THE I V O RY S E R I ES

E a ch , 1 6 mo , g i l t t op , 75 cen ts

A M O S J UD D By J A Mit h l l E d tor . c e i of
“L i fe
. .
,

IA. A Lo ve S t y By Q "
or . A th T Q ll C o c h"
. r ur . ur er - u

T H E S U I C I D E C L UB By R b t L o s S t ns o n
. o er ur e ve

I R R A L I E S B U SHRAN G E R B y E W Ho r n n g
'
. . . u

A M A S T E R S PIRI T By Ha rri t Pr s c o tt S p offord

. e e

M A D A M E D E L PHIN E B y G org W Ca b l
. e e . e

O N E O F T H E VI SC O NTI By E W l d r B ro d h a d . va i e e

A B O O K O F M ART YR S B y C or n l a A t w oo d P r a tt
. e i

A B RI D E FR O M T H E B U S H By E W H or n n g . . . u

T H E M A N W H O W IN S By R b rt H rr i k . o e e c

A N I NH E RITAN C E By Ha rri t P r s o tt S p f for d

. e e c o

T H E O L D G E NT L E M A N O F T H E B LA C K ST O C K .

By T h m a s N l Pa g
o e so n e

L IT E RARY L O V E L E TT ERS A N D O T H ER S T O R I E S .

By R o b rt H
e k er r rc

A R O M AN C E IN TRAN SIT By F r a n is Lyn d . c e

I N O L D NARRA G AN S E TT By A l i M or s E a r l . ce e e

S E VE N M O NTH S A PRIS ON E R B y J V Ha d l y . . . e

I F I W ER E A M A N B y H a rris n R b r t s o n
. o o e

SW E E TH EART S A N D WIVE S B y A n n a A R g r s . . o e

A C IVI LIAN ATTA C H E By H l D a w s B r w n . e en e o

Oth er v ol u m es t o be a n n o u n ced
 C O PYR I G H T , 1 89 7, BY

C H A R L E S S C R I B N ER S S O N S ’
 To th e s mal l r on who un consci ousl y
'

pe s

prov i ded th e m o tif h erei n wrou ght up on ,

th i s trans it ory tal e i s aff ecti o nat el y at

tr i b uted b y
THE A UTHOR
 C O N TEN TS

P P
. . C A RI AD
. NE ,

II . TH E “P E R S O NA L L Y C O N D U C T E D
,
”
III . TH E P R I V AT E CA R ,

IV . T H E D I NN E R S TAT I O N ,

AT TH E M EE T I NG P O I NT
-
,

VI . R E GAR D L E S S O R D E R S ,

VI I . A D I NN E R O N W H E E L S ,

VI I I . T H E CA B OF TH E TEN - WHE E L E R ,

I X F I F TY
. M IL E S AN H O U R,

A CO N F I D E N CE E N R O U T E ,

X I A N A RR I V A L I N T RAN S I T
.
,

XI I . TH E A N C I E NT S AN D IN V A L I D S ,

XI I I . BET WE E N S TAT I O N S ,

XI V W I TH
. D E NVE R IN S I GH T ,

XV . Y AR D -
L IM ITS ,

XV I . TH E M A D D I NG CR O W D ,

XV I I . ON TH E N ARR O W GA U G E -
,

XV I I I F L AGG E D
. D O WN
 CON T E N TS

PA G E

XIX . TH E F OO L I S H W I R E S ,

XX . C H I E FL Y S C E N I C ,

XX I . ON TH E H EI GH TS ,

XX I I . ON TH E S P U R -TRA C K,

XX I I I . T H E L AN D OF H E ART S ’
D E LI GH T ,

XX I V . TH E E N D OF A S T O P O V E R,
-

XXV W E S T W AR D
. H o "
XXV I . A B LI ND S I D I NG ,

XX V I I . TH E D R UM M I N G W H E E L S ,
 A RO M A N C E I N T RA N SI T

P . P . C . A R I AD NE

T RA I N N UM B ER the Fly i ng
T H RE E ,
”
Kestrel vesti buled had crossed the yello w
, ,

R ubicon o f the W est and w as mounting

toward the O ccident up the gentle acclivi
ties o f the Great P lain The morning w as .

perfect as early autumn morni n gs are wont

,

to be in the tran s Missouri region ; the

-

train was o n ti me and the through passen

gers in the P ullman sleeping car A ri adne -

had settled themselves each a c cording t o ,

his gifts to enj oy o r endure the day lo n g run

,
-
.

There was a s u n browned ra n chm an in

-

lower eleven homeward bound from the

,

C hicago stockyards a pai r o f school teach -

ers finishing thei r vacation journey in ten

, ,

a Mormon e l der smug in ready made black

,
-

an d narrow brimmed hat v zs d w s i n lower

’ ’

- - -
,

five wi th two hundred pounds o f good

 2 . SAS RQ
I
\ “N N
AN C E I N T RAN S IT
‘ I‘ t r r

T a
i s cr o C m fo r t l u v j n g
atholic priesthood -

5i i i
2
l s i x 2 T w o r e m o v es from the elder
‘
" '
s
. o
,

a Denver b anker lounged corner W I Se in his -

section oblivious to everything save the fi g

,

u res i n the financi al column o f the morn

ing paper ; and diagonally across from the

banker were the i nevitable newly married
ones advertising thems elves as such wi th
,

all the unconscious n a i v eté o f their kind .

Burton and his wi fe had lower three .

They were homing from the passenger

’
agents meeting i n C hi cago ; and having
gone breakfastless at the Missouri R iver
terminal by re as on o f a belated train were ,

waiting for the porter to serve them wi t h

eggs and coffee from the bu ffet The nar .

row table was between them and B urton , ,

who was an exact man with an eye to sym

metrical detail raised the spring clips and ,

carefully smoothed the wr i nkles o u t o f the

table cloth as he talked
-
A private car had .

been attached to the train at the Missouri

R iver and i ts freightage was o f moment to
,

the couple i n section three

”
.

’
A re you sure it s the P resident ? asked
the wi fe leaning back to give the cloth lay
,
-

ing a fair field I thought the Naught .

’
fifty was General Manager C adogan s car .
 P P . . C . A RI A D N E 3

S o it is ; but President V e n n o r always

borrows i t for his annual i nspection trip .

A nd I m quite sure becau se I sa w M iss

’
,
-

V e n n o r o n the platform when the car was

coupled o n .

“Then we ll get home j ust in time to ’

go o n dress parade said the little lady

-
, ,
,

fl i p p a n tl y C olorado and Utah Di v ision

.
,

fall in " S hun company " E yes right "

’
,

The P resident is upon y o u and Sh e went

through a minimized manual o f arms with
the table kni fe -
.

The general agent f rowned and stroked

his beard Your .

will 8 3 3 3 3 i nt a j r o u b l e some
- .

Mr Vtmn o r is not a man to be tri fl ed w i th

.
,
’
and you mustn t forget that he i s the P resi
‘

dent o f the C olorado and Utah R ailway

C ompany whose bread you eat
, .

Whose bread I should like to eat if ,

that slow poke in the bu ffet would ever

-

bri ng i t ” retorted the wi fe “ A nd i t is

, .

you who forget You are a man and Mr .

, .

V e n n o r is a man ; these are the primal

facts and the b u siness relation is merely
,
’
i ncidental He doesn t think any more
.

o f yo u for standing i n awe o f him

“I don t stand in awe o f him
’
Burton ,
4 A R OM AN CE I N T RAN S IT

began ; but the opportune arrival o f the

buff et porter with the breakfast saved hi m
the trouble o f elaborating his defen c e .

Half way through the frugal meal the

swing door o f the farther v esti bule gave
-

back an d a young man cam e down the

,

aisle wi th the sure step o f an ac c ustomed

traveller He stopped to chat a moment
.

with the s choo l tea c hers and the ran c hman

-
,

i n se c ti on eleven l ook i ng hi m over wi th

,

an appre c iat i ve eye pronoun c ed h i m a

”
,
’
man s m an and the terse epithet fitted
, .

He was a vigorous young fellow clean ,

limbed and we l l put together and good ,

looki ng enough to to l erate mirrors i n their

proper places While he chatted wi th the
.

two young women he pushed his hat bac k ,

with a qui c k ges ture which was an i ndex

to his c haracter O pen hearted frankness
.
-

lo o ked o u t o f the brown eyes and heal thy ,

o ptimism g ave an upward t i lt to the curling

mustache A young man wi th a record
.

clean enough t o permi t him to look an a c

c u s a ti v e world i n the face wi thout abash
ment o n e would say
, .

When he reached the breakfasting pai r

i n three he stopped again and hel d o u t
,

a hand to ea c h .
 P
. P . c . AR I A D N E 5

W ell well ; you two " he said

, I .

’
didn t see you when I went fo rward .

Where did you get o n P

A t the river ” replied Mrs Burton , .
,

making room for him in the seat beside

her . W on t y o u s i t down and break
’

bread with us ? literally y o u know ; there ,

’ ’
i sn t anything else to break u nless you ll
wait for the shell o f an egg that is n o t yet
cooked ” .

“ N o thank you I had my breakfast

, ;
a good two hours ago W here have y o u .

been P and where are y o u going P

“W e have been at the passenger meet °

ing in C hicago and we are o n the way

”
,

home sai d the general agent

, .

“Yes running a race with the P resi

,

”
dent cut in Mrs B urton “John is dread. .
,
’ ’
fully afraid we sha n t get to S alt La ke i n
time to be keel hauled with the rest o f the -

f orce
” .

The young man s a t back o n the arm o f

the o pposite seat wi th the light o f inquiry
i n his eyes .
”
W hat P resident P he asked .

V e n n o r o f o u r company Didn t you ’

, .

know he was i n the Naught fi fty ? sai d -

Burton .

No They coupled i t o n j ust as we

.
6 A R OM A N C E IN T RA NS IT

were leaving the river and I thought—I ,

took i t for granted that o u r General Man

ager was ab o ard It s Mr C adogan s car .
” ’
.
’
.

I know but P resident V e n n o r always

borrows it for his annual trip .

A re you sure P Have you seen him P

Q uite sure I s a w Miss V e n n o
. r o n

the platform with some other young people

’ ’
whom I don t know It s Mr V e n n o r s . .
’

party .

The young m a n pushed his hat back an d ,

the look of fra n kness became i ntrospective .

D o you k n ow the V en n o r s P personally

”
,

I m ean .

The li ttle lady m ade answer

Yes W e met them at Manitou l as t
.

summer D o y o u k n ow them P
.

The young man seemed unaccountably

embarrassed I — I ve met Miss Gertrude
’

”
.

— that was last summer to o he stam , ,

mered .Did you— did you like her ,

Mrs Burton P
.

“ Very much indeed she is as sweet

; ,

and lovable as her father is odious D o .

have a cup of co ffee wo n t y o u P ” ’

,

“ N o thank you Then you didn t a d ’

, .

m i r e/th e Er -
es i de n t P
“ Indeed I didn ’t no one could He
; .
 P P . . C . AR I A D N E 7
O

is one o f the cool contemptuous k ind o f

,

le al ways lookin g y o u over a s i f he

j
had half a m ind to buy you H e yvas barely .

W
civil to me a n d he was pos i tively rude to
”
,

John .

O h n o ; n o t quite that E mily

, , ,
’
ame n ded the husband I m only o n e o f
”
.

a good many employees to him .

Draws the m o ney line sharp and clear -

,

does he ? said the young man who ap ,

p e a r e d to be more deeply interested than a

m erely cas ual topic would account fo r .

The little lady nodded vigorously .

’
That s i t exactly Yo u can fairly hear
,
.

the double eagles clink when he speaks .

The general age n t deprecated disloyalty ,

and was fain to change the subject .

W hat are yo u doing s o far away from

your terri tory Fred P he asked , .

’
I m in charge o f the party o f o l d peo
’
ple and i nvalids in the Tadmor They d a .

mind to be personally conducted a n d they ,

’

threaten to take me all the way across to the

C o as t ”
.

