The Bienville Democrat. [volume] (Arcadia, Bienville Parish, La.) 1912-1980, 1921-06-16
CHAPTER xI--Continued.

urood Lord" exclaimed Inc NIUE
.,,,iOnajre; "you don't have to tell
: that! If we can't stop EN-, Ohcie
r,,,on will have plenty of good rea'
CONS for cleaning US all OUT 'o. ',S
.tees, and barrel! was talking WIN
rs,,pr in the claim office, this morn
m Our loss and damage account &C
1m the past month is something
tightful!"
~ is" soid the boss gravely. And
theu: "Upton, we're not altogether as
might as we might be. Has u never
occurred to you that we are having
100 much bad luck to warrant Us IN
charging it all up to the chapter Oh
,ccidents?"
Mr.. Van Britt blew his cheeks out
until the stubby, cropped mustache
bristled like porcupine quilts.
$50 you've been getting your polhl'
U, too, have your he threw H.
Mr. Norcross didn't answer the ques'
/ ton directly.
put Tarbell on the job, and II ne
needs help, lei him pick his own men,
IA directed 1--WE want to know why
! that boulder tumbled down ahead OF
4 Number Seventeen, and l want TO see
/ Tsrbell's report on it. Keep at II
alght and day, Upton. The infection
/ i getting into the rank and file ana
] It's spreading like sickness II II
Incomes psychological, we shall nave
Ell the trouble we need"
3 II know" nodded the snperinten'
tint. II went through siege Of that
lind on the Great Southwestern one
winter 1t was horrible. Men VINO
lsd been running trains year IN ana
yssr out, and never knowing that they
lad any nerves, went to pieces II
you'd snap your fingers at them
That's It," said the boss. I'VE
! don't want to fall into that dltch'
Things are quite bad enough, as they
me-
This ended 1t for the time. Inc
I Psrolite Canyon wreck was picked
! sp, the track was cleared, and once
more our trains were moving on time.
BIT anybody could see that the entire
4 Aoft Line had a case OF nerves.
nrgan, Kirgan the coid-biooded'
Moved It one afternoon when l went
wer to his Office to return a bunch OF
Mueprlnts sent III for the boss. ap.
Droval The big master.mechanlc had
aDund.house foreman ION the carpet
nd was marrying him like the dickens
iof letting an engine 60 out with one
It her truck safety chains hanging
hose.
Ever since we had gone together on
The rescue run to Timber Mountain,
Mart and I had been sort Of chummy'
and after the foreman had gone away
with his foot In his hand, l joshed
Kirgan a little about the way he had
hammered the round-house man.
+ bad medicine" I told him. ITS
worrying the bosses, too. What's DO
Ing II, Mart?"
Maybe you can TELL" he groWled'
TITS a hoodoo-that's what IT Is.
Seven engines in the shops in the last
nine days, and three more that haven't
been fished Out-a the ditch yet. l WISH
4r. Van Britt d fire the whole Jumpy
outfit"
II didn't seem as though firing was
needed so much as a dose Of nerve
tonic Of some sort. Tarbell was work
Ing hard on the problem, quietly, ana
without making any talk about 1t, and
Kirgan was giving him all the men ne
asked for from the shops; quick-witted
fellows who were up if all the me-
chanical details, and who made bet
Ter spoilers than outsiders would De-
cause they knew the road and the
ropes. But it was no use. l saw
some Of Tarbell's repoHs, and they
didn't show any crookedness. II
seemed to be just bad luck--one land
Slide after another Of it.
Meanwhile, New York had walked up
again. President Dunton had been OH
the Job somewhere, l guess, but now
he was back, and the things he wired
10 the boss were enough to make your
hair stand on end. looked every day
70 see Mr.. Norcross pitch the whole
lhooting-match into the fire and quit
cold.
He'd never taken anything like Mr..
Dunton's abuse from anybody before
and he couldn't seem to get hardened
to 1t. But he was loyal to MIR. Chad
wick, and, Of course, he knew that
Ne. Dunton's hot wires were meant
y nag him into resigning. Then there
was Mrs. Sheila. / sort Of suspected
she was holding him up to the rack
every day and every minute OF the
day.
1t was one evening after he had
been out to the majors for just q
little while, and had come back to the
ofhc, that he sent for Mr.. Van Britt,
Who was also working late. There was
Mood on the moon, and l saw 1t IN the
way the boss Jaw was working.
4Upton," he began, as short as pie
l!pst, shave you thought Of any way to
Ifeak this wreck hoodoo yetT