Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 18, Number 15, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 1 October 1887 — Page 9

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THE _MAIE.

A PAPER FOR THE PEOPLE.

NOTES FROM NATURE.

love tkew gentle tenants of the wood, The :im Id bare, the filibustering Jay, Who. flfttinjr here and there throughout the d09%

Fill with discordant notes the solitude. The chattering squirrel, with plumes of red and gray

The woodpecker, beating off his reveille The partridge, whirring rapidly away To denser coverts where oo eye can see.

And often, when beneath the silver moon. Placid and still the basking rirer lies, The far off wail of Bonao belated loon

Floats faintly up to purple evening skies, While swaying pines, with soft JEolian tune. Forever Join in nature's symphony. —Paul H. Lear.

[A. C. Gordon in Scribner's Magazene.1

Flandroe's Mogul.

i.

The November sunshine came in through the grimly panes, where a belated fly was buzzing drearily. The jury worn out with their three days' service in the case, were half-dozen in the box. The deputy sheriff, a little man with a big mustache and a fierce manner, walked down from his seat on the platform near the clerk's desk, and opened the •door of the iron stove. Then ne stirred the embers with a stout hickory, pole, and pitched In the butt-cut of an oak log the sparks flew in showers the stove •door was shut with a bang the deputy climbed into that elevated neat of torture, the witness stand, which was reached bv a narrow flight of steps, and surveyed the court room. The only noise audible was the loud hum of the replenished fire and the monotonous voice of the portly lawyer for the railroad company, as he read from tfie slips of paper which he held in bis bands.

The dust was thick upon the three portraits of eminent functionaries of the local bar, long since departed this life, that hung from precarious nails above the Judge head. The furniture of the room was primitive and worn, and the •clerk's desk and sheriff's box alike were scarred with the carvings of idle jackknives.

The

atmosphere was close and

unpleaftant, mid yet there was a crowd congregated there, for the case was one that had excited peculiar intorest in the littlo country town.

The deputy shoriff, whoso mind was never perfectly at rest except When his body was actively engaged, moved down from the witness chair at an inopportune moment, and seeing Mr. Bradford, the railroad lawyer, pause and look at him over his spectacles, called out as if in eelf-dofence: a ".Silence in co'te!"

Dainford, who, in spite of his stalwart foi and ample girth, was nervous and easily thrown off his balance, glared fiercely at the little deputy, looked at the judge with an expression of despair, took off his spectacles and laid them upon the written memoranda he had placod before him on the bar, and pullod iut a hug© whito handkerchief, like a Hag of truce, as though to say: "Well, what's tho use? I give it up!

Tho judge, however, had no sympathy with nervousnosB, and these dramatic performances on the partof counsel only served to anger him. Ho Bald, impatlontly, "Oh! go on."

A ml Mr. Darn ford, dropping his handkorchlef, picked up his spectacles and his notes, and procoodod.

Tho deputy In the meanwhile, considerably abashed, crept back to his seat near the desk of his friend the clerk, and querlod of that worthy over the Intervening railing, "Ain't old Bamforda durnod fool?"

The clerk, to whom the prolonged examinution of witnesses had brought an agreeable respite from work, acquiesced •with a nod of his head, and went on rolling and unrolling a sheet of legal-cap paper, through which, in Its telescopic shape, he looked now and thou at Mr, i.i it mmnAtfa nf lialnford"with the malicious purpose of ,g his attention and exciting his ire. But he was out of the focus

attract! nervous «.o.

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of the lawyer's spectacles and Mr. Damford oontlnuod to read his instructions prosllv and deliberately. Mr. Hyke, the council for the plaintiff, had already takon occasion to express his fine scorn of the idea of "instructing" such a jury as the one ho saw before him. He was "perfectly willing to commit the case as it stood, without a word from the court, and even without argument, to the untrammelled judgment of so Intelligent a body of men whoso superiors, in fact, in his four years' practice he had never vet soen in that box."

