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Show tTr-a---w TheReason I Oflt 1 J If By P. P. HfroT J (Ceprrlgbt. ilT.Tr(ttraNwtpprUaloa.)J One day when Stuart was going! through tho freight yards In search, for things that should not exist theroi he discovered Mahoncy behind a lot of rice sacks that were being shipped from New Orleans to California. Mahoncy Ma-honcy wns hut a youngster, whoso real' place was In a schoolroom Instead of trying to tramp his way to the Paclflc coast. Stuart had n violent hatred for "hobos." They had been tho cause of trouble on his division ever since no had boon promoted to the superln-tendency, superln-tendency, nnd ho was tired of them. Of late, slnco tho steel works had closed down In Illinois nnd Ohio, and the new had gone forth that tho oil fields of California were alluring. But when Mahoncy had Jumped to the ground nnd looked Stuart In tho eye, the warning and rebuke he start- ed to let fly from his lips wero left unsaid. For ha saw an honest face learchlng his. The boy's body was itralght as In anticipating an assault It didn't tnko a great deal of questioning ques-tioning for the superintendent to find out why the boy was there. Be told, his story In unfaltering tone. Left without mother or father, cast upon the charity of nn unsympathetic relative rela-tive In St. Louts, ho had broken all (ho cords that bound htm to his Missouri Mis-souri blrthptaco nnd had started for tho great Wot to find any sort of, employment that .would gtvo him nn nnscoldlng bed. When Mnhoney had washed his face at the tank nnd then reported to the section boss, he wns hungry enough to do ample Justice 'to tho baked beans and fried pork that were set before him. The next day he started picking up stray bits of Iron that had fallen In the yards and when night had come, and he had met the superintendent 'again, who this time smiled kindly at him, his heart melted add a tear came In als eye. A near neighbor of the Btaart family fam-ily was Mrs. Cook, and her pretty daughter, Lctltla, a young girl with artless ways, a pair of eyes as bine as the wings of a Jay-bird, with auburn au-burn hair that hung la wavy curb) about a beautiful forehead, whose lanahter was infectious and whose J reams were as delightfully free from ire as the winds about her were of matarls- One day as she was walking walk-ing aimlessly about the railroad tracks she was caught by a pair of youthful hands Just In lime to miss a power- Sal engine that was flying through the ards hauling a through freight bound for the terminal at Oakland. She did not faint when she realised the dangerous dan-gerous position from which she had been snatched. 8he looked Into Ma-honey's Ma-honey's face and thanked him while she was still In his arms, and the rushlmr cars were still making noise enough to drown all other sound. I Mahoney saw her toiler mother's apartments. When he had sapper at the section boss' ranch, his mind was preoccupied. His food almost went untasted. A nervous Itching had possession pos-session of bis body. From that night m he was bo longer a visitor at the Oraad Paclflc restaaraat which was located over by the station, kept by Mrs. Hoollgaa sad frequented In evenings eve-nings by young mea"rhO'ptayed cards and drank beer. Mahoney had higher, ambitions. When his day's work was finished he offered to do Jobs around the dispatcher's offlce without pay tf he were allowed to play with the mysterious keys and be taught the alphabet. la a little while he was efficient enough o make himself him-self Intelligible to the agent at Fa-bens, Fa-bens, at which point 'the wood-yard was located. The -young woman there was tolerant of his mistakes and patiently pa-tiently repeated message after message mes-sage that she might assist him In learning. Time went on, and Mahoney gave up his Job with the section. He had been given the operator's chair at Sierra Blanca. Before he had been there a week he had. with great difficulty, In dited and forwarded a letter which concerned htm more than all his other hopes; and when Miss Cook received It she was not offended. It was a boyish boy-ish letter, freefronr"affectatton, and tilled with expression of genuine and sincere love. The little girl's heart throbbed In riotous Joy and she forgot for-got all else that morning. 'Only his words that kissed her mind tenderly and lovingly, could she remember. Sho had his letter In her hand when her mother asked to see It. She had never had a sweetheart befpre, nor a secret, and when her mother scolded her for countenancing n common railroad man she whose blood was as blue as tho skies above tho poor girl, wounded and bleeding, tore the paper Into fragments and then went Into her room to weep. Yes, her mother was right, perhaps. Her former playmates and companions back In New Orleans would never permit her a moment's peace If they' were to hear that she had chosen a lover from our the wilds of tho Rio Grande, whllo her mother wps staying there In hopo of dissipating tlio hectic flush that hud lit upon her cheeks. Sho would forget him however ltnnl that might be sho wbuld do It. That i 4 W m hat 'she' tdia'MfxiOookllnt evoil iiltiR hi tea, an"dHhcFeallytn6ughrBTio could. - , , Ai Mnhoney looked for n letter that never came. A. mall train after mall train had come and left him to his gloomy nnd lesolaie home on the big. hill with no answer from his first love, his mind found new theories no? to how It was possible she might have ' missed receiving his message. So 'he wrote again.