New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-07-15
CHAPTER fl-Ccntinued.


>
Good Lord! :" exclaimed the little
milliunairc; you don't have To zen
me that. If W. can't stop '"m, Uncle
Buulnn will have plenty of good rea-
sons for cleaning us all out lock-
stock, and barrel, | was talking WIN
t'arrrr. m the claim olllcc, this morn
ing. O.r los, and damage account
tor the past month is something
frgh'f9i,'
1T U.s." said the boss graNely. Ana
chen: Upton, we're not altogether as
bright us we might he. Has 1t never
occurred Ia yod that w" are having
,oo much bad luck to warrant US in
charging it all up TO the chapter OF
u~rcidrut~t'
Mr.. San Brit blew his checks out
until tie stuaby, cropped muslache
brieiI"l like pOrcupinc quilts.
- you've teon getting your point
Or. too. have youF he threw in,
Mr.. Norcross didn't answer the queS-
iinu directly.
PA Tarbell on tie job, and if he
need, Aelp, LET him pick his =" men,
ie directed. We want 10 know Why
that buullor tumhlcl down ahead oi
Nambcr Seventeen, and ! want to 81"
rarbclI, report ON it, Keep at II
night and day. Upton. The Infection
j. setting into the rank and file u
it- spreading Hike a sickness II o.
bceomc, psychological, we shall have
all lhr trouble Vr need
II know" nodded thr s%urcriuten-
dent. i went through q siege of that
kiuI ou the Gryut Southwestern, one
winter It was horrible, Men who
Ial been running trains year in an"
year nur. auI newer knowing that They
had aut heroes, went to pieces u
you'd snap your fingers at them"
That's IT," said the boss. I'VE
don't want To- fall into thar ditch.
Things are quite bad enough, as they
arr."
This ended it for the time, The
petrolitc canyon wreck was picked
Up. the track was cleared, and once
more our trains were moving on time.
But anybody could see that III" entire
short Line had "A ease Of nerves
kirgan, Kirgan the Cold-blooded,
showed II one afternoon when ! went
over 10 his office to return "A bunch of
blu"-printS sent in for the boss APP
pruval. The big mastcr-mechanic had
= round house foreman con the carpet
and was harrying him like the dickens
for letting m engine 20 out with one
of her truck safety chains hanging
loose.
Ever since We had gone together on
the rescue run To Timber Mountain, |
Mart and | had been sort of chummy,
and after the foreman had one away
with his foot in his hand, ! joshed
EIirgan "A little about the way he had
hammered the round-huuSc man.
bad medicine" | told him. ITS
worrying the bosses, too. What's do
Ing q. Mart?'
"lInybe you can tell,' he growled.
Its "a hoodoo-that'S what 1t is.
Seen engines in the shops in the last
iIian days, and three more that haven't
been f>hrl out-a the ditch Yet. I wish
Sir. Van Britt Il fire the whole jumpy
II didn't seem rs though firing was
arrIr1 81 much rs n dose of nerve
Tunic of some sort. Tarhcll was work
hard un the problem. quietly. and
without making amy talk about II, and
Nirgnn WAS giving him all the men he
- - =. "a. 81. H. ....F.T- r,.FtT.T .
who were up in all the me-
tiIanicnl details. aud who made bet
ter Spotter, than outsiders would be-
cause they knew the road and the
But it was no use. I saw
some Of Tarbells reports. and they
didn't show any crookedness. 1t
seemed 10 be just bad luck-one land
slide aHer another of II.
Meanwhile. New York had walked up
again. President DuntOn had been off
The job somewhere. I guess. but %
he was back. and the things he wired
Ia the boss were enough TO make your
hair stand on end. / looked every day
TO see Mr.. Norcross pitch the whole
shooting-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
10 il. But he was loyal to Mr.. Chad
and, Of course. he knew that
sr. DuntOn's hot wires were meant
To 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
lay.
ID was one evening after he had
out to the majors for just a
while. and had come back to the
,ffice. that he sent for Mr.. Van Britt.
who was also working late. There was
on the NOON. and | saw it in the
rsy the boss jaw was working.
Upton" he began, as short as pie
-Tust. have you thought of any way to
sresk this wreck bOodoo yetT' l.