His wily adversary, recognizing Hvke's transparent trick, had exposed it with much ridicule to the jury—one of whom had beon observed to smile broadly. ,, "Uoiitlenieri," Mr. Batnford had said. •4vou have all heard the story of the boy in tho big road, with his wagon load of hav upset, and making a great outcry for help. He didn't care a cent about the hav, gentlemen—oh, no! But the reason "he hollered wan, his dad was under It. Mr. Hyke don't care about instructions, gentlemen of the jury—but he's hollering all the same. Gentlemen •of the jury"—leaning forward confidentially, and speaking in a stage-whisper, •"Hvke's dad is under the hay.

Mr. Ilvke, who was taking notes In a tablet on his knee, regarded his adversary with a twinkle in hia eye and a mod-humored smile on his Hps. There was one thing about Hyke which always iravo him a great advantage in a fight before a jury, and that was,lie never got mad. This equanimity and easy composure were wofully lacking in the tall and rotund and pompous Ratnford, who regarded Hvke at times with a deckled disapprobation.

The judge yawned wearily as Mr. Bamford proceeded with his reading, and gai«Kt now and then through the urimy window-panes into the street beyond. There was nothing to interest lilm in that quarter, however, for the two oonvaa-oovered wagons that wont by, laden with back-counu-y produce, were no unusual sight, and the people -on the plank sidewalk# drifted rapidly past In the whirlwind of dust that a stiff November breese was raising and shaking over everything.

me see your instructions, Mr.

Bamford," he *aid at length. Then, turning to the jury: "Gentlemen of the jury, you are adjourned until ten o'clock to-morrow morn ug. Be prompt in your attendance at that nour. In tho meantime, do not apeak to anyone, and do not allow anyone to speak to you, about this case."

He glanced over the written slips which the deputy sheriff had handed him, returned them to the older lawyer, tamed back in his chair with another yawn, and gated once more weariir out the window. The Jury filed through the room, and when they were gone, he said: "Prvceed, gentlemen."

Taking up the knoUy legal points sug-

gested by the memoranda of the defendant's council, the two lawyers In turn besieged the bench with quibble and

S•ulrk,

until the audience of whites

testimony and speculate on the result. ••It's a-gwine ter be a hung jury," said a man with a late straw hat and a big nose. "Jim Rogerson ain't a-gwine ter give no verdic' 'gin' a railroad copporation. I've heerd him allow as copperations nuwer gits jestis Tom farmers on a jury, nohow. He'll stay up thar in that jury room fur a week, afofhe'llgive in. Thar ain't no bull-headeder man in the county than Jim Rogerson." "I dunno 'bout Jim Rogerson, but ef I war on that jury I'd give that man every cent he claims, an' mo' too," said a young man, who was braving the November gusts in a linen jacket and corduroy pantaloons, "an' I ain't no farmer, nuther. I don't blame the farmers fur bein' agin' the railroads, thet's al'ays a-killin' of thar stohek, an' nuwer pays •ceptin' at the p'int o' the law—an' al'ays wants the bigges' price fur haulin' of thar wheat an' truck ter market, beca'se they got the monopoly. I'm with the people agin' the copperations."

The speaker was president of the local debating society, and had political aspirations. "I cudden give no verdict agin' the comp'ny on that feller Horgan's evidence," chimed in a third "he conterdicted Flandroe flat-footed an the witness stan'."

And so the battle was waged outside the court room, while wiihiin Bamford read, for the tenth time: "If the jury believe from the evidence ," until even the negroes, who thronged the galleries through love of forensic contestfend with a keen appreciation of the grateful warmth of the place, could stand the tedium of the legal argument no longer and ebbed outward, too, to bang about the steps, or listen open-mouthed to the debaters in the yara. "Dat ar man gwi' talk dat jedge ter death in dar, sho!" said one of them, as they emerged into the outer air. "I ain't nuwer heerd nothin', 'scusin' of a thrashin' machine, as cud keep up wid dat Mr. Bamford."

Still, here and there in the galleries a man and brother lingered, overtaken by a not unwelcome somnolence, and sleeping bolt upright on the hard bench, with nodding and wavering head. Occasionally a gentle snore, that grew gradually kito a series of startling snorts, came down to the seat of justice, incongruously breaking in upon some microscopical distinction which the lawyers were drawing between the meanings of words. The doputy sheriff, who was munching an apple,tagain stalked down from his elevation'at the sound heard from the sleeper, twirled his big mustache, looked up fiercely into the gallery, tapped vigorously with the haft of his knife upon the iron stove, and in a sharp treble gave utterance to the seemingly irrelevant command: "Walk light, upsta'rs, thar!"

