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SHOM'LINE

AMg

IMMiWliSTER

THE

SHORT LINE WAR

MERWIN-WEBSTER

TORONTO
GEORGE N. MORANG & COMPANY, Limited

90 V/ELLINGTON STREET, WEST

TAt's edition must not be imported into nor sold in
Great Britain or the United States

P:/V¥

X89';: "P -'J ^'ectrotyped April. :899. Reprinted May,

I I

Nottjoob ^r«8

J. S. Cuahfng & Co. - Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.

«0.f4:M|j3

CONTENTS

,:',.k

CHAPTER PAGB

I. Jim Weeks i

II. Mr. McNally goes to Tillman City . i6

III. Politics and Other Things ... 31

IV. Jim Weeks Closes in . . . . 47
V. Tuesday Evening 60

VI. Judge B. :k 74

VII. Between the Lines . ... 88

VIII. Judge Grey loi

IX. The Matter of Possession . . .114

X. Somebody loses the Books . . .128

XI. A Politician 142

XII. Katherine 156

XIII. Train No. 14 171

XIV. A Capture at Brushingham . . 187
XV. Deus ex Machina 202

XVI. McNally's Expedient . . . . 214

XVII. In the Dark 229

XVIII. The Coming of Dawn .... 244

Contents

CHAPTER

XIX. Katherine Decides

XX. Harvey

XXI. The Tillman CiTv Stock
XXII. The Wi..x.o op xhe Roab .'
XXIII. The Surrender

PAGB

259
277

296

310

322

PAGE
296

THE SHORT LINE WAR

CHAPTER I

JIM WEEKS

James Weeks came of a fighting stock.

His great-grandfather, Ashbel Weeks, was
born in Connecticut in 1748; he migrated to
New York in '70, and settled among the Oneida
Indians on the Upper Mohawk. It was the
kind of life he was built for ; he sniffed at dan-
ger like a young horse catching a breath off the
meadows. He did not take the war fever until
St. Leger came up the valley, when he fought
beside Herkimer in the ambush on Oriskany
Creek. He joined the army of the North, and
remained with it through the long three years
that ended at Yorktown ; then he married, and
returned to his home among the half-civilized
Oneidas.

His oldest son, Jonathan, was born in '90.
He grew like his father in physique and tem-

B I

^'^ort Z///^ ly^^
perament and K

"^ ''''«. so that he turnerf ! '' ^^« ^""on/f

«. and amassed what vva; 1 '""''"'^^ at
iarge fortune. "^ "^^n considered a

In 18^3 I,

ested himself in ^,^Zr L°"isviIIe, and inter
- .»'>^ Ohio and SSf ''-'--boat trS
''"smess develoDPrf V '^P' "^'^'•s- As th

f- -''' ■•'■ h"; ;it^^^^^^^^ tt^:

'^'S, was sent to Hari , ° ^^^ b"™ i„
«erry fo„r .^ars tSeT', "' ^^^^ ^ ve y
-oney. He te,, in tje',- "' ' S""'' deal of
"-"•ed immediately 1":;"/''^ --ntime, and
"any months after h ' ff'-aduation. Nnt

'y *e accident^thr'^^ '^ ^^ ''i^
^i'O'tiy after this r'^^^'^e "f a rifle anri
"«; to a son.'"'^' '"^ -'^- died i„ .^C^'

/onathaHhf ""' ""'''' ^^^^'ved entire,
fflaril. grandfather h ^'^ "Pon

^iadly, even eagerly and v ^"""^^d it

^°°« centred about ^heh '"'"'^ ^^'^'^ce

;° 'W had named h^ ? '"'' J^-es-fo,

"'-hissonhade;rbTe„"T'"-'°Wn>

^«n- It grew evident

'ar

^s^'tion Jed him
'^^tinct, which
^> was strong-
ly to trading,
succeeded at
considered a

-' and inter-
«t)oat traffic
^•^ As the
^s's fortune
■as born in
-nt a very
»d deal of
^tinie, and
ion. i^ot

^as kiJJed
'^e, and,
^ giving

'^y upon
med it

^istence
3 — for
to him
vident

/m Weeks -

that he would have the Weeks build, and, by
the time he was fifteen, he was as lean, big-
boned, awkward a hobbledehoy as the old man
could wish. His grandfather's wealth did not
spoil him in the least ; he was the kind of a
boy it would have been difficult to spoil.

He had no fondness for books, but it is to
be doubted if that was much of a grief to his
grandfather. He was good at mathematics, -
he used to work out problems for fun, - and an
excellent memory for certain kinds of details
enabled him to master geography without diffi-
culty. The great passion of his boyhood was
for the big, roaring, pounding steamboats that
went down to New Orleans. His ambition, like
that of nearly every boy who lived in sight of
those packets, was to be a river pilot, and he
was nearing his majority before he outgrew it.

He was twenty-two years old ,vhen he fell in
love with Ethel Harvey. She was nineteen
when she came home from the Eastern school
where she had spent the past five years, and she
burst upon Jim in the first glory of her woman-
hood. When she had grown an old woman the
young girls still envied her beauty, and won-
dered what it must have been in its first bloom

4 The Short Line War

Small wonder that Tim f«n • ^

"^e path .„« r; „ Lr/^sT'""^ •^''-"
street. She was riding he It H '° "^^

-art gallop, but she p^ulS u^sh!': ""' '' '^
him and drawing off a^iSg ^l^S'' "'

s r.ar::r-"'~^^^^^^^^^
-.-™irto:ref.hr;a:ir;h"'

and fluffy the Zl "°"'' ''^ ^^'^'^'''ous

%ht s,i;e;te:: tdT srr i" "^

"the i^gure, which swayed ™ "'' '"
mare pawed and backed'and oiung "d '" " .*^
for the morning gallop ", f ""S^''' ">Vat.ent

different to the^Cts of the'r K ""'^^ '""
talked merrily to Tim l ^^ '''■«^' ^«d

her in h! -M :^ ■ ^''° ''°°'' '«oking «p at
ner m bewildered admiration Af if/^u
shook hands again md r./ '' ^''^

Chan Weeks walked back ntt Zf '"' J""^"
sajsfied „, "Theyir.i^^.^lr^''''^

the:hiXy:Shirfr't^'^-^''

FPy weeics that followed, Ethel did

Jim Weeks

with her ; it

turn, on a
»^iing down
)use to the

mare at a
at sight of
t held out
Joved her.

path, but
, for they
tk hat sat
rebellious
t with its
'S of her
as the
nipatient
quite in-
ute, and
g up at
ast she
d Jona-

with a

hrough
lel did

not ride alone. Together they explored the
country lanes or left them for a dash straight
across the fields, taking anything that chanced
to be in the way. In their impromptu races,
which were frequent, Ethel almost always won ;
for racer though he was, Jim's sorrel found the
two hundred and eight pounds he carried too
much of a handicap. So the days went by, and
the ugh nothing was said about it, they talked
to each other, and thought of each other, as
lovers do.

But all the while there was growing in
Ethel's mind an intuition that something was
wrong. She had not an analytical mind, but
she became convinced that though she might
learn to understand Jim, he could never under-
stand her. It was not only that she was the
first woman who had come into his Hfe, though
that had much to do with it. But he was a
man without much instinct or imagination ; he
took everything seriously and Hterally, he could
not understand a whim. And when she saw
how her pretty feminine inconsistencies puzzled
him, and how he failed to understand the whim-
sical, butterfly fancies she confided to him,
she would cry with vexation, and think she

''it

The Short Line War

tears would cease to burn her ch'T"' '"' "^^
would tell herself how unwortl r ' '"' ^"^
'°ve of a man like tl lw\ ' ^"^ "^ "'^
««I there; Ethel .rewtd a^d r' '""''^ ''^^
-r failed to LirsSd i^h"!' "T ''^"
watched, but said nothing "'^ "'^"

One evening Jjn, ^0^ j^
nver. It was th,. c "' "" the

North was rarnW ^7^ °' '"' ""^^ "^^
O^d to accol"h"h VTl "" '"^ '-'' ■'
ground and f^Lt ^^ v T ^ ^^' '''^P^^d
was thought f L"" ''f *'='-^'- kittle else
for some Le „ th" all?". '^'''"^ '<' ■^-
^he sat silent in the tern H.'"^ '""'^ ^''"«

^''^ water. R J ^ ,t™'k ^ 'r ^'"^ '"
quiet. ^ ^^^^ why she was so

"I think this war ;„

" Let. talk about'lLrr"'^'''"^''^-''-
eyes followed the b,-; f .'"''"'"'' ^"^ ^er
^''-ing its :;';i7f;^^-' Which was

paddle-wheels, or norM. L "^^'•~" about

^^^n^ ^aid n;thin^:rrrr--^^n."
ohe went on : — •'^'Ji-ning to say.

"Don't you think it is tiresom.^.,^,,

-- -^ always mean

devotion of
ain, and her
ks, and she

was of the
■rouble was

more than
old man

t on the
when the
he task it
disputed
little eJse
ig to her
pic while
•aiJing in
- was so

ihe said,
and her
ich was
" about
ig-"
to say.

smean

J^wi Weeks 7

what you say } I hate to tell the truth. Any-
body can do that."

" I thought," said Jim, " that you believed in
sincerity."

"Oh, of course I do," she exclaimed impa-
tiently, and again Jim was silent.

The next day he took her for a drive and it
was then that the end came. They had been
having a glorious time, for the rapid motion and
the bright sunshine had driven away her mood
of the night before and she was perfectly
happy ; Jim was happy in her happiness. The
half-broken colts were fairly steady and he let
her drive them and turned in his seat so that he
could watch her. As he looked at her there,
her head erect, her elbows squared, her bright
eyes looking straight out ahead, Jim fell deeper
than ever in love with her. The colts felt a
new and unrestraining hand on the reins, and
the pace increased rapidly. Jim noted it.

"You'd better pull up a little," he said.
"They'll be getting away from you."

" I love to go this way," she replied, and over
the reins she told the colts the same thing, in
a language they understood. Suddenly one of
them broke, and in a second both were running.

The Short Line War

i
I

give me the reins." ^^* ^ere-«

conscious bn,ta.i;^ J rto : thT '"'""^ """
mg the horses ^^^ °^ ^"^et-

theless it was sev<.r=.i ^^^^''' "^^e"-"

them on thei^ eTaU'"" D '^'"^^ ''^ "^"^
neither had spoken then T" '"^ '' """^
break the silence H. "'"" "''"''' ^°^ "->• '<>

^he thought shei,^:rt:re:::se7;,^'^-

to an unnecessary neril r /^^P^sed herself
"Don't speak to me Oh h^ t u

/• "Here —

5ted wilfully,
perfectly un-
ns out of her
task of quiet-

and strong,
^ster ; never-
ore he had
that time
^ for her to
t vexed, for
sed herself
id nothing

'^P her to

Though

re tears in

ed him in

iteyou!"
•• " Will
' he said

/t'm Weeks ^

"I mean just that," she answered. "I — I
hate you." She stood still a moment; then
she seemed to choke, and turning, fled into
the house.

To Jim's mind that was the end of it. She
had told him that she hated him. The fact that
there had been a catch in her voice as she said
it weighed not at all with him ; that was an
unknown language. So he took her literally and
exactly and went away by himself to think it
over.

He was late for dinner that night, and when
he came in his grandfather was pacing the
dining room. But Jim wasted no words in ex-
planation.

" Grandfather," he said, " I think if you won't
need me for a while I'll enlist to-morrow."

" I can get along all right," said the old man,
"but I'm sorry you're going."

The older man was looking at the younger one
narrowly. Suddenly and bluntly he asked : —

" Is anything the matter with you and Ethel
Harvey } "

Jim nodded, and without further invitation
or questioning he related the whole incident.
" That's all there is to it," he concluded. " The

The Shoyi Line War

team had bolted and she wouIHnV •

reins ; so I took th.m 7 ' «^""= ""^ the

in the horse Thr '""''^ ''' ""^ P""<=''

"And then sLs:M!r?'"^'='^^'°''°''
Jonathan. musS,r','j''^''r ^'"'•" ^''""'
much sense." ^'^'"'" ^''e hasn't

■'It ain't that," Jim answered quickly " <;i, ■
got sense enouffh Th^ ».„ u, . ^' '^''<= «
too damned plucky.' ' ^'"^ ''" '= ^'>«'»

A few days later he w:,« , •
Nineteenth Indiana v\ZZL "'T '\ '"^
good soldier, for not only did h^ , . '"'''' ^
1;^^ his great-grandfatt before hi '"'"^^
had neryes Which months of ta'' u ''
^t jangling, and a con.nituion w . u "°'
and priyation could not ul:!?"^' '"'^"^^

wrhis™sr^'r^^^^'''"°--e

breath comingt'Z dL't f "^ "^ ^«='^ "'^
think faster .iZZlt^^r^:^'^^^^^^ ' '^ '^^''^
and he knew that 17.1 ^ " "' °'''^^ "'"'«,
aim was gold Li;' "'" ^'^^"^ ^^ «
of life weretowrdtro'tn""'' "^^^ ^--
and he retired rellt'n ^^h :The^"'d'"'■""^^•
His regiment was :„ ^ 2 ^ ' '™^-
mac. and the story of I ", "^ "' '''' ^"'°-

^"'t give me the
1 her and puJIed
"g else to do."
ed you," added
on she hasn't

lickly. "She's
^ith her is she's

private in the
He made a

ove danger as
him, but he

ion could not

»ich hardship

known came
He felt his
ns; he could
other times,
■ady and his
i that years
w minutes,
)rder came.
f the Poto-

"viiiuCiillg-

y/w IVtt-A'S

and magnificent fighting ncxl not be told again
in these pa;;cs. Jim was one of thousands of
brave, iiitrlligent fr^hters who did not use to
the command of a division or even of a regi-
ment. He was .i lieutenant in Company E
when the Nineteenth marched down the Km-
mittsburg Pike, through Gettysburg nnd out to
the ridge beyond, to hold it until reenforcements
should come.

They fought there during four long hours,
until the thin line of blue could hold no longer,
and gray ranks under Ewell and Pender had
enveloped both flanks. Then sulenly they
came back through the town, still firing defi-
antly, and cursing the help that had not come.
It was during this retreat that Jim w; s hit, but
he did not drop. Somehow — though as in a
dream — he kept with his regiment, and it was
not until they were rallied in the cemetery on
the other side of the town that he pitched for-
ward and lay quite still.

Everybody knows how the Eleventh Corps
held the cemetery through the two blood) days
that followed. But Jim was unconscious of it
all, for he lay on a cot in the Sanitary Con mis-
sion tent, raving in delirium. And the surgeons

The Short Li7ie War

and nurses looked at him gravely and wondered
with every hour why he did not die.

But, as one of his comrades had said, " it took
a lot of pounding to lick Jim Weeks," and in a
surprisingly short time he was strong enough to
be taken home.

When he first saw his grandfather he was
dimly conscious of a change in him, and as
he grew stronger and better able to observe
closely he became surer of it. Jonathan had
been a young old man when Jim went away;
now he looked every one of his seventy-three
years, and instead of the tireless energy of former
times Jim noted a listlessness hard to understand.

One night after both had gone to bed Jim
heard his grandfather groping his way down the
stairs and out upon the veranda. He listened
intently until he heard the creak of the rock-
ing chair, which told him that the old man was
visiting again with old friends and old fancies.
The slow rhythm lulled Jim into a doze, and
then into sleep. He awakened with a start;
his pioneer blood made him a light sleeper, and
he knew that the old man could not have got
upstairs and past his door without waking him.
'• He must have gone to sleep down there,"

thoug

veran

black

his si

looki

had

enon

gran

ning

take

fore

life

one

aloi

nex

Jor
tio:
nit
bu
in(

lO!

ar
ra

Jim Weeks

wondered

, " it took

and in a

jnough to

;r he was
1, and as

observe
Lthan had
int away;
inty-three
of former
iderstand.

bed Jim
• down the
e listened
the rock-

1 man was
d fancies,
doze, and
1 a start;
ieper, and

have got
king him.
m there,"

thought Jim, and rising he went down to he
veranda. J nathan had gone to sleep, but the
bUckcob pipe was clenched between r.g.d ,aws
htlightless'eyes were open and seemed to be

'tfLt,t£rthatsai,s,heln., and compass
J been Lpt clean away, but he was strong

enough to recover his bearings quickly. His
:: ^dfather-s death marked an end and abegm-
' ng and just as a needle when a magnet .s
Tk"; away swings unerringly into the Ime of
rlof th'e original magnet, the eart so. m
life swung to a new direction. There was no
„e whose" life could direct or influence his and
alone he started on what business men of the
next generation knew as his career.

The war had lessened but not destroyed
Jonathan's fortune, and it went -thout reserva-
tion to Jim. The times offered golden opportu
2 to a man with ready money and good
b Lss training, and his success was almos
Lvitable, His life from this time was the
logical working out of what he had '" ^nn

He turned naturally to the railroad business
and those who know the history of Western
, , .^- i.^ '^o "' 11 understand wnat
railroads Irom ub "-^ -P "*^' ""

if;!;'

^ii

1i!

ft'!

The Short Lifw War

a field it was for a man who was at once fearless
and level-headed. The craze for construction
and then the equally mad competition did not
confuse him, they simply gave him opportunities.
When the reaction against the railroads set in,
and the Granger mov^ement wrecked nearly all
the Western roads, Jim bowed to the inevitable,
but he saved himself — no one knew just how —
and when the State legislators were over their
midsummer madness he was again in the iield,
and again succeeding.

With the details of these struggles we are
not concerned. The " inside " history of many
of them will never be known ; in almost every
case it differs materially from the story v/hich
appeared in the papers. Jim became famous
and was libelled and flattered, respected and
abused, by turns; but always he was feared.
He was supposed to be dishonest, and it is true
he did not scruple to use his enemies' weapons ;
but at directors' meetings it was the interest of
the stockholders that he fought for.

Men wondered at his success, and over their
cigars gravely discussed the reasons for it.
Some said it was sheer good luck that turned
what he touched to gold, some laid it to his

ing

ice fearless
)nstruction
)n did not
)ortunities.
ids set in,
nearly all
inevitable,
1st how —
over their
i the field.

Jim Weeks

start and others to his cool, dispassionate
strategy To some extent it was all of these
things ; but more than anything else he had
won as a bulldog does, by hanging on. Often
he had beaten better strategists simply by keep-
ino- up the fight when by all the rules he was
beaten. For as the comrade of long ago
had said, "it took a lot of pounding to lick
Jim Weeks."

;!,»•?

2s we are
i of many
ost every
Dry v/hich
e famous
icted and
is feared,
it is true
weapons ;
iterest of

fl
til

)ver their
> for it.
It turned
it to his

,*ti

CHAPTER ir

MR. McNALLV GOES TO TILLMAN CITV

It was Monday morning, September .3d
The telephone bell on the big mahogany desk
rang twice before Jim Weeks laid down the

up tne receiver.

Hod on ! Give me that name again Fred

sT; IT\ "T-^^ ^""^'"^. ■'^^ ' ot

say Yes. Thank you. Good-by."

The bell tinkled again anH r;™
in his chair. ^^ ''"""^ """^

There was another desk in the room, where
sat a young man busy over a pile of leTters
He was private secretary to a man who was

president of one railroad and director in oh::
and his life was not easy. The letters he was

■ng, Chicago. The exception was a pale blue

Mr. McNally goes to Tillman City 17

IAN CITY

ptember 23d.
ahogany desk
id down the
I and picked

's Yes.

gain. Fred-
ing, did you

Jwung round

room, where
- of letters.
m who was
3r in others,
ters he was
ti addressed
?ton Build-
' pale blue

note addressed to Mr. Harvey West, and the
young man had put that at the bottom of the
pile and was working down to it.

The elder man spoke. "West," he said,
" Fox has just telephjned me that he's found
out who's been buying M. & T. stock. It's
Frederick McNally ; he's m the Dartmouth
Building. He isn't doing it on his own hook,
but I don't know who he is doing it for. Some-
body wants that stock mighty bad. There
isn't a great deal of it lying around, though."

" Do you think that Thompson — " began the
secretary.

" Thompson would be glad to see me out and
himself in," said Jim Weeks, "and he leads
Wing and Powers around by the nose, but he
can't swing enough stock to hurt anything at
next election. I don't believe it's he that's buy-
ing. Thompson hasn't got sand enough for
that. He'll never fight."

There was a moment's pause. Jim walked
over to the ticker and looked back along the
ribbon of paper. " It's quoted at 68J this morn-
ing," he said, " but no sales to amount to any-
thing."

*'You might go over and talk to Wing," he
c

The Short Line War

went on. "You can find out anything he
knows if you go at it right. I don't believe
there's anything there. However, I'd like to
know just what they are doing. You'd better
do it now. Send Pease in when you go out,
will you.?"

Harvey slipped the blue envelope from the
bottom of the pile of letters, called the stenog-
rapher, and started out. He read the note
while he was waiting for the elevator.

The M. & T. is a local single-track road,
about two hundred miles long, running between
the cities of Manchester and Truesdale. The
former is on the main line of the Northern, and
the latter on the C. & S. C, both of which are
trunk lines from Chicago to the West. The
M. & T. was not a money-making affair ; it had
cost a lot of money, its stock was away down,
and it trembled on the brink of insolvency until
Jim V/eeks took hold of it. He put money into
it, straightened out its tangled affairs, and inci-
dentally made some enemies in the board of
directors. There were coal mines on the line
near Sawyerville, which were operated in a des-
ultory way, but they never amounted to much
until some more of Jim VVeeks's money went

Mr. McNally goes to Tillman City 19

into them, and then they began to pay. This
made the M. & T. important, especially to the
C. & S. C. people, who immediately tried to
make arrangements with Jim for the absorption
of the M. & T. by their line, C. & S. C. had a
bad name. There were many shady operations
associated with its management, and Jim de-
cided to have as little to do with it as possible,
so the attempt apparently was abandoned.

The stock of the M. & T. was held largely
by men who lived along the line of the road.
Tillman City and St. Johns each held large
blocks; they had got a special act of legisla-
ture to allow them to subscribe for it. These
stockholders had great confidence in Jim, for
under his management their investment was
beginning to pay, and they, he felt sure, ap-
proved of his action in the C. & S. C. matter.

Everything was going well with the road,
and the stock was climbing slowly but steadily.
It was not liable to any great fluctuation, for
most of its holders regarded it as a permanent
investment and it did not change hands to any
great extent. Comparatively little of it got
into the hands of speculators.

But suddenly it began to jump. It was evi-

III

:U3

The Short Line War

dent to every one who watched it that some
important deal was afoot. Jim Weeks was as
much m the daric as any one. He had watched
.ts violent fluctuations for a week while he
vainly sought to ferret out the motive that was
causing them. And on this particular morn-
mg, though he sent his secretary, Hai-vey West
to talk to Wing, he had little idea that the'
young fellow would get hold of a clew

When the elevator stopped a^ the main floor
Harvey thrust the half-read note back into his
pocket. ■' No time for that sort of thing this
morning," he thought, "I wonder how soon I'll
be able to run down to see her." A moment later
he was walking rapidly toward the Dartmouth.
The men he saw and nodded to glanced round
at him enviously. "Case of luck," growled
somebody. That was true. Harvey was lucky ;
lucky first and foremost in that Ethel Harvev
was his mother. He got his mental agility as
well as his indomitable cheeriness from her
He was a healthy, sane young fellow who
found It easy to work hard, who could' loaf most
enjoyably when loal^ng was in order, and who
had the knack of seeing the humorous side of
a trying situation. He had always had plenty

hat some
<s was as
I watched
while he
that was
ir morn-
ey West,
that the
w.

iin floor,
into his
ing this
soon I'll
3nt later
■tmouth.
d round
growled
> lucky;
Harvey
2:ility as
m her.
w who
if most
id who
side of
plenty

Mr. McNally goes to Tillman City 21

of money, but that was not the reason he got
more fun out of his four years in college than
any other man in his class. He ** got down to
business" very quickly after his graduation,
and now at the end of another four years he
was private secretary to Jim Weeks. That of
course wasn't lack. The fact that Jim had
fallen in love with Ethel Harvey thirty years
before might account for his friendly interest
in her son, but it would not explain Harvey's
position of trust. He knew that he could not
hold it a day except by continuing to be the
most available man for the place.

It is probable that on this morning, the
contents of the pale blue note contributed
largely to his cheerfulness. It was evident
that Miss Porter liked him, and Harvey likeu
to be liked.

Wing's office on the sixth floor of the Dart-
mouth was a beautifully furnished suite, pre-
sided over by a boy in cut-steel buttons. Wing
himself was a dapper little man, a capitalist by
necessity only, for his money had been left to
him. His one ambition was to coL^ct all the
literature in all languages on the game of
chess; a game by the way which he himscif

^ ^; ;i

.■>i-i!

The Short Line War

did not play. "Mr. Wing had

lunch about
buttons. '• Would

gone out to

hour before," said the boy
"Mr. West wait .? " Harvey,
who knew Mr. Wing's luncheons of old, said
no, but he would call again in the afternoon.
As he walked back to the elevator his eye
fell upon another office door which bore the
freshly painted legend, "Frederick McNally,
Attorney-at-law."

Harvey lunched at the Caf6 Lyon, which is
across the street from the main entrance to
the Dartmouth. The day was warm for late
September, and he selected a seat just inside
the open door. From his table he could see
people hurrying in and out of the big office
building. He watched the crowd idly as he
waited for his lunch, and finally his interest
shifted to the big doors, which seemed to have
something human about them, as they mali-
ciously tried to catch the little messenger boys
who rushed between them as they swung.

Suddenly his attention came back to the
crowd, centring on a party of four men who
turned into the great entrance. Three of them
he knew, and the fact that they were together
suggested startling possibilities. They were

Mr. McNally goes to Tillman City

J out to
: boy in
Harvey,
)lcl, said
ternoon.
his eye
ore the
[cNally,

/hich is
mce to
"or late
: inside
ild see
\ office
as he
nterest
have
J mali-
\r boys

:o the
n who

them
gether

were

Wing, Thompsoi

nd William C. Porter of Chi-
' First Vice-President of the
C. & S. C. and, this was the way Harvey
thought of him, father of the Miss Katherine
Porter whose name was at the bottom of the
note in the blue envelope. Thompson, a fat,
flaccid man with a colorless beard, was labori-
ously holding the door open for Mr. Porter,
then h^ preceded little Mr. Wing. The fourth
man was a stranger to Harvey.

He was starting to follow them when the
waiter came up with his order. That made him
pause, and a moment's reflection convinced him
that he had better wait. He decided that if the
meeting of Porter with the two M. & T. direc-
tors were not accidental they would be likely to
be in consultation for some time, and he would
gain more by inquiring for Mr. Wing at the ex-
piration of a half hour than by doing it now.
So he lunched at leisure and then went back to
tne sixth floor of the Dartmouth.

He was met by a rebuff from Buttons. ** No,
Mr. Wing had not come back yet," and again
«' Would Mr. West wait ? " Harvey could think
of nothing better to do, so he sat down to think
the matter out. He was puzzled, for the three

l: i;

I: ^•\

T/ie Short Line War

men were i„ the building he M,

^^™e to him. " ,ove"^' I, "■^- ^'"=" 't

»« baek in his chair V > '"'' '"^"•" ««

to do. ^"' ""'^ '""=" '0 decide what

Meanwhile four men .nt ,1, . ,
polished table in Mr. McNaL , " '^ ''''''''
-n-ously discussed wal! 1 ""^ "'«- -d

scrappy memoranda and ll- "t ' ""'"" ''"'^
I'roblems in addifin„ , ^PPeared to be

"- p-ty thoro:,s;;:: ::r r -" ''^^'

a momentary lull ;„ h,„ '• ^^"''^ "-as

silence was brokeVlVT'-^'"'""' ^"^' 'he

Wing's penclaTXr^"^'^'""-^ °fM^-
fingers and let tl e noJ T"' '' '='"^«" "is

'■^-able. There r'ea^^Teerdt°"r'°''°^

- ;;y- The alliance b^reTc ^s T"',

Thompson's faction of the M & T r '"^

been arranged some .1 u ''"■'''""■' "ad

-et to-day to see h 't '""'■ ^"^^ "-'

'°'^ -hat h'e had done and ;' "°°'- ^'^^^"^
'-•s they had hon.r^' ''"'' "°' ^° -""ch

The coLlX n;?:"' '^ ^'''^ ''^ ^-
f-ke the field, ^0, th/ ''™"^' '"°"°'' 'o

Thompson had beenl. ''''" '"^""'^ -"'""'es
been leanmg over the table mak-

5»re. Then it
nnired, " JVlc-
1 man." He
' decide vvliat

t the square
w office and
leans. The
•eared to be
tion littered
ground had

There was
>n, and the
ing of Mr.
etween his
the top of
5e nothino-
S. C. and
ectors had
They had

McNally

so much
le to do.
lough to

minutes
ble rpxak-

I Mr. McXally goes to Tillman City 25

■'3.

j ing suggestions in his thick voice, and McNally
I had sat back and qu.etly annihilated them by
I demonstrating their impracticability, or by stat-
: ing that they had been unsuccessfully tried.

Beyond asking one or two incisive questions
of McNally, Porter had said nothing, but had
stared straight out of the window. For the
past ten minutes he had been waiting for
Thompson to run down. It was he who broke
the silence.

"We're stuck fast" — he was speaking very
slowly — "unless we can get control of that
Tillman City stock."

McNally shook his head doubtfully. "I'm
afraid it's no good," he said. "Look what
we've offered them already. They think the
stock is going to go on booming clear up to
the sky, and they won't sell. We couldn't get
it at par."

Porter's chair shot back suddenly. He walked
over to the empty fireplace, the other men watch-
ing him curiously. He spread his hands behind
him mechanically as if to warm them. Then he
said : —

" I think we could get it if we were to offer
par."

!'4 :

The Short Line War

" Offer par ! " thundered Thompson. " We
could get Jim Weeks's holdings by paying par."
Porter smiled indulgently. "I didn't say
we'd pay par for anything. But I think if
Mr. McNally were to sign a contract to pay
par the day after the M. and T. election, that
he could vote the stock on election day."

McNally's plump hand came down softly on
the table. " Good ! " he said under his breath.
But Mr. Thompson failed to understand.
" But the contract .? " he said.

" Such a contract would be a little less valu-
able than that waste paper," Porter replied
politely, indicating the crumpled sheets on the
table. Then he turned to McNally and asked,
" How many men will it take to swing it .? "

"Three, if we get the right ones. Yes, I
know the men we want. I can get them all
right," he added, in response to the unspoken
question. "It will need a little — oil, though,
for the wheels."

" I suppose so," said Porter, dryly. " I think
you'd better get at it right away. It's two
o'clock now. The two-thirty express will get
you to Manchester so that you can reach Till-
man about seven-thirty. It doesn't pay to waste

son,

I t'

Mr. McNally goes to Tillman City 27

any time when you're trying to get ahead of Jim
Weeks. He moves quick. Have you got
money enough ? "

McNally nodded.

Thompson had come to the surface again.
He was breathing thickly, and his high, bald
forehead was damp with perspiration. *' That's
bribery," he said, "and it's — dangerous."

" I'm afraid that can't be helped, Mr. Thomp-
son," said Porter. " It's neck or nothing.
We've got to have that Tillman City stock."

There were but four people in the room when
he began speaking. There were five when he
finished, for Harvey West had grown tired of
waiting. He bowed politely.

" Good afternoon, gentlemen. Ah ! Mr. Por-
ter. How do you do.'' I beg your pardon for
intruding."

Porter recovered first. " No intrusion, Mr.
West. We had just finished our business."

McNally took the cue quickly.

" Mr. West .'' " he said interrogatively.

Harvey bowed.

"I will be at your service in a moment.
Excuse me."

Wing and Thompson had already taken the

■!l

The Short Line War

hint, and were moving toward the door. Por-
ter hung back, conversing in low tones with
McNally. Then he bowed to West and fol-
lowed the others. McNally gathered up the
papers on the table, folded them, and put them
in his pocket.

" Please sit down, Mr. West. What can I do
for you .? Wait a moment, though. Won't you
smoke.?" He held out his cigar case to Har-
vey, who took one gladly. Lighting it would
give him a moment more to think, and think-
ing was necessary, for he didn't know what
McNally could do for him. But McNally
seemed to be doing his best to help him out.

"Don't you think it very warm here.?" he
said, as Harvey struck a match. « Something
cool to drink would go pretty well. If you'll
excuse me for a moment more I'll go down and
see about getting it," and without waiting for a
reply, McNally put on his silk hat and stepped
out into the corridor.

" He certainly seems friendly, " thought Har-
vey, as the footfalls diminished along the floor
and then he puzzled over what he should say
when McNally came back. At last he smiled.

That's it" he ^---i ^n w,^ ^-

- — , lie ocviw to mmseli, " ill try

I''

Mr. McNally goes to Tillmmi City 29

door. Por-
tones with
St and fol-
ed up the
I put them

It can I do
Won't you
56 to Har-
X, it would
md think-
low what

McNally
m out.
ere.?" he
Something

If you'll
iown and
:ing for a
[ stepped

ght Har-
the floor,
lould say
e smiled,
ril try

■-■«

to rent him that vacant suite in our office
building."

When West had made up his mind that the
party of four were not to meet in Wing's office,
he had decided to see if they were in McNal-
ly's. He could not ask for Wing, of course, so
he asked for McNally and trusted to the spur
of the moment for a pretext for his call. Now
that McNally's absence had enabled him to
think of one he took a long breath of satisfac-
tion. He had accomplished what he had set
out to accomplish, and contrary to Jim Weeks's
expressed expectation. There was no doubt
that it was a combination of the C. & S. C. and
Thompson's gang that was booming the M. & T.
Moreover there was no doubt as to their next
move. " But it won't work," he thought. "Jim
owns about half of Tillman City, and anyway
they'll never sell when our stock is jumping
up the way it is."

And having settled this important matter he
switched his train of thought off on another
track. It reached Truesdale in a very short
time, but it had nothing to do with M. & T., or
with Mr. McNally. He took the note out of
his pocket and read it through twice, and then

^'M

The Short Line War

smoked over it comfortably for some time
before he began vaguely to wonder why Mr
McNally didn^t come back. Five minutes later
he glanced at his cigar ash. It was an inch
and a half long. ''That means twenty min-
utes," he said thoughtfully, and then it dawned
on him that things had happened which were
not dov/n on the schedule.

He walked quickly to the telephone, and a
moment later Pease was talking to him.

"No," said the stenographer; "Mr. Weeks
went out to lunch about an hour ago. He said

he wouldn't be back to the office this after-
noon."

There had been no words wasted in the two
mmutes' conversation between Porter and Mc-
Nally after Harvey's abrupt entrance, and as a
result of It, while the young secretary waited
and thought over the good stroke of work he
had done for Jim Weeks and of another good
stroke he might some day do for himself, Mr
Frederick McNally took the two-thirty express
for Manchester and Tillman City.

CHAPTER III

POLITICS AND OTHER THINGS

Harvey West was a young man. Perhaps
had he been older, had his wisdom been salted
v/ith experience, he would not have put two and
two together without realizing that the sum
was four ; but then, it is the difference between
twenty-six and fifty that makes railroads a
possibility. He walked slowly to the elevator
and descended to the street. At the corner he
paused and looked about, turning over in his
mind the singular disappearance of Mr. Mc-
Nally. " He can't do anything with Tillman's
stock," thought Harvey. "They're solid for
us." But Harvey in his brief business life had
not fathomed the devious ways of the chronic
capitalist. He knew that commercial honor
was honeycombed with corrupt financiering,
but to him the corrupt side was more or less
vague, and never having soiled his fingers he

»' li

^-11

The Short Line War

III ■!;;

failed to realize the nearness of the mud
Harvey had yet to learn that in dealing with a
municipality or with a legislature, the law of
success has but two prime factors, money and
speed.

He walked slowly over Madison Street and
turned into State. Weeks was not in the office,
and anyway he wished to clear his mind, if
possible, before he talked with him ; meanwhile
sauntering up the east side of State Street with
an eye for the shopping throng. People in-
terested Harvey. He was fond of noting types,
and of watching the sandwich-men, beggars,'
and shoe-string venders. Often at noon he
would walk from Randolph Street to Harrison
observing the shifting character of Chicago's
great thoroughfare. To Harvey it seemed like
a river, starting clear but gradually roiled by
the smaller streams that poured in. each a
httle muddier than the one next north, until it
was clogged and stagnant with the scum of the
city. But to-day he was going north. The
sidewalk was crowded with eager girls and
jaded women, keen on the scent of bargains.
These amused Harvey, and he smiled as he
crossed Washington Street. A moment later

Politics and Other Things

the smile brightened. Miss Porter stood on the

corner.

" Surprised to see me .? " she laughed. " Father
came up unexpectedly on business, and I tagged
along to do some shopping. Are you in a
hurry ? I suppose so. You men never lose a
chance to awe us .vith the value of your time."

" No," Harvey replied, " I'm not at all in a

hurry."

" Good, then you can help me. I am buying

a gown."

They went into Field's, and for nearly an hour
Harvey " helped." It did not take him long to
realize that nowhere is a strong man more help-
less than in a department store. He went
through yards of samples, fingered dozens of
fabrics ; he discussed and suggested, all with a
critical air that amused Miss Porter. She tried
at first to take him seriously, but finally gave
up, leaned against the counter and laughed.

" Suppose we go up to the waiting room," she
said. " You can talk, anyway."

With a smile Harvey assented, and they seated
themselves near the railing, where they could
look down on the human kaleidoscope below.

" By tne way," said Harvey, after they had

i' )

The Short Line War

k iii

iti.'

chatted for some time "thic «, • .

Has a good joke on ^;. oTo.TZZ^ "^"'.""^
bor<! n;^ ^ ^ ruesdale neie:h.

Dors. Uid you see it? " ^

"No. Tell me about it "

from Lake Geneva to ,1 awav ff" '" ' '""^
that were following him anZ T '""' "^^^'^
«on he's been trying to ''"'r""^ '"''■

went up to Minnesota or so^htX:

There wasn't a ,^n ..i. clothes.

. ^""'^ ^ ^^an there anywhere near i.-

'Father will enjov that- " .u

loves to langh at^udge Blae;-":. ;'f
added, "I wonder wire fatht is" ^'^

ve;fsLT"'""*°^^"^^''^'<='°-d^y-'"Har.

"No. Not until day afff^r f^

go to the South SideTo JL - °-"°:''"°"- We

>o axxxuci, latiier and I.

Politics and Other Things

Father told me to meet him here at half-past
three."

Harvey drew out his ^'' ^.ch.

" It is after four now."

" Yes, I'm a little worried. Father is usually-
very prompt. He had to see some men about
the railroad, but he said it wouldn't take him
long. I'm afraid something has happened."

So was H; rvey. The mention of Mr. Porter
brought back to him certain peculiar facts, and
for a moment he thought fast. Evidently some-
thing was happening. In case there was a
chance of Tillman City wavering, Jim Weeks
should know of Porter's activity and at once.
Harvey rose abruptly.

" Excuse me. I find I have forgotten some
work at the office."

" Must you go .-* I am sorry." She rose and
extended her hand. ** I shan't be at home
cither night or I'd ask you to come and see
me. But you are coming down to Truc^dale
soon, remember."

" Yes," said Harvey. " Good-by."

He walked rapidly to the Washington Build-
ing. Jim had left no word, and Harvey called
up the Ashland Avenue residence, but could

1*.

. H?

'. "'W^

(6! IJI,

The Short Line War

learn noth.ng. The Northern Station master
returned a similar report : Mr. Weeks had not
been seen. Harvey sat down and rested his
elbows on the desk. Already it might be too
late. He called to mind Jim's business arrange-
ments, m the hope of striking a c'.ew by chance
He was mterrupted by a few callers, whom he
disposed of with a rush ; and he was closing
his desk with a vague idea of hunting Jim in
person when he was called to the 'phone. It
was the station master.

" I was mistaken, Mr. West," he said. " Four
teen has just got in from Manchester, and he
says he took Mr. Weeks out at noon."

Harvey rang off and called up the M & T
termmal station at Manchester.

there"'""' ^'"' '' ^'"''^°- ^' ^'- ^"''^
"Well -say, hello! Hold on, central!-

W.1 you call him to the 'phone, please.?"
" Why not .' "

" Where .' At the shops .? "
"Sorry, but I guess you'll have to interrupt
him. Important business."
" Can't help it if the whole road's blocked.

Get him
Good-by.

as quick as you can and call

up.

Politics ami Other Tilings

on master
s had not
rested his
:ht be too
s arrange-
>y chance,
whom he
LS closing
g Jim in
hone. It

" Four-
, and he

M. & T.
Weeks

itral ! —
;e ? "

iterrupt

locked,
us up.

Harvey waited ten minutes, twenty, thirty,
thirty-five — then the bell rang.

"Hello!"

"Yes."

" Not there ? "

" Wait a minute. You say he took the 4.30 ? "

"All right. Good-by."

Harvey turned back to his desk with a scowl.
He passed the next hour clearing up what was
left of the day's work ; then he went out to din-
ner, and at 6.45 met Jim Weeks at the Northern
Station.

" Hello," said the magnate, " what's up } "

" Porter is," replied Harvey. " I cornered
him and McNally with Thompson and Wing,
and I think McNally's gone after the Tillman
stock."

" I guess not," Jim smiled indulgently. " They
can't touch it. Tell me what you know."

Harvey related his experience, and as one
detail followed another Jim's eyebrows came
together. He took out his watch and looked
at it, then his eye swept the broad row of trains
in the gloomy, barnlike station. The hands on
the three-sided clock pointed to seven, and the
Northern Vestibule Limited began to roll out on

«?.

Ift'!'

The Short Line War

Suddenly

its run to Manchester and the VVes
Jim broke in ; —

"I'm going to Tillman. Back to-morrow.-
self n ffi "" P'^"°"" ''"'J ^>-"»g him-

c:irs:rrve%r.r°^''^-

sW.y walkeC out to i^Z.^r^:^^^

In the meantime Mr Porter ,„,„
Being unsuccessful . '', . ^""^"^ "'^= "ervous.
t, nsuccesstul m iiis search for Weelcs
and seemg the possibility of failure before him
he greeted the hour of five with a frown-^^t'

McNally was on the field and must fight i

out alone. It was a quarter after five 'wL;
he stepped from the elevator at Fidd's
and^^confronted a very reproachful Z:

"Sorry, dear, but I couldn't get awav ,n.
sooner." ^ ^^^^ any

;; What was it. dad .> That old railroad .' "

You .vouldn't understand it if I told you "
Kathermc frowned prettily '

ab«' ""^' ^°" ^'-y= -y- Tell me

i (Isii-

Politics and Other T/iincrs

>uddcnly

TOW."

ng him-
the re-
it, then
had not
of Jim

ervous.
^eeks,
■e him,
ti; but

done,
ght it

when
ield's,
^oung

' any

.1.

