The Yale expositor., 1915-04-15
CHAPTER xxxvl.
Detail.

Across the plain purple shadows
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
fange of a 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, water tank, a
Wells-Fargo Office and a telegraph and
ticket office, backed by three rough
frame buildings; that is Detail item
ized 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
SyO ~ wan PutilDB dllCh IL a blllh6 vi
freight cars, both fat 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 it conspicuously
was.
In the pause that followed, while a
report was telegraphed to headquar-
ters and instructions returned to pro.
ceed without delay, one of the train.
men spied a 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,
1t uttered cry of panied surprise and
protest which drew a wrinkle of as
tonishment between the brows of the
trainman.
Sounded like a womans voice." he
unused; then dismissed the suggestion
as obviously absurd.
IL 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 bird-of-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 it open.
Promptly the train backed on to the
siding.
AS the Pullman jolted across the
frogs the brakeman, interposing him
self between. II and the tender. re
LEASED the coupling.
BY the time that the Pullman hac
come to full stop on the siding, the
locomotive was swinging westward
like scared jackrabbit-though nc
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
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 b,
groans from each, and concluded b,
the sound Of voice calling from tn,
interior Of the cara voice as strange
iy sonorous of tone as II was curiousl,
.querulous of accent.
The three men Immediately ran bacl
into the car and presented themselve
with countenances varfousIy apollo
getic, to one who occupied corner O
the drawing room: a man wrapped Il
a steamer rug and cloud of fury.
Now when he had drained tn
muddy froth of profanity from his ten
per II left clear and effervescen
well of virulent humor: the wrath O
the valetudinarian began to vent itsel
upon the hapless heads Of the trio VIII
stood before him.
While this was In process, tn
person Of boyish appearance, who ha,
been keeping religiously aloof and In
conspicuous in the background OF De
tail ever since that unhappy affai
with the trainman, stole quietly up +
the rear Of the stalled Pullman
climbed aboard, and creeping dow
the aisle unceremoniously interrupte
the conference Just as the invalid wa
polishing of rude but honest opinion
a shs intellectual caiiber OF one OF th