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AAICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART Mo. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 m 2.8 II 2.5 m — 1^ IIM ll === 2.2 Sr iiiiM |- " ' ' — If i^ 2.0 i£ ===== 1.8 1.4 1.6 ^ APPLIED IKV ^ nE Inc S^. 16i3 East Main Street rj£ Rochester, New York Ur09 USA ^S (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone = (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax '■ ' ■■.'f ■;•?>;• X"-'"'* i*t'*%'SK.^^ify itu ■;». ' . :. ^ "• - ■ a- , - -■ ■ B. „ EJgC- /. ' I'flfTtrsnikiWi 1 Mtv ' ■Ky.;.., 1, ( •J I!'' '■ i'' .'' '■ [■■':f:^- L ''* ''■'I '. J ■ .; [\:^ if ''■'H' ', ■.! ■1' ■ i) ■■' ■. .(i ) i 1 /'.'«■•.. . 1: ■:&~..[^'\:\i. 14 m V i' . .'>«-—' I SHOM'LINE AMg IMMiWliSTER M THE SHORT LINE WAR BY MERWIN-WEBSTER fl 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¥ Copyright, 1899, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 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 I 'J "M ,:',.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 vi 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 w 'I \l 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 s 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 /A "W 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. \1 8 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 10 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 ", "^ "' '''' ^"'°- 1: ^"'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 II 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 12 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," I 4 thoug veran black his si looki At had enon gran ning take fore life one aloi nex Jor tio: nit bu in( lO! i ar ra Jim Weeks 13 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'! H 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 15 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." 'M l: ;!,»•? 2s we are i of many ost every Dry v/hich e famous icted and is feared, it is true weapons ; iterest of m 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 16 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 i8 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 20 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 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 W % ^ ^; ;i .■>i-i! 22 The Short Line War did not play. "Mr. Wing had lunch about buttons. '• Would gone out to m 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 tb Mr. McNally goes to Tillman City W 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 IV l: i; I: ^•\ % M T/ie Short Line War 's 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 : 26 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 28 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 If ^'M 30 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. : r 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 31 »' li ^-11 32 The Short Line War i 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 tl Politics and Other Things 33 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' ) 34 The Short Line War k iii iti.' chatted for some time "thic «, • . Has a good joke on ^;. oTo.TZZ^ "^"'.""^ boro axxxuci, latiier and I. Politics and Other Things 35 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^ 36 (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 us up. Politics ami Other Tilings 37 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'!' 38 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 39 >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. M me "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| 40 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 41 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 :■' 42 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 43 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 H I {1 44 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 45 ^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 y 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&.\,; 46 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. ii 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 47 J'l 48 The Short Line War !|s!' 1r 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 49 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." B ,ifi 50 i' 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 51 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 53 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." li Jim Weeks Closes In 53 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 J :|i iJ ■III'; II 54 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. 56 The S/iort Line War 1 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 57 •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 58 The Short Li?te War f n 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. y 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 60 Ttiesday Eveiihig 6i 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 62 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 63 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 64 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 65 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 66 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. ^7 " 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' 68 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 70 The Short Line War m 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 71 " 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" 72 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 I 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 74 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 1^ The Short Line War y\ 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 77 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 . . 78 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 p; 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 r MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART {ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1^ ■ so 12.8 3.2 3.6 1 4.0 \22 1.8 ^ x^PPLIED IIVHGE Inc 1653 East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - Phan.» (716) 288- 5989 - Fax h I 80 The Short Line War M ^i 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 8i 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. If m, u 82 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 ^l 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." If il: 1331 f " r. I I, 84 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 85 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.?" S6 The Short Line War i .. It', 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 87 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. ii 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. 88 Bctzvccft the Lines 89 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. HI 90 TAe Short Line War m 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 91 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 ^1 III 92 The Short Line War V I i^f: i 14 l-^' i , M M: \> J 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^. i Bettveen the Lines 93 ^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. 