"Well, it was very important that I should
see a man before he saw another one,"

" Did you see him ? "

" No, I couldn't find him."

" Does it mean a loss to you, dad ? "

"I hope not, dear. But we must get started."

" I thought you never would come. It was
lucky that I had company part of the time."

" That's good. Who was it } "

"Mr. West."

"Mr. West.? — Not Weeks's man — not — "

Katherine nodded. Her father looked at her
puzzled ; then his brow slightly relaxed, and he
smiled. "By Jove!" he said softly. Katherine
was watching him in some surprise.

"Katherine, you are a brick. ' a shall have
the new cart. Yes, sir. I'll order it to-morrow."

"What have I done.?"

" You've saved the day, my dear." Suddenly
he frowned again. " Hold on ; when did you
see him } "

" I met him about three. I guess he was
here an hour or more."

" Couldn't be better ! But he must be an
awful fool."

Katherine bit her lip.

ill

:f|

The Short Line War

"Why? "she asked quietly

must be an awful fool " ^ ^- "^

a feculf "' '''"°"'' "" *" *« ^'--tor with

^aS-::jxro;at:;-^-^-^-
-iontoai„eatthfcr;?r„T;;sr;

e-tx ::::jrea;: :;p:^^^^^^^^^
po.atj^.eta":::eTti::'^n^^^

^nsubo.ai„ate legislatures .WthJ t " ^t o^ if
no wuhout expense, and naturally th/pres'en
as. Offered few difficulties. That wafw ^
after an hour or so of thought, he strai^hter.v

mr 7r'' ''°"^'" '^ p^p-. -^ read "' : : '

■nterest, from the foreign news to the foot h- ;
P ospects. Mr. MeNally's tastes were co I
Poluan, and now that his method was H

li'i'

Politics and Other Things

en Weeks
me. He

ator with
why her

^Ily wired
■ an invi-
7 AS P.M.
plan of

1 mildly
d finan-
or deli-
)us cor-
bduing
ion, if
)resent
' why,
iten.:d
:t with
ot-ball
osnio-
deter-

mined he dismissed M. & T. stock from his
mind. He knew Tillman City, and more to the
point, he knew Michael Blaney, Chairman of
the Council Finance Committee. Finesse would
not be needed, subtlety would be lost, with
Blaney, and so Mr. McNally was prepared to
talk bluntly. And on occasion Mr. McNally
could be terseness itself.

On his arrival he took a cab for the hotel.
The Committee were on hand to meet him,
and Blaney made him acquainted with the
others.

Michael Blaney was a man of the people. He
was tall and angular, hands and face seamed
and leathery from the work of earlier days,
eyes small and keen, and a scraggy mustache,
that petered out at the ends. He had risen by
slow but sure stages from a struggling contrac-
tor with no pull, to be the absolute monarch
of six wards; and as the other seven wards
were divided between the pro- and anti-pavers,
Blaney held the municipal reins. He still
derived an income from city contracts, but his
name did not appear on the bids.

After dinner Mr. McNally led the way to his
room, and in a few words announced that he

■\%

I :■'

The Short Line War

had come for the M. & T. stock. Blaney
tipped back in his chair and shook his head
" Can't do it, Mr. McNally. It ain't for sale "
"So I heard," said McNally, quietly, "but I
want it."

;' You see it's like this. When they were
building the line, we took the stock on a special
act — "

"I understand all that," McNally interrupted.
That can be fixed."

Williams, one of the other two, leaned over
the table.

"We ain't fools enough to go up against Jim
Weeks, he said.

" Don't worry about Weeks," replied McNally
" I can take care of him."

" Who are you buying for ? " asked Blaney
McNally looked thoughtfully at the three

men, then said quietly:

" J ^^ buying for C. & S. C. Jim Weeks is
ail right, but he can't hold out against us."
" Well, I tell vou, Mr. McNally, we can't sell "
"Why not.?"

" Outside of the original terms — and they
sew us up -we never could get it through the
Council"

Politics and Other Things

McNally folded his hands on the table and
looked at Blaney with twinkling eyes.
"That's all rot, Blaney."
** No, it ain't. The boys are right with Weeks."
" See here, Blaney. You just stop and ask
yourself what Weeks has done for you. He's
sunk a lot of your money and a lot of St.
Johns's money, to say nothing of Chicago, in
a road that never has paid and never will pay.
Why, man, the stock would be at forty now if
we hadn't pushed it up. I tell you Jim Weeks
is licked. The only way for you to get your
money back is to vote in men who can make it
go. '^Ve've got the money, and we've got the
m- [t will be a good thing for Tillman City,
and a good thing" — he paused, and looked
meaningly at the three faces before him — "a
mighty good thing for you boys."

" We couldn't put it through in time for the
election anyhow."

" The eighth } That's two weeks."

" I know it, but we'd have to work the oppo-
sition."

" Talk business, Blaney. I'll make it worth
your while."

" Whal'li you give 1 "

I
1 1

I {1

The Short Line War

" For the stock ? "

" Well ~ yes, for the stock."
"I'll give you par."
"Um — when?"

"That depends on you. However, if you
really want time, you can have it. I suppo=.
you boys vote the stock?"

All three nodded.

"Well, you vote for our men, and I'll sign an
agreement to pay cashat par after the meeting."

'Why not now?" ^

I w'olr"""'?r' '"^ """'^ °" y°"- Anyhow,
I won ^tpay tun get the stock, and you seL to

Blaney glanced at the other two. Thev were
watcing McNally closely, and WiiliaZw
McN^s ^^ watch Chain. Blaney's eyes met

"What'll you do for us .'" he asked. "Ifll
take careful work."

For answer McNally rose and went to the bed,
where h.s bag lay open, He rummaged a mo
ment, then returned with a pack of cards.

••Clo?etws •■'"•" '^"'''^^^""^'''"'-'^-

He dealt the cards with doff \..^a. t..

''"""•=• rJianey

Politics and Other Things

^er, if you
I supposii

-W sign an
meeting."

Anyhow,
>u seem to

"hey were
ams was
eyes met

i " It'll

' the bed,
ed a mo-
Is.
himself.

Blanc

started to take his up, then paused with his hand
over them.

" What's the ante .? " he asked.

" Oh, five hundred ? " McNally replied.

Blaney pushed the cards back.

" No," he said, " not enough."

Williams seconded his chief with a shake of
the head.

" Well, name it yourself."

"A thousand."

McNally pursed his lips, then drew out a
wallet, and counted out three thousand dollars
in large bills, which he laid in the centre of the
table.

" There's four playing," suggested Blaney.

McNally scov/led.

" Don't be a hog, Blaney." He took up his
hand, then laid it down and rose, adding, —

" Can't do anything with that hand."

The three Committeemen dropped their cards
and each pocketed a third of the money. Mr.
McNally fished a pad from his grip and wrote
the contract binding himself to pay for the
stock after the election on condition that it
should be voted at his dictation. He signed it,
and tossed it across the table.

_^*^^'b;4i&.\,;

The Short Line War

I
I

"All right, Mr. McNally," said Blaney, hold-
ing out his hand. "I guess we can see you
through. Good night."

"Good night, Blaney; good night, boys."
McNally shook hands cordially with each.
" We'll have a good road here yet."

When their footfalls died away in the hall
Mr. McNally turned to the table, gathered the
cards, and replaced them in his bag. The room
was close with cigar smoke, and he threw open
the wmdows. With the sensation of removing
something offensive, he washed his hands. He
stood for a few moments looking out the win-
dow at the quiet city, then he sauntered down-
stairs and into the deserted parlor, seating him-
self at the piano. His plump hands wandered
over the keys with surprisingly delicate touch.
For a short time he improvised. Then as the
night quiet sfole into his thoughts, he drifted
into Rubins .m's Melody in F, playing it
dreamily.

ney, hold-
1 see you

It, boys."
ith each.

the hall,
hered the
Fhe room
rew open
removing
ids. He
the win-
id down-
ing him-
^andered
e touch,
i as the
■ drifted
■ying it

CHAPTER IV

JIM WEEKS CLOSES IN

It was midnight when Jim Weeks reached
Tillman City. The next morning at breakfast
he recognized Mr. McNally, and though he
nodded pleasantly, his thoughts were not the
most amicable. He knew that McNally meant
mischief, and he also knew that McNally's mis-
chief could be accomplished only through one
man, Michael Blancy. Heretofore Blaney had
not troubled Jim. Jim's power and his hold on
Tillman City affairs had combined to inspire
the lesser dictator with awe, and in order to
obtain concessions it had been necessary only
to ask for them. Jim never dealt direct with
Blaney. The councilman to whom he intrusted
his measures was Bridge, leader of the pro-
pavers. Jim had won him by generosity in
transportation of paving supplies. But when
Jim left the hotel that morning he wasted no
time on minority leaders. Bridge was useful to

J'l

The Short Line War

!|s!'

prepare and introduce ordinances, but was not
of the caliber for big deals, so Jim ordered a
carnage and drove direct to Blaney's house.
Although the hour was early, the politician was
not at home. His wife, a frail little woman,
came to the door and extended a flexible speak-
ing trumpet that hung about her shoulders.

"No," she said in reply to Jim's question,
^ he s down on the artesian road watching a
job. He won't be bc::k till noon."

The road in question leads from the city to
the artesian well a few miles away. Jim turned
his horses and went back through the town and
out toward the country. He found Blaney just
mside the city limits, sitting on a curb and over-
seemg two bosses and a gang of laborers, who
were tearing up the macadam with the destruc-
tive enthusiasm of the hired sewer digger.

" How are you, Blaney .? " called Jim, pulling
up. ^

Blaney nodded sourly. He was a man of
bullymg rather than of tactful propensities and
he could not conceal his distaste for an inter-
view with Jim Weeks at this particular moment
To tell the truth, he had begun to fear the
results of the agreement with McNaiiy which

Jim Weeks Closes In

was not
dered a
> house,
ian was
woman,
: speak-
;rs.

Liestion,
:hing a

city to
turned
vn and
2y just
d over-
s, who
estruc-

)ulling

lan of
s and
inter-
ment,
•r the
vhich

rested in his coat pocket. Weeks was a hard
man to fight, and wasted no words on disloyalty.
However, Blaney knew that dissimulation would
profit him nothing, for to keep the changed vote
a secret would be impossible; so he squared
himself for a row. Jim tied his horses to a
sapling and sat beside him, remarking, —

"I want to have a talk with you."

" Haven't got much time," replied Blaney,
making a show of looking at his watch.

Jim smiled meaningly.

" You've got all the time I need. I want to
know what you're up to with our stock."

Blaney gazed at the laborers.

" Here ! " he called to a lazy Irishman, " get
back there where you belong ! "

" Come now, Blaney, talk business."

"What do you want to know about that
stock.?"

" How are you going to vote it .>' "

"I guess I can vote it."

" Are you going to stick to me } "

** I don't know whether I am or not. I'll do
what the Council directs."

Jim gave him a contemptuous glance.

" Don't be a fool, Blaney."

,ifi

The Short Line War

"See here," said B]aney, rising; "what are
you trying to do ? " ^^

Jim rose too.

■•ZTv"';'"'""''"^ "'^ ''"""''"•" he replied.
You think you can throiv me out '•

2 " K "" ^^'^ '"'' ''°°'' '°°'^''»e at
the trench ,n the street which the n,en had sunl

shoulder deep Jim followed.

" I'm not through yet, Blaney."

"I haven't got tin.e to talk with you," blus
ere the contractor. Jim stood a mome t look

Irfsht:^^^- "'^"^^'^ ''- -- "-'^ - f'e
^^^1' How much did he give you ..-asked Jim,

Blaney whirled around.

"Look out," he said "T ri««»^ i

> iic aaia. 1 don t know wh^if

trm:"'H-%t"'''"^™^"-'^-^^'^

withTtit em"l'^'^ ^''^ '''"''^'- ^'^ ^Poi-

Knew all that some hours a^o If T
couldn work it any better than you-'ve doL
Blaney-" ''°" "'^' ' ^-' ^^ ^o clo,

Jim Weeks Closes In

what

are

replied.

Tiutterecl
Dking at
ad sunk

," blus-
nt look-
on the

id Jim,

^ what
y that
spoke

)r my
If I
done,
) do.

"See here, you've said enough!" Blaney
was excited. "You can't come around here
and bulldoze me. We've bought that stock
and we'll vote it as we like, damn it; and you
can go to hell ! "

Jim looked at him thoughtfully, then he went
to his buggy and drove back to the hotel. He
saw that Blaney was frightened, but he evi-
dently was too thoroughly bought up to be
easily shaken. With what some men called
his "gameness" Jim dropped Blaney from his
mind for the moment, and began to plan for a
desperate counter move. Before he reached
the hotel the move was decided upon, and Jim
was placid.

The next man to see was Bridge. Jim
paused at the hotel long enough to send a
message to the station agent to have a special
ready in fifteen minutes; then he went to the
office of his lieutenant.

Bridge was an architect with a yearning for
politics. For several years he had tried to keep
both irons in the fire, and as a result was not
over-successful in either. But he was a shrewd,
silent man, and could be trusted. Jim found
him designing a stable.

I'h

The Short Line War

"Sit down, Mr. Weeks. What brings you to

Tillman ? '

•'Bad business." responded Jim, shortly,
iilaney's sold out to the C. & S. C. "
Mr. Bridge sat upon his table and said noth-
ing. When taken by surprise Mr. Bridge usu-
ally said nothing; that is why he had risen to
the leadership of a faction.

"I don't know just what's happened," Jim
went on, "but there's trouble ahead."

"Does Blaney say he's going to vote against
you } "

"No." said Jin,, "but he gave himself

away.

" Can you block him > "
Jim passed over the question.
" I wish you'd watch him, Bridge. There's
a deal on, and Frederick McNally is the other
pany. He's for C. & S. C. of course. Do
you know him ? "

Bridge shook his head.

" Well, never mind. I'll watch him. But
you worry Blaney. He's a little rattled now -
I reckon McNally's soaked him,-and if you're
careful you ought to find out something. I
want to know just how they've fixed it."

Jim Weeks Closes In

s you to
shortly.

>»

id noth-
Ige usu-
risen to

3/' Jim

against

limself

'here's

other

. Do

But

^ou're
g- I

Bridge nodded.

" I'll keep an eye on him."

"Well,"— Jim rose, — "I've got a train to
catch. Good-by."

He drove rapidly to the station; the agent
hurried toward him as he pulled up at the
platform.

"I only got your message this minute, Mr.
Weeks," he s?»''d; "there isn't a car in the
yards."

"What's XWc:^r' [im looked at his watch.
"Got an engin. ^"

" Only the switch engine."

" I'll take that."

The agent hesitated.

"You wouldn't get through before next
week," he said. " There's a couple of passen-
ger engines in the roundhouse, but they ain't
fired."

The telegraph operator leaned out of the
window and broke into the conversation.

"Murphy's firing the big eleven for sixteen
from Truesdale. You might take that."

"Got a good man to run it } " asked Jim.

"Jawn Donohue's on the switch engine,"
replied the operator. "He knows the road."

:|i

■III';

T/i^ Short Line War

J.m dimly remembered the name Donohue
Somewhat more than a year before his manat;

had reduced a man of that name for cripphW
an engme on a flying switch ^

Wee"'" slid t'h? """ '°" ^"""^ ^•='' M-
weeks said the agent, and turning, he ran

down the platform toward the freigh house
Jim called after him : —

"He's got to connect at Manchester with the
twelve o'clock for Chicago."

Jawn's dumpy little engine was blowing off
onas,d.ng. Jawn was oiling. He was a short
man, filling out his wide overalls with an in-'em
to-stay appearance. His beard was brushy his
eyes were lost in a gray tangle of brows and
lashes, and he chewed the stem of a cob pi;e

Jawn, said the agent, excitedly, " get eleven
"P to the platform quick ! " g« eleven

Jawn turned around, lowered the oil-can, and
looked at te nervous agent with impassive yes
Why } he said slowly. ^

twZ::5or" '" """"' "'"^ ^="'^'^-'- ^'

Jawn replaced his pipe.

trar'wf'''?'''^'"=™P''-'" -the house
track. Who s it for ? "

\%\

Donohue.
manager
crippling

?et, Mr.
. he ran
t liouse.

'Vith the

^ing off
a short
in-'eni-
5hy, his
ws and
pipe,
eleven

n, and
2 eyes.

Iter at

house

/tm Wt\'^ks Closes In 55

" Don't stop for that ! It's the President ! "

Javvn grunted, and walked deliberately across
the tracks and into the roundhouse, followed
by his fireman. Murphy, the hostler, was hov-
ering about the big throbbing locomotive, put-
ting a final polish on the oil-cups and piston-rods.
Jawn, without a word, climbed into the cab,
and out over the tender, where he lifted the
tank lid and peered down at the water.

" Never mind that," the agent called. " You
can water up at Byron,"

Jawn slowly clambered over the coal and
leaned against the doorway, packing the to-
bacco firmly into his pipe with his fire-proof
little finger.

" Young man," he said gruffly, " I run this
engine for four years without taking water be-
tween here and Manchester, and I reckon I can
do it agin." Then he pulled her slowly out of
the roundhouse.

In the meantime, the operator had sent this
message to the train despatcher at Manches-
ter; —

Want right of way over everything. Pres. coming on
light engine.

The S/iort Line War

To which the despatcher replied : --
Run to Manchester extra regardless of all trains.
When the engine finally rolled into the station
Jim was pacing up and down ; he was as nearly
impatient ^s Jim Weeks could be.

" You'll have to move faster than that," he
said shortly, swinging himself up the steps.

Jawn glanced at him without reply, then
looked at his watch. It was twenty minutes
after ten. He laid his hand upon the throttle
and pulled. There was a gasp of steam, a
whirring and slipping of the drive wheels, and
the engine plunged forward. Jawn fingered
the lever with a lover's caress. He knew old
"eleven," every foot of her, every tube, bolt,
and strap. As they cleared the yards, he
threw her wider and wider open until she' was
lunging and lurching madly. The cinders beat
a tattoo upon the cab, and Jim Weeks crowded
up into the corner. The fireman, a strapping
young fellow, threw in great shovels of coal with
the regularity of a machine, pausing nly to
wipe his forehead with the back of his hand as
the heat grew intense. When he opened the
furnac door, Jim could see the glowing bed lift
and stir with the jolt of the en-^ine.

Jim Weeks Closes In

•ains.

le station
as nearly

:hat," he
eps.
ly, then

minutes
I throttle
team, a
ids, and
fingered
new old
3e, bolt,
rds, he
she was
irs beat
:rowded
rapping
3al with

nly to
land as
led the
bed lift

Old Jawn, perched upon his high seat, never
shifted his eyes from the track ahead. His
face wore the usual scowl, but betrayed no
emotion. Perhaps his teeth gripped the pipe-
stem harder than usual, but then, it was a preg-
nant hour for Jawn. The feel of the old pet
under his hand made his heart jump, and
brought the hope that a successful run might
lead him back to his own. Jawn knew that he
deserved something better than a switch engine
in the division yards, he knew that he was the
best engineer on the road, but he had steeled
himself against hope. As they whirled past
the mile-posts his emotion grew. He felt that
the President was watching him closely, and he
coaxed the steel thing into terrific speed. The
cab grew hotter and hotter. Jim loosened his
grip on the seat long enough to unbutton his
collar and to twist his handkerchief around
his neck. The fireman was dripping, but Jawn
sat immovable as marble. They whirled past
little stations with a sudden roar. At Brushing-
ham a passenger train lay on the siding. There
was a mottled flash of yellow, then they were
by, and for an instant Jawn smiled. He hadn't
^aaacQ ja<^k iviuiiin liKc tnac lOF yeaus.

• --*a-Hai3(r J

The Short Li?te War

Then they struck the hills. Up with a snort,
over with a groan, and down with a rumble and
slide, they flew. Here Jawn's eyes shifted to
the water gauge. Jim locked one arm around
the window post, and sat with eyes fixed on
his watch. The minute hand crept around to
eleven, passed it, and on to five, ten, fifteen
twenty, twenty-five. At thirty-five clusters of
cottages began to shoot by. Jawn's arm began
to straighten - the roar diminished a trifle
Thirty-seven they passed rows of coal-laden flat
cars ; thirty-nine, they slackened through a tan-
gle of tracks ; forty-one, the big engine rolled
under the train shed and stopped in a cloud of
steam.

Jim stepped down and stretched himself.
The fireman had staggered back into the ten-
der, and lay in a heap, fanning himself with
his cap. Jawn took a final glance at the water
gauge, then he swung around and removed his
cold pipe.

" Mr. Weeks," he said gruffly, " I brung ye a
hundred and three mile in eighty-one minutes.
There ain't another man on the line could 'a'
done it. I reckon that's why there's nothing
for me but a switch engine." Without wait-

1 a snort,
mble and
hifted to

1 around
fixed on
round to

, fifteen,
isters of
n began
a trifle,
iden flat
h a tan-
e rolled
:Ioud of

limself.
he ten-
If with

2 water
/ed his

Jim Weeks Closes In 59

ing for a reply he seized an oil-can and swung
out of the cab. Jim followed in silence, and
hurried away with a grim smile.

At two-thirty Jim was in his Chicago office.
For some time he was closeted with Myers,
treasurer of the road, then he closed his desk
and went out. He spent an hour with Spencer,
a capitalist and an M. & T. director. From
four to six he was locked in his office, going
through his various collateral securities. At
six he locked his office and went home with a
feeling of relief. The battle was on, and Jim
was ready. There would be a meeting at his
house that evening between Spencer, Myers,
and himself ; not a long meeting, but one pro-
ductive of results.

ig ye a
inutes.
uld 'a'
othing
'- wait-

-#]

CHAPTER V

TUESDAY EVENING

Harvey West Jiked to be comfortable. His
rooms were in a quiet ap.;tme.,t house on the
West Side, within easy reucl, of the IVletropoli-
tan Elevated, and not far from tl;e big house
w.iere Jim Weelcs held bachelor sway. Harvey
_*as not a musician, but a good piano stood in
!-.-3 sitting room. He had accumulated a few
etchings and two bronzes; and on the centre
table were piled the latest books, Harvey read
these about as he listened to Grand Opera -
he recognized that a man should keep in touch
with such things. In a vague way he enjoyed
them, but he was too honest to cultivate the
ghb generalities that give so many men a rating
as connoisseurs of art, music, and literature
Harvey liked action. Business appealed to him,
anything with motion and excitement; then
after the fever of the day, he was drawn to J
few friends and a good cigar. But back behind

Ttiesday Eveiihig

le. His
; on the
etropoli-
g house
Harvey
Jtood in
i a few

centre
ey read
pera —
\ touch
injoyed
ite the

rating
Tature.
to him,

then,
n to a
behind

his straightforward democratic temperament
there was a dash of good blood, the sifting down
of generations of gentlemen and gentlewomen,
that accounted for Harvey's inherent good
taste. He could not criticise the technique of a
picture, but he never selected a poor one. And
the few books he really liked were the kind one
can read once a year with profit.

Early on this Tuesday evening Harvey was
trying to read, but his eyes would wander and
his brow contract. At intervals he would turn
in his chair and endeavor to bring his thoughts
back to the book. Finally he shut it with a
bang and, walking to the window, stood looking
out over the city. It had been a hard day for
Harvey. He had passed hours waiting to learn
the result of Jim's efforts to head off McNally.
The news that C. & S. C. would undoubtedly
control the Tillman City stock at election had
been closely followed by the discovery of un-
expected strength in the opposition directors.
People used to say of Jim that he was never so
happy as when fighting in his last ditch, but
Harvey derived no pleasure from such opera-
tions. On this occasion he was particularly
troubled. He felt that his failure to tend to

mMumtmU'vi lHiM

itbi^i

The Short Line War

n,'

business the preceding afternoon had contrib-
uted largely to the loss of Tillman City and
worn of all, what a fool Miss Porter must'think

The boulevard below was hedged with two
long rows of gas-lamps which converged far
away to the south. Sounds of the street floated
up to him- the clatter of hoofs on the asphalt
disjointed conversations from wheelmen, juve'
mle calls and whistles. Harvey looked down at
the strolling crowds on the sidewalk, and felt
onely. He turned away from the window, and
took a cigar from the hospitable box on the
njanteh Near the box was a kodak picture of
Miss Porter which he had taken some time
before. He held the picture to the light, and
gazed at it earnestly. "You had a fine laurh
over me yesterday, didn't you, when your father
told you all about it .' "

Harvey's big sitting room was popular. His
friends had the comfortable habit of dropnin..
m at almost any hour of the day or night, sur^
of a hearty welcome. But to-night the thought
of visitors caused him to replace the picture
suddenly, seize his hat and stick, and start out
for -somewhere. At first he entertained a

Tuesday Evening

contrib-
ity; and,
ust think

vith two
'ged far
t floated
asphalt,
n, j live-
down at
md felt
3w, and
on the
:ture of
e time
ht, and
lauf;h
father

. His

)pping
t, sure
ought
icture
rt out
led a

dim notion of going to Lincoln Park, so he took
the elevated down town, and started north on
the Clark Street cable. But as the car jolted
along, he remembered that the band did not
play Tuesday evenings. He might take in the
electric fountain, but in the crowd you couldn't
go about and look at people without being in
other people's way. Harvey was fond of the
great public, but he liked to hold himself in
the background. He rode past the Park under
the long row of elms, gazing absently at the
thronging walk where the middle strata of
North Side humanity take their evening prome-
nade. Passing the Park, he decided to go on
to the Bismarck, where he could be among
people and yet remain alone.

A few minutes before eight he walked be-
tween the brown dragons which guard the
entrance, and crossed the raised pavilion be-
tween the street and the garden. At the head
of the stairs he paused a moment, then he
turned aside and seated himself at a table
near by, where he could lean against the rail-
ing and overlook the crowd below.

It was still somewhat early, and the long
rows of white tables stood vacant. By daylight

ill

The Short Line War

'Jfti,

the trees in a summer garden wear a home-
sick look, but to-night the festooned incandes-
cc '-■:,■ spread a soft yellow light through
^he (..hage, already thinned, though the night
was warm, by the touch of September ; while
high up on their white poles the big arcs threw
down a weird b|. ;.,re, casting a confusion of
half-opaque shadows upon the gravelled earth.
Far to the front was the stage with its half
dome ; the double-bass was tuning his instru-
ment, a few others were sorting music or run-
nmg over difficult passages.

By this time the crowd was pouring in and
spreading among the tables. Harvey leaned
back and watched the almost r...broken line
that moved from the gate to the steps. There
were a great many family groups, wIlL here
and there a chaperoned piirty from the suburbs.
A sound of scraping and squealing and grunt-
ing from the stage announced the orchestral
pi 'Jminpries. ^here vas a scattering fusillade
of applause as the tall conductor appeared.
Look;:),, through the tre. s Harvey could see
him rap his stand and raise both arms. The
concert was on. iarvcy's glance shifted back
to the stairw. '. ar 4 he starter^ On the Dottom

a home-
incandes-
: through
the night
Jr; while
res threw
fusion of
id earth.

its half
s instru-
: or run-

; in and
r leaned
^en line
There
tii here
suburbs.
1 grunt-
chestral
usillade
peared.
uld see
5. The
d back

T. sday Evening

step, looking about for a vacant table, was Will-
iam C. Porter. Behind him, standing, with head
thrown back, was T'^iss Katherinc Porter. For
a moment she looked at the shifting scene be-
fore her. Harvey noted with hungry eye, the
poise of her figure. Then she turned delib-
erately, and bowed to Harvey with a bright
smile.

A little later, as Harvey sat alone listening
to the music, Mr. Porter appeared, picking; his
way toward iie centre aisle. Harvey watched
him idly. He finally reached the stairway, and
came straight to Harvey's table.

" Good evening, Mr. West," he said, holding
out his hand. " Won't you join us } We shall
be here for an hour, anyway."

Harvey rose, and looked across the diagonal
line of tables. Miss Porter was leaning forward
with a smile. Harvey's mind had beei made
I'D, but he changed it and followed Mr. Porter.

Katherine received him brightly and immedi-
ately put him at ease. For the time he forgot
that Mr. rorter and he were jmin"-! enemies.
Mr. Porter talked entertainingly oi the people
about ;.hem, a subject which Harvey could crui-
tinue With inte iigencej ar-d he was gratified tu

,itj

The Short Line War

note the interest in the daughter's eyes as he

commented on the oddities of human character

They xvere looking at a party of Germans,'

who sat listening to the music with the stohd

interest of the race, when Mr. Porter rose and

becKoned. Katherine nodded to some one

behind Harvey. A moment later he was shak-

ing hands with Mr. McNally.

" We've been watching for you for some
time, said Mr. Porter, as McNally took the
vacant chair.

" Have you .> " McNally smiled easily " I
wish you had said that, Miss Porter."

"Oh, Mr. McNally, you know I was hoping
for you." ^ ^

_ Harvey's eyes betrayed him, for she added
in a bantering tone,

"We must say such things to Mr. McNally
Mr West; if we don't, he gets simply unbear-'

McNally looked at her with an amused ex-
pression. Evidently they understood each other
As the banter continued, Harvey began to feel
uncomfortable. He tried to listen to the or-
chestra, which was playing a lively march.
Good, isn't it? " said Miss Porter to Harvey

Tuesday Evening

Bs as he
baracter.
Jernians,
le stohd
ose and
'ne one
LS shak-

r some
•ok the

y. "I

hoping

added

Nally,
nbear-

3d ex-
other.
3 feel
le or-
:h.
irvey.

" Splendid," he replied.

"Do you think so.?" observed Mr. McNally.
"Seems to me hunge's a little off to-night.
Too much drum. Queer motions, hasn't
he ? "

Herr Bunge's motions were queer. He was
very tall and spare, with an angular, smooth-
shaven face, and with a luxuriant growth of
hair that waved and flopped in the gentle
breeze. His long arms were principally elbow,
and they swayed and crooked and jerked as
though he were pulling the music down out of
the air. At times when he turned to the be-
lated second violins, his gaunt profile would
appear in silhouette against a glare of electric
light.

" Do you know," said McNally, fingering his
programme, - Bunge ought to stick to this kind
of stuff. Last week I heard him play some of
the Queen Mab music, and it was wilful slaugh-
ter. Poor old Berlioz would have sobbed alo'lid
if he had heard it."

Harvey felt awkward. He could not follow
McNally's comments, and it humiliated him
Miss Porter was quick to observe his silence,
and endeavored to draw him into the conversa'

The Short Line War

^.j.

tion, while Mr. McNally seemed determined to
hold the reins. There was some good-natured
fencing, then Mr. Porter rose.

" You'll excuse us, Mr. West," he said pleas-
antly. " We have an engagement for the latter
part of the evening."

"Yes," added his daughter, "we promised to
go out to Edgewater — the Saddle and Cycle,
you know."

Harvey bowed and stood immovable, as
father, daughter, and Mr. McNally left the
garden. She had given him a quick glance,
and he wondered what it meant. He sat down
and absently broke the straws in his glass. The
orchestra had stopped, and a buzz of conversa-
tion floated into the foliage. White-clad waiters
bustled about with trays piled high.

After another number he started for home,
blue and angry. As he left the elevated and
walked down Ashland Avenue, he saw that
Jim's house was lighted up, and he crossed
over. Jim and he were better friends than
their relative positions indicated. Neither had
family ties, and Jim's interest in the younger
man was perhaps the nearest approach to senti-
ment he had felt for years, He seldom o-enl"

Tuesday Evening gg

showed his regard, but Harvey was perfectly
conscious of it, and he valued it highly.

Jim was sitting alone at the table in the
library. He greeted Harvey by tipping back
and waving toward a seat. The table was
littered with papers.

"How are you.?" said Jim. "We've stolen
a march on you."

Harvey smiled, and threw himself wearily
into a chair at the other end of the table.

"What is it.?" he asked. *«C. & S. C.
again } "

Jim nodded, and drawing out his cigar case,
he took one and tossed the case down to Har-
vey, then said : —

"Yes, and I think we've got 'em down.
We've issued some more stock." He leaned
on the table and spoke in a confidential tone.
"And I reckon Porter'll be doing a hornpipe
when he finds it out."

"Who took it.? " asked Harvey.

" Spencer, Myers, and I. The books haven't
been closed, you know."

Harvey blew out a thin cloud of smoke, and
looked at it meditatively.
"Nine thousand shares," continued Jim. "If

The Short Line War

there's anything he can do now, he's welcome
to try."

** Do you think he will try ? "

" Oh, yes, he'll come at us with something or
other. But he can't do a thing."

There was a long silence, then Harvey said, —

" You didn't pay cash for the stock } "

"Ten per cent," Jim replied.

Harvey fingered his cigar. Every new move
of Jim's bewildered him. Jim's imperturbability,
and his eagerness for a fight where some men
would be discouraged, were qualities that Har-
vey was slow in acquiring. His admiration for
Jim amounted almost to reverence. Perhaps
had he realized the bitter fighting that was yet
to come, if he could have foreseen the part that
he was to play with zeal and judgment, he
would have been even more bewildered, but
Harvey was plucky enough ; it needed only the
right circumstances to develop him.

" If he does fight," said Jim, breaking the
silence, "if he succeeds in landing on us, why,
then, look out for war. I'll put my last cent
into M. & T. before I'll give him a chance at
it."

" Is he likelv to 2-rab the road ? "

Tuesday Evening

" Maybe he'll try. But I'll have five hundred
men with guns in his way. I'll tell you, West,
I'm not going to give in. I never have yet."

"No," said Harvey, thoughtfully, "I don't
believe you have." And he added, "I saw
Porter to-night."

'• Where } "

"Up at the Bismarck. McNally was with
him."

"Anybody else.?"

"His daughter,"

" Pretty girl, I hear."

"Yes,"— -Harvey spoke slowly, — "she is.
A very pretty girl. Her father seems to be a
gentleman."

"Oh, Porter's all right. He's doing what
'most any man in his place would do. It's
business. There's nothing personal in it."

"I suppose not," Harvey replied. "It's still
a little odd to me. I'm afraid I'd want to break
his head."

Jim laughed.

" You'll get over that. I reckon you haven't
got anything against his daughter."

"Perhaps not," said Harvey; "but that's
different"

The Short Line War

" Oh, is it ? "

Harvey sat for a moment without reply, then
he tossed his half -smoked cigar into the ash-
ir ly and rose.

" Don't go, West. I shall be up for a long
while."

" I'm tired," Harvey replied. " I need sleep.
Good night."

Harvey walked home slowly. Once in his
room, he did not light up ; instead he drew an
easy-chair to the window and stretched out
where he could feel the breeze. It had been
a strange evening. He went back over the
conversation in the Bismarck. Katherine had
seemed even prettier than usual ; but before
every picture of her rose the calm, smiling
face of McNally — McNally with his pudgy
hands and his cool blue eyes, his ease and his
well-placed comment. Harvey rested an elbow
on the sill and looked out the window. The
crowds were gone now. No sound came save
the rustle of the leaves and the occasional
rumble of the elevated trains. The moon was
clouded, but over the trees the stars were out,
as clear and soft as on other evenings that had
not seemed so dreary. He turned away and

Mi'

Tuesday Evening 73

walked over to the mantel, where Katherine's
picture leaned against the wall. He found it
without striking a light, and brought it to W
window. By the dim light from the street ai.
the sky, he could see her face in faint outline.

"Well, Miss Katherine," he said, looking into
the shadowy eyes, "I guess Jim Weeks isn't the
only fighter here."

> J'-

III

CHAPTER VI

JUDGE BLACK

There are two kinds of business men : those
who make their business at once work and play,
a means of acquiring wealth and a most excit-
ing game whose charms make all other games
seem flat and unprofitable; and another class
who, though they may enjoy work, turn for
recreation to whist or philanthropy or golf.
Porter belonged to the latter class. He went
into the fight against Jim Weeks simply because
he hoped it would make him richer, and it did
not occur to him that he could enjoy the action.
On Wednesday morning he sat in his office
wondering if he could not get away to the
Truesdale golf links for a match that afternoon.

He looked over the ground carefully, and
could see no way by which Weeks could save
himself from defeat, for the control of Tillman
City gave C. & S. C. a majority of the stock.
Weeks's allies were deserting him, so that he

Judge Black -j

now had a bare majority in the Board of Di-
rectors. Anyway, McNally would be on the
ground in case Jim should try to do anything.
•Well,' thought Porter, "I'll go, I guess
Its safe enough." He had closed his desk
when the door opened and an office boy came
in with a telegram. Forter tore it open list-
lessly, but his indolence vanished as he read
the first line. The message was from Man-
Chester, and it read as follows : —

tholnt \ '"'^^"'P"™ '»<"< ^'"b^ ^how issue of nine
thousand shares new stock to Weeks, Myers, and Spencer,

ten per cent paid, dated yesterday. '

Powers.

When a man finds himself in an ambush, or
when an utterly unexpected attack is made
upon him, he shows what he is. It was char-
acteristic of Porter that after the moment of
dazed unrealization had passed he began almost
mechanically to plan a break for cover- he
Wished that he had not gone into the fight,' and
berated his stupidity in not foreseeing the
move; it had not occurred to him that the sub-
scription for the stock had not closed long
ago. Aff-or o f^,.. — •„ . ^ °

s- /A..^. „ ,^,-, Hiiiiuces 01 vain search for

The Short Line War

an avenue of retreat, he saw that it was too

late to do anything but fight it out; Jim

Weeks was not likely to let an antagonist off
easily.

He called to his secretary: "Telephone
Shields to come over here, will you, as soon as
he can? And ask McNally to come too."
While he was waiting for them he sat quite
still in his big chair and thought hard, but he
could see no way of countering the blow.

The two men he had sent for came into the
office together. Porter did not rise. With a
nod of greeting he handed the yellow envelope
to McNally, who whistled softly as he caught
its import, and passed it on to Shields, an attor-
ney for the C. & S. C, an emotionless, non-
committal man.

"Hm— it looks as though that beat you,"
he said slowly.

Porter lost his nerve and his temper too for
a moment. He rose quickly and took a step
toward the lawyer.

"Hell, man!" he exclaimed angrily. "We
can't be beat. We've got to get out of this
some way. That's what you're here for."
Then he recovered himself. " I beg vour par-

Judge Black

was too
Lit ; Jim
Dnist off

;lephone
soon as
le too."
at quite
, but he

into the
With a
nvelope
caught
n attor-
58, non-

t you,"

too for
a step

, "We

of this
z for."
ur oar-

don, Shields. Sit down, and we'll talk this
business over."

For ncjc'y an hour the three men sat in
earnest consultation; then the secretary was
called in.

" Find out if Judge Black is in Truesdale,"
said Porter. " If he is. I want to talk to him."
Then he turned to Shields.

"That's our move," he said. "We can al-
lege fraud on the ground that the stock was
issued secretly and with the purpose of influ-
encing the election. Black's the man for that
business."

"It isn't much of a case, mind you," said
Shields. " I'm afraid that Weeks's action is not
illegal, and that a court would sustain it, but it's
possible to raise a question that it will take time
to decide."

" That's all we need," said Porter, with a sigh
of relief. " If we raise the question. Black will
do the rest."

It was several minutes before the secretary

came back from the telephone.

" Well, did you get him .? " asked Porter.

"No," said the secretary; "he isn't in
14 . .

The Short Line War

K i

31 \
* I.I !

!«■

"Where is he?"

"1 couldn't ^nd out. His stenographer
wouldn't tell me."

'• Wouldn't tell you, eh ? " said Porter. " Just
get Truesdale again ; I'll talk with that young
man myself."

When he began talking his voice was mild
and persuasive, and Shields ai.d McNally lis-
tened expectantly. As the minutes went by and
he did not get the information he wanted, it
became evident that the cocksure young man at
the other end of the line was rasping thrr igh
what was left of Porter's patience as an emery
wheel does through soft iron. As might be
expected, the process was accompanied with
a shower of sparks. Porter's voice rose and
swelled in volume until at last he shouted, "You
don't care who I am ? Why, you damned little
fool — " and then he stopped, for a sharp click
told him that he was cut off, even from the cen-
tral office, and he was not angry enough to go
on swearing at an unresponsive telephone.

For a moment he stood biting his lip in
a nervous effort to control himself, then he
joined feebly in the laughter the other two men
had raised against him. A moment later he

ographer

. " Just
it young

vas mild
J ally lis-
t by and
anted, it
; man at
thrr

igh

n emery
light be
ed with
ose and
d, "You
ed little
rp click
the cen-
jh to go
le.

lip in
hen he
wo men
ater he

pulled out his watch, and ^ rning to McNally
aid: —

"Keep your eye on Weeks, will you? I'm
going to Truesdale on the eleven-thirty to find
Black. Good-by."

Katherine was not surprised when twenty
minutes later her father appeared and told her
his plans. That was t -ain she had expected
they would take.

"I'm going along too," she said. ''You're
going to play golf this afternoon, aren't you ? "

"No," replied her father, shortly, "I'm not
going to play golf. I'm going to play some-
thing else."

The five-hour ride to Truesdale was for the
most part a silent one. Katherine knew that
her father was worried about something, and
when he was worried he never liked to talk, so
she asked no questions and made no attempt to
draw him away from what troubled him. Only
when they reached Truesdale and her father
was about to help her into the cart that stood
waiting she st-pped long enough to kiss him
and say : —

"Don't bother too much about it, dad. And
on't plan any business for this evening- I

MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART

{ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

■ so

12.8

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^ x^PPLIED IIVHGE

Inc

1653 East Main Street

Rochester, New York 14609 USA

(716) 482 - 0300 - Phan.»

(716) 288- 5989 - Fax

h I

The Short Line War

want you to take me out on the river." As she
turned the cart around and started up the broad
smooth street toward home she frowned, and
thought, " I wish he would tell me more about
things. I believe I could help."

Porter went straight to Judge Black's to con-
tinue his conversation with the stenographer,
but it needed no more than a glance to convince
him of the futility of trying to get any informa-
tion from that source.

The new stenographer was a boyish-looking
person who tried to convince one that he was
much older than his appearance would indicate.
He had big feet and a high voice ; he used only
the bottom notes for conversational purposes
save when in unwary moments Nature would as-
sert herself in a hoarse falsetto. He patronized
Mr. Porter. He said that the Judge had left
town the week before, and that he would proba-
bly be back in about ten days. He would send
him no messages whatever, from anybody : those
were Judge Black's orders.

The young man seemed willing to go on talk-
ing at great length, and he doubtless would
have done so had not Porter suddenly left the

viuc-iicoiuciit naa tnougnt ot

'il ,i

«*^".

