Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-04-28

coat on his arm, and his tan gloves
were an exact match for his spats. 70
Good evening"" he said, nodding
sort of brusquely at the boss. I'm
looking for the general managers Of
fee"
You've found it, said the boss,
crisply.
The tan-gloved gentleman looked
first at me and then at MI. Norcross.
You are the chief clerk, %perhapsy'
he suggested, pitching the query in
the general direction of the big desk.
Hardly" was the curt rejoinder.
MY name is Norcross. What can l
do for YOUR I
II I didn't hate slang so bad. J.
should say that the portly man looked
as if he were going to throw a fit.
"Not-not Graham NorcrossT" he
stammered.
well yes; I am 'Graham-to my
friends. Anything else?
The portly gentleman subsidized into
a chair.
"There is some misunderstanding
about this" he said, his voice thicken-
ing a little-with anger. l thought.
"My name is Dismuke. and Il am the
general manager of this railroad"
Il wouldn't dispute the name. but
your title is away off" said Mr. Nor
cross, as cool as a handful of dry
nov "Who appointed you, if l may
ask?"
president Dunton and the board Of
directors, of course"
"The same authority appointed me.
something like three months ago" was
the calm reply. so far as | know.
I am still at the head of the conn
pany's staff in Portal City"
The gentleman who had named him
self Dismuke puffed OUT his cheeks and
looked as if he were about to ex-
plode.
"This is a devil of a messH ne
raped out. II understood-we all
understood in New York-that you had
resigned" ~
well, 1 haven't" retorted the boss
shortly. And then he stuck the knife
i'll good and deep and twisted it around.
!. There is a commercial telegraph wire
in the Hotel Billiard, where I suppose
vol will put up, MI. Dismuke, and I'm
sure you will find it entirely at your
service. If you have anything further
to say to me | hope it will keep until
after this office opens in the morning.
am very busy, just now"
mighty nearly gasped. This Dis
nuke was the new general manager.
appointed. doubtless in all good faith,
by the president and sent out to take
charge of things. And here was the
boss practically ordering him out of
the ofice-telling him that his room
was better than his company.
The portly man got out of his chair,
putting like a s~team-engine.
We'll see about this !" he threat
ened. you've been here three months
and YOU haven't done anything but
muddle things until the stock of the
company isn't worth much more than
the paper it's printed on! If / can
get a clear wire to New York, you'll
have word from President Dunton to-
morrow morning telling you where you
get off,
To this Mr.. Norcross made no reply
whatever, and the h~eayy-footed gentle.
man stumped out. saying things to
himself that wouldn't look very well
in print. When the hall door below
gave a big slam to let us know that
he was still going, the boss looked
across at me with a sour grin wrin-
king around his eyes.
Nov you know why / made Gorcher
break all the rules of the service get
ting here, Jimmie he said. POS
session is nine points of the law, and
in this case it was rather important
that Mr.. Dismuke shouldn't find the
outfit without a head and these offices
of ours ~unoccupied.' He rose, stretched
his arms over his head like a tired
boy, and reached for the golf cap he
KEEP. to wear when he went out to
. knock around in the shops and yard.
Let's go up to the hotel and see If
we can break into the cafe, Jimmie
he finished up, Later on, we'll wire
ME-. u mat can wait. 4
haven't had a square meal in four
days.
With everybody s~upposing he had
resigned and left the country, I guess
there were all kinds of a nihe-minutes'
wonder in Portal City, and all along
the Short Line, when the word went
out that Mr.. Norsross was back on the
job and running ID pretty much the
same as II nothing had happened.
After supper, on the night Of his
return from the hide-out, he had sent
n long code message to Mr.. Chadwick,
and q short N TO President Dunton
and though ! didn't see the reply to
either. ] guess Mr.. Chadwick's an
swer, at least. was the right kind, be.
cause our track renewing campaign
went into commission again with a
slam. and all the reform policies took
q ~shre'enough fresh STARK ard began IA
hump themselves with Iuneman work