The drowsy snorer opened his eyes with a start, blinked solemnly down at the deputy, and in a few moments was nodding again.

II. »t i, I

The clerk had begun to enter a decree* In his chancery order book. The dozen or more spectators who yet lingered in the warm atmosphere of the room were either asleep or drowsily indifferent to what was passing. Beyond the judge, and the two lawyers, Bamford and Hvke, behind the bar, backed up by a sprlnk. liqg of idle young barristers who chewed tobacco languidly and gave indifferent attention to the discussion, there was only one man who Seemed to be interested in the present phase of the case. He sat near Mr. Hyke chair, and at lnvals looked at that gentleman with an expression that betokened anxiety to ascertain what impression Bamford's spoech was making on him.

With a brain unaccustomed to active execution outside of a fixed routine, this man had been striving to follow the legal subtleties of the learned counsel for the defendent company, that ran like tangled threads through his ingenious argument, and taxed the trained mind of the judge himself. He very soon felt that the offort was more than futile, and so he gave it up, contenting himself with eyeing In turn the court, Mr. Bamford, and Mr. Hyke. Ho was a striking figure, standing, when erect, some six feet in his stockings and his build was massive and vigorous. From under the weatherbeaten forehead keen, though kindly, black eyes looked out beneath shaggy brows, and the lines about the mouth, half-hidden in a fringe of thin Iron-gray mustache and heavier beard, indicated rosolute firmness and decision.

He was a lieutenant of cavalry in the the ranks a his day danger In many forms. That scar on the side of his Dronzed cheek was made there by a Federal sabre years ago, but the lost right arm where the empty sleeve hung aid not lie on any battle field. He was James Flandroe. plaintiff in the pending cause that stood on the docket In the style of "Flandroe vs. The Southern Railroad Company."

He was a lieutenant or cavalr reat rebellion, promoted from tl or gallantry in battle, and in had raced danger in many form

As he sat there his mind wandered from the scene before him to a cabin in the pine flats of a country two hundred miles to the south, where his wife and children were waiting for news of the verdict, and wondering if the railroad company could ever be made to pay even a pittance for the loss of that strong arm, without which the future offered them but a barren prospect. "Mr. Rife 'lows ve'd better see ef ye can't settle It outside'n the law. daddy," his oldest son had said to him before he brought his suit: "he lows that mebbe the comp'ny'll give yea place whar ye kin use yer arm that's soun'. an what ye won't be in no danger no mo. Ef they'd make a job fur George Horgan 'long o' his hurt foot, Mr. Rife says he reclrns they mought do sump'n 'nuther fur you. He says as he's heern tell as it don't pay Air ter fight railroads in law an' be 'lowed at the poetofflce, Saturday, ter Jim Dolllns, that even ef ye didn' git casted in the suit, vqr lieyen 'ud chowale ye out'n what the law gin ye. He says ye better see ef ye can't fix it np, outside'n the law, 'thout feein' of a lieyer."

Wherefore Flandroe went up to the Cross Roads Store, where Jamison dispensed the scanty mail matter of the neighborhood over the same counter on which he sold his groceries and dry goods. It was the scene of Squire Rtfers warrant-trials on every alternate Saturday—and that worthy's office on other days for the writing of deeds and wills, the judicial determination of whose meaning and legal effect made many a case for the lawyers at the court house. But in spite of the fact that Squire Rife was the involuntary author of so much litigation in the county-side, his reputation as "a judge o' the law'* was wide-

scrap often had su ^uent reason to regret it. He heard Flandroe through, and then* ave deliberation, delivered its opinion in the premises,

from

Iry goods box where be sat whittling bit of white pine:

"I wudden give it to no Beyer, Jim. The lieyem'll chowxle ye. YeM bettas

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ill

go down tor the headquarters, an' see ef yer can't get 'em ter compermise it. I've seed a heap o' the workm's o' these yer

they al'rys fights it up ter the last nis A po' man don't stan' no mo' chance a-lawin' of a railroad comp'ny than a bumble-bee stan's in a tar-bucket."