Judge Black

As she
le broad
led, and
■e about

to con-
jrapher,
onvince
nforma-

■looking
he was
ndicate.
ed inly
urposes
ould as-
ronized
lad left
1 proba-
Id send
: those

)n talk-
would
eft the
It of a

possible clew. He walked rapidly to the rail-
road ticket office and spoke to the agent.

"Did Judge Black leave town a few days
ago } " he asked.

"Yes, sir," answered the agent. "I don't
remember just what day, but he went up on
twenty-two."

" Oh, he went east then. Do you remember
where } "

" His ticket read to Chicago."

Porter walked away thoroughly disappointed.
The chance had looked like a good one and
there seemed to be no othei. But he must in
some way find the Judge ; he could not wait for
him. The first thing he did was to call up
McNally by telephone and repeat to him what
the agent had said. He told McNally to find
out at what hotel the Judge had stayed, if at
any, and to look for anything which might prove
a clew to his whereabouts. " It's a wild-goose
chase, I know," he concluded; "but then you
may manage to turn up something." He
knew that McNally would do everything that
could be done in Chicago toward finding the
missing Judge, so he went to work along other
lines.

77ie Short Line War

Judge Black was a member of two fishing
clubs, one at Les Chenaux Islands, near Macki-
nac, and the other about forty miles north of
Minneapolis, so Porter sent long and urgent
telegrams to both these places. Then he began
making long shots, working through a list of
more or less likely places, which his knowledge
of Black's tastes and habits enabled him to o-.^t
togetlier. Just before dinner a message came
from McNally : —

Black at Sherman House Friday. Cierk says he took
three-thirty train on Northwestc n for Lake Geneva. Can
run him down in morning.

Thursday morning the two little telegraph
boys at Lake Geneva and the one at William's
Bay had a busy time of it, for Porter and Mc-
Nally between them kept the wires hot; but
neither hide nor hi ^f Judge Alonzo Black
could they discover. From ten o'clork on
through an inte^-minable day the messages kept
coming back, 'not delivered.' At half-past
four Porter telephoned his lieutenant to go to
the lake and continue the search in person.

At seven Katherine and her father sat down
to dinner. She had known all day that some-

fishing
• Macki-
lorth of

urgent
e began
L list of
)wledge
n to got
e came

he took
va. Can

egraph
illiam's
id Mc-
t; but

Black
)<"k on
:s kept
ilf-past

go to
n.
t down

some-

Judgc Black

thing was going wrong with her father's affairs,
and she could read in his silent preoccupied
manner that he had not yet been able to see
a way out of the difficulty. She knew that she
could not make him forget his troubles. Many
vain attempts had taught her that, so she waited.
The long dinner wore on Porter's nerves ; once
he rose suddenly and walked toward his library,
but stopped short when he reached the door
and came back to the table. Then he drummed
on the arm of his chair.

"Two days more of this," he said, with a
nervous laugh, " and that man Black will have
my life to a; swer for."

"Judge Black.?" asked Katherine. "What
has he done } "

"Done.? He's disappeared off the face of
the earth just at this particular moment when
I've got to have him here."

"Why," cried Katherine, "I know where he
is. He's at the Grand View Hotel — "she
paused and leaned forward, her elbows on the
table and her hands clasped before her. " It's
some place up in Wisconsin that sounds like
alpaca. Waupaca — that's it. Grand View
Hotel, Waupaca, Wisconsin."

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TAe Short Line War

"Are you sure that's right?" he asked.
" How do you know ? "

" Mr. West told me," she answered. " There
was such a good joke on him in the paper. I
meant to tell you about it."

But Porter was smiling over something else.
After a moment he said : —

" We'd have been swamped long ago in this

M. & T. business if it hadn't been for the kind

services of that wise and valuable young man,

West. I think I'll pay him a regular salary

after this to keep him on the other side in all

the fights I get into. Lord, what a fool he is ! "

He left the room so abruptly that he did not

see how Katherine's cheeks reddened, nor how

her lips pressed together in vexation. If he

had he would not have known the reason for it

any more than Katherine did.

Rainbow Lake is pretty in the daytime,
but it is beautiful under the moonlight when
you can stretch out distances and imagine that
the lights at Bagley's Landing are those of a
city twenty miles away, and when the solid pine
groves on Maple and Government islands loom
up big and black. The Judge was enjoying his

W\{

Jtidge Black

else.

vacation the better for its lateness. He had
bolted his supper early enough to secure his
favorite chair in the best part of the piazza : a
mandolin orchestra wa= playing a waltz from
"The Serenade," and playing it well, the
Judge thought. He threw away the match
with which he had lighted his third cigar — to
keep off the mosquitoes, he blandly told his
conscience -- and leaned back in the Morris
chair, thinking how congruously comfortable it
all was, now that he had his own clothes and
the 'bus man could work without soiling his
other suit.

A clerk came out of the office, peered about
in the half light for a moment, and approached
the Judge, touching him on the shoulder.

"Judge Black," he said, "Truesdale wants
to talk to you on the 'phone."

Five minutes later the legal luminary came
out of the telephone box. He was swearing
earnestly, but softly, out of deference to the
candy-and-cigar girl. He walked slowly across
the office.

"There's a train for Chicago at 8.30, isn't
there.?" he asked.

"Yes," said the clerk. "Do you want to
take it.?"

The Short Line War

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There was another pianissimo interlude, at
the end of which the clerk was given to under-
stand that he should order the 'bus for that
train. Then the Judge went back for his chair,
but it was occupied by a little girl who was just
too old to be asked to sit somewhere else.

As Jim Weeks had said, Thompson wouldn't
fight, and Porter realized this quite as well as
Jim. The recalcitrant Vice-President played no
part in Porter's calculations except as a some-
what blundering and obstinate tool. But on
Friday morning Thompson's office boy an-
nounced Mr. Porter. Porter stated his case
clearly. It was his plan to remove Weeks
and Myers by judicial order from the Board of
Directors. That would leave the opposition a
majority of the board. Then Thompson was
to call a meeting and assume control of the
books. That done, the battle would be decided,
and the election a mere formality. Thompson
was badly rattled, for he hadn't a grain of sand
in his composition, but in the end he conquered
his fears and agreed to play the part Porter
assigned to him.

At half-past two a disjointed-looking train
..,1^ ^ii^ riariioon oticcL oiaiion, and

|Ji::

Judge Black

Judge Black climbed disconsolately out of the
smoker. There was a coating of cinders on the
top of his derby hat; there were drifts of
cinders in the curl of the brim; there were
streaks of cinders along the lines where his coat
wrinkled ; and there was one cinder in his left
eye which gave him so leery and bibulous an
aspect that an old lady who narrowly escaped
colliding with him turned and looked after him
in indignation, being half minded to go back
and plead with him to lead a better life.

It was fifteen minutes later when the Judge
reached Porter's office, but before three o'clock
he had signed an order enjoining James Weeks
and Johnson Myers from acting as directors of,
or from interfering in any way with, the affairs
of the corporation known as the Manchester &
Truesdale Railroad Company, and from voting
the nine thousand shares of stock in that com-
pany which had been is. .:d September 25th.

CHAPTER VII

BETWEEN THE LINES

f.r

mil

On Friday afternoon Harvey closed his desk
with a feeling of relief. There had been plenty
of work for the past few days, and Harvey's
thoughts had acquired such wandering habits
that his work seemed harder than usual. He
had not seen Katherine since Tuesday evening,
but another note, dated Thursday evening, was
in his coat pocket. He read it again : —

My dear Mr. West: As you have inferred from the
postmark I am back at Truesdale ; we returned Wednes-
day. I have about despaired of seeing you here, at least
of your own free will, so I have decided to kidnap you.
Will you coine to a coaching party Saturday afternoon —
or rather a brake party? We shall start from our house,
weather permitting, at four o'clock, and drive out to Oak-
wood, returning by moonlight. Please don't let any stu-
pid business interfere with your coming down and having
a jolly time.

Cordially,

Katkerine Porter.

Bctzvccft the Lines

Harvey slowly folded the note and replaced
it in his pocket. Then he spoke to Jim.

•' Mr. Weeks, will you need me to-morrow > "

Jim looked up pleasantly. Since the recent
issue of M. & T. stock, Jim's eyes had smiled
almost continuously.

" Guess not," he replied. " Going away ? "

"Just over Sunday."

" You aren't going anywhere near Truesdale,
are you } "

" Why, yes."

Jim whirled around to his desk and rum-
maged through some pigeonholes.

" I want to get word to a man down there,"
he said, — "some fellow that Fox talks about,
who has a good team to sell. I thought I had
his card. Well, never mind, I'll call up Fox in
the morning and get his name and address.
Then if you have time" — Jim smiled — •* you
might talk with him and see what they are.
Don't commit yourself; just size things up."

Harvey bowed.

'* I don't believe you need come around in the
morning. I'll call you up or wire you. But don't
lose any dinners on account of it."

The next morning Harvey went to Truesdale.

TAe Short Line War

I !

The Oakwood Club House stands on a knoll
some eight miles up the river from Truesdale.
Giant elms shade the wide veranda, while
others droop over the white macadam drive
that swings steeply down to the bridge and
vanishes in a grove of oak, hickory, and birch.
If you stand on the steps and look west, you
can see, through the immediate foliage, the
Maiden County hills, their blue tops contrast-
ing with the nearer green of the valley. To
the left, an obtruding wing checks the view;
on the right, leading straight down to the river,
is a well-worn path.

After dinner the party strolled up and down
the veranda, gradually separating into couples.
The twilight creeping down found Harvey and
Miss Porter alone by the railing. She stood
erect, looking out over the valley, her scarlet
golf jacket thrown back, her hair disordered
by the long ride and curling about her face.
Harvey watched her in silenct. He was glad
that she was tall; he liked to meet her eyes
without looking down. He had often tried to
remember the color of those eyes. Presently
she turned and looked at him.

" They're gray," he said, half to himself.

Bctivcen the Lines

jn a knoll
fruesdale.
da, while
am drive
idge and
nd birch,
kvest, you
iage, the
contrast-
lley. To
he view;
the river,

nd down
couples,
rvey and
le stood
r scarlet
Bordered
ler face,
was glad
her eyes
tried to
Vesently

;elf.

"No," she replied; "sometimes they are

brown and sometimes green. They are not
„ »i •'

gray

Harvey leaned forward.

" I'm sure they are."

For a moment they stood looking into each
other's eyes, then she turned away' with a little
laugh and removed her sailor hat, swinging it
from her hand.

" Look, " she said, with an impulsive gesture
toward the west. Harvey folloAvod her gaze.
The dark was settling into the valley. There
were splotches of foliage and waves of meadow,
with a few winding strips of silver where the
river broke away from the trees. "And to
think that we have only a few more such days."

"Yes," — he spoke softly, — "we don't see
things like that in Chicago."

"Why don't you come to Truesdale.?"

"So long as Mr. Weeks stays in Chicago, I
am likely to be there too."

"You are fond of Mr. Weeks.?"

" Yes, I am."

"I never met him — I've heard a great deal
about him." She sac upon the railing and
leaned back against a pillar, her eyes turned to

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The Short Line War

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the foliage. "Father says he is a good busi-
ness man."

"He is."

"Mr. West," she threw her head back with a
peremptory toss — "I want you to tell me
something."

"Wait," he replied, "come to the river.
Then I'll tell you anything."

She smiled, but acquiesced, and they went
down the path. Harvey drew up a cedar boat
and extended his hand, but she stepped lightly
aboard without his aid. Harvey pushed away
from the bank and began slowly to paddle
against the current.

"Now," he said, "the Sister Confessor may
proceed."

She looked up at him. He thought she was
smiling, but she spoke earnestly.

" 1 want you to tell me about this M. & T
fight."

"I don't believe there is anything to tell."

"You think I am not interested."

"No — not that."

"You men are all alike. You think a girl
can't understand business." She seemed to be
musing. •• You like a girl who is helpless and
fluttery, who can be patronized."

i^.

Bettveen the Lines

^ood busi-

ick with a
► tell me

the river.

:hey went
edar boat
ed lightly
hed away
:o paddle

;ssor may

; she was

M. & T.

tell."

nk a girl
ned to be
pless and

*' No," said Harvey, " not that either."

" I wish you would tell me."

" How much do you know > "

Before replying she looked out over the water
for several moments. Harvey rested his oars
and waited. She turned to him, still musing.

" I'll be frank," she said. " I am not going to
say how much I know, but I want you to tell me
all about it."

Harvey begax; to row.

" Of course," she went on, " I have heard
father^ ^ friends talking."

Harvey smiled.

"You puzzle me," he remarked.

" Why should any one wish to get control of
your road ? "

" Because there is coal on the line."

" Is Mr. Weeks firmly in control ? "

Harvey leaned over the oars.

"I wish I knew — "he hesitated. "Are we
good friends ? "

" I can speak for myself."

" Why are you interested in this business } "

"Because — well, I will tell you the truth.
Of course I know that father and Mr. Weeks
are — I suppose you would call it fighting.

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T/ie Short Line War

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Father doesn't understand how I could ask you
down to-day."

" I am glad you did."

" I wanted you to feel that — you see we have
been good friends, and it would be too bad to
let a thing like this — don't you understand } "

Harvey leaned forward and impulsively ex-
tended his hand. She drew back.

** Just shake hands," said Harvey, He clasped
hers firmly, releasing it with a quiet " Thank you."

They were drifting down stream under the
trees with no sound save a faint rustle from over-
head. Strands of moonlight sifted through the
foliage, blurring the east bank into shadow.

"Do you know what I am thinking of.?"
Harvey asked in a low tone. She smiled faintly
and shook her head. They swung into a patch
of moonlight, and for a moment their eyes met;
then she looked away and said, —

" We must go back."

" It isn't late," Harvey remonstrated.

"We must go back."

Harvey obediently took up the oars, then hesi-
tated.

" Please don't stay here," she said.

They went up the path in silence. The brake

Between the Lines

iask

you

J we have
)o bad to
itand ? "
jively ex-

e clasped
mkyou."
nder the
rom over-
ough the
dow.

ng of?"
:d faintly
) a patch
yes met;

den hesi-

he brake

stood at the steps, and the other members of
the party were laughing and talking on the
veranda. Harvey stopped before they left the
shadow. Miss Porter walked a few steps, then
turned and faced him.

"What is the matter.?" he asked. "Can't
you trust me .? Are you afraid of me } "

She came forward and laid her hand upon
his arm.

"Don't misunderstand me," she said with
hesitation. " If I were as sure of myself as I
am of you — Come, they are watching us."

An hour later they stood at Mr. Porter's door.

" Good night," said Harvey, but she lingered.

" Shall I see you to-morrow } "

" Do you think I had better come } "

" Why not .? "

" Perhaps your father — "

" I want you to. Anyway," smiling, " father
is in Chicago."

Harvey smiled too.

" I'll send the trap for you, and we'll drive —
at ten, say. I suppose you are at the hotel."

" Yes," said Harvey. " Good night."

Mr. Porter's summer home was located on
the river bank, something less than a mile from

ii!

The Short Line War

: 1.

■ »«'

the Truesdale Hotel. The walk was somewhat
lonely, and it gave Harvey time to think. At
first he was bewildered. She had seemed to
be mistress of the situation, but at any rate he
had told her nothing about M. & T. affairs.
There came into his mind a suspicion that she
knew more than she had led him to believe, for
she would naturally not let a man who had no
claim upon her sway her loyalty to her father.
And yet, those eyes were honest. They had
looked into his with an expression that would
charm away graver doubts than his. "I'll
make her tell me," he thought. " I'll find out
to-morrow just what she means, and if — " In
spite of himself, Harvey's heart beat fast at
thought of the possibilities which lay behind
that "if." From doubt, he drifted back into a
review of the evening. He called up pictures of
her on the brake, on the boat, or on the shaded
path. When he reached the hotel he sat down
on the veranda and lighted a cigar. "Yes," he
repeated to himself, " I'll make her tell me."
But in the morning, after a more or less steady
sleep, Harvey looked out at the calm sunlight
and changed his mind. " I'll wait," he thought,
"and see what happens."

iv^

Between the Lines

omewhat
ink. At
lemed to
f rate he
'. affairs,
that she
lieve, for
» had no
r father,
hey had
at would
;. " I'll
find out
— " In
: fast at
^ behind
:k into a
ctures of
2 shaded
5at down
Ves," he
;ell me."
;s steady
sunlight
thought,

At teii, the Porter trap stood in front of the
hotel, and Harvey climbed into the trap and
took the reins. As he started, a telegraph boy
ran down the steps calling to him. Harvey
took the yellow envelope and with a thought of
Jim's errand he thrust it between his teeth, for
the horses were prancing. Later he stuffed it
into his pocket until he should reach the Por-
ters'. The drive was exhilarating, and by the
time he pulled up in the porte-cochere he had
himself well in control. She did not keep him
waiting, and they were soon whirling down the
old river road.

Katherine was in a bright mood. For a
space they talked commonplaces. Harvey
thought of the telegram, but dared not take his
attention from the horses until they should run
off a little spirit, so he let them go.

" Isn't it splendid," she said, drawing in the
brisk air and looking at the broad stream on
their right. " Do you know, I never see the
river without thinking of the old days when this
country was wild. It seems so odd to realize
that Tonty and La Salle paddled up and down
here. They may have camped where we are
now. Sometimes in the evenings when we are

' ':l

1 •

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•

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•J

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m !

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fl'

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77/^ 5/^/-/ Lwt? War

on the river, I imagine I can see a line of
canoes with strange, dark men in buckskin, and
painted Indians, and solemn old monks, with
Father Hennepin in the first canoe. So many
curious old memories hover over this stream."

The horses were slowing. Harvey said
abruptly, —

" Will you mind if I open a telegram .? "
" Certainly not." She reached out and took
the reins. Harvey opened the envelope with
his thumb. He read the message twice, then
lowered it to his knees with a puzzled expres-
sion.

"Bad news.?" asked Miss Porter.
" I don't know. Read it if you like."
She handed back the reins and read the
lollowmg : —

Mr. Harvey West:

You are receiver M. & T. Come to Manchester at
once.

Weeks.

"Well," he said, "what do you think.?"
She slowly folded the paper and creased it
between her fingers.

" Can you make it .? " she asked.

Between the Lines

a line of
iiskin, and
nks, with
So many
tream."
vey said

1?"

and took
ope with
ice, then
1 expres-

read the

Chester at

fcVEEKS.

eased it

Harvey looked at his watch. ** Train goes at
eleven. I've got thirteen minutes."

"Turn around. It's only three miles. We
can do it."

Harvey pulled up and turned. Then he hesi-
tated.

"How about the team.?" he said; "I can't
take you home."

" Never mind that. Quick ; you can't lose any
time. I'll get the team back."

Harvey nodded and gripped the reins, and in
a moment the bays were in their stride. Har-
vey's hands were full, and he made no effort to
talk. Miss Porter alternately watched him and
the horses.

" They can do better than that. You'll have
to slow up in town, you know." And Harvey
urged them on.

As they neared the town, Hj.rvey spoke.

" Will you look at my watch 'i "

She threw back his coat and tugged at the
fob until the watch appeared. " Three minutes
yet. We're all right."

But a blocked electric car delayed them, and
they swung up to the platform just at train-
time. Harvey gripped her hand : —

IOC>

The Short Line War

" Good-by. I shan't forget this."

But though her eyes danced, she only an-
swered, " Please hurry ! "

As Harvey dropped into a seat and looked
out the car window, he saw her sitting erect,
holding the nervous team with firm control'
And he settled back with a glow in his heart

i (1

'}.

i only an-

! '

nd looked
ing erect,
1 control,
his heart.

CHAPTER Vlir

JUDGE GREY

On Friday, after Jim Weeks had told Har-
vey that he was free to go to Truesdale, he fol-
lowed the young man almost fondly with his
eyes and he did not at once resume the work
which awaited him. For Harvey's request had
set him thinking. During years that passed
after the day when he took his last drive with
Ethel Harvey, he had not dared to think of her.
Later when he heard of her death, he did not
try to analyze the impulse which led him to
offer a position to Harvey. As he grew to
know the young fellow he gradually admitted
to himself his fondness for him, and now that
he believed that Harvey was in love, he allowed
himself for the first time the luxury of reminis-
cence.

The old Louisville days came back to him
when he and Ethel rode together through coun-
try lanes and he loved her. The wound was

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77/^ S/iorf Line War

;tii

healed ; it had lost its sting a score of years ago
but his mood was still tender, and as he stared
at the pile of papers on his desk, thoughts of
C & S. C. were far away. At last, however,
the consciousness of this came upon him and
he thought. *' I reckon I need exercise," and
then a moment later, " It'll be quite a trick,
though, to find a horse that's up to my weight ''
He had hardly taken up his work when Pease
appeared and told him that a man wanted to
see him. The man was a deputy sheriff, and he
came to serve on James Weeks the injunction
which Judge Black had signed in Porter's office
two hours before.

It may be that his earlier mood had some-
thing to do with it ; for as Jim laid the paper
on his desk, his thoughts went back half a cen-
tury to one of his boyhood days. It was a
summer afternoon, and Jim and some of his
friends had been in swimming; somehow it
became necessary for him to fight Thomas Ran-
some. Jim had never been in a fight before
and he had no theories whatever, but he found
that he could hit hard, and it never occurred to
him to try to parry. Thomas was forced to
e:ive back steadilv imfi'i v>;^ f„.

-J -xiixi lito laiuxier retreat

was

^ears ago,

he stared

oughts of

however,

him and
ise," and

a trick,
weight."
en Pease
anted to
f, and he
1 junction
r's office

d some-
e paper
f a cen-
t was a
: of his
2how it
as Ran-
before,
' found
rred to
ced to
;at was

Judge Grey

103

cr.

cut off by the river and he saw that more vi
orous tactics were required. With utter disre-
gard of the laws of war he drove a vicious kick
at Jim's stomach. Had it landed, its effect
would probably have been serious, but Jim, for
the first time since the fight began, stepped
back, and with both hands gave additional im-
petus to the foot, so that Thomas kicked much
higher than he had intended, and losing his bal-
ance, he toppled into the river with a very sat-
isfactory splash.

Jim smiled at the recollection and then read
the injunction again to see if it were possible to
catch Porter's foot. His eye rested long on
the sputtery signature at the bottom, and he
thought, "I might have known that Porter
wouldn't go into this business without owning a
Judge."

He put the paper in his pocket, then locked
his desk, and with a word to Pease he left the
office. Jim dined down town, and not until
after dinner did he think of Harvey and his
leave of absence. He would need his secretary
to-morrow, and it would not do to have him out
of reach. But the moments of reminiscence
that afternoon came to Harvey's rescue, and Jim

104

The Short Line War

11 .'^ '

in the most unbusinesslike way decided to get
on without his secretary. " He can't go through
that but once," thought Jim.

He left the restaurant and walked rapidly to
fl»e Northern Station, and for the second time
that week the Northern Limited took Jim to
Manchester.

Jim was going to see Judge Grey. He had
already decided what he wanted the Judge to
do; whether he could get hiui to do it was
another question, which Jim was going to put
to the test as soon as possible.

The trains on the Northern in coming into
Manchester run down the middle of one of the
main business streets, and engineers are com-
pelled by city statutes to run slowly. As the
Limited slowed down, Jim walked out on the
rear platform and stood gazing at the brightly
lighted shop windows. At an intersecting street
he saw a trolley car waiting for the train to pass ;
the blue light it showed told Jim it was the car
he wanted, so he swung quickly off the train
and stepped aboard the car as it came bumping
over the crossing. Ii was evid^ n^ly behind its
schedule, for once on clear track again it sped
along rapidly. A man was running to catch

Ju'-^lie Grey

105

cd to get
through

rapidly to
:ond time
ik Jim to

Ho had
Judge to

it was
ig to put

ling into

le of the

are com-

As the

t on the

brightly

tig street

to pass ;

1 the car
he train
Him ping
ihind its

it sped
o catch

the rar, and Jim watched him with amused in-
terest. At first he gained, but as the speed of
the vir increased he gave up the race; but he
had come near enough for Jim Xo recognize
him as the man who had dined only a few tablc-^
from him that evening in Chicago and who had
sat a few seats behind him on the Limited.
Jim smiled. " They're mighty anxious to know
what I'm doing," he thought.

Judge Grey did not go away on vacations.
He was a homely man, with a large family, and
he took serious views of life He was country
bred, and he had never outgrown a certain
rusticity of appearance. It was said that his
wife always cut his hair, an I the concentric
circles made by the neatly trimmed ends lent
verisimilitude to the tale that j-he began at the
crown with a butter dish to guide her scissors,
then extended the diameter of her circle by using
next a saucer, and last a soup bowl.

The Judge greeted Jim warml , invited him
into the library, and sat down to . \ear what he
had to say. Jim told him almost without res-
ervation the story of the fight foi the posses-
sion of M. & T., beginning with his large
investment in the road and his election to the

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The Short Line War

presidency of it. He did not try to make a
good story; he told what had happened as
simply and briefly as possible, and he interested
Judge Grey. Part of it was already known to
him, and part filled in gaps in his knowledge.
To him it was the story of an honest struggle
for something worth struggling for. When
it came to the latest move, and Jim without
comment handed him Black's injunction, the
Judge's wrath flamed out.

"That's an outrage!" he exclaimed. "It's
just a legal hold-up,"

" Possibly," said Jim. " It was the best move
they could make, though. But," he went on
after a short pause, " I've got the right in this
business, and I want you to help me."

"You want me to dissolve the injunction,
I suppose," said the Judge, cautiously.

" No," said Jim. - 1 don't. Just the other
way. I'd like you to issue an injunction that
will go a little farther."

There was another short pause, and then
Jim began explaining his plan. As he ex-
plained and argued, the fire, which had been
crackling cheerfully when he came in, flickered
more and more faintly, and it was but a fading"

Judge Grey

107

to make a
opened as
interested
known to
:novvledge.
t struggle
-. When
n without
ction, the

;d. " It's

glow when that most informal session of the
Circuit Court in chancery sitting came to its
conclusion.

"That's all right, then," said Jim at length,
rising as he spoke.

"Yes," said the other. "We'll do it that
way. Are you going right back to Chicago,
Mr. Weeks.?"

"No," said Jim. "I shall be here for some
time. From now on this fight will be along
the line of the road."

3est move

went on

ht in this
>

ijunction,

he other
tion that

:nd then
5 he ex-
ad been
flickered
a fad in c:

Mr. Wing was oppressed by a sense of his
office boy's superiority. He read disapproba-
tion in the round-eyed stare, and even the cut-
steel buttons, though of Wing's own purveying,
seemed arguslike in their critical surveillance.
He would have abolished them had he not felt
that the boy would understand the change. If
the boy had only forgotten to copy letters or
had manifested an unruly desire to attend his
relatives' funerals, his employer would have
been a happier man. As it was, he felt apolo-
getic every time he came in late or went out
early.

The directors' meeting which Porter and

: ¥t

i! i

U t

io8

T/ie Short Lme War

Thompson had decided upon on Friday was to
take place the next afternoon in Wing's office ;
so, contrary to the little man's custom on Satur-
day afternoons, he returned thither after lunch.
Porter and Thompson were already there,
and the former was giving the Vice-President
his last instructions, with the evident purpose
of stiffening him up a bit. For Thompson
seemed to need stiffening badly. One by one,
and two by two, the directors came straggHng
in, and presently Porter, with a parting injunc-
tion to Thompson, left the room and crossed
over to McNally's office, where his lieutenant
was waiting for him. There they plotted and
planned and awaited the result of the directors'
meeting across the hall.

In Wing's office the meeting was about to
begin. It was easy to distinguish between
Jim's friends and the C. & S. C. people ; for the
former, a doleful minority, were crowded in one
corner doing nothing because there was nothing
they could do, while on the other side of the
room were the gang, with Thompson in the
centre, talking in low tones over the programme
of the meeting. There seemed to be no hope
whatever that the President would be able to

1 1

Jttdgc Grey

109

3ay was to
ig's office ;
on Satur-
fter lunch,
idy there,
-President
t purpose
rhompson
le by one,
straggling
ig injunc-
d crossed
lieutenant
otted and
directors'

about to
between
: ; for the
ed in one
s nothing
e of the
n in the
ogramme
no hope
; able to

save himself, for his opponents had a clear
majority of two, and they were met to-day to
press this advantage to the utmost. Had Jim
been there at hand, his cause would not have
seemed to his friends so desperate, for it was
hard, looking at him, to imagine him defeated ;
his very bulk seemed prophetic of ultimate vic-
tory. But Jim was not there ; he was not even
in Chicago.

There was one man in the minority group
who seemed somewhat less cheerless than his
companions. When they asked him what hope
there was, what way of escape he saw, he could
not answer, but he still professed to believe that
the President's downfall was not so imminent
as it seemed. And the thought that perhaps
this one man knew more than he could tell kept
the minority from becoming utterly discouraged.
The foundation for his hopes lay in a telegram
he had received that morning from Jim, which
read, ''Dont get scared, every tiling all right.''
Evidently Jim was not submitting tamely, but
whatever was going to happen must happen
soon if it was not to be too late, for Thompson
was already calling the meeting to order. As
the directors seated themselves about the long

nil

T/ie Short Line War

li *

table and listened to Thompson's opening re-
marks, — Thompson liked to make remarks,
— it seemed that for once in his life Jim was
beaten.

At that moment, in the arched entrance to
the Dartmouth, a man whose damp forehead
and limp collar bore witness that he was in a
hurry, turned away from the wall directory he
had been scrutinizing and entered the nearest
elevator.

" Six," he said. Once on the sixth floor he
looked about for a minute or two and walked
into the outer office where Buttons was on
guard, demanding audience with Mr. Wing.

"Mr. Wing is in," said the boy, "but he is
engaged and can't be disturbed."

"They're here, are they.?" said the man.
"Well, I want to see Mr. Wing and Mr.
Thompson and Mr. Powers."

" But you can't see them," was the answer.
" There's a directors' meeting in there."

"In there, eh.?" said the man, and without
further parley with Buttons, he entered the
room indicated, closing the door behind him.

Meanwhile Porter and McNally in the other
office were discussing probabilities and possi-

Judge Grey

III

)pening re-
i remarks,
fe Jim was

ntrance to
j forehead
i was in a
irectory he
he nearest

h floor he
id walked
s was on

. Wing,
but he i

the man.
and Mr.

2 answer.

i without
:ered the
id him.
the other

bilities and thinking of a good many others
which neither of them cared to discuss, though
all were in their way pleasant. Suddenly they
were interrupted by the apparition of Buttons.
His eyes were rounder than ever, and his white
hair looked as though some one had tried to
drag it out of his head.

"Please, sir," he gasped, "Mr. Thompson
wants to see you right away."

Porter jumped to his feet and fairly ran out of
the room. As he turned into the hall a muffled
uproar greeted his ears, and it made him
hurry the faster. But McNally stayed where
he was. He, too, heard the strange noise, but
he felt that he would not be able to do any
good by going in there. McNally did not
"come out strong" amid scenes of violence.
His heart troubled him.

It was not more than five minutes before
Porter came back. His face was a study.

"They're raising hell in there," he said.
"Weeks's judge has just served an injunction
that kicks Thompson and Wing and Powers off
the board. Thompson just curled up, — he
was almost too scared to breathe, — and Win^
seemed to be having some sort of a fit. There

i: '

I V

112

T/ie Short Line War

was one idiot up on the table yelling that the
meeting was adjourned and trying to give
three cheers for Weeks." (It was the man
with the telegram.)

"Well," said McNally, "what's going to
happen next.?"

"I don't know," said Porter, breathlessly.
"I don't see that anything can happen. As
things stand now there isn't a quorum of
directors and all the officers are suspended.
The road can't do business."

Suddenly he leaned forward in his chair and
exclaimed: —

"By George, if that road doesn't need a
receiver, no road ever did. Telephone Judge
Black quick. We'll get in ahead of Weeks this
time."

There was no delay in finding the Judge.
Porter had indicated to him the advisability of
keeping himself on tap, as it were, and he was
now prepared to settle with neatness and de-
spatch the legal affairs of his employers. Before
dark that afternoon he had regularly and with
all necessary formality appointed Frederick
McNally t® be receiver for the Manchester &
Truesdale Railroad Company.

Judge Grey

113

But it v/as significant of Jim Weeks's foresight

that the road already had a receiver, for at that

very moment he had in his pocket an order

from Judge Grey appointing Harvey West to

that position.
I

I i .

It I ■

Li "

ifi

CHAPTER IX

THE MATTER OF POSSESSION

The M. & T. terminal station at Manchester
was in reauty tvo buildings. From the street
It looked like an ordinary three-story office
bmldmg, except that there were no stores on
the street level. Instead, the first floor was
taken up by two large waiting rooms, the ticket
office, and a baggage room. Entering throu-h
the big doorway in the centre, you ascended'a
few steps, passed through the waiting room
then up some more steps and across a covered
iron bridge which spanned a narrow alley
This bridge connected the station proper with
the train shed.

The offices of the company occupied the two
upper floors. The same stairway that led to
the bridge doubled on itself and zigzagged up
the rest of the way. As you reached the sec
ond floor, the office of the Superintendent was
before you. across the hnl] To -rr- --; •

1, XO vOUi Xl5

llL

The Matter of Possession

115

anchester
he street,
)ry office
stores on
floor was
he ticket

through
:ended a
ig room,

covered
N alley,
per with

the two
: led to
rged up
the sec-

ent was

- -,• .1^
i iigii':

were large rooms occupied by various branches
of the clerical force, while to your left the first
door bore the word "Treasurer," and the
second was lettered " President." The Treas-
urer's office was a large room, cut off at the
rear by a vault which contained the more valu-
able of the company's books and papers: the
main vault was downstairs. A narrow passage
between the vault and the partition led to a
small window which overlooked the train shed
and the alley. On one side of this passage
was the vault entrance, on the other was a door
which had been cut through the partition into
the President's private office.

Early on Monday morn ag, after a brief
survey of the various officers and a few words
with the Superintendent, Harvey assumed the
direction of the road and established himself
in the President's room, while a big deputy sat
at the desk in the outer office. The night
before, at the Illinois House, Jim and Harvey
had talked until ^e, discussing every detail
of the situation. Jim had gone over the fight
of Saturday, winding up with a few words of
advice.

*'Weli have trouble," he said. "Porter

f! t>

116

The Short Line War

\ •!

w-t

li i

Pf \ V-

IfM:.

isn't going to let things slip away any easier
than he has to. The safe plan is to suspect
everything and everybody. Keep everything
in sight. I'll be here to help, but from now
on you represent the road."

Harvey arranged the desk to suit him, then
he opened the small door behind him and
crossed the passage. The vault door was
open, but a steel gate barred the way. A key
hung by the window, ind as Harvey unlocked
the gate and swung ir open, a bell rang. He
examined the shelves, and noted that the books
were in place. He knew that the possession
of those books meant practically the possession
of the road.

Reentering his office he found the deputy
standing in the other doorway.

" Gentleman to see you, Mr. West," said the
deputy. "Won't give his name. Says it's
important."

"Show him in," Harvey replied.

The deputy stepped back and made way for
a quiet-looking man who was even larger than
himself. The newcomer closed the door be-
hind him.

" Mr. West," he said, " Mr. Weeks

-J,

UCl

|lill|

The Matter of Possession

any easier

to suspect

everything

from now

him, then
him and
door was
^ A key
unlocked
ang. He
the books
)Ossession
>ossession

e deputy

said

the

Says

it's

way

for

?er than

door

be-

ordered

me to report to you. I'm Mallory, from the
Pinkcrton agency. I have three men outside.
Have you any instructions } "

Harvey checked a smile. It reminded him
of the stories of his boyhood. But in a moment
it dawned inon him that if Jim thought the
situation so serious, he must be very careful.

"Yes," he answered slowly. " Put one man
near the vault — here" — he opened the small
door — "let no one go into the vault without
my permission. Then you might put one man
in the hall — somewhere out of sight — and
one outside the building. You understand that
there may be an attempt to get possession
of the books. Do you know any of the C. &
S. C. men — William C. Porter, or Frederick
McNally.?"

The detective shook his head.

"Well, then, just keep things right ur.der
your eye, and report every hour or so."

The detective nodded and left the room,
A little later Harvey opened the side door, and
saw a man lounging in the passage, looking
idly out the window.

Shortly after ten Jim came in to talk things
over. He told Harvey that the C. & S. C.

;ii

1 '

Ii8

The Short Line War

ffll

!■ :

' ■ \

people had a counter move under way, but he
was unable to discover its nature. He had
seen McNally in company with a number of
men who did not often leave Chicago. " He'll
be up here, yet," Jim added prophetically; and
he went out without leaving word. "Don't
know how long I'll be gone," was all he would
say ; " but you'll see me off and on."

Ten minutes after Jim's departure McNally
appeared. Harvey heard his voice in the outer
office, then the deputy came to Harvey's desk.

"Mr. Frederick McNally," said the official.
"He asked for the Superintendent first, and
I sent him in to Mr. Mattison, but he sent him
back to you. Will you see him } "

"Yes," replied Harvey. "And you may
stay in the room."

The deputy held open the door, while
McNally entered.

"How are you, West.?" he said brusquely.
" There seems to be some confusion here. The
Superintendent disclaims all authority, and
refers me to you."

"Sit down," said Harvey, waiting for
McNally to continue. Evidently McNally
preferred to stand.

The Matter of Possession

119

"I wish to sec some one in authority, Mr.
West."

"You may talk with me."

" You — are you in authority > "

Harvey bowed, and fingered a paper-weight.

•' I don't understand this, West. " He glanced
at the deputy. " I wish to see you alone."

For a moment Harvey looked doubtful, then
he smiled slightly, and nodded at the deputy,
saying, —

"Very well."

" Will you tell me what this means ? " asked
McNally, when the door had closed.

Harvey looked gravely at him and said
nothing.

"Well.?" McNally's coolness was leaving
him. "Are you in control of this road, or
aren't you .? "

"lam."

"In that case"— -he produced a paper—- "it
becomes my duty to relieve you."

Harvey looked at the paper ; it was an order
from Judge Black appointing McNally receiver
for M. & T. Harvey handed it back, saying,
coolly, —

" Sit down, Mr. McNally."

I20

The Short Line War

"I have no time to waste, West. You will
please turn over the books."

" They are in the vault," said Harvey, point-
ing to the side door.

McNally looked sharply at Harvey, but the
young man had turned to a pile of letters.
After a moment's hesitation McNally opened
the door and pulled at the steel gate. As he
was peering through the bars, a heavy hand fell
on his shoulder.

"Here!" said a low voice. "You'll have to
keep away from that vault."

"Take your hand away ! " McNally ordered.

" Come, now ! Move on ! "

" Mr. West, under whose orders is this man
acting } "

"His superior officer's, I suppose," Harvey
called through the door without rising.

" Call him at once, sir."

The detective beckoned to a boy, and sent
him out of the room. In a moment his chief
appeared.

" This man sent for you, Mr. Mallory," said
the detective.

"What is it.? " asked Mallory.
McNally blustered.

'if

The Matter of Possession

121

" I want to know what this means. Do you
understand that I am the receiver of this road ?"

"Oh, no, you aren't." Mallory stepped to
the door. " Is this true, Mr. West .? "

" No," said Harvey, " it isn't."

" You'll have to leave, then, my friend."

"Don't you touch me! " McNally's face was
growing red. For reply each detective seized
an arm, and the protesting receiver was hustled
unceremoniously out of the room.

An hour later McNally returned. He greeted
the deputy with a suave smile, and requested an
interview with Mr. West.

" I'm not sure about that," said the deputy.

" That is too bad," smiled McNally. " Kindly
speak to Mr. West."

With a disapproving glance the deputy opened
the door. Harvey came forward.

"Well," he said brusquely, "what can I do
for you .'' "

McNally stepped through the door and seated
himself.

"I've been thinking this matter over, Mr.
West, and I believe that we can come to an
understanding. If your claims are correct, the
road has two receivers. You are nominally in

i>, .1

•I ' I

122

T/te Short Line War

possession, but, nevertheless, you are liable for
contempt of court for refusing to honor my
authority. Whichever way the case is settled,
I am in a position to inconvenience you for
resisting me."

He waited for a reply, but Harvey waited, too.
"In the interest of the road, Mr. West, it
would be very much better for you to recognize
me, even to the extent of having two receivers.
It could not affect the outcome of the case, and
it might avoid trouble."

"I can't agree with you," Harvey replied.
" I shall retain control of the road until the
case is settled."
McNally rose.

"Then, I warn you, you will have a big
undertaking on your hands."
" I suppose so."
"Very well ; good morning."
"Good morning, Mr. McNally."
At noon Harvey went out to lunch. He met
Jim at the hotel, and told him what had hap-
pened. Jim smiled at Harvey's seriousness.

"The fight hasn't begun yet," he said.
" When you've been through as many deals as
I have"— he stopped and drew out his watch.

The Matter of Possession

123

liable for

lonor my

s settled^

you for

aited, too.
West, it
recognize
receivers,
case, and

replied,
until the

e a big

He met
lad hap-
less,
le said,
deals as

3 watch.

"It's one-thirty. You'd better get back. I'll
go with you and look over the field."

As they walked through the waiting room
Harvey fancied that he heard a noise from
above. However, the noon express, out in the
train shed, was blowing off steam with a roar,
and he could not be positive. But Jim quick-
ened his pace, and ran up the steps with sur-
prising agility.

As they neared the second floor the noise
grew. There was scuffling and loud talking,
culminating in an uproar of profanity and blows.
The first man they saw was McNally. He
stood near the stairway, hat on the back of his
head, face red but composed. Before him was
a strange scene. Mallory and the big deputy
stood with their backs to the Treasurer's door,
tussling with three burly ruffians. Beyond the
deputy, one of the detectives was standing off
two men with well-placed blows. The two
other detectives were rolling about the floor,
each with a man firmly in his grasp. There
was a great noise of feet, as the different groups
swayed and struggled. In the excitement none
of them saw Jim and Harvey, who stood for a
moment on the top step.

• y

* ''if

124

The Short Line War

A stiff blow caught the deputy's chin, and
he staggered. With a quick motion Mallory
whipped out a pair of handcuffs. There was
a flash of steel as he drew back his arm, then
the maddened rough went down in a heap, a
stream of blood flowing from his head. One
of the others, a red-haired man, gripped the
handcuffs and fought for them. It all hap-
pened in an instant, and as Harvey stood half-
dazed, he heard a breathless exclamation, and
Jim had sprung forward.

