The Bienville Democrat. [volume] (Arcadia, Bienville Parish, La.) 1912-1980, 1921-07-28

course, and having some pretty BAD
burns on the side of his neck and Oh
| the backs Of both hands. But he was
all there, as usual, and he laid good.
brotherly hand on my shoulder when
he saw what | was doing.
"They don't make many of them like
you, Jimmie" he said. And then:
Have you any newS?'
had, little, and | gave it to him.
Fred May had come tip-toeing up into |
my sentry corridor about ten o'clock !
to tell me that Mr.. Perkins had ar
ranged with the strikers to have a spe- |
cial go east with the major and Mrs.
Sheila and CollingwoOds body to
catch the Overland ut Sedgwick; and
told the boss this, and that the train
had been gone for an hour or more.
Also, | gave him sealed package
that strange boy had brought up
just little while after May went
away. We took the elevator to the
grill-room for something to eat, and
at table Mr.. Norcross opened the pack
age. 1t contained a bunch Of aftida-
Wits, eleven Of them in all, and there
was no letter or anything to tell where
they had come from.
He handed the papers over to me,
after he had seen what they were
sort of frOwned across the table at me
and said: do you know what it
means-this surrender Of those bride
attidavits. Jimmie?"
l said l guessed l did; that Hatch
being dead, and Colingwood, too, there
wasn't nerve enough left in the Red
Tower outfit to keep up the fight; that
the surrender of the affidavts was
| kind of a plea for a let-up on our
part.
t well begin to show them, in just
} about fifteen minutes, Jimmie" was
| the short comment. "Reach over and
; get that telephone and tell Mr.. Ripley
and Mr.. Billoughby that | want them
J to meet me at my Office at half-past
r twelve. Any news from the striker"
Nothing" l told him, while "Cen-
$ trail" was getting me Mr.. Ripley's num-
> Der. "Fred May said it was going on
: just the same; everything quiet and
| nothing doing, except that the wreck
r ing train had gone out to pick up the
: scraps at Timber Mountain ~ K!r-
t gan is bossng 1t, and the strikers
h manned it for him.
Nothing more was said until after l
q had sent the two phone messages, and
i. then the boss broke out in new spot.
q HAS anything been heard from Mr..
|, Van Britt?' he asked.
u "Not that | know Of"
q Again he gave me that queer little
: scowl across the table.
n Jimmie, have you found out yet
|, why Mr.. Van Britt insisted on quit
= ting the service?"
G I guess l grinned a little, though
l tried not to.
9 "Mr. Van Britt is one of the best
O friends you've got" said. HE though!
$ you needed this strike, and he wanted
=. to 60 out among the payroll men and
e sort of help it along He couldn't dc
d thing like that while he was an Of
d ticer of the company and drawing hi;
e pay like the rest of us"
Il might have known-he as good as
% told me-" was the reply, made kline
% of half-absently; and then, short and
# quick: "How's the stock market? Have
10 you seen a paper?"
r. l had seen both papers, at break
o fast.time, bu: OF course they had moth
II ing startling in them except last
s minute account of the wreck at Tim
.. Der mountain "Y," grabbed off JUS
:. before they went to press. The!
ID couldn't have anything later from New
" York than the day before. But Free
" May had tipped me off when he came
IN up to tell me about the Major Ken
o drick special. The newspaper office
O. We're putting out bulletins by tina
II time.
Id l told Mr.. Norcross about the bull
ID letins and was brash enough to add
i. "We're headed for the receiverslip al
10 right, l guess; our stock has tumble'
" to twenty-nine, and there's a regula
dog-fght going on over it at the rail
n road post in the Exchange. Wal
as Streets afire and burning up, so the
r. say"
The chief hadn't eaten enough t
I keep cat alive, but at that he pushe
his chair back and reached for hi
4 hat.
! "Come on Jimmie" he snapped
j "We've got to get bJsy. And ther
4 isn't going to be any receivership."
Il We reached the railroad headqual
a ters-which were as dead and quiet a
"a a graveyard-a little before Mr.. RiI
Y ley and Billoughby got down. Bu
Mr.. Editor Cantrell was there, waitin
: to shoot an anxious question at tn
II boss.
" "Well, Norcross, are you ready I
! talk now?"
mot just yet; tomorrow, maybe
was the good-natured rejoinder.
"All right; then perhaps you wi
a tell me this: Do you, yourself, beliey
"a that four or five thousand railroa
II men have gone on strike out of shet
N sympathy for a few hundred c.
III 4 w. employees, most Of whom al
III merely common laborers? Can yo
III look me in the eye and tell me thu
WI you haven't fomented this eruption {