| Show i A r It ItI 1 k e I I r ri rAf i i Af 1 i i l 1 1 1 Af 4 V I J INI i fl LYNDE tl M 9 t E was oiling ling around on the th when Althea first saw sav him h m and he h was not very ery pretty 19 to look at at There is or there II may mar be a sort of artistic in in blue denim and a mechanics cap but the young youn man who was jabbing the snout of the oilcan into the vitals of the had missed it His overalls which were as much to large as they were lacking lack lackin nl in in length were innocent of soap and water his jumper was wa little more than a greasy rag and to complete the motley motle he h was wearing a cap which was the latest wrinkle wr in golf goU headgear dent Lockharts private car Nadia was coupled in the rear of Number Five Fie and at the stop three members of the party Miss Lockhart the and Mr Ir Bainbridge Bain Bainbridge bridge Brockton had descended to take the fresh morning air on the platform After a few turns up and down beside the Nadia Miss Althea had said saidI I want to see the engine dont you know I t always want to sec see the engine And so the three of them had walked up the long platform clear now of the scurrying throngs of breakfast bre seekers to where the big bip Baldwin n stood throbbing and shuddering preparatory to its plunge into the gate gateway gateway way WI of Gringo Canyon ClOon This was the way Miss Lockhart came to see sec Or Oro Orman Orman man In the ordinary course of things he would scarcely have had a second glance lance of oC hers but with no such intention in mind the peppery stood his friend Major Lockhart had been known to have hae a flagman called down for the lack of a button on his uniform and over clothes the oil the coal smut and the golf cap aroused his ire r Hal Ha he snorted I wonder how long 1 Hoskins has been putting puffin pU ting n roustabouts in charge ot of his first class trains trams There was a moment of silence in in which Brockton decently reluctant to witness the shaming of a fellow man turned away Miss Althea stood her ground hoping that the engineer had not heard But it was said of the vice president that his rapiers were all broadswords Yes I mean you Jou I he rasped when Orman straightened up and faced him You Ire are a disgrace to the service a harlequin sir There is no excuse for the engineer of a passenger train masquerading Mr Mt Hoskins as a roundhouse wiper Report to when yon get in and say to him with my compliments compliments ments that the auditing department will approve a voucher for a box of soap and a supply of wash i 1 buckets for the use of the I Oh Ob 0 uncle said Althea under her breath anu amt amther her visible vi distress changed change the th engineers scowl of I resentment into a shamefaced grin grinI I l Im afraid I do look rather tough he admitted And there is no excuse as you say Ill report re ort to Mr Hoskins and mention the box of soap Althea was watching him narrowly as he spoke with ith her womans heart full of sympathy She was not of those who believe that all the finer feelings are monopolized by the leisure classes and aud she was generously indignant Now if there be women whom emotion mars marsand marsand and md their name Ume is a multiple of all the others there are a few whose charms are arc heightened thereby Miss Althea was one of the few fe and Brockton who had reattached himself h lf to the group thought he tic had 4 never never seen her more entirely beautiful Also it dis disturbed disturbed disturbed him a little to reflect that the exciting cause cluse was an of womanly sympathy for an un unwashed unwashed Unwashed washed workingman As he knew to his own dis discomfiture discomfiture discomfiture Miss Lockhart had an exaggerated re respect respect respect for men who had work to do and did it It was clearly dearly the moment for a diversion and he made one We Ie are due to leave leae Major he said consult consulting consulting consulting ing his watch Dont you jOU think wed best be get getting getting ting back to the th car For the first few miles m of the Miss Althea sat with cousin Alicia be behind behind behind hind the broad windows in the observation end of the Nadia watching the cliffs and peaks swing right rl ht and md left with the curves and thinking point pointedly edly edl c ly of a small dilemma The outing trip which was now three days old and which was to pause indefinitely at Undercliff Und Inn a Summer resort in the heart of the main range Tange had not been nor did It promise to be an In unalloyed joy While Shit rhile a her invitation to o join tin the party had come from her uncle in his own proper person Althea was beginning to suspect that it had been prompted by certain matchmaking proclivities on the part of the wife Mrs Irs Lockhart II was a young oung woman and Bainbridge Brockton Drockton was her cousin once removed Althea had known Brockton since his college colle e days and had liked him as much as she could like any man who was content to do nothing Left to her herself herself herself self she might have come conic in time to look with favor upon his wooing wooing which was as 15 energetic en as anything he ever did But with all its the has a latent quality of stubbornness and when Miss liss began to suspect that Mrs Lockhart had planned things she set her fine white teeth firmly upon