Some persons might have thought Jim Weeks
fat. He weighed two hundred and forty pounds,
but he was tall and wide in the shoulder. On
ordinary occasions his face was so composed as
to appear almost cold-blooded, but now it was
fairly livid. Harvey drew in his breath with
surprise ; he had seen Jim angry, but never
like this. In three strides Jim was behind the
red-haired man. He threw an arm around the
man's neck, jerking his chin up with such force
that his body bent backward, and relinquishing
his hold on the handcuffs he clutched, gasping,
at Jim's arm. But the arm gripped like iron.
While Mallory was pulling himself together
and turning to aid the deputy, Jim walked

lit

The Matter of Possession

125

backward, dragging the struggling man to the
head of the stairs. On the top step he paused
to grip the man's trousers with his other hand,
then he literally threw the fellow downstairs.
Bruised and battered, he lay for a moment on
the landing, then he struggled to his feet and
moved his arm toward his hip pocket, but Jim
was ready. The breathless President started
down the stairs with a rush. For an instant
the man wavered, then he broke and fled into
the train shed.

On his return Jim had to step aside to avoid
another ruffian, who was walking down with
profane mutterings. This time Harvey had a
hand in the fighting, and he leaned over the
railing to answer the man's oaths with a threat
of the law. Jim and Harvey stood aside while
the four detectives and the deputy led the
remainder of the gang downstairs to await
the police.

From the various offices frightened faces
were peering through half-open doors. A few
stripling clerks appeared with belated offers of
assistance, but Jim waved them back. Already
Jim was cooling off. Pie could not afford to
retain such a passion, and he mopped his face

..|H

126

The SJiort Line War

\B:

! .

<r
to

and neck for a few moments without speak-
ing. His breath was gone, but he began to
recover it.

"Hello," he said, at length, " where's
McNally?"

Harvey started, then ran down the hall,
:lancing hastily into the different offices. When
he returned, Jim had vanished. While he stood
irresolute, two stalwart brakemen appeared
from the train shed and stood on the landing.
One of them called up, —

" Can we help you, sir .? "

" Wait a minute," said Harvey.

A door opened down the hall. Harvey
looked toward the sound, and saw Jim backing
out of the wash-room, followed by McNally,
whose arm was held firmly in Jim's grasp.
They came toward Harvey in silence.

" He was hiding, West," said Jim, a savage
eagerness in his voice. " He hadn't the nerve
to stick it out. Corker, isn't he } "

McNally stood for a moment looking dog-
gedly out through the window over the roof of
the shed.

"You've got yourself into a mess, Weeks,"
he said, speaking slowly in an effort to bring

It "

'■^

ut speak-
began to

" Where's

the hall,
s. When
: he stood
appeared
landing.

Harvey

backing

McNally,

s grasp.

a savage
he nerve

The Matter of Possession \ 27

himself under control. "This'll land you in
Joliet."

For reply Jim looked him over contemptu-
ously, and tightened his grasp until the other
winced. Then he suddenly loosened his hold,
stepped back, and calling, "Catch him, boys!''
kicked McNally with a mighty swing.

Harvey laughed hysterically as the flying fig-
ure sailed down the stairway, then he heard Jim
say to the brakemen, —

"Take him to Mallory, and tell him to put
him with the others."

"Well," said Harvey, nervously, "I guess
that's settled."

" No," said Jim, " it's only just begun. He'll
be on deck again before night." The next sen-
tence was lost in the mopping handkerchief, but
as he turned into the office, he added, " We'll
have to lose the books to-night, West."

ing dog-
2 roof of

Weeks,"
to bring

CHAPTER X

SOMEBODY LOSES THE BOOKS

When Harvey went to dinner in the evening
he left a force of ten detectives guarding the
offices. Jim, who had spent the afternoon with
Harvey, superintended the placing of the men
Mallory, the lieutenant in charge, was ensconced
m the .Superintendent's office, and six of his
assistants were with him, privileged to doze
until called. One man stood in the hall in a
position to watch the stairway and the windows
at each end ; one patrolled the waiting room •
and the ninth man strolled about in front of the
building, loitering in the shadows and watching
the street with trained eye. Before leaving the
station Jim had a short talk with Mallory.

"Watch it awful close,'^ he said. "There's
no telling what these people will do."

"Very well, Mr. Weeks. They won't get
ahead of us. But I should feel a bit safer if
you'd let me put a man by the vault."

128

Somebody loses the Booky

129

Jim shook his head.

"T- ^re's such a thing as doing it too well,
Mallory. And by all means I hope that you
won't do that."

He looked closely at the detective, who
glanced away with a cautious nod.

That evening after dinner, Jim telephoned
for Mattison, the Superintendent, and a long
talk ensued in Jim's room at the hotel. Neither
he nor Harvey wasted time in recounting the
experiences of the day; they had too many
plans for the night. As Jim had said, it was
necessary to lose the books, and to lose them
thoroughly. It was equally important that the
action should not be confided to any ordinary
employee. The fewer men that knew of it,
the safer Jim would be, and so he finally
decided to confine the information within its
original limits.

"You two are lively rn your feet," he said.
"And it is a good deal better for you to do it."

** How about the detectives } " asked Matti-
son.

"You'll have to keep out of their way.
Mallory won't trouble you so long as you keep
still; but remember, every man, detective or

< I!

.Si.'

N-

130

The Short Line War

4 : ■■(

If I:

It'

not, that catches you, makes one more chance
for evidence against us."

" But isn't the building surrounded ? "
" No. There's only one man outside, and he
is in front. You c^.n go through the alley
and climb up to the window — it's only the sec-
ond floor. Mallory has orders to keep out of
the vault room. He's over in your office, Mat-
tison."

" I suppose," suggested Harvey, " that unless
we are actually caught with the books, we can
throw a bluff about a tour of inspection or
something of that sort."

"And if we are caught," said Mattison, "I
suppose we can run Hke the devil."

" You'll have to trust the details more or less
to circu: stances," was Jim's reply.

"How about the books.?" asked Harvey.
" What shall we do with them .? "

" Mattison had better take care of them. We
can't bring them to the hotel, and anyhow, it is
just as well if you and I, West, don't know any-
thing about them. Then, when we want them
again, it is a good deal easier for Mattison to
find them than for any one else. Sort of acci-
dent, you know."

■'"Wi».i.

Somebody loses the Books

131

It was finally agreed that before attempting
to get the books, Harvey and Mattison should
make a bona fide tour of inspection, by this
means finding out where each man was located.
Mattison reminded them that the watchman in
the train shed was not to be overlooked, but
they decided to chance him.

♦• There's one thing about it," said Mattison,
smiling. "If Johnson doesn't catch us, I can
discharge him for incompetency."

Shortly after midnight Harvey and Mattison
started out. They found the station dark. As
they tiptoed slowly along, edging close to the
building, everything was silent. They reached
the arched doorway, and were turning in when
the glare of a bull's-eye lanterh flashed into
their eyes. Mattison laughed softly.

" That's business," he said.

"What are you up to.?" growled the man
behind the lantern.

"Where's Mallory.?" was Mattison's answer.

The man hesitated, then whistled softly. The
whistle was echoed in the waiting room. In a
few moments the door opened and a voice said,
"What's up.?"

"Two chaps want Mallory.'*

132

The Short Line War

Harvey and Mattison still stood on the stone
step, looking into the lantern. They could see
neither door nor man. After a short wait, evi-
dently for scrutiny, the door closed. When it
opened again, Mallory's voice said, "Close that
light," adding, "Is anything the matter, Mr.
West .? "

'• No," replied Harvey. " We're keeping an
eye open. I see your men know their business.
Have you had any trouble } "

" Everything is quiet. Do you care to come
in.?"

Harvey responded by entering, with Mattison
following. As they crossed the waiting room,
Mallory drew their attention to a shadow near
a window.

"One of our boys," he said in a low tone.
" I put out all the lights. It makes it a good
deal easier to watch."

Up in Mattison's office the detectives were
lounging about, some dozing, some conversing
in low tones. The gas burned low, and the
window shutters were covered with the rugs
from the President's office, to keep the light
from the street.

ThA two f\fR/^in]c .Tf4-/^*. ^ ^1__ _T. -. . .1

Somebody loses the Books

133

room, returned to the hall. Harvey tried the
door of each office, then returned to Mattison
and Mallory. While they stood whispering, —
for at night sound travels through an empty
building, — there came the sound of a window
sliding in its sash, apparently from the Treas-
urer's office.

Mallory paused to listen, then coolly turned
and continued the conversation.

" What was that ? " muttered Harvey.

The lieutenant affected not to hear the remark.

" Some one is getting into the building," Har-
vey whispered. Mattison stepped lightly across
the hall and, bending down, listened at the key-
hole. He returnf with an excited gesture.

" Don't you heai it 1 " he asked.

" No," said Mallory. " I don't hear any-
thing."

" Are you deaf, man .? "

" No, but I think I know when to hear."

It occurred to Harvey that Jim had done his
work well. But then, Jim's orders, however
brief, were always understood. Harvey mo-
tioned the others to be silent, and tiptoed across
the floor. He listened as Mattison had done,
then passed on to the President's door. Cau-

■111

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134

T/ie Short Line War

tiously he drew a bunch of keys from his pocket,
and feeling for the right one he slipped it into
the lock, threw open the door, and darted into
the office. Mattison and the detective followed,
stumbling over chairs, and colliding with the
door to the inner office, which had closed after
Harvey. In the dim light they could see two
figures struggling in the passage by the vault.
While Mattison sprang forward, Mallory quickly
lighted the gas.

The light showed that Harvey had crowded
the fellow up against the vault door. The new-
comer was a medium-sized man, rough-faced,
and poorly clad. On the floor was a small
leather grip, which evidently had been kicked
over in the scuffle, for part of a burglar's kit
was scattered about the passage.

Mallory jerked the man's wrists together,
slipped on the handcuffs, and led him out into
the hall. In a moment the detective returned.

" I left him with the boys, for the present.
Case of common safe-cracking."

"Do you think so.?" said Harvey, adjusting
his cuffs, and moving the strange tools with his
foot. " If he wanted money, I should think
he wouid have tackled the vault downstairs."

Somebody loses tJie Books

135

Mallory stooped, and replaced the kit in the
bag. Suddenly he said, —

" Raise your foot, Mr. West."

Harvey did so, and the detective arose with
a dirty paper in his hand. He looked it over,
and handed it to the others. It was a rough
pencil sketch of the station building, showing
the alley, the window, the Treasurer's office,
and the vault.

" What do you think of it .? " asked Mallory.

Harvey turned it over. A second glance
showed it to be the front of an envelope, for
part of an end flap remained. The upper left-
hand corner had been torn off, evidently to
remove the return card, but so hastily that a
part of the card remained. Straightening it
out, and holding it up to the light, Harvey
read : —

esleigh,

ster, Illinois.

Mallory looked over his shoulder, and ex-
claimed : —

"That's easy. Hotel Blakesleigh, Manches-
ter, Illinois."

" How does that help you .? " asked Mattison.
Harvey lowered the paper.

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136

77^^' Short Lhie War

" Don't you see,'" he replied. "There are two
good hotels here, the Illinois and the Blakes-
Icigh. McNally is not at the Illinois." He
turned to the detective. " You'd better let the
fellow go, Mallory."

" Why .? "

" Because it is the easiest way to handle it.
Keep the tools, though."

" But I don't understand, Mr. West."

" Well, there is no use in discussing it. We
won't prefer charges."

" But the man was caught in the act."

" He didn't get anything, poor devil. No :
we're after bigger game than this. We h
enough for evidence. And don't sweat him.'*

** This is too deep for me, Mr. West. Surely
there's no harm in questioning him, now that
I've got him."

"Can't help it, Mallory. When that man
reports to his employer, I want him to say that
we suspect nothing beyond his attempt to crack
the safe."

The detective turned away with a frown.

" I suppose you kiiow your business, Mr.
West."

Harvey and Mattison followed him to the

Somebody loses the Books

hall, closin^ the door after them. They said
good night, and left the building.

"See here, West," said Mattison, when they
were fairly around the corner, "wasn't that a
little hasty .? It wouldn't hurt to keep the man
out of the way."

" No, I don't agree with you. What McNally
has done so far will be upheld by his judge.
And another thing, Mattison ; just at present,
it isn't to our interest to get an investigation
under way. We're going to do the same thing
ourselves."

Slowly and cautiously they slipped around
the next square, and, by returning through the
alley, brought up in the shadow of a building,
across the street from the train shed. Here
they waited to reconnoitre. The night was
clear, and the arc-lamp at the corner threw an
intermittent glare down the street. As they
looked, a long shadow appeared on the side-
walk. Mattison gripped Harvey's arm, and
drew him back into the alley. They crouched
behind a pile of boxes.

"It's like stealing apples," whispered Har-
vey. " When the old man gets after you with

a StiCK.

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138

T/ie Short Line War

" Ssh ! "

The footsteps sounded loud on the stone
walk. Then a helmeted figure passed the al-
ley, and went on its way.

Waiting until the sound died in the distance,
the two stepped to the walk, looked hastily
toward each corner, and ran across the street.
Once in the station alley, they paused again.

"Look!" said Harvey, pointing; "he left
the ladder."

Sure enough, a light ladder reached from the
ground nearly to a second-story window, which
stood open.

"Well, here we are," Mattison whispered.
" How do you feel .? "

"First-class. Better let me go, — I know
the combination."

Mattison stood at the foot of the ladder, and
steadied it while Harvey stealthily climbed to
the window. Drawing himself into the passage,
the receiver set to work on the vault lock. He
turned the knob very slowly, guarding against
the slightest noise, but the faint light that came
through the window was not enough to bring
out the numbers. Harvey leaned back and
considered. The scratching of a match would

H/ i-t

liW

Somebody loses the Books

139

almost surely be heard by the detectives. He
leaned out the window, and beckoned. Matti-
son came creeping up, and Harvey explained
in a few whispered sentences. ** Go back and
look up the street," he concluded. "We've
got to light it outside the building."

While Mattison was gone, Harvey felt his
way through the Treasurer's office and paused
to listen ; then he drew up a chair which stood
near the door, and climbing up, slipped off his
coat and hung it over the half-open transom.
Then he closed the transom^ and the room was
practically light proof. With the same caution
he reached the floor, and tiptoed back to the
window, where he found Mattison waiting on
the ladder.

"All right," whispered the Superintendent.
"Are you ready.?"

"Yes."

Mattison struck a match on his trousers leg,
shielded it with his hands, then handed it to
Harvey, who kneeled at the door and began to
whirl the knob. Before he was through the
light was close to his fingers, and he held another
match to the flame, taking care to light the
wrong end. At last the lock clicked, and Har-

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I40

The SJiort Line War

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vey opened the door a few inches, then he whis-
pered to Mattison, " If I whistle, you get down
and I'll drop the books."

He swung the door open, but stopped bewil-
ered. Before him was the steel gate with the
clanging bell. However, the risk must be run,
so motioning Mattison to climb down he drew
out his keys, and with a match ready in his
hand he jerked the gate open and dashed into
the vault. Striking the match, he quickly located
the books he needed, carried them to the win-
dow and pitched them out. Then he heard a
thud on the door. He threw one leg over the
sill, but stopped — his coat was still on the tran-
som. Some one was struggling to break in the
door now, for it shook. Harvey sprang back,
mounted the chair, and tore down his coat,
tumbling to the floor, chair and all, with a clatter!
L voice shouted, " Open the door, or I'll shoot ! "
but Harvey gave no heed. He ran to the win-
dow and literally fell down the ladder, filling his
hands with slivers. There came a crash from
above, and a muttered oath, and Harvey knew
that the door had given way. He gave the lad-
der a shove, and as it fell upon the cobblestones
with a great noise, he turned and sped up the

^^1

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Somebody loses the Books

141

alley after a dark figure that was already near
to the corner.

He caught up with Mattison in the next block,
and relieved him of half the load. Then for a
long time they ran and doubled, fugitives from
half a dozen detectives and a few lumbering
policemen. At last Mattison turned up a dark
alley in the residence district. Coming to a
board fence, he threw the books over, then
climbed after. Harvey followed, and found him-
self on a tennis court. Mattison led the way
through the yard, past a dark house, and across
the street to a roomy frame residence.

"Come in with me," he said to Harvey.
"You can't go back to the hotel now."

Harvey laughed nervously and nodded. Mat-
tison opened the door with his night key, and
with the heavy books in their arms the two
burglars stole up to bed.

life ■ 5

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M I

CHAPTER XI

A POLITICIAN

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Any man whose interests are extensive and
diverse has sooner or later to master the art of
making other men work for him, and he must
be content to trust the management of a great
part of his affairs to other hands. Jim Weeks
loved to keep a grasp even on the comparatively
insignificant details of his business, but he
showed wonderful insight in the selection of
his lieutenants, and he could impart such mo-
mentum to his projects that they moved forward
as he meant them to, though his own hand was
not guiding them. Like other men accustomed
to giving orders, he took it for granted that his
directions would be carried out.

Bridge, the Tillman City alderman to whom
he had intrusted the task of watching Blaney,
had worked for Jim long enough to know that
this affair was in his own hands, and that some-
thing more than obedience and zeal was ex-

142

A Politician

143

nsive and
the art of
I he must
3f a great
m Weeks
paratively
1, but he
lection of
such mo-
d forward
hand was
customed
1 that his

to whom
^ Blaney,
mow that
tiat some-
was ex-

pected of him. Though Jim's words had been
brief, it was easy to see that the matter was
important ; important enough to give Bridge a
great opportunity. He wanted to make the
most of it, and, in the excitement of laying
H his plans, the design for the stable was for-
gotten.

As the day wore on and his scheme crystal-
lized, he fluctuated between a sort of exalted
confidence and the depths of nervous depression.
He was naturally a steady, humdrum sort of
man, but he was planning to do an audacious
thing. His chance had come, and he meant to
take it. At last, just before supper time, he
resolutely locked his office, and started out to
see Blaney. He hesitated a second or two be-
fore the contractor's house; then he ran up
the steps and rang the bell.

The door was opened by a little girl, who
peered up at him through the dusk with a
child's curiosity. Bridge knew her, but he
was of that kind of bachelors who are embar-
rassed in the presence of children.

"Good evening, Louise," he said. "Is your
father home .? "

" No, sir, he isn't," she answered.

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144

T/ie Short Line War

There was a moment of awkward silence, and
then he stammered, —

"Well — good night." He bent down and
gravely shook hands with her, and turned to go
down the steps, but at that moment Blaney him-
self appeared.

" How are you ? " he said. " Did you want
to see me .? "

" If you've got the time," said Bridge.

Blaney led the way into the house, and mo-
tioned Bridge to a scat in the parlor. He him-
self paused in the hall to swing Louise up to
his shoulder and down again.

"What's the matter with you to-night.?" he
acked. " You don't seem to want to play. Are
you sick } "

" A little," answered the child. " I'm kind
of tired, and my head hurts."

He ran his thick hand through her red curls,
and looked at her anxiously for a moment.
Then he followed Bridge into the parlor.

" What can I do for you, Bridge > " he asked
gruffly.

Bridge hesitated a moment ; then he said,

" Jim Weeks was in town this mornino- "

&■

r?laney looxced up sharply, and asked, *'' Did
you see him ? '*

A Politician

145

"Yes," answered the other. "That is, he
came down to see me. You know the M. & T.
election is coming pretty soon now, and he got
the idea that our stock was going to be voted
against him. He wanted me to fix it up so
things would go his way in the Council, and I
told him that I'd do what I could. I came
around to you to see if your crowd were going
to do anything about it."

The coolness of the inquiry almost stupefied
Blaney, but he managed to speak.

" I'd like to know," he said, " what business
that is of yours, anyway."

'• It's my business, right enough," said Bridge,
easily. " I could ask the same question in
Council meeting, but I thought it was best to
talk it over with you quietly. There isn't any
good in trying to fight Jim Weeks, and I should
think you'd know it. If ever a man had a
cinch — "

" What are you up to, anyhow ? " demanded
Blaney, no.v thoroughly exasperated. "Did
you come around here to try to bulldoze me }
Well, I'll just tell you you may as well save
your breath. Do you understand that ^ Weeks
thinks he can come his old bluff down here,

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146

The Short Line War

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but he's going to get fooled just once. We've
got the backing that'll beat him. That's all
I've got to say to you."

" Well. I've got a little more to say to you,"
said Bridge. " I came around here on my own
hook to find out whether you were just making
your regular bluff or whether you meant to
fight, and I've found out. And now I'm going
to give you your choice. I'll either give you
the hottest scrap you ever had, and make what
I can out of Wcks by it, or I'll go in with you
so you can get your deal through quietly. You
can take your choice."

" What the devil do you mean .? "
" I mean just this. That if there's any pos-
sible show of kicking that damned bully out of
here so that he'll never come back, I'd like to
be in it. And I guess my services would be
valuable."

"Look here," demanded Blaney, sharply.
What have you got against Weeks ? "
" What have I got against him ? " repeated
Bridge. His face was flushed and his shining
eyes and clenched hands testified to his excite-
ment. " Hasn't he made me pull his hot chest-
nuts off the fire for the last two years ? Hasn't

*1l

A Politician

. We've
:hafs all

to you,"
my own
making
neant to
m going
?ivc you
ke what
vith you
y. You

ny pos-
r out of
I like to
3uld be

harply.

ipeated

shining

excite-

chest-

Hasn't

he held me up and made me pay a good rake-
off from every deal I've been lucky enoiipjh to
make a little on ? And hasn't he loaned me
money until I don't dare sign my own name
without asking him if I can do it, and — " He
stopped as though knowing he had gone too
far ; then he laughed nervously. " It's all
right what I've got against him ; that\=; my
bv.J^ess, I guess, but — "

Agatn the unfiiiishcd sentence was eloquent.

This time it was IManey who broke th?
si*' iice. " I guess," he said cautiously, "that v
you want to tip Weeks over, you'll find there'll
be some to help you."

Bridge laughed bitterly. " There are plenty
who'd be glad enough to do it if they could.
He's had his grip on all of us long enough for
that ; but I'm afraid it's no good. We can't
beat him. He's got us in a vise."

*' I don't know about that," said Blaney.

"Why, man," exclaimed the other, "what
can we do } And if we try to buck him and got
left, he'll squeeze the life out of us. You know
that."

Blaney did know that, and Bridge's words
brought certain unpleasant consequences plainly

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148

The Short Line War

It f ;;;:

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before his mind. All the while Bridge was
talking Blaney had been trying to find out what
his motive was. He had always believed that
Bridge was hand and glove with Weeks, and at
the beginning he had suspected a trap. But
what Bridge had said was entirely plausible ;
he had given himself away without reserve, and
had frankly confessed that Weeks had been
driving him. Bridge would be a valuable ally
in the scheme Blan-y wanted to put through.
Jim was popular in Tillman, and if he were to\c
sold out to a corporation like C. & S. C, it would
as Bridge had hinted, be well for all parties
concerned in the transfer that it should be
accomplished as quietly as possible. Bridge
was at the head of a compact and determined
mmority, and if he opposed the deal, he could
make matters very uncomfortable for Blaney and
his henchmen. But with Bridge on his side the
field was clear and there could be no doubt as
to the success of the scheme. The one thing
that troubled Blaney was that Bridge might de*'-
mand money; but there was no need of facino-
that issue yet, for Bridge had apparently not
thought of it. "He's just getting even for
something," thought Blaney.

^L,i

A Politician

149

There was a long silence, which Blaney broke
at last.

"We don't have to buck him all by ourselves,"
he said. "We're well backed. C. & S. C. are
behind us. Are you with us .'' "

Bridge answered him steadily. " I've been
waiting for a chance like this for a year," he
said. "You can count me in for all I'm worth."

He rose to go and held out his hand to
Blaney. "Good night," he said, "and good
luck to us."

"So long," was the answer. "I'll come
around in a day or two, and we can arrange
details."

The interview had been a hard one for Bridge,
and it left him weak and nervous. When he
sat down to supper at his boarding-house table
that evening he had no appetite. He went to
bed early, but he did not sleep well, and the next
morning found him exhausted by the intermi-
nable hours of dozing, uneasy half-consciousness.
He spent the next day in hoping that Blaney
would come, though he had no reason for ex-
pecting him so soon, and by night he was in
worse condition than ever. He would have
gone again to sec Blaney had he dared, but he

!Mt5ll;j II

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150

The Short Line War

felt that such a proceeding would imperil the
whole affair ; he must wait for Blaney to make
the next move.

Day followed day with no variation save that
Bridge found the delay more and more nearly un-
bearable, and the week had dragged to an end
and another begun before anything happened.
On Sunday afternoon he started out for a walk,
but he had not gone far when he met Blaney!
To his surprise, the contractor looked as though
the past week had been as hard for him as it
had been for Bridge. His face looked thin and
his eyes sunken and there were bristling uneven
patches of sandy beard on his face. When he
came up to Bridge he stopped.

" I suppose you've been looking for me," he
said. "I've been staying right at home taking
care of my kid ; she's had the scarlet fever."

" Louise } " asked Bridge, with real concern.
" I hope she's better."

" I guess she'll pull through all right now,"
answered Blaney, " but he's been pretty sick,
and it's kept me busy night and day. You see
my wife can't do much at nursing. But I tell
you scarlet fever is no joke."

"I never had it," was the answer, "but I'm

: . I-

A Politician

151

glad it's come out all right. By the way," he
went on, as Blaney started to walk away, " when
will you be able to talk over that business with
me ? "

"Why, now as well as at any time, I suppose,"
said Blaney, after a moment's hesitation.

The contractor had an office near by, and at his
suggestion they went there for their conference.

*' How many men can you count .'' " he asked
when they were seated.

Now that the period of forced inaction was
over, and there was something important to do,
Bridge forgot that his head was burning and
his throat dry, and for the first time in three
days he was able to think consecutively. For
half an hour they figured their united strength
and talked over the individual members of the
Council. But at last Bridge said : —

"Before we go any further, I want to know
more about this business. I've taken your
word so far that we would be backed up all
right, and 1 hope we are. But I can't afford to
be beaten, and if Weeks isn't clean busted up,
he'll hound me to death. I've got to know
more about this business."

Blaney looked out of the window. " Seems

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152

77^(f S/iorl Line War

to me you're pretty late with that talk about not
going in," he said.

" I know I've committed myself to some ex-
tent without knowing just what I was getting
into," answered Bridge, "but I won't go any
farther till some things are cleared up."

"What do you want to know.?" asked
Blaney.

" I want to know what you're going to do.
Voting that stock against Weeks won't do
any good. We can't get him out all by our-
selves."

" We aren't all by ourselves. C. & S. C. are
with us."

" That's what I'm trying to get at. To what
extent are they with us .? "

Blaney hesitated. It had not been a part of
his plan to tell of the prospective sale of the
stock. He had meant to have the Council direct
the voting of the stock for C. & S. C. faction,
and then wh.n they had committed themselves
by this act, to urge upon them tiie necessity of
selling out and to tempt them with the offer of
par. But a glance at Bridge's set face con-
vinced him that the new ally meant what he
said, and he knew too much already for the

■ \

A Politician

153

safety of the scheme unless he were further-
ing it.

"They're with us to this extent," said Blaney,
slowly. ** They're going to buy our stock."

"That's all rot," said Bridge. "We can't
sell. M. & T.'s a good investment now, and
it's getting better every day."

" Wait till I get through," interrupted Blaney,
bent now on making an impression. " Don't
you think the Council would vote to sell at par .? "

"What's that got to do with it.?"

" C & S. C. are going to pay par, that's all."

Bridge looked at him incredulously. " Then
we're to vote the stock as they dictate, just on
the strength of their telling us they'll pay par
for it afterward. I'm afraid it'll be a long time
afterward. How do you know they aren't play-
ing us for suckers } "

" How do we know .<* " repeated Blaney.
" I'm not quite as green as you think. I know
because I've got it down in black and white.
They can't get around a contract like that."

Unlocking a drawer in his desk, he drew out
a sheet of paper which he thrust into Bridge's
hands. " Read it," he said.

Bridge read it through once and then again ;

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154

77^<f 5//^;'/ Line War

it was briefly worded, and he had no difficulty in
remembering it. As he laid the paper down he
was conscious of a violent vhrobbing in his head,
and he shivered as though an icy breeze had
blown upon him. FLi rose uiicertainly from his
chair and moved toward the door.

"What's the matter?" demanded Blaney.
" W lie re are you going ? "

"I dont feel very well," said Bridge. "I
think I'll go home ana go to bed."

When he reached the foot of the stairs, how-
ever, he turned not toward his room, but toward
the railway station ; for in his mind there was a
confused purpose of going to Chicago immedi-
ately and telling Jim Weeks exactly what he
had found out.

Scarlet fever is not ordinarily a man's disease,
but it had fallen upon Bridge. He had exposed
himself to it on the evening when he went to
Blaney's house to make the preHminary move in
his game ; and now after the five days of tense
inaction it attacked him furiously.

He was in a raging fever when he left Blaney's
office, but he did not reahze it, borne up as he
was by the excitement of winning. There could
be no doubt that he had done as good a stroke

iiS

A Politician

I"
D3

of work for himself as for Jim Weeks, for Jim
was not the man to let the merit of his lieuten-
ants go unrecognized. He felt sure that Jim
would win the fight, even with C. & S. C. against
him, and though he had not recognized the worth-
lessness of the contract Blaney held, he was con-
fident that Jim could use his knowledge of the
existence of such a contract with telling effect.

As he walked on, the exhilaration of his tri-
umph died out of him, and his steps faltered
and his sight became untrustworthy. He real-
ized that he was not fit for travelling, and reluc-
tantly he turned back to his room. He was a
long time in reaching it, and when he staggered
in and dropped into an easy-chair he knew that
he was a very sick man. With a foreboding
of the delirium that was coming upon him he
gathered himself together for a final effort and
scrawled a copy of the contract upon a slip of
paper. With shaking hands he folded it and
crammed it into an inner pocket ; then he rose
and moved slowly toward the bed. He fell
twice in the short distance, but he kept on, and
his head sank back in the pillows before con-
sciousness forsook him.

4't

h':

■■f,'
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CHAPTER XII

ifi.

M-ll,

KATHERINE

As Katherine drove home alone on Sunday
morning she was troubled. In aiding Harvey
to catch the train for Manchester she had acted
upon the veriest impulse, and Katherine liked
to imagine herself a very cool and self-possessed
young woman. Slowly it dawned upon her that
by helping Harvey she had set her hand against
her own father. In an impersonal way she had
realized this, but Harvey's presence had filled
her thoughts, and she had not allowed herself
time to consider. And now that the cooler after-
thoughts had come she was almost as indignant
with herself for showing such open interest in
Harvey as for hurting her father's cause. Then
she grew startled to realize that even in her
thoughts she was placing this man before her
father. Harvey was not a fool. He would see
that she had been disloyal, and he would cease

156

Katherine

157

to respect her. She wondered if she was
disloyal.

On reaching home she hurried to her room
and sat down by the open window, looking out
over the lawn that sloped down to the road.
Harvey would think her weak, and would feel
that he could sway her from her strongest duty.

The day was bright. Far in the distance she
could see a bend of the river. There was no
sound, no life; the rolling country stretched
away in idle waves, the checkered farms lay
quiet in the sun, over all was the calm of
a country Sunday. Her eyes wandered and
she closed them, resting her fingers on the
lids. Life was serious to Katherine. Since her
early teens she had lived without n mother, and
the result of her forced indepciidence was a
pronounced and early womanhood. She had
learned her lessons from experience and had
learned them with double force. She had never
been in love, and save for a very few youthful
flutterings had never given the idea a concrete
form ; and now that she should manifest such
weakness before Harvey partly alarmed her.
She suspected that he loved her, but would not
permit herself to return it. She knew too little

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158

The Short TAnc War

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about him, and, besides, her first duty was with
her father. She had yielded to impulse, but it
was not too late to reconsider. She had aided
the enemy by a positive act ; she would do as
much for her father. With firm eyes she rose
and went downstairs, fully decided to inves-
ti-ratj . .^ matter until she could discover a
means of throwing her energy against Weeks
and Harvey.

During the next two days her determination
grew. Mr. Porter was in Chicago and Man-
chester, and was not expected home immedi-
ately, so Katherine had plenty of time for
thinking. She drove a great deal, went around
the links every morn^'n -, and tried to read. It
did not occur to her that her effort - as not so
much to side with her duty is to crowd down
the thoughts of Harvey that would ; .al into
her mind. Siic permitted herself no leewa-
the matter, but kept resolutely to her decision.

" uesday afternoon she drove until quite late,
and returning found her father and McNally
awa'Hng dins er. Although she was quicker
than usual in hev efforts to entertain their
guest, the meal was hurried and uncomfortable,
'he- in repose McIn ally's face was clouded,

Ka the vine

159

and the occasional spells of interest into which
he somewhat studiously aroused himself could
not CO. '^eal his general inattention. Her father,
too, was preoccupied, and was so abrupt in his
conversation as to leave small . rac of th(^ easy
lightness of manner that Katherine had always
known.

After dinner Katherine excused herself, and
stepped out through the long window that
opened on the veranda. Evidently a crisis
»iad come, and she wished that an o})portunity
would arise through which she might join their
discussion. Just outside of the libraiy w.udow
she sat down on a steamer chair and gazed up
at the dark masses of the trees, the thinning
tops of which were at once darkened and relieved
by the last red of the western sky.

" Yes, Porter, they kicked me out. My
men and I made a stiff fight for it, but they
outnumbered us."

At the sound of McN ally's voice Katherine
started guiltily. It had not occurred to her that
the matter wou be discussed downstairs ;
usually her father's private conversations were
held in his den on the second floor. She won-
dered whether she ought make herself known.

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T/ie Short Line War

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Then she heard McNally again, answering a
low-spoken question from her father.

•' He was a good man, or perhaps you would
call him a bad one. He was just getting down
to work on the vault door when West and his
gang of Pinkertuns broke in on him and nailed
him."

Another question from Porter.

"No, Porter, they are on to us now. You
see, the books are gone, and there's no use
in trying to get hold of that end of the road ;
but we can seize it from this cud and get every-
thing except their building."

With cheeks burning and with conscience
troubling, Katherine rose and stood before the
window.

•• I didn't intend to put myself in your way,"
she said, laughing nervously, "but I couldn't
help hearing."

Looking in through the dim light Katherine
thought she saw McNally start. After a brief
but embarrassing pause Porter spoke, using the
tone Katherine associated with the stern but
kindly rebukes of her childhood.

•• Did you hear all we said, Katherine ? "

"Most of it, I'm afraid."

Katherine

" You understand, dear, that this is very
confidential business ? "

"Yes, dad." With an inpulsive start Kath-
erine seated herself on the low sill of the window
and clasped her hands in hjr lap. " I wish you
would let me talk it over with you. You know
I am interested in your affairs, dad. And,"
hesitatingly, "maybe I can help you."

For a space all three were silent. Katherine
was leaning back in a pose that brought out all
her unconscious beauty. The waning light fell
full upon her, and the sunset seemed to be
faintly reflected in her face. Her hair was
coiled above her forehead in easy disorder.

McNally, sitting back in the shadow, looked
fixedly at her, and as he looked it seemed to
him that her beauty spiced the atmosphere.
He found himself drawing in his breath keenly
and almost audibly, and gripping the arms of
the ea.sy-chair : with a sudden half-amused feel-
ing of boyishness he relaxed his grip and leaned
back comfortably. It was some time since the
introspective Mr. McNally had found it neces-
sary to reprove himself for such a slip of de-
meanor.

" I couldn't help seemg what was going on,"

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The Short Line War

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continued Katherine. "And you told me the
other day that I had helped you some." She
turned appealingly toward her father, who sat
with head lowered, scowling at the carpet.
McNally broke the pause.

"There is very little we can tell you. Miss
Katherine. A business matter of this importance
is too complicated for any one who has not
grown up with the problems. It would involve
the history of two railroads for years back."

" Why is it," asked Katherine, earnestly, " that
a man never credits a woman with common
sense .? I am not blind. I know that the M. & T.
is a feeder to C. & S. C, that it supplies us with
coal, and that we could earn and save money
by making it a part of our system. Mr. Weeks
is fighting us for some reason, and we are plan-
ning to force the question. Isn't that so > "

" Where did you learn this, Katherine .? " asked
her father.

" From no one particular source. You have
told me a great deal yourself, dad."

"The question is, Miss Katherine," McNally
said, " what good could you possibly do.? With-
out implying any doubt of your ability, you see
our course is already mapped out for us by cir-

Katherine

163

cumstances. In fact, there is only one way open
that leads to a logical outcome. If we were in
a position where we needed tactful advice, you
could undoubtedly be of help, but just now what
we want is a force of strong, aggressive men."

"Mr. McNally is right, dear," said Porter.
"Everything is decided, and all we can do is
to tend to business. This Weeks is following
rather a dishonorable course, and we arc pre-
pared to meet him ; that is all."

Katherine leaned forward and twisted the
curtain string around her finger.

" Is he really dishonest } " she asked.

"Well, dear, that is a hard question. No man
has a right to condemn another without careful
deliberation ; but it happens that many business
dealings savor a little of underhand methods,
and it looks to us as though Mr. Weeks were
not over particular."

"What has he done.?"

"Well, you see, dear — "

Katherine broke in with unusual warmth.
" Oh, I know what you are going to say. Some
more complications that I couldn't understand.
Why won't you tell me t "

Porter arose.

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164

The Short Line War

"We'll talk this over at some other time,
Katherine. I have an appointment with Judge
Black for this evening, but I will be back before
long." He added to McxNally, " He came in
on the 8.25. I'll leave you with Katherine."

When he had gone there was a silence.
Katherine felt that her father's absence should
alter the tone of the conversation, but she
waited for McNally to take the initiative.
^ "What a glorious night," he said at length,
rising and coming to the window. "Did you
ever see such a lingering afterglow ? Suppose
we sit outside."

Katherine rose and made room for McNally
to step through the open window. Together
they walked across the veranda, McNally seat-
ing himself on the railing, Katherine leaning
against one of the stone columns.

" How long have you been ambitious to be a
business woman. Miss Katherine } "

" I hardly wish that. Only I like to share
father's interests."

"Do you know, I like it. I like to see a
woman show an independent interest in im-
portant affairs. Nowadays not only young
girls but women of position seem to care for

Katherine

165

nothing but the frivolous. I don't know but
what our pioneer ancestors got more out of life,
when the woman and her husband worked side
by side."

"Will you tell me about the M. & T. busi-
ness, Mr. McNally .? "

"I hardly feel that I can, Miss Katherine.
To my mind that rests with your father."

" Probably it does, but father still thinks me a
child. He thinks I cannot grasp the situation."

" Even if I felt at liberty to discuss it, I don't
know what I could tell you beyond a mere re-
cital of dry detail. Personally, I should like to
do so. Miss Katherine ; I honestly admire your
independence, and I believe that you might
even be able to suggest some helpful ideas, but
business does not concern itself with the per-
sonal equation."

Katherine looked thoughtfully at McNally's
shadowed face. She was a little surprised with
herself that she should so persist, but it did not
occur to her to stop. Deep behind her desire
to be honest with her father was a desire to
prove that Harvey was, after all, in the right.
She did not recognize this, she did not even
know it, but Harvey's Dcrsonalitv had taken on

i66

The Short Litf^ War

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hers a vital grip that was as yet too strong, too
firm, too close at hand to be realized. As for
McNally, his intention to evade was too evident
to be overlooked. He was dodging at every
turn, and it was becoming clear to her that he
was concealing facts which it would not do to
disclose. And this suggested that her father
was doing the same. The bit of conversation
she had overheard came back to her, and as
she thought it over it sounded odder than when
she had first heard it. Why should her father
wish to seize the road.? If it belonged to Mr.
Weeks, and if he did not care to sell, what right
had her father or any one else to take it by
force .!* She had been looking out over the
lawn, but now she turned and fixed her eyes
intently on McN?lly's plump, smooth-shaven
face. He was looking toward her, but seemed
not to see her. Instead there was the shadow
of a smile in his eyes which suggested air-
castles.

"Mr. McNally," she said abruptly, "if we
want the M. & T. road, why don't we buy it and
pay for it.?"

McNally started. During the long silence he
had been feasting on Katherine's beauty. He

Katherine

167

was not a young man, but as he gazed at the
earnest young face before him, and at the masses
of shining hair, half in shadow, half in light, he
felt a sudden loneliness, a sudden realization of
what such a woman could be to him, what an
influence she might have upon his life. And
losing for the moment the self-poise that was
his proudest accomplishment, Mr. McNally
stammered.

"Oh," he said, "we couldn't — it wouldn't
do — "

From the change in every line of Katherine's
pose he knew that he had said enough. She
had turned half away from him and was stand-
ing rigid, looking out into the night. Glancing
at her dimly outlined profile, McNally could see
that her lips were pressed closely together. He
pulled himself together and stood up.

"Why not go in and have some music.'' " he
asked. "This conversation is too serious for
such an evening."

Katherine bowed and led the way into the
house. As they passed through the library
toward the piano she paused to turn the electric-
light key. With the flood of light Katherine's
ease returned, and she laughed lightly as she

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The Short Line War

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pointed to a gaudily decorated sheet of music
on the piano.

" Shocking, isn't it ? " she said. " That's the
kind of music we play down here in the
country. We need your influence to keep us
from degenerating musically. Play me some-
thing good."

McNally glanced at her with a laugh.

" Coon songs, eh } " he replied. " Well, some
of them aren't so bad." He sat down at the
instrument and let his hands slip over the keys.
Katherine sank upon the broad couch in the
corner. She was apparently her old self,
friendly and interested in Tvlr. McNally and his
music, but there was nevertheless a distinct
change. McNally felt the difference and tried
to throw it off, but the force of the situation
grew upon him. Slowly he realized that in
spite of her pretensions she was not really in
sympathy either with him or with her father.
He struck into a Liszt rhapsody with all the
fervor he could muster.

McNally was a good musician. He possessed
the power, lacking in many better pianists, of
using music as a medium to connect his own
and his listener's moods; but to-night he fell

Katherine

169

short, and he knew it. He stole a glance at
^ Katherine. She looked exactly as usual, but
still there was a difference that baffled him.
He threw all his art into the music. He
labored to color it with sincerity and strength.
But all the while he knew that the ground was
lost. What he did not know was that Kather-
ine was passing through a crisis, and that her
thoughts were miles away from him and his
rhapsody. He ended with unusual brillfancy,
and she smiled with pleasure and thanked him
simply, but still he felt the change. Then Por-
ter came in, and after a brief general conver-
sation Katherine withdrew.

She did not go at once to her room. Instead,
she slipped out on the little second-floor bal-
cony and sat down to be alone and to think.
She had made an honest effort to throw her
interest with her father and with what she
believed to be her duty, and now that the even-
ing was gone she had nothing to show for it.
For a very few moments she wondered at it
all, and at the fate which seemed to draw her
toward Harvey. Then, as the thought of him
again took concrete form, and as the last two
uays with him came back to her mind, her

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T/ie Short Line War

whole heart went out to him, and she was
startled, frightened at the strength of his hold
upon her. For a moment she gave herself up
to dreams, dreams of a better, sweeter existence
than any she had dared to imagine, then came
the thought of her father, and Katherine broke
down.

