The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1915-02-11


ticket Office, backed by three rough
frame buildings; that is Detail item.
lied completely.
Shortly after nightfall the steel rib.
bons 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. It's
crew alighted and engaged in anil
mated argument. Detail gathered that
the excitement was due to the unac'
countable disappearance of the ca
boose; none seemed to have any no.
ton as to how it could have broken
loose; yet missing it conspicuously
was.
In the pause that followed, while
report was +elegraphed to headquar'
ters 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 anawares and booted him
vaingloriously into the night.
AS the figure alighted and took to
its heels, losing itself in the darkness
it uttered a cry of panied surprise and
protest which drew a. wrinkle of as
constituent between the brows of the
trainman.
SOUNDED like a woman's voice." he
unused; then dismissed the suggestion
as obviously absurd.
1t was not.
Shortly after the freight train had
gone on it's way-before, indeed, the
glimmer of it's rear lights had beer
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 locomotive drawing single
cara Pullman.
11dlu1y udu IL I'LL past LuC 6W1LCu
however, when the brakeman dropped
down, ran quickly back to the switch
and threw 1t open.
Promptly the train backed on to thu
siding.
AS the Pullman jolted across thu
frogs the brakeman, interposing him
self between it and the tender, re-
leased the coupling.
By the time that the Pullman hal
come to full stop on the siding, thu
locomotive was swinging westward
like a scared ckrabbit-though NJ
such milk-and-watery characterization
of the traitor passed the lips of an!
one of the three men who PRESENT.!
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
brief silence fell, punctuated b!
groans from each, and concluded b!
the sound of voice calling from thu
interior of the cara voice as strange
ly sonorous of tone as it was curiousl!
qUerulous of accent. 81,
The three men Immediately ran bacl
into the car and presented themselve,
with countenances variously apollo
getiC, to one who occupied a corner O
the drawing room: a man wrapped il
q steamer rug and cloud of fury.
Now when he had drained tn,
muddy froth of profanity from his tenn
per it left a clear and effervescen
well of virulent humor: the wrath Of
the valetudinarian began to vent itseE
upon the hapless heads of the trio wht
stood before him.
While this was in process, thu
person Of boyish appearance, who hai
been keeping religiously aloof and in
conspicuous in the background of De
tail ever since that unhappy affair
with the trainman, stole quietly up te
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 is right in front Of the muzzle. &
There's something downright uncanny
in the way you can hit anything but
what you aim att"
"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 II
Judged you'd be along presently, and
thought I'd like to learn the news.
WeD-what luck?"