a steady stead resolve not to be mar marketed marketed at least not while she was on the small matchmakers own ground That her fortune had anything to do with the matchmaking or with devotion she was unwilling to believe since Brockton had enough of his own to make him the most unconscionable unconscionable of idlers Yet she remembered with a aurius curious curious little thrill of scorn that the fort instinct was in In the Brockton blood Alicia the fair haired cousin who sat within arms reach looking out ut upon this same procession s io of 0 of peaks p ea ks and cliffs had once so gossip said broken an engagement almost between the church steps and the altar because the man had hau told her he had been cut out of his fathers will Such thoughts were not altogether pleasant and she he was rather glad lad when Brockton flung his cigar away aay and came In m from the th platform to draw up a chair beside her Enjoying the th scenery by y height and depth he said making idle talk as was his wont Yes and no not as much as I should if we were going toward it instead of running away from it ithe ithe he the rejoined re It Is disappointing to catch fleeting glimpses of It just as 38 it is vanishing vanish ng The had been closeted in his scale state stateroom room with Hoskins Hoskin the general manager and the themen two men Joined the group at the ion win windows dows ws in time to hear Altheas reply You Yon y may rido on the engine if Ii li c e to t Miss liss Lockhart said Stid the general manager Mr Ir Brock Brockton Brockton Brockton ton can cm go with you Ill arrange it at the next n t stop p if you care to try it Althea said Thank you and meant it From childhood she had had bid a sort of shivering reverence Cot or locomotives and ship engines and for the men who made them obey obe But her second thought was the tho recollection of a mans humiliation and the hope op might offer for her to blunt the sharp edge of or it By the way Mr Ir Hoskins who is is pur our engineer this morning demanded the A general utility man named Orman was the th reply but abut but its facetiousness did not seem to lay hold of Major Lockhart The regular man had a death in his family fam and The v smile sm le was portentous Or Orman Orman Orman man will have something to say sa to you when he reports his run he remarked Althea happened to be looking at It Alicia Alida and she surprised a little start at the mention of the sub substituted substitute name While two rail joints could click dick under the wheels the eyes ees were clouded and a faint fl nt flush came and went in the fair neck and check cheek Althea wondered why wh but at that mo moment moment moment ment the chime of the Sig 51 sounded for or a station and an she site rose to go forward with Brockton and the general manager With the highest ln hi hest executive authority of th the company com company pany pan to sanction it the he invasion of the Sips cab facilitated itself though Orman was no more than gruffly polite to the the invaders Room was made for them on the firemans box Althea was told briefly how to brace herself against the of the cab in rounding the curves and thereafter the engi engineer engineer engineer neer left them to their own devices de ces The experience experienc proved something less than exciting exciting exciting ing even een to a novice The Thc grade was very heavy and the big engine labored up the hills h ls and around the dodging curves cUnes rather faithfully than spectacularly When she had grown somewhat accustomed to the novelty and had found the approaching scenic procession much like an inversion of the view ew from the observation windows Althea Alth 3 began to take note of her more immediate surroundings to tomake tomake tomake make mental notes and to Lo wonder how she might pour a 1 little of the oil of kindliness into the broad broadsword broadsword broadsword sword slashes of the Despairing of finding an opening unless she could make it she site turned to Brockton to say sa I wish I could know how he does docs it without going crazy meaning the engineer Brockton adjusted his eyeglasses and stared across at the crouching figure on the opposite box as asif asif I if the subject bored him tint But it was the better part of him that made him get gel upon his feet aud and offer to help her down from her perch I I know him film he said shortly Ill introduce him hin if you like She held back Did you OU know him when Uncle when we were at It the breakfast station I recognize him nobody would in that rig But Mr Hoskins mention of his name gave it away awa The clamor of matter in motion isolated them and Orman was attending strictly to business Brockton Bro waited for a bit hit of straight track and when it came he gave Althea his hand and steadied her h r across the footplate I take it you dont remember me mc Orman he lie h said Im Brockton of the class of 98 OS and this is is Miss Lockhart the niece of the The engineer took the introduction a little sheep as befitted his station Althea thought and she was sorry she had let Brockton rockton make it But since there were now two reasons for kindliness where there had been only one she would not retreat Now a man who runs rums an engine in Gringo Canyon is happy happ if bj b gluing his eyes to the track he lie can sec a scant