1 M M i t 'f '• fl ' 1 Vf ■ i li T'l' i i ; ■ r . 1 i ! 1 h i i t Pl I: F.I 'f. p. J, 94 T/ie Short Line War .•I 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 H M Between the Lines 95 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 I 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! 96 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 97 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 H f p f- ' ':l 1 • :l ' ,'j • :| :r -4:. i^ '!■ •J i'i. m ! \i- I 1 ■' fl' !' I i ill J.ih 98 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 99 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 : — tv 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 M rl '}. % 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 lOI t 102 I I t 1 l#ii "»■( i;; 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 i 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 3\ I I I '( 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 1l)( H ■f(i 1 06 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 P 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 H 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 no T/ie Short Line War li * ;W I: 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 is the man. and Mr. 2 answer. i without :ered the id him. the other pc 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 il 31 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 . 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 "4 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 \ •! n. 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 or -J, UCl ed m |lill| The Matter of Possession 17 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 m 1 ' Ii8 The Short Line War Hi 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 P •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. 4 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 m 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: ! . M ■' ' ^i 1 1 ' : 1 III ^ i p. / ■5 , ]\ - 1 '■ 1 i : ! i^H 1 t ' I : 1 1 l-t i -i E '''h m Ml ^.. fj *''''■ T' p ' as w ■ ■ ' 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 n7 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. fi'?, fl p If I 1 i H II 1 h < F' 1 li lu Ml 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- •a -.if , f 1 if I40 The SJiort Line War mmn 1^ ■■ Ik- It '. 1 1 i/i I \f. In ^^:' 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 'f iiiiij 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 m :il If! M I CHAPTER XI A POLITICIAN i\ i |: t> I i if Mi ^ iL^_ 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. 'li ' 1 % mi uki ii ! : 1 . i I i 1 - X i il t if 1.- i liillit 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, i m » I- 146 The Short Line War y\ '= !^' '5' ,".■ ll J, i4 mi\ ■ I 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 H7 . 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 -i k Ml 148 The Short Line War It f ;;;: f f; 11 n.'' * ' H I 'illl'M If III [H.. ill 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 in.. 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 J:l ill m ■ M (I r^ 'I., iUji i' mal 1 i xlfi I i ' i| 8 j ■1 It I Ml \H KB" li'i I ^ I *)' -i( ill 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 ; ii, *?• |y «; IP if ; I il. ll.l: a L 1: pi fi '< '■• r )f: 154 77^M >t'i :ii m I .'I u t M I 158 The Short TAnc War r\M'S irlfifM 6i- 'r m *" I %t\ 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. 'A 'I iJ » ' :i- n iiH Si V 1 60 T/ie Short Line War J9IIJJ. 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 F' " 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," !*' 1 1 , r 1 1 i \ i 'A ■ \ !1, 162 The Short Line War ■? .; - ^v! In ( ■'" ii K!v 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. V^ ! , ! li r, { h 'I 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 m p\ i66 The Short Litf^ War t\ ki; %\ IIP |I3I { > hli 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 11 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 r ■ \: - i68 The Short Line War I V J ; xm i\ Mm 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 Ir m t t :r m ■■i!!i; 170 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 1 1 172 The Short Line M ir m ii . ;^ SI I ■ I 1 < V I I i f-. (" 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 IP Train No, 14 ^71 on other ' & S. C r of pas ily came n to the , and re- ifferencc, )us cibout est stares 10 women 1 no ba":- em, care- e, which 3king for to apply, t as little followed aggled in )ward the ; morning, the spec- McNally led up her ercmptory J '-m 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 ''^i 1' '^^ MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ 1 2.8 1 2.5 ■ 5.0 1 = 1 ^= ■^ Hi m 2.2 tarn lao £r m 2.0 u. li. u Fi^^l^u 1.8 1.4 1.6 J /APPLIED IN/MGE I nc 16S3 East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5989 - !^ax ( ill 11 174 The Short Lme War ( (' ) 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 p. ft i 'i Hi: 1^' III: 176 The Short Line War If :i P .a. 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, I 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- N if . ■ i m if' ! i 178 n f iij 77/^ 5/^^r/ ZzV/t' JK rt-r if " 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 % i fci '\ 'ill I i8o The Short Line War [i !" [t , I i El 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- i 1 '. ' t 1 i '4 ^'' 182 T/ic Short Line Wc ar 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. 1' Train No. 14 183 The sheriff was the first man off the train ; he walln 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. m III |!i l| !i \ r':. It v i-1 CHAPTER XV DEUS EX MACHINA n ; 'i^MM. ! ( I'M 'Utf n I 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 m ri(; ■iff ! V 11 i ^ I t 204 The Short Line War ff ^^' ii 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 ':!' Ill i' »i '\ \ r'ii II ■.t 206 The Short Line War H, if if V- ■ ' \ \ 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 I 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 ;.;fi u :iif 208 The Short Lhie War •li n: 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 '^4 ' if-! %\ ' ■>i 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 I ''V' ■ r: ,,f hi i fl i L T im •n I i>l 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.? " i ' n "A f I, I CHAPTER XVI McNALLY S EXPEDIENT \u f' ; 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 ^ ••il: !■ , _ 'Mi 2l6 The Short Line War 1 ^ 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 ;■ • iri ( ' t .^>ii %\ fi Ui 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 fi McNally's Expedient 219 on bother- ;• to do now larming as illy, whom e comes to xr :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 : — i "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 ;1 i < n > 11 ' I I. 220 The Short Line War W 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, I 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 i •: 'Mhl ii t<\ • r ■ is' 222 The Short Line War A- P. 