Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 September 1906 — The Manage Of the B. &. A. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Manage Of the B. &. A.

By VAUGHAN KESTER

SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. I—Dan Oakley. Manager of the Bockhorn and Antioch railroad i known aa the ' Huckleberry''), receives two letter*, one telling him that bis convict father, Roger Oakley, has been pardoned, and the other that General Cornish, the owuer of the B. & A„ is about to Visit Antioch. ll—Oakley visit- Or. Emory and meets Constance Emory. Other visitor* are Griff Ryder, owner of the Antioch Herald, and Turner Joice. the local artist. Ill—Oakley tells General Cornish that In order to keep the car shops running a cut in wage* is necessary. IV--Oakley tells Holt, nis assistant treasurer, of the proposed cuts. V—Roger Oakley appear* in Antioch. He is a worthy old man. who ki ltd an enemy in self defence and was unjustly convicted of murder. CHAPTER VI. ROGER OAKLEY went to wofk in the car shops the day following his Srrival in Antioch. I lit n sought to dissuade him, but he was stubbornness itself, and the latter realized that the only thing to do was to let him alone uud not seek to control him. After all, if he would be happier at work, it was no one's offulr but his own. It never occurred to the old convict that pride might have to do with the stand Duu took in the matter. He was wonderfully gentle and affectionate, with a quaint, unworldly simplicity that was rather pathetic. His one anxiety was to please Dan, but In spite of this anxiety once a conviction took possession of him he clung to it with unshaken tenacity in the face of every argument his sou could bring to bear. Under the Inspiration of his newly acquired freedom he developed in unexpected ways. As soon as he felt that bis place In the shops was secure and that he was not to be interfered with he Joined the church. Its services occupied most of his spare time. Every Thursday night found him at prayer meeting. Twice each Sunday he went to church, and by missing bis dinner he managed to take part In the Sunday school exercises. A social threw him Into a flutter of pleased expectancy. Not, content with what his church offered, irrespective of creed, he joined every society In the place of a religious or temperance nature and was a zealous and active worker among such of the heathen as flourished In Antioch. There was a stern Old Testament flavor to his faith. He would have dragged the erring from their peril by main strength aud have regulated their morals by legal enactments. Those of the meu with whom he came in contact Id the shops treated him with the utmost respect partly on his own account and partly because of Dan. Half of all he earned he gave to the church. The remainder of hffi slender Income be divided again Into two equal parts. One of these he used for his personal needs, the other disappeared mysteriously, ne was" putting It by for Dannie. It was a disappointment to him that his son took ouly the most casual Interest In religious matters. He comforted himself, however, with the remembrance that at Ins age bis own Interest had been merely traditional. It was only after his great trouble that the awakening came. He was quite certain Dannie would experience this awakening, too. someday. It was a hot, breathless morning in May. The machinery In the shops droned on and on, with the lazy, softened hum of revolving wheels or the swish ot' swiftly passlug lielts. A freight was cutting out cnrs in the yards. It was rather noisy and bumped discordantly in and out of the sidings. Dan Oakley was the sole tenant of the office, but presently McClintock wandered In from the hot out of doors to talk over certain repairs he wished undertaken in the shops. He was a typical American mechanic, and Oakley liked him, ns he always liked the man who knew his business and earned his pay. They discussed the repairs, and then Oakley asked, “How’s my father getting along, Milt?” “Oh, all right! lie’s a little slow, that's all.” “What’s he on now?" “Those blue line cars that came in last month." “There Isn't much in that batch. 1 had to figure close to get the work. Keep the men mov lug." “They are about done. I’ll put the paiuters on the job tomorrow.” "That’s good.” McClintock went over to the water cooler in the corner and filled & stemless tumbler with Ice water. “Well be ready to send them up to Buckhorn the last of next 'week. Is there anything else in sight?” He gulped down the water at a single swallow. “No, not at present, but there are one or two pretty fair orders coming In next month that I was lucky enough to pick up in Chicago. Isn’t there any work of our own we can go at while things are slack?” “Lots of it,” wiping his hands on the legs of his greasy overalls. “All our day coaches need paint and some want new upholstery.” “We’d better go at that, then.” “All right. I’ll take a look at the cars In the yards and see what I can put out in place of those we call In. There’s no use talking, Mr. Oakley, you’Te done big thlngy for the shops," he added.