Good " exclaimed the small person .

Then you can stop over and visit us in

S alt L ake ” .

The pas senger agent shook his head .

8 A R OM AN CE IN T RAN S IT
O
’ ’
sha n t get that far I m ust break away a t .

Denver by all m eans

, .

W ould nothing tempt you to go o n P

“ I m afrai d not that is —I —e r
’
the
;
’
young man s em barras sment suddenly r e
turned and he stopped helplessly
, .

Mrs Burton s c uriosity was instantly on

.
’

the alert Then there i s somethin g P D o

”
.

tell me what i t is s h e p l e aded , .

’ ’
It s nothing ; i n fa c t i t s mu c h l ess than ,

n oth i ng I hesitated b e c ause I — be cause

.

your way o f putting i t i s very— that is i t ,

c overs a great deal o f ground he stam ,

mered .

’
Don t make him qu i bble any more than
he has to said B u rton with mock severity
, , .

’
You s ee i t s quite i mposs i b l e for him t o
tell the truth ” .

The young man l aughed good naturedly -

.

’ ’
That s the fa c t I ve been i n the pas .

’
senger service so long that I can t always be
sure of reco gn i zing the veri ties when I m eet
them But to get back to the original sheep ;
.

’
—
I mustn t go o n not beyond Denver It .

would have be en better fo r all c oncerned i f

I had cut i t short at the river .

For all concerned P for yourself and the

”
i n v al i ds y o u mean ? queried the curious o n e .
10 A R OM AN CE I N T RAN S IT

e ffe c t more than half promised so to do It

, .

was the time o f year when he could best be

spared from his distri ct and the members
o f the party had made a poi nt o f i t But .

the knowledge that Miss Gertrude V e n n o r

was a passenger o n the train Opened up a
new field wherei n prudence and reawakened
pas sion fought for the mastery to the utter ,

disregarding o f the mere business point o f

V iew.

They had met i n C olorado the previous

summer— the passenger agent and the P resi
—
dent s daughter and Br o ckway had lost his
’

heart to the sweet faced you n g woman from

-

the farther E ast before he had s o much as

l earned her name He w as convoying a
.

train load o f school teachers across the con

- -

t i n e n t and then as now she was a member

, ,
’
o f a party i n her father s private car Their
meeting was at S ilver P lume where she had ,

’
become separated from her father s party ,

and had boarded the excursion train mis ,

taki n g i t for the regular which was to fo llow

’
Brockway s S peci al as second section The .

obvious thing for Brockway to h ave do n e was

to put her o ff at Georgetown where the fo l ,

l owing section would have picked her up i n

a few minutes . But he did no such unself
 P
. P . C A R I AD N E
. I I

i sh thin g Before the excursion train had

.

d o ubled t h e final curve o f the L oop he was

ready t o purchase her c on ti nued pr ese n ce at
a price .

This he accomplished by omitting to men

tion the ob v ious expedient L e av i n g a mes .

sage with the Georget o wn operator notifyi n g ,

the P resident that his daught er was o n t h e

excursion trai n Brockway went o n his way
,

rej o ici n g ; an d by a judi ci o us co n spiracy

,

with his own conductor and engi neer ma n ,

aged to keep the special well ahead o f the

regular all the way to Den v er .

That was the begi nn i n g of it and fate , ,

ki n dly o r unki n dly had added yet other ,

meetings at Manitou at L eadville and , ,

again at S alt L ake C i ty where the P resi ,

’
dent s daughter had v o lu n tari ly joined Brock
’
way s sight seeing party o n the strength of
-

an acquaintance with tw o o f the B o st o n

scho o l mistresses
-
The temporary chaperon s
.

were kind and the frie n dship had burgeoned

,

into something quite like intimacy before the

M o rmon day was overpast But there i t .

had ended S i nce that day he had neither

.

seen her n o r heard from her ; and when he

had come t o look the matter squarely in the
face i n the light o f s o ber afterthought he was ,
1 2 A R OM AN CE I N T RAN S IT

minded to put his i nfatuation under foot ,

and to try honestly to be glad that their

lives had gone apart .For he had learned
that Mr Francis V e n n o r was a multi million
.
-

naire and that his daughter was an heiress i n

,

her o wn right an d no poor gentleman was

ever more fiercely jealous o f his poverty
rights than was this shrewd young soldier in
the unnumbered army of the dispossessed .

But the intervention o f half a continent o f

space is o n e thing a n d that o f a mere car
,

le n gth is another . Now that he had to

walk but the length o f the Tadmor to be
with her again the eager passion which he
,

had fondly believed to be safely dead and

bur ied rose up in its might and threatened
to put poverty pri de and all other calmly
-
,

considered springs o f a c tion to the sword ;

did presently ru n the m through for when,

Brockway left the smoki n g room o f the

-

A riadne an d crossed the j arring platforms

to the door o f the Tadmor he was floggi ng
,

his wits to devise some pretex t which would

excuse an invas i on o f the private c ar .
 TH E P ER S O N A LLY C O N D UCT E D

I N iew o f the certain prox i mity o f Miss

V

Gertrude V e n n o r Brockway wanted nothing

,

s o much as a quiet o pportunity to thi nk his

mind clear i n the matter o f his love affair -

,

but time and place were both deni ed him .

L ying in wait for h i m at the very door o f

the Tadmor was a thi n o l d gentleman with ,

h o ck bottle shoulders and penthous ed eyes

-
.

His voice was high pi tched a n d rasping -

and his speech was petulance grown o l d and

unreasoni n g .

Mr ah—Brockway I protest " Do you

.
,

consider it fai r to us y o ur patrons to absent

, ,

—
yourself fo r the ah better part o f the morn
’
i n g P Here I ve been waiting for you more
than an hour s i r and , ,

’
I beg your pardon Mr Jordan ; I m
”
, .

sorry Brockway cut in “What can I do

, .

for you P
Yo u can attend to your ah—busi ness a
1 3
I 4 A R OM AN CE I N T RAN SIT

little closer for —

thing Mr ah Brock one
”
, ,
.

way quavered the aggrieved one taki n g a

, ,

yard long coupon ticket from his breast

-

pocket ; and for a n other you can give ,

me the sixty days going limi t o n this ticket

—
that I ah stipulated for when I bought i t ,

si r .

Brockway glanced at the ticket and called

attention to the conditions in the contract .

The going limit o f thirty days is plainly

’
stated here Mr Jordan Didn t you read
,
. .

the contract before signing i t P

’
Don t make any difference s i r I ah ,

stipulated for sixty days and I require y o u ,

to make the stipulation ah — good s i r ”

,
.

“ But my dear sir I can t N o r epr e ’

,
.
,

s en t a ti v e o f any o n e o f the lines interested

is authorized to change these conditions ”

”
.

Very well s i r v e r y well ,

The iras - - -
.

cible o n e folded the ticket with tremulous

fingers and sought to replace it in his pocket
book “ I shall know what road to ah
.

’
patro n ize next time and i t won t be yours , ,

Mr ah— Brockway you may depe nd upon

.

that sir ,
.

’
The passenger agen t s forte was p l acability .

’
Don t worry about your ti cket Mr Jor ,
.

dan ” he said We ll take good c ar e o f

.
’

,
 T HE
“PE R S O N A LLY C O N D UCTE D

you an d if you should happen to be more

,

than thirty days in reaching L os A n ge

les
Thirty days gasped the objector .

Great ah—heavens s i r you told us you , ,

—
could put us there i n al l four days and a
half "
’
S o I did and s o we shall barring the
, ,

stop overs the party may wish to make ; but

-

’
i n that case I don t s e e why yo u should r e
quire a sixty day limit ” said Brockway
-
, ,

with an a fi a b l e smile
'

By this time quite a little group had gath

ered around them and anxi ous queries b e ,

’
gan to beat thick and fast upon Brockway s
ears.

W hat s that about o u r tickets P

’

Thirty days did you s a y ? ,

’
C an t have stop overs P -

Brockway got upon his feet O ne m o

”
.

m ent i f you please

, he protested There
, .

—
is n o thing wro n g n o thi n g di fferent Mr . .

Jordan and I were merely discussing the

questio n o f an extra limit o n his o wn t icket
that was all ”
”
.

Oh .

Ah .

Where do we get dinner ?

1 6 A R OM AN C E IN T RAN S IT

W hat time do we reach Denver ?

Is there a dining car o n this train P -

Brockway answered the inquiries in s e

e n c e and when the norm of quiet was r e
q u ,

stored a soft spoken li ttle gentleman i n a

,
-

grass cloth duster and a velvet skull cap drew

- -

hi m a way to the smoki n g c ompartment -

”
.

’
L et s go and smoke he said and ,

Brockway went willingly inasmuch as the ,

li ttle gentleman with the womanish face and

the r ea dy cigar case was the only person i n
-

the p arty who seemed to be c apable o f trav

elling without a guardian .

’
Worry the li fe o u t o f yo u d on t they , ,
”
my boy said the comforter when his cigar
, ,

was alight
’
O h no ; I m well used to i t
,
.

I presume y o u are in a way S till some ,

.
,

o f the complaints are so ridi culous I sup .

’
pose you ve heard the latest P
’
N othing later than Mr Jordan s demand .

’
for sixty days i n wh ich to c omplete a week s
j ourney .

’ ’
O h i t isn t that ; that s an indivi dual
,

grievance The other i n volves the entire

.

party O f course y o u are aware that the

.
,

Tadmor i s n o longer the rear c ar i n the

train P
1 8 A R OM AN CE I N T R A N S IT

go o u t o n the platform and s e e the s c en

ery ” .

But my dear madam let me ex

, ,

plain
There is nothing to explain ; i t was an
explicit promise and we insist o n i ts f u l fil
”
,

ment .

Just o n e word Brockway pleaded , .

The car behind us is o u r General Mana

’
ger s private car lent to P resident V en n o r
, ,

o f the C olorado and Utah If we should put .

’
i t ahead o f this Mr V e n n o r s party would
, .

be continually disturbed by the passengers

’
and train men going back and forth Don t
-
.

you see
The fo urth member o f the deputati on put
in his w o rd at this .

How long has it been since the railway

companies bega n to p u t the con v enience o f
their guests before the rights o f their patrons ,

Mr Brockway ? A nswer me that i f you

”
.
,

please .

I should like to know " declared one of

the ladies We have paid for our acc o m
m o d a ti o n s .

The courteous o n e summed up the matter

in set phrase .

’
It s no use Mr Brockway as you s ee, .
, .
 T HE
“PE R S O NA LL Y C O N D UCTE D

If you don t carry o ut yo ur part of the agree

’

ment I m afraid we s h al l have to telegraph

’

”
,

to your superiors .

For a moment Brockway was tempted to

answer four fools accordi n g t o their folly .

Then he bethought him that he had but now

been seeking a pretext whi ch would Open the
d o or of the private car Here W as a make
.

shift a po o r o n e to be sure but better than

, ,

none . Wherefore instead o f quarrelling

,

with the deputation he rose wi th placatory

,

phrases i n his mouth .

’
Very wel l ; I ll see what can be done .

But you mus t give me a li ttle time ; the

sce n ery pointing to the monotonous
landscape circling slowly with the onward
sweep o f the trai n is not exactly o f the
rear platform variety yet
-
” .

A fter which he retreated to the rear vesti

bule of the T a d m o r a n d stood looking o u t
through the glass panel i n the door at the
hamper laden fr o nt platform of the Naught
-

fi ft y trying to muster courage to take the

,

chilling plunge For he knew that the year

.

agone episode was not altogether pleasi ng to

the father o f Miss Gertrude V en n o r .
 TH E P R I V AT E CA R

“YE S sah ; mighty sorry sah ; b ut we

, ,
’ ’
c a y n t cook you all s dinner n o how-
sah ,
-
, .

’ ’
Wat ch pi pe s done bu sted in de range
-
.