Downstairs, McNally and Porter sat for a
long time with only a desultory conversation.
Then McNally said, —

" Porter, I envy you a daughter like that."
'• She is a good girl," Porter replied.

* (
^ Mi

CHAPTER XIII

TRAIN NO. 14

The fight for the possession of the Man-
chester and Truesdalc Railroad divides itself
naturally into two acts. During the first week,
while it would be absurd to say that the acts
of either side were legal, all the proceedings
had worn the cloak of law. But now matters
had come to a deadlock. Judge Grey was both
able and willing to undo any or all of the
acts of Judge Black, and conversely. The last
event of the first act was the attempt on Tues-
day morning of the C. & S. C. people, armed
with writs from Black, to seize the books of the
company. They were courteously received and
the vaults were thrown open to their inspection ;
but as the books had been spirited away the
night before, the search was fruitless. Porter
and McNally had been beaten at their own
game, and they withdrew their forces to Trues-

171

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The Short Line M ir

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dale. The fight was to be kept up on other
lines.

Wednesday morning, No. 7 on the C. & S. C.
brought down a much larger number of pas-
sengers for Tiuesdalc than ordinarily came
on that train. They climbed down to the
station platform from different cars, and re-
garded each other with studied indifference,
but there was something homogeneous about
the crowd that drew upon it the frankest stares
of the station loafers. There were no women
or children among them, they carried no bai;-
gage, and there was an air about them, care-
fully repressed but still (Mscernible, which
suggested that if any one were looking for
trouble they were the men to whom to apply.
They seemed to be trying to attract as little
attention as possible, but they were followed
by many curious glances, as they straggled in
a long irregular line up the street toward the
Truesdale Hotel.

Katherine had driven into town that morning,
and from her high trap she watched the spec-
tacle with amused interest. Seeing McNally
coming out of the hotel office she pulled up her
horses and nodded to him with a peremptory

Train No, 14

^71

on other

' & S. C

r of pas
ily came
n to the
, and re-
ifferencc,
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10 women
1 no ba":-
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e, which
3king for
to apply,
t as little
followed
aggled in
)ward the

; morning,

the spec-

McNally

led up her

ercmptory

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cordiality which left mm no escape from com-
ing lo speak to he .

"So war is declared," she said la ighingly,
nodding toward the rear guard who were dis-
appearing in the hotel nitrancc. "I see you
are massing your troops. Is that the entire
army, or only a division.^"

McNallv ' ' to utter a protest, but she
went on ur ling. " I think they're too
absurdly com ..al for words. They try so hard
to look as if they weren't spoiling for a fight."

" Miss Porter," said McNally, seriously,
"your father's interests are at stake now and
we must be discreet."

" I suppose so," she .said ; " but really those
men are irresistibly funny."

She gathered' up the reins and the horses
started, but as they moved away she turned
and called back to him, —

"Be sure and come out to luncheon — that
is, if you don't go to the front."

The words troubled McNally. Only two
days before he had been dragged out of his
hiding-place in the Manchester station and
kicked downstairs. This experience still oc-
cupied a large place in his thoughts, and he

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174

The Short Lme War

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took Katherine's remark as a reflection on his
personal courage. Though he had no idea
of "going to the front," he decided not to go
to the Porters' for luncheon.

All that morning new people kept streaming
into Truesdale. No. 22 brought in McDowell,
a division superintendent on the C. & S. C,
and other less important employees of the
same road came in on every train. All over
the city was the exciting premonition that
something was going to happen. The army,
as Katherine had called it, was reenforced by
two fresh detachments brought in on the C. &
S. C. from no one knew just where, but they
were carefully guarded from being too muc'.i
in evidence, and there was not the least dis-
order. When noon came and nothing had
happened the tension relaxed a little, and the
town returned to its accustomed quiet.

At the M. & T. station, however, the excite-
ment increased, manifesting itself in many ways.
The trains came in and went out on their sched-
uled time, and the routine work went on without
variation, but there was a nervous alertness evi-
dent everywhere. Train crews stood in little
knois about the platform and yards, speculating

Iki

Train No. 14

175

about the fight whose issue meant much to each
of them, but in which they had not as yet been
able to take a part. At one forty-five No. 14,
which leaves Truesdale at two o'clock for Till-
man City, St. Johns, and Manchester, backed
down to the station to take on its passengers.
Carse, the conductor, stood near the cab talking
to the engineer and the fireman, keeping all the
while an eye on the passengers.

"We're getting a big crowd to-day," he ob-
served. " That's McDowell of the C. & S. C.
getting in the rear coach there. He's a mean
brute. Ain't you glad we ain't under him,
Downs .? "

The engineer nodded emphatically, and climb-
ing down from the cab, stood beside the con-
ductor. "Seems to me," he said, "there are
a lot of C. & S. C. boys taking this train.
I've spotted three or four already."

" Say," exclaimed Carse, " do you suppose
they're going back to Manchester to have an-
other shot at the old man .? I brought them
back from there yesterday on No. 5, and they
were the sickest crowd you ever saw. The old
man can p-ive them iust about all thcv want."

He paused and glanced at his watch. " We

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The Short Line War

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pull out in thirty seconds," he said And pt
two o'clock No. 14 started northward on what
was to prove a most eventful run in the history
of the M. & T. The train rattled over the yard
switches, slid creaking under the brakes down
to the river, rumbled across the bridge, and then
toiled up the first of the long grades between
Truesdale and Sawyerville.

Carse was collecting tickets in the second car
when suddenly it thrilled and trembled, and the
train, with grinding squealing brakes, came to
a stop. The conductor was all but ihrown from
his feet, but he staggered to the platform, and
leaping down ran toward the engine, followed
by an excited crowd of passengers.

"What's the matter.?" he demanded of
Downs, whom he found clambering out of the
cab.

"That's what I wan^- - know," answered the
engineer. " Didn't yo._ .all the signal cord > "

" No," said Carse, looking puzzled. " I won-
der what's up."

At that moment a man came forward from
the group of passengers : it was McDowell. "I
signalled you to stop," he said.

Carse waited an instant for him to go on,

Train No. 14

177

i And ?\.
rd on what
the history
er the yard
"akes down
e, and then
es between

second car
id, and the
s, came to
irown from
itform, and
le, followed

manded of
out of the

swered the
al cord ? "

. " I WOlx-

ward from
•owell. 'a

to go on,

and then asked impatiently, "Well, what's
wrong ? "

"Nothing that I know of," said McDowell,
easily. "I wanted the train to stop."

Carse stepped toward him angrily. " I don't
know whether you're drunk or not," he said,
" but that's a damned poor kind of a joke.
You'll find that out as soon as we get to
Sawyerville."

"Oh, no, I won't," said McDowell. "I'm
superintendent of this road, and the first thing
I'm going to do is to fire vou. Haven," — he
called to one of the group behind him, — " you
can take this train to Manchester."

Another man pushed into the circle. He
was Stewart, the sheriff of Evelyn County.
" Mr. McDowell is quite right. Mr. Frederick
McNally, the receiver of the road, appointed
him this morning. And I now serve on you a
writ from Judge Black — "

" See here," interrupted Carse, " are you
sheriff of Evelyn County or of the whole
United States 1 You'd better keep out of this ;
the county line's about half a mile back."

"We're wasting time," said McDowell,
shortly. "James and Mangan, take the en-

. ■

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178

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gine. We'll take charge of this train, sir,
county or no county."

"Not if I can help it," said Carse, under his
breath. Then shouting, "Get away, boys;
don't mind me," he sprang upon McDowell'
hitting out swift and hard, and in a second the
two men were clinched and rolling in the sand
Downs took the hint and, leaping into the cab,
let off the air brake and seized the throttle'
while Berg, his big fireman, wrenched free from
the two men who tried to hold him and rushed
toward the cab. For a moment it looked as
though No. 14 was going to get away.

But the first detachment of Mr. McNally's
army was not at hand for nothing. Berg was
pulled down from the step he had succeeded
m reaching, and a blow from behind stretched
him unconscious beside the track. Downs
caught up the shovel which lay at his feet
and brought it down hard on a man who was
chmbing over the tender ; then without turning
ho drove the handle squarely into the face of
another who was standing on the step and
trying to clutch his legs. But the odds were
too great, and in a moment he was rushed back
agamst the fire-box, and his arms were pinioned

Traill No. 14.

179

train, sir,

, under his
•'ay, boys ;
McDowell,
second the
1 the sand,
to the cab,
e throttle,
free from
ind rushed
looked as

McNally's
Berg was
succeeded
stretched
Downs
his feet,
who was
t turning
e face of
step and
dds were
hed back
pinioned

fast. McDowell had been freed from his assail-
ant by two of his brawny supporters, and he
rose to his feet with some difficulty ; the blood
was streaming down his face, but he was quite
cool. Seeing that resistance w?- at an end, he
called to the men in the engine : —

" Let up on that man ; we don't want to kill
him. Bring him down here."

A moment later, he said : " Put bracelets on
all three of them and take them into the smoker.
Some -J you stay around and see that they don't
do any more mischief." Then turning to the
men he had already ordered to take charge of
the train, he said : " All right, boys, let her go.
We're nearly ten minutes late."

McNally's plans were well laid ; so well laid
that McDowell's mistake in not stopping the
train soon enough did not prevent their being
carried out successfully. The sheriff of Maiden
County had been told what was expected of him,
and he was waiting on the platform of the
Sawyerville station when No. 14 pulled in.
There had been no warning, there was no
possibility of resistance, and everything moved
as smoothly as clockwork. The writs were
served, the telegraph office seized, and the

fci '\ 'ill

i8o

The Short Line War

[i !"

[t ,

ji!

\ '

M. & T. employees about the station replaced
by McDowell's "boys" almost before the dazed
incumbents knew what was happening. The
new telegraph operator wired to McNally, who
had already taken possession or the Truesdale
terminal, telling him briefly of the fight for the
train and the capture of Sawyerville. McNally
sent back brief instructions for the conduct of
the rest of the raid. They were told to make
no attempt to keep schedule time, but to go
slowly and cautiously, and to use as little vio-
lence as possible. Altogether McDowell had
reason to feel well satisfied when he came out
on the station platform ready to take his train
on its unique journey up the road.

There stood near him a number of passengers
gathered in an excited group, discussing the
fight, the delay of the train, and the somewhat
remote chance of getting to Manchester. One
of them, a very stout man with deep-set, watery
eyes and a florid complexion, recognized the
Superintendent and turned to him.

"Are we likely to have to wait as long as
this at every station V he asked.

" I guess so," answered McDowell, shortly.

"This is an outrage," exclaimed the other,

Train No. 14

181

n replaced
2 the dazed
ing. The
Nally, who

Truesdale
?ht for the

McNally
conduct of
i to make
but to go

little vio-
owell had

came out
e his train

)assengers

Jssing the

somewhat

ter. One

et, watery

:nized the

s long as 11

shortly.

"he other,

angrily. " I took this train for the purpose of
getting to Manchester."

'•You'd better get aboard then," said Mc-
Dowell. " We're going to start now."

His coolness exasperated the stout man, and
he shouted after the Superintendent, " I won't
submit to this. I tell you, you'll be sorry for it
before I get through with you."

McDowell paid no heed to the threat, and
nodded Haven to go ahead; but a young tele-
graph operator, whose services were to be re-
quired further up the road, heard the words and
shouted to the angry man : —

" If you don't want to take the train, there's
probably a livery stable here, or else you can
go to the hotel. It's a gold cure, but I guess
they'd take you in."

McDowell laughed and went into the car.
He did not hear what his former passenger
answered, and he did not care. He would
probably have been less am*, v d if he had
known that the man was none other than State
Senator "Sporty" Jones. It does not pay to
enrage any man wantonly, and especially not a
man who makes it his main principle in life to
get even. And as any of his circumspect asso-

1 '.

' t

i '4

^''

182

T/ic Short Line Wc

elates could inform you, Senator Sporty J

was just such a man
It was

ones

nearing six o'clock when No. 14
slowed down in the southern outskirts of Till-
man City. The army, though depleted, was
jubilant, and more than made up in esprit du
corps what it had lost in numbers. The raid
had so far been completely successful : all the
stations had been seized, and the south-bound
trains they had met had been held up and
placed in charge of C. & S. C. employees.
There had been no resistance worth mention-
ing, and they had prevented any warning of
their coming from going up the line ahead of
them. Tillman City was lying an unsuspect-
ing prey, though fairly in their clutches.

Bill Stevens, the agent at Tillman, knew that
something had gone wrong, for No. 14 was
later than usual, and had not been reported
from the last two stations ; so when the droop-
ing semaphore told him that she was in the
block, he went out on the platform to find out
what had happened. As the train came pant-
ing up to the station he saw two strange men
in the cab instead of Downs and Berg, and this
puzzled iiim more than ever.

Train No. 14

183

The sheriff was the first man off the train ;
he wall<ed straight up to the agent, and in two
minutes the formalities were over. Stevens and
his subordinates were discharged, and the ticket
office and baggage room put in charge of the
new employees with a celerity born of practice.
A number of deputies under McDowell's orders
scattered out to take possession of the round-
house, the freight depot, and the yards.

Still standing on the platform in an excited
crowd of raiders, former employees, and station
loafers, was the agent. He was thinking fast,
for he saw the importance of getting word to
Manchester of what was happening along the
line. The telegraph line was in the hands of
the enemy, but a locomotive — It was worth a
trial, anyway. There were three at Tillman :
33 that had just brought in No. 14, 7 on a sid-
ing waiting to take the train to Manchester, and
10, the regular yard engine. The two passenger
engines were out of the question, for they were
already -^ell guarded, but the little switching
locomotive lay at the northern end of the yard,
and had not as yet been seized by the deputies.
In the confusion, and aided by the gathering
dusk of the early October evening, something
might be done.

- r 'tH^I

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If
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f*' ufir

184

T/ie Shon Line War

mUMMJII

Glancing around, Stevens saw Murphy, the
hostler, standing at his elbow. Without turning
toward him he spoke softly.

"Murphy," he said, "slip out of this crowd
and follow mc. I'm going to try t. get away
on 10. I want you to throw a switch for me."

The hostler nodded without a word, and
threaded his way after the agent to the edge
of the platform. Once out of the glare of the
station lights there was less need for caution,
and the two men set out at a rapid walk toward
the north end of the yards.

Suddenly a deputy came out from behind a
freight car and laid a detaining hand on the
agent's arm.

" What are you up to } " he demanded.
There was no word of reply, but Murphy's
fist shot out, landing dully on the man's jaw,
and without an outcry he sank inert on the sand.
The agent darted forward, keeping out of the
heavy sand by bounding along the irregularly
laid ties, and in a moment he was climbing into
the cab of the switch engine.

"Thank God! there's steam and water," he
thought, and throwing over the reversing lever
he grasped the throttle and came backing rapidly
down the siding.

Train No. 14

185

iirphy, the
)ut turning

this crowd
get away
for me."
A^ord, and
» the edge
are of the
)r caution,
ilk toward

behind a
id on the

led.

Murphy's

lan's jaw,

the sand.

out of the

;

rregularly

ibing into

■i

^ater," he

.ing lever

ig rapidly

It was too dark for the men at the station to
see perfectly what had happened, but they saw
enough to excite their suspicion, and No. 33,
which had already uncoupled from the train, ran
up the main track to investigate. James and
Mangan and a couple of deputies were in the

cab.

Murphy had already thiovvn the switch and
was standing beside it, holding a coupling pin
in his hand, awaiting developments. The two
locomotives were running right a*- each other,
and unless somebody changed his mind very
promptly a collision was inevitable; buL the
agent was in such a frame of mind that a smash-
up was rather to his liking than otherwise, and
he pulled the throttle a little wider open. He
would waste no steam whistling, but grasping
the hand rail he swung out from the cab and
waved his free arm.

" Look out ! " he yelled, " Fm coming."
Furthermore it was obvious to the men in 33
that he meant to keep on coming, and as none of
them had any wish to try conclusions, even with
little No. 10, the big locomotive stopped short
and went backing down the track, the deputies
shouting to their comrades at the station for
reenforcements.

1 86

The Short Lifie War

\%l

If .

liiil

|r .itn

No. 10 slowed down as she backed on to the
main track, and as Murphy threw the switch
she stopped and then moved forward. Stevens
waited for Murphy, who left the switch open and
climbed into the cab. Then with a clear track
before her No. lo went tearing down the long
grade as fast as her dumpy Httle drivers would
carry her.

Halfway to Byron is a milk shed with a short
siding, and when they reached it Stevens shut
down and stopped with a jerk.

**Get out," he said to Murphy, "and throw
over that switch and put out the lamp."

As they started on again he said dryly,
" When they strike that, it may teach 'em to go
slow for the rest of the run."

It was just six-seventeen by the station clock
when Mason, the operator at Byrcj, heard
No. 10 coming in. He ran out on the platform,
but Stevens waved him back.

"Get in there," he said as he dropped from
the cab. " I want you to send a message quick."

CHAPTER XIV

A CAITURE AT BRUSHINGHAM

On the same Wednesday morning Jawn Don-
ohue was oiling the old switch engine pre-
paratory to mcking ui a train of coal cars.
Since his ride with the President, Jawn had
been even more silent than before. His work
had been done vvith the same gruff indepen-
dence, and his fireman had received the usual
quota of stern rebukes ; in fact, Jawn was out-
wardly so Hke his old self that none suspected
him of emotion, but Jawn knew how thin was the
veneer. It is hard upon a man to lose ground
in the great struggle. Conscious of his ability,
proud in his experience, Jawn grew daily more
bitter at the prospect before him, and more
hostile to his superiors. For a few days after
the ride he had hoped for some word ; he had
felt that such an appeal as the one he had made
to Jim Weeks should be productive of some
notice, if not of a definite result. But as the

187

ii.

■4

•it

' r

i88

The Short Line War

^- lifi

week wore away, and no word came, his heart
sank. Every day he rattled the dumpy little
engine about the division yards, chewing the
stem of his pipe, and hardening his heart
against the world. He spent Sunday in his
room at the boarding-house, for he had no
family. Monday and Tuesday passed in worse
than solitude, and when Wednesday morning
came, and with it a message from the division
superintendent, Jawn, in spite of his hopes, was
taken by surprise. The message was addressed
to the agent, and was very brief : —

Send J. Donohue and fireman to Manchester at once.

hJ 1 f 1

Jawn and his fireman took i6 for Manchester.
Beyond a brief word Jawn had said nothing,
but his heart was disturbed. He was sure that
it couldn't mean discharge, for they would not
call him north for that — a word and a check
would have settled it. It was hardly likely
that one of the passenger engineers was to be
reduced in his favor; Jawn knew the inside
history of every man's connection with the
road, and he could see no reason for a change.
No, as he worked it over and over in his mind

his heart
mpy little
iwing the
his heart
ay in his
i had no
i in worse
r morning
le division
lopes, was
addressed

er at once.

anchester.
i nothing,
3 sure that
would not
d a check
rdly likely
was to be
the inside
with the
• a change.
1 his mind

A Capture at Brushingham

189

dn^' z^' the three-hour ride, he began to suspect
th'^. I here was special work to be done.

If Jawn had been present at the brief scene
in Mattison's office that morning, or if there
had been a friend at court to tell him of it, he
would have been a happy man. For while
Jim Weeks, aggressive as ever, was organizing
his forces for the defence of the road (Jim fore-
saw what Porter's next move in the natural
course of events would be), Mattison had
turned to the division superintendent, and
said : " Who can you put on the engine, if
we have to come to rough work } The nerviest
man we've got." And before the other could
reply, Jim had turned from a conversation with
Harvey to say: " Donohue'sgot to take out that
train. He's on a switch engine at Tillman."

Jim was continually surprising his subordi-
nates with his intimate knowledge of the de-
tails of management. Mattison had long been
accustomed to his ways, but he gave Jim a
glance of wonder before he repeated the order
to the division chief. And so Jawn was called
to Manchester as the nerviest man on the road.

In the meantime a scene not unlike that at
Truesdale was being enacted in and about the

I' '.

R^ i' ! ! i

b i

1::

l!.i .

190

JVie Short Line War

H!:

Irli

Manchester station. There was the same reti-
cence, and the studied quiet and perfect disci-
pline were even more pronounced ; for with Jim
and Harvey to issue orders, and with Mattison
and Mallory to execute them, the chance of a
sHp or a misunderstanding was too shght to be
considered. A long train of tourist cars was
made up shortly after noon and backed into the
train shed, where it lay awaiting orders. Jim
had no very definite idea of using it, at least
until force was the only expedient ; but he had
been through too many fights to be caught off
his guard. Instructions were wired from the
despatctier's office to the operators all along the
line, ordering them to report promptly any ir-
regularity or suspicious circumstance. Mean-
while the regular trains for Truesdale pulled out
through the yards and went on their way.

When Jawn came into the Superintendent's
office at two o'clock he found a group of men
standing in nervous attitudes, all evidently
awaiting orders. A boy stopped him and asked
his business.

** I want to see Mr. Mattison," said Jawn, re-
moving his pipe and holding it awkwardly :
Jawn, though at home on an engine, was ill at
ease in an office.

A Capture at Brushingham

same reti-
rfect disci-
)r with Jim
ii Mattison
lance of a
light to be
t cars was
ed into the
ders. Jim
it, at least
but he had
caught off
from the
1 along the
tly any ir-
:e. Mean-
pulled out
ivay.

intendent's

up of men

evidently

and asked

I J awn, re-
wkwardly :
, was ill at

191

he's

" Can't see him," snapped the boy ;
busy."

" He sent for me."

" Name, please."

"Donohue."

" Sit down, Mr. Donohue."

Jawn sat down in a corner and the boy disap-
peared. In a short time he returned and led
Jawn to Mattison's desk. Mattison wasted no
time, but told him the situation in a few sen-
tences. "Now, Donohue," he said, in conclu-
sion, "you understand, do you, that we are
putting a big responsibility on you } Mr. West
will be in command, and you will be subject to
his orders without question ; but if for any rea-
son you should have to act rapidly, or should be
thrown on the defensive, I shall expect you to
do what is best for the road. Run no unneces-
sary risks, but remember, we must hold the line
at any cost — if we lose an engine doing it. Do
you understand .-• "

Jawn, standing beside the oak desk, looked
down at the Superintendent and nodded gravely.
Mattison returned the look with a brief search-
ing gaze, then he turned to his work, saying,
"Very well, you may go."

I
I

■I'f

i '■■'

'l^l

iii

192

T/ie Short Line War

Harvey was all over the station. The strain
L ^ the last two days hc.d told upon his nerves,
but the prospect of a conflict buoyed him up.
He had a long talk with Mallory, in which a
campaign was mapped out as fully as was pos-
sible in the circumstances. It had been decided
to hold the men ready to board the train at a
moment's notice ; but Harvey, as three o'clock
came, ordered them aboard, for he realized that
the longer the delay the greater would be the
need of prompt action. So the long Hne filed
out across the platform to the waiting cars, and
the men made themselves comfortable for a long
wait. Mallory stationed two of his own men in
each car with orders to maintain strict discipline.
In the baggage car were stored extra chains,
hawsers, coupHng links, crowbars, patent frogs,
and every other device which, in Mattison's es-
timation, could be used in case of extreme cir-
cumstances, and there were chairs for Harvey
and his lieutenants.

Later Harvey walked up to the engine, where
Jawn and his fireman were oiling and polishing.

" Everything all right, Donohue .? " he asked.

Jawn growled and looked back at the coal in
the tender.

The strain
lis nerves,
d him up.
n which a
s was pos-
en decided

train at a
"ce o'clock
alized that
-lid be the
: line filed

cars, and
I for a long
wn men in
discipline,
ra chains,
tent frogs,
ttison's es-
(treme cir-
)r Harvey

ine, where
polishing,
he asked.

thp

rnp

1 in

A Capture at Briishingham

193

" She ain't much of an engine," he replied.

Harvey looked her over. She was an ordi-
nary light yard engine with a footboard in place
of the pilot and with a sloping tank. He called
to the yard master who stood near.

" Haven't you got a better engine than this,
Pratt.?"

Pratt came across the platform.

" I understood you wanted an old one," he
said.

"We do," replied Harvey; "but we want
one that will hold a little water, and one that
can make time if necessary."

"Shall I change, sir.?"

" It rests with the engineer. Donohue, can
you do anything with this engine .? "

Jawn leaned against the cab and slowly
shook his head.

" Get another, then," said Harvey, and as the
change was effected Jawn's heart was won. In
an unreasoning way he promptly attributed his
changed condition to Harvey ; for in spite of his
gruff shell the kernel of Jawn's nature was keenly
susceptible to kindness, and to him a good en-
p:ine and plenty of authority was the greatest
kindness in life.

EiJ t,

194

The Short Line War

For two hours the train waited. Then, at
five o'clock, a detail was sent into the restau-
rant, and the men were supplied with sand-
wiches and coffee, eating without leaving their
seats. In half an hour all were fed, and they
stretched out on the cane seats as comfortably
as their crowded condition permitted. The
long wait did not improve tempers, and it was a
sullen, weary train load that counted the min-
utes on into the dusk. Jawn sat on his high
seat and dozed.

The suspense was even more tense in the
offices on the second floor of the station. Jim
and Harvey spent most of the time in the pri-
vate office, going over every possible combina-
tion of circumstances, Jim giving Harvey ex-
plicit directions for each case— when to use
force, when not, when to call on the law, and
when to send for aid. Occasionally Jim would
call in ]^Idttison to ask a question concerning
some detail of the road, or he would send for
Mallory to explain more fully his directions. It
was plain that Jim desired to leave nothing to
chance, now that the real struggle was on, but
to throw all his available resources into the con-
ivlattison had a map drawn for Harvey,

lUCL.

Then, at
he restau-
i^ith sand-
ving their
, and they
'infortably
ted. The
d it was a
the min-
his high

;e in the
ion. Jim
ti the pri-
combina-
arvey ex-
n to use

A Capture at BrushiiigJiam

I9S

law, and

im would

(

mcerning

send for

:ions. It

)thing to

s on, but

the con-

Harvey,

which showed every station, curve, switch, and
siding ; this Harvey studied during the lulls in
the conversation, and as he already was famiUar
with all but the minor details of construction, he
soon had his information upon a working basis.
At six-fifteen Mattison came in.

"Mr. Weeks," he said, "the despatcher reports
something the matter. For two or three hours,
he says, the local reports have been confused
and unsatisfactory. A few minutes ago he
called up Tillman City and hasn't yet succeeded
in getting any reply. The local men are send-
ing in train reports, but something isn't right.
He's got a notion that they aren't our old
men."

" Tell them to try again," said Jim. " Ask
them something a new man wouldn't know."

Mattison left the office and hurried to the
stairway. On the landing he met a newsboy
who was running up, calling : —

" Shcago Even' Papers ! Extry ! All about
big railroad war ! "

Mattison seized a paper and glanced at the
headings. " Fight for M. & T.," he read.
"Trunk Line Gobbles Small Road." His eye
ran over the article ; it was dated that after-

' •'

«!'

196

The Short Line War

f .

III ■'

SI i'

li.;

I* ^

m^ :

■m

noon from Truesdalc. He turned and ran up
the stairs, dashing into Jim's office and spread-
ing the paper on the table.

" It's up to us," he said. "They've been at
work all the afternoon."

As he spoke a boy came running into the
office.

"Message from Byron, sir."

Mattison snatched the paper and read aloud,—

C. & S. C. train leaving Tillman north seizing road.

Stevens.

" That's the Tillman agent," said Mattison.
" What's he doing at Byron } "

"Probably had to run for it," responded
Harvey, putting on his hat and buttoning his
coat. " That means fast work. Clear the track
for me, Mattison."

"Wait a minute," said Jim. "Have we any
trains north of Byron .? "
"No."

" Then don't send any orders. They would
warn the other side. No, go ahead and beat
them if you have to break their heads."

As Harvey dashed out of the office Jim's eyes
sparkled. He liked to do his own fighting, and

nd ran up
nd spread-

ve been at

? into the

•■'Ilk

d aloud, —

ing road.
Stevens.

Mattison.

■':i\

■esponded
oning his
■ the track

'e we any

2y would
and beat

im's eyes
fcing, and

1*1

1' '

i i

■r

HARVEY'S V ■' I • 1

M. A T.

.-r*

*•

A Capture at Bm^hingham

197

it was half regretfully that he turned to the Su-
perintendent.

" If the\''re as near as that, Mattison, it means
trouble. You'd better collect another gang and
send it out after West. Take men off the trains,
out of the yards, anywhere you can get them."

The wheels were soon in motion again, and
another train backed under the iron roof and
slowly filled with brawny men.

Harvey swung aboard his train and it started
with a jerk, rolling rapidly over the network of
tracks, past the switch tower, uniier the signal
bridge, and out toward the open country. The
little army was not sullen now. Figi. res sat erect,
eyes flashed, young men spoke eagerl v, older ones
gruffly, and through the train ran a steady mur-
mur of inquisitive wonder. Apparently, save for
a few dozen sticks and clubs, the men were not
armed, but many hip pockets bulged sus oiciously.

In the baggage car Harvey and MaLory were
talking earnestly. Mallory was for t avelling
slowly lest they should encounter a Ic :)se rail
or an open switch, but Harvey disagreed. He
spread the map out on a box and r< sted a
finger on the dot marked Tillman City.

*' There they are," he said, *' or were a few

I'll

. !l

f.ii

S i

198

The Shot't Line War

:MMii.l.

minutes ago, and they're coming right toward
us. Now, to keep us from getting word they
have to stop at every telegraph station, and that
takes time. We've got a clear track and can
travel fully twice as fast as they can. Here "
— he moved his finger up the line of the road —
" here at Brushingham is a long siding. I want
to make that siding before they do."
"Why.?"

" Because we must pass them there."
" They aren't going to lie up and let us run
by."

"Yes, they are," said Harvey. "Wait a mo-
ment." He called to a brakeman who stood at
the door, "Go up to the engine and tell the
engineer to get to the siding at Brushingham at
full speed."

The man nodded and ran forward. Another
moment and those in the baggage car felt a
jerk and a lift, and soon they were rattling over
the rails with sway and roll. Harvey, mean-
time, was explaining to Mallory a plan which
made that veteran chuckle merrily. His eyes
wandered to the heap of chains, ropes, and iron
piled on each side of the rear door, and he
chuckled again. But Harvey's face was serious.

A Capture at Brushingham

199

ht toward
verd they
, and that
; and can
. Here "
le road —
. I want

et us run

ait a mo-
stood at
I tell the
igham at

Another
ar felt a
ling over
y, mean-
in which
His eyes
and iron
and he
\ serious.

" It's something of a question whether we
can get there in time, Mallory. It's a sixty-five
mile run for us to thirty-eight for them. We
have all the advantage, of course, but there
won't be any time to spare." He drew out his
watch and timed the clicks of the rails. " He's
hitting it up in good style."

" What are we making } "

" About fifty, and pulling up all the time. It
won't take us much over an hour at this rate,
and I don't believe that they can make it in any-
thing like that time. There are a lot of little
stations north of Tillman, and they've got to
stop at every one."

Nevertheless, as the minute hand crept
around the watch, the two men began to
peer out through the side window. It was
dark now, and as the landmarks were not too
familiar either to Harvey or to Mallory, they
were unable to get their bearings.

** Where are we } " Harvey called to the
brakeman.

" Getting into St. Johns," was the reply.

Sure enough, in another moment colored yard
lights were whizzing by. There was a great
clatter as they took the switches, then a row of

i'<i.i

200

The Short Line War

•A

■ M

S t

■1' ^ 1

■h^r"

'i-vf

streaked electric lights, a dim impression of
streets and of clanging bells, a shriejc from the
locomotive, and again they were in the open.
A few minutes later Harvey gave orders that a
brakeman climb forward on the engine ready to
throw the Brushingham switch. Soon the car
jarred and struggled under the air brake, and
then slowed down, grinding and pounding,
almost to a stop. The brakes were released,'
and the train rolled easily out beyond the
station on to the long siding. Harvey pulled
the signal cord.

'' Now, Mallory," he said, as the train came
to a standstill, "we can go ahead "

Mallory picked up a patent frog from the
floor, and with Harvey and the brakeman
swung out of the car and ran down the track.
From the windows projected a long row of
heads, but no questions were asked as the three
men ran forward. A short distance ahead of
the engine they stopped. Away to the south a
small bright light rounded into view.

" Here she comes," said Mallory.

Harvey made no reply, and the frog was
adjusted to the east rail of the main track.
Then they went back and clambered aboard the

session of
from the
the open,
ers that a
e ready to
>n the car
rake, and
pounding,
released,
^ond the
ey pulled

ain came

Tom the
)rakeman
he track,
row of
the three
ahead of
2 south a

rog was
n track,
oard the

A Capture at BnishingJiam

201

engine. Mallory ordered a squad of men forward,
and stationed some on the pilot and running
board, others on the tender and front platform.
The light grew slowly larger, sending out pointed
rays and throwing a shine on the rails. There
was the sound of a bell and of the exhaust, and
the train pulled slowly toward the bleak little
station. Suddenly, when within speaking dis-
tance, the approaching engine struck the patent
frog and left the rails with a jar and a scrape,
ploughing her nose into the slag.

" Go ahead," said Harvey.

Jawn pulled the throttle lever, and the long
train moved slowly southward. No. 14 was not
full now. The process of dropping men at every
station had left only about half the employees,
who clustered in the forward cars and looked
curiously at the passing train. At a shouted
order from Mallory, one of his men dropped off
with a squad at his back and took possession of
the wreck, while Harvey, flushed with victory,
moved on to undo the work of the afternoon.

III
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CHAPTER XV

DEUS EX MACHINA

; 'i^MM.

!
(

I'M

'Utf

ifa

1 ',

As Senator Sporty Jones stood on the Saw-
yerville platform and watched No. 14 vanishing
round a curve, his rage against the Superin-
tendent cooled somewhat and hardened into a
determination to make somebody pay. The
more he thought of it the clearer it grew that
the " somebody " should be a bigger man than
McDowell, though Sporty meant to get even
with him, too, some day. He knew, as did
every one who had read the newspapers, the
broad outlines of the fight between Weeks and
Porter for the road. As he thought it over, the
problem seemed to grow more compHcated.
The Senator hated the two men about equally
and had a long score against each of them ; for
though both were lobbyists on a large scale,
neither of them had thought him worth concili-
ating. He was afraid lest in trying to hurt one
he might help the other.

202

Deus ex Machina

203

: the Saw-
vanishing
; Superin-
led into a
ay. The
grew that
man than
get even
w, as did
ipers, the
/eeks and
: over, the
npHcated.
It equally
:hem ; for
•ge scale,
th concili-
hurt one

He was capable of quick, clear thinking, and
as he ran over in his mind what he knew of the
fight, he saw that what encouraged these men
so openly to ^esort to violence was a judicial
deadlock. There was just one force which
could profitably be appealed to now, the State
Executive.

He walked slowly down the rickety wooden
steps and across the road ; then, after looking
about irresolutely, he turned toward the weather-
beaten little hotel.

Before he had gone far the deposed station
agent overtook him. He was smoking a ciga-
rette with short, nervous puffs, and he fell in
step with the Senator, evidently reHeved at
having a chance to talk.

"What did you think of that.?" he asked.
" Pretty sudden, wasn't it .? "

The Senator grunted a savage assent, and
the agent went on : —

"Well, all I say is, these fellows needn't
think they've got any cinch until Jim Weeks
has had his innings. He's going to have it,
too. This kind of a scrap is right in his line."

The Senator seemed to be listening, and
the agent was encouraged to try his hand at

ri(;

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204

The Short Line War

ff ^^'

prophesying what would happen when Jim
Weeks should come down the line. When they
reached the hotel both men paused, and the
Senator said affably, —

" Come in and have something."

" All right, if you mean ginger ale," laughed
the agent. "It's a temperance house, with a
gold cure on the side."

The disgust of Senator Sporty Jones was
expressed with such blasphemous force that the
agent was moved to add, —

" You can get anything you want down in the
next block."

" All right," grunted the Senator. " Wait a
minute, though ; I want to telephone."

"There ain't a telepnone in town," said the
agent. " The line goes up the other side of the
river to Tillman. I don't believe you can find a
'phone nearer than Truesdale."

*'How far's that.?" asked the Senator, after
an expressive pause.

" 'Bout fifteen miles by the river road. You
have to go round by way of Oakwood. It's
going to rain, too," he added, glancing at the
clouded sky.

The look of annoyance on the Senator's face

1^1

Deus ex Machina

20$

i J

hen Jim

^hen they

and the

laughed
, with a

nes was
that the

m in the
" Wait a

said the

le of the
m find a

or, after

i. You
•d. It's
: at the

r's face

settled into one of determination, and the agent
began to fear lest the invitation to ** have some-
thing " had slipped from the great man's mind.

The Senator asked slowly, " Is there such a
thing as a livery stable in this" — he gulped —
" in this town ? "

" I guess old man Barnes could let you have
some sort of a horse. He's got a place just the
other side of Hogan's. I'll go down there with
you if you like."

The parley with Barnes took only a few
minutes, and at half-past three the Senator
drove down the main street and turned west
toward the river road. His vehicle was a light
delivery wagon with a canopy over it, and was
drawn by a ragged old white horse, which,
according to the livery man, was an exceptional
animal.

"The General's an aristocrat, he is," said
Barnes. " I might say a thoroughbred. I
hate like poison to let him out to a stranger,
but I let you take him because I see you under-
stand a horse."

There was no flicker of intelligence in the
agent's face as he heard the words, but when
the Senator asked him to accompany him on

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The Short Line War

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the drive he declined. " I want to be on hand,"
he explained, "when Jim Weeks comes down the
line." So Senator Jones started out alone on
his drive to Truesdale, and the agent watched
him from the door of Hogan's saloon. " Go along
with him!" he thought. "I guess not. It'd
be a circus, though, to see what happens when
they get to the river bridge." Then, as Barnes
joined him on .he st-ps, he added, "What do
you suppose the General will do to him } "

" Oh, he won't hurt him," answered Barnes.
"He'll just turn around and come home when
he gets good and ready. Come in and have
something."

The General took a violent dislike to the
Senator. It annoyed him to have people try
to make him go whither he would not, and he
shook his head angrily in response to the impa-
tient jerks at the reins. When the Senator
tried to accelerate the pace by whacking his
toughened flanks with the whip, he kicked up
his heels derisively and then stumbled along
more wearily if possible than before.

The miles crept by as slowly as he could
wish, and he was pleased when they passed a
fork of the road and he knew he was being

Dens ex Machina

207

on hand,"
clown the
alone on

watched
Go along
lot. It'd
2ns when
LS Barnes
What do
?"

Barnes,
ne when
nd have

; to the
ople try
, and he
le impa-
Senator
:ing his
:ked up
i along

e could
assed a
5 being

driven to the river. He disliked rivers, and
had long ago decided that he would never cross
one. That his resolution had once been broken
was not his fault, for they had dragged him
over the Oakwood bridge at the end of a stout
rope ; but this only made him firmer in his
determination, and people who drove him were
wont to stay on the west side of the river.

Old man Barnes had given the Senator no
hint of this prejudice of the aristocratic animal
he was driving, so he had no foreboding of
what was going to happen. Now that he had
made up his mind that it was worse than use-
less to try to interfere with the General, he was
jogging along in comparative conri^ort, regard-
less of the rain which had grown from a fine
drizzle to a steady downpour. He thought the
chances were in favor of his reaching Trues-
dale and a telephone by midnight. He smiled
at the thought, for he had evolved a scheme
that would disconcert both of the contestants
for the M. & T. alike and would show them
that he, State Senator oporty Jones, was not a
man to be sneezed at.

About a half a mile above the Oakwood Club
House and in full view of it the road crosses the

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208

The Short Lhie War

•li

river, and the Senator noticed the big, rambling
building on top of the hill, and wondered if
they had a telephone there. " I'll try and see
anyway," he thought. '

The General turned willingly up the approach
to the bridge, increasing his speed to an almost
respectable trot. When he reached the top
he stopped in his tracks and stared with dis-
favor at the worn planks before him. The Sen-
ator snatched the whip from its socket and beat
upon the General until hir arms were tired.
At every blow the horse would kick feebly, and
then resume a droop-eared attitude, as though
grieving over the depravity of man. The Sen-
ator looked around helplessly, but there was
no aid in sight, so he climbed down from the
wagon and walkec' iround to the bridle. The
General may have suspected another attempt
at dragging, for a vicious snap of his yellow
teeth caused the Senator to step back out of
reach, completely baffled. He stared an instant
at the solemn face before him and then shaking
the whip he said, —

but' ^''''2^'^°^ ^^ down this time, damn you,
The Senator stopped, his favorite threat

it ':'>

Dens ex Machma

2P0

rambling
ndered if
^ and see,

approach
an almost
the top
with dis-
The Sen-
and beat
re tired,
ebly, and
5 though
"he Sen-
lere was
"rom the
e. The
attempt
i yellow
: out of
I instant
shaking

nn you,

threat

unuttered, threw the whip into the river and
turning, walked slowly across the bridge, and
as he went the story he meant to tell over the
'phone to the Governor grew to fearful pro-
portions. As for the General, when he saw
that the victory was won, he turned about and
sauntered back to Sawycrville.

In the party of golfers whom the rain had
driven from the links to the shelter of the Oak-
wood Club was Katherine. She had gone once
around the short course and perversely enough
her score was unusually good; but she could
not get her mind off the more exciting game
which she knew must be in progress along the
railway line west of the river. Altogether she
welcomed the rain, and was glad when its in-
creasing violence drove them to the shelter of
the club house. There at least she was near
a telephone. She had no disposition to make
one of the merry group of men and girls who
were drying out before the crackling log fire,
but after a moment of hesitation she joined the
circle.

One of the men was standing by a window,
peering through a field-glass at the more ardent

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210

The Short Line War

and impervious enthusiasts who were still follow,
ing the ball.

" The rain's letting up a bit," he said at length.
" You can really sec things — hello ! "

The group before the fire turned toward him,
attracted by the long silence which followed the
exclamation. They saw a look of puzzlement
on his face which gradually gave place to a
broad grin.

" What's up } " asked somebody.

"By George," he exclaimed, lowering the
glass, "that's funny." He raised the glass
again and this time his shoulders shook.

"I didn't know anybody out on the links
could be as funny as that," one of the girls
observed.

"He isn't on the links," answered the man
with the glass, " he's on the bridge. And the
horse is turning round and going back." With
which singularly lucid preface, the young man
told what he had seen of the General's victory
at ^he Oakwood bridge.