“Well, i am getting some work for them, and while there isn’t much profit in it, perhaps, it’s a great deal better than being idle.” “Just a whole lot,” agreed McClintock. /;. “I think I can pick up contracts enough to keep us busy through the summer. I understand you’ve always bad to shut down.” “Yes, or half time,” disgustedly. “I guess we can worry through without that; at any rate, I want to,” observed Oakley. “I’ll go see how I can manage about our own repairs," said McClintock. He went out, and from the window Oakley saw him with a bunch of keys in his hand going in the direction of a line of battered day coaches on one of the sidings. The door opened again almost immediately to admit Griff Ryder. Tills was almost the last person In Antioch from whom Dan was expecting a call. The editor’s cordiality as he greeted him made him instantly suspect that some favor was wanted. Most people who cume to the office wanted favors. Usually it was either a pass or a concession on freight As a rule, Kerr met all such applicants. His manner fitted him for Just Bucb interviews, and lie had no gift for popularity, which suffered in consequence. Ryder pushed a chair over beside Oakley’s aud seated himself. Biy sliding well down on his spine be managed to reach the low sill of the window with his feet. He seemed to admire the effect, for he studied them In silence for a moment “There’s a little matter I want to speak to you about, Oakley. I’ve been intending to run in for the past week, but I have been so busy I couldn’t.” Oakley nodded for him to go on. “In the first place, I’d like to feel that you were for Kenyon. You can be of a great deal of rise to us this election. It’s going to be close, and Kenyon’s a pretty decent sort of a chap to have come out of these parts. You ought to take an Interest in seeing him re-elected.” Oakley surmised that this was the merest flattery Intruded to tickle his vanity. He answered promptly that he didn’t feel the slightest Interest in politics one way or the other. “Well, but one good fellow ought to wish to see another good fellow get what he’s after, and you can help us if you’ve a mind to. But this isn’t what I’ve come for. It’s about Hoadley.” "What about Hoadley?” quickly. “He’s got the idea that his days with the Huckleberry are about numbered.” ”1 haven’t said so.” “I know you haven’t.” “Tbeu what is be kicking about? When he’s to go he’ll hear of It from me.” “But, just the same, It’s In the air that there’s to be a shakeup and that a number of meu, and Hoadley among them, are going to lie laid off. Now, he’s another good fellow, and he’s a friend of mine, and I told him I’d come ln and fix It up with you.” “I don’t think yon can fix it up with me, Mr. Ryder. Just the same, I’d like to know how this got out" “Then there Is to be a shakeup?” Oakley bit his lips. “You seem to take It for granted there is to be.” “I guess there’s something back of the rumor.” “I may as well tell you why Hoadley’s got to go." “Oh, he’s to go then? I thought my information was correct.”

“In the first place he’s not needed, and In the second place he’s a lazy loafer. The road must earn Its keep. General Cornish Is sick of putting bis haud in bis pocket every six months to keep It out of bankruptcy. You are enough of a business man to know be won’t stand that sort of thing forever. Of course I am sorry for Hoadley If be

needs the money, but some ohS’fTfStTo suffer, and be happens to be the one. I’ll take on his work myself. I can do It, and that’s a salary saved. I haven’t any persona) feeling in the matter. The fact that I don’t like him, as it happeqs, has nothing to do with it. If he were my own brother he’d have to get out.” “I can’t see that one map more or less is going to make such a difference, Oakley," Ryder urged, with what he Intended should be an air of frank good fellowship. ‘ “Can’t you?” with chilly dignity. Oakley was slow to anger, but he had always fought stubbornly for what he felt was due him, and be wished the editor to understand that the management of the B. and A. was distinctly not his province. Rydef’s eyes were half closed, and only a narrow silt of color showed between the Hals. “I am very much afraid we won’t hit it off. I begin to see we aren’t going to get on. I want you to keep Hoadley as a personal favor, to me. Jnst wait until 1 finish. If you are going in for reform I may have it in my power to be of some service to you. You will need some backing here, and even a country newspaper can manufacture public sentiment. Now if we aren’t to be friends you will find me on the other side and working just as hard against you as I am willing to work for you If you let Hoadley stay.” Oakley jumped up. “I don’t allow anybody to talk like that to me, 1 am ; i~la. tor Cornish.' They are h:s interests, not mine, and you can start in and manufacture all the public sentiment you please." Then he cooled down a bit and felt ashamed of himself for the outburst. “I am not going to bo unfair to any one if I c:ui help it. IJut if the road’s earnings don’t meet the operating expenses the general will sell it to the M. and W. Do you understand what that means? It will knock Antioch higher than »a kite, for the shops will be closed. I guess when all hands get that through their heads they will take it easier." “That’s just the point I made. Who is going to enlighten them if it Isn’t me? I don’t suppose you will care to go around telling everybody what a fine fellow you are and how thankful they should be that you have stopped their wages. We can work double, Oakley. I want Hoadley kept because he’s promised me his influence for Kenyon if I’d exert myself in his behalf. He’s of Importance up at the Junction. Of course we know he’s a drunken lieast, but that’s got nothing to do with It.” “I am sorry, but he’s got to go,” said Oakley doggedly. “A one horse railroad can’t carry dead timber.” “Very well.” And Ryder pulled in his legs and rose slowly from his chair. “If you can’t and won’t see it aa I do it’s your lookout" Oakley laughed shortly. "I guess I’ll be able to meet the situation, Mr. Ryder." He scouted the idea that Ryder with his little country newspaper could either help or harm him. [TO BE CONTINUED)

“In the second place he’s a lazy loafer