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Show The Vanished Freight By E- FLORENCE t i at (Copyright) The loose-Jointed Individual and tho watery-eyed one met on cotnmdn ground. They hud both been llred from the some freight, and wero drawn to each other or, more correctly correct-ly speaking, fired nt each pther, for they came near colliding In tho process of ejectment. "Must tnke us for blooming enn-non-balls," grunted tho loose-Jointed one. "'es; those fellows nre certnlnly on the' firing-line, nil right," replied the watery-eyed one. "Reminds mo of the wny I'vo often llonted through spnee In Kansas, riding bareback on a cyclone." "So you've been In Kansas, too?" queried the loose-Jointed one. "Now, tiiero's n state that can boast somo nbout nearly everything. And, talking df cyclones, did you ever hear how they nre formed, "Houses, trees and cattle aro' gathered gath-ered In Its loving embrace, and tho wholo blooming outfit forms a sort of relief expedition to tho afflicted place. Tho world moves, but Kansas Is a whole moving picture show. "It may leave n path of devastation lehlnd It, but think of wlmt would becnuso of that airless void If tho C Q, D. was Ignored. "That's so," replied the watery-eyed one. "Nature hns got railroads skinned alive when It comes to delivering the goods. Then, again, a cyclone Is a great factor In promoting social Intercourse. Inter-course. There are lots of peoplo out there who would never see each other were It not for tho fact thnt they nre thrown together by the thoughtful cyclone. I know of a couple of fellows fel-lows who hnd not seen each other for years, who met In the air, both Joyriding Joy-riding nbourd the same cyclone. "'Hnllo, Bill!' shouted one; 'I hnven't seen you for n good lille. 'No,' yelled tho other fellow; 'I don't often get up this way.' "Speaking of railroading," snld the looso-Jolnted Individual. "I'd like to relate to you some of my experiences In the railroad business. Back In tho seventies I did key-poundlng down In Kansas, on the P. D. Q. rond. I held down n shanty up along the line, forty miles from the nearest refectory. "Did nothing much but glvo tho trains clear truck or hold them up to side-track bo's to let nnother train pass. Tho old P. D. Q. was n single-track single-track rond, with shanties nnd sidings ut regular Intervals, at which a number num-ber of other Jnys llko myself did tho brnlnworlc for tho system. "I wns holding down this Job 4n thnt Queen Anne cottage, with no great white way nearer than the milky 'baldric of the skies,' jnd tho only stnrs I could flirt with wro those winking ut mo across millions of miles of space. But I was not astronomically astronom-ically Inclined gastronomy hns always al-ways been my long suit. "Well, this particular Incident I have In mind happened on one of those doys when nnture seems. to bo resting nnd getting rendy for a grnnd-stund demon-stratlo. demon-stratlo. "I seemed to sense something was going to Imppen, and felt ns fussy as a magnetized kitten. There was a southbound south-bound train due at my villa at 7:80 p. m. I had orders to hold It on tho siding until tho north-bound passenger, passen-ger, due nt 7:45, had passed. "I set my signals nnd busied myself my-self doing nothing until tho south bound should nrrlve. I felt mighty glad of tho chance for human companionship compan-ionship which the side-tracked freight would supply. "Tho sky had assumed a dirty-gray color. I felt certain that there was n cyclone sashaying nround somewhero In my vicinity. "I wns wondering if my villa was in the path of the whirling dervish, when the stillness was suddenly fractured by tho shrieking of tho south bound's whistle. "I got rendy to do tho reception net, nnd wondered why Jim Bludsoo kept his whistle blowing. "In n fi;w seconds the big onglno loomed In sight. Along sho enme, llko n rnce-horse on the home-stretch, nnd suddenly I realized thnt tho big galoot at the throttle was going to glvo us the go-by. "I grabbed my red flag and got busy with tho wigwag performance, hut niii Iron horse swished past with his long, brown tnll of empty freights strung out behind like the nppenduge of n cojnot. '"Whnt the Snm Hill's the mnttor with thnt giddy choffer?' thinks I Then It struck mo nil of n sudden that !r. nbout soven nnd n hnlf minutes there wns going to be trouble, llkewlso a lot of scrap-iron scnttcred over tho fccenory of tho Sunflower stntc. "The north-hound train hnd nlrendy , entered