New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-06-10
CHAPTER v
And SATAN Came Also

81 saw your office lights from the
street" was the way h Red Tower
president began III me, and his voice
took me straight back to the Oregon
woods and n lumber camp where the
saw-iilers were ut work. Where Is
Mr.. N%0rcrossf'
| told him that Mr.. Norcross was
uptown, and that l didn't suppose he
would come back to the office again
that night. now that ii was so late,
MY name is Hatch. of the Red
Tower company" he grated. after n
minute or two. you're the one they
call Dodds, aren't youF"
| admitted it,, and he went on.
"Norcross brought you here with
him from the West, didn't hef What
pay are you getting heref'
1t was IN the tip of my tongue to
cuss him out right there and then
and tell him it vas nOne of his bust
ness. But the second thought (Which
isn't always aS good AS it's said to
bel whispered To me to lead him on
and see how far he would 20. So |
At'l iAii NV hHNl'n - ~ l"f
I'm needing another shorthand
man, and | can afford to pay n good
bit more than that he growled.
'"They tell me you are well up at the
top in your trade, Are you open to an
Offer2"
let him have it straight then. "Not
from you" | said.
And why not from mc?'
Here WAS where | made my first
bad break. All of a sudden | got so
angry at the thought that he was ac-
tually trying to buy me that | couldn't
see anything but red. and | blurted
out, Because | don't hire out to work
for any strong-arm outtit-not If !
know it :"
For n litt.s while he sat blinking
at me from urdcr his bushy eyebrows,
and his hard mouth was drawn into
a straight line with "A mean little
wrinkle coming and going AT the cor
ners OF it.
When he got ready to speak again
he said. You're only II boy. You want
10 get on in the world, don't you?
I'm offering you "A good chance: the
best you ever had. You don't "
Norcross anything more than your
job, do youF'
"Maybe not"
"That's better. Put on your hat
aud come along with me. | want to
show you what | can do for you In a
better field than railrOading ever was,
or ever will be. It'll pay you" and
he named a figure that very nearly
made me fall dead out Of my chair.
OF course, it was all plain enough.
The boss had him on the hip with that
kidnapping business, with me for a
witness. And he was trying to fix the
witness.
II guess we needn't beat about the
bushes any longer, Mr.. Hatch" | said,
bracing up To him. 81 haven't told
the sheriff. or anybody but Mr.. Nor
cross. what | know about a certain
little train hold-up that happened a
few weeks ago down at Sand Creek
siding but that isn't saying that I'm
not going to-
II | had had the sense of "A field
mouse. | might have known that |
was no match for such a man. but
] lacked the scuSe-lacked II good and
hard.
You're like your boss" he said
shortly. you'd 20 n long distance out
Of you way 10 make an enemy when
there is no need of it. That hold-up
business was a joke. from start to
| don't know how you and Nor
cross came TO get In on 1t; the joke
was meant to be on John Chadwick.
The night before. at a little dinner we
giving him at the railroad club,
said there never was "A railroad
hold-up that couldn't have been stood
of. A few of us got together after
and put up a job on him sent
him over To Strathcona and arranged
10 ave him held up on the way back"
"Mr. Chadwick didn't take ii as a 5
| retort.c.
IL know he didn't; and that's why {
all anxious now to dig a hole
and bury the thing decently. Perhaps
We had all been taking a drop too '
much at the club dinner that night"
At that | swelled up man-size and !
licked the whole kettle of fat into Z
ne fire. v
. course. 1t was a joker" I rip '
ped out. And your coming here to- v
hight to try to hire me away from Mr.
is another. The woods are
'uIl Of good shorthand men. Mr.. Hatch 4
,ut for the present I think I shall 4
stay right where anywhere a court a.
iuhpoena can find me when I'm {
THAT'S all nonsense. and you know {
t-if you're not too much Of a kid to a
now anything" he snapped. shooting h
his heavy jaw at me. 81 merely b
to give you a chance to get S
i'd of the railroad collar, IL you felt
Ike il. like a fighting man; and S
Iou've got nerve. Take a night and a
ieep on 1t. Maybe you'll think diff
in the morning" a
Here was another chance for me to Il
ct on with a whole skin, but by this n
lime I was completely lost to any h
ober weighing Nc measuring of the c