The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-03-31

you can bet your last dollar he won't
tangle you up In 1.-THE Isn't put to-
gether that way"
swell. then. goodnight" she smiled,
giving me her hand. And with that
she sort Of edged the little girl into
the elevator before we could get a
chance to shake hands, and 1 heard
her tell the boy to take them up to
the mexzanine landing.
BY and by, l went down to the sta
tion and began to hunt for the Alexa.
The boss and Mr.. Chadwick were
facing each other across the table,
which was all Uttered up with papers
and maps and reports, and they hard
ly noticed me when / blew In and
sat down little to one side.
Just after broke in, Mr.. Norcross
jumped up and began to pace back
and forth before the table, with his
hands In his pockets.
mo. I can't see 1t. Uncle John,"
he said. still sort of stubborn and de-
termined. you are trying to make
me believe that ought to take the
biggest job that has ever been set be-
fore the. expert In any field; to DEM
onstrate, on this rotten corpse of a
railroad, the solution Of q problem
that has the entire country guessing
at the present time: namely, the win
ming Of success. and pubiic-and In.
dustrial-approval for a carrier cor
poration which had continuously and
persistently broken every command
n,ent in all the decalogues of busi-
ness; Of fair-dealing with its en-
ployees; Of common honesty with
everybody"
Mr.. Chadwick nodded. THAT is about
the size Of it." he said.
II wouldn't say that It can't be
DONE" the boss went on. perhaps
1t is possible, for the right man. But
I'm not the right man. You need some
body who can combine the qualities
of pretty brutal slugger with those
of a fine-haired, all-things-to-all-men.
diplomatic peacemaker. can do the
slugging; I've proved it time or two
in the past. But I'm no good at the
other end of the game When 1t comes
to handling the fellow with a pull
I've either got to smash him or quit
1 am too heavy-hauded for this job
of yours. And as for the other thing
the Industrial side of 1t: that's large
order; whaling big order. I'm not
even prepared to say. off-hand, that
It's the right thing to do"
Right or wrong, it's thing that
is coming. Graham" was the sober
reply. IF we don't meet it half
way-well, the time will come when
we of the hiring-and-firing side won't
be given any option in the matter.
You may call 1t Utopian If you please,
and add that I'm growing old and
losing my grip. But that doesn't OBJ
literate the fact that the days of the
present master-and-man relations in
the industries are numbered.
"We'll let 1t rest until morning and
give you a chance to sleep on it. You
have spoken only of the difficulties
and the responsibilities, Graham; but
there Is another side to 1t. In a way,
it's, an opportunity, carrying with 1t
the promise Of the biggest kind of q
reward"
"I don't see it," said the boss.
briefly.
"Don't your / do. 1 have an idea
rambling around in my head that 1t
Is about time some bright young fel-
low was showing the people of the
United States that a railroad needn't
be regarded AZ an outlaw among the
industries; needn't have the enmity
Of everybody 1t serves: needn't be the
prey Of lot Of disloyal and dissatis-
fed employees who are interested only
in the figure Of the payday check;
needn't be shot at az q wolf with q
bounty on its scalp. Let II rest at
that for the present. Get your hat
and Wen walk uptown to the hotel"
When we got out Of the car. Mr..
Norcross told me to 60 by the station
and have our luggage sent to the ho-
tel.
II was some time after eleven O'Clock
when got around to the hotel with
peared, but saw the boss at the
counter waiting for his chance at the
clerk. The people melted away at
last, all but one-a young swell who
would have been handsome II he hadn't
had the eyes Of a maniac and a color
that was sort Of corpse-like with the
pallor of booze-fghter. He had his
hat on the back Of his head, and he
was ripping 1t on at the clerk like
drunken hobo.
1t seemed that he had caught a
glimpse Of somebody he knew-a wo-
man. took 1t, because he said She
looking down from the rail of the
mezzanine. and he wanted to go up to
her. And 1t appeared that the clerk
had told the elevator man not to take
him up In his present condition.
The boss was growing sort of i'm
patient; i could tell it by the way
the little side muscles on his jaw
were working. When he got the ear
of the clerk for second or SO be-
tween cusses, he asked what was the