davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-05-26
CHAPTER XIV
The pead.Line

We found the three disappointed
afternoon callers already on hand when
we reached the headquarters. The
boss said, Good evening, gentlemen"
as pleasant as basket of chips, and
invited the waiting bunch into the
private Office, swapping on the lights
as he opened the door.
No introductions were needed One
Of the pair Hatch had brought with
him was lawyer named Marrow,
whose home town was Sedgwick; a
sharp-nosed. ferret-eyed man who fig
ured Us one of the many local coun-
sells" for Red Tower. The other, Ded-
mon. was a political place-hunter who
had once been sheriff Of Arrowhead
county.
you've kept MS cooling our heels
in your waiting-room for just about
the last time, Mr.. Norcross !" was the
spiteful way in which Hatch opened
fire. We've come to talk straight
business with you this trip, and 1t will
be more to your interest than ours
II you'll send your clerk away"
While they had been dragging up
their chairs and sitting down, / had
heard Fred May lock up his typewriter
and go, and had been listening anxi-
ously for some noise that would tell
me Tarbell was on deck. thought
I heard the door of the outer office
open again just as Hatch spoke and
1t comforted me whole lot.
The boss didn't pay any attention
to Hatch's suggestion about sending
me away; acted as If he hadn't heard
1t. Opening his desk he took a box of
cigars from a drawer and passed 1t.
With this concession to the small hos
pitalities the boss swung his chair to
face the trio.
my time is yours, gentlemen," he
said and Hatch jumped in like man
fairly spelling for fight.
''For six months. Norcross, you've
been moving pretty wide swath out
here In the tall hills. You've been
posing as little tin god before the
people of this state, and all the while
you've been knitting and slugging and
black-jacking private capital and pri-
vate business wherever and whenever
they have happened to get in your
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-05-26
.you had something more than .

"You had something more than o
hunch: what was it-a wire7"
Mr.. Van Britt gritted his teeth q
little, but he told the truth.
"Yes; friend of ours tipped me
off-not about the broken track, Of
course. hut just in general way"
The break was repaired and the
men were taking the tools back to
the engine. As we turned to follow
them. Mr.. Norcross said: "Just one
more question. Upton. Did your wire
come from the capital?"
But at this Mr.. Van Britt seemed
to forget that he was talking to his
general manager.
'Its none of your id business
where 1t came FROM" he snapped bnck !;
and that ended 1t.
Notwithstanding the slow run and
the near-disaster on Slide mountain,
we had our meeting with the Strath..
coma mine owners the following morn.
ing; and that much Of the special train
trip served its purpose. anyway. The
boss met the miners good bit more
than halfway, and gave them their
IeutI-dnu tiit E1dtCii-OWueu Stutltcr
its. knock-out-by promising that our
traffic department would make an ore
tariff to the independent smelter on
the other side of the range low enough
TO protect the producers.
1t was nearly three O'Clock in the
afternoon before we got away for the
return to Portal City.
We had seen nothing of Mr.. Van
Britt during the day. and until we
came to start out ! thought maybe
he had gone back to Portal City on
the regular train. But at the station
saw the pilot engine just ahead Of
us again, and though l couldn't be
quite sure. thought caught glimpse
Of our athletic little general superin-
tendent on the fireman's box.
The boss was pretty quiet all the
way on the run down the mountain
to Bauxite, and, for a wonder, he
didn't pitch into the work at the desk.
I-could tell pretty well what he was
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-05-26
"You did that, GrMahami!-for


strangely"
cerned. As I say. he was making a.,
ass of himself"
There was another break. ana thep
the major looked up with little
frown.
'That was befo' you had met
Sheila?" he asked, thoughtfully.
"Why. no; not exactly. 1t was the
same night-the night we all dropped
off the Flyer and got left behind at
Sand Creek. You may remember that
we came in later on Mr.. Chadwick's
special"
The major made no reply to this,
and pretty soon the boss was on his
feet and excusing himself once more
on the after-dinner smoking stunt, say
ing that he was obliged to go back to
the office. The major got up and shook
hands with him as If he were bid
ding him good-by for a long journey.
'You are going down to keep that ap-
pointment with Misteh Rufus Hatch?"
he said. You take an old mans ad-
vice, Graham, my boy, and keep youh
hand-figuratively speaking. of cou'se
on youh gun. 1t runs in my mind.
somehow, that you are going to be
hit-and hit right hard. No, don't
ask me why. Call it a rotten suspi-
cion, and let it go at that. Come up
to the house, afte'ward, if you have
time, and tell me I'm false prophet,
sub; 1 hope you may"
The boss promised plenty cheerfully
as to the calling part, as you'd know
he would since he hadn't seen Mrs.
Sheila for 1 don't know how long; and
a few minutes later we were on our
way, walking briskly, to keep the
Fred May engagement with the chief
of the grafters.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-05-26
SYNOPSIS.

