Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1914-10-23
CHAPTER xxxvi.
petaiI.


were sweeping close-ranked, like some
vast dark army invading the land
pouring on over the rampant of noun
tains In the east
Within the rim of hills that ringed
the plain like the Clipped and broken
iange of titanic saucer, silence
brooded and solitude held sway
dwarfing the town of Detail that oc'
cupied the approximate middle of the
sagebrush waste, to proportions even
less significant than might be inferred
from the candor of Its christening,
A platform, siding a water tank, a
Wells Fargo Office and telegraph and
ticket office, backed by three rough
frame buildings; that Is Detail item
tied completely.
Shortly after nightfall the steel rib.
ions of the Santa Fe began to hum. A
headlight peered suspiciously round a
shoulder of the eastern range, took
heart Of courage to find the plain still
wrapped in peace, and trudged stolid-
: ly toward Detail, the engine whose
eye it was pulling after it string of
freight cars, both fiat and box.
AT Detail the train paused. Its
crew alighted and engaged in ami
mated argument Detail gathered that
the excitement was due to the unac,
countable disappearance of the ca.
bOose; none seemed to have any no
tion as to how 1t could have broken
loose; yet missing 1t conspicuously
was.
In the pause that followed while a
report was telegraphed to headquar-
tiers and instructions returned to pro-
coed without delay, one of the train
men spied boyish figure lurking in
the open door of an empty box car.
Cunningly boarding this car from the
opposite side, the trainman caught
the skulker unawares and booted him
vaingloriously into the night,
AS the figure alighted and took to
its heels, losing itself In the darkness,
It uttered cry of panied surprise and
protest which drew a wrinkle of as
constituent between the brows of the
trainman.
Sounded like woman's voice." he
mused then dismissed the suggestion
as obviously absurd.
II was not.
Shortly after the freight train had
gone on its way-before, indeed, the
glimmer Of Its rear lights had been
lost among the western hills-a sec
ond headlight appeared in the east,
swept swiftly across the plain and in
turn stopped at Detail.
The second birdof.passage proved
to be locomotive drawing a single
cara Pullman.
Hardly had 1t run past the switch,
however, when the brakeman dropped
down, ran quickly back to the switch
and threw 1t open.
Promptly the train backed ON to the
siding
As the Pullman jolted across the
frogs the brakeman, interposing him
self between 1t and the tender, re-
leased the coupling.
BY the time that the Pullman had
come to full stop on the siding, the
locomotive was swinging westward
like a scared ackrabbit-though no
such milk-and.watery characterization
of the traitor passed the lips of any
one Of the three men who presently
appeared on the Pullmans platform
and shook impotent fists in the direc-
tion taken by the fugitive engine.
When the last of these had run tenn
porarily out of breath and blasphemy,
a brief silence fell punctuated by
groans from each, and concluded by
the sound of a voice calling from the
interior of the cara voice as strange
ly sonorous of tone as 1t was curiously
Querulous of accent
The three men Immediately ran back
into the car and presented themselves
with countenances variously apollo
getic, to one who occupied corner of
the drawing room: a man wrapped in
a steamer rug and cloud of fury.
Now when he had drained the
muddy froth of profanity from his tenn
per it left clear and efferyescent
well Of virulent humor the wrath of
the valetudinarian began to vent itself
upon the hapless heads Of the trio who
stood before him.
While this was in process, the
person of boyish appearance, who had
been keeping religiously aloof and in
conspicuous In the background of De-
tail ever since that unhappy affair
with the trainman, stole quietly up to
the rear of the stalled Pullman,
climbed aboard, and creeping down
the aisle unceremoniously interrupted
the conference just as the invalid was
polishing off rude but honest opinion
of the intellectual caliber of one of the
three named Marrophat, who figured
as his right-hand man and familiar
genius.
Amen to that" the boyish person
calculated with candid fervor, loung-
ing gracelessly In the doorway.
There's many true word spoken In
wrath, Mr. Marrophat Father forgot
only one thing-your mastery way
with revolver. From what I've seen
of that, this day, I'll go bail that the
only safe place for man you pull a
gun ON Ia right In front Of the muzzle.
There's something downright uncanny
in the way you can hit anything but
what you aim at"
Judith" exclaimed the invalid.
Where did you drop from?"
From that freight" Judith ex.
planned carelessly, neglecting to eluci.
date the exact fashion Of her drop. 81
Judged you'd be along presently, and
thought I'd like to learn the news.
Well-what luck?"
Her father shrugged with his one
movable shoulder Mr., Marrophat
grunted Indignantly. The others shut
Had unane civ ond InoLad oil NAVE hut