P resident V e n n o r turned and regarded the

big bodied cook of the N aught fi f t y with the
- -

eye sweep o f appraisal which M r s Burton

-
.

had found s o annoying .

’
N o dinner you s a y P That s bad Why
,
.

did you burst the pipe ?

’ ’
I I didn t bu sted it sah ; h i t des
-
,

’
— ’
b u sted h i ts e f deed i t did s a
’
h I
,

’
Well can t you serve us a cold lun c h ?
,

—
Might do d at yes sah e f d a t l l do ,
’
.

W hat is that papa ; no luncheon to ,

day P asked a young woman coming down ,

the compar tment to stand beside the P res i

’
dent s chair .

There was a family resemblance but i n the ,

daughter the magic o f femi nei ty had soft

ened the severer characteristi cs until they
2 0
 T HE P R IV A TE CAR 2 I

became winsome and good to look upo n .

The cool gray eyes o f the father were Ger

trude s inheritance also but i n the ey es o f
’
,
s

the daughter the calculating stare became the

steady gaze o f clean hearted guilelessness ; -

and in her even tinted complexion there -

w as only a suggestion o f the sallow olive o f

’
the father s clean shaven face For face
-
.

and figure Gertrude owed much to bi rth

,

and breeding and it was small wonder that

,

Frederick Brockway had lost his heart to her

i n time ho n ored and romantic fashion
-
.

The P resident answered his daughter s ’

query without taking his eyes from the big

bodied co ok .

N o there is something the matter with

the range A s k the others i f they would
.

prefer a cold luncheon in the car to the

’
i n di e d l zo te at the dinner stati on
‘
” .

Gertrude went to the other end o f the

compartment and stated the case to Mrs .

Dunham the chaperon o f the party ; to

,

P riscilla and Hannah B eas wi c k e two young ,

women of the A nnex to C hester F l ee t we l l ,

A B
. . Harvard by the skin o f his teeth but
, , ,

the abl est oarsman o f his C lass by a v ery sa fe

majority ; and to Mr Harold Q u a tr em ai n .
,
’
the P resident s secretary .
2 2 A R OM A N CE I N T RAN S IT

The dinner station carried i t unanimous l y ,

and Gertrude announced the vote .

W e re all agreed upon the f a n/

’
e d fiofe
’ ‘

S h e said a n d the F a l s ta ffi a n negro sho o k

hi mself free and backed int o the vestibule .

“W hat is i ts name ? and when do we ar

ri v e P
“ I ll have to inquire
’
Mr V e n n o r r e , .

’
plied . I l l go fo rward a nd h ay g the con
”
.

duct o r wire ahead for a s e pa r a te table

~
.

But G ef i fi i de Sai d “ P lease d o n t ; let s

'

’ ’

”
é
n

f b
'

’
i h the crowd for I tired
fl

g o w t o n c i fi s o f
bei n g aTWé yS s p eci al i zed
’ ' ‘

” .

The smile w as suggestive o f

the metalli c smirk o n the face of a Ge o rge
the Fourth penny
- “ Just as you please
.
”
,
’
he rejoined but I ll go and find o ut when
and where .

N ow i t chanced that at this precise moment

’
Brockway had laid his hand o n the Tadmor s
door knob preparatory to taking the plunge
-

and when he opened the door he fo und him

self face to face with the P resident W here .

upon he fell back and lost the power o f

speech while the incomer appraised him
,

with his eyes and tried to remember where

he had seen h i m before R ec o gnition brought .

w i th it a s m all frown of annoyance .

 T HE P R IV A T E CAR 2
3

Your n ame is Brockway I beli eve the , ,

P resident said .

Ye yes
” Br o ckway stammered being
-
, ,

b y n o means so sure o f it at the moment

. .

H m and if I remember correctly you

-

”
, ,

are an empl o yee o f this line P

“ I am The p assenger agent was b e
.
~

gi n ning a little to re c over his sc attered store

o f self possession
-
.

“Very good P ossibly you can tell me.

what I want to know W hat is the dinner .

stati o n a n d when do we reach i t ?

,

—
M o reno twel ve ten S hall I wire ahead .

fo r a private t a b l e P Brockwayasked , e ag er .

t o preface his unwelcome purpose with some

sm
’ ’

al l t Ok e n of Sei vi Ce
fi
'

‘
.

73
B yn o means we are no better than the
’

patrons of y o ur c ompany Wh at n o o d
e n o u gh fo r t he m o u h t t o STI fiI C fo i
‘ ’

g C r I s
”
.

’
O f course if you don t wi s h it Brock , ,

way bega n ; and then the plu n ge : “ I am

i n charge o f the excursionists i n this car and ,

they wa n t it placed behi n d yours If you will .

ki n dly co n sent to humor their whim

He stopped in deference to the fr o wn o f dis
pleasure whi ch was gradually overspreadi n g
the P resident s brow
’
.

And so make ou r private car a thorough

2 4 A R OM AN CE IN T RAN S IT

fare for everybody sa i d he indi gnant l y , ,

then with a sudden turn whi ch confused

,

Br o ckway until he saw i ts drift “ RE M “

,

a r e q u i t e r i ght the patrons of y our company

S hould always be considered fi r SE We are
u
T M ’

only guests B y all means m ake the change

.
,

at the first Opp o rtunity ” .

’
P lease don t misunderstand me Brock ,
’
way said courageously ,
I didn t propose .

’
it . If you Object j ust s a y s o and I ll see, ,

them all hanged first ” .

The P resident shook his head reprovingly ,

and Brockway fanci ed he could feel the cold

gray eyes pinni ng him against the parti
ti on .

“ C erta i nly not I am afraid you don t ’

;
su fficien tly consider your duty to your em
l
p y o e r s I.not only authori ze the change
I desire i t I shall requ est it if you do
.

not ”.

Brockway wi n c ed under the patroni zi ng

tone but he was determined not to let pride
,

sta n d i n the way Of better thin gs S o he .

’
said ,
Thank you for helping me o u t I ll .

have the change made at the dinner stati on ,

’
and we ll try not to annoy you any more
than we can help .

That ended i t and he was n o ne arer the ,

 A R OM AN CE I N T RAN S IT

coveted permission and a minute l ater they

,

were i n the kitchen o f the private car i n ,

specting the disabled range .

’
It isn t as bad as it might be Brock ,

way announced finally I think I can

,
.

stop the l eak wi t h yghat tools F c ar fi nd i n

-
‘

th e eng i n e er s box
” ’

”
.

“Yo u ?
’
Yes ; I m a mach i nist by trade , you

fore I went into the passenger department .

B r ockway found a c ertain measu r e o f satis

faction i n running counter t O thé pr sumed
'
“

e
anti craftsman prejudice o f th e m an o f i n
h er i te d wealth .

’
I m sure i t is very g ood o f you to offer ,

’
b ut I couldn t think o f trou b l i ng you ” the ,

P resident said sparring to gai n t im e i n

,

whi ch to per fect a little plan whi ch had just

suggested i tself .

’
O h it s no trouble ; I shall b e g lad
”
,

enough to help y o u o u t .

—
Very well then i f you wish to try
,
I .

will make it worth your while ” .

Brockway straightened up and met the

appraising eyes u n fli n ch i n g l y .

’
E xcuse me Mr V e n n o r but you ve ,
”
.
,

m i staken your man th i s time he sa i d , ,

 T HE P R IV A TE CAR 2 7

’
steadily I ll gladly do it as a kindness
.

—not otherwise .

The P resident smiled I beg y our par

”
.

don, M r Brockway
,
he apolog i zed with
,
‘

the faintest po ssible em ph asis o n the prefix

b e ni Os t g ratefu l if you will come
’

to o u r rescue upon your o wn terms I pre .

sume you won t have time b e fo r e noon

’

N— no ” said Brockway glanci ng at

, ,

his watch and generously burying his pique

’
with the provocation but I ll attack it as
’
soon as we leave Moreno It won t take.

’
l o ngfi
Mr V e n n o r bowed and s aw his newly
.
,

pledged servi tor safely o u t upon the hamper

laden platform He cherished a little theory
.

o f his o w n respecting the discouraging o f

youthful and sentimental i ntimacies and it ,

was bas ed upon conditions whi ch Brock

’
way s propose d undertaking might easily ful
fil . Gertrude had been distinctly pleased
- “

with the youn g man the preceding sli mmer .

O ther thin gs had happ ened Si n ce ,

u n a te l y F l ee tw e l l w as alo n g to look after his

,

o wn interests N one the les s i t m i gh t be

.
,

IM
fi

well EF c o iI t i o n s
2 8 A R OM AN CE '

IN T RAN S IT

e qual A cc ord i n g l y the President sought o u t

.
,

the porter and gave him his instructions .

Willi am that young man will c ome i n

,

this afternoon to repair the range When .

he i s well at work I want y ou to c ome and

”
,

tel l m e .
 TH E D I N N ER S T AT I O N

’
TH E railway c ompany s hotel at Moreno
is a pretentious Q ueen A nne co ckle shell -
,

confronted by a broad platform flowing in

an unrippled tide o f plan king between the
veranda and the track with tributary ,

wooden streams paralleling the r ai l s .

Bro ckway knew this platform by length

and by breadth ; and when the “ Flying
Kestrel ranged alongside he meant to p r o
j e c t himself into the process i on Of dinner
seekers what time Miss V e n n o r S hould be
’
passing the Tadmor But Z fi omm e p r op os e
.
,

’
ez l a f em m e
O h Mr Brockway
,
. you help me ; w ill
find my satchel ? the o n e with the mono :

gram you know I c an t find it anywhere

,
.
”’
.

Thus o n e o f the unescorted ladies whose m a

j or weakness was a hopeless inability to keep
in tou c h with her numerous belongings .

The train was already at a stan d but ,

2 9
 3 0 A R O M AN CE IN T RAN S IT

Brockway smothered his impatien c e and

j o i ned the search for the missi n g hand bag -
,

contenting himself with a g limpse o f the

’
P resident s daughter as s h e passed the wi n
dows of the Tadmor Fleeti n g as it was the .
,

glimpse fired his heart anew The year had .

brought her added largesse o f beauty a n d

winsomeness The wind w as blowi n g free
.

and riotous caressing the soft brown hair

,

under the dainty travelling hat and twistin g ,

the modest gray gown i nto clinging drap ~

eries as she breasted i t Brockway gazed .

and worshipped afresh and prudence and ,

poverty pride v anished when he Observed

-

that she was leani n g u pon the arm o f an

athletic you n g man whose attitude was ,

su ffi ciently lover like to make the passenger

-

agent abj ure wisdom and curse c ommon

sense .

That s what I get fo r playing the fi n i c al

’

i di o t I he groaned A year ago I mi g ht

.

’
have had i t all m y own way i f I hadn t bee n
a pride ridden fool C onfound the mo n ey ,

W
.

anyway i t s e n o ug l n to M’
i’
.

were al l ati i he bottom o f the sea "

W ith whi ch anarchisti c r eflection he went w

EE
m

p u t to ar r,a
pg
o
e f o r S ; fe r r i n
g t

and i n c i deh tal l y to get his own dinner

, , .
 T HE D I NN E R S T A TI O N 3 1

When the first was done there was scant time

for the second and he was at the lunch
,

counter when the P r es i den t s p ar ty went back ’

fl

t o the Naught fi fty -

.

“Why they ve taken o n an o ther car

’
, ,

said Gertrude notici n g the chan ge

”
.
,

No,
her father rejoined shortly we ,

have a passenger agent o n b dar d and he ,

’
has seen fit to put his ex c ursionists c ar i n
the rear .

’
A t the word Gertrude s thoughts went
,

bae k to a certain afternoon filled wi th a

s wift rush down a precipit o us canyon with ,

a brawling stream at the track side and a -

,

simple hearted young man k n owi ng naught

-
,

Of the a r ti fi c i al i ti es and much Of the things

that are at her elbow
,
.

