The Colorado statesman., 1915-02-27
William 'SBANQUET
BY GEORGE BARTLETT.
(Copyright.)

| NcS lue DIt5SlOH JLdI INC usual
well-ordered routine of Williams daily
life, dinner time had arrived, reviving
memories, perhaps, of light lunch
of pork chops and ale or some other
| pleasantly incongruous luncheon com
bination.
AS a matter of fact, dinner time
had arrived, but, as yet, it had revived
not even memory.
Since then other meal times had ar
rived and with them their correspond
ing and cumulative appetite, but Will
liam's celebrations had been, to say
the most, irregular and fragmentary.
1t will not seem strange, therefore,
that as he crept up the steps of
! certain car marked Division Superin-
tendent, Private, the uppermost
thought in Williams mind was food.
The car had been switched on to a
lonely side track near which Williams
| journey had been interrupted by the
ill-timed forcefulness of freight con-
ductor.
Evidently the superintendent had
just finished his dinner. He was
standing beside a table of empty
dishes, facing down the car, and was
Just in the act of putting a match to
a cigar
Williams first glance took in the car
and the table with its suggestion of
food in the vicinity. Then, as his eyes
fell on the man he involuntarily
stepped back with an exclamation of
surprise
Walter Stimson, by jiminy!" he
calculated. Must be eighteen years
since | saw Walt. Well, l guess I'm
pretty sure of a hand-out anyhow"
He stroked his coat collar-a quite
useless adjusted his
mobile features, and pushed open the
door. He insinuated himself in on a
half turn, but as he faced full around
again the pleasing smile was pushed
from his face by a sudden onslaught
of fear and CONSERVATION.
Only two things in the world were
visible to him-a taunting rim of steel
that seemed contemptuously anxious to
wink his life out, and bright unwink.
ing eye that seemed only too ready to
superintend the process.
For demoraliZed second William
contemplated flight. However, he re-
membered in time that in a race be-
tween spring door and a hair-trigger
the spring door never gets started.
Accordingly he tried to wrinkle his
face into it's original smirk, put out
his hand and made tentative shuttle
toward the man behind the rim of
steel.
Il reckon you don't know me, Walt"
he said soothingly. William Nc
Grath? Member, l was an operator
on the Iron Mountain when you was
a brakie?"
What! Sweet William"
THE same"
Williams shuttle acquired decision
and his smile began to have a less
skewered effect.
Hold on Sweet" snapped the
voice behind the gun. I've been sep
arated long time from your pedigree
and you don't look wholesome. What
are you monkeying around here for?"
William began recital of his many
sorrows, but Stimson interrupted him.
Il will hear the story of your melan-
choly past at some other time, Will
liam. At present what l want to know
is-what are you doing here?"
why, I was taking the dead-head
route to Omaha when one of your fat,
underworked, overpaid freight cons
tipped me on to the ballast. / seen
your car standing here, so l reckoned
I'd touch you for hand-out, not hav-
ing had enough for two days to sup
port the germs of starvation. When
| seen that it was you who was a di-
vision superintendent with a private
car, felt sure of my piece of pie"
Il believe you, Sweet. Sit down."
The gun waved William into a chair
and disappeared into the superintend-
ants hip pocket in the same movement.
LAS a matter of fact, I'm even glad to
see you"
Does it extend to distributing a
little fodder?" asked William, as the
super seemed inclined to sink into
moments mediation.
Not yet" said Stimson thought
fully. Il may have little manual
labor for you, and knowing how much
you don't like work Wen have the job
first and the feed afterward."
Kinder rotten way to treat starv-
ing man. grumbled William.
| We've a big cutoff building Is
miles up the line, and the pay car was
due to go forward there tonight, but
we got a line on hold-up that was
to be pulled off between here and
| there.
so instead of sending the cash with
the pay car, the pay car was loaded
with mean-minded men with rifles, and
the cash, in case the car should be
blown up instead of held up, was load
ed into the safe, this car being side
tracked here to wait until the fun was
over