CHAPTER I--Graham Norcross, rail.
road manager. and his secretary, Jimmie
Dooos; are marooned at Sand Creek sid
and her small cousin. Unseen. they wit.
ness a peculiar train holdup, in which
q special car is carried OF.
CHAPTER II-Norcross recognizes the
car stolen as John Chadwick's. financial
magnate, whom he was to meet at Portal
city. He and Dodds rescue Chadwick.
ship Of the Pioneer Short Line which is
In the hands of eastern spectators.
aeaaed aeaf ., t ny Ri,reckenridge i, Dpnton, presi,
accepts.
versation between Rufus Hatch and Gus
taye Henckel, Portal City financiers. in
which they admit completely in Chadwick
Chadwick from attending a meeting of
directors to reorganize the Pioneer Short
Line. which would jeopardize their inter-
CHAPTER Iv.-To curb the monopoly
controlled by Hatch and Henckel, the Red
T, TeWer corporation. Eorcross forms the
tsrest in Sheiia Macrae Dodds learns
from her husband. Norcross t does mot not
know this
CHAPTER "; Hatch, aware that
els participation In the Chadwick kid
naping. offers him Inducements to leave
o he Is ssSsesss Se
ering consciousness. he learns that Nor
cross has disappeared and is believed to
have resigned and gone east.
CHAPTER vI.-Dodds connects Nor
CROSS disappearance with Vaccinations
Of Hatch and Henckel, and on recover
Ing strength sets out to solve the mys-
CHAPTER VII. = with Krgan, the
roads master mechanic. Dodds gets a
foiow Sn Clue GIVEN saGDsa1aeSs thsm eSsoush es
missing locomotive.
CHAPTER vIII-The rescue party finds
which he had been lured. Norcross re-
sumes control OF the Pioneer Short LAne,
refusing to give place to man whom
CHAPTER K.-Dodds follows an ennis
Nofcross. to a coal yard, whsre he over
SSsness anS at the Fisk Ct s: life so us
trates II.
xcaIad caAPTBH EEK x.1At .. the home Of Shell.
ssns on the lie Of his IssSs' frend and s' boss %
He prepares to defend him.
CHAPTER xL--The sudden return of
6heila's uncle drives the intruder away.
later Dodds recognises him as Howard
Collingwood; nephew Of President Dun
Of wrecks on the line. impossible to ex-
plain. cause alarm to the management
A al
patcher. routes passenger and freight
trains to meet on a-single track. Dis
aster Is narrowly averted. Durgin COM
mits suicide. leaving evidence that he
was bribed to bring about collision
CHAPTER XIII.-Evidence accumulates
that Norcross' enemies are plotting his
death, but against all advice he decides
on q trip on special train over the line.
A pilot engine. travelling ahead, discovers
displaced rail which would have thrown
the special down a mountain side. Nor
cross hears for the first time that 6heila
Macrae Is married. He refuses to believe
1t.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-05-26

way. Now, at the end Of the lane. by
Jupiter, we've got you dead to rights
you and your id railroadw
"Cut out as many of the PERSONAL
ties as you can, and come to the
point" suggested the boss quietly.
you think l haven't any point to
come tor" barked the CRATER, with
rising anger. "Tll show you You
thought you were the only original
trust-buster when you started your
scheme of locally owned elevators and
warehouses and coal and lumber
yards and ran us out Of business. But
I'm here to tell you that your fine
haired little deal to rob us began to die
about as soon as II was born"
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
1t Was Rickard Who Put
Goldfeld on the Map