The train Of reflection paused when they

“

reached the sitting room Of the private car-

,

’
but i t went o n agai n when the P resident s
daughter had curled herself into the depths
Of a great wicker sleepy hollow to watch the -

unending procession o f stubble fi el ds slip -

ping past the car window How artlessly .

de v oted he had been this earnest young ,

private in the great business army ; s o dif

f e r en t from—well from C hester Fl ee twe l l
, ,

fo r example .
’
C hester s were the m anners
3 2 A R OM A N CE IN T RAN S IT

o f
a later day ; a day i n which the purely
social distinctions o f s e x are much ignored .

That too was pleasan t i n its way

, , A nd , .

yet there was something very charming i n

the elder fashion .

A nd Mr Brockway kne w his r Ol e and

.

—
played i t well i f indeed i t were a r Ol e , , , ,

which she very much doubted O ld school .

manners are not to be put o n and o ff like

a garment nor I s Si ncerity to be aped as a
,

fad .Just here reflection bec am e specula

tive What had become Of Mr Brockway
. .

sin c e their Mormon day P Had he gone

o n with his school mistresses and ended by -

marrying o n e Of them ? There was some

thing repellent I n the thought O f h i s marry
i ng any o n e but when reason demand ,
’
ed a reas on Gertrude s fathe r had joined
,

her .

I hope we S h al l b e able to have di nner

”
in the c ar the P resident said drawi ng u p
, ,

a cha i r “ I stumbled upon a young me

.

chani e when I went for ward to inquire

about the eating station an d he agreed to -
,

repa i r the ra n ge this afternoon .

How fortunate I
Yes ” the P resident rej oi ned and then
,

he began to debate with himself as to the

34 A R OM AN CE IN T RAN S IT

through the train in uniform laughed

the engineer .

W hy “ B ro c kway
de me nded “
.

“I m not ashamed o f the blue denim yet

’
.

’
Wore it too long .

’
He donned the c raftsman s uni form .

The garments were a trifle short at the ex

t r em i ti es but they more than made up fo r
,

the l ack equatorially .

’
How s that for a lightning c hange ?
he shouted tryi n g to make hi mself heard
,

above the di n and c langor o f the engine .

Just hang o n to my coat and hat till I get

’
back and I l l swap wi th you again ” A nd .
,

gathering up the handful o f tools he climbed ,

back over the c oal and d i sappear ed throug h

the door o f the m ail c ar .
 AT TH E M EE T I N G -
P O IN T

B RO C KW AY made his way unre c ognized

through the trai n and found the Fa l s ta ffi an
,

c oo k awaiting him i n the kitchen o f the

N aught fi fty
-
.Five mi nutes later he was ,

hard at work o n the disabled stove quite ,

reckless o f soot and grime and intent only

u pon making a workmanlike
j o b of the r e

pai rs . The narr o w compartment was none

too well ventilated and he was soon work
,

ing in an atmosphere rivalling that of the

hot room i n a Turkish bath W herefore he
-
.

wrought arduously and in due time the

,

leaky joi n t was made whole .

A fter turning the water on and satisfying

himself o f the fact Brockway crawled o u t
,

fro m behi n d the range and got upon his feet

with a sigh o f relief Just then the portway
.

’
into the waiter s pantry filled with faces like
the arch o f a proscenium b ox i n a theatre-
.

Brockway wheeled quickly at the sound o f

35
3 6 A R OM AN C E IN T RAN S IT

v oi ces and s aw the P resident o n e young ,

woman wi th eye glasses and another with -

out , a clean faced young man with un c ut

-

,
—
hair and Miss V e n n o r .

“ Ha " sai d the P resident wi th the

,

King George Fourth smile and h i s coldest

stare ; we caught you fai rly i n the m idst
’
o f i t didn t we
, Mr Brockway ? Do you , .

s till assert that we shall dine at o u r o wn

table this evening ? ”

’
The e ffect o f Mr V en n o r s dramati c little .

surprise was varied and n o t altogether as he

had p r efi g u r ed A s for the person most
.

deeply concerned n o o n e was ever less ,

’
ashamed o f a craftsman s insignia than was
B rockway but when he s aw that the P res i
dent had permi tted him to do a servi ce fo r
the sole purpose o f m aking him appear r i d i o
n l o u s his heart was hot in jus t proportion to
,

the magni tude o f the affront .

A s for Gertrude s h e c ould have wept ,

wi th pity and indignation This was the .

young mechani c her father had found

and used only to make him a laughing
,

sto c k ' The light o f a sudden purpose

flashed i n the steady gray eyes and s h e spoke ,

qui ckly before Bro c kway c ou l d reply to her

,
’
father s gi b e .
 AT T HE M E ETI N G -P OIN T 37

Why Mr Brock way where did you

, .

'

c ome from ? It really seems that yo u a r e

fated to be o u r good angel H av e you act
“

. A

u al l y got it repaired P The winsome face

disappeared from the portway and before ,

Brockway could Open h i s lips s h e was stand

ing beside hi m S how me what was the
”
.

matter with i t s h e said ,

.

He obeyed wi th proper verbal c i rcum

,

s tan c e
,
gaining a little self possession with -

e very added phrase Gertrud e led him o n

.
,

laughing and chatting and dragging the

others into the rescue until Brockway quite
forgot that he w as supposed to be a laughing
stock for gods and men .

“I m very glad to meet you I m sure

’ ’
, ,

he sai d bowi ng gravely to the Misses Beas

,

wi cke when Gertrude had ac tually gone the

,

length o f introducing him “ Mr F l e e tw el l .

,

I ve heard o f yo u —and that s probably m o re

’ ’

than you can s ay o f me Mr V e n n o r I .

,

think yo u may safely cou n t upon having your

dinner in the Naught fi fty ” -
.

Yes thanks to you

, said Gertrude , ,

q uickly . Have you — will your other en

g ga e m e n ts let you join us P

Brockway was o f four di fferent minds i n
as many seconds Here was a chance to de
.
3 8 A R OM AN CE IN TRAN S IT

feat Mr V e n n o r at his o wn game and love

.

added i ts w o rd But he could not consent

.

to break unwelcome bread a n d was ab o ut to ,

excuse hi m self when the P resident i n answer ,

t o an imperative signal flying i n Gertrude s ’

eyes seconded the invitation

,
.

“Yes come in and j oi n us Mr Brock

, , .

’
way we shall be glad to have you I m
”
,

sure . The stony stare whi ch accompanied

the words was anything but hospitable but ,

the P resident felt that he had done his wh o le

duty and something over and above .

Brockway hesitated a moment glan ced at ,

Gertrude and accepted

,
Then he began to .

gather up the tools Gertrude caught up her .

skirts and stepped i nto the vestibule to give

him room .

“ You ll n o t disappoint us w i ll you ?

’
,

she said by way o f leave taki n g

, Yo u -
.

may come as early as you please I want

”
.

you to meet C ousin Jean n ette .

The p o rtway pr o scenium box was empty -

by this time and Brockway dropped his tools

,

and spoke his mind .

Miss V e n n o r I know and you k n ow that

, , ,

I ought not to come at all It was awfully .

good of you to ask me but ,

But what ? s h e said encouragingl y ,

.
 A T T HE M E ETI N G P OIN T
-
39

I think y o u must understand what I

want to say and can t ” ’
he went o n You .
,

saw that I w as like to be overtaken by a fit

o f very foolish self consci o usness and yo u
-
,

were kind enough to come to my rescue I .

’
appreciate i t but I don t want to take u n
,

due advantage o f i t .

’ ’
I m sure I don t know what you mean ,

s h e laughed . We shall l o ok for you b e

’
tween six and seven A nd you ll c o me
.
,

because I m g o ing t o run away now before

’
,

y o u have a chance to retract Good b y .

-

till this evening ” .

 RE G A R D L E SS O RD ER S

’
TEN hou rs westing from the M i ssour i
R iver takes a m oderately fast train well into
the great grazing region whose name is
L ength and B readth and whose hori zon is
,

l ike that o f the sea S ince leaving A ntelope

.

S prings howev er the

, , Flying Kestrel
had been lagging a littl e Fo r this cause.
,

the supper station was still more than an

hour away when Brockway deserted his a n
c i e n ts and invalids and crossed the platforms

to the rear door o f the private car .

The admission that he dreaded the ordeal

i s no t to be set down to his dis c redit His .

li fe had been an arduous struggle for an edu ,

c ation and the necess i ties first and for a d ,

vancement afterward In such a c onflict

.
,

utility speedily becomes the watchword and ,

i f the p as senger agent were less o f a worka

day drudge than his fe l lows he w as modestly
,

unaware o f the fact .

4 2 A R O M AN C E I N T RAN SIT

of turning compliments she said but Mrs

, .

D u nham came to his rescue .

“ I suppose your o ccupation keeps o u

y
away from home a great deal doesn t i t ? ,
’

she asked .

“ It certai nly would i f I had a home

,

B ro ckway replied .

Do you have to travel all the time ?

R ather more than n ine tenths of i t I -

”
,

should s ay .

“ H o w dreadful ly tiresome it must b e

come " O f cou rse when o n e is seeing
,

things for the first time i t is very i nterest

i ng ; but I should imagi n e the car window -

poi nt o f V iew would become hackneyed in a

very li ttle while ”
.

It does and i t i s patheti cally u n s a ti s

fy i n g if o n e care for anything more than a
glimpse o f things I have gone up and
.

down i n my distri ct fo r four years and yet ,

I know nothing o f the country o r the peo

ple outside o f a narrow ribbon here and
there with a railway line i n the centre ” .

That is a good thought Gertrude said , .

I have often boasted of havi n g seen the

W est but I believe I have only threaded i t
”
,

back and forth a few times .

That is a l l any of u s do Bro ckway ,

.
 R E G A R D L E SS O R D E RS 43

ass er t e d O ur knowledge o f the people

.

outside o f th e railway towns is very limi ted .

I once made a horseback gr ip through the -

back counties o f E ast Tennessee and it was ,

a revelation to me I never understood u n

W
.

til then the truth o f M O

ple who live within s ight o f a r ai l waju a l l “ _ __

have th e r ai l way di athesis .

‘ P
M é a n I n g that t hey lose in
ation ? sai d
— -

Ii a t
’ M

"P S
’

J I I t They become a part o f the

t .

mo v ing world and as the r a i l way/ cu nn i ng

ss l s much t he s amm
w fl -‘ v w -‘ M
e

p op e o u n tr over
r
y m
,

t h e y TO
’

ti o fi l ty p
’

c
’
es .

M r s Dunham leaned back in her chai r

.

and began to make mental notes with queries

after them Mr V e n n o r had gi v en her to
. .

understa n d that they were to have a r a m

served u nderdone for dinner ; and in
'

a nz s , , ,

the kindness o f her heart she had determined ,

”
to see that the young artisan as her cousin ,

had called him was not led o n to his own ,

u n d o ing N ow however she began to s u s

.
, ,

pe o t that s o me o n e had m ade a mistake .

This y o ung man seemed to be abundantly

a b l e to fight his o w n battles .

I presume you are very fam iliar with

44 A R O M AN C E I N T RAN S IT

this part o f the country—along your o wn

line Mr Bro ckway ” s h e said when the
, , ,
.

waiter came i n to lay the plates .

In the way that I have j ust indicated ,

yes . I know s o much o f i ts face as you can

s e e from this window Bu t my knowled ge .

’
doesn t go much beyond the visible hori
z on .
”
N either does mine , but I can i magine ,

Gertrude sai d .

“A h yes but i mag ination i sn t knowl ’

,

’
N o ; i t s often better .

P leasanter , you mean ; I grant y ou

N o I meant more a c curate

,
.

For i nstance P
Gertrude smiled Y o u are quite mer c i .

’
l ess aren t yo u ? But if I must defend m y
,

self I should s a y that imagination paints a

composite p i cture o u t o f drawing as to de ,

tails perhaps but typi c ally true ”

,
.
,

Brockway obje c ted Being u n i magi n a .

tive I can t quite accept that ”

’
, .