The assembled crowd, waiting for the distribution of the mall, greeted the simile with applause, and nodded and smiled at each other in approval of the squire's sage advice. And so Flandroe made a journey to the office of the general superintendent in the city of W which is the company's southern terminus. But the corporation that he had served for thirty-six consecutive years, barring the four when he rode with Jeb Stuart, had turned a deaf ear to him. His skill and experience as an engineer were Worthless to it without the right arm which enforced them and there were plenty of younger men with whole limbs who were ready and eager to take the vacant place. The corporation had no position to offer him, unless he was willing to take the post of watchman in the yard at Tyron and the salary connected with it was very small. "This is a matter of business with us," the superintendent had told him "railroads can indulge in no foolish sentimentality, you know.i Of course, we are sorry for you, but past services don't make new dividends, and that's what we are working for. The man we employ must give a full equivalent for his wages and his worth to us is measured solely in dollars and cents. An engineer with his right arm gone isn't of much account as an engineer, Mr. Flandroe. The only thing that he can do is to take some such position as the one the company is willing to give you, on a release by you of all claim for damages."

Tne cool alternative of a summary dismissal, without compensation for his great loss, or else a job at starvation wages, staggered Flandroe for a moment. He had not looked for such treatment at the hands of his employers. It was no matter of sentiment with him, either but one of simple justice. He had served this company a lifetime, and now that it had maimed him and destroyed his usefulness, it proposed to turn him off to die like a dog in a ditch. His eyes blazed and he shook his left hand fiercely at the superintendent, who leaned back in his cushioned chair and smiled at the indignant old man's threat "ter put the law onter 'em." "Crack your whip, then," he said in reply, and waved his hand to Flandroe in token that the interview was at an end.

The mutilated old man went back to the little town near the scene of his misfortune, and consulted Lawyer Hyke, who, after telling him that a corporation is a creature of the law which has neither a soul to be damned' nor a body to be kicked, and Is worthy of the contempt and hatred of all mankind, proceeded te make copious memoranda of Flandroe's narrative of the accident. Then he looked into a number of books, and said to the would-be suitor that he had "a fighting chance," with the odds against him and advised him to see if he could compromise the case. "Find out what's the best they'll do for you. They've got a way of making black look white with their evidence and they can prove anything. You understand what I mean?. In your case, for example, all the testimony as to the accident must necessarily be that of men in the company's servioe, exoept, of course, your own. Nobody else knows anything about it, ^ou know. Now, how many of these men have got families? Where do they get their bread and meat? How many others, capable and efficient, are waiting to slip into their places as scon as they become vacant? And don't the railroad employe know it? And don't the company know that he knows it?

Flandore was half-dazed with the lawyer's volubility, but he saw the point, and nodded his head despondily. "It's human nature," Hyke went on, "and I reckon we can't blame'em. But understand me—and I always like to make this point clear when I discuss a railroad case with a client—I don't mean to say that witnesses in these cases are always, or even, usually, directly coerced I don't mean to charge that the bosses are too sharp for that. But I do say that these fellows feel the pressure behind them in away that makes them regard things from a different standpoint than that from which, under ordinary circumstances, they would look at them. You understand me?" "But that ain't no use a foolin' 'bout a compermise, lieyer I've done tried'em on that, an'they've done tried me, an' we can't come tergether. I went down thar an' I seen the sup'intendent, an' he offered me a job thatrud skasely do ter starve on by myse'f, let alone my wife an' child'n. I tole him it looked ter me like'the wuss a fellow gits hurt the slacker tfie job the company wants ter take. George Hogan got a heap better place than they was a-willin' ter give me—an' him jes' a fireman with a mashed foot." "If they hadn't given Horgan that

have gotten big damages. But they are smart, those fellows. Horgan's got all the points about that switchman as clearly as you have. They gave him that place to shut his mouth. He knows the whole truth, if he'd only tell it." "George'll tell it! He'll tell the truth, lieyer tnar ain't no manner o'doubt o* that. He'll sing it out. an' thar won't be no more' stoppin' o' him than stoppin' o' the pop-valve on that old Mogul o' mine 'twel she stope herse'f. I know him "I don't," said the lawyer, with a sneer "but I'll agree to take aown my shingle if, when he comes to tell tne tru in this case, the truth's most intimate friend can recognize it. I tell you it's human nature for him to save his own hide, and he's going to do it."

