniously
drove, 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 oc
cupations. It was an exceedingly tedi.
GUS. monotonous trip. the train slack.
ening up, and jerking forward. appar-
emily without slightest reason: then
occasionally achieving a full stop.
gails ails src, sre. always under guard. wen.
ahead to AZ at s6;Ine b..ss Of damaged
track, across which the engineer
dared not advance. At each bridge
spanning the numerous small streams.
trainmen 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 CHANGED to be
left aiar.
Hope was not the only woman on
board. yet q 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-
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 fusillade of guns
| sounded from the front end of the
train A little farther along she caught
a glimpse of troop OF wild horses
dashing recklessly down into shell
tering ravine Yet principally all
1 that met her straining eyes was ster-
\ lie desolation Here and there a great
| ugly water tank reared its hideous
shape beside the track. the engine al
ways pausing for fresh supply Be-
| side it was invariably pile Of coal.
a few construction cars, hut half
buried under earth, loop-holed and
barricaded, with several rough men
loafing about. heavily armed and In
quisitive. A few Of these points had
once been terminal. the. surrounding
scenery evidencing past glories by
piles Of tin cans. and all manner of
debris, with occasionally a 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
| iy more interesting. Several were
playing cards. others moodily staring
out OF the windows. while few were
laughing and talking with the girls.
] their conversation inane and punctu-
ated with profanity. One man was
1 hgur1ng on scratch pau anu i1ope
decided he must be an engineer en-
ployed on the line; others she classed
4 as small merchants. salcon-keepers.
and frontier riff-raff. Taey would
glance curiously at her as they
marched up and down rhe 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 tc
his pad. oblivious to all else.
(TO BE CONTINUED)