'T had in mind fight between McGovern
and Britt" said Rickard. az did not know
how much we ought to offer for purse, but I
suggested $30,000-a sum far greater than
fighters were used to receiving in those days.
went out on Che street and asked a few of
my friends if they would get in on the guar
anty. One by one they said Put me down for
five thousand,' until I had $4,000 guaran-
teed in that way"
The offer, coming to McGovern's manager
from an unknown person named Rickard in a
Far Western mining camp, was hailed on
Broadway as a joke and was not even an
swered. Rickard then got in touch with Joe
Cans and Battling Nelson, whose sense of
humor did not prove to be so exaggerated. II
is true that it required display Of the
$4,000 in newly minted gold pieces before
the manager of Nelson conquered his lurking
skepticism, but the fight was eventually ar
ranged, Goldfeld was advertised as it had
never been advertised before and the name of
Tex Rickard began to creep into the great
American household.
It is estimated that seven of the fights that
Tex Rickard has promoted since that day have
drawn more than $1,000,000. The Johnson
Jeffries fight, which he had to shift quickly
1IolH Cd1l1oIll4d 10 ANeFdud WilSH an uHeXpecC-
ed anti-prizefghting decision closed the former
state to him, brought in total of nearly
$280,o0O. The Dempsey Willard fight at To-
ledo brought in $4520O0 and the Willard
Moran fight in New York City was worth some
thing over $4,000.
His success with the bout in Goldfeld did
not inlbue Rckard with a sudden determina-
tion to make fight promoting his business He
and it had proved a success, and he was will
ing to let it go at that. 1t was only after
earnest solicitation that he promoted the
bouts Immediately succeeding that first affair,
in which he was so much of "tenderfoot"
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29

that he admits he was the most surprised man
in the world when correspondents from naw,
papers in other cities began focking to tom
and besieging che promoter for interviews
It seems as IL apparently insurnountahI.
obstacles merely offer mental stimulation &
Tex Rickard. He has leased Madison Sonar
Garden for ten years, and, for the FIRST tim.
in the history of that time -honored institutio,
he has taken steps to make it pay returns il
summer. The project of swimming pool i
the Garden has been talked of many times
Individuals and corporations with unlimited
capital have been almost at the point Of eose.
ahead with the construction Of such noo
but the cost has frightened them of. Ter
Rickard has gone ahead where others dared
not. He is having the greatest concrete swim.
ming pool in the world constructed in +bo
arena Of Madison Square Garden. He is IN.
stalling the necessary machinery to make It tba
most perfect as well as the largest of pools
This enormous burden Of work has come on
him in the thick Of his burden of detail resul..
ing from the Dempsey-C Carpenter fight. Car.
rying on either one Of those enterprises is :
man-sized job, but Tex Richard is putting them
through together, an / thinks nothing Of it.
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
g QtOe5
j. Al 10 3
9 A Q 10 z
= K 3

bids no-trump. Those who did not pay
sufficient attention to the character Of AS
cards, doubled, and when passed, B had to
call the clubs on four to the king, without
another trick in his hand. Had this club call
been an original one and rs cards held by
second hand double would have been in
order; but in this case z does not care to
push the declaration by asking to bid, but
leaves the alleged no-trumper on his left to
play the hand in minor suit, with little hope
OF game. II Y has good call in either of
the major suits ,he will make it. There is
no necessity to force him to weak one.
Against the clubs this is how it went at
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
SNOWMAN IN CHIEF
Illustration by JEFFERSON MACHAMER

ern in that hectic camp. For awhile be was
ahead Of the game, but eventually he lost
everything simply because Tex ran square
game" as his friends have it. No bitter
ness tinges Richards talk when he touches
on this part of his career.
"I simply learned some things" he said the
other day, his face hardening little as he
looked out Of his Office window.
Among the men with whom Rickard was
thrown in contact at that time stalwart
young collegian named Rex Beach. They were
both broke, and together they sawed wood
at Rampant, in the winter of 1898, to supply
the river steamers. A few years later Rex
Beach, in writing his Alaska novel, The
Spoilers put his friend, Tex Rickard, into
the book as the Broncho Kid, "the worlds
greatest fstc promoter"
When Nome began TO scintilate on. the map
as Dawson. City had done, Tex Rickard was
one of the first on the scene, and with a stake
which he had accumulated, opened another
gambling house, which, like the one he opened
at Dawson, and like the one he was to open
later at Goldfeld, he called The Northern.
He was elected to the first city council, and
was the youngest member of that assemblage.
Mining exctements had an irresistible ap-
peal, and when Godfeld brought Nevada out
of its long somnolence, Rickard' was among
those present Immediately after the christen-
ing. His Northern was one of the chief cen
ters Of activity in town that never did be-
leve much in the rest cure, and when a Com
mercial Club was formed the counsel Of Tex
Rickard was often sought and respectfully
listened TO- When the club was casting about
for something which would advertise Gold
field as it never had been advertised before,
Rickard suggested staging prize-ight--not
the kind that was usually put in mining
camps-but real championship affair.
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
Prospector Richard pay in Ne,v Jersey

