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Show wmn tt n -&'&&''&'& irWS Jfl & fTfre f ? . tt m Roadmaster's I frank h. fl Story SPEAR.MAN H , NN I ( The Spider WatlTj 1 -H t 1 S 4 tt it tt tt tt tt - s -m- - --- -"- W wV F r r jB shook their heads, denied nud turned K their faces to the mountains. They Bj stretched their nrms straight out under fRi their blankets, like stringers, and put jK'' out their palms, dpwuwnrd, and mut- tercd to Ilalley: fa "Vlcnty snow." jK "I reckon they're lying," said Bucks, a listening. "There's somo deviltry up. jm, They're not the kind to clear out for K snow." SSB Now, tho Spider wakes regularly HjjC twice; nt all oilier times Irregularly. IB Once In April -that is the foothills wa- Km tcr; onco In June that Is the mountain m "water. And tho June rise is llko this WMm - ". But the April rise Is like this B Now came on April without any, rise; BH that April nothing rose -7 except ''tho P snow. "'e hhall got It all together," XBF suggested Bucks one night. X "Or will It get us altogether?" asked Mr Ilalley. H "Either1 way," said Callahan, "It will B bo mostly nt once." jK May opened bleaker than April; even jB the trackmen walked with set faces; Sj tho dirtiest half breed on tho line knew IBM now what tho mountains held. At last, BS while wo looked and wondered, came a BH very lato Chinook; July lu May; then Bf the water. m Section gangs were doubled and BBj track walkers put on. By-passes wcrti BBS opened, bridge crews strengthened, ov- BB crythlng buckled for grief. Gullies BB began to rat culverts to choke, creeks wJI tumble, rivers to madden. From B the Muddy tat the Summit the water jffiH courses swelled nnd boiled all but tho Br Spider; thq big river slept ThroughMay W and Into .Tune tne Spider slept, but Hal- JB ley was there nt thoVlcklup always and BK wltli one-' eye running over all tho line, BBfinaBBirned always to tlic Spider, BBBH to"1 BBBBBBBBv azy surface BBBBBBBBrandtl) rough tho BBBBBBRween monumental 7iWPKoor nn bout; did tho operating Urf department, loso to tho track. East and Bu .west of us railroads everywhere clnin- H ored In despair. Tho Hood reached H from the Rockies to tho Allcghcnles. jH Our trains never missed a trip; our B schedules worn unbroken; our pcopla K laughed; wo got tho business, dead B loads of It; our treasury flowed over, H and Ilalley watched, and tho Spider H slept H Big Ed Pceto, still foreman of tho H bridges, hung on Ilnlloy's stops and H tried wltli his staring, swearing cyo to BJ make It all out; to gues what Hallcy H expected to happen, for It was plain ho K was thinking. Whether smoking or speaking, whether waking or Bleeping, B ho was thinking. And ns May turned H soft and hot Into Juno wltli every ditch H bellying nnd tho mountains still burled, Bf It put us all thinking. B On tho 30th tliero was trouble be- fl yowl "Wild Hat. and nil our extra men, J put out there under Ilnlley, were fight- B hig to hold the ltnt valley levels where B they hug tho river on tho west slope. B It wasn't really Halley's track. Bucks B sent him over there becnuso ho sent B Ilalley wherever tho emperor sent Ney. B Sunday whilo Ilalley was nt Wild Hat B It began raining.- Sunday it rained; B Monday it mined all through tho mouu- fl tains; Tuesday It was ralulug from B Omaha to Kaglo pass, with tho ther- H mometer climbing for breath and tho B barometer flat as an adder and tho B Spider woke. fl Woko with tho April water and tho fl Juno water and tho ralu water all at fl once. Trackmen at tho brldgo Tuesday S ulgkt flagged No. 1 and reported tho river wild nnd sheet ico running. A fl wlro from Bucks brought Ilalley out fl of tho west nnd into tho cast and H brought him to reckon for tho last tlmo M with his ancient enemy. M Ho was against it Wednesday morn- lug with dynamite. All the day, tho ffl night nnd the noxt clay tho sullen roar w of the giant powder shook thoco Jams. JK Two days moro ho spent there watch- 1R lng, wltli only nn occasional thunder- M bolt to hcavo nnd scatter tho Spider water into Hudden, shlvcrj columns of I spray; thcu ho wired, "Ico out" and ' sot back dragged and sUcnt for homo S nnd for sleep ten hours out of two "1 hundred, maybe, was all ho reckoned l to tho good when bo struck a pillow 9 ngaln. Saturday night ho alcpt, and a Sunday nil day, and Sunday night. Monday about noon Bucks sent up to usk, but Halley was asleep. They asked back by the lad whether they ; should wake hl'm; Bucks sent word, , "No." I Tuesday morning tho tall roadmost'er came down fresh as sunshine, nnd all day ho worked with Bucks and tho dlst j patchcrs watching tho lino. The Solder I raced llko tho Missouri, and tho men . 