Western Kansas world., 1917-05-24
cMAKING
GOOD
By
GEORGE ELMER COBB
ecopyright. by W. G. Chapman.l

1
| Whenever Dan Beasley needed food,
| or q drink, or a dime to pay for bed,
| he Invariably made claim to having a
past where meritorious work was his
| portion.
| "pm no lazy 'bo, friend" he would
say. tive strung wire half over the
country and he showed q pair of nip
pers that belonged to the kit Of tele-
graph construction crew.
| If encouraged, Dan would dilate on
remarkable exploits in his line, well
seasoned with peril and hardship. IF
presented with a query as to present
lack of employment, he would cite old
age and younger men crowding him
out.
houses at Wolverton and wanted to get
to Crescent, where a real metropolis
presented variety and a broader field
for the exploitation of his peculiar
genius. He swung onto the platform
of the last car as the S:11 pulled out
of the depot. Dan was familiar with
| railroad ways and time schedules. He
knew that the 8 IL was q through
train to Crescent, with an express car
attached. The chances of discovery by
some lynx-eyed conductor, even hud-
died up in the shadow of the lower
step as he was, were entirely against
! him, but to compensate for that the
probabilities were that he would not
be kicked OFF, nor would the train be
stopped especially to put him off.
| Dan fairly cleared the door of the
rear car when it opened and man
came out. Dan scrunched close, but
felt easier as he observed that the in
| truder wore no uniform. 1t was only
passenger come out on to the platform
to get a breath of fresh air and puff
at a cigarette. He noticed Dan, but
made no remark. His smoke being of
contemplated brief duration, the pas
| senger had not taken the trouble to go
ahead to the smoking car.
Tickets" and the door swung open
and the conductor appeared, punched
the bit of pasteboard presented and
then noticed Dan. -l4s
"Stowaway?" he observed smartly.
You'll have to vacate." e.,
| "Where to-Pullman or chair carr
grinned Dan, coming to his feet. You
amt the kind to fire me into the ditch,
your face shows that. Have a heart,
boss. I've seen better days. See,"
and Dan presented the inevitable last
tool of his former calling. "Linemani
once, and good one. Lift me to Cres-
cent, won't your
| The conductor growled some uncom-
plimentary remarks, evidently deciding
| to make the best of it, and retired,
slamming the door after him. The
passenger dropped his half consumed
| cigarette. 1t fell to the platform.
Greedily Dan picked it up and with a
/ ri ahJ1n Of T p
tween his lips, putting luxuriantly.
Keeps away the hunger, see?' he
said, bracing comfortably on the top
You're that, eh?" questioned the
passenger.
Generally, friend" nodded Dan.
"Well, when you get to Crescent use
my contribution for genuinely square
meal,'' and the speaker handed Dan
half dollar.
"Strike wood! I'm blind OF dream
mgr cried Dan, and he joyously
tapped the welcome coin against the
car door. 'Say, I'm in rare luck"
The young man smiled and went into
| the coach. His charitable act pleased
him. He was, in fact, filed with pleas
ant thoughts. Well might that be, for
inside his breast pocket was long fat
wallet. 1t contained one thousand two
| hundred dollars, the savings of two
years, which would enable him to go
to Crescent, marry Mary Lane, the
girl of his choice, enjoy rational we'd
ding trip and have enough left over to
| furnish a neat little fat.
So he dreamed fond visions of bliss
reclining in the car seat, and Dan, out
side, extracted the last atom of warmth
| and favor from the diminishing Gig
arctic stump and closely clasped the
half dollar, gloating over an antici-
pated satisfying bill of fare in the near
| future.
| Dan Iolled over the entire platform
now. There would probably be no
| more Interruptions and no stops until
Crescent was reached. He dozed, and
must have been on the verge of dreams
for fully two hours when there came
a shock. Dan just grabbed the brake
rod in time to evade a topple over.
What is it?' he grumbled. This
lisn't Crescent. / don't like thatI" he
added. swinging sideways, clinging
with one hand and peering ahead
A red light showed the stop signal
just ahead of the engine. The head
light of the locomotive revealed more
than one figure scurrying about. Dan
had good eyesight- Suddenly he leaped
to the ground with the startling words
"Ginger-it's a holdupl''
| Dan ran to the side of the track. He