’
C an t you P That is what P riscilla Beas
wi cke would call the disadvantage o f being
O ccidentali zed .

I suppose I am that Brockway d a ~

,
 R E G AR D L E SS O R D E RS 45

m i t te d che erfully I can always breathe

.

freer o u t here between these wide hori zons

a n d the majesty o f this G r ea f F l atn ess appeals
‘ ’

to me even more than that o f the moun

tains .
”
They followed hi s gesture The s u n was .

dipping to the western edge o f the bare

plain and the air was filled wi th ambient
,

gold The tawny earth naked and limi tless

.
, ,

melted so remotely into the dusty glow o f

the sky as to leave no line o f demarcation .

'

The lack o f shadows and the absence o f

landmarks c o n fii s ed the senses until the flying
trai n seemed to stand with ungrippi ng wheels
i n the midst of a slowly re v olving disk o f
yellow flatness through whi ch the telegraph
,

p o les a n d mile posts darted wi th sentient and

-

uncanny swi ftness .

I can feel i ts sublimi ty Gertrude said , ,

softly an swering his thought

,
but its s o l
e m u unchangeableness depresses me I love .

’
n ature s m oods and tenses and it seems flip ,

pant to mention such things i n the presence

o f so much fi x i ty
” .

Brockway smiled The prairie has its

.

m oods too A little later in the year we

,
.

sh o uld be runni n g betwee n lines o f fire a n d ,

“
those big balls o f tumbleweed wo u ld be r af
46 A R O M AN C E I N T RAN S IT

ing ahead o f the wind l ike small meteors .

L ater still when the snows come it has its

, ,

savage mood when a n ything with blood in

”
,

its veins may not go abroad and live .

I suppose yo u have been o u t here i n a

’
bli zzard haven t y o u ?
, s a d the chaperon

but when he would have replied there was a :

general stir and the waiter announced

”
,

D i nner is served .
 A D I NN ER O N W H EE L S

WH E N the P resident s party gathered abou t ’

the table Mrs Dunham placed Brockway at

,
.

her right wi th Gertrude beside him

,
Mr . .

V e n n o r disappro v ed o f the arrangement but ,

he hoped that P riscilla B eas wi c k e who was ,

’
Brockway s wi r d w s might be depended
’

- -
,

u pon to divert the passenger agent s atte n

’

tion Miss B eas wi ck e confirm ed the h o pe

.

wi th her sec o nd spoonful o f soup by ask i n g

Brockway what he thought o f T o u r gu é n i e f .

N ow to the passen ger agent the great

, ,

R ussian novelist w as as yet no more tha n a

name and he said s o frankly and took no
,

shame therefor W hereupon Mr V e n n o r. .

’
O h come P riscilla ; you must n t begin
, ,

o n Mr Brockway like that

. I fancy he has .

had scant time to dabble in your little intel

lectual fads ” .

Gertrude looked up quickly and the keen ,

sense o f j ustice began to assert itself Hav .

47
4s A R OM AN C E IN T R A N S IT

ing escaped the pillory in his ch aracter of

artisan the passenger agent was to be held
,

up to r idicule i n hi s pr o per pers o n N ot i f .

s h e could help i t Gertrude promised her

,

self ; and she turned suddenly upon the col

legia n .

W hat do you think o f T o u r gu é n i e f ,

C ousin C hester ? s h e asked amiably , .

A good bit less than nothing an ,

s w e r ed the athlete wi th his eyes I n his plate

, .

W hat is there about him that we ought to

’
know a n d don t
Tell us Priscilla sa i d Gertrude pass
, , ,

ing the query along .

But the elder Miss B e as wi ck e refused to

enlighten anyone G o and get his b o ok
.

and read i t as I d id ,
s h e said ,
.

’
I sha n t fo r o n e’ ” F l e etwel l declared, .

’ ’
I can t read the original and I won t read ,

a translation .

Have you read him i n the original ,

P riscilla ?
” Gertrude i nquired determi n ed ,

to push the subject s o far a field that i t could

never get back .

“ O h hush " said the elder Miss Beas

,

wicke What is the matter with yo u two

”
. .

I refuse positively to be q u arrelled w i th .

T hat ended the R ussian divagation and ,

50 A R OM AN CE IN T R A N SIT
’

hall et s equ en tz a until Brockway sinks

,

back into oblivion to come to the surface

ten minutes later at a summons fr o m the
other side .

G er tr u de purposely losing the thread o f

,

P riscilla B e as wi ck e s remarks o n the claims

’

o f theosophy to an unprejudiced hearing

“W hat makes you so quiet Mr Brockway P
, .

Tell me about your other adventures with

the school teachers —after you left S alt L ake
-

C ity you know ”

,
.

B r o ck way catching at the friendly straw

,

with hope once more reviving : Then you

’
—
haven t forgotten excus e me ; Miss Beas
wicke is speaking to you A nd the door .

shuts in his fac e and leaves him agai n I n

outer darkness .

In the nature of things mundane even the ,

most leisurely dinner cannot last forever .

’
Brockway s ordeal came to an end wi th the
black coffee and when he was free he would
,

have vanished qu i ckly i f Gertrude had not

detained him .

You are not going to l eave us at on c e ,

are you she protested .

“I —I think I d better go b a ck to my’

’ ’
‘
ancients and i n val i ds if you ll exc use ,

me ”
.
 A D INN E R O N W H E EL S 5 1

Gertrude was co n scie n ce stricken and her -

,

h ospi table angel upbraided her fo r having

given her guest a n u n th a n k fu Lm e a l W here .

fore she sought to make amends .

’
Don t go just yet unless y o u are obliged
to s h e pleaded “ S it d o wn and tell me
, .

’
about the s c h o o l m a a m s How far did you
.

go with them P
I had to make the whole blessed cir
cuit , he said tarrying willingly e n ough
, .

Do you often ha v e such deliciously irre

spo n sible peop l e to conv o y ?
Not o ften but the regular people usual
l y make u p for i t i n — well in c a n t an k e r ,

’
o u s n ess that s about the only word that
w i l l fit i t
. Brockway was thinking o f the
exacting majority in the Tadmor .

’
A nd yet it does n t make you misan
th r o pi c ? I should think it would W hat .

place is this we are coming to P

C arv alho—the supper station .

Gertrude s a w her father coming toward

them she guessed his purpose and resented
it. I f she chose to make ki n dly amends to
the passenger agent for his sorry dinner she ,

would not be prevented .

We stop here a little wh il e d on t we P ,

’

s h e as ked of Brockway .
5 2 A R O M AN CE IN T RAN SIT

Y es ; twenty minutes o r more Would .

y o u like to go out for a breath o f fresh

air ? ” S he had risen and caught up her
wrap and hat .

I should i t is just what I was going to

’
propose . C ousi n Jeannette I m going to ,

walk o n the platform with Mr Brockway .

”
.

C ome she said ; and they escaped before

,

Mr V en n o r could overtake them

. .

O n c e outsi de they paced up and d own

,

u nder the wi ndows o f the train chatting ,

remi n iscently o f four bright days a year

agone and shunning the i ntervening period
,

as two people will whose lives have met

and touched and gone apart again A t the .

second turn they met Mrs Dunham and

,
.

F l ee t w e l l and at the third the P resident, ,

sandwiched between Hannah and P riscilla

B eas w i c k e . Whereupon Brockway scent ,

i n g espionage dre w Gertrude away toward

,

the engine .

The great , b la c k bulk o f the heavy ten

wheeler loomed portentous and the smoky ,

’
flare o f the engineer s torch as he thrust it ,

i nto the machi nery to guide the s n out o f his

Oil can threw the overhanging mass o f iron
-
,

and steel into sombre relief .

Brockway shaded h i s eyes under h i s hand

 A D I NN E R ON W H E E LS 53

and peered up at the numbe r beneath the

cab wind o w The new . he said ;
“ we ll get back some o f O I lost time b e
’
B
hi n d her ” .

Do you know t h em all by n am e ?

Gertru de queried .

O h n o n o t all
, .

I suppose you ve ridden o n them many ’

times P
Brockway laughed I S hould s a y I .

h ad on both sides as the enginemen ,

s ay .

W hat does that mean P

“It s slang fo r firi n g and driving I ve
’ ’
;
done a little o f both you k no w ” .
,

“ I didn t k no w it ’
Isn t i t terribly .
’

dangerous ? W hen anythi n g happe n s the ,

men on the engine are almost always killed ,

’
aren t they P
’ ’
When they are i t s because they haven t
’
time to save themsel v es It s all nonsense .

—newspaper n o nsense mostly— about the ,

e n gi neer sticki ng t d his post like the boy o n

the burning deck A man can do whate v er
.

there is to be do n e t o ward st o pping his

trai n while you could count te n and no ,

amount of heroism could accomplish any

more ” .
54 A R O M AN CE IN T RAN S IT

I have often thought I should l i ke to

ride o n an e n gine Gertrude said , .

“ I wish I had known i t earlier in the

day ; your wish might have been gratified
very easily ” .

“ Might it ? I suppose they never let

any o n e ride o n the night engines do ,

they P
Brockway caught his breath Do y o u .

—
m ean would you trust m e to take yo u on
the engine to night P he asked wondering
-
,

i f he had heard aright .

”
Wh y not ? s h e said with sweet gr av ,

i ty .

The engineer had oiled his way around to

their side and Brockway spoke to him
”
.
,

Good evening Mac -

he said and the
, ,
"

man turned and held u p his torch

”
.

Hello Fred he began ; and then

, , ,

’
seeing Gertrude E x cus e m e I didn t s e e ,

the lad y ” .

A t a sign from Gertrude B ro ckway i n ,

t r o du c e d the engineer Miss V e n n o r .

,

—
this is Mr Maclure o n e o f o u r oldest run
.

ners ”.

’
I m very glad to know y o u Mr Mac , .

lure said Gertrude sweetly and the m an

, ,

o f machinery scraped his feet and salaamed .

 A D I NN E R ON W H E E LS 55

Mac Miss V en n o r thinks she would

,

l ike to take a night spi n on the 9 2 6 May .

we ride a little way wi th you

W ell I should sa y
,
as s ented Maclure .

Just pile i n and make yourselves at home

—
and excuse m e I hain t qui te got thr o ugh ’

’ ’
oi l i n round yet
Thank you said Brockway ; then to
,

Gertrude We must find y o ur father o r

’
Mrs Dunham qui ck we have n t more than
”
.

a minute or two .

They r a n back and fortun ately came upon

Mrs Dunham and the collegia n
. .

’
C ousin Jeannette I m g o ing to ride on ,

the engine with Mr Brockway Gertrude

.
,

’
explained breathlessly
, Don t say I .

’ ’ ’
sha n t for I will , It s the chance o f a li fe
.

time Good b y and don t sit up for

-
’

”
.

me .

’
I ll take good c are o f her Brockway ,

put in and before the astonished lady

could expostulate o r approve they were ‘

s cudd i ng forward to the 9 2 6 .

 TH E CA B OF TH E TEN WH EE L ER
-

E N G I N EER M was leaning o u t o f

AC UR E L
the cab wi n dow watching for the co n duct,

’
o r s signal when Brockw ay and Gertrude
,

c ame up .

’ ’
Didn t know but you d backed o u t ,

h e said , j ocosely when they had climbed ,

aboard .

O h no i ndeed we had to get word to

”
, ,

my father said Gertrude ,

.

The engi neer waved them a c ross the c ab .

Make you r selves at h o me ; h e 9 2 6 b e

t

longs to you as long as you want to o w n

’
her Just you pre empt Johnnie s box over
.
-

there Fred and make t he young l ady com

,
”
,

fo r t a b l e .

Brockway stuck a propiti atory cigar i nto

the pocket o f the fi r em a n s j umper an d pro ’
,

c e e d e d t o carry o ut his i n structions Before .

the tardy signal came Gertrude was perched ,

upon the high seat with her skirts gathered ,

56
58 A RO M AN C E I N T R AN SI T

no matter what happens to ei ther o f us in

the future no o n e can ever rob me o f this ”
, .

