Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-08-04
COPYRIGHT E5 CHARLES
cHAPTER Xxx
p. S. [. Comes Home

p S. L. Comes Home
By nine o'clock the next morning, as
soon as I'd swallowed a hurried bite
of breakfast in the grill-room I swiped
a camp-stool and a magazine III of
the lounge and trotted upstairs to
plant myself before the boss door, de-
termined that nobody should disturb
him until he was good and ready to
get up.
He turned out a little before twelve,
looking sort of haggard and drawn, OF
course, and having some pretty bad
burns on the side Of his neck and on
the backs of both hands. But he was
all there, as usual, and he laid a 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, a little, and ! gave 1t to him.
Fred May had come tip-toeing UP into
my sentry corridor about ten o'clock
to. tell me that Nj. Perkins had ar
ranged with the strikers to have a spe-
cial go east with the major and Mrs.
Sheila and Collingwood's body to
catch the Overland at Sedgwick !; andIs
told the boss this, and that the train
had been gone for an hour or more.
Also. ! gave him a sealed package
that a strange boy had brought up
just a little while after May went
away. We took the elevator to the
grill-room for something to eat, and
atltable Mr.. Norcr0ss opened the pack
age. 1t contained a bunch of aflda-
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 1t
means-this surrender of those bride
affidavits, Jimmie?'
said ! guessed ] did that Hatch
being dead, and Collingwood, too, there
wasn't nerve enough left In the Red
Z Tower outfit to keep up the fight TINT
the surrender of the afidavits was 4
kind of q plea for a let-up on our
part.
Wen begin to show them, in just
about fifteen minutes, Jimmie was
the short comment. Reach over and
get that telephone and tell Mr.. Ripley
md Mr.. Billoughby that I want them
to meet me at my Office at half-past
Twelve Any news from the striker
Nothing. ! told him, while Cen
trail was getting me Mr.. Rip1ey's NUM-
her: Fred May said 1t was going on
Just the same; everything quiet and
nothing doing, except that the wreck
ing train had gone out to pick up the
scraps at Timber Mountain y. Kir-
gan is bossing IT, and the strikers
manned it for him.
Nothing more was said until after /
had sent the two phone messages, and
then the boss broke out in a new spot.
HAS anything been heard from Mr..
Van Britt?s he asked.
Not that I know off,
Again he gave me that queer little
E SCOWI dCFOSS Tie table. Az
.Jimmie, have you found ont vet
why Mr.. Van Britt insisted on quit
ting the service?'
guess l grinned a little. though
tried not to-.
'sMr. Van Britt is one Of the best
friends you've COTS skid. "He thought
YOU needed this strike. and he wanted
to go out among the payroll men and
sort of help7it along. He couldn't do
thing like that while he was an Of
fcer of the company and drawing his
pay like the rest of i.
Il might have known-he as good as
told me- vas the reply, made kind
sf half-absently and then, short and
quick ssHow's the stock market? Have
gu seen al paper??"
had seen both papers, at break
fasttime, but Of course they had moth
ing startling III them except q last
minute account of the wreck at Tim
Der mountain SIX grabbed on Just
before they went to press. They
couldn't have anything later from New
York than the day before. But Fred
May had tipped me of when he came
up to tell me about the Major Ken.
drick special. The newspaper Offices
we're putting out bulletins by that
time.
4 told Mr.. Norcross about the bull
ietins and was brash enough toSadd:
Were headed for the r~eceiyershin NIL