Evening star., 1927-12-04

the middle or the nlght-aS often IL
was. 1t was one of her boasts that
none of her men ever had to go to
work breakfastless. The aroma of cof-
fee and bacon might be shifted in the
| Regan household 80 the most incredible
hours of the night and morning.
Late nothin'! And. late or no late,
| you'll not go out of this house with
out you've got something hot in your
! stomach. Sit down and drink this
! coffee. even if it scalds you"
Down the long lane between the
pens went Denny, on his way to
| the platforms. The locker room shed
abutted on the high platform. Here
Denny swiftly changed his clothes,
taking from his locker the high boots,
the grimed corduroy pants, the rough
coat, the hickory wand.
On Winter mornings a fire glowed
in the stove in the rough room, and
the drivers, as they waited for their
laden train, talked or dozed on the
benches. They were, for the most part,
lean young fellows like Denny, and
largely Irish
In mild weather they lounged about
the platform or perched on the fence,
staff in hand, keeping a sharp eye out
for the first glimpse of the putting
black engine coming round the bend
AT sight OF 1t they SWarmed the plat
form. AS the train stopped they
pushed open the doors, set the run
way, and out poured the porkers. The
noise was terrific. The stencil was
appalling. You prodded With your
| long hickory stick. You cried, "Soo-ey.
Soo-ey! and stepped nimbly this way
and that, and just escaped being
knocked down by a charging hog. You
pulled and tugged, as this or that un-
wieldy bulk refused to take the step
from car to runway. "Soo-ey, S-s,s-
seee." Toward the end, you entered
the car to hasten the laggards.
Train after train. Car after Ger.
Hundreds, thousands, hundreds of
thousands of hogs. Food for a nation
for the world, indeed. The stencil
in his nostrils, the CRIME in his
clothes, the pandemonium in his ears.
Heb! 5000! Soo-ey" called Denny
Regain, working with stick and arms
and feet. "Sooey! S.s-s-seeee"
Often his days work was finished
by noon. A change of clothes again.
Then he could go home, there to
snatch an hour or two of sleep. The
movies. A ball game.
Oddly enough, though it might be
her lunch hour, Denny never thought
of meeting Norah MCGOWAN in front
of the Exchange Building. where she
worked. Dates were for hours of
relaxation, after the day was over.
Denny liked to be with Norah. She
soothed and eXhilarated him. She was
easy to be with. Perhaps he had not
concretely thought of marriage with
her. He had not thought of marriage
with any one. But the Regans mar
ried young and stayed married. There
was Norah, of course. Perhaps that
was the trouble. There was Norah,
dependable, laughing, hearty. And
there was. hidden deep. strong vein
of the romantic in this silent, hand
some, brooding, moody hog driver.
Coming to work one May morning
Denny noticed a new driver They
came and went. You paid little atten.
ton to them. This young fellow had
a locker next to Dennys. He was un-
doubtedly Irish, but of the other type;
sandy-haired, freckled, stocky blue
eyed. His shoulders were broad: his
face was frank and good natured. He
had some trouble with his locker key
Denny showed him how it worked
New guy, amt your
"Yeh."
His boots; his corduroy pants, his
woolen shirt was new. Denny eyed
them.
Worked in the yards before?"
mo"
You want to be careful. You're
liable to get spot on them clothes "
''Yeh, 1 was worrying about that"
said the new one. Give me the ad-
dress of your cleaner, will you?"
Don't get fresh. guy" Denny
warned him.
why. say. take joke, can't you?"
The boys eyes bore a look of hurt sur
prise. And as he spoke he lifted gent
ly out of hisr way one of the benches
that was lReventing his locker door
from opening to it's full width. On it
at the moment were two substantial
gentlemen in the hogdriving profess
sion. He had lifted the bench almost
without bending, and much as you
would move a book from that side of
the table to this. Excuse me-" he
said, addressing the two on the bench.
II gotta get into my locker"
That's all right, fella," said one of
the two, palpably impressed. Leave