He half expected a rebuke and wa i ted a ,

moment wi th bec o ming humili ty When i t .

did n o t come he swung himself int o the seat

,

behi n d her and held his peace until she spoke

again . That w as fi v e full mi n utes afterward .

F o r that length of time Gertrude w as crushed

under an avalanche o f new sensations The .

last switch light i n the C arvalho yards had

-

flashed to the rear and the 9 2 6 was quick,

e n i n g her speed wi th sharp little forward

’
lunges under M a c l u r e s skilful goading The .

diz zying process i o n o f grayish whi te tele -

graph poles hurling itself past the cab win

-

dows the thousand clang o rous voi ces of the

great machine the i n termi ttent glare from
the fi r e box door alternati ng with the fiery
-
,

shower of sparks pouring from the smoke

—
stack i t was a bi t o f pandemonium d e
t a ch e d and dashing through space and she ,

sat cowed and stunned by the rush and the

uproar But presently the warm W i n e o f
.

excitement began to quicken her heart .

beats
” s h e exclai med try
.

“ Isn t i t glorious "

’
,

i ng to look back at him .

It is quite poss i ble for t wo persons to c on

 T HE C A B O F T HE T EN -WH E EL ER 59

verse in the cab o f a flying locomotive but ,

the factor o f distance must be eliminated .

W herefore he bent over h er till his mustache "

brushed the pink ear .

I am glad you like it A re yo u still quite .

comfortable
Yes indeed thank you
,
H o w fast are
, .

we goi n g now
“A bout tw e n ty fi v e miles an hour but -
,

we ll do ub l e that w
“ “ “

h en M a cl fi r e gets h er
’

warmed Up ” .

”
Double i t Why we see m to be fairl y
Q .
,

q in now
v g
”
W ait said Brockway
, .

Maclure was sitting sphynx like o n h i s -

box coming to li fe now and then to reduce

,

the an gle o f the reversing lever o r to i n -

,

crease that o f the throttle The fireman .

labored steadily swaying back an d forth b e

,

twee n the coal chute and the fi r e box door

- -
,

his close fi tti n g cap o n the back o f his head

-
,

and Brockway s cigar — ’

unlighted i n defer , ,

ence to Gertrude — between his teeth .

W hat dreadfully hard work i t must be

to sho v el coal that way all night ” Gertrude ,

said following the rhythmic swing o f the

,

fi r e m an s sin ewy figure with her eyes

’
.

’
He s getting his fire into shape now , ,
60 A R OM AN C E I N T RAN S IT
’
B rockway expla i ned He ll have i t easie r
”
.

after a bi t .

W h y d oesn t he smoke his cigar P’

B ro ckway smi l ed
"

Because down under .

,

the gr i me and coal dust and other d i sguises-

,

t h ere i s a dr 0p o r two o f gen tl e b l o o d I

'

“ “ ‘
f r

”
,

fancy .

’ ’
You mean it s becau se I m here P lease
tell hi m to light his ci gar i f he wants to ”
, .

Brockway o b eyed and the fireman u n ,

’
bent and bobbed his head i n Gertrude s
di rection Thank ye ma am ” he ’
, ,

shouted wi th a good natured grin o n his

,
-

b oyish face ; “ but I m th i n k i n a dhry ’ ’

’ ’
smoke s good enough fo r the lady s car
an d he ben t to his work again while the ,

endless procession o f telegraph poles hurtled -

past wi th ever increasing swi ftness an d the

-
,

sh arp blasts o f the exhaust l ost their inter

m i t ten c e and b ecame blent in a c ontinuous ‘
,

roar .

P resent l y the laboring engine began to

,

heave and roll like a storm tossed vessel -

,

and Gertrude was fain to make use o f the

foot rest
-
Being but a novi ce s h e made
.
,

unskilful work o f i t ; and when her foot

slipped for the thi rd time Brockway took ,

hi s c ourage in bo th hands .
 T HE C A B O F T HE T EN WHE EL ER
- 61

Just lean back and brace you r self

’
agai nst m y shoulder he said ,
I m afraid
’
y ou ll get a fall .

S he did it and he held himself in watch

,

ful readiness to catch her i f s h e shoul d lose

her balan c e .

I s that better
S he nodded Mu c h bet ter thank y o u
.
,
.

Have we doubled i t yet ?

B rockway took o u t his wat c h and t i med
the revolutions o f the flying drive wheels -
.

’
N ot qui te but we re bettering the s ch ed
,

ule by several miles Do you still enjoy

.

it P
Yes m uch but it s very dreadful isn t
’ ’
, ,

i t ? I don t s ee how he dares I

’

Wh o Ma c lure ?
“Yes o r anyone e lse To me it seems
, .

braver than a nyth i ng I ever read o f— t o

”
d r 1 v e a grea t thi n g l ike this with s o m a n y
_
W

precious li ves behind i t TEE responsibili ty

.

m
It would be i f a fellow thought o f i t all
’
the time but o n e doesn t you know N ow , .

’
I ll vent u re a guess that Mac is just s p ecu l a t
ing as to h o w much o f the Kestrel s lost ’ ’

time he can get ba c k b etween this and the

end of his run ” .
62 A R O M AN C E I N T RAN S IT

But the shrewd o l d pi o neer with the Sc ot

tish name was thinking o f no such prosaic
thing . O n the c o ntrary he was wonderi n g
,

who Miss V e n n o r wa s ; i f s h e would be a

worthy helpmate for the passenger agent ;
and if s o how he could help matters along
, .

The switch lights o f A rriba were twinkli n g

-

i n the distance and his hand w as o n the

,

whistle lever when the engineer reached a

-
,

conclusion .The next i nstant Gertrude

shrieked and would have tumbled i gn o m i n i
’
o u s l y into the fi r e m an s scoop i f Brockway

had not ca ught her .

How silly o f me " s h e said shame ,

fa c e dl y
. O ne would think I had never
heard a locomotive whistle before But it .

was s o totally unexpected ” .

I should have warned you but I d i dn t ,

’

think . This is A rriba ; do you want to go

back ?
Gertrude was enj oying herself keenly ,

after a certain barbari c and unfettered

fashion hitherto undream ed o f and she was,

tempted to drink a little deeper from the

cup o f freedom be fore going back to the
proprieties Moreover there was doubtle ss
.
,

a goodly measure o f reproof awaiting her ,

and when s h e re m embered thi s s h e de ,

 T HE C A B O F T HE T EN - WHE E L E R 63

t er m i n e d t o get the full v alue of the casti

g a t i o n .

’
I ll go o n if you ll let me s h e said
’
, , .

L et you Brockway had been trem

bli n g for fear his little b u bble ofj o y was about
to burst and would have multiplied words
,
.

But before he could say m o re the 9 2 6 ,

thundered past the station a n d came to a

stand .

Maclure r eleased the air brak e and clam -

,

bering down from his box dragged the p as ,

se n ger agent from his seat and s o o u t to the

g angway .

S ay Fred is s h e goi n back ?

, , he ’

whispered .

N o not j ust yet

, .

’
Bully for her ; she s got sa nd sh e has ,
.

R eckon you c o uld run a spell and talk to

her at the same time P
’
Brockway s n erves ti n gled at the bare
suggestion Try m e a n d s e e
.
” he said , .

’
I t s a go said Maclure Get her
, .

o v er there o n my si de and I ll smoke me a ,

’

’ ’
pipe out o J o hnnie s wi n dow S wear to .

bob I won t look around on c e " ’

 F I FT Y M I L ES A N H O UR

L ET m e promote you Miss V en n o r , ,

B ro ckway said helping Gertrude to the

,

foot board
-
Mr Maclure says y o u may
”
.

have his seat for awhile .

Gertrude acquiesced unquestioningly .

For some cause as yet unclassified acqui ,

es c en c e seemed to be qui te the proper thing

when s h e was with Brockway though do c i l ,

i ty with others was not her most remarkable

characteristi c . W hen sh e was safely b e
stowed Maclure rang the be ll and gave
,

Brockway his i n structi ons .

Next stop s R ed Butte— twenty seven

’
-

—
miles thirty eight minutes 0
-
card time — no ’
-

’
all o wance for slow 1 n down at C orral S iding .

’
A nd if you can twist em any quicker do it ,
.

Turn her loose .

The engi neer b etook h i mself to the fi r e

’ ’
man s box and Brockway s resoluti on was
,

taken o n the spur o f the moment .

64
66 A R O M ANC E IN T RAN S IT

The reversing l eve r o f a big ten wheeler

- -

’
is no child s plaything and he stood ready ,

t o help her if she could not ma n age i t But .

Miss V e n n o r did m a n age i t th o ugh the first ,

n o tch o r two had to be fought for ; and

Maclure who had quite fo rg o tte n his prom
,

ise not to look o n applauded e n th u s i as ti

,

cally
Good said B ro c kway approvingly ,

you are doing famously N ow a little .

’
m ore throttle that s enough .

The 9 2 6 forged ahead obediently and ,

Gertrude beg an to enter into the spiri t o f

the thing .

“This is simply Titani c " sh e exclai med .

W hat shall I do next

C ut h er back a little m ore Brockway ,

commanded two notches N o w a little

”
.

—
more steam more yet that will do .

The great engine lunged forward like a

goaded ani mal and Gertrude s a t up v ery
,

straight and clung to the reversing lever -

when the cab began to lurch and sway But .

’
s h e obeyed Brockway s directions promptly

and impli citly .

Don t be afraid o f her he said

’ “ Yo u .
,

have a clear track and a heav y rail .

I m not afraid
’
she asserted ; “ I m ’
,
 '

TI ET Y M I LE S A N HO UR 67

miles beyo n d that n ow If anything should

,
.

happe n we d all be dead before we fo und i t

,
’

o u t s o I can be perfectly reckless

” .
,

Mile after mile of the le v el plain swept

backward under the drumming wheels and ,

’
Brockway s heart made musi c withi n him
because i t had some li ttle fragment of its de
sire In order to s ee the track through the
.

front windo w o f the cab he had to lean his ,

elbow o n the c ushion beside her a n d i t ,

—
brought them very near nearer he thought , ,

than they would ever be agai n .

Gertrude was much too full o f the magni

t u de o f things to care to talk but s h e was ,

fi n ally moved to ask another question .

A re we really running along on the rails

just like any well behav ed trai n P I t seems to
- '

me we must have left the track quite a while

ago .
”
Brockway laughed Y o u would know it
.
,

i f we had Do yo u see those two little yel

.

low lights away o u t ahead P

Yes ; what are they P
They are th e switch lights at C orral -

S idi n g Take hold o f this lever and blow

.

the whistle yourself ; then i t won t startle ’

you so much ” .

Gertrude did that also although i t was , ,

68 A R O M ANC E IN T RAN S IT

more trying to her nerves than all that had

gone before Then Brockway showed her
.

h o w to reduce speed .

P ush the throttle in as far as it will go

that s right N ow the reversing lever—both
’
.
-

’
hands and brace yourself that s it
, No w -
.

take hold o f this handle and twist i t that

w ay—slowly more yet -
the ai r whistled
shrilly through the v ent and the song o f the
,

b rake shoes o n the wheels o f the trai n rose

-

abo v e the discordant clangor — “ that will

—
do turn i t back ” he added when the
, ,

speed had slackened sufficiently ; and he

leaned for ward wi th his hand o n the brake
lever and scanned the approac hin g side tra c k -

with practised eyes

”
.

A ll clear " he announ c ed spr i ng i n g ,

back quickly P ull up this lever again ,

”
.

and give her steam .

Gertrude obeyed like an automaton ,

though s h e blenched a li ttle when the small

station building at the S iding roared past ,

and in a few seconds the 9 2 6 w as again bet

tering the schedule .

How fast are we going n o w ? she

asked when the engine was once more

,

pitching and r o lling like a laboring ship

Brockway consulted h i s watch .
 FIFT Y MI L E S A N HO UR 69

little over fifty miles an hour I shou l d s ay , .