back to the state for which he had been nick
named, and in 1892 the citizens of Henrietta,
brisk little town in the Panhandle, elected
the youth marshal.
Two years later Rickard resigned and hit
north for Alaska, lured by certain rumors
Of wealth to be won in the mining game. When
the Klondike gold rush started, Rickard was
at Circle City, 800 miles away. With the
rest of the population of Circle City, Tex
rushed to the gold fields. He staked out
claims from which he secured $4,000, though
that comparatively small amount was not Sc
cured until after months of hardship.
81 often look back and wonder how we
went through the life on the trail" said Rick
ard the other day, in his Office in Madison
Square Garden. MANY time + have put
100-pound pack on my back and started out
through the snow. 1t was killing work, but
we got through it somehow
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29

alone and cast on his own resources in the
biggest state in the union. More than that,
he had widowed mother, two brothers and
three sisters to support. He could ride and
throw rope, like all Texas boys of twelve
and up, and he turned to the universal calling
of cowpunching.
Those were the days when cattle from Texas
and Old Mexico were being trailed to Dodge
City, Kan, for shipment East and to Indian
reservations in the Northwest for sale to the
government. Tex took two trips along the
north trail, with big herds that were sold in
Montana. That is, they were sold if they
came through the besetting items Of thirst,
storms quicksands and cattle rustlers. To
get an idea Of the hardships and dangers of
the great north trail from Texas in those days,
one has only to read The Log of a Cowboy,
by Andy Adams, truthful, straightforward,
appealing account Of trip along the high
way OF the beef steer, written by one who
lived the life and remembered it with singa-
lar vividness.
In 1885 Rickard was with an outfit that
wintered $4,000 head Of cattle, in three herds,
in Montana. When spring came, less than
1000 had survived the billiards.. Tex drifted
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29

@w% HERE are one or two refnements in
connection with the of the con-
M ventional double which time and ex-
perience have suggested as advisable.
One Of these is based on the more deliberate
consideration of the ultimate object of the
double, which among good players is to go
game.
1t is a well established fact that partial
score is of little use at auction, although it
is undoubtedly of value at contract 1t has
been found that only about once in thirteen
cases is game won by the aid Of partial
score that could not have been equally won
from zero. AT contract, the difference lies
in the fact that one is not compelled to bid
so high to get a garne-going score below the
line.
This being so, If we suppose the bidding to
be at love score and the object to be to get
contract that viii go game, it should be
obvious that some prospect OF game should
be in the cards; or it is much better propo-
sition to sit tight and defeat the opponents,
If that Is probable, or at least to save the
game.
There are many persons who completely
overlook this ultimate object of the declara-
ton, which is to go game; or, il game is
improbable, to save or set the contract. Con
sequently, we find them doubling on anything
and everything, without any regard for the
probable outcome. Their system seems to be
to double any no-trumper if they have cards
on which they would have bid no trumps. as
dealer, and to double any suit call if they
have few tricks in the other suits, but moth
ing in the suit called
When the double was first used as con-
vention that is about the way it was used.
but good players were not long in discover
ing that it would have paid them better to
let the contract alone in the many instances
IN which the double resulted in minor suit
contract which did not reach game.
This gradually led to the restriction of the
use OF the conventional double of no-trump.
ers 20 bands in which &he strength was Ia the
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
Staged Thirty Battles
Without q Loss

