Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-06-07
By
REX
BEACH
THE IRON TRAIL

want to get TO bed. Are you looking
for a job"
The engineers eyes opened wide.
Yes"
DO you know the Kyak country
Pretty well.
~ need n surveyor Your wages will
he the same that Gordon paid. and
they begin now. If it's agreeable"
1T certainly is
Good. Well leave at 6 O'Clock
sharp. Bring your bedding and in
struments.'
Thanks. / This is bit of a sur
prise. Who are your
I'm O'Neil."
oh. Mr.. Appleton's expression
changed quickly. You're Murray
He stammered an instant 1T was
very good of you to take my part after
I'd been fool enough to-
well. | didn't want to see you make
4 total idiot of yourself"
The young man flushed slightly; then
in a queter voice he asked:
How did you know | was out of
work.
MFR. Gordon told me. He recon-
mended you highly"
HE did,
He said you were unreliable. dis.
In the momentary hush which fol
lowed Happy Tom Slater. who had
frequently seen his employer in action
and understood storm signals, sighed
deeply and reached for the nearest
chair With a wrench of his powerful
hands he loosened a leg. Although
Mr.. Slater abhorred trouble. he was ac-
customed to meet it philosophically. A
/ lifetime spent in construction camps
! had taught him that Of all weapons
J the one best suited to his use was
pick handle Second TO that he had
come to value the hardwood leg of
| chair But in the present case his pre-
/ caution proved needless. for the dis
pute was over before be had fairly
prepared himself.
Without waiting for O'Neil to put
| his accusation into words Denny had
| risen swiftly. and in doing so he had
either purposely or by accident made
a movement which produced prompt
and instructive reaction. Murray's fist
met him as he arose, met him so square
, ly and with such force that he lost all
i,,,a tn hot fnllnyro6 nj a
card players silently gathered Mr.. Den
ny In their arms and stretched him
upon disused roulette table. The
bartender appeared with wet towel
and began to battle his temples.
Appleton. dazed by the suddenness
of it all found a stack Of gold pieces
in his hand and heard O'Neil saying in
an everyday tone:
Come to my room, please. Id like
TO talk to you" Something command
ing in the speakers face made the en-
gineer follow against his will. BE
lonCed to loiter here until Denny re-
gained his senses but O'Neil had him
, by the arm. and a moment later be
was being led down the hall away
from the lobby and the barroom. AS
i, Slater, who had followed, closed the
door behind them Dan burst forth:
BY love, Why didn't you tell me :
knew he was crooked but l couldn'
believe
Sit down" said O'Neil. He won't
pull himself together for awhile. and
loyal and dishonest. Comi2- from
him. took that as high praise"
There was a moments pause; theu
Appleton laughed boyishly.
That's funny I'm very glad tc
know you, Mr.. O'Neil"
You don't. and you won't for a long
time. Tom tells me you didn't think
well of Gordon's enterprise and so he
| fred YOU"
That's right suppose ought tt
have kept my mouth shut. but it has &
way of flying open when it shouldn't
He is either a fool or a crook and his
mine is nothing but prospect.
couldn't resist telling him So
And his railroad"
Appleton hesitated "Oh. it's as
. good a route as the trusts. | worked
on the two surveys. Personally | thinl
both outfits are crazy to try to build il
| from here. | had to tell Gordon tina
too. You see. I'm a volunteer talker
, | should have been born with stutter
1t would have saved me lot of trou
ble"