You will be quite safe i n calling i t that ,

anyway when you tell you r; friends that

”
,

you have run a fas t express trai n .

“They ll never believe it " s h e said

’
; ,

“but I wouldn t have missed it for the

’

—
wo rld What m ust I do now P watch the
.

track ?
Brockway sai d Yes
” though with all
, ,

his i n terest i n other things he had not ,

Omitted that very i mportant part o f an en

’

g i n e e r s duty from the moment o f leaving

A rriba A fter a r o ar I n g silence o f some

.

minutes duri n g which Brockway gave him

,

self once more to the divided business o f

s c anning the rails and burning sweet incense
o n the altar o f his love s h e spoke again
, .

W hat is that we are coming to away

”
,

o u t there ? she asked tryi n g vainly to

,

steady herself fo r a clearer view

”
.

The lights of R ed Butte he answered , ,

relaxing his vigilance for the moment at the

thought that his little side trip into the land-

o f j oy would s o sh o rtly come to an end

“ N o I don t mean those "” s h e ex
.

’
,

claimed excitedly ; “ but this side o f the

,

lights. Don t you s ee P—o u the track

’

Bro c kway allowed himself but a single

 “

7 0 A R OM ANCE I N T R AN SI T

swift g lan c e Half way between the flyi ng

-

train and the stati on the line crossed a

s h allow sand c reek o n a low trestle On .

bot h sides o f the swale crowding upon the ,

track and filli ng the bed o f the creek was a ,

mass o f movi n g forms against which the ,

lines o f gliste n i ng rails ended abruptly .

A t such a crisis the engi neer i n a man i f

, ,

any there be asserts itself without refer

,

ence to the volitional ner v e centres In the -

.

turning Of a leaf Brockway had thrown

,

himself upon the throttle dropped the r e ,

v ersing lever s e t the air brake and opened

-
,
-
,

the sand box ; while Ma c lure seei ng that

-
,

h i s substitute was equal to the emergency ,

woke the echoes with the whistle A hun .

dred yards from the struggling mass o f

frightened cattle Brockway s aw that the
,

air brake was not holding

-
.

Don t move " he cried and Gertrude

’

c owered in her c orner as the heavy revers

i ng lever c ame over wi th a c rash and the
-
,

great engine heaved and buckled i n the

e ff ort to check i ts o wn momentum .

It was all over before s h e could cry out

or otherwise advertise her very natural ter
ror The movi ng mass had melted away
.

before the measured approach o f the train ;

 FIFT Y M IL E S AN H O U R 7 1

the trestle had rumbled under the wheels ;

and the 9 2 6 was steaming swiftly up to t h e
’
station under Brockway s guidance .

Have you had more than enough ?

he as ked when he had brought the trai n to
,

a stand opposite the platform at R ed Butte .

—
Yes no not that either s h e added
, , , ,

’
qui ckly . I m glad to h ave had a taste o f
’
the real danger as well But I think I d .

’ ’
b etter go back ; i t s getting late isn t i t ? ,

Yes Ma c we resign S orry I had to

.
, .

put your o l d tea kettle i n the back gear- -

’
but the a i r wasn t holding and we didn t ,
’

want any chipped beef for supper Good .

’
night and many thanks
, Don t pull o u t .

till I give you the signal .

They hurried down the platform arm i n -

arm an d Gertrude was the first to speak

, .

’
Didn t you think we were all going to
b e killed P
N o but I did think I should never for
give myself i f anything happened to y o u ” .

’
It wouldn t have been your fault A nd .

’
I ve had a glorious bit o f distraction ; I
shall remember it as lo n g as I li v e ” .

Yes ; y o u have actually driven a train

fifty miles an hour ” laughed Brockway , ,

han ding her up the steps of car Naught fi fty -

.
 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

I have ; and now I shall go i n and b e

scolded eighty miles an hour to pay for i t .

’ ’
But I sha n t mi nd that Good night and
.
-
,

thank you ever so much W e shall see you

.

i n the morning P
Yes ” Brockway said i t c onfidently ,
.

and gave a tug at the bell cord to let Mac

-
,

lure know they were safely aboard but

when the door o f the private car had yawned
and swallowed Miss V e n n o r he remem b ered
,
’
the P resi dent s pro b able fra m e o f mi nd , and
thought it doubtfu l .
74 A RO M AN C E I N T RAN S IT

c rowded and he hung hesitant u pon the

,

threshold .

C ome in sa i d B urton who was o n e

, ,

o f the smokers .

N o I believe not ; there are too many

,

o f you
’
I ll go and talk to Mrs Burton
.
”
”
. .

’
Do she s spo i ling to qui z y o u .

T o qui z me ? W hat about ?

Yo u wouldn t expe c t me to tell i f I
’
,

k n ew G O o n and find o u t
.
” .

Brockway went forward with languid cu

r i o s i ty .

I thought you had quite deserted us ,

said the little lady S it down and gi v e an

.

account o f yourself Where have you been .

all afternoon P
W i th m y an ci ents and invalids ,

B rockway replied .

Mrs Burton shook a warning finger at

.

’
him Don t begi n by telling me h b s .
.

”
.

Miss V e n n o r is nei ther o l d nor i nfirm .

Brockway reddened and made a shame

less attempt to change the subj ect .

How did y o u like the supper at C ar

valho"? he asked .

’
The general agent s wi fe laughed as o n e
Neith er better
'

who refuses to be diverted .

nor worse than you did W e had a bu ffet

 A C O N F IDE NCE E N R O UT E 75

l uncheon —baked beans and that exquisite

tomato catchup yo u know—s erved in o u r
-
,

secti o n and we saw o n e a c t o f a c harming

, i

li ttle comedy playing itself o n the platform

at the supper stati on Be ni ce an d tell me
.

all about i t Did the cold blooded gentle

.
-

man with the overseeing eyes succeed i n

overtaking you ?
Brockway s aw i t was no use and laughed ,

good naturedly
-
Yo u are a born d e te c
.

’
ti v e M r s Burton ; I w o uldn t be i n Bur
,
.

ton s sh o es for a farm i n the Golden Belt

’ ”
,

he retorted “ H o w much did you really

.

s ee ,
and how much did you take for grant
ed P
’
I saw a you n g m an who didn t take ,

the trouble to keep his emotions o u t o f his

face marching up and down the platform
,

wi th Miss V en n o r o n his arm Then I s aw .

an elderly gentleman pacing back a n d forth

between two feminine chatterboxes and ,

trying to outgeneral the two happy people .

Naturally I want to know more

,
Did yo u .

really go without your supper to take a con

s ti tu ti o n al wi th Miss Gertrude ? A nd did
the unhappy father co n trive to spoil your

’
There was triumph in B rockway s grin .
76 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

—
N o he didn t not that time ; I o u t
,
’

’
witted him A nd I di dn t go without my
.

supper ei ther , I had the h o nor o f dini n g

.

’
w ith the P resident s party in the N aught
fifty .

You d id " Then I m sure she must ’

’ ’
have invited y o u l z e a never do i t H ow .

did i t happen P
Brockway told the story o f the disab l ed
cooki ng stove and M r s Burton laughed til l
-
,
.

the tears c ame “ How perfectly r i di c u

.

lous " s h e ex claimed between gasps “A nd .

,

s h e took your part and invited you to d i r

n er ,
did she ? Then what happened ?
“I was properly humiliated and s a t
upon sai d Brockway in wrathful r e c o l
, ,

lection They talked about everything

.

’
u nder the s u n that I d never heard of and ,
”
I had to sit through i t all like a confounded
o yster
37
O h nonsense ,
‘ sai d Mrs Burton .
,

sweetly ; “ you know a good many thi ngs

that they never dreamed o f But how did .

y o u manage to get Gertrude away from them

all ? ”
“ I didn t she managed ’
it for me
; .

W hen we got up from the table the train

was just slowing into C arvalho I was going .
 A C O N FI D E N CE E N R O UT E 77

to run away as b e fi tted me but s h e proposed ,

”
,

a breath o f fresh air o n the platform .

“ Then y o u had a C ha n ce t o S h o w her

'
that y o u were n t b o rn dumb a n d I hope
’
,

y o u impr o ved it But how did y o u d o dge

.

Mr V en n o r ?
.

W e missed a turn a n d went forward to

look at the engine Then Ger — Miss Ve n .
i

nor thought s h e would like to take a ride i n

the cab a n d ,

“A nd o f course you arranged i t You

, , .

knew that was j ust the thi n g o f all others

that would reinstate you It was perfectly .

Machiavellia n
Brockway Opened his eye s very wide .

Kn ew what P he said blu n tly I , .

only knew i t was the thi n g she wanted t o

d o and that was e no ugh Well we skipped
,
.
,

back a n d notified Mrs Dunham — she s the .

’

—
chapero n y o u know a n d then we chased
,

ahead again and got on the e n g i ne ” .

“ W here I ll promise y o u s h e enjoyed

’

more n e w se n sati on s i n a minute than y o u

had all through their chilly di nn er put i n ,

Mrs Burton who had ridden o n many loco

.
,

motives .

“ S h e did i n deed Brock way rejoined

, , ,

exultantly living over again the pleasure o f

,
7 8 A RO M AN C E I N T RAN S IT

the brief hour i n the retelling At Ar .

ri ba the engineer turned the 9 2 6 over to

,
i

me a n d I put M i s s V e n n o r up o n the b o x
,

and let her run between A rriba and R ed

B utte ” .

W ell — o f all things " Do you know ,

’
Fred I ve had a silly idea all afternoon that
,
’
I d like to help you but dear me you ,
’
don t need my help O f c ourse after that .
, ,

it was all plain saili ng for you

’
Brockway shook h i s head You re tak
”
.

ing entirely too much fo r granted he ,

protested It was o nly a pleasant bit o f

.

’
distracti on as s h e called i t for her and
, , ,

— —
there was n o word that is I o h confound ,

i t all "I couldn t presume o n a bit o f good ’

comradeship like that

Yo u — —
couldn t presume Why yo u ’
,

silly s i l ly boy it was the chance o f a li fe

, ,

time —
SO dar l n gl y original s o u tterly u n
hackneyed A nd you couldn t presume I — ’

’
haven t a bit o f pati ence wi th you ” .

’
I m sorry for that I need a li ttle sym
pathy ” .

’
You don t deserve i t but perhaps
you d get i t i f yo u could show cause
’ ” .

’ ’
C an t you see P Don t yo u understand
that n o thing can ever come o f i t ? Brock
 A C O N FI D E N CE E N R O UT E 79

wa y demanded relapsi n g fath o ms deep into

,

the abyss o f hopelessness .

Nothing ever will come o f i t i f you go .

o n squanderi ng your chances as you have t o

day W hat is the matter wi th y o u ? Are

.

you afraid o f the elderly gentleman wi th the

calculating eye P
“ N ot exactly afraid of h i m but he s a ’

millionnaire and Miss V en n o r h as a fortune

,

i n her o wn right And I .

’
Don t finish i t I understand your O b
.

j ec t i o n you are poor and proud — and

that s as i t should be but tell me—you are
’

’
i n l o ve with Miss V en n o r aren t you ? ,

W hen did i t begi n ?

A year ago ” .

’
You didn t permit yourself to fall i n
l o ve with her until you knew all about her
circumstances and prospects o f course ? ,

You know better tha n that —

It was i r
”
.

’
was what you d call love at first sight he ,

confessed rather shamefacedly and then he

,

told her how it began

”
.

Very good said Mrs Burton ap pr o v

,
.
,

i n gl y . Then you did actually manage to

fall in love with Gertrude herself and not ,

’
with her money But now because you ve
.
,

fo u nd o u t sh e has money you are going to ,

80 A R O M ANC E I N T RAN S IT

spoil your cha n ce o f happiness and possibly ,

hers . Is that it P
’
Brockway tried t o explain It s awful .

l y good o f yo u to try to put i t in that light ,

’
but no o n e would ever believe that I wasn t
—
mercenary that I wasn t a shameless cad o f ’

’
a fortune hu nter I couldn t stand that
-

”
.
,

y o u know .