The next day the suit was entered. The term of trial-3urt came on rapidly. Hie issue was made np, the Jury drawn and empanelled, and tne evidence heard Employe after employe of the company took the stand for the defendent and in spite of Hyke's ingenious cross-examin-ation, Flandroe's faith that law means justice continued to waver in the balance. During the argument on the instructions to thejury, his spirits sank as he heard Mr. Bamford read from his books case after eas to show that servants of a railway-corporation, injured by default of a fellow-servant, ought not to reoover damages. But they were correspondingly elevated when Hyke flatly contradicted the statement of nis adversary that the eases he had cited were aplicable to the one at bar and in turn mrled precedent and citation at the court's need, in quick succession, in support of his own theory and position.

Perplexed with these subtle matters of the law, he was stricken with an involuntary and sudden pang at the recollection of how his fireman had "gone back" on him from the witness stand. "The lieyer was right, though I hadn thought it. He ran with me two year, an' I iarnt him as much as mos' fus'-class engtne-eers knows, an' thar warn nothin' I wudden ha' done fer George Horgan. Now what do I git fur it?'r

Stern in his devotion to truth and honesty, the grim old man could not

TERKE HAUTE SATURDAY EVENING MAIL 9

adjust the fireman's story of the accident to the requirements of the oath which he saw him take on the greasybacked little Bible there on the clerk's deak and even his extended charity was lacking in breadth to cover the transgression of Horgan's narrative. "He didn' tell the whole truth an' nothin' but it, fyar an' squar' by no manner o' means." he said to himself. "He didn't let it all out, like a man but he kep' back what woUld 'a' holp me. I wudden 'a' helt nothin' back, ef he hed been a-lawin' the road fer that hurt leg o'his'n, even ef it had cost me ten jobs like that they gin him' an' the old 'oo-» man an' chaps ter boot, let alone a gal I was a-courtin'. I'd 'a' out with it, no matter whar it hit. Butldunno, Meb-

As they left the court-room, when the adjournment came for the day, Flandroe walked out behind his lawyer, who staggered under a load of books. "I think we've got 'em, Jim," Hyke said, exultingly "even though that d—d rascal of a Horgan did go back on you. If the judge don't kick those instructions out to-morrow I'll take down that shingle of mine, sure enough."

And away he went, to delve into his notes of the evidence, and get up his appeal to the jury on the next day.

Flandroe observed George Horgan standing near the door, and approached him. His late fireman started to hobble off as he saw him coming, but the old man stopped him: /George!"

Horgan glanced nervously up,' then averted his face and hung his head. Two or three by-standers drew near, with eager curiosity. Flandroe said: "I haan' 'a' thought ye'd 'a' evidenced agin me that-a-way."

The man winoed, and answered in a low voice, without looking up: "I didn' want fur ter do ye no harm, Jim but the comp'ny summonsed me, an' I was 'blest fur ter come.".'

III.

In front of his cabin among the pines two hundred miles away from the little town in whose court-bouse the case of Flaudroe vs. The Southern Railroad Company had been streurously fought by both sides, and won at lrfst by Hyke, tne plaintiff's energetic little rea-haired bullet-headed, snub-nosedtattorney. Jim Flandroe was sitting in the sunshine. His robust strength had left him the bronzed face had grown pale and haggard, and the iron-gray of nis beard had turned to a rusty white. The loss of his arm had diminished his vitality and his mind had been for months past tormented with apprehension lest hfs case should go against nim in the appellate .court, to which his defeated adversary had taken it.

His lawyer had told him that the judges of tne Supreme Court would not not hear the oral evidences of the witnesses, but would make up their opinion from the record which the trial-court had certified up to them. This information had increased his fear of an adverse decision. "They can't tell nothin' 'bout it, 'thouten they see me with this yer stump an' let me show'em how the whole thing happened. An' they can't jedge how it's ed my strent', 'thouten they cud look at me. an' have somebody that knowed tell'em the difference 'twix' the machine that I used ter be an' this yer old wreck that'll nuwer be out on the run no mo'."