the snmo block, and the two , trains would meet about half-way between be-tween my bungalow and tho next ono i eonth, on the curve nround n grovo hereabouts. In my mind I pictured , the horror of the scene. "Mv mind wns full of the posRihn,. tics of the situation, ami I wns stnnd- Inf. there, pnrnlyzed, as It were, when suddenly there was a roar, nnd the ".POL-raphv of Kansas begun doing ho VHhur N'Uttlr net, "I ' lS )l. KPd up hod v Iini) mirjPt, tin! thnt dinnty ? mine wi'h siif Hit force to kiiuck Mi M... ..nt of '"', " ' i'' ' ' n rrni ld UK ..!. ill. HlUin. tin ile f ' emptying thepH InJlirles. s "V UibB "As my Krny mn tlons. I realized tlit.li. """"iB hound pnsseiiRcr train .""JbI -Mlnft 'How" ftSl you get here? I nikj? ik7B " "'Why. cntne 1 m, 'WB Piled. 'Where's No V?0'' et? I hnd orders loTT1"1'' 6 X, and expected t5 .,?Vllf,t'B tracked hero. Not u5. r " hi -Sure not.' he replied 1 "mtter? Did you ttrtk?I(BS '"My head's nil rlgh 'fl Twenty-threc pn8Scd ft glory somo tlmo nKo, and ' tee her, where Is she' ? '"Come, man,' coaxed th.lB get word nlong the line jM when she Is due. I don't LtB hero nil dny.' un , "'But I tell you she pa(ikl ns ste. , nnd In desperatloaM to the key nnd pounded offuS to the fellow Routh of me mi.S er 23 had passed, '! "Tho reply staggered me, (, swered In the negative -K " 'Where's thnt tralnt I &i 'It passed here at 7:30,' I ptS "Just then tho rear brakemuM running up the track wlthieS his hand. 'Found this down UM he snld. 'That's old Jm q-B cap; and If his cap Is here,bS have passed here himself.' " That's so,' rejoined the JM 'But whnt am I going to do? M hang around here any loafer' S "Well, I wired to hc norttnM for Instructions, nnd got word tX tho pnsscnger along. Then thtH went over the line to the ceil B south to send out a searching &-X the missing train. The track teM my shnnty nnd the next one tos closed to trufllc pending the tniiB the searching crew. IndaetlotM pulled In on n hand-car, and rtrl that they has seen nothing of tb:S lug train. I wired the InformiS headquarters, und asked fur tB tlons. " 'Open up the road for tn&B Fend men on foot to inaleathM .search for thnt train; wo necdfc'iH the answer. "I did ns directed, and kH penrchlng pnrty down the track. jH them to spread out on cither (S tho track nnd work nlrni; trfH found tho wreck, for I MtaH must have run off the tnrtH where. H "After they hnd been rfl fifteen or twenty minutes, tdlH raked my brain for n soluteiS natter, I heard n whtsOrtifeH In tho distance. It sounHlffH penrlng to come from tit H Thero wuh nothing due tt bjiH lor nn hour or so; so I thotgtiij It wuh n relief party mnltiS help solve the mjsterr. bctaB sound continued, and did cot PsJ louder, I concluded that, riti wns, It wns stntlonnry. H "The sound kept up for itafl minutes nnd then stopped, tifl for ubout hnlf nn hour, and thralB one of the senrchlng partfRBW on tho run. In the meantliMW qunrtcrs hnd been hammerlnjt news of the engine. M "When tho special courier iH ho wns winded; soIaawltniiB trying to pump nnythlngoolofB til ho got through with tU trM exercises. B "When he got his bellowi again, I learned that they MM Jim Bludsoo und his train abcJ mllcsdown tho road, about iJB n half away from the track. " of the cars wero standlnf omjM tho englno and the balance train wero right side no, JM over the faco of the virgin p"BB "The searchers hnd beard AflM tie, and proceeded to '"'JB Thoy hnd found the wreck aiflBB with old Jim standing ' , scared, wild-eyed nnd batten "How tlio heck did theft5"" asked the watery-eyed one. B( "Well, they couldn't S B" out of Jim. Ho seemed P"" When I sent In my repe . wire they sen down a lo "" to try und sn.nR" the trB Bludsoo was tho only living"," of tho crew. ,BB "Thoy figured '' "" ' ,, cnught up to the ; whirl down th "(irk p'!kjM bodily, like a lilmmilns M curried It ncro-s the cm W JM-It JM-It wns dlscourcil f' ... by the crew. ho iin-J llko lost b.m " ""'- whither they hid W" '.,,,' engineer hnd ! w tal r snmo time before 1,tM nnd chnsed the fireman J0' , Thnt explained why "; JlaF-B nul the go-by "JB never hnd to answer fr for the last I heard o " In dippy domicile, H bolstered boudoir ,hr(K "And whnt became , live nnd curs?" Wrfd 9 H oyed one. mlle'Bl '"Oh, they built arB of truck out to ",, wreckers solving " tbit'-H Tho strange part f , H porous rt,cme!J '' lost Freight. ftS terminus. ,rf ,H Thnt's so, re BB veil one. "Vou I , So." r p i ",,,- fJm i.i.iiii " C'MiL i u mo ". m |