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|: rt 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 liiii : U' I ''>i 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. m Ml '■.IJ i^< ;itl iiU m ■:i!m " 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 Ml ' i 'M 4};|lj ■■ ufS 1'. ■; 238 T/ie Short Line War M 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 , 'f 1 Wf^ \t i it ' ^ i r P- ii fi: ! tSl, fi ii'if M -} »• A 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- R II I m rfj ^i^ in H » 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 J' w mm: CHAPTER XVIII THE COMING OF DAWN i If 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 W 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. «^.»li.Mj ii L> Wli M* • 246 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. i 'ii i "V*'t yfi f: W 248 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," -*■'( \ m !■ i :ll! sn Mill 1' '.'% '1 •1' 3 5 i J J A ii f f- 250 The Short Line War \i 1 I: «J I 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- thi'cV." hiinScii 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 ' H m Ri r ir^s 1 fc 1^. r- M • 252 T/ir Short Line War Ml 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. I'M £ i ! ■ > '; / I. ! iimiii IJ ^ ^^w 1 ; i U 'f i ' 1 ■t : * 254 T/te Short Line War m w { P' I' f' ' '.'■; ( t > " 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''' v\^- 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 \\\K I I . i'N™ ■I fl V* h . M>. Si 256 T/ie Short Line War m% 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 "S 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 it \\ :i ■•fii '^^ .^ If! ill I Is r 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 : M s r-i t J\ ,^ J m f ' pi Hi iir i«' JF !• 4k ,.: 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. m H \m hull .^. — f* Mf 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 ! : M i i! ! ! ! it 264 The Short Line W'^r ^m vM r 11^^; ! 1 J: 1 \ t 1 1 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 I 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 m MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) I.I m 1^ 12.8 3.2 m 14.0 II— 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.6 ^ APPLIED IM^GE Inc 1653 East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax 266 The Short Line War M 1 frf ; I; i j j ! il'i \\ 'i ii' 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 t\ 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.?" \'-M^ ! ■/r h •' 1' ' »«.«S!!^sB«Bs:'ssaBaa»»««««i5>>a 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. J' if Hi my^\ The Short Line War WM ' 1 5 Ir H " 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. I iiW I . \ m I* 1 ) -rr Jill it i • 1 ! s u f ' - * i J _ L i\ 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." I 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.'' fi) ,J1 1 ii 1 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 ar 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 fT 276 The Short Line War H 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. II '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 ff HMMBI : 1/ "I ri V -'■ ¥ El. • I 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 I 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." r f|: 1 r i ' i ! i i ! A (I I •',1 _ , I" I P"« i ■■■ H iiif I - : fit I ■■i M I^^I^E' '^1 ■| !■ ^^^^^HK '^^P 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 If 1 ' ' 1 ■ * i' i 1 1 \ u ' 1 ■ 1 } i' i ' 1 ^ \ * » 11 'S c 'i . 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.* sr tr H f< 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 :; I ^fea-" 1 !* HI li fi m 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 IL 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 f 1 i ■ f jt '^l ■ i' : ; ■ 1 ; 1 ■ ' '■ i ^mH M ! ^^^^EB " '■ 1 ^^^^1 . t , ■ j' 1 ^1 it . \ I^^H 1 i : ■; < 1 mi ^^1 m f ^^H 'I i h 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 A .*«■•? 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 A 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 \ ■ ' t .J 4.1. _ i 1 » > LiiUL : :/il I * 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. ii 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. i til: f^rl fiH 292 The Short Line War II 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 '1 . % w% mm, :, Kr.Bii'' I'XTf,- 294 T/ie Short Lhie War f ! V V ii ^^ ■■■■ " 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 \A 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 I N' 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= i i i\ i 1%; jl ■fii in v\\ ifi 1*- 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 W \ : as f 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. 11 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 \ *i\ ^.% 3o6 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. I ji < III 308 The Short Line War I: "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." I \ ■ il i'fl 1 ; i^^i ! '■ m ^H '■' \ ^H 1 j I 1 , ^ 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 •it mi 312 The Short Line War \- \ t •i I J-! i i 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 ■ :; Ml^ ?! I! ! T t ' -1 H - 1 f ki, 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. II isi "Si ' i f^ '*!iiif^ 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 ii ; 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 '{< I'Ji^iB I: W mm m ■4I 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, i \20 The Short Line War h\ V '■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." (I ill! '. \i I i it'l ' ! ■ ^ ; i: ':' ^i :1h fir] 1 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 % ■I ii In ?f v'l.n 11. p ■ f!^ ' M i§:V^l ; 1 ■■ ! ^i i / 1 324 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 \'H Hl^ nij f i" '2 j V ' I / ; •■ : ■ .1 > 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 m j:. <( B £^r^ r>o v/-l/-\»* (^>. 1, M 1- I' 1' i' h.. . A hi 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 ■ * \ 332 The Short Line War iri m 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 M 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 i 111 h Kk- I; 1 334 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 *' I ■ - & t 1 1 •mmM 1 i 1 1 Morang's "Florin" Series This series of popular first-class novels is issued monthly on the 15th of each month, at the moderate price of 50 cents per volume in paper and $1.00 in cloth ; yearly subscrip- tion, $5.00, payable in advance, and begin- ning from any time. The object of **The Florin Series" is to provide a regular issue of bright and entertaining reading by the best authors. The volumes already issued are : — No. I. Bob, Son of Battle. By Alfred Ollivant. No. 3. The Nameless Castle. By Maurus Jokai. No. 3. The Town Traveller. By George Gissing. No. 4. 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