The successful issue of his case in the trial-court had mitigated whatever soreness Horgan's testimony had caused, and in its present aspect he took [comfort in the knowledge that his former fireman would not be compelled to repeat his unfair evidence. "George was always a tender-hearted sort of boy," he said.4 "an' I reck'n he meant right, only he didn't have the sand in the box te run on orders. I'm reelly down glad the comp'ny ain't a-gwine ter call pn him ter lie fur'em twicet ter pay fur that slaok job o' night watchman at Smoky Tunnel. I'm sorry fur George, bdln' as how I've heern tell that the gal wudden marry him arter all he'd done ter keep a job on the road. Some 'lowed that she got mad at him 'ca'se he lied on the trail but t'others

Xshe

didn' want ter hitch onter no pie." His mind was' constantly upon the case, and the details of it had grown to be more than familiar to the members of his family. "It's been two years since I got hurt, come June. he one day said, "an' the case is still n-hangin' on—al'ays put off an' put off, 'long o' the railroad, fur sump'n or 'nuther. Gittin' out o' law ain't as easy as gittin' inter it— leastawys ef you're agin'a railroad-copper-ation. "Two year, an'thar's skasely ,a night in all that time that I hain't dreamed o' runnin' on the Northern Division. Sometimes it's one lay o' the track, an' then ag'in anuther. But it seems like I'm on the old Mogul, all the while, a-feelin' of her shakin'an' a-quiveran' fr6m whar I sets in the cab, like a race-hoss uuder the line. An' George is al'ays with me, up thar on his box on t'other side whon she's on the level or a-rollin' on the downgrade, an' a-heavin' in coal when she's on the up an' the smoke's a-flyln'. I reck'n it's all in my mind so much endurin' o' the day, tnat I'm beholdeu fur ter dream 'bout it o' nights."

Shading his face with his hands, as though peering at some object in the distance, he contiuued: "The track's al'ays afo' me, an' I'm oonstant' a-lookin' out fur sump,n on it. I used ter cud see a pig betwixt the rails, as fur as the next one, but somehow, these old eyes are gittin' dimmer. wer o' nerve fur ter it, that run one mean ter brag, fur I kep' the fearo' God afo' me, an' jes' done the best I cud for the oomp'ny, come what would. But it was a ticklish business, an' it skeers me sometimes now, when I looks back at it. "Ye've got ter have faith in Goddlemighty then, sure, a-swlngin' up anV down them mount'n-sides, dark nignts or bright, when a rock on the track Pom a landslide 'u'd fling the whole caboodle down the mount'n an inter kingdom come afo' you'd know it. Ye're 'bleest ter keep a steady han' an' a keen eye but mo'n that, ye're 'bleesten ter blieve thar's somebody bigger'n the president of the road or the gen'al supe'-lntendant a-backin' of ye up. Ef ye don't, ye ain't no fittin' man fur ter run a lightnln'-ex-presson that division, that's all though thar's many a one that ain't nuwer loosed at it that-a-way. God he'p 'em, when thar time comes. "I kep' that notion fo'mos' in my head all the years I drav an ingine, an' most of all wbee I had that prssenger Mogul. I reck'n I cudden a' ahet it out ef I had tried, which I didnt. It was strong on me las' night, strong as it al'ays used ter be on me in them times when I ran through Smoky TunneL That thar hole in the mount'n in nigh onter a mile an* on the up-grade, goin' south, as ye start inter the mouth of it, the man in the cab can forgit tne Lord that m«H« mas' be built on a cur'us patent. Overhead an' all artran' an' about ye thar's darkness an' funs: an* ooal smoke gi* in yer eyes, an' in yer nose, mi' in yer mouf

an' fur off at the een' thar's a leetle teen qhy speck o' light like the p'lnt of needle. Ye can see the track, ye can't hear yerse'f talk thar ain't nothin' fer ye ter do, 'thouten it is to have faith an let her go. An' then, that thar speck light grows on ye, an' keeps gittin' bigger'n digger an' the smoke an' the racket don't bother

?im.