half dozen ahead to do this and to answer the curious questions of a I sweet voiced young oun woman who must needs stand almost directly direct behind him is manifestly impossible Or Orman Orman Orman man gave gle it up after one or two futile attempts and surrendering his box to the inquisitive one he took his place beside her on the running step Now you may ask all the questions you want to he said after Brockton finding himself shut out of this most convenient arrangement for two had gone back to his Ins place on the firemans side s de deFor For a 3 dodging curve or two she site clung to the armrest and was silent Then she said I want to ask you not to care too much about what my m I said to you ou a little i while ago I dont think he really meant lo toto Ioto to The young engineers laugh was wholly without bitterness Is that what you had in mind he asked And then You lov have taken so much trouble It was ig nod and nd besides Im not quarreling with my bread I wish you ou put it that way she said after another pause Quite conscientiously she was trying to get down to his fits level leel to the level of a man manin in in his fits walk m in life and it perplexed ed her a little to o 0 find him so unresponsive to the effort Ill put it any way you ou like he answered promptly Suppose we say that Major Lockhart has the respect if not exactly the warmhearted affection of all Ill the men jn in the service your humble servant included And hIs is guess hit the mark This rig of mine is a wipers outfit The hc was picking her way judiciously around a aset aset aset set of complicated elbows and reversed curves at a point in in the canyon where Gringo Creek runs every way wa save uphill and for a minute or two the man was lost in the engineer eng neer When he spoke again it was in gentle deprecation of the mar m r Of course Major Lockhart was within his rights in landing on me mc But some things which are quite justifiable are arc not always expedient This is a rough rou h country countr with sith rough work to be done in it it and the themen themen themen men who do the work arc are not always mindful of regulations It was at this conjuncture that Altheas preconceived preconceived preconceived ideas of a point of view v ew went to pieces She was modern enough to be able to set act aside the conventions when the occasion demanded and she had a true womans disregard of social dis distinctions distinctions distinctions based on the lines of a mans occupation But he could not disguise the fact that she had meant to placate Orman as she would have tried to placate John the gardener or r Thomas the coach coachman coachman coachman man if her uncle had browbeaten the one or the theother theother theother other And she was finding it blankly impossible You make me wish I said anything ng she protested quite humbly and then she blushed a little l ule in deference to a certain maidenly shame for having opened a door of familiarity which she did not know how to shut again n But afterward she remembered that the solemn faced young man had not taken advantage of the opened door On the contrary he lie had stopped talk talking talking ing when she site did and some few minutes later when he had brought the engine en engine ine to a shuddering stand at atthe atthe atthe the little station of he had signed to Brockton to come and take her down from the he box Who Vho is Mr rr Er Orman Cousin Bainbridge Ba was wag the question she asked of Brockton that evening while they were watching w the moon come up over the hunched shoulder of Gringo Mountain from the piazza of the inn Brockton got up and flicked the ash of his cigar over the piazza railing to gain time He was not sure how much it would be he advisable to tell her herH He H e used to be a sort of puzzle when I knew him lim in the university and he seems to be keeping it up yet he replied guardedly He was two years ahead of me rite and in in the Scientific so soI soI soI I see sec very much of him Is he lie a aa a gentleman she asked and the word was no sooner spoken than she could have bitten her tongue for the baseborn use of it That depends somewhat on your definition He was always messing in in the th manual training shops and he lie made a social outcast of himself for the sake of poling It was my impression at the time that he lie was lS a poor mans son working his way through college So 50 much l uch Brockton said with a nicely calculated air of disinterest But he had de determined determined not to say anything of the later develop developments developments developments ments or of his Cousin part in them That was affair to be buried or kept alive as she saw fit tit Althea was silent for a little time and then site she sh said another thing for which she was instantly sorry He Hc seems somehow to be he above his present sta station station station tion in life Brockton laughed easily The danger if any there were was passing Oh you ou cant tell anything about that you know A man fluids finds his level not because he is forced to toi I i it but because he likes it it Orman has an education which would fit him hint for anything in in sight in the th technical cal line and apparently he chooses to wear outlandish outlandish clothes and to be a driver of loconto locomotives lives tives liv es esIt It |
