New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-07-22
CHAPTER KIN
What the Pilot Enuine Found

- ' ~ @''Sf'N
Tor a time after the suicide of the
OT.triCk-diSputcher the wreck epidemic
paused. Acting upon Mr.. Norrross'
suggestion. Mr.. Nan Britt called his
trainmon in, n crew at a time, ana
gave them the straight tip; and after
that the hoodoo died Il natural death,
and a good many pairs of eyes all
along the Short Line were keeping n
sharp lookout for the trouhle-makers,
In the meantime. Tarhell, still dig
Cing faithfully, managed To turn up
II few facts that were worth some
thing. In the Petrolite case he found
n lone prospcctur living in a shack
high up on the farther side of the
canyon who told him that late in the
evening of the a-y preceding the
wreck he had seen two men climbing
the slope from which the boulder had
been disladsed, aud that one of them
was carrying a pick. Also. further in
v~eStlgatiOn seemed To prove that the
rail which the nlow Of the rock was
supposed To have knocked loose n
been previously weakened, either by
drawing some of the spikes, or 10y
unScrewinS the nuts on the bolts nt
the joints.
In another field. and this time under
Rlpley's instructions, our eN-cow-
punch had been able TO set and bait
n trap. by dlligent search he had
found the man Murphy, the Clanahan
henchman. who, under pressure, had
given away the Timber Mountain plot
which had cllmaXcd in the kidnapping
Of the boss. This man had been de-
Iiberatcly shot in "A har-room brawl
and left for dead. But he had crawled
away and had got ont of town 10 live
and recover at a distant cattle ranch
IN the Limbcrton hills.
When Tarbell discovered him he had
cut out the booze. had grown n beard,
and was thirSting for vengeance. Tar
bell brought him back "a Portal city,
and presently there began 10 be de-
Velopments. Murphy know all the
ropes. In q little time. Ripley, with
Tarbell's help. was loaded for bear.
one chilly october afternoon the law
yer came down to Il office 10 tell
Mr.. Norcross that the game was cor
ncred.
"All you have 10 do now is 10 give
the word was the way Ripley wound
tp. "You refused ia do II on n former
occasion. because We couldn't get the
men higher up. This time We ran
nail C~lanahan, and n good few Of The
political %gangSters and bosses In the
other towns along the line. What do
you say"
The boss looked mp with the little
horseshoe fruwn wrinkling between
his eyes.
can we get Hatch and H~cnckel?"
"No: not yet"
every well: then You may lock those
papers up in your safe and Wen wait.
when Won can see your way clear 10
n criminal trial. with Rufus Hatch
Gustavc IIcnckcl IN the prisoners
dock. wen start the legal machinery
but not before"
By now we were right on the eve
NJ the state election. A. far ~ any
DOWN fffIlfl ~fF. wv IllfA'fl'N ih'N F'ft'' j
free and clear Of the political fight.
The boss had kept his promise To- main
tain neutrality and was still keep
ing IT,.
AZ the appointed time the big day
iawued. and the political wind-up held
the center Of the stage. So far a. we
were concerned. il passed of very quiet
ly. Along in the afternoon the newspa-
per offices began TO put u bulletins,
by evening the result was no long
pr doubtful. For the first time in years
the power of the political machine
had been smashed d~ecisively at the
and on the following morning
the Mountaineer announced the cleo
lion Of Governor BurreIl. with n safe
working majority in both houses of
legislature for the Independents.
n was on the third day after the
election. rather late In the afternoon.
FIAT the BOSS had a call from a min
promoter named Dawes. represent
a lunch of mine owners at Strath-
o who were having trouble with
smeIter. The sInelter. one of the few
Hatch monopolies which hadn't been
loose as yet. was located In
The euIch six miles below StrathcOna.
II was served exclusively by its
Industrial railroad. which II was
using as a lever to pry an excessive
charge out Of the mine own
rrs. wouldn't Mr.. Norcross try TO do
about 1t?
Ia A nnEhlnn hn L