The Ordway new era., 1914-12-18
he
O'FIear'ts
.By LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
Aushor Of ''Ths Fortune Hvntee. Ths blA<s
Bas," ~Ths Lons Wok. kAe.
CHAPTER xxxvl. n

Detail.
Across the plain purple shadows
were sweeping. close-ranked, like some
vast dark army invading the land.
pouring on over the rampart Of noun
tains In the east.
Within the rim Of hills that hinged
the plain like the Clipped and broken
fiange of q titanic saucer. silence
brooded and solitude held sway-
dwarnng 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. water tank.
Wells-Fargo once and telegraph and
ticket ONCE, backed by three rough
frame buildings; that u Detail item
ICED completely.
Shortly after nightfall the steel nib
hons of the Santa Fe began TO hum. A
headlight peered suspiciously round n
shoulder Of the eastern range, took
heart Of co,eage to fnd the plain still
wrapped in peace, and trudged stoiid-
ly toward Detail, the engine whose
eye II was pulling after It . string OF
freight cars. both fat and box.
At Detail the train paused. it,
crew aiighted and engaged In ami
mated argument Detail gathered that
the excitement was due to the unac-
countabls disappearance OF the ca
boose; none seemed to have any no
tion a. to how II could have broken
loose: yet missing 1t conspicuously
was.
In the pause that followed, while 4
report was .elegraphed TO headquar-
tiers and instructions returned 70 pro
coed without delay. one Of the train
men spied . boyish nsure lurking IN
the open door Of an empty box car.
Cunningly boarding this car from the
opposite side. the tSainman caught
the skulker unawasss and booted him
vainsioriousiy into ~ night.
~ The figure alights6 and tnak 70
~ heals, losing itself In Tie dsyt6eDss
II uttered cry Of panied ssrpsiss Ai.t
protest which drew . wrinkle OF A.
tonishment between the br0ws Of the
trainman.
Sounded like . woman's voice." he
unused: then dismissed the suggestion
as obviously absurd.
Shortly after the freight train had
gone ON it's 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 bird-of.passage proved
to be q locomotive drawing . single
cara Pullman.
Hardly had II 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.
A 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 q full stop on the siding. the
locomotive was swinging westward
like scared jackrabbit-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 Pullman's platform
and shook impotent fists in the direc-
ton taken by the fugitive engine.
When the last of these had run tenn
porarily out OF breath and blasphemy.
q brief silence fell, punctuated by
groane from each, and concluded by
the sound Of . voice calling from the
interior of the cara voice a. strange
iy sonorous of tone as It was curiously
Qverulous Of accent.
The three men Immediately ran back
into the car and presented themselves
with countenances variously apollo
the drawing room: . man wrapped In
. steamer rug and . cloud OF fury.
Now when he had drained the
muddy froth Of profanity from his tenn
per It left . clear and enervescent
we'll 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 roligiously 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 OF q rude but honest opinion
OF the Intellectual caliber Of one of the
three named Aarrophat, who figured
genius.
Amen to that!" the boyish person
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