N o o f course not not even for her

,

sake . Besides s h e doubtless looks upon you

,

as a fortune hunter and -

,

“ What ? Indeed s h e doesn t anythi ng ’

o f the kind .

W ell then i f you are sure she doesn t

, ,
’

m isjudge you what do you care for the opin

”
,

i on O f the world at large ?

Much when y o u S how me a man who
’ ’
doesn t care for public Opinion I ll s h ow
”
,

you o n e who o ught to be in j ail .

Fudge " P lease don t try to hide b e ’

hind plati tudes But about Gertrude and.

,

your li ttle a ff air whi ch is no a ff air what ,

are you going to do about i t P

N othing ; there is nothing at all to be
done ” B rockway replied wi th gloomy em
,

phas is .

I suppo se nothing would ever indu c e

you to forgi v e her for being rich
82 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

Thereat the man tempted beyo n d what

,

he c ould bear abdicated i n favor o f the

,

lover. If I could be certain o f that M r s

, .

—
Burton i f I could be sure s h e loves me ,

nothing o n earth should stand i n the way o f

o u r happiness . Is that what you wanted me
t o say P

The little lady clapped her hands e n th u s i

as t i c a l l y
. I thought I could find the joint
i n your armor after awhile
, N ow yo u may
.

go I want to be b y myself and think Good

”
.

night .

B rockway took the summary dismissal

good naturedly and as the train was j ust
-
, ,

then slowing into a station he ran o u t to ,

drop O ff and cat c h the up c o mi n g hand rai l -

o f the T ad m or .
 AN ARRI V A L IN T RA N S I T

W HE N Gertrude bade Brockway good

night s h e changed places for the momen t
,

with a naughty child o n its way to face the

consequences o f a misbehavi or entering ,

the private car with a childish conscious n ess

o f wrong doing fighting
-
for place with a
rather militant determination to meet reproo f
wi th womanly indi fference Much to her .

relief s h e found her father alone and there

, ,

was n o distinguishable note Of displeasure i n

his greeting .

W ell Gertrude did y o u enjoy your lit

, ,

tle diversion ? S it down and tell me about

'

it
. H o w does th e cab compare with the
S itti n g room o f a private car P
-

The greeting was misleading but s h e ,

s a w fit t o regard it as merely the h an ds h ak

i ng which precedes a battle royal

”
.

I enjoyed it much s h e a n swered

, ,

quietly It was very exciting and very

”
.

interesting too ,
.
84 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN S IT

A h ; I presume SO . A nd your escort

—
took good care o f you made you qui t e
c o m r ta b l e I suppose ” .

Yes .

Mr V e n n o r leaned back in his chai r and

.

regarded her gra v ely thro u gh the swirls o f

blue smoke curling upward fr o m his cigar .

Didn t i t strike you as bei ng rather—ah

’

—a girlish thing for you to do ? in the

n ight you know and wi th a comparative
”
, ,

stranger ?
Gertrude thought the battle was about to
Open and began to throw up hasty fo r ti fi ca
,

ti on s
.
“ Mr Brockway i s n o t a stranger ;
.

you may remember that we became quite

well acquainted
P ardon me the P resident interrupted
,

“ that is precisely the point at whi ch I

—
wished to arrive your present estimate o f
this you n g man I have nothi ng to say
.

about your little diversion o n the engine .

You are Old enough to settle these small

questions o f the proprieties for yourself But .

touching this young mechanic i t might be ,

as well for us to u nderstand each other .

Have you fully considered the probable con

sequences o f y o ur most singular in fatuation P ”
It was a ruthless questi o n and the h o t ,
 A N A RR I VA L I N T R A N S IT 85

bl o od of
resentment set its si gnals flying i n
’
Gertrude s cheeks Up to that evening S he.
,

had thought o f the passe ng er agent only as

an agreeable young man o f a s o mewhat u n
fam i liar type o f whom she would like to
,
’
know more ; but Brockway s moment o f
abandonment i n the cab o f the 9 2 6 had
planted a seed which t h r e a tefn e d to germi
nate quickly in the warmth o f the present
discussion .

“I m not quite sure that I understand

’

you s h e said picking and choosi n g among

, ,

the phrases fo r the least incendiary W ould .

you mind telling me in S O many words j ust ,

what you mean P

N ot i n the least A year ago you met
.

this young man in a m o st ca sual way and ,

—to put i t rather brutally— fell i n love with

’
him . I haven t the sl ightest i dea that he
cares anything for you in your proper per
so n, or that he would have thrust him self
upon us t o d ay i f he had known that yo u r
pri v ate fortu n e hangs upon the e v e n t o f your
marriag e under certai n conditi ons which you
e v ide n tly purp o se to ign o re If after the .
,

object — less o n you had at the di n ner table this -

evening y o u still prefer this young fo rtu ne

,

hunter t o your cousin C hester I presume we ,

 86 A R OM ANCE I N T RAN S IT

shall all have to submit ; but y o u ought at

l east to tell us what we are to expe c t ” .

If he h ad spared the epi thets s h e c ou l d ,

have laughed at the baseless fabric o f suppo

O sitio u but the contemptuous sentence passed
,

upon Brockway put her quickly upon his

defence and incidentally did more to fur
, , ,

’
ther that young man s cause than any other
happening o f that eventful day .

“ I suppose you have a right to s a an d

y
th i nk what you please about me ” she s aid , ,

tryi ng vainly to be dispassionate but you

’
m ight spare Mr Brockway . He didn t i n .

vite himself to dinner ; and it w as I who

proposed the walk o n the platfor m and the
ride o n the eng i ne ” .

“ Humph "you are nothing i f not loyal .

N evertheless I wish you might look the facts

,

squarely i n the face .

Gertrude kne w there were no facts o f ,

the k i nd he meant but his persisten c e ,

brought forth frui t after i ts kind a n d s h e ,

stubbornly resolved t o n e i ther a ffi rm nor

deny . Wherefore s h e sai d a little sti ffly ,

“I m quite will i ng to l isten to anyth i n g

’

you wish to say ” .

“ Then I should li ke to ask i f you have

c ounted the cost A ssum i ng that this young
.
 AN ARR I VAL I N T RAN S IT 87

—
m an s i ntentions are unmercenary and I
‘

doubt that v ery much—i t isn t possible that ’

there can be anything i n common between

you . The soci al world i n W h ic h you move ,

and that to whi ch he belongs are as widely ,

separated as the poles I do n o t s ay yours is

.

the higher plane o r his the lower— though I

,

may have my o wn opini on as to that but I —

do say they are v as tly di ff eren t ; and the
w oman who knowi ngl y W m

c lass has much to answer for A dmitti n g .

that you will do no worse than this how ,

can you hope to find anythi n g congenial m

a man who h as absolutely nothing to say for
himself at an ordinary family dinner table ? ” -

’
I m not at all sure that Mr Brockway .

’
hadn t anything to s a y for himself though ,
’
he couldn t be expected to know o r care
much about the things we talked of A nd .

’
i t occurred to m e at the time that i t wasn t
qui te kind i n us to talk intellectual shop
from the soup to the dessert as we did ” .
,

The P resident smiled but the cold eyes ,

belied the outward manifestation o f k i n dl i

ness . Yo u may thank me for that i f you ,

choose he went o n i n the same calm ar

,

g u m e n t a t i v e tone I.wanted to point a

’
moral and i f I didn t succeed i t wasn t the
, ,
’
88 A R O M ANCE I N T RAN S IT

fault of the subject But that is only the s o

.

c i a l s i de ; a qu es ti o n Of taste Unfortunately .
,

there is a more serious matter to be c o n s i d

ered . You know the terms o f your grand
’
uncle s will that your C ousin F l ee t w e l l s ’

half o f the estate became his unc o ndi tionally

o n his coming o f age and that your portion ,

is only a trust unti l your marriage with your

cousi n P
’
I ought to know ; i t s been talked Of
en o ugh ” .

A nd yo u know that i f the marriage fail

b y your act you will lose thi s legacy ?
,

Yes .
”
A nd that i t w i ll go to certai n char i table
i nstituti ons and s o be lost not only to y o u
, , ,

but to the family P

I kno w all about i t .

You know i t and yet you would d el i b

,

e r a tel y throw yourself away on a fo rtune hunt -

ing mechani c— a man whom you have known

’
only since yesterday P It s in credible
—
It is you who have said i t not I ” she ,

’
retorted ; but I m not willing to admi t
that i t would be all l oss and no gain There .

w ould at least be a brand new set o f sensa -

’ ’
tions and I m very sure they wouldn t all
,

be painful .
g o A R O M AN C E IN T RAN S IT

In the pr i vacy o f her o wn stateroom she

s a t at the window to think i t all o u t It w as .

all very u ndutiful doubtless and s h e was

, ,

sorry for her part in the quarrel almost b e

fore the words were cold S he could .

sc ar c ely forgive herself for having allowed

her father to carry his assumption to such
lengths but the temptation had proved irre
,

s i s ti b l e
. It was such a delicious little farce ,

and if i t might only have stopped short of

the angry conclusion b ut i t had not and — ,

therein lay the sting o f i t W here upon .

,

feeling the sting afresh sh e s et her face fli n t

,

wise against the prearranged marriage

”
.

’ ’
I sha n t do i t s h e said aloud pressing
, ,

her hot cheek against the cool glass o f the

window .
“ ’
I don t love C hester and I ,

—
never shall not in the way I should A nd .

i f I marry h im I shall be just what papa

—
,

’
called Mr Brockway only he isn t that or
.
,

anything o f the ki nd P oor Mr Brockway " . .

If he knew what we have been talking

about
From that po i nt reflection went adrift in
p l easanter channels How good natured and
.
-

forg i ving Mr Brockway had been " He

.

must have known that he was purposely i g

nored at the di nner table where he was a n
-
,
 AN AR RIV A L IN T R AN SIT 9 1

i nvi ted g uest and y e t he had not resented

,

it ; and what better proof o f gentle breeding

than th i s could he have “given ? Then i n ,

that crucial mome n t o f danger how surely ,

his presence o f m I n d and trained energies

had fo restal led the catastrophe That was .

grand—heroi c It was well worth its cost

.

i n terror to l o ok o n and see him strive wi th

and conquer the great straining monster o f
’
iron and steel A fter that o n e couldn t well
.
,

listen calmly to such things as her father had

said o f him .

A nd admitting the truth o f what had

,

been said about his i ntellectual shortcomi ngs ,

was a certain glib familiari ty with the mod

ern catch words o f book talk and art c r i t i
- -

c i s m a fair test of intelle ctuali ty ? Gertrude ,

with her cheek sti ll touching the c o ol win

dow pane thought n o t O ne might read
-
, .

the reviews and talk superficially o f more

books than the most painstaking student
could ever kn o w even by sight , In like .

manner o n e might walk through the pi cture

,

galleries and come away freighted wi th great

names wherewith to awe th e untravelled
lover o f art It was quite evident that Mr
. .

Brockway had done neither o f these thi n gs ,

and yet he was thoughtfu l and keenly O b

9 2 A R OM A N C E IN T R A N S IT

servant ; and i f he were ignorant Of art he ,

k n ew and u nderstood nature which is the ,

m other o f all art .

From rei n stating the passenger agent in

his rights and privileges as a man s h e came ,

presently upon the little i nciden t i n the cab

o f the 9 2 6 How much o r how little di d he
.

mean when he sai d he was happy to his fi n

ger tips ? O n the lips o f the men o f her
-

world such sayings went for naught they

,

were but the tennis balls of p e r s i flage served

-
,

deftly and wi th the i ntent that they should

,

rebound harmless But s h e felt sure that

.

s uch a definition went wide o f Mr Brock .

’
way s meani n g ; o f c ompliments as such he ,

seemed to know less than nