Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-12-06

Quiet. sab. please sab, you'll wake
de whole cyah,' said the porter. ~
put yoh shoes under de berth, sab
Tlght whar l allus puts EN- aftah
blackin'. sah."
Ihe porter stopped and extracted the
shoes from beneath the curtain and
the traveller, whose experience in Pull
mans was small, grabbed them furious
~ and made for the door, shoes in
hand, Tor with a snort n a lurch and
a preliminary jar the train had taken
up Its motion, and a loud rushing out
side proclaimed that the other train
was passing.
The porter, feeling that he had been
treated with injustice. stood gazing re-
proachfully after the man for a full
nlnut before he followed him to tell
him that the wash room was at the
other end of the Car and not down past
the drawing room as he evidently sup
posed.
He found his man standing in stock
ing feet on the cold iron platform, his
head out OF the opening left i'm the
V~estlbuied train, for when the porter
came in he had drawn shut the outer
door and slammed down the movable
platform, making IL impossible for any
one to get out. There was only the
little opening the size of a window
above the grating guard. and the man
chung to it as if he would jump over
1T If he only dared. He was looking
back over the track n his face was
not good to see.
He turned wildly upon the porter.
L want you to stop this train and
let me off, he shouted. I've lost
something valuable back there on the
track; Stop the train quick, l tell you.
or ~ sue the railroad
What was 1t you losto' asked the
porter respectfully. He wasn't sure but
the man was half asleep yet.
1T was a-my-why. it was a very
valuable paper. 1t means a fortune to
me and several other people and L
must go back and get it. Stop the
train, 1 tell you. at once or I'll jump
ut
Il can stop de train, sab. youth hev
to see de conductah, sab, bout dat.
But l specks there's mighty little pros
pee o gettin' dis rain stopped fob it
sltS to 1t ~destinaShun, sab. Yves one
houf a'hind time now, sab. an hes
gotta make up foh we gifts to Bufflo."
me excited passenger rallied and
stormed until several slsepers were
countenances out from the curtains of
their berths. but h porter was OBJ
ourate, n would not AXE any meas
ures 10 stop the train, nor even call
the conductor until the passenger
promised to return quietly to his berth.
|Ihe thlck set man vas not used to
obeying. u he saw that he was only
hindering himself and finally hurried
to his berth, where he hastily
parted the curtains. craning his neck
70 see back along the track and over
the green valley growing smaller and
now in the distance. He could
JUST make out two moving specs on the
Mnlte winding ribbon of the road. He
Ielt sure he knew the direction they
were taking. If he only could get off
mat train he could easily catch them.
Tor they would have no idea he was
coming and would take no precautions.
III ne mad only Weakened a few seconds
sooner he would have been following
them even now.
showing a wide incongru-
i.y 1--WE his language and his gem
tlemanlN attire, but the conductor
would do nothing but promise that
would set him down at a water
lower ~ miles ahead where they had
SLOW up Tor water. He said sue or no
sue he had his orders, and the thick
set mar did not inspire him either to
sympathy or confidence. The conductor
llau peen many years on the road and
knew when to stop his train
and when to let it go on.
oullen!y n thick-set man accepted
the conductors decision and prepared
leave the rain at the water tower.
ms eye out for the landmarks along
lne way as he completed his hasty
toilet. ~
He was in no pleasant frame of mind.
having missed a goodly amount of his
stimulants h night before.
or breakfast before him. He
vas not built for a 10-mile walk over
the cinders and his flabby muscles
already ached at the prospect. But then,
OF course. he would not have to go be-
lore De found an automobile or some
! OF conveyance to help him on his
way. He looked eagerly from the win
dow for indications of garages or
stables. but the river wound it's silver
way among the gray green willow
frlnges. and the new grass shone a
emerald plain with nothing more
human than a few cows grazing here
and there. Not even a horse that might
be borrowed without his owners
knowledge. 1t was a strange, forsaken
spot, 10 Whole miles and no sign of
any public livery! Off to the right
and left he could see villages, but they
were o of then too far away from
the track to help him any. 1t began
to iook as ii he must just foot it all the
way. Now and then a small shanty or
Tiny dwelling whizzed by near at hand,
but nothing that would relieve his
situation.
II occurred to him to go into the
dining a for breakfast. but ever as he
thought Of 1t h conductor told him
train would stop in two minutes
and ne must be ready to get off, for
they. did not stop long.
He certainly looked a harmless
creature, that thick-set man as he stood
alone upon the cinder elevation and
surveyed the landscays Ger. Ten miles
from his quarry. alone on a stretch Of
nnd1Aoc ffnv n md Voi1c with a rlnn~nin-
river mocking him down in the valley,
and a laughing sky jeering overhead.
He started down the shining track his
q wreck. his mind in chaos. his