Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1921-04-01

CHAPTER I
At Sand Creek Siding

As a general proposition, don't be-
lieve much in the things called
lunches" But there are exceptions
to ell rules, and we certainly uncov-
cred the biggest one Of the lot-the
boss and 1.-The night we left Port
land and the good old Pacific coast.
II was this way. We had finished
the construction work on the Oregon
Midland and were on our way to the
train, when I had one of those queer
little premonitory chills you hear so
much about and knew just as well as
could be that we were never going
to pull through to Chicago without get
ting a Jolt of some sort. The reason
If you'll call 1t a reason-was that,
tust before we came to the railroad
station, the boss walked calmly under
q ladder standing in front Of a new
building; and besides that, 1t was the
thirteenth day of the month, Fri
day, and raining like the very mis-
chief.
Just to sort of toll us along, may
be, the fates didn't begin on us that
night. They waited until the next
day, and then proceeded to shove US
In behind a freight-train wreck at
Widner, Idaho, where we lost twelve
hours. It looked as If that didn't
amount to much, because we weren't
due anywhere at any particular time.
The boss was on his way home for a
little visit with his folks In Illinois,
and beyond that he was going to meet
a bunch Of Englishmen in Montreal,
and maybe let them make him general
manager Of one of the Canadian rail-
roads.
30 Mr.. Norcross was in no special
hurry, and neither was I. had been
confidential clerk and shorthand man
for the boss on the Midland construc-
ton, and he was taking me along part
ly because he knows a cracking good
stenographer when he sees one, but
mostly because l was dead anxious to
go anywhere he was going.
But, If 1t hadn't been for that
twelve-hour layout we would have
caught the Saturday night train on
the Pioneer Short Line, instead of the
train Sunday morning, and there
would have been no meeting with
Mrs. Sheila and Maisie Ann; no tele-
gram from Mr.. Chadwick, because IL
wouldn't have found us; no hold-up
at Sand Greek siding; In short, nothing
would have happened that did hap
pen.
It was on Sunday that the jolt be-
gan to get ready to land on us. Right
soon after breakfast, with the help Of
a little Pullman berth table and me
and my typewriter, Mr.. Norcross
turned our section into business Office,
saying that now we had a good quiet
day, we'd clean up the million or so
odds and ends Of correspondence he'd
been letting go while we were tussling
for the Midland right-of-way through
the Oregon mountains.
From where he sat debating to me
the boss was facing forward and now
and then an absent sort of look came
into his eyes while he was talking of
his letters and 1t puzzled me because
It wasn't like him. One Of the times
after he had given me a full grist of
letters and had gone Off to smoke
while I typed a few thousand lines
from my notes to catch up, l made
a discovery. There were two people
In Section Five just ahead Of us, q
young woman and girl Of maybe fif-
teen or SO, and the Pullman was the
old-fashioned kind, with low seat.
backs. l put It up that in those alb
sent-eyed intervals Mr.. Norcross had
been studying the back Of the young
woman's neck. l was measurably sure
II wasn't the little girls.
= Along In the forenoon made an ex.
: cuse to go and get a drink of water
out Of the forward cooler, and on the
way back I took a good square look
at our neighbors In Number Five. The
young woman was pretty enough to
start stopped clock-only pretty
Isn't Just the word, either; there
wasn't any word, when you come right
down to II. And the little girl was
simply a peach-a nice, downy, rosy
peach; chunky, round-faced, sunny
haired, jolly; with a neat little turned
up nose and big sort Of boyish laugh.
ing eyes that fairly dared the world
At, the second call to dinner Mr.
Norcross told me to strap up the ma
chine and put the files away in the
grips and we'd go eat. He was pretty
quiet, breaking out once, In the meat
course, to tell me that he'd Just had O
forwarded telegram from an old friend
of his that would stop us off for o
day or two In Portal City, the head
quarters of the Pioneer Short Line
Farther along, pretty well into the Ice
cream and black coffee, he came to life
again to ask me II had noticed the
young lady and the girl In the Pull
man section next TO ours.
told him had, and then, because
I had never known him to bother hi:
head for two minutes In succession
about any woman, he gave me Q
shock; said they were ticketed Il