4.. J tp& j"i HrV vv nt tho nringo sent in panic messages every night mid morning, but Ilalley lit his pipe with their alarms. "That bridge will go when tho mountains go," was nil ho said. ' Tuesday was his wedding Unto, bid Denis told Peeto. It was Halley's wooden wedding, nnd when he found everybody knew they were gbing to have a little spread over at the cottage Ilalley Invited the boys up for tho eveningJust even-ingJust n little celebration, Ilnlley said, and everybody ho spoko Jo wrung his hand niid slapped his iron shoulders till Ilalley echoed good cheer through und through. , . - It was II o'clock, night, and every star blinking when Hallcy looked In ugalu nt tho olllce for tho track walkers' walk-ers' reports and tho railway .wenheY bulletins. Bucks, Cnlahart "and recto snt about Duffy, who In his shirt sleeves threw tho stuff out off tuciiHQunflQriM It trickled in dot nndjdnsh, 'Uot'rind' dash over the wires, The west wlro was good, but east everything below I'eaco liver was down. Wo, had to gpt the eastern reports nrouud by Omaha and tho south, a good 1,000 miles of a loop, but bnd news travels even round, -a Itobln Hood loop. v ' '"' -" And Wild Hat came first from tho west with a stationary river nnd tho Loup crfik falling clear good plcnt. And Ed Vceto struck tho table hmWlly and swore It was well iu the west. Then from tho cast camo Frnlrlo Port-ugo, Port-ugo, nil tho way round, with a horlh west rain, n rising river and'unchor ico pounding tho piers badly, track In fair fchapo and and Tho wlro went wrong. As Duffy kultj his eyes nnd tugged and cussed V little' tho wind outside took up tho message and whirled a bucket of nihi against tho windows. But the wires wouldn't right, and stuff that nq innn could get tumbled' in llko a dictionary upsldo down. And Bucks and Callahan nnd Hnlloy and Pecto smbktjd, sljcntj Wd' listened to the deepening drum of tho rain on tho roof. Then Puffy wrestled mjghtljy ,jct onco more,'" and tho longvnyv' carte-word carte-word of troublo in tho Omaha yards with the river nt twenty-jtwo feet and cutting; rising nt Bismarck one foot nn hour. "Hell to pay on tho Missouri, of course," growled tho foreman, staring single eyed nt tho lnoffenslvo bulletin. "Well, sho don't run our way; let her boll!" "Keep still," exclaimed Duffy, leaning heavily on tho key. "Here's something -from-the Spider." Only tho hum of tho rain and tho ncr- Ivous break of tho sounder cut tho smoke that curled from tho pipes. Duffy snatched a pen nnd ran it across a clip, and Bucks leaning over read aloud from his shoulder: umuna. J. V. Bucks Trainmen from t No, 75 stalled west of Rapid City track alloat In Slmpson'8 cut report Spider brldgo out Bend And tho current broke. Callahnn'a hand closed rigidly over his plpo; Peeto riat speechless; Bucks read again nt tho broken message, but Ilalley sprang llko a man wounded nnd snatched tho cljp from tho superintendent's superin-tendent's hand, He stnred, a tho running words till thoy burnt his eyes, nnd then, with nn oath frightful as tho thunder that broke down tho mountains, ho dashed tho clip to tho floor". Ills eyes snapped greenish with fury, and ho cursed Omaha, cursed its messages and everything thnt camo out of It slow at ilrst, but bitter, then fast and faster untjl all tho btlng thnt poisoned his heart In his unjust discharge poured from his lips. It flooded tho room like a spilling stream, and no man put a word against it, for they know ho stood n wronged man. Out It came all tho rage, toll tho heart burning, nil tho bitterness and ho dropped, bent, Into a chair and covered cov-ered his fnco with his bauds; only tho sounder clicking Iron Jargon and the thunder shaking tho Wickiup llko a rood tilled the ears about him. Thoy watched him slowly knot his Angers and loosen theni and saw his face rlso dry nnd hard and old out of his hands. "Get up nu engine!" "Not you'ro not going down there tonight''" stammered Bucks. "Yes; now right off.' Pceto, got out yoyr crew." Tho foreman Jumped for tho door. Bucks hesltatod barely un install'; then, turning w)iere ho flat, c,ut a tele-phono tele-phono plug into tho ,roundiou8e. Callahan Calla-han saw him act and, leaning forward, spoko low to Duffy. Tho dispatcher, snatching tho train shbet begau lu-8totjy lu-8totjy clearing' track for1 'a brldgo ope-,'clnl, ope-,'clnl, . ' "' '''' " uln, twenty minutes twehtymen were running twenty way's- through the (torpi, and a llvo enjno boomed under 'vffcKlOp WmtJOWV "I,hn:uVVantyou.tobeccfult" It W"M,.n,.?ndlnK b tho rondmas. tor's s de ntthe window ns they looked out Into he, torm. "lt' blul nRUt. Ha lc mado Uo answer. "A wicked night, muttered Bucks as tho light-Dins light-Dins : BjJ t the yard, a i,iazo and tt crash rolled down tho gorge. But wicked us it WUs, ho could not bring himself to countermand. Something fprbnflo It. tvnus, the conductor of the sDecIn . ran lu. uo be continued.) |