Sis

ye so much as they did

fust. Then ye begin ter leecolleo thar a een' ter the Smoky Tunnell out thar beyant, that ye'll git ter bimeby. An' it comes acrost yer mind that thar ain't no purtier valley in the worrul than the one jes' ter the tunnel's foot at t'other side, whether ye glimge it by night, when the moon is shinin' on the fogs that half-way hides it, or whether ye see it in the daylight, when ye can foller the wlndln' roads like cow-paths, an' the creeks, an' the branches that look like slips o' silver ribbons in the sun. "I used ter al ays think o' heav'n when I seen Los' Gap Valley, beca'se comin' through Smokey Tunnel 'peared somehow ter fetch up ter my mind th and unsartin way o' life."

the dark

IV.

It was half-past nine o'clock of an evening in June, and the first section of Number Thirteen was due at Kayton Station, one mile south of Smoky Tunnel and overlooking the beautiful valley of Lost Gap. In the telegraph office upstairs the instruments were ticking rapidly while in the depot below were seated some half-dozen men, dressed in blue jean blouses, and overalls, with picks and shovels and tool-hits and lan terns at their feet. They were railroad hands who had been at work in the tunnel, and were now waiting for the incoming feeight train to take them home. "I heerd as how Flandroe los' his case," said one. "What makes me think of it is, 'twas jes' about this time a year that Fifty-seven was wrecked out thar by the tunnel." "Los' his case? That can't be," said another, who was known to his comrades as Long Tim. "I reecollec' how old man Bamford snorted when the jury come In. I war thar at the trial an' heern it all. The comp'ny summonsed me, but they didn't put me on. I knowed nothin' mo* 'bout it than what Mike Dunlap tole me afo' the comp'ny run him off down south an' Bamford 'lowed that they didn' want that, an' cudden have it ef they did, bein' as it was hearsay." "Yes, but they tells me the comp'ny tuk the case up higher an' that the big court down ter Klchmon' busted old Jim up wusser'n uwer Mike Dunlap done wnen he opened the switch that night like a sleepy headed fool that he was They tuk'n tuk the las' oent away f'om him. I got it f'om George Horgan. He says Cap"n Hemstone fotch the news up f'm the junction ter-day on Number One. He 'lows they say Flandroe got hurt 'long of a fellow-sarvent. or some sloh foolishness, an' that it aiif law fer the comp'ny ter pay." "Well, I'm sorry for old Jim," said one of the men who had not before spoken "I seen a heap of him when I war in the yard at Tyron an' it's my 3dgmen' thar warn't no better man ter „an'le a ingine nn the road. That what they all said—Cap'n Bigby, an' all on 'em thar." "Ireok'n George Horgan feels sorter

ut out 'bout his evi-detiee," said Long "I've heered tell that the lieyers all 'lowed that what George said at the trial hurt Jim's case wusserjn anything

"I dunno," replied the man who had first spoken, a low, thick-set fellow with a bushy, brown beard, whose name was Brand "he's al'ays a-comin' over the case 'pears like ne can't letup on it. He was pow'ful cut up t'other day when somebody tole him how low down an' feoble the old man was a-gittin'." "Yes, he's talked ter me 'bout the old man Jallin'. It 'pears to sorter lay onter his mind. He can't be alongside o' ye five minutes afo' he's a-tellln' ye that he's l'arnt that Jim Flandroe's purty po'ly, and pow'ful hard run for money ter live on. He axed me this mornin' ef I hadn' heerd it," said another one of the men. "Who's runnin' Fifty-seven now, anyhow?" queried Brand. "She ain't nuwer come out o' the shop senoe the last accident ter her. Thar ain't no wages 'u'd make me run on that old Mogul, gen'lemen, ef I war an in-

