Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1921-12-29

a8& OfE ~ ~
GREATNESS question:
Shave they found him yetg-yol
know the % I mean. JimmieTr
NO." l said They're digging ava!
at that side now" and then l ran bacl
to jump In again.
Though the fire was now ickingtar
everything In sight. KIrgan, who had
taken b AK from our fireman haC
managed to cut some of the car tim
bers u OF the way 90 that we could
see down into the tangle of thing
where the cab OF the 416 ought to have
been. There wasn't much left of the
cab. The water-gauge was broken,
along with everything else. Init 10
spite OF the EEK of smoke and steam
we could see that Hogan and his fire
man were not there. But down under
the coal that had shifted forward at
the impact of the collision we could
make out the other mantle murder
thanksgiving Oh his back, black IN
the face and gasping.
That vas enough for the boss. II
looked like certain death for anybody
to crawl down into that kissing steam
bath, but he did IT, wriggiing through
the hole that Kirgan had chopped,
while two or three Of us ran to the
little creek that trickied down on the
far side of the 'Y" and brought back
soaking Pullman blankets TO try to de-
lay the encroaching fire and smother
the steam-jets.
L see very well what the
boss was doing the smoke and steam
were so binding. But when | did get
a glimpse l saw that he was digging
frantically with his bare hands AT the
shifted coal, and that he had sue
ceeded In freeing the head and shout
ders of the buried man, who was still
alive enough to choke and gasp In the
f~urnace-llke heat.
Kirgan stood IL as long as he could
until the licking flames were about 10 )
drive us all away.
You'll be burnt alive-come ND out
of that !" he yelled to the boss; but
! knew II wouldn't do any good. With
still buried down there
and still with the breath OF life In
him. the boss was going to stay and
keep on trying to dig him out, even II
he. himself. got burned 20 a crisp do
Ing II. Loving Mrs. Sheila the way he
lid, he couldn't do any less.
1t was awful, those next two or
traaT4alnQf. We x.o~o III -.
'rantically back and forth, now. be-
ween the wreck and the creek. soak
ng the blankets and doing our level
'est to beat the fire back and keep IL
rom cutting of the only way there
for the boss to climb out. But we
ould only fight gaspingly on the sur
ace Of things. as you might say. Down
nderneath. the fire was working
round IN front aud behind in spite of
II we could do. Some OF II had got
0 the coal. and the heavy %sulphurous
was oOzing up 10 make us all
heke and strangfe.
Honestly, YOU couldn't have told
hat the boss was q white man when
e crawled up out of that pit OF death,
lgging and lifting the crushed and
roken body OF the mailman. and max
* us rake 1t out before he would ,
Gu himself ~ We got them both /.
way from the fise as quickly as we .
0uld and around TO the other side of
lings. kirgan and Jones carrying
ollingwood.
The poor little lady we had left !.
lone with the rescued ones had done :
she could, and she was waiting !.
,r US. When we put Collipgwood :
Dwn. she sat down on the ground =
took his head In her lap and "
led over him Just like his mother :
light have. and when the boss kneIf !.
WI beside her I heard what he :
lid: That's right. little woman :
ats just as 1t should be. Death u
ipes put all scores. ! did my best :.
M must always believe that | did "
v best.
h choked again al that and said :
There is no Aopef" and he said: I'm "a
raid not. He was dying when I gos
him." ~
l tried TO swallow the big lump In "
Y throat and turned away, and so -
d everybody else but the major, who
ant around and knelt down on the -
her side of Mrs. Sheila. TNe wreck %
as blazing now Ike a mighty bon y
e, lighting MP the pine-clad hills all -
and swapping and growing
.e some savage %tnonster gfoating =
er Its prey In the red glow we saw
limping up the track from the
and Klrgan and / went to meet
II was Hogan, the missing en- -
aeer. of the 416
He told us what there was To tell,
,ich wasn't very different from the =
ly we'd been putting 1t up. They -
,gan and his fireman-hadn't sus-
cted that they were carrying a ma :.
nc until after they had passed Raux- :.
and Collingwood had told them =
tn that what he wanted TO do was -
oyertnke the special and smash IT,
en- there had been a fight on the en- =
,e. hut ~Collingwood had a gun and
had threatened to XIII them both
they didn't keep on. -