- As the days worejTftR, and he received no response, he asked'' Kennon, the night track man, if the, Cooks were still at El Paso. Perhaps they had gone, he thought. But when he had been told over the wire that Miss Cook had been seen crossing the tracks that very afternoon, his heart sank within him, and for tho first time ho took a drink. The mosqual, wns bitter, and his hend soon began to nchc. The next morning, ho made two solemn oaths. Tho first was that he would never speak to another girl or save her from death If he had tho chance. His second resolve was that he would never take nnother drink, no has studiously observed tho latter. One morning iho El Paso Chronicle had n storj of Mahoncy's bravery, nnd It wns scattered all over the front ! pngo of that newspaper. Robbers had I bound and gagged him at Sierra i Blanca, but they had not secured his j hands so fast that he could not crawl to the telegraph, key and warn the) approaching express that was soon' due at Valentine of Its Impending dnn-' ger. This Incident was followed a week later by. another story printed equally as conspicuous, telling how. Mnhoney, with a pistol, had shot the, headlight out of an engine dashing by' the station after the signal lights had failed Jo warn the engineer to get In on the sidetrack. Thus a collision with No. 21, which was hauling the general manager, was averted. Three weeks later Dave Mahoney was dispatcher dis-patcher at El Paso. Fearing that his return might rekindle rekin-dle tho dangerous flame which, apparently, ap-parently, had been successfully extinguished ex-tinguished In her daughter, as soonns Mrs. Cook discovered Mahoney's pres-, ence, she nrranged an excursion for herself) and daughter Into Chihuahua. A month's stny among the foothills of the,Slerrn Madres worked such wonderful results In tbf physical condition con-dition ot Mrs. Cook that she conclud-" ed she was well enough 'to go brick to her Louisiana orange grove. So one evening she wrote a message to Superintendent Stewart, telling him of her plaa.8, and asking him to see to It that' hen belongings In the Magoffin flats were packed and made ready tot shipment do her return, and that She would depfrt from Chihuahua the 'following 'fol-lowing afternoon. Mahoney was at the desk When the telegram was re celved.i He did not sleep that Bight, and the following morning he asked to be relieved of work for the day. la the evening he wandered over Into ,0a sleepy town of JJoarex, just across thelriver from El gup, and the terminal of the KezJdkn t$Mral. He drifted latoitbe dispatcher office, and after shaking bands wUfc the operator, opera-tor, took ,a seat He eeald not tell 'why he remained. An Indefinite something some-thing heldlhlm to his chair, In a little while the) dispatcher asked Mahoney to take his key while he walked over- to the station. Mahoney had no more than glanced over the trala sheet than the operator at Pueblo began nervously nervous-ly calling Jaares. Mahoney answered, and then came the message that made his head reel. The passenger train had ran over half a doee Mexicans, and alt had been killed. "At that moment mo-ment the trala was at the station and the Mexican officials were coming. It did not take Mahoney a moment to grasp the real seriousness of the situation. If the train war caaght," all hands, trainmen and passeagers, would, have to lie lnjaltsnd await tedloas sad vexatious questioning by the alcalde and his officers. .He .thought of her and mentally took a picture of that sweet face In a Mexlean'feUC A; IihiIiIab vkMM&jl AjtB kt 1ata "No. 16 has right of WMlto" Jaarek. limit 770 miles an hour. Make no stops unless for water. TMsrear4'n slg-' nnls. Have conductor say to American lady and her daughter on. board your train that If train detained, American consul will proceed on special to, protect pro-tect them. , J (Signed) "MAHONEY, "Acting Trainmaster." That was the order that went from, the trainmaster's offlce to the. conductor conduc-tor of No. 16. When the operator had returned to relieve Mahoney, and heard what had been done, he ..would have been powerless.to hatecountermanded the order, even if he' had been so. Inclined, In-clined, for the train had already pulled out ot Pueblo. Two hours later a closed carriage was driven rapidly over the long bridge between the Mexican and Amer lean towns. There was no, examination examina-tion of the two passengers on the Inside, In-side, for a young man who had a seat with the driver threw a gold plecejQ the Inspector who was standlngat' the entrance. When the carriage stopped at the Magnoffln flats Mr. Stewart happened to bestandtneat the corner. - He "recognised Mahoney. and bowed-to, the ladles. aSjthey.step- ped to the ground. As the carriage drove away Mahoney Maho-ney stood trembling near the blushing, girl, while her mother was telling Mr. Stewart as rapidly as her tongue would permit, tho experiences of the day. Presently, as sho went to' enter the door, sh) said : "Dear Mr. Mahoncy, how kind nnd thoughtful you always nrot Won't you coxuo up and sit with us nwhllol" ''No, momma," answered tho daughter,! daugh-ter,! "ho hasn't tlmo now. He and I are going to sit out heTo a while, nod I am going to tell him that 'which I should have written him a year ago."- i . . v 1 f.l 1 JI 1 y |