But Barnum made no costly failures III his
appraisals of the attractions that brought him
fame as Snowman, and as for Tex Rickard,
he has staged more than thirty great battles
of national or international Importance. and
has never scored 8 financial loss.
The most outstanding achievement Of this
quiet spoken, spectacular Snowman of to-day
has been to bring about the greatest OF inter
national battles between heavyweight pugilists
with practically no outlay of capital The
guarantees of the fighters themselves were in
the safe long before Jack Dempsey and
Georges Carpenter ever thought of beginning
to train for the contest, and these were suf-
fieient to insure the preliminary expenses. Of
course, in case of disaster to one of the fight
ers or some other unexpected turn OF events
that might stop the fight at the last minute
there would be losses to be made up, but that
is too slight an element to deter man like
Tex Rickard, who has been taking chances all
his life and generally coming off first best.
The probabilities are 100 to 1 that Rickard
will collect profits from the greatest crowd
that has ever paid to witness q ring contest.
At the time this article was written, though the
fight was six weeks away, more than 100000
worth of tickets had been sold. Nearly half the
seating capacity of the arena--some 10000
had been disposed of before the arena itself
had been fairly started At a time when
Rickard was still dealing with contractors who
were detailed to the work of putting up the
seemingly endless tiers of seats in Jersey City
checks were pouring into his Office in Madi-
son Square Garden. These checks we're being
sent from ali parts of the world. Four hun
dred seat holders had sent their money from
France. There were checks from other Eu-
ropear countries and from South America and
even from the Orient There were many
checks drawn on Canadian banks and from
Mexico. Wealthy men from Chicago-bank-
ers, packers and other prominent Lake Front
boulevarders-had sent for the slips of paste
board which reserved their ringside holdings,
and had engaged special train to bring them
to the fistic ceremony. 1t was apparent that,
if orders kept on coming at similar rate,
there would be million-dollar housewife
most of the seats bought and paid for in ad-
vance.
Lcuk--blind lucki will be the customary
comment OF some.
But it is not lucl1-merely showmanship of
kind that has gone Barnum one better in
vision and in getting golden results
With all his foresight and his uncanny ca
pacity for judging the public's wants, Bar
mum never visualized an attraction that played
to more than fraction of a million dollars
at one performance. But Tex Rickard, who a
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
Queries and ANSWERS
RUSSIAN BANK

Question-My opponent has in sight card
that can be played on the 4oundations but by
postponing that move for moment he is
able to get free three other cards, and then
to run the foundation play up several times.
] insist that he must make The play on the
foundation first-H. S. B.
Answer-That is correct. 1t does not mat
ter what the result of other transfers in the
tableau would be, they cannot be made until
after the play on the foundations, under
penalty of having stop called
Question--If the non-dealer lays out four
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29

taking two tricks, or fifty points. As two
tricks will not put him game, he should take
the points. He loses nothing by not making
his contract, as the revoking side cannot sccEs
anything but honors, if they hold them.
Question-The dealer bids heart, second
hand spade and third hand holds six hearts
to the ace jack nine; queen jack Of cluDs
queen small in spades; three to the queen IN
diamonds. Is this an assist? If so, on ~nas
grounds?-E. H. S.
Answer-The dealer must have tricks out
side hearts to justify the bid, if not in spades
in the minor suits, and with six sure tricks IN
hearts between the two hands, and four honors
outside, this should be valuable support. IN
any case, the opponents should not be allowed
to have it for a bid of one, when there are.
four houors, at least, to score in hearts.
New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
By r. F. FOSTER
Author of Foster Auction, Auction Made Easy,
Fosters Complete Hoyle, ETC.

one table: led two winning hearts and then
led the queen of spades through the exposed
king IN dummy. The king covered, and the
ace won, the queen Of hearts winning the
next trick. Then spade put in the lead
again.
small diamond gave dummy the fnesse
Of the ten, and small trump was won by
the king. The finesse Of the ten on the re-
turn, crediting with the queen, enabled Y
to lead third round of trumps, and after
that had to make diamond. Two tricks
could have been saved by better trump man
agement, leading ace and jack of trumps from
dummy, instead Of the small one, so as to
get the second fnesse in diamonds; but B
was too intent on fnessing against 2.
Two classes of players passed with As
cards--those who do not believe in over
calling no-trumpers with the lead and those
who restrict the doubling of no-trumpers to
hands that can support either of the major
suits In this case, even if AS suits were
hearts and spades instead of clubs and dia-
monds, sitting tight would prove the better
game
At no-trumps, A followed the conventional
opening of the club jack, so as to establish
the ten-ace, even if 2 holds both king and
queen. The ten followed, so as to leave B
IN the Lead later, to come through the dia-
monds, to dummy's weakness. The second
club won when dummy made the mistake
of covering and led the diamond. The ten
held Another club won by BIS seven and
another diamond through set the contract. Az