Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-06-02

SO long as the railroads were owned
o. controlled by men Of the Mr.. Dun-
ton sort and used as counters in the
money-making game, there would never
be any real peace between the com
panies and the people at large.
1t was at Bauxite Junction that we
picked up Mr.. Hornack. I was glad
when I saw him come in. I Had just
been thinking that it wasn't healthy
for the boss to be grilling there at
the window SO long alone, and I knew
Mr.. Hornack would keep him talking
about something or other all the rest
of the way in.
For a little while they talked bust
ness. By and by the business talk
wound itself up and I heard Mr.. Hor-
mack say: 81 saw Ripley going In on
Number Six this morning, and he
had company Mrs. Macrae, and the
majors wife, and the husky little-girl
cousin. They've been visiting at the
capital, so they told me, and I expect
the major will be mighty glad to see
them back"
I didn't hear what Mr.. Norcross
said, if he said anything at all, but
If I had been stone deaf l think I
should have heard the thing that Mr..
Hornack said when he wen on.
81 heard something the other day
in Portal City that seems pretty hard
to believe, Norcross. 1t was at one
of Mrs. Stagford's evenings and L
was sitting out.a dance with a certain
young woman who shall be nameless.
We were speaking of the Hendricks,
n she gave mt a rather broad hint
that Mrs. Macrae isn't a widow at
all; that her husband is still living"
My heavens! / had figured out a
thousand ways in which the boss might
get wised up to the dreadful truth,
but never anything like this; to have
it dropped on him that way out of a
clear sky!
For a minute or two he didn't say
anything, but when he did speak, I
saw that the truth wasn't going to
take hold.
THAT is gossip, pure and simple,
Hornack. The Hendricks are M
friends, and l have been as intimate
in their household as any outsider
could be. It's merely idle gossip, 1 can
assure you." (.
maybe So" said Mr.. Hornack, sort
of drawing in his horns when he saw
how positive the boss was about it.
I'm not beyond admitting that the
| young woman who told me is a little
lncilned that way. But the Story was
pretty circumstantial: it went so far
4as to assert that sMacrae' wasn't Mrs.
Sheila's married name at all, and to
say that her long stay with her West
ern cousins was-and still is-really a
flight from conditions that were too
~humiliating to be borne"
Il don't care what was said, or
who said it" the boss cut in b%rusquely.
Its ridiculous to suppose that any
woman, and especially a woman like
Sheila Macrae, would attempt to pass
herself off as a widow when she wasn't
one
IT know" said the traffic manager,
temporizing a little. .But on the
other hand. I've never heard the ma
jor. or any one else, say outright that
she was a widow. 1t seems to be just
taken for granted. 1t stirred me up
a bit On Van Britt's> account. You
don't go anywhere to mix and mingle
socially, but it's the talk of the town
that Upton is in over his head in that
quarter"
/ shut my eyes and held my breath.
Mr.. Hornack hadn't the slightest idea
what thin ice he was skating over,
or how this easy mention Of Mr.. Van
Britt might be just like rubbing salt
into a fresh cut. BY this time it was
growing dark. and we were running
into Portal City, and I was mighty
glad that it couldn't last much longer.
The boss didn't speak again until the
yard switches were cIanking under
the car, and then he saida
upton is well able to take care Of
himself, Hornack. and | don't think
we need worry about him." and then
over his shoulder to me: Jimmie, it's
time to wake up. We're pulling in
AS he always did IN a return trip.
Mr.. Norcross ran tip to.his Office to
see if there was anything pressing.
before he did ANYTHING else. MAY
vas still at his desk. and in answer
to the boss question he shook his
head.
Mo-: nobody that couldn't wait" he
said. referring to the days callers.
MIR. Hatch was up with a couple of
men that I didn't know. but he only
wanted to INQUIRE if you would be
in the Office this evening after dinner.
I told him I'd find out when you came.
and let him know by phone
I thought, after all that had hap
pened, Hatch certainly had his nerve
to want to come and make a talk
with the man his hired assassins were
trying to murder. But if MI. Norcross
took that view Of 1t. he didn't show
1T. On the contrary, he told Fred 1T
would be all right to telephone Hatch;
that he was coming down after dim
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