It was about fifteen minutes later when Sporty
appeared, dripping and mud bespattered, but
kept warm by glowing fires of indignation,
and vigorously demanded of the attendant tlic

:.' ^

Deiis ex Machina

211

still follow.

I at length,

ward him,
Ilowed the
•uzzlement
)lace to a

ering the
the glass
ook.

the links
the girls

the man

And the

:." With

ung man

's victory

;n Sporty
ered, but
lignation,
dant the

use of the telephone. At the sound of his voice
one of the older men turned quickly and ap-
proached him with a word of greeting. " But
what's the matter with you, man ? " he added,
noting the Senator's sorry condition.

" They're having a riot on the railroad," an-
swered Sporty. " Can I use your 'phone } "

"Sure," answered the other. "Right this
way," and the two men crossed the hall and dis-
appeared in the office. A few minutes later the
man came back and rejoined the group.

" He's State Senator Jones, Sporty Jones, you
know. He says they're having no end of a
time over on the railroad. When I left him he
seemed to be trying to telephone all over the
State at once."

"I've heard of him," said Katherine, "but
I've never met him. I wish you'd bri ig him
here after he gets through telephoning." And
the man with some surprise said he would.

The Senator did not reappear from the office
for nearly an hour, and in that time he worked
fast. He began by calling up Representative
Jim Cleary of the Seventh District, a man with
influence who happened to be in the capital on
business. The Senator wasted no oratory on

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212

The Short Line War

\ri

him, he simply told him what it was necessary
to do. After that he talked with other men
about the State, and repeated what he had said
to Jim Cleary, suggesting to them the proper
way for putting - pressure " on the Governor.
Then, having prepared his avalanche, he tele-
phoned to the executive mansion and asked for
the Governor. He learned from the Secretary
that the Governor was busy, but would be at
liberty in a few minutes.

"All right," said Sporty. "Let me know
when he's ready to talk to me."

He rang off and rose from his chair, stiffly,
for the damp and the cold had struck through!
The man he knew appeared at his elbow, a^'nd
leading him in to the fire introduced him to those
who were still grouped about it, to Katherine
last of all.

" You must have had an afternoon full of
experiences," she said.

"Yes," answered the Senator. "I enjoyed
my drive over from Sawyerville immensely.
The weather was somewhat unpleasant, but I
had an excellent horse and we made very good
time, until we got a hot-box. I was obliged to
leave the vehicle with a farmer, and walked the
last two miles."

Dens ex Ma china

213

i necessary
other men
le had said
the proper
Governor,
e, he tele-
l asked for
: Secretary
3uld be at

me know

air, stiffly,
t through,
ilbow, and
m to those
Katherine

n full of

[ enjoyed
imensely.
nt, but I
ery good
'bliged to
liked the

" Indeed ? " said Katherine. " But please tell
me about the riot. It must have been very
exciting."

"I hardly think it would interest a lady,"
said Sporty, uneasily.

"Senator Jones," — Katherine was speaking
with much severity, — "I did not think when I
first saw you that you could prove so disagree-
able."

Sporty beamed. " It wasn't very much of a
riot," he said. "They just hit the fireman
behind the ear and put handcuffs on the engi-
neer, and started out to grab the road. They'll
have to fight for it."

" Was what they did legal 1 " she asked.

" Oh, no ; not at all. It's just a hold-up."

The Senator was saying rather more than he
meant to, and he was glad that the telephone
bell broke off the conversation at this point.
He excused himself abruptly and went to have
a talk with the Governor.

Katherine walked to a window and stood

staring out with unseeing eyes. At last she

turned to a man who stood near her and said : —

" I don't believe it's going to rain any more.

Will you have them bring up my trap, please.? "

' n

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CHAPTER XVI

McNALLY S EXPEDIENT

; i

Katherine's casual acquaintances thought of
her as a cool, unemotional young woman, and
when asked for their estimate of her would give
it with confidence that it was accurate. The
few who knew her better were less sure what
they thought of her, and there was considerable
diversity in their opinions. She had a strong
will and plenty of confidence in it. Until she
had found herself standing between Harvey
West and her father, she never had the least
doubt that in any situation she would be able to
do what she wanted. But without knowing it
she liked to let her impulses direct her, and her
confidence that her will could, if necessary,
overrule them gave them freer play than they
would have had in a weaker personality. She
was keenly sensitive — and this she recognized
— to the atmosphere of her immediate envi-
ronment.

214

i 1

McNaliys Expedient

215

thought of
Dman, and
would give
ate. The
sure what
insiderable
. a strong
Until she
n Harvey
. the least
be able to
mowing it
T, and her
necessary,
than they
lity. She
"ecognized
iate envi-

To-day the gray of the dripping sky and
the sullen river and the pasty macadam road
seemed to have got into her thoughts and to
pervade everything. There was a feeling of
eternity in the gathering twilight as though
there had never been anything else and never
would be. But she knew there had ; it was
only three days since she and Harvey had
driven along this road. She recalled the
glisten of the sunlight on the river, and the
crimson of the hard maples stained by the first
early frost, and she knew it was not the sunshine
nor the tingle in the air nor the beautiful way
in which Ned and Nick flew along stride for
stride over the hard white road, but something
else, something quite different, which had made
her glad that Sunday morning. She looked
straight ahead and tried to imagine that not the
wooden English groom, but Harvey, sat beside
her. Then realizing whither her imaginings
were drifting, she pulled herself up sharply.
" You sentimental idiot ! " she thought.

The groom spoke. " Beg pardon. Miss Kath-
erme .? " and she knew she must have thought
aloud.

Just then a black tree stump at the roadside

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2l6

The Short Line War

seemed to spring out of the ghostly twilight,
and Nick, who never had the blues, amused
himself by shying at it. Ned caught the spirit
of the lark and over the next mile these two
good friends of Katherine's supplied her with
just the kind of tonic she needed.

It was late when she reached home and she
had but a narrow margin of time left in which
to dress for dinner ; but telling the groom not to
take the horses to the stable she hurried into
the house and came out a moment later with
a handful of sugar. The two beautiful heads
turned toward her as she came down the steps
and Nick gave a satisfied little whicker. She
fed them alternately, a lump at a time, talking
to them all the while in the friendly bantering
way they liked. She was quite impartial with
the sugar, but while Ned with lowered head
was sniffing at her pockets for more, she laid
her cheek against Nick's white, silky nose and
whispered to him : —

" I think I like you best to-night. You did
just right to shy at that stump. No, Ned, it
wouldn't be good for you to eat any more sugar
just before dinner. Good-by. If it wouldn't
shock father and dent the floor, I'd take you

McNaliys Expedient

217

But I don't suppose

into the house with me.
you'd like it, though."

Katherine was glad she was late and that she
had to dress in a hurry. What she dreaded
was being left alone with nothing to do but
think. She had gone over the ground again
and again until she had lost her sense of pro-
portion. She had tried to believe that the raid
was right and that her father's methods were
above reproach ; she had tried to be unwavering
in her loyalty to his cause, but in spite of her-
self McNally's allusions and the fragmentary
conversations she had overheard raised doubts
which her father's evasions did not set at rest.
In spite of herself her sympathies swung to
the square, straightforward, courageous young
fellow who had got into her heart without her
knowing it. She had tried to make herself be-
lieve her father's insinuations about Jim Weeks ;
but what Harvey had told her, in his undis-
criminating, hero-worshipping way, had made
too deep an impression for that.

When she had finished dressing, as she stood
before the mirror to take a final survey, she ad-
dressed a parting remark to the figure in the

glass

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218

The Short Line War

" It won't do you any good to go on bother-
ing this way. You haven't anything to do now
but go down to dinner and be as charming as
possible, particularly to Mr. McNally, whom
you cordially detest. When the time comes to
do something, I hope you'll do it right."

It was just seven o'clock when she came down
the stairs to be informed by the butler that the
gentlemen had not come home yet, and should
he serve dinner at once }

Katherine waited nearly half an hour, trying
to amuse herself with a very pictorial magazine,
and, finding that tiresome, by playing coon songs
at the piano. But the piano reminded her of Mr.
McNally, and she didn't want to think of him ;
so giving up trying to wait she ordered dinner.
Dining alone when you have made up your
mind to it beforehand is not an unmixed evil ;
but in Katherine's frame of mind it was about
as irritating as anything could be. When it
was over she called for her coffee in a big cup,
and she drank it, black and bitter, with a relish.
The frown which for the last hour had been
contracting her level brows disappeared, for
she had thought of something to do. As she
rose from the table she said to the butler : —

lip

McNally's Expedient

219

on bother-
;• to do now
larming as
illy, whom
e comes to

:ame down
IX that the
md should

our, trying
magazine,
:oon songs
her of Mr.
ik of him ;
■ed dinner.
2 up your
lixed evil;
was about
When it
a big cup,
h a relish,
had been
jared, for
As she
ier : —

"Will you order the carriage, please, right
away. I'm going out."

Porter was with McNally in one of the offices
of the M. & T. station. The two had been sit-
ting there ever since the building had been
seized by the deputies, getting satisfactory re-
ports from station after station as the raiders
moved up the hne. Porter was on the point of
starting home for dinner when the reports began
coming in from Tillman City. The first of the
yellow sheets the boy brought them simply re-
peated the news that had come in so many times
that afternoon. The station was in the hands
of the C. & S. C. men, and there had been no
resistance. But the second sheet was less satis-
factory, for it told of Stevens's escape on the
yard engine.

Porter read it and exclaimed petulantly, " Mc-
Dowell must have been asleep when he let a
man get away like that."

"Do you think there's much harm done.?"
asked McNally.

" I'm afraid so. Weeks will hear all about it
in a few minutes, if he hasn't already, and he's
sure to hit back. He moves quick, too."

" We can wire McDowell to stay right where

< n

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220

The Short Line War

he is, and rush through another train with re-
enforcements," suggested McNally. "We may
not be able to get the rest, but we can at least
keep what we've got."

"You'd better make up another train, any-
way. We can fill it up with men from our car-
shops. McDowell had better keep right ou up
the line. If we have to fight, it'll be better
to do it at some small place than at Tillman.
We're less likely to be interfered with. Tell
McDowell to go slow and not too far."

The order to McDowell with the promise of
reenforccments was sent out in time to catch
him before he left Tillman, and then McNally
turned his attention to massing his reserve. At
the end of an hour and a half of hard work he
saw the last files of the rear guard march down
the platform and into the train. His frown ex-
pressed dissatisfaction, for these men were not
so good fighting material as those McDowell
had captained. Their manner was sheepish;
they did not finger lovingly the clubs they had
been provided with, and altogether they seemed
to feel a much greater respect for law and order
than was appropriate to the occasion.

They were the best men available, however.

McNallys Expedient

221

lin with re-

" We may

an at least

train, any-
>m our car-
-ight Oil up

be better
It Tillman,
vith. Tell
"ar."

promise of
e to catch
1 McNally
serve. At
"d work he
arch down
; frown ex-
i were not
McDowell

sheepish ;
; they had
ey seemed
and order

, however,

and there were several hundred of them, and
McNally was about to give the order which
would send them up the road to the succor of
McDowell, when Porter came hurrying toward
him from the telegraph office.

"Don't send those men out yet, McNally,"
he said. "There's something wrong here. I
think they've bagged McDowell."

The train despatcher came into the waiting
room, and seeing them walked rapidly toward
them.

"Something has gone wrong, gentlemen.
We've been talking to Gilsonville and he's all
balled up. He isn't the same man who was
there fifteen minutes ago."

"They've got past McDowell then," said
McNally. " And they couldn't have done that
without catching him. We'd better get that train
away as fast as possible then, hadn't we t "

"I don't think so," saM Porter. "Have
them ready to start at a minute's notice, and
we'll plan out what's the best thing to do."

Back in the little office again Porter ex-
plained his plan. "You see," he said, "these
fellows are not Hkely to be very much in a
fight. We don't know how many men Weeks

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222

The Short Line War

A-

has got, but the farther down the line he comes
the weaker he'll be. If we let him come fai
enough we can do the same trick to him that he
must have done to McDowell ; but if we meet
him halfway, he may beat us. That leaves us
at his mercy."

"Do you think Weeks is on the train him-
self .?" asked McNally.

"Can't tell. It would be like him. If he
isn't, that young West is. Most likely West
is, anyway."

" He's the man that blocks our game, if he is
a fool. If anything should happen to him, there
wouldn't be any question as to who was re-
ceiver of the road."

Porter said nothing and there was a long
silence. Then McNally went on, speaking
slowly and guardedly: —

"If there is anything of a mix-up such a
thing would be likely enough to happen. He's
young enough and cocky enough to get hurt
quite naturally."

Then Porter spoke quickly, for he read the

unsaid meaning in the words. " That's going

too far. I want the road, but not that way."

McNally's drooping lids quivered, but other-

l|:

McNallys Expedient

223

ne he comes
m come fai
him that he
if we meet
at leaves us

; train him-

im. If he
likely West

me, if he is
9 him, there
ho was re-

'^as a long
, speaking

■up such a
pen. He's
:o get hurt

e read the

lat's going

that way."

but other-

wise his face was expressionless. He made no
pretence that Porter had misunderstood him.
He spoke as though unheeding the interrup-
tion.

" If we bring a' out his disappearance for a
day or two, — it needn't hurt him any, — we'll
control the road, fight or no fight."

He had meant to say something more, bat
he stopped, his eyes fixed on the opening door.
Following his gaze Porter turned.

" Katherine ! " he exclaimed.

With automatic courtesy, McNally rose and
drew up a chair for her, but Katherine did not
take it. She had worn a high-collared black
velvet cloak over her house dress, and she drew
it off and threw it over the desk. Then coming
up behind her father she touched his forehead
lightly with her cool hands.

" Keeping everlastingly at it," she said, try-
ing to speak lightly, "without any dinner or
anything. Is business getting so very, very
serious .<* "

The tenderness of it touched Porter, and
though he felt that she should not be there he
could not send her away.

"We're right in the thick of it nov," he said.

ill

.1 i

'if.

4
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224

The Short Line War

r
1

" It will all be over one way or the other in a
day or two."

"And then," said Kathcrine, with a Httle
laugh, "and then I'll have somebody to play
with again."

She stooped and kissed him, and then notic-
ing that McNally was still standing she ad-
dressed him for the first time.

" Please don't wait for me to sit down. I'm
going to stay right here."

Porter yielded to the restfulness of having
her there and sat with closed eyes, while she
stroked the trembling lids with the tips of her
fingers. Neither of the men spoke, and at last
Katherine broke the silence.

"Don't you think," she said to her father,
"that everything would go just as well if you'
came home with me now and took a little rest .?
You'll feel lots better to-morrow, if you do,
and there's a to-morrow coming, you know. It
isn't likely that anything more will happen to-
night, is it .? "

" I'm afraid it is," said McNally. " You see
we think Weeks is coming down the line now
with a trainf ul of armed men, and he may force
us into a fight before morning."

McNallys Expedient

22$

Other in a

h a little
y to play

tien notic-
J she ad-

'wn. I'm

f having
vhile she
3S of her
nd at last

r father,
II if you
itle rest?
you do,
now. It
ppen to-

You see
ne now,
ay force

"I see," said Kathcrine. "That is, when his
army meets the one you sent up the line this
afternoon."

Porter moved his head free from her hands
and asked sharply, —

"What do you know about that, dear.?"

"Just what Senator Jones told me," she
answered. " He got off the train at Sawyer-
ville and drove over to the Club to tele-
phone."

"Do you know which Senator Jones it was.? "
asked McNally. "Was it the one they call
'Sporty'.?"

"Yes," laughed Katherine; "I'm very sure
it was that one."

McNally tui-ned ^uickly to Porter. " He's
got it in for your people, hasn't he.?"

" Yes," the other answered ; ' but he can't do
much harm. Nobody pays any attention to
him. Do you know, Katherine, whether his
telephoning had anything to do with us .? "

"I'll tell you everything I know about it,"
she said, and she recounted what she knew of
the doings of the Senator on tuat afternoon.

"Is that bad news.?" she asked, when she
had finished.

' n

ill

226

The Short Line War

1 i •'

i ■

^ f

" We can hardly tell till we see what happens
next," said McNally.

Katherine seated herself in the chair McNally
had placed for her, and Hstened while her father
and McNally talked over their plans and specu-
lated upon the probable import of the messages
which kept coming in. There was no attempt
to keep Katherine in the dark as to what their
plans were, and for the time she had given up
looking at the perplexing aspects of the situa-
tion, and was enjoying the action and excite-
ment of it. But as the clock ticked off one
hour and then another, she noted her father's
increasing weariness, and she determined to
make another attempt to get him home, where
he could, at least, have a few hours' rest.

She rose, and walking around behind him, as
she had done before, she clasped her hands
over his eyes, and said: —

"You're completely worn out, dad. Please
come home. I don't believe anything is going
to happen after all."

Porter sighed wearily; but he said, "My
dear, if Jim Weeks is coming down the line,
somethmg is sure to happen."

"Do you think he's on the train himself.?"
she asked.

at happens

ir McNally
her father
ind specu-
: messages
io attempt
vhat their
'. given up
the situa-
nd excite-
i off one
r father's
mined to
ne, where

St.

d him, as
er hands

. Please
is going

id, "My
the line,

imseif ? "

McNally s Expedient

227

McNally looked up quickly. It was not the
question, but something that the question sug-
gested to him, that made him say : —

" Probably not. We think young West is in
charge of the gang."

Katherine's hands were still clasped over her
father's eyes, and McNally took the opportunity
this afforded him to accompany his words with
a meaning look that was insolent in its intent-
ness. In spite of herself Katherine felt the
blood mounting into her cheeks and forehead,
and McNally, seeing the blush, made no effort to
conceal his smile. Katherine did not flinch from
his gaze, but returned it squarely. Dropping
her hands to her father's shoulders, she said
steadily : —

" I suppose he is on the train. He likes that
sort of thing. Of course Mr. McNally will lead
our forlorn hope when it starts out."

She smiled as she said it, for he winced
under the thrust.

He rose hurriedly, and as he moved toward
the door he spoke to Porter.

"I've got some business to attend to with
Wilkins. I'll be back soon."

When he had left the room Porter turned to
Katherine.

iTJ]

228

The Short Line War

h * •

"You'd better go home now. I can't go
until we know what is going on out on the
road. I'll come as soon as I can, but you must
go now."

He had spoken gently, but with a finahty
that left Katherine no hope of persuading him
He took up her cloak and threw it over her
shoulders, and kissed her.

" Good night. I'll come along by and by "
" If you don't, I'll come back after you."
Without waiting to hear her father's dissent
which she knew would follow this declaration'
she fled from the room and down the steps to
her carriage.

As she settled herself among the robes and
cushions she heard McNally's voice : —
" Can you find the right men to do it .? "
The door slammed and the carriage clattered
away with Katherine wondering what "it" was

fiiii

can't go

ut on the

you must

a finality

tding him.

over her

id by."

^ou."

s dissent,

claration,

■ steps to

obes and

.?"

clattered
it" was.

CHAPTER XVII

IN THE DARK

After leaving Brushingham, Harvey and
his crew merely duplicated the enemy's per-
formance of the afternoon. The C. & S. C.
employees were thrown out before they had
become thoroughly settled, and with each new
capture messages flew back to Mattison at
Manchester, giving him and Jim Weeks a
detailed account of the progress of the train.
The greatest care was exercised to keep news
of the train from Truesdale. Wherever there
was a possibility of the ejected men reaching a
telephone, they were actually taken in custody
and placed under guard. The operators were
instructed to answer all messages from the
Truesdale despatcher as intelligently as possible,
in order to continue the deception.

It was a long, hard ride. Harvey was called
upon constantly to exercise ingenuity in the
handling of his forces, and though Mallory was

229

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230

T/ie Short Line War

■

^H'

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lli"

Of great assistance, the strain of responsibility
rested upon Harvey. He was tired when he
started, but as the night wore on toward morn-
ing, nothing but his sound nerves kept him
on his feet. At two-thirty o'clock they were
within twenty miles of Truesdale, and Harvey
and Mallory were both in the engine, anx-
iously looking for obstructions. From Matti-
son's despatches they knew that reenforcements
were flying down over an open road, but the
collecting of a second force had taken time, and
It was nearly midnight before the second train
was on its way, a hundred and sixty-five miles
from Harvey's present location.

Nearly all Harvey's men had been dropped
along the line, and he was in no position for
a conflict, particularly as he had no knowl-
edge of the enemy's location or preparedness
Mallory was for pausing until the other train
should reach them, probably about daylight
He argued that they had nothing to gain
and everything to lose. Harvey, undecided,
referred to his map, spreading it out on the
fireman's bench while Mallory lighted matches
and held them over the paper. Harvey ran his
finger down the line to Sawyerville.

In the Dark

sponsibility
d when he
tvard morn-
kept him
they were
^^ Harvey
igine, anx-
*om Matti-
forcements
d, but the
1 time, and
cond train
-five miles

1 dropped
)sition for
10 knowl-
^aredness.
ther train

daylight.

to gain
ndecided,
It on the

matches
:y ran his

231

" Just north of the Sawyerville station," he
said, "there is a curve and a deep cut. I am
inclined to think that if they try to block the
road they'll do it there. The quarries are right
at hand, and all they need to do is to roll a few
rocks down."

" Do you think they would try that .? " asked
Mallory. " It would block them worse than it
would us."

" I don't know about that, but I'll feel a lot
easier when we're through that cut with open
country between us and Truesdale. Run slow,
Donohue, and put out your headlight. Mal-
lory, you see that the train is perfectly dark.
We might as well try a little bluffing even if we
do strike them. They won't know but what
we've got five hundred men aboard, and the
others will reach us before they find it out."

Mallory clambered over the coal in the ten-
der, while the fireman crawled out on the run-
ning board and extinguished the headlight.
The night was very dark, and Jawn leaned out
of the cab window, his left hand gripping the
throttle lever. The fireman was badly in need
of sleep, and showed a tendency to grumble in
a half-incoherent way, but Jawn was as silent

ifol

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232

T/ie Short Line War

as at the start. To Harvey, who even in the
excitement was afraid to sit down for fear of
lalhng asleep, the engineer was a marvel in his
machme-like self-control.

Slowly the line of empty cars rolled along
Jawn's eyes were glued to the track in front
which to Harvey seemed a constantly resolving
confusion of shadows. The tall gray telegraph
poles crept by with monotonous regularity until
Harvey turned away and looked out at the dim
meadows on the left, over which was spread a
ghostly film of mist.

"There's the cut," said Jawn.
Harvey looked forward, but could see noth-
ing. Jawn, however, gradually slackened speed
until they were barely moving. Mallory ap-
peared on the tender and came over the coal
to the apron, where he stood leaning out with
one arm around the cab door-post. The fire-
n A heaped a shovel with coal, and staggering
wearily into the cab he knocked open the door
of the fire-box from which a dull glow tem-
pered the darkness. Harvey seated himself on
the fireman's seat, holding himself stiffly erect
and trying to distinguish the track before.

Jawn slowlv hrnufyVif tV>

r^ «-».-,:_

V- tram lu a

stop.

In the Dark
" asked Harv

233

"What is iti
thing ahead ? "

" No. We're about two hundred yards from
the curve."

Harvey turned to Mallory.

"We'd better throw out a few men ahead,
Mallory, to see that the track is clear."

" Haven't got many left, not more than half
a dozen altogether."

Harvey stepped down and stretched his tired
limbs.

" I'll go myself," he said. " Call one of your
men up here."

Mallory climbed back on the tender and
whistled. A man who had been sitting on the
steps of the first car came forward.

"You wait here, Donohue," said Harvey.
"If everything is all right, I'll come back."
He struck a match and looked at his watch.
"We've been taking time enough. It's three-
fifteen now. I'll walk along the top of the cut
on the left-hand side, and you " — to the detec-
tive—^you take the other side. Keep within
easy hail — " He paused abruptly. Through
the crisp night air came the roll and snort of an
engine. There was a long silence in the cab.

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234

The SJiort Line War

" She's running slow," said Jawn, at length.

Harvey stood breaking the match into bits.
The noise of the other train came slowly nearer,
but so slowly that all listened breathlessly.
After a little they could hear the rumbling of an
exhaust, and Jawn muttered, " She's stopped."

"We'd better wait," said Mallory. "It's
more than likely that they have another gang
ready for us. They probably will be coming
thio way before long."

Harvey stepped up to the fireman's seat again,
and fixed his eyes on the black cut ahead. It
was still dark, but he could now distinguish the
deep shadow which marked the spot where
the track bent sharply to the left between its
rock walls. For some time all were silent, lis-
tening to the noise of the other engine. Jawn
sat on his bench, which he had not left for
hours, ready either for going ahead or for back-
ing, as the circumstances should dictate. Mallory
moved to the step and swung out as before, watch-
ing and listening. The fireman swung his arms
and shifted his feet in an effort to keep awake.
Occasionally they could hear men shouting,
then there would be no sound save the subdued
hiss of steam. After a long wait a bell rang.

yar

In the Dark

wn, at length,
natch into bits,
e slowly nearer,
d breathlessly,
rumbling of an
he's stopped."
lallory. " It's
; another gang
will be coming

an's seat again,
cut ahead. It
distinguish the
le spot where
lit between its
were silent, lis-
engine. Jawn
id not left for
id or for back-
ctate. Mallory
5 before, watch-
iwung his arms
:o keep awake,
men shouting,
'e the subdued
it a bell rang.

and Jawn's grasp tightened, but the other engine
gave only a few coughs and stopped again. The
ensuing silence was broken by Harvey stepping
to the tender and beckoning to the detective,
who had been sitting on the coal.

"All right," said Harvey. "We'll go ahead
and see what they're up to. You take the right
bank, and keep close to the edge where I can
talk to you if necessary," He swung out of the
cab and began laboriously to climb up the
seamed sloping rock, which reached a man's
height above the cab roof.

Excepting the occasional cracks and jagged
projections there was no foothold, and it was at
the expense of cut and scraped hands that he
scrambled up the soft limestone and reached
the top. He sat for a moment on the ground to
recover his breath and to pull himself together.
The detective was standing on the opposite bank
and Harvey rose and stumbled forward. They
crept along, climbing fences and tripping
through underbrush. As they rounded the
curve the ground began to slope away, and soon
they could see the headlight of an engine. Be-
hind it, at the Sawyerville platform, stretched a
train of lighted cars.

• V'W

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236

The Short Line War

Harvey and the detective had been talking
across the cut, but now for the sake of caution
they went on in silence. Harvey slipped around
a farmyard that backed up to the track, and
struck into the woods that lie north of Sawyer-
ville almost up to the station and its lonely
cluster of houses. Stepping quietly along a
bridle path he soon came within earshot of the
station.

Little knots of men stood on the platform
talking excitedly. The new station agent and
operator was running about in his shirt sleeves
with his hand full of papers. Within the cars
were crowds of men ; Harvey estimated that
there were several hundred. Standing near the
engine, the centre of a small group, was a large
man whom Harvey thought was McNally, but
he could not be certain at that distance and in
the uncertain light of flickering station lamps.

Harvey's sporting blood was up, and with
entire forgetfulness of his exhaustion he crept
slowly forward, worming through the brush and
long grass behind a snake fence. Slowly he
progressed until only a muddy road intervened
between him and the north end of the platform.
Taking advantage of a noisy blow-ofi from the

In the Dark

237

engine, he piled some brush up in front of him
and stretched out at full length with his chin on
his arm, dewing the scene through the open-
ing between the two lowest rails of the fence.
Now he could easily recognize McNally, and
without being able to distinguish words could
even hear him talking. .Suddenly McNally
stepped out from the group and called down the
platform, —

" Blake, are Wilkins and the boys back yet > "
The reply was lost to Harvey, but McNally
shouted, —

"If they aren't here in five minutes, so
ahead." ^

That told Harvey just what he wanted to
know, and slowly turning he began crawling
back. But before he had gone very far, he
heard a sound which suggested possibilities.' It
was the wheezing of his own engine at the
other end of the curve. Now that he stopped
to think, he realized that it must have been per-
fectly audible to McNally's party. From this
It was naturally to be inferred that ''the boys "
had been sent out on a mission similar to his
own. It occurred to him that he and they
might have passed, and that the repassing might

■ I

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1'. ■;

238

T/ie Short Line War

H.I

«■•■

■" ,i-r

not so easily be accomplished. He increased
his efforts and soon was deep enough in the
woods to get to his feet and run. When he
drew near the farmhouse he took a detour and
passed it with fifty yards to spare. He could
not afford to rouse any dogs. He was getting
into the open when three or four men appeared
directly in front of him, walking slowly from a
strip of woods toward the track. Harvey dug
his heel into the ground and dodged back, but
the men saw hin and without a word started in
pursuit.

The chase was not a long one. Harvey was
completely hemmed in, and exhausted as he
was and spent with running, he was soon over-
hauled. He tried to call out, but one of the
men gripped his mouth.

Mallory, as soon as Harvey was out of sight,
settled down to await his return with more or
less impatience. The fireman leaned against
the forward end of the tender and promptly fell
asleep, but J awn waked him with a growl,
whereupon the exhausted man stood erect,
struggling to bring his rebellious nerves under
control. As the minutes slipped by Jawn's

In the Dark

239

eyes shifted from track to bank and back to
the cut again. The clouds that lingered from
the afternoon rain hid every star save one
near the horizon, which struggled to announce
the coming dawn.

Ten minutes passed, and fifteen. Then came
the warning bell of the other locomotive, fol-
lowed by a quick succession of puffs as the l.i,^
drive'-'^ gripped the rails. Jawn leaned far out
thf vvindo V and scanned the banks of the cut.
No G-ie wa. i in sight. He ducked in and seized
the th-'ottie lever.

" Hold on," saifl Mallory. " Are they coming
this way .? "

" Yes."

Mallory seized his arm.

" Back up, then. We can't meet them."

Jawn jerked his elbow from Mallory's grasp
and opened the throttle.

"Are you crazy,' man!" Mallory shouted.
"Stop her! You'll kill us!"

Jawn opened her a little wider. For an in-
stant Mallory looked at him in wonder, then he
sprang forward and jammed the lever close to
the boiler.

" Reverse ! " he ordered.

i ,

Wf^

\t i

it ' ^

P-

fi:

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M -}

»•

240

77/^ 5//^/'/ Z/;/^ War

For reply Jawn turned on Mallory and crowded
him back. Weak-nerved from the long strain,
suffering for lack of sleep, the two men broke
down for the moment, and struggled about the
cab. The fireman stumbled back against the
boiler with a dazed face, but after a moment he
recovered and rushed between the two men.

" This ain't right ! " he screamed. ** If you
two fight, we're ditched."

As he spoke, the d'^tective who had gone with
Harvey came slipping and tumbling down the
cut, and clambered aboard the engine. Jawn
and Mallory fell back against the opposite
benches and glared at each other. Jawn sud-
denly reached for the throttle.

" Wait a minute," gasped Mallory ; " she's
stopped."

Half reluctantly Jawn listened. Sure enough,
the other train had paused, evidently just around
the curve.

" The man's right," Mallory went on. " We
haven't got any business scrapping ; we've got
to pull together. Now tell me what you were
trying to do."

Jawn looked out ahead before he replied, —

'* I ain't going to leave Mr. West down there."

In the Dark

241

" Isn't Mr. West back ? " asked the detective,
in a startled tone. " He's had time enough to
go clear to the station and back. I went pretty-
near to it myself. They've got a train full of
men. It looks like business."

"Hear that, Donohue.?" said Mallory. "What
do you think we can do against a gang like that.? "

" That don't make no difference. Mr. Matti-
son says, * Hold the hne if you lose an engine
doing it,' and I'm going to hold it."

"But stop to think, man. There isn't a
possible chance of aolding it. We'll do more
good by dodging back and keeping them guess-
ing until the relief comes. As it stands now we
are perfectly helpless."

" Now look here," said Jawn. " You go back
and fetch every man you got."

" What are you up to } "

" No difference what I'm up to. You fetch
your men."

Mallory looked sharply at Jawn, then he mo-
tioned to the detective, who dropped to the
ground and hurried back.

"What's your plan.?" Mallory asked again.
But Jawn shook his head and watched the cut.

In a moment the detective reappeared fol-

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242

The Short Line War

lowed by five others. All six came crowding
upon the apron. Without leaving his seat
Jawn gave his orders, —

" Get on the tender, as high up as you can,
and when we go at 'em, yell like hell."

With startled, wondering faces the men
clambered back, Mallory among them, taking
positions on the tank and on what was left of
the coal. From around the curve another suc-
cession of puffs drew Jawn's eyes to the front,
and his grip tightened.

" Hold on, back there," he called, "and don't
yell till I holler. Fire up, Billy."

Billy fired up and the engine moved slowly
forward. She crept cautiously toward the
curve, foot by foot. On the rock wall dead
ahead a yellow light flashed, and then crept
around toward them. Jawn waited until it was
almost full in his eyes.

" Whistle, Billy," he said.

The hoarse whistle shrieked, and the other
engine seemed to start, ^^en hesitate.

"Now," said Jawn, without looking around,
and he let out a tremendous yell of " At 'em,
boys ! " The men on the tender promptly raised
an uproar, the fireman shouted as he jerked the

ing his seat

1, " and don't

In the Dark

whistle cord, and J awn sat with one eye on the
indicator, the other on the approaching head-
light, his bass voice all the while roaring out a
fiery challenge not unmixed with profanity.

The engineer of McNally's special had
received no orders to sacrifice his engine,
and had no desire to sacrifice himself. He
wavered, stopped, then tried to back. But
Jawn let out another notch, and rammed his
bull nose into and through the other's pilot
with such force that both locomotives left the
track.

id the other

mm:

CHAPTER XVIII

THE COMING OF DAWN

11 ji

The collision occurred at the southern end of
the cut. It had for the men in the C & S. C.
train the additional force of unexpectedness. It
was not violent, as railway collisions go, but the
shock of it was enough to jerk the huddled,
dozing men out of their seats, and to awaken
them to a full consciousness that something
had happened. In the stupefied hush which
followed the crash they heard outside the train
a chorus of shoutings, — derisive, blasphemous,
triumphant. That completed their momentary
demoralization ; a panic swept them away, and
the frenzied men fought each other in the effort
to reach the car doors.

But the rush was checked as suddenly as it
had begun. The first men to get through the
doors had hardly leaped to the ground when
they saw from the shadow of the cut the vicious
spit of revolvers and heard the bullets singing

244

The Coming of Dawn

245

unpleasantly over their heads. Where they
stood the gray dawn made them perfectly
visible, but the blackness of the cut screened
their assailants and made it impossible to guess
their numbers. About twenty men had got
out of the C. & S. C. train when the volley was
fired, and the celerity with which they scat-
tered brought another cheer from Mallory's
men intrenched in the cut.

Some of the fugitives scurried to the woods,
while others struggled back into the cars. The
shots had been heard inside the cars, and the
rush to get out of them was succeeded by
the impulse to lie down. The men were with-
out leaders, without means of measuring the
peril they were in or the force of their oppo-
nents, without knowledge of what was expected
of them ; and they lay cowering but angry in
the barricaded cars, awaiting further develop-
ments.

There was no one to tell them what to do.
Where were their leaders.? The murmur ran
through the line of cars that McNally and
Wilkins had deserted them. For neither of
them was on the train when the collision
occurred.

II.

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T/ie Short Line War

McNally, standing on the Sawyerville plat-
form near the rear end of his train, had already
given the signal to go ahead when a man came
out of the woods, hurried at:ross the muddy
road, ran down the platfonn, and clutching
his arm said eagerly : —

"Mr. McNally, Wilkins wants you to come
over here. We've caught one of them and he
says he thinks it.-i the one you told him about."

McNally turned and shouted to the engineer,
" Hold on up there a minute " ; but the cry was
unheard, and the long train continued slowly
toward the curve. Smith, who had just brought
the report to McNally, started up the platform
in pursuit, but 'vIcNally stopped him.

"Never mind/' he said. "They won't go
far. Now tell me about this fellow you've
caught. Where was he .-* "

" Right over here in the woods ; it's only
a Uttle way. Wilkins wanted you should come
over there."

" Go ahead," said McNally. " Show me the
way."

The two men crossed the road and entered
the woods by the path. It was still as black as
niiunignt under tne trees, an^i tiiey iCn. tneir

The Coming of Dawn

247

Show me the

\ and entered
till as black as

way cautiously. Just north of the farmhouse
they left the path and stepped into the crack-
ling underbrush. They had gone but a few
paces when they were stopped by the sound
of a low whistle close by at their left.

"There they are," said the guide.

McNally started to follow him, but hesitated
and then whispered : —

"I'll v/ait here. Send Wilkins out to me,
will you } "

When Wilkins appeared McNally stepped
back a little and looked around nervously
before he spoke.

" Can they hear us } "

Wilkins shook his head.

"How much did you tell that young fellow
of our conversation?" questioned McNally.

" Smith } Nothing but just what he told you.
I said I thought he was the man you told me
about."

" What does he look like t "

"Big man -~ straight dark hair. I took
these out of his sockets."

They were a handful of papers, and McNally
took them eagerly. "That's something like,"
he said.

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T/ie Short Line War

It was too dark to make out anything, and
he struck a match. The crackle was followed
by another sound from the thicket, as though
a man had moved suddenly and violently.
McNally started and dropped the match, glanc-
ing suspiciously toward the spot whence the
sound came.

" It's only the boys," said Wilkins. " Here,
I'll give you a light."

As he sheltered the flickering match-light
with his hands, McNally glanced over the
papers. One of them he found by unfolding
to be a map of the railroad. There were some
memoranda, scrawled and unintelligible, and
last of all, what appeared to be a note in a
crumpled blue envelope, bearing a week-old
postmark. He scrutinized it closely, and then
rubbed his soft hands over it. There was the
caricature of a smile on his face.

" That's all the li<>;ht I need. He's the man."

As Wilkins dropped the match, McNally
turned a little and slipped the blue note into
his pocket. Then he handed the other papers
to Wilkins, saying: —

" Put them back where you found them.
We don't want to rob him."

IB:

5>i-

The Coming of Dawn

kins. " Here,

found them.

249

In a moment, with lowered voice he went ^

on: —

" I don't think it's necessary for me to give
any further instructions. When you go back
there just tell those men what we want. It's
recessary that West shall be out of the game
for the next day or two, that's all. I'll walk
along toward the train, and when you get
through with them follow me down the track.
What force have they on the other train } "

" Not more than twenty men."

"That simplifies—"

As he started to speak there came to his ears
a splintering crash followed by a quick succes-
sion of shots.

McNally smiled. "The boys are rushing
things," he said. "I hope they are *'• doing
anything rash. I'll hurry along and pacify 'em.
Follow me as soon as you can, will you } "

He turned to go, but Wilkins waited.

"Mr. McNally," he said, "I guess you'd
better attend to that West business yourself.
I'll send one of those men to you, and take
Smith down to the train with me."

•* What do you mean .? "

•* I guess you can see what I mean all right,"

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The Short Line War

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said Wilkins. " I'd rather let you be respon-
sible for any kidnapping."

He did not wait for a reply, but hurried into
the thicket, and nodding to one of the men who
still held Harvey he said in a 'ow tone : —

"You're wanted out there. Your partners
cqn ^old this chap all right." Then with
a gesture motioning Smith to follow, he felt
his way througli the woods and down the side
of the cut to the track.

Once out of the shadow of the trees he could
see plainly enough, for dawn was breaking
fast. The rear end of his train was in sight,
about a hundred yards up the track ; the head
of it was hidden bv the curve. From the cut
he could hear derisive shouts and cat-calls,
but from his own train not a so id. Puzzled
and a little alarmed, he bi oke into ■ . run. He
passed tl rear cars and came anv id the '^urve
in sight of the men in the cut.

"Get back Viere, you damned robber!
shouted one of them, md the command was
followed by a shot.

The bullet went high over Wilkins's head, but
it had its effect none the less. He sprang up
the btepi of the rcarcst car and threw himself

ou be respon-

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The Coming of Dawn

251

against the door. It resisted his efforts, how-
ever, and from inside the car came another
warning, for a gruff voice said : —

" Quit that, if you don't want to be blown full
of holes."

Wilkins stepped out of line of the door before
he answered : —

" Let me in, you fool. It's me, Wilkins."

The door opened slowly and he looked into
the barrel of a levelled revolver, which was
lev ;red when he was recognized. He looked
about the crowded car in increasing amazement,
the men shifting sullenly under his glance. At
last he said : —

"What in hell are you men doing here?
Scared to death, too; and by half a dozen
men ! Stand up now, and go out there and tie
'em up. It won't take you but a minute."

There was an inarticulate grov I of protest, and
the man who had been guarding the door spoke :

"They've got us in a hole. We started to
get off the train and they h.iot at us from the
cut. They can pick off l^ke rabbits."

Wilkins hesitated. Fie aid not know whether
or not the men in the cut would shuot to kill,
but he saw that their position gave them 1 tre-

■ft

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T/ir Short Line War

mendous advantage in the first rush. He did
not care to face the responsibility of ordering a
charge that would prove too costly. After a
moment he said : —

" It'll be all right if you all do it together.
One of you speak to the men in the forward
cars and I'll go back and do the same thing.
Then when we give the signal make a rush."

Wilkins went through towai d the rear of the
train, as he had said, but his object was to
gain time and to wait for "^IcNally. Then the
responsibility could be shifted to where it be-
longed. When he reached the rear platform
he saw McNally coming up the track. He
hurried to meet him, and in a few words laid
the situation before him.

McNally's upper lip drew away from his
teeth as he heard it, but he spoke quietly.

" They've got us bluffed down, haven't they .?
But I guess it's about time we called them.
They'll be pretty careful not to hit anybody
with those guns of theirs. Have the men come
through to the rear of the train and get off from
this platform where they'll be screened by the
curve. Then they can spread out through the
woods and come down on 'em from the sides of
the cut."

n^.

The Comhfr of Dawn

253

Of course the odds were overwhelming ; they
were greater even than the numerical disparity
would indicate, for the men in the cut were
utterly exhausted. They had staked every-
thing on their bluff and had been sustained for
a time by seeing that it was succeeding. But
at last Jawn, standing in the cab of his derailed
locomotive, saw something that made him call
quickly to Mallory.
"They've started," he said.
" Where are they .? "
"Comin' up through the woods."
Mallory glanced quickly about and said,
"We're flanked. There's no good in staging
here, is there.!*"

" The baggage car'll hold together for a while,
and the other train ought to be here now."

"Well," said Mallory, "we'll try it. Come
on, boys, get to cover."

The men climbed into the car, and Jawn and
Mallory were discussing methods for defending
it, when the fireman thought of something.

" How about Bill Jones } " he asked. " He's
back with the flag. Ain't he liable to get snapped
up .? "

" He'll have to take his chances," said Mallory.

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T/te Short Line War

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" Hold on, though. It won't do for them to find
him."

He glanced out of the window and then ran
out on the platform.

" There's time enough, I guess," he muttered,
turning and speaking into the car. " I'm goin'
back with him."

He disappeared, and Jawn quietly assumed
command of the defences. "Don't do any
shooting," he said. " It won't help any in this
mix-up. These are good to hit with," and he
showed a coupling pin he held in his hand.

When the preparations were made for the
defence, and all the bulky articles in the car
had been placed where they would be most in
the way of an attacking party, the men waited.
They were stupid with fatigue, and even the
prospect of an immediate attack failed to arouse
them ; but they were still game, and though they
lay about the floor in attitudes of utter exhaus-
tion their sullen determination to hold the car
was unmistakable.

At last a shower of stones came rattling about
the car, and they heard the shouts of two hun-
dred men who came charging down the banks
into the cut. Jawn and his men breathed more

I'''

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The Coming of Dawn

255

ir them to find

and then ran

' he muttered,
. "I'm goin'

ietly assumed
Don't do any
Ip any in this
tvith," and he
his hand,
made for the
!es in the car
[d be most in
I men waited,
and even the
tiled to arouse
d though they
utter exhaus-
i hold the car

rattling about
:s of two hun-
wn the banks
)reathed more

freely now that the waiting was over, and drew
themselves up with a spark of their old alertness.
One man began singing, drumming on the car
floor with a stick, —

"There'll be a hot time — "

and another, springing to his feet, took to bal-
ancing his loaded club, shifting it from finger to
finger, and then catching it in his hand he struck
quick and hard through the air to see where the
grip was best.

Then they heard the sound of feet on the
north platform, and some one tried the door.
"Guess they're in here," they heard him say.

"Guess you'll find that you're dead right
about that," observed the man who had been
singing.

Jawn said no word, but waited with blazing
eyes beside the door. He meant to strike the
first blow with his coupling pin. There were
two ineffectual thuds against the door and then
a crash. The hinges started and one panel
splintered inward. Another, and this time the
door fell and a giant of a man, jerked off his
baiance by the sledge he had swung, staggered

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256

T/ie Short Line War

into the car. Jawn struck; the man's collar-
bone crackled under the coupling pin and he
fell forward with a yell. Then over him and
over the fallen door came the rush. The hand-
ful of defenders chose their corners and fought
in them, each in his own way ; some in a sort
of hysteria, screaming curses, some striking
silently, and one, the singer, with a laugh on
his lips. When the fireman was struck sense-
less, this man fought over him until forced back
by press of numbers, so that he no longer had
room to strike.

The defence of the baggage car was over,
and the defenders, disabled and disarmed, were
submitting to the handcuffs or to the bits of
rope which were used in securing them, when
there came a sound of cheering, which made
their captors leave them hastily and clamber
from the car. The relief had come.

It came on the run, with Mallory at the head.
There was no order, no pretence at formation ;
simply a stream of eager, angry men, some run-
ning through the cut along the tracks, others
stumbling through the woods above, all ani-
mated by the desire to reach the scene of action
as quicklv as possible. And waitino- for th^m

tai

dnsT for them

The Coming of Dawn 257

waj. another mob of men, the main body of
McNally's army. They were crowded in the
cut on both sides of the train they had just
captured, with the knowledge rankling in their
hearts that they had been held at bay by a
handful of determined men. They were glad
they had somebody to fight.

The moment the two bodies of men came
together the confusion became indescribable.
The men had no means of distinguishing be-
tween friend and foe. They were at too close
quarters to make fighting possible, and if it had
been, no one would have known whom to strike
and whom to defend. The cut was densely
packed with men who strained and swayed
and struggled and swore, but who could not by
any possibility fight. But slowly the increasing
weight of the new arrivals began to tell, and
slowly, almost imperceptibly, the mass began
to move south. Eventually they would push
out of the cut to the open, where they could
discuss matters more satisfactorily.

In the excitement they did not hear the long
train that came clanking up from the south and
stopped just behind the C. & S. C. train. But
a moment later the uproar ceased, as sounded

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258

T/te Short Line War

high and clear the echoing bugles, " Forward,
Fours left into line, March!" Looking, they
saw six companies of the National Guard come
swinging across the open, the horizontal rays
of the rising sun gilding their fixed bayonets.

There was no need for shot or bayonet thrust,
the mob was quiet. McNally, as he stood pant-
ing in the thickest of the crowd, knew what it
meant. The time for violence was over; his
army had outlived its usefulness. And he knew
that however the fight for the M. & T. was to
be won, this was the beginning of the end.

p m

CHAPTER XIX

KATHERINE DECIDES

It was some hours before definite informa-
tion was to be had concerning the present con-
dition of affairs. No one knew whether his
side had won or lost, whether the M. & T. was
a Weeks road or a Porter road, though in the
excitement each claimed control and made im-
mediate efforts to enfoice orders relating to its
conduct. Messages flew back and forth along
the singing wires, and wrecking trains started
almost simultaneously from Manchester and
from Truesdale, with instructions to clear up
the muss at Sawyerville, in order that the regu-
lar train service be resumed.

But before matters were more than fairly
under way, there came a sudden suspension of
action. The Weeks wreckers paused at Brush-
ingham, and contented themselves with pulling
Harvey's first capture back on the rails. That
done, the conductor stuffed a bundle of some-

«59

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260

T/ie Short Line War

what contradictory but imperative orders into
his pocket, and stretched himself on the Httle
red bench on the Brushingham station plat-
form ; the engineer, after a shouted order, set-
tled down to the nearest approach to rest
known to an engineer on duty ; the division car
repairer and the roadmaster curled up in the
caboose, for they had been routed out at an
unseemly hour; the station agent amused him-
self reading the messages that rattled through
to the South and back, telling of a muddle at
headquarters. When a wrecking train is held
for orders, it is safe to assume that something
has happened.

Down the line there was a similar occur-
rence. The Truesdale repair crew was caught
at Sawyerville and ordered back. But before
the astonished conductor had read the message
through, another came ordering him on, subject
no longer to the Superintendent's orders, but to
those of Colonel Wray, 3d N. G.

The Governor of the State, in the conduct of
routine matters, was usually content to follow
precedent, which means that the State House
clerical force was let more or less severely alone
to govern the community, while the executive

Katherine Decides

261

orders into
3n the little
itation plat-
d order, set-
ich to rest
division car
d up in the
[ out at an
imused him-
tled through
a muddle at
train is held
it something

milar occur-
was caught
But before
the message
Ti on, subject
)rders, but to

e conduct of
mt to follow
State House
everely alone
.he executive

directed the politics of his party with a view to
coming elections. At times an emergency oc-
curred, miners struck, excited citizens lynched
a negro, henchmen of the other party strained
the voting laws, municipal corporations en-
deavored to steal State privileges — in any of
which cases he delayed definite action until
public sentiment bayed at his heels, then he
acted with shrewdness and despatch. At the
time of the fight, this same noisy public was
keen on the scent of the railroads. Certain
street railway corporations had called out abuse
by methods which were excusable only for
their success, and the mass saw no reason to
believe that one corporation was better than
another. Discriminating freight tariffs, which
had seemed to favor a neighboring State, had
thoroughly antagonized the country districts —
and the country districts* vote. From even the
solid communities had come rumors of restless-
ness and discontent. Ward bosses were wor-
ried, county magnates were dodging reform
committees instigated by the traditionally con-
scientious minority, and the Governor knew that
certain bills which awaited his signature were
not likely to increase his tollowing.

hull

.^. —

262

The Short Line War

So it was that the great man was watching,
watching and waiting, for the opportunity to
strike a blow which should swing public senti-
ment around in his favor. Up to the present
the whole State had been quiet. The miners
were as orderly as the Sunday-school over
which he presided when in his native town.
The great labor organizations he was so eager
to conciliate perversely gave him no oppor-
tunity.

And so it was that when messages came
pouring in upon him from bosses and chairmen
and advisers urging immediate interference in
the M. & T. fight, when the sheriff of Maiden
County sent in an hysterical report, all insti-
gated by the pungent advices from mad and
muddy Senator Sporty Jones — the Governor
inclined his ear. He was a shrewd man, and
he knew that in order to make a distinct im-
pression on The Public his blow must be sudden
and spectacular. The longer he thought on
it, the more the opportunity pleased him, and
before the evening was far advanced Colonel
Wray was speeding to Truesdale.

The Third was not a city regiment. It was
made up of men from the middle sections of the

as watching,
portunity to
public senti-
the present
The miners
school over
native town,
was so eager
n no oppor-

ssages came
nd chairmen
terference in
if of Maiden
jrt, all insti-
3m mad and
;he Governor
*vd man, and
, distinct im-
Listbe sudden
e thought on
sed him, and
need Colonel

lent. It was
ections of the

Katherine Decides

263

State, a company to every few counties with
battalion headquarters in three of the smaller
nties, Truesdale for one. In the city regiments
was a blue-stocking element which did not fit
the Governor's present needs.

As soon as Colonel Wray reached Truesdale
he established himself in the inhospitable ware-
house which in reports was called an armory
Before midnight the local company was col-
lected, uniformed, and in order. Later special
trams arrived, and squads and companies
marched through the echoing streets, to sit doz-
ing about the armory. At three-thirty a train
came m from the southern counties bringing
the second battalion, three hundred husky farm
lads who glowed with responsibility as they
stacked arms and awaited orders.

Then came a telephone message that Mc-
Nally's relief train had left for the North.
Colonel Wray waited no longer but marched
over to the station, seized the telegraph office
and the telephone, placed guards at each en-
trance and about the train shed, ordered the
yard master to make up another train, levied on
the^station restaurant for six hundred cups of
-unee, and tore fly-leaves from the news-stand

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264

The Short Line W'^r

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books to write special orders for the waiting
adjutant.

Meanwhile Porter vvas feverish. He tried to
bulldoze the sergeant in the telegraph office
only to be hustled ofi by a corporal's guard.
He finally reached the Colonel's ear, but was
heard in courteous silence. He made an effort
to call up the Oakwuod Club to send .. message
to McNally, but the sunburned young fellow in
the 'phone box leaned on his rifle and shook his
head. The same thing uappened when he tried
to get out of the building — " Sorry, sir. Cap-
tain's orders " — and the baffled magnate paced
up and down the waiting room between long files
of light-hearted boys in blue. It was humiUating
to consider that he had subscribed heavily toward
fitting up the Truesdale armory, that half the
officers knew him and feared his influence.

While he was racking his brain sudden orders
were shouted through the building. The loung-
ing groups came up with a jerk, there was a rat-
tle of arms, and in ten seconds the farm boys
had resolved into a machine, a set of rigid blue
lines that reached the length of the waiting room.
There was another order, and one after another
the companies broke into columns of twos and

the waiting

He tried to
graph office
oral's guard,
ear, but was
ade an effort
id u message
ang fellow in
,nd shook his
vhen he tried
ry, sir. Cap-
ignate pac^ 1
een long files
LS humiliating
leavily toward
that half the
ifluence.
sudden orders
. The loung-
lere was a rat-
he farm boys

of rigid blue
waiting room.

after another
s of twos and

I «;wung through the

Katherine Decides

265

doors, which /ere held
open by a couple of s ired but admiring w iters.

Porter followed the last company and stood in
the doorway behind two crossed rifles watching the
troops climb into the cars. The Colonel stood at
the track gate as the men marched through, talk-
ing with his aids. Porter thought for a moment of
calling to him, ' nt realized the futility of it after
the treatment had just received. Besides,
even a railroad csident could hardly keep his
dignity with those ridiculous guns under his nose.
So he turned and walked slowly to his temporary
headquarters in the station agent's oflfice, but to
find that the young captain left in command by
Colonel Wray had made himself at home and
was issuing orders to a snub-nosed lieutenant.

Porter took a chair and looked out of the win-
dow. For a moment he was too weary to be
aggressive. Worry and loss of sleep had lined
his face, and the absence of news from McNally
kept his nerves strung. As he sat there grip-
ping the arms of the chair, face a little flushed,
hair disarranged, collar dusty, he looked ten
years i-ast his age. It was a critical moment in
the fight, and he knew it, but cornered as he
was, absolutely uninformed as to his position in

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266

The Short Line War

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the struggle, or the meaning of the military dis-
play, a sense of helplessness almost unnerved
him. Heretofore his fights had been largely
conducted through deferential employees. He
was accustomed to bows and scrapes, to men
who feared him, who watched his every move in
awe, and to find himself utterly at the mercy of
these tin soldiers was disgusting. It was twenty-
four hours since he had had a wink of sleep and
eighteen since he had eaten a full meal — facts
which in no small measure lessened the stability
of his mental poise. And there he sat waiting
through the darkness and the dawn.

The reds and golds in the eastern sky spread
and paled. The little green-clad city stretched
down the gentle hill, now indistinct in the haze.
An early electric car whirred and jangled past
the station, and Porter was half conscious of the
noise. He got up, straightened his stiff joints,
and went to the lunch counter, where he had to
jostle between two gawky privates before he
could order a cup of smoky cereal coffee and a
sandwich. After getting a place he could not
eat, so he returned to the office. Now that some
sort of routine was estabUshed, the Captain
showed a wiUingness to meet him civilly.

-'is, i

Katherine Decides

267

" See here," said Porter, after a few common-
places had been exchanged, "how long is this
going to keep up ? There is no sense in hold-
ing me here."

"Sorry, sir. I have no desire to inconven-
ience you, but my orders are to let no one out
and no one in. And you know what orders are
for."

"Oh, that's all right," — Porter leaned back
in his chair and looked out the window, — " but
there's such a thing as going to extremes. Some-
times common sense supersedes orders."

"You forget, Mr. Porter, that you are here
for the purpose of conducting a raid, and we arc
here to stop that raid. Under the circumstances
it is my duty to hold you and every one connected
with the affair until I am otherwise ordered."

"But I am not a thief, man."

"No, perhaps not." The Captain turned to
some papers on the desk, and Porter continued
to look out, wearily, with a sudden dull ache
above his eyes.

A corporal appeared in the doorway, saluting.

" There's a young lady, sir, says she's got to
see Mr. Porter."

"Who is she.?"

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268

77/^ 5/;^/'^ Line War

«' Don't know, but she sticks to it."
"It's my daughter," said Porter, with an
effort to rise. " Where is she ? "

« Wait," the Captain said ; " I'll speak to her,"
and he followed the soldier.

Porter sat still. After a little he heard voices
in the waiting room, and Katherine entered the
office. At the sight of his worn, haggard face
her annoyed expression vanished, and she drew
the Captain's chair beside her father's and laid
her hand upon his forehead.

" You are sick," she said gently.
" Nonsense " — he made a feeble effort to
shake off her hand — " I asked you not to come
back. I'm tired, that's all."

Katherine rose and looked about.
" Come into the waiting room, dad, and lie
down. You must have '^ome sleep or you won't
be good for anything."

* "You must go back," said Porter, shakincr
his head. " This is no place for you."

Katherine looked quietly into his eyes. It
was not the first time that the strain of his busy
life had told upon her father's nerves, and she
knew what was the m.atter,

" Come, dad," she said. " Get a little sleep,

W. I

Katherine Decides

269

a little sleep,

and I'll stay by and wake you if there is any

news."

Porter scowled, then slowly rose. The Cap-
tain, who had been hesitating in the doorway,
came forward to assist. Porter turned on him
savagely. "Let me alone. I can walk, I
euess." But at a glance from Katherine the
Captain took an arm, and Porter submitted,
seemlxigly unconscious of his inconsistency.

Along the walls of the waiting room were
benches, and on one of ti.ese they tried to make
Porter comfortable. When she saw that his
head must rest on the wooden seat, Katherine
hesitated and looked at the Captain, who was
following her with his yes.

*' I wish there was something for a pillow,"
she said. " Perhaps " ~ she stood erect and
looked slowly about the waiting room, then
stepped to the door of the office, returning with
a pretty frown. "I wonder" — she met the
Captain's gaze smiling frankly — " if you would
let me take your coat."

He was not an old officer, and he was not a
hermit, so with but slight hesitation he un-
buckled his belt, removed the coat, rolled it up,
and as Katherine raised her father's head he
slipped it underneath.

my^\

The Short Line War

WM '

1 5

" Will you send one of your men to a drug
store for some camphor ? " said Kathcrine,
fumbling in the purse that hung from her belt.

The Captain beckoned to one of the soldiers
who were clustered about the door, and placed
him at Katherine's disposal. When he returned
she soaked her handkerchief with the camphor
and laid it on her father's forehead. He was
already asleep.

" He'll be better as soon as he has had a little
rest," Katherine said. " You are very good to
help us." The Captain bowed with the expres-
sion of a man who has just been promoted, but
said nothing.

For an hour Porter slept, and during that
time Katherine stayed by him, moistening the
folded handkerchief and chafing his wrists.
The Captain, his importance and self-command
oozing away a bit at a time as he watched the
cool, quiet girl, hovered near as often as his
dignity would permit with offers of assistance,
most of which Katherine accepted. He put her
horses and trap in charge of a mihtiaman, he
brought out a rocking-chair for her, and when,
a little after eight o'clock, Porter shov/ed signs
of waking, he sent out for some breakfast.

Katherine Decides

271

en to a drug
i Katherine,
om her belt,
f the soldiers
r, and placed
n he returned
the camphor
;ad. He was

as had a little
very good to
h the expres-
Dromoted, but

during that
oistening the
I his wrists,
self-command
: watched the
often as his
of as.sistance,
He put her
iiilitiaman, he
er, and when,
showed signs
eakfast.

On Porter, the touch of sleep, the welcome
cup of coffee, and more than anything else his
daughter's soothing presence, seemed to have a
marked effect. He sat up, leaning back heavily,
and with a struggle collected hi" thoughts.
Katherine joked with him, and fussed over him
with a maternal solicitude that made the Captain
smile.

At eight-thirty, as Porter was sipping another
cup of coffee, the corporal appeared.

"A ma^ says he's got to see Mr. Porter, sir.
A Mr. McNally."

" McNally," cried Porter, starting up only to
sink back, breathing heavily. " Bring him here.
I've got to see him."
The Captain hesitated.
" Did he state his business .'' "
" No, sir. But he has a pass through the
lines at Sawyerville, signed by Colonel Wray."
" Um — let him come in."
It was not the Mr, McNally who had played
for Katherine two nights before. That had
been a well-groomed, self-possessed man of the
world; this was a muddy, unshaven, angry
man, who spoke in a loud voice and smothered
an uath just too late to keep it from her car.

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Jill

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272

T/ic Short Line War

He recoveied somewhat, but even McNally
could not lose sleep and temper for so many
hours without a more or less immediate result.
As she looked at him with a cool bow,
Katherine thought of Harvey, and something
caught in her throat.

"Well," said Porter, "what about it.? What's
happened .? Who's running this road .? "

McNally looked curiously at the Captain
before he replied. That officer, at an appeal-
ing glance from Katherine, left the group.

" The Governor is running it. He's played a
game that knocks us silly. He's come down on
us and cinched things for the senatorship at one
crack."

"What do you mean.?" In his excitement
Porter sat erect.

"The Old Man has declared the M. & T.
under military rule until the courts choose to
settle it to suit themselves. That throws us
out, throws Weeks out, and the devil take the
hindmost."

" Has there been trouble } "

"They smashed into us at Sawyerville" — he
suddenly remembered Katherine — "Excuse me.
Miss Porter, I must see your father alone."

Katherirtc Decides

273

I %

IS excitement

" He cannot be excited, Mr. McNally."

"There is no time to waste — "

Katherine turned abruptly and went into the
office.

"Yes," said McNally, "they ripped into us
at Sawyerville and we had the hell of a time till
Wray's guards came up and stopped it. Wray
let me through, — it was just after daylight,—
and I picked up a horse from a farmer and rode
down. But we got West though, damn him ! —
caught him sneaking through the bushes."

" Be careful, McNally, we've got to be care-
ful. It's no time to get mixed up in a thing like
that — we — we can't afford — "

"That's all right, Porter. We don't know
where he is — I don't know, you don't know —
and before we find out he'll be loose again."

" But — Jim — Week? don't forget that kind
of thing, McNally — Jim Weeks — "

" Oh, damn Jim Weeks ! I'll tak^ care of
him."

Porter paused to drink at a gulp what was
left of his coffee.

"Remember, McNally, I can't back you if
you get careless — I can't back you, you
know.''

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2/4

The Short Lifie War

" God, man ! you've got to back me ! You've
got to back me through everything, or you'll
go down with me. I tell you, Porter, we're too
far in to back out, and it's nerve that's going to
win. If you don't back me, if you don't draw
on every cent you've got to shove it through,
you'll be the one to be hit — not me." He
paced the floor. " Yes, sir. It's you if it's
anybody." Suddenly he stopped. He looked
hard at Porter, then he turned quickly and
strode into the office. Katherine was standing
at the window.

" Miss Katherine — "

" Mr. McNally, my name is Miss Porter."

" Miss — Miss Porter, I met a friend of yours
this morning. I met him under peculiar circum-
stances. We had some words, I regret to say,
and he left this with me." The plump, dirty
hand drew a blue envelope from McNally's coat
pocket. " It has seemed to me that where your
father's honor was as seriously involved as in
this matter, you should have followed some
other course than that of traitor."

In his excitement, McNally misunderstood
Katherine's silence.

" You have deliberatelv drawn out vour

j|t| ;ii9

k me ! You've
ling, or you'll
)rtcr, we're too
that's going to
^ou don't draw
)ve it through,
not me." He
;'s you if it's
1 He looked
I quickly and
J was standing

ss Porter."
:riend of yours
eculiar circum-
regret to say,
J plump, dirty
VTcNally's coat
lat where your
involved as in
"ollowed some

misunderstood

wn out vour

Kat /urine Decides 275

father and me that you might aid our opponents.
I have watched you — I have seen it — it is not
your fault that we are not ruined — and for the
sake of a man that I caught spying on us this
morning, sneaking through the bushes in the
dark — "

There was a groan from the doorway. Porter
stood there with one hand over his eyes. Kath-
erine looked for an instant, then she brushed
past McNally, and with one arm about her
father she called to the Captain, who stood at
the other side of the waiting room. He came
at once.

" Captain," she said, " I must ask you to take
care of my father. Please telephone for a
doctor and a closed carriage, and see that he is
sent home at once. I shall drive there in the
trap to prepare for him. Don't let this man "

— she turned contemptuously toward McNally

— "speak to him or excite him in any way.
Will you do this > " As she spoke her face
softened, and she held out her hand. The Cap-
tain took it.

"Yes, Miss Porter, I will take care of him."

Katherine, without looking again at McNally,

walked to the door and called for her trap. As

,'fti

276

The Short Line War

1':'

she waited on the steps, a newsboy came run-
ning down the walk, crying : —

" Nine o'clock Extry ! All 'bout M. & T.

riot ! "

Katherine stopped him and boughc a paper.
The black headings told the story tersely, but
one item stood out with vivid distinctness. She
read, " Harvey West Disappears — Supposed
that He Was Kidnapped — His Followers Swear
Vengeance — Rumored that He Is Hidden
Near The Oakwood Club." For a moment the
blood left her face, and her nerves tightened,
but when the trap was pulled up she was herself,
and the smile she gave the soldier in charge
brought forth an earnest but amateurish salute.

Then Katherine drove home — it was her
duty to go home. But, her duty done, she
would drive straight to the Oakwood Club.

'ar

;boy came run-
bout M. & T.

Qughc a paper.
)ry tersely, but
tinctness. She
:rs — Supposed
'ollowers Swear
Iq Is Hidden
■ a moment the
rves tightened,
;he was herself,
Idier in charge
lateurish salute.
I — it was her
iuty done, she
kvood Club.

CHAPTER XX

HARVEY

Before the dawn broke on Thursday morning
Harvey was a prisoner. It was so absurd, so
ridiculously theatrical, that had he not been too
tired to think clearly, his sense of humor would
have been equal to the occasion ; as it was, he
was angry, baffled, desperate. While held in
the thicket by Wilkins's gang he had caught a
voice too like McNally's to be easily mistaken,
and when McNally struck the match that
showed him the papers, Harvey had with an
effort flopped over on the leaves, bound as he
was, and through the bushes had caught a
glimpse of McNally's face and figure.

While the shooting and the uproar sounded
from the cut Harvey was held in the woods, but
before the second encounter his captors jerked
him to his feet, tied his handkerchief across his
eyes, and led him stumbHng away. In a few
moments Harvey lost all sense of direction.
He figured that he was still on the east side of

277

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278

T/ze Short Line War

the track, and in all probability was going south-
east on the river road. For a short while lie
tried to keep the direction, but realizing that he
might be turned without knowing it, he gave up
and decided to rely upon a chance opportunity
to escape. Undoubtedly his guards were acting
simply as agents, and it occurred to him that he
might be able to influence them ; but as his oc-
casional attempts at conversation brought only
profanity in reply, he fell back upon silence.

Through his thin bandage he could feel that
the light was growing brighter. Then he was
led from the road, splashing through a ditch and
sprawling over another fence. He bumped into
a tree. The men jerked him roughly away and
led him forward, twisting and stepping from
side to side. Occasionally his foot struck a ^allen
log. Evidently they were in a heavy wood.

At best their progress was very slow and was
marked with numerous baitings and delays.
Finally, about two hours after the start, Harvey
was thrust through a doorway and a lock clicked
behind him. He tore off the handkerchief and
found himself in a small office, evidently de-
serted, for the rusted stove, the broken chair, and
the floor were thickly coated with dust. There

Harvey
of gh

2/9

was one window, empty of glass and boarded
from the outside. He looked through a crack
and saw tho caved-in shaft house and the strag-
gling waste heap of a worked-out mine. " Won-
der how long they're going to try this game,"
he thought. He picked up the remains of a
chair and tipping it over sat on the rounds.

Harvey was nearly done for. Aside from
the strain of the week, and particularly of the
night just ended, he was wet to the knees, and
his head ached from a chance blow received
during his brief str gle near the Sawyerville
station. His eyelids drooped, and for fear of
dropping off to sleep he rose and walked the
floor. Gradually his head cleared. It occurred
to him that McNally would have run the risk
involved in kidnapping him only because it was
very important he should be gotten out of the
way. Therefore, he reasoned, it v/as equally im-
portant from his point of view that he remain
decidedly in the way. He looked through the
crack and saw three men standing a few yards
from the window talking excitedly. Their voices
were gradually rising.

" What you goin' to do with him ? " asked one.
"We can't keep him here."

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280

Tke Short Lme War

" Well, it's only for a few days."
" But who's goin' to feed him ? "
•' Yes," said the third, " an' how about us ? "
"Oh, you'll be all right," from the big man,
who seemed to be the leader ; " that's all fixed."
" Who's goin' to do it — McNally } "
'* Ssh ! " the leader looked around, and all
three lowered their voices.

Finally they seemed to reach an agreement ;
for the first speaker turned and walked rapidly
toward the woods, and the others took to patrol-
Hng the small building.

Again Harvey walked the floor. If he was
to be of any service to Jim Weeks during what
was left of the fight, it was absolutely neces-
sary that he escape as soon as possible. In the
course of his work as Jim's private secretary he
had become fairly well acquainted with the de-
tails of his employer's many interests. Nearly
all the mines along the M. & T. were owned or
controlled by the capital which Jim represented,
and Harvey knew the location of each of these.
There was but one abandoned mine in the
Sawyerville district, the Valley Shaft; it was
about four miles from Sawyerville station and

per]

three or four from the Oakwood Club.

, !f

Harvey

281

'^?iVvi7r>r»rl Cliib.

Theref L -., he reasoned, if he once broke loose
from this galling restraint, he would soon be in a
position to communicate with Jim.

Outside, the big man stood directly before the
window ; his fellow could be heard walking to
and fro in the rear of the building. Harvey
looked about the room. There was nothing to
serve as a weapon, except some part of the
stove. He bent down and removed one of the
small iron legs, taking care to make no noise.
Then he examined the window. The boards
were half-inch stuff, nailed on with little idea of
security, probably because the office contained
nothing worth stealing. He figured that it
would be no difficult matter for a man of his
weight and strength to force an exit. For the
moment he forgot his weariness.

Accordingly he drew back across the room,
and bracing for a second against the wall, he
ran forward and threw himself at the boards.
They gave way more easily than he had sup-
posed, and a rapid effort landed him squarely
on the leader, who had turned at the noise.
The struggle was short. Each had received a
few hard blows when the man jerked his right
arm loose and reached back for his revolver.

282

The Short Line War

1 '

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5.

Harvey took advantage of his open guard to
strike a quick blow with the stove leg and
brought the fellow to the ground. Harvey
rolled him over, took the revolver from his
pocket, and picked up his own hat. A noise
from behind the building called to mind the
other man, and he hurried forward. The other
was walking stealthily toward the shaft house.

" Say," called Harvey.

The man turned sullenly.

"Your friend there — he doesn't feel well,"
Harvey laughed nervously and gestured with
the revolver ; " you'd better look after him.
I've got to go now." He paused to glance back
at the big man, who was lying on one elbow and
rubbing his head, then he turned and ran
toward the woods.

Once on the way, however, Harvey's sudden
nervous strength deserted him. One of his
opponent'"^, blows had cut his scalp, and he was
surprised to feel blood trickling down his face.
He ran until his breath gave out, then he walked,
struggling to overcome the dizziness that was
coming on him. After going some distance he
found a bridle path, and soon saw the river road
before him. The need of hurry urging him on, he

Harvey

283

left the path to cut across a .neadow. With some
difficulty he drew himself upon the fence, and
paused for breath with one leg thrown over the
top rail. Then he felt a wave of dizziness, and,
his muscles relaxing, he pitched forward into
the long grass.

Good nursing, proper food, and a brief rest
were enough to pull together Porter's yielding
nerves. There was some delay at first in getting
a physician, and Katherine was obliged to wait
for the greater part of an hour before the slowly
driven carriage brought her father home. Con-
siderable time passed before his improvement
justified her in leaving the house, and then it
was so near noon that she decided to wait until
after lunch.

Once on the road behind Ned and Nick, and
beside the erect groom, Katherine realized the
delicacy of the situation. Up to this moment
she had been acting frankly upon impulse. It
was so clear to her mind that McNally had
been instrumental in the kidnapping of Harvey,
and the sudden emotion aroused by the whole
affair had so overwhelmed her, that for the
time her only thought had been to get to Har-

i.*

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111

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284

The Short Line War

I k^-

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vey, to be near him and of some service to him.
But .^.atherine's impulse on this occasion was
not far m advance of her reason, and what had
besfun in a whirl of excitement was continued in
a spirit of quiet persistence. To be sure, there
was a moment of wavering, but even then she
did not think seriously of turning back. Any-
way, there was nothing marked or unusual in
frequent drives to the club during this crisp
golfing weather.

It was after two o'clock when she reached the
club. The links were dotted here and there
with golfers, and the usual autumn quiet hung
about the verandas and halls of the building,
but in the office there was bustle and excitement.
Katherine stood near the wide fireplace in the
lower hall drawing off her gloves and looking
through the office door. A man was telephoning,
a big man with a quiet voice. In a moment he
ra-^g off and turned around. His face interested
Katherine and she watched him as he talked to
the steward ; she could not help hearing the
conversation.

" I've got to have another horse," the big man
was saying. " I'll pay you whatever your time
is worth. I want this whole county stirred up
in half an hour."

Han>ey

285

"But, sir, I cannot leave the club. We are
short of help as it is, and the caddies are busy."

" I've no time to talk. A man has been kid-
napped and very likely injured. You get a rig
— any kind, a farm wagon, if the horses are
good — and have it here in fifteen minutes.
Figure your time at whatever you like and send
the bill cO me."

He handed a card to the steward, who looked
at it with a slight start, and murmuring, " Cer-
tainly, Mr. Weeks," started down the hall.
Katherine stopped him.

"What is it, Perry.?"

" Jim — Mr. Weeks. He wants a horse."

" You may lend him my trap — And, Perry,
say nothing of it." Without waiting for a re-
ply, she went into the reading room, picked up
a magazine, and, throwing open her jacket, sat
on the broad window-seat. A moment la*:er
Ned and Nick were pulled up on the drive, Jim
Weeks climbed in beside the groom, and they
hurried down toward the bridge.

The magazine lay open in Katherine's lap.
She rested an elbow on the window-sill and sat
for a long time looking out across the valley.
Not two weeks before this day she had stood

^i'

'; 'tl

:; I

^fea-"

in,.

286

77/^ 5"//^;'/ Lvie War

on the veranda with Harvey, looking at the
same picture through the haze of twilight.
Then it had seemed like summer; now it was
unmistakably autumn. Then the leaves were
only beginning to yield to the touch of the wan-
ing year ; now they were aflame and dropping
— as she looked a whirl of them danced across
the sloping lawn, the stragglers settling in the
grass already marked by little dabs of red and
russet brown. Farther off, in the valley, were
corn-fields, now squares of yellow and bronze
and gold. It was a glowing picture, but to
Katherine it meant only that summer was dead,
and she viewed it with vague regret.

The afternoon wore on, but Katherine took
no account of it. At a little after four, when
Jim Weeks drove up and entered the building,
she was startled into looking at her watch.
She heard the telephone bell ring, and realized
that he was talking. Then he paced up and
down the hall. She wanted to go out there and
ask him about Harvey, whether he was found,
or whether — she shuddered a little at the
thought of injury — but a feeling of helpless-
ness possessed her. She realized that the time
was slipping rapidly away. Jim Weeks migut

Hartley

287

go, and she would have learned nothing, would
have done nothing. But she had not come al-
together in vain. She recalled with half-defiant
pride that Jim had used her horses.

" You are Miss Porter ? "

Katherine started, and turned with a slow
blush. Weeks stood gravely looking at her.

" I understand that I have to thank you," he
continued. " They were your horses, I believe.
I hope I have not inconvenienced you by keep-
ing you here. But it was an emergency."

"Has Mr. West been found?" Katherine
struggled to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

" No." Weeks sat down. " It seems impos-
sible to get any word. I've roused things
pretty effectively though, I think. There's a
reward up. The sheriffs of both counties are
at work, and the farmers are all stirred up.
There's nothing to do but wait. If he's found,
and by any chance is hurt, they're to bring
him here."

" Wouldn't it be a good plan to have a doctor

here, in case — "

" I don't think it is necessary. Of course
the probability is that he is locked up some-
where and is being held for a day or so. If he

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288

T/ie Short Line War

is knocked out, it was not done intentionally.
They wouldn't dare."

At the word "they" Katherine winced a
little, but Weeks apparently was entirely imper-
sonal. There was a silence, Weeks sitting with
slightly drawn brows but with an otherwise im-
passive face, Katherine looking out the window.
A little later a wagon came slowly up the road-
way. Two men were on the seat and a third
reclined in the box. They were driving care-
fully, and Jim did not hear the sound of the
wheels until a subdued exclamation from Kath-
erine drew his attention. She was sitting erect,
her hands gripping a cushion. Jim followed
her gaze, then without a word he rose and hur-
ried from the room.

A moment later Katherine saw the wagon
pull up at the steps. Weeks running down to
meet it. The man beside the driver dropped
back into the wagon box and raised the reclin-
ing figure ; then he and Jim helped him to the
ground.

In spite of the soiled clothes, the matted hair,
and the bandage across the forehead, Katherine
recognized Harvey. When she saw that he
could walk, even though leaning heavily on the

.*«■•?

Harvey

289

intentionally.

le winced a
itirely imper-
s sitting with
otherwise im-
: the window,
up the rcad-
and a third
driving care-
iound of the
L from Kath-
sitting erect,
Jim followed
ose and hur-

V the wagon
ing down to
iver dropped
d the reclin-
:d him to the

: matted hair,
id, Katherine
saw that he
eavily on the

others, her heart bounded. The three came
slowly up the steps. Then she could hear
Jim's voice in the hall, evidently issuing an
order, and the steward slid one of the hall
settees into the room and piled rugs upon it.

Katherine rose in some doubt as they entered.
She had taken up two of the cushions, one in
each hand, and stood holding them. By now
it was nearing five o'clock. The sun was about
setting, and while outdoors it was still light, the
long low room was already dim with approach-
ing evening, so that not until he was close at
hand could she see Harvey distinctly. Rut
when she did distinguish the pale face and the
weary eyes, her hesitation vanished and she
hastened to lay the cushions on the settee.
Harvey evidently had not observed her, for he
suddenly drew back.

" Really, Miss Porter, I'm not such an invalid
as these people are trying to make out. I don't
need to lie down." He laughed slightly as Jim
drew him forward. " It's just a little stiffness.
See here — " he broke away from his helpers
and walked somewhat uncertainly to the settee,
sitting on the edge. " What's the matter with

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290

The Short Line War

" Lie down, West," said Jim, quietly. Kath-
crine r^anced at \\\w\ quickly. It was a per-
emptory order, but delivered in a quiet friendly
tone whose calm assertiveness admitted of no
deMte. With an impatient gesture Harvey
obeyed. Indeed, as Katherine looked almost
shyly at this big, self-contained man she won-
dered if it would be possible to disobey hirv.
And with the sudden realization of his secure
authority came a wave of pity U.r her own
father, the man who had thrown himself against
this human rock and who was suffering for it.
She turned away an instant for fear that her
face would reveal her eraotion.

"Well," said Jim, looking at his watch, "by
starting now I can catch the early train to Chi-
cago. Be careful, West; there's no hurry
I'll wire you in the morning if there is anything
important. Miss Porter, may I ask you to see
that the steward takes care of Mr. West 1 I'll
send a doctor out. I'm sorry to trouble you —
there's no one else."

Katherine inclined her head. And then she
realized that Harvey and she were alone.

"Won't you d^^^; -op chair.? said Harvey
" I want to talk to you. I'm. glad you're here.

Liictly. Kath-
t was a pcr-
quiet friendly
:linitted of no
sturc Harvey
ookcd almost
nan she won-

disobcy bin.

of his secure

for her own
vimsclf against
iffering for it.

fear that her

lis watch, "by
ly train to Chi-
e's no hurry.
2re is anything
Lsk you to see
[r. West.? I'll
trouble you —

And then she
e alone.

said Harvey,
id you're here.

Harvey

291

It's an awful bore to be aiouc when you're tnis
way."

His attf^mpt at an easy manner gave Kathcr-
ine a sense of relief. She sat beside him.

" I'm sorry ytm are hurt. How did it hap-
pen } "

" I think I fell off a fence. Wonder if I lost
my handkerchief?" He thrust his hand into
his pocket, and drew out a revolver, clasping
it by the barrel. "That's funny. I don't re-
member— oh, yes." He stuffed it back into
his pocket.

" What is it .? Tell me about it.

Harvey looked thoughtfully at her. It oc-
curred to him that to let her know ( t McNally's
actions, which presumably were in ^tigated by
Porter himself, would be bringing matters too
close home.

"No," he replied, "it's rather a disagreeable
story. If you were a good nurse you vould try
to make me forget it. I'm glad you ar 3 here —
very glad. How did you happen to come } "

" I often drive out. It is growing c ark. I
must think about getting back."

"No," said Harvey, quickly, "don't go. I
don t want you to go. I want to ^•='^-

alk to you.

til:

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fiH

292

The Short Line War

r i

;i''

His voice dropped as he spoke, and both sud-
denly became conscious of a change that had
come over them, between them, Katherine sat
still, turning her head toward the window, and
though she could not see him she knew that
Harvey was looking at her. The room was
darker now.

" Have you thought how odd this is," Harvey
went on, ** this conversation .<* We are talking
just as though nothing had happened, just as
though we were the same people who — who
bought things at Field's ; but we aren't. There's
no use in thinking we are." He paused to
raise himself on his elbow. " Do you know it
is just twelve days since we were here } "

Katherine laughed a httle.

" You have counted them. } "

" Yes. Last night when I was coming down
on the special I thought about it — you know
it seems longer, it seems a year ago. You
remember we talked about the M. & T. And
the next day when you drove me to the station
— do you remember.? I've wondered since
then, a good many times, what you meant,
whether you really wanted to see us win."
She started to speak, but he broke in : " If I
dared think so — "

Harvey

293

md both sud-
nge that had
Katherine sat
window, and
tie knew that
le room was

is is," Harvey
e are talking
)ened, just as
e who — who
en't. There's
le paused to
you know it
lere ? "

coming down
: — you know
ir ago. You
. & T. And
:o the station
ndered since
you meant,
see us win."
ke ill : "If I

"You think I am weak."

"No, if you really want to know what I
think — I think you are the strongest girl I
ever knew. Katherine," — he reached impul-
sively for her hand, but she drew it away, — "I
think you are — well, I might as well say it, you
probably know it anyhow. I love you. I —
I don't know that there is anything else to say."

Katherine leaned back and looked at him.
Her back was toward the window, and he could
see only the outline of her head.

" Are you sure .-* " she asked slowly.

"You mean — you think I'm not well, that
I haven't control of myself — I do love you,
Katherine, so much that I can't get along with-
out you. You believe me, don't you } You
must believe me ! "

"Yes," very slowly, " I believe you."

"Then — "

" I don't know what to say. I'm afraid I
— Oh, don't say any more! It isn't right."
She rose suddenly as if to move away, but Har-
vey caught her dress and then her hand.

" Katherine, you aren't going to leave me
this way. Perhaps you don't want me, perhaps
I have been mistaken and foolish, but I love
you, and that ought to count for something."

^ «i

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mm, :,

Kr.Bii'' I'XTf,-

294

T/ie Short Lhie War

f ! V V

^^ ■■■■

" It does — you don't understand — " She
looked out the window for a moment : the first
low-lying stars were out. " Don't you suppose,"
she said at last, in a labored voice, " that I have
feelings ? Don't you suppose that I — I don't
mean that, either. You have been fighting my
father — I have helped you. I have helped you
to injure him, my own father. He is sick now,
and I left him to-day, because — " Harvey's
grasp tightened. " I have been disloyal to him,
I have been dishonest — and that counts for
something, too. No — we have been good
friends, we can still be good friends. Perhaps,
if it had been different — but it wasn't."

" You don't mean this, Katherine."

She drew her hand away and stood erect,
dignified now and calm.

"I am going home. I know that you love
me, and I know that you will not hurt me
any longer ; for it does hurt me, I will tell you
that."

" But I shall see you — " With an effort, he
raised himself to his feet and stood, weak and
giddy, leaning on the back of the chair. "I
won't give you up ! "

" Lie down. You mustn't tire yourself. We

md — " She
lent : the first
you suppose,"
, ** that I have
It I — I don't

1 fighting my
ve helped you

2 is sick now,
— " Harvey's
isloyal to him,
It counts for
i been good
ids. Perhaps,
isn't."

le."

d stood erect,

Harvey

295

don't know what may happen," she steadied
his arm as he sat down on the couch; "we
only know what is right for us now. Good-by.
I will speak to the steward."

With throbbing head Harvey sank back on
the cushions. A few moments later the doctor
came in.

.'I

\\W

that you love

not hurt me

I will tell you

h an effort, he
lod, weak and
he chair. "I

i.i

.[i

yourself. We

CHAPTER XXI

THE TILLMAN CITY STOCK

The Governor was a familiar figure in
Chicago, and his presence in a hotel lobby
ordinarily excited no more than a glance of
curious interest from the loungers about the
news stand. The sensation he caused, when he
entered the office of the Great Northern on
Friday afternoon, was due to the company he
brought with him ; for on one side walked a
pale, nervous, careworn man, who was hardly
recognizable as the dapper, self-contained Will-
iam C. Porter, and on the other, burly as ever,
and, though grave, confident as ever, was Jim
Weeks.

A man who was registering at the desk
watched them as they stepped into an elevator,
and then said to the clerk : —

" Have you got your furniture well insured ?
Because you can bet your Hfe the fur will begin
to fly in a few minutes,"

296

well insured?

The Tillman City Stock

297

But the conference, which any reporter in
Chicago would have given his ears to hear, was
a quiet one. The Governor dominated the sit-
uation, and at the very outset he made this
clear. In his dealings with the Intelligent
Voter he was wont to call a spade by many
high-sounding names, but when he chose he
could call it a spade, and he did choose so to
do this afternoon.

The road, he said, was for the present in the
hands of the State. Every station was guarded
by a detail of State troops whc' had instruc-
tions to pay no attention to any \/rits from any
court whatever. In every case they were to
respect actual possession, and to allow the rou-
tine work of running the road to be carried on
by the men they found in charge. This state
of things would continue until the Governor was
fully convinced that there would be no further
attempt by either party to obtain possession of
the road by force.

The Governor went on to point out that a
continuation of this arrangement was against
the interest of both parties, as it brought the
affairs of the road into unpleasant prominence,
and every added day of it antagonized the peo=

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298

The Short Line War

pie more, and might eventually lead to some
rather drastic legislation which would hurt every
road in the State.

The courts would of course settle the ques-
tion of possession in time, but meanwhile some
sort of an understanding must be reached.
The Governor proposed as a solution of the
difficulty that the two men should jointly sign
a paper he had drawn up.

It was a petition addressed to the Governor
himself, asking him to appoint one or more men
to act as receivers of the road until the suits
should be settled by the regular process of law.
The men to be appointed were to be allies of
neither party in the fight. Both parties agreed
to refrain from any further attempts to use
force in getting possession of the road.

Weeks readily, and Porter after a moment of
hesitation, signed the paper, and the Governor
announced that his appointment would be made
immediately.

It was then arranged that the regular annual
election of directors, which was due on the fol-
lowing Tuesda}^, should be held as usual. After
the legal questions were settled, the Governoi s
conim.ission would turn over the road to the
newly elected board.

\ i

The Tillman City Stock

299

lead to some
lid hurt every

ttle the ques-
anwhile some
be reached,
ution of the
d jointly sign

the Governor
or more men
ntil the suits
'ocess of law.
) be allies of
larties agreed
;mpts to use
! road,
a moment of
the Governor
ould be made

jgular annual
je on the fol-
usual. After
le Governoi s
rnad tn the

When the conference was over, and it had
not been a long one, the tv^o warring railway
magnates, who in the past week had set the
whole State by the ears, rose and politely took
their leave. As they went down in the elevator
together, Weeks remarked, —

" Autumn seems to have taken hold early this
year."

"Yes," answered Porter, "it's extremely dis-
agreeable weather. I have my carriage here.
May I save you a walk } "

"No, thanks," said Jim; "I'm not going
far."

When they parted at the door they did not
shake hands, but there was nothing in their
manner to indicate that they had not just met
for the first time at an afternoon tea.

Jim went straight to his office, told Pease
that he must not be disturbed, and settled him-
self to some hard thinking. That afternoon
had materially changed the situation, and had
for the most part simplified it. There was no
further necessity for guarding against force.
There was no longer anything to be appre-
hended from the legal juggling of Judge Black,
for the Governor's interposition had rendered

' I

The Short Line War

\i\

him quite harmless. When the case was tried
it would be before an unprejudiced court. The
seizure of the road by the militia had come at the
right moment for Jim, for it left his employees
in possession as far down as Sawyerville.

The longer Jim thought, the simpler the prob-
lem became. He must bring about the election
of his board of directors. As matters stood he
could accomplish this only by voting the nine
thousand shares of new stock he had issued the
week before, thus giving Porter a more or less
strong case against him. But if he could com-
mand a majority of the stock without this, there
would be absolutely nothing for the courts to
decide, and Tuesday evening would see him
completely victorious. And so, for the first
time that week, Jim turned the whole force of
his attention to the Tillman City stock.

It was just ten days since he had instructed
Bridge to find out what was at the bottom of
Blaney's defiance, and in that time he had heard
no word from his lieutenant. There were but
three days more.

If it were his habit to act on impulse, as his
wonderful quickness led men to believe, he
would have gone straight to Tillman City, and

The Tillman City Stock

301

ise was tried
court. The
d come at the
is employees
irville.

Dler the prob-
t the election
ters stood he
ing the nine
ad issued the
more or less
e could com-
lut this, there
he courts to
uld see him
for the first
hole force of
ock.

id instructed
le bottom of
tie had heard
ire were but

pulse, as his

believe, he

an City, and

carried on his fight there in person. But on
reflection he concluded that his presence there
would be likely to ruin whatever schemes
Bridge might be working out. " I'll wait a little
longer," he thought.

Bridge was in the hospital. His landlady
had found him in his room about an hour
after the fever overtook him, and visions of a
red quarantine card on her door-post had such
disquieting force that in an incredibly short
time the doctor and the oldest boarder were
carrying the unconscious politician wrapped in
a pair of blankets to the carriage which was to
take him thither.

Tillman City was proud of its hospital, and
the nursing and the medical attention which
Bridge received were as good as they could
have been. But after all it seemed to make
little difference, for the fever raged in him
in spite of all efforts to break it. He lay,
utterly insensible to his s Toundings, the ob-
ject of the curiosity, as well as the kindness,
of those about him ; for scarlet fever in a man,
especially so severe a case, is enough out of
the ordinary to be interesting. Sometimes his

ill!

i I

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I ;
It i

302

The Short Line War

delirium became so violent that men had to
hold him down to the bed, but for the most of
the time he simply rolled and tossed, moaning
softly or chattering unintelligible syllables.

Wednesday evening his fever was slightly
lower and he lay comparatively quiet. Sitting
by the screen which kept the light of the night
lamp from his eyes was Grace Burns. She had
been a nurse only a little while, and to her
Bridge was not a case but a man. She felt a
great pity for the pathetic figure on the bed
and, when she saw that it was good for him to
have her by, she spent more than half the
hours of the twenty-four watching him. She
was a young woman, not yet thirty, and she
had the poise whic'T comes from nerves that
are never out of tune. Some of her nervous
strength she seemed to impart to him, and he
was rarely violent while under her care.

Now as she watched him she saw him throw
back the covers and sit up on the edge of the
bed. Tiie movement v/as so quick that before
she could reach him he was struggling to his feet.

"The contract," he said. " I must take it to
him right away." His voice and his inflection
were perfectly natural.

The Tillman City Stock

303

ncn had to
the most of
ed, moaning
llablcs.
was slightly
liet. Sitting
of the night
IS. She had
and to her

She felt a

on the bed

d for him to

an half the

him. She
•ty, and she
nerves that
her nervous
him, and he
L-are.

vv him throw
edge of the
: that before
ig to his feet,
ast take it to
his inflection

"Yes," she said easily, "I'll attend to that.
There's plenty of time. Now lie down again."

He looked at her in a puzzled, questioning
way, but obeyed, and in a few moments his
moaning told her that the dull fever dreams had
again come upon him

When the doctor came to make his last visit
before the night, he looked grave.

" Has he had any lucid intervals .^ " he asked.

She told him what had happened earlier in
the evening.

" It's hard to tell," he said, "whether that was
dreams or not."

As he started to go, she asked, —

" Did they tell you downstairs that some one
had been here to see him } "

He shook his head.

"He came while I was down in the office,
and they said he had been here two or three
times before. He wanted to see Mr. Bridge,
he said, on a very important business matter."

The doctor smiled. "I'm afraid," he said,
"that business will be indefinitely postponed.
Who was the man } "

"He's one of our aldermen, Michael
bianey.

N-'

304

The Short Line War

Ill

liP

They were startled by a cry from the bed.
Bridge was sitting bolt upright, and terror was
in his face.

" Stop him, Weeks ! " he gasped. " He's try-
ing to choke mc. Pull him off. You said he
shouldn't touch me."

The voice died away in a moan, and he sank
back in the pillows, breathing thickly. The
nurse sHpped quickly to his side, clasped his
wrist in her cool hand, and laid the other on
his forehead, and in a few moments his breath
was coming more regularly and the mad light
was gone out of his eyes.

The doctor looked on admiringly. "You'll
pull him out of this if anybody can," he said.
" It's strange he's got this Weeks business in
his head. He hasn't known anything since Sun-
day night, and there wasn't much about it in
the papers up to that time."

There was a silence while the doctor, after a
long look at his patient, turned and walked to
the door. When he reached it he said : —

•* There's something beside scarlet fever that
keeps up that delirium, I believe ; something on
his mind. I'd watch what he says pretty care-
fully, if I were you. He may give you a clew to

t - 1

The Ttllvian City Stock

305

n the bed.
terror was

•' He's try.
ou said he

id he sank
ckly. The
clasped his
e other on
his breath
; mad light

. " You'll
I," he said,
business in
J since Sun-
about it in

:tor, after a
i walked to
id: —
: fever that
imething on
pretty care-
3U a clew to

what's bothering him. Then perhaps we can
bring him around. Good night."

Grace Burns was not in the habit of reading
the papers, for her activities, her sympathies,
and her thoughts were pretty well absorbed
without them, but on Thursday morning she
read with eager interest the account of the fight
for the M. & T, railroad. She also read an
editorial on Jim Weeks, and then found out all
she could from the newspapers of the two days
previous. When she had finished, she aban-
doned a half-formed project of the night before
to write to Weeks and explain the situation to
him on the chance of his being of assistance.
She saw on what a large scale this man did
things and concluded that it was unlikely that
he had any connection with Bridge's affairs, if,
indeed, he had ever heard of him. He would
be too busy to pay much attention to anything
she might write.

All day long she listened to the sick man's
continuous talk, hoping that some meaning
would transpire through the incoherent sen-
tences, something that would guide her to the
source of his trouble; but her patience had
little reward. He spoke vaguely of a contract

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The Short Line War

:|!

fl ■ '

once or twice, and as many times he mentioned
the name of Jim Weeks, and at those times she
thought of her plan again ; mentally she would
begin framing the note she would write to the
great capitalist. But as often as she did this
she realized that she had nothing to say to him,
and with a sigh she put the thought away to
wait at least until she could find out something
more definite.

The next morning, Friday, she read in the
papers of the dramatic happenings of the day
before and of Jim Weeks's going to Chicago,
presumably for a conference with the Governor.
The bigness of it appalled her a little, and again
the courage she had been storing up over night
to write the note oozed away. For after all it
was a question of courage, courage to do some-
thing which common sense called absurd on the
bare chance that it might do good.

The day was a repetition of the day before,
but late in the afternoon the persistent thought,
" it might do some good," drove her to write to
Jim Weeks. The note read : — ■

" Mr. Bridge [she did not know his initials] is
dangerously sick here in the hospital. He has
been delirious ever since he was brought here,

The Tilbnan City Stock

307

le mentioned
Dse times she
ly she would
write to the
she did this
say to him,
ight away to
ut something

read in the
s of the day
; to Chicago,
:he Governor.
tie, and again
Lip over night
)r after all it
3 to do some-
ibsurd on the

3 day before,
itcnt thought,
er to write to

nis initials] is
tal. He has
)rought here,

and has frequently called for you, sometimes as
if he wanted to tell you something, and at others
as if he desired your protection. I write in the
hope that you will be able either to come or to
suggest some clew to his delusions which may
enable us to remove them."

It was mailed that evening and reached Jim
about noon Saturday. Not half an hour after-
ward she received a telegram which took a load
off her mind : —

Shall reach Tillman at eight this evening and will drive
direct to the hospital. Please arrange it so I can see
him immediately after I arrive there.

She was in the sick room watching, when Jim
was shown in. He walked directly to the bed
and stood looking down at Bridge for a moment,
and then spoke to Grace Burns.

" Has he any chance ? What is it } "

" It's scarlet fever. The doctor doesn't seem
to think there's much hope."

" Poor devil," said Jim under his breath.

The nurse suddenly bent forward over the sick
man, and motioned Jim to silence. Bridge's lips
were moving and he seemed to be struggling to
speak.

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308

The Short Line War

"Yes, he's here," said the nurse in answer to
the half-heard question.

Jim dropped on one knee beside the bed.
" Yes, I'm Jim Weeks," he said. " Do you want
to tell me anything?"

Again it was the nurse's ear that caught the
words, "My coat — in the pocket — the con-
tract."

" I'll get it," she said quickly, and in a moment
she had come back into the room, with the coat
Bridge had worn when they brought him to the
hospital.

Jim took the coat, took a handful of papers
out of the pockets and glanced over them. A
scrawled and crumpled sheet caught his eye, and
straightening it out he read it carefully, holding
it close to the dim night lamp. He stood erect
again, staring intently at the grotesque shadows
on the screen. Grace Burns, who was watching
him, saw that for the moment Bridge was for-
gotten.

But presently his face softened and a smile
came into his eyes. Again he went to the bed-
side and dropped on one knee. He spoke softly,
but there was a restrained ring in his voice.

"You've saved us. Bridge; can you under-

l!:';

in answer to

ie the bed.
Do you want

: caught the
: — the con-
in a moment
vith the coat
t him to the

il of papers
T them. A
: his eye, and
ully, holding
stood erect
^ue shadows
^as watching
ige was for-

and a smile
t to the bed-
spoke softly,
is voice,
you under-

TJie Tillman City Stock

309

stand me "i We're going to win out. You were
in time."

He took the thin hand that lay on the cover-
let and it clasped his convulsively. He looked
curiously at the sick man, and then as the weak
grip was not relaxed he sat down on the side of
the bed and waited. Five minutes crept away,
and another five, and then the slow easy breath-
ing told them that Bridge was asleep.

As the hand let go of his, Weeks rose to go.
The nurse followed him to the door, where she
said simply : —

** Thank you for coming. It saved his life."

"Then it was you who saved it," said Jim.
"And you saved me, too. I won't forget it."

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1 , ^

CHAPTER XXII

THE WINNING OF THE ROAD

The Chicago papers reach Tilhiian City by
nine o'clock every morning, and the inhabitants
wait till then for information from the outside
world. At supper time they read fragmentary
Associated Press despatches and a more or less
accurate chronicle of local happenings in TJie
Watchman. Since the coming of the new
editor, Tillman's one daily had contrived to
worry along without the assistance of a patent
inside, for he was an ambitious young fellow
with a knack for writing snappy editorials, and
he made the most of the meagre news the city
furnished.

He did not hear of Jim's arrival in town and
his drive to the hospital until next morning.
When told of it, he laid down his pipe and
began slipping on his coat.

" I suppose he's in town yet," he said to the
reporter who had brought the news. "If he is,

31:0

)AD

man City by
le inhabitants
1 the outside
fragmentary
L more or less
nings in TJie
of the new
contrived to
s of a patent
yTjung fellow
editorials, and
lews the city

I in town and
ext morning,
his pipe and

le said to the
s. " If he is,

The Winning of the Road

311

I'm going to see him ; then I can make some-
thing out of what he might have said. He's
the kind that makes me mad. He's got as
good a story inside him as any man in the
United States this morning, but it would take a
chemical process to get it out of him."

Jim was in his room at the Hotel Tremain, try-
ing to decide upon the best way to bring Blaney
to terms. The most direct course would be to go
to Blaney and try to convince him of the worth-
lessness of McNally's contract. Blaney was
badly scared already : that was evident enough
in his manner during the interview Jim had had
with him on the artesian road. The two weeks
of suspense, during which time it was clear that
Jim was winning, would not tend to increase
Blaney's confidence. It would not take much
of a bluff to complete his demoralization.

But the difficulty lay in the manner of ap-
proach. To make the bluff most effective,
Blaney should be frightened into seeking Jim.
If he went to Blaney's house, the contractor
would probably suspect that some weakness in
Jim's position made him depend on Blaney's
aid. Jim was not worrying over the problem as
other men worry, for he had been quite sincere

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312

The Short Line War

\- \ t

•i I

J-!

in telling Bridge that they were sure to win.
Years of this kind of lighting had given him a
just estimate of the immense value of time, and
he had forty-eight hours left in which to get con-
trol of the Tillman City stock. Campaigns have
been lost and won again in less time than that.
When the bell-boy brought up the editor's
card Jim stared at it a moment, then told the
boy to show him in. Had the boy looked up
he would have seen that Jim was smiling. His
plan had come to him.

When the editor came into the room he found
Jim lounging in a big chair with his feet on an-
other, bent apparently on spending the morn-
ing in luxurious idleness. Jim did not rise but
greeted him cheerfully, and the editor took the
chair Jim nodded to and accepted the cigar Jim
offered him. This was the beginning of what
the editor afterward spoke of as his trance.

For there sat Jim Weeks, the wary, the close-
mouthed, the reporter's despair, artlessly telling
the whole inside history of the fight for the
M. & T. At first the editor hardly dared
to breathe for fear of bringing Jim to his
senses and the story to a premature conclusion ;
but as the President talked apparently in his

sure to win.

given him a
of time, and
:h to get con-
npaigns have
le than that.

the editor's
hen told the
)y looked up
;miling. His

)om he found
is feet on an-
ig the morn-
not rise but
iitor took the
the cigar Jim
ning of what
is trance,
ary, the close-
rtlessly telHng
fight for the
hardly dared
r Jim to his
re conclusion ;
larentlv in his

The Winning of the Road 313

right mind, the editor became bolder and began
asking questions. In answering, Jim told him
that the fight was practically over. It would
formally be decided on Tuesday at the stock-
holders' meeting ; but as Jim and his allies con-
trolled a majority of the stock, the outcome was
certain.

Then having cleared away the preliminaries
Jim came to the point. " Your finance com-
mittee here in Tillman is going to vote your
stock against us, though," he said. "Porter
has pulled their leg with a fake contract, and
they're just about big enough fools to be caught
by that sort of a game. I've known about it
for some time, and I might have done some-
thmg if we hadn't stood to win anyway. As
it is they can't beat us, no matter how they
vote." ^

There were more questions and more per-
fectly frank answers, and at last the editor
knew practically all there was to know about
the dealings of the wily Mr. Blaney. Jim did
not seem to take the contract very seriously,
but he was evidently perfectly familiar with
'^ts provisions. When the editor rose to go his
,. „ao laiiiy uvvnin.

iif"

I'' I
I'll

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314

77/^ 5//^;'/ Line War

"Mr. Weeks," he asked, "have you given
this story to any one else?"
" No," said Jim.

"We don't come out till to-morrow after-
noon," said the editor. " We haven't a Sunday
edition. Will the story be any good by that time? "
" That's as you think," said Jim. " I shan't
give it to any one else."

The bewildered editor went on his way
rejoiciuG:, and Jim packed his bag and started
for Chicago. He had planted his mine under
Blaney and he could do nothing more with
him until the time for exploding it. Jim
was satisfied with his plan. The story which
T/ie Watchman was to print the next afternoon
was almost sure to scare Blaney into submission.
True, the time was short between the issue
of the paper and the stockholders' meeting,
but this fact was after all rather to Jim's
advantage than otherwise. The only element
of uncertainty in Jim's success lay in the pos-
sible countermove which McNaliy might make
to reassure Blaney. The chances were, Jim
thought, that McNally would not hear of the
story in The Watchman until Tuesday morning.
Jim reached Chicago late Sunuay ai.ternoon.

you given

orrow after-
I't a Sunday
jr that time?"
, "I shan't

on his way

and started

mine under

; more with

ng it. Jim

story which

;xt afternoon

D submission.

en the issue

irs' meeting,

ler to Jim's

only element

y in the pos-

might make

;s were, Jim

; hear of the

day morning.

ay afternoon.

T/ie IVuining of the Road 315

On Monday he and Harvey were back in the
office workin£r m other matters. Not until
Tuesday morning did Jim start for Manchester,
where the stockholders' meeting was to be held
that afternoon.

At eleven o'clock Jim walked into the lobby
of the Illinois House, lighted a cigar at the
nev s stand, nodded familiarly to the clerk, and
passed on into the writing room. The clerk
said to a bell-boy, —

" Go into the bar and tell Mr. Blaney that
Jim Weeks is here."

Blaney had been ^vaiting for that message
for the past hour, for he had told the clerk to
let him know as soon as Jim should arrive,
and he had expected him earlier ; but now he
only swore savagely at the bell-boy, and
ordered another whiskey. It was the last of
a long series of bracers, and it did its work
a little too well.

With soldierly erectness he walked out of the
bar, across the lobby, and into the writing room.
Jmi was writing at a desk and did not look up
as Blaney entered, so the contractor went round
behind him and dropped his hand heavily on
Jim's shoulder.

isi

"Si

' i f^

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316

T/ie Short Line War

*' I want to talk to you," he said fiercely.

Jim looked up as if to see who it was, and
then turned back to his writing.

" Well, talk away," he said.

" I want to see you in p^-vate," said Blaney,
excited to rage by Jim's indifference.

Jim affected to consider for a moment ; then
he rose and led the way to the office, where he
told the clerk that he wanted a room for an
hour or so, and that on no account must he be
disturbed.

The two men climbed to the room in silence.
When they reached it, Jim followed Blaney in,
locked the door behind him, and put the key in
his pocket. The action made Blaney nervous,
and the warmth at the pit of his stomach was
beginning to ue succeeded by something that
felt like a large lump of cold lead.

"Well," said Jim, "we're private enough
now. What have you got to say ? "

Blaney pumped up all the bluster he could.

"All I want to find out is, who wrote that
story in The Watchman^

" That's all, is it .? " said Jim. " I could have
told you that downstairs. I wrote it."

Then Blaney broke loose. He was working

; could have

"^^^ic Winning of the Road 317

himself up to a perfect frenzy of denials, accusa-
tions, threats, and blasphemy. The man was a
pitiable spectacle, and Jim, leaning back against
the locked door, watched him in mingled amuse-
ment and contempt. Ho was surprised that
Blaney should have become so utterly demoral-
ized. He had never considered the contractor
a big man, or even a good fighter, but that he
would go to pieces so easily was unexpected.
He did not know how violent the explosion in
Tillman had been. The town sided with Jim
Weeks, and when the people reahzed how he
was to be sold out, the storm exceeded the
editor's wildest expectations, and Blaney was
brought face to face with political ruin.

Jim 1 .t the almost hysterical rage expend
Itself before he interrupted. Then he said : —

"Shut up, Blaney. You've made a fool of
yourself long enough. And I've fooled with
you long enough. You've been trying ever
since you were alderman to throw me down
You've talked about how much you were goinr
to do, and all the while we've been laughing at
you. Then this McNally came along and set
up you and Williams to a dinner at the Hotel
^xcmam and paid you some money and gave

'iii

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318

'jy^e Short Line War

you this fool contract, to get you to vote the
Tillman City proxies his way."

Jim took a copy of the contract out of his
pocket and read it aloud, while Blaney listened
in stupid amazement. " McNally is a smart
man," Jim went on, folding the contract and
replacing it, "and he sized you up just about
right when he figured he could take you in with
a fake like' this, that isn't worth the paper it is
written on. And when you'd got fooled so you
thought C. & S. C. would pay par for your
stock, what do you do but go around and tell a
man you know is working for me all about it !
And now when I've got you just where I want
you, where you can only wriggle, you come
around and try to scare me. Do you know
what you are .'' You're just a plain damn fool."

Blaney did not seem to hear the last words
of what was probably the longest speech Jim
Weeks had ever made. His attention had been
riveted on something else.

" Bridge," he exclaimed. " Br:dge gave that
away, did he .? "

"Yes," said Jim; "Bridge gave me this con-
tract. There's just about one more fool thing
you can do, Blaney, and that is try to touch

to vote the

t out of his
ney listened

is a smart

ontract and

I just about

you in with

paper it is
)oled so you
ir for your
i and tell a
ill about it!
here I want
, you come
I you know
damn fool."
e last words

speech Jim
on had been

je gave that

ne this con-
e fool thing
:ry to touch

ilic Winning of the Road

319

him. Try it! Why, man, if you do I'll break
you to pieces." The words had a ring in them,
but Jim quieted instantly. " I'm looking out
for Bridge."

There was a long silence. Blaney dropped
limply into a gaudy rocking-chair and with a
dirty handkerchief mopped the sweat out of his
eyes. Jim had not moved from his position
before the door. His lips were grave, but some-
thing in his eyes suggested that he was smiling.
It was Jim who spoke at last.

" I don't believe you've got anything to say
to me, and I haven't much more to say to you.
You've got the Tillman proxies for five thousand
shares and you're going to ^ tc them in a couple
of hours. You can vote . . .^m either way you
like. It doesn't make much difference tn me be-
cause T 1 b) at least four thousand even if you
go agamst me. But if you do, you'll find it hard
work a year from now to get a city job laying
bricks in Tillman. I'll guarantee that. If you
choose to vote 'em my way that story in The
Watchman will fall by it. own weight. I'll
leave you alone so long as ju don't monkey
with Bridge."

" I won't monkey with Bridge," said Blaney,

\20

The Short Line War

'■r

sullenly; "but I'll tell you, you're making a big
mistake to take any stock in him. He's been
lying to you. I never saw that contract before.
He came to me and tried to get me to go up
against you, and when I wouldn't he must have
got up that contract to get even with me. That's
what made me so mad about that story in the
papers."

"I see," said Jim, with unshaken gravity.
"Well, there's no use in talking any more, I
guess. We understand each other." And with
these words Jim unlocked the door and walked
downstairs to dinner.

By four o'clock it was all over ; the road was
won, and Jim, struggling into his overcoat, was
reflecting on how beautifully success succeeds.
For Blaney had not been the only one to change
sides, and the result of the election had been a
sweeping victory, which surprised even Jim. The
stampede had caught Thompson and Wing, and
the only holdings which had been voted against
him were those directly represented by Porter.
Porter had attended the meeting and was sur-
prised to find that his relief at having the fight
well over was almost strong enough to make
up for his chagrin and disappointment at being
defeated.

The Witmhig of the Road

321

naking a big
He's been
tract before,
ne to go up
e must have
me. That's
story in the

:en gravity.

my more, I

And with

and walked

he road was
k^ercoat, was
38 succeeds,
le to change
had been a
n Jim. The
I Wing, and
)ted against
I by Porter,
tid was sur-
ng the fight
^h to make
mt at being

He met Jim at the door, and after a word of
commonplaces he inquired after Harvey.

" He's getting on all right," said Jim. " He
got a crack over the head that's bothering him
a little, but it's nothing serious."

"Weeks," said Porter, abruptly, "I want a
word with you about that affair. That attempt
to kidnap him was dirty business. I don't think
I need say that it was done without my sanc-
tion. The man who was responsible for it is
no longer in my employ. Good day."

"That," mused Jim as he drove to the North-
ern Station, "is what comes of having a daughter
like Miss Katherine Porter."

ill! '.

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it'l ' !

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:1h

fir]

CHAPTER XXIII

THE SURRENDER

Jim looked up from a desk that was piled high
with letters and memoranda.

" West, what do think of that ? " he said, hand-
ing a type-written sheet across to the other desk.

It was an order addressed to Mattison, rein-
stating J. Donohue in the passenger service of
the M. & T.

"He deserves it," replied Harvey, briefly.
"Shall I send it on.?"
"Yes."

Each turned back to his work. Such inter-
ruptions were rare now in Jim's office in the
Washington Building. For any man of wide
and commanding interests to drop his routine
even for a day or so means a busy time catch-
ing up later on ; and in the case of Jim, who
had lost all told the better part of two weeks,
the accumulation was almost disheartening, par-
ticularly to Harvey.

323

The Stirrender

323

IS piled high

e said, hand-
; other desk,
attison, rein-
jr service of

^ey, briefly.

Such inter-
ffice in the
an of wide
his routine
time catch-
f Jim, who
two weeks,
tening, par-

Although he had to come to Chicago early
Friday morning, spending only one night at the
Oakwood Club, it was not until Monday that
Harvey was able to resume work. In the
meantime he had neither seen nor heard from
Katherine. During that long night at the club
he had planned, in a feverish, restless way, to
drive to her home in the morning; but the
morning saw him speeding to Chicago, weak
and nerveless. During Friday and Saturday
he was confined to his room by order of the
physician, but on Sunday, a bright day, he
walked out.

His first letter to Katherine was written Sat-
urday afternoon. It was a simple statement,
a manly plea for what he desired more than
anything else in the world, and as he read it
over he felt that it must have an effect. That
it deeply moved Katherine was shown by the
reply which came on the following Tuesday.
She did not waste words, but there was in
her little note an honest directness that left
Harvey helpless to reply. She made no con-
cealment of her love, though not stating it,
but repeated practically what she had said that
afternoon at the club. Again it was, " We

i %

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v'l.n

11.

p ■

f!^ '

i§:V^l

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324

T/ie Short Line War

must wait-" even indefinitely. Harvey read
the note many times. Tuesday night he sat
down with a wild idea of answering it, but his
inner sense of delicacy restrained him. She
had put the matter in such a light, practically
throwing herself on his generosity, his love
for her, that he realized that to write again
would only make her duty harder. And in
the mtervals when Harvey's passionate im-
patience gave way to calmer reflection, he
knew that he loved her the better for her
strength.

Wednesday and Thursday passed. Harvey's
complete recovery was slow, though he worked
hard at his desk ; even the news of Jim's vic-
tory seemed to have little effect on him. He
was listless, his work contained little of the
old vigor and energy, and there were rings
under his eyes. Jim said nothing, but he had
not been blind to Katherine's tell-tale interest
when Harvey was found. He knew Harvey
even better than the younger man suspected.'
From the nature of his work and experience
Jim had learned to read human nature, -prob-
ably that faculty had much to do with his suc-
cess, -and the fact that in Harvey's make-up

Harvey read
flight he sat
ig it, but his
1 him. She
t, practically
ty, his love
write again
2r. And in
isionate im-
:flection, he
ter for her

. Harvey's
he worked
f Jim's vic-
i him. He
ttle of the
were rings
3ut he had
ale interest
w Harvey,
suspected,
experience
re, — prob-
th his suc-
s make-up

The Surrender

325

were certain of his own rugged characteris-
tics had drawn him to Harvey more than to
any other man of his acquaintance: this in
addition to the one touch of sentiment that
had influenced Jim's whole career, for he could
not forget that Harvey was the son of the
only woman he had ever loved.

Thursday evening Jim sat down to his soli-
tary dinner with a feeling of utter loneliness.
There came back to him, clearer than for a
quarter of a century, all the yearning, the
unrest, the self-abandon of his love for Ethel
Harvey. The years had rounded him, and
built up in him a sturdy character; he stood
before the world a man of solid achievement,
calm, successful, satisfied. His spreading in-
terests, his intricate affairs, the prestige and
credit of his position— these had combined to
concentrate his energies, to hold, day and
night, his thoughts, crowding out alike dreams
and memories. He had given the best of his
life, not for gold, but for power, credit, influ-
ence. The struggle had fascinated him, he
had risen to each new emergency with a thrill
at the thought of grappling with men of mettle,
of calling into play each muscle of the system

fl \i

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326

T/ie Short Lhie War

he had organized. But as he left the table
and walked with unelastic step into the library,
there rose before him the picture of Harvey,
weak and pale but filled nevertheless with the
vigor of youthful blood, stretched on a couch,
while over him, gentle in her womanhood,
Katherine was bending. As the scene came
back he again moved through it, and again,
as he turned to go, he caught a glimpse of
her eyes, and he saw in them the look that
no man can view without a prayer, a look that
melted through the crust of years and left
Jim's heart bare.

It was dark in the library, but he cared not.
He sat before the wide table staring at the
shadows. For the first time in many years he
was far from stocks and from the world. He
tried madly, desperately, then humbly, to fight
down tl ther picture — that of the only other
woman whose eyes had reached his heart ; but
the struggle was too great, and with head
buried on his outstretched arms Jim gave way
to a flood burst of memory that poured out
years in moments.

Some time later he raised his head. Habits
so fixed as Jim's will assert themselves even

t the table
the library,
of Harvey,
3S with the
n a couch,
womanhood,
jcene came
and again,
glimpse of
look that
I look that
s and left

cared not.
ng at the
y years he
i^orld. He
ly, to fight
only other
heart; but
-vith head
gave way
oured out

i. Habits
;Ives even

The Surrender

327

in moments of stress, and now what was almost
an instinct urged him to such action as would
even slightly ease the strain. Harvey was his
hope, Harvey's happiness and Katherine's
was all that appealed to him now, and so with
set teeth he rang for his carriage. Jim Weeks
had faced many problems, he had gone lightly
into many battles, but never before had his
energies been so set upon a single object.

Jim drove direct to Harvey's rooms, and,
finding them dark, walked in, lighted up, drew
down the curtains, and sank wearily into the
easy-chair. He was by this time near his
old self, save for the wrinkles about his eyes,
which seemed deeper. He had not before
been in Harvey's quarters, and he looked about
with almost nervous interest. Later he picked
up the evening paper and tried to read, but
dropped it and took to walking about the room.
On the mantel was the kodak picture of Kath-
erine, and he paused to look at it. It so held
his interest that he did not hear the door open
five minutes later.

Harvey closed the door and threw his over-
coat on a chair.

'• :■ V

i fl, i

j:.

£^r^ r>o v/-l/-\»*

(^>. 1,

M 1-

1' i'

h.. . A

hi <i I

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''■ ^''^^i|

i; '-/}] ''i

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1 ^'

328

77/^ 5/wr/ Line War

said, apparently not surprised at Jim's pres-
ence. " If I had known you were here, I'd have
come back earlier. Been out for a little ex-
ercise."

Jim nodded, and turned back to the photo-
graph.

" This is Porter's daughter, isn't it } " he said
abruptly.

With a brief "Yes," Harvey threw himself
into a chair by the table. After a moment Jim
turned and stood with his back to the mantel,
looking at Harvey, then he crossed over and
sat down.

"West, I've been thinking of you to-night,
and I've come over to have a talk with you.
You are in bad shape. You show it plain
enough. If it were any other time, if we
weren't already so far behind with our work,
I'd send you off somewhere for a vacation.
You need it."

Harvey smiled wearily.

"A fellow can't expect to get over a row
like that in a day or so. I'll be all right in a
week."

"Look here," Jim leaned back and looked
squarely at riarvey, "why don't you own up.^

1^1

The Surrender

329

Jim's pres-

:re, I'd have

a little ex-

the photo-

t ? " he said

rew himself
noment Jim
the mantel,
i over and

)u to-night,
: with you,
'W it plain
me, if we
our work,
a vacation.

3ver a row
right in a

nd looked
X own up?

Why don't you tell me about it ? It's — it's her,
isn't it ? " indicating the photograph.

Harvey returned Jim's gaze with an expres-
sion of some surprise, then he leaned forward
and looked at the carpet, resting his elbows on
his knees.

" Of course," Jim continued, " it isn't exactly
in my line, but I might be able to bring some
common sense to bear on it. When a man's
bothered about a girl, he's likely to need a little
common sense. I understand — of course — if
you'd rather not talk about it — "

There was a long silence. Harvey broke it.

"I don't know but what you're right. I
haven't known just what to do. Things are
pretty much mixed up. You want me to tell
you } "

Jim nodded.

"It isn't that she doesn't care for me. I
think she does. You know she's always
honest. But somehow it strikes her as a
question of duty. She loves her father, and
she feels that she hasn't been loyal to him.
I've written to her, — I've used up all my ar-
guments, — but she puts it in such a way that I
au t oay aiiOiiici vvuiu vviLiiuut aciuaiiy nurtmg

l) '■

330

T/ie Short Line War

M.^

Ill

!:■•

'will

her. To her mind it's just a plain case of right
and wrong, and that settles it. You know ^h^'^,
that kind of a girl."

"Yes," said Jim, '< I suppose she is."
" I've gone over and over it until I'm all at
sea. I don't seem to ha-c a grip on myself. I
can't write to her or go to see her. It would
be sfniply dishonorable after the way she has
talked to me — and written." Harvey rose and
walked to the mantel, resting his elbows on it
and looking at the photograph.

" When was it .? " asked Jim. " That day in
the Oakwood Club.?"

"Yes."

" And you know she loves you ? "

" I didn't say I knew it."

"Well, then, I do."

At this Harvey turned, but Jim's face was
quiet.

" Yes, I know it. You say there is nothing
in the way but her father.?"

"That is all I know about."

" I can ease your mind on that. I had a short
talk with Porter Tuesday, and I think he's
a little ashamed of himself. He told me that

Si,-

* 1

he was against that Ici'dn^nt^'n- --t-- ---•

The Surrender

331

case of right
>u know she's

is."

til I'm all at
>n myself. I
T. It would
way she has
vey rose and
elbows on it

That day in

's face was
is nothing

had a short
think he's
Id me that

that he has broken with McNally. Probably
Miss Porter has had a talk with him by this
time, — I don't see how they could help it, —
and if she has, I guess some of her ideas have
changed a little."

Jim paused, but as Harvey stood facing the
mantel without speaking he went on : —

" There's just one thing for you to do. West.
You go down there and begin all over again.
If she's got any pride, she won't write to you —
Why, man, any girl would expect — You've
got to ! Understand t You've got to ! "

As he spoke Jim rose and stood erect ; then,
as Harvey still was silent, he took to pacing the
floor. Harvey was looking, not at the picture,
but through it into a calm summer night on
the river, when Katherine had given him that
first glimpse of herself, the woman he loved
and was always to love. He saw her beside
him in the trap, watching with bright, eager
eyes the striding bays, and later tugging at his
watch-fob. He saw her in the gray twilight,
bending down over him and saying in that low
thrilling voice: "We don't know what may
happen. We only know what is right for us
now." As he slowly turned around he felt

■

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332

The Short Line War

iri

a mist come over his eyes and he was not
ashamed. Jim stopped and stood looking at
nim. Harvey aslced simply, _

" ^^" you spare me over Sunday ? "

" ^°"'d better go to-morrow."

" But the work ? "

"I don't want to hear about that," — Jim's
vo,ce was gruff, -"you take the morning
tram. Don't come back till you're ready "

Their eyes met in embarrassed silence, then
Harvey sat at the table and wrote a few words.
Will you have your man send that to-
night.' he asked, handing it to Jim "It's
a telegram."

Jim took it, slowly folded it, and put it into
his pocket. He reached for his coat, and
Harvey helped him put it on. Several times
Jim started to speak, but it was not until one
s-love v.as on and his hat in his hand that he
got It out : —

" I'll tell you. West, I _ A man learns some-

hmg from experience, one way or another.

Ive known what such things are- I know

what It means to love a woman, and to try

to live without her." He suddenly gripped

Harvev s hanH hnM,'t,rr ,v i

- " -—"o '■'■ iv/i a momeni with

The Surrender

333

he was not
1 looking at

It," ^ Jim's
le morning

ready."
ilence, then
few words,
i that to-
Fim. "It's

put it into
coat, and

eral times
until one

id that he

irns some-
another.
I know
id to try
' gripped
lent with

a silent, nervous pressure, and Harvey felt the
perspiration on his palm. " I made a mistake,
West, and I've paid for it — I'm paying for it
now. If I hadn't — If I had made it right, he
would have been — you would have — " The
words seemed to choke him, and with a strange
expression he loosened his grip and started
toward the door. Halfway he turned. As he
stood there, ?;.*!' 'art yet humble, a new pathos
crept into -iis feat', res. " West, a man doesn't
get much in this v orld if he waits for things
to straighten lemselves out. Good night."

Before Harvey could recover from a certain
awkwardness, Jim had gone. He could hear
the heavy tread on the stairs. Then came the
slam of a carriage door, and he knew that Jim
was going back to the big, empty house.

The next morning, Friday, Harvey took the
early train for Truesdale. He picked up a
carriage at the station and drove rapidly out
to Porter's home. From the porte-cochere he
hastened to the door, rang the bell, and asked
for her. In the wide hall he stood, coat still
buttoned, hat in hand, looking eagerly up the
stairway. In a moment she appeared (he could
not know that she had been watching for him),

1:1

ei ■'I

111

Kk-

334

T/ie Short Line War

coming slowly down the stairs, not hesitating,
but holding back with a touch of the old dig'
nity. For the moment her beauty, her strong
womanhood, gave Harvey a sense of awe, and
he stood looking up at her, not knowing that
his eyes told the story. And then, as she
stayed on the lower step, a quiet assertiveness
came over him, and he stepped forward.

"Katherine," he said, and extended both
hands.

She still hesitated, looking at him with eyes
that seemed to question, to read his as if search-
ing for something she feared might not be
there; then she took the last step and stood
before him.

"Katherine," he repeated, but stopped again,
for now her eyes were shining on him with a
look that thrilled and exalted him, and with
sudden joy in his heart he drew her to him.

1-^ii

t hesitating,
the old dig-
, her strong
of awe, and
lowing that
len, as she

ssertiveness
ard.

inded both

1 with eyes

Ls if search-

fht not be

and stood

>ped again,
^im with a
and with
3 him.

V ■(«

11,'

1 *'

■ - &

1 1

•mmM

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"Florin"

Series

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The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll. By S. D

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To London for the Jubilee. By ''Kit."

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Canada and Its Capital. By Sir James Edgar,

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The Amateur Cracksman

By E. W. HORNUNG.

( No. 7 o/ Movants Florin Series. )

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yn.

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The Music Lover's Library

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The Orchestra
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With 8 Portraits and Illustrations.

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS :
Part I. How the Orchestra is Constituted.
Part II. How the Orchestra Is Used.
Part III. How the Orchestra is Directed.
Part IV. How the Orchestra Grew.
Part V. How Orchestral nusic Grew.

Mr. Henderson's book is a guide to a perfect understand-
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The Music Lover's Library

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The Pianoforte and its Music

By H. E. Krehblel

Author of ' How to Listen to Music"
''Music and Manners in the Classical Period," etc.

The Opera Past and Present

By W. F. Apthorp

Author of ''Musicians and Music Lovers" etc.

Songs and Song Writers

By Henry T. FInck

Author of "Wagner and His Works"
" Chopin and other Musical Essays," etc.

Choirs and Choral Singing

By Arthur Mee§

Conductor of the lilendelssohn Glee Club.

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