The Bienville Democrat. [volume] (Arcadia, Bienville Parish, La.) 1912-1980, 1921-06-23
CHAPTER XIII
What the Pilot Engine Found

What the Pilot Engine Found
For time after the suicide of the
of.trick-diSpatcher the wreck epidemic
paused. Acting upon Mr.. Norcross'
SUGGESTION Mr.. Van Britt called his
trainmen in. Il crew at a time, and
rave them the straight tip; and after
that the hOodoo died a natural death,
and good many pairs of eyes all
along the Short Line were keeping a
sharp lookout for the trOuble-makers.
In the meantime, Tarbell, still dig
ying faithfully, managed to turn up
few facts that. were worth some
thing. In the Petr0lite case he found
a lone prospector living in shack
high I'd on the farther side Of the
canyon who told him that late in the
evening of the day preceding the
wreck he had seen two men climbing
the slope from which the boulder had
been dislOdged, and that one of them
was carrying pick. Also, further in
vestigatiOn seemed to prove that the
rail which the blow Of the rock was
supposed to have knocked loose had
been previously weakened. either ny
drawing some Of the spikes, or by
4 tnscrewing the nuts on the bolts at
the joints.
In another field. and this time under
Rlpley's instructions, our eX-coW-
punch had been able to set and bait
trap. BY diligent search he had
found the man Murphy, the Clanahan
henchman, who. under pressure, had
given away the Timber Mountain plot
which had climaxed in the kidnapping
Of the boss. This man had been de-
liberately shot in a bar-room braWl
and left for dead. But he had craWled
away and had got out of town to live
and recover at a distant cattle ranch
IN the Iimberton hills.
When Tarbell discovered him he had
cut out the booze, had grown beard
and was thirsting Tor vengeance. Tar
hell brought him back to Portal CITY,
and presently there began to be de-
yelopments. Murphy knew all the
ropes. In little time. Ripley, with
Tarbe1rs help, was loaded for bear.
One chilly October afternoon the law
yer came down to our office to tell
Mr.. Norcross that the game was cor
nered. 4
"All you have TO do now Is to give
the worl,' was the way Ripley wound
up. "You refused to do it on former
occasion, because we couldn't get the
men higher up This time we can
nail Clanahan, and a good few OF the
political gangsters and bosses in the
other towns along the line. WHAT 90
You say"
The boss looked up with the little
horseshoe frown wrinkling between
his eyes.
"Can we get Hatch and Henckel?
mo; not yet"
"Very well: then you may lock those
papers up in your safe and we'll walt.
When you can see your way clear to
criminal trial, with Rufus Hatch
and Gustave Henckel in the prisoners
dock, we'll start the legal machinery:
but not before
BY now we were right on the eve
Of the state election. As far as any
body could see the railroad had stayed
free and clear of the political fight.
The boss had kept his promise to NAM
tain neutrality and was still keep
Ing 1t.
AT the appointed time the big day
dawned, and the political wind-up held
the center of the stage. So far as we
were concerned, it passed off very QUIET
~. Along in the afternoon the newspa-
per offices began to put out bulletins,
and by evening the result was no long
or doubtful. For the first time in years
the power of the political machine
had been smashed decisively at the
polls, and on the following morning
the Momtaneer announced the cleo
lion of Governor Burrell. with a sal"
working majority in both houses or
the legislature for the independents
1t was on tho third day after the
election, rather late in the afternoon,
that the boss had q call from a min
Ing promoter named Dawes, represent
Ing bunch of mine owners at Strath'
coma who were having trouble WIFI
smelter. The Smelter, one OF the few
Hatch monopoies which hadn't been
shaken loose as yet, was located IN
the gulch six miles below Strathcona'
and 1t was served exclusively by It's
own Industrial railroad, which 1t was
using as a lever to pry an excessive
hauling charge out Of the mine own
ers Wouldn't Mr.. NorcrOss try to DO.
something about It?
The boss said he'd do anything ne