ine driver. No, sirree! John Brice got leg bruk on her at Payson's bridge, an' Henry Dexter was hurt in the back the night she smashed inter Number One at Stapleses. The boys is all a-glttin' mistrus'ful of her, they tell me an'they are mighty right. She's onlucky, an' I've heern a heap on 'em say they wudden travel behine, not for no pay." "I reck'n the comp'ny better keep her in the shops," said Brand. "They ain't a-gwine ter fine no inglneer on this yer division fur ter drive her no mo'." "What's the matter with GeorgeV asked one of the party, sitting nearest the window, and starting up: "he's jes went pas' the window with his lantern like a jstreak o' lightnin*. I nuwer thought he cud git over groun' that fas' on his game leg." 'Twudden 'sprise me ef George was a-drinkin'," Long Tim said, in an undertone, to his next neighbor. "I think he's got sump'n 'nuther on his mine. I dunn* ef It's beca'se Sal Desper kicked him an' married Hinksley. or ef It's the old trouble long o' his evidence 'g'in Jim Flandroe. Ef it gits ter Bigby that he's a-samplin' the bug-juice, he'll fire him out o'nis job afo' he can bat his eye."

Up above, In the telegraph office, the instruments continued to tick merrily. The first section of Number Thirteen was on time, and due In twenty minutes. The operator was at his desk, with the forefinger|of one hand on the key and a pen in the other, when the man who had just passed the window came hobbling and stumbling Into the depot, and, hurrying past the men who were waiting there, went up-stalrs toward the tele-graph-office.

As he passed, he called out: "For God's sake, boys! thar's a-gwine ter be a cullision three mile south, ef Thirteen's on time." "What's the matter?" they asked, breathlessly and in chorous, and tumbled^up the steps after him, kicking over tool-kits and lanterns as they went. Long Tim, who had just expressed a doubt of the speaker's sobrie leading the van

Ho of

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With ghastly face and shortened breath jan hobbU

hobbled on, and fifing the door the telegraph-office wide open. The ig of workman pressed in behind him

as tfie operator, looking up in astonishment and anger, exclaimed: "Well, what in the h—IPs broke looee now?,'

The reply was a contra-vuery from

?«t train was that Just went by?" ••Train? what are you talking about?" asked the now astounded operator. ••That express-train that went South little while ago. I met her betwixt here an' the tunnel. I signalled for her ter stop with my lantern, but she went on like makin' up los' time. She was fyarly a sailin' Shell smach damnation out o' Thirteen.** **Have you got tbe mikes or are vott a natural born fool?" asked the operator with increasing wrath. "You know no train has gone by here for thirty minutes."

The night watchman looked about Mm in a (taxed fashion, and passed his

hands over his eyes. Shadows of superstitious awe gathered about the waiting1 gang of section hands, who gazed at him with blanched faces, Turning to Brand he said: "Ye seen it, didn' ye, Jo?" "Thar ain't no train been by here senoe Number Seven," was-the half whispered answer.

Even Long Tim felt the hair bristling on the back of his head and cold chills creeping down his back.

The men gathered closer about Horgan, in silent expectation. "What did you see, George?" queried one, more eager than the rest.

The telegraph operator, with a frown on his face, looked up from the work which he had resumed, to listen. The ticking of the instrument was loudlyaudible above tho speaker's voice. "I seen a passenger express oome out'n the tunnel at sixty mile an hour. By the light o' my lamp, it was Fifty-seven The ingine-man war a lookln' down the track, en' his lef' han' war on the lever. I cudden ketch his full face—

He paused a moment, as if thinking. Then: "But his beard an' his hyar—Goddlemighty save me! it war Jim Flandroe. "Boys,'* said Brand, solemnly, turning to his companions, "do you know what that means? It means that old Jim is dead." "It means that George Horgan's drunk and you area pack of d—d fools.'* said the disgusted telegraph operator, "Get out o' here, all of ye! I'll let Bigby know of this tomorrow."

Two days later, as he sat alone in his office, reading a novel, a call came over the wires from an operator at the southern terminus. The response of the novel reader brought the message: "Jheard to-day that old Flandroe, who was hurt at Smoky Tunnel and sued the npauy, has gone on the long run. He died a day or two ago, and I thought you'd like to know it, being dose to thfi scene of accident." ,» I

Back went the question: When did he dief" ,' There was an interval of waiting that taxed the nerves of the man at the koys in the Kayton office. The novel had fallen unheeded to the floor. Presently the Instrument had ticked out:

{Half-past

nine on Tuesday evening last%

McDonald tells me." It was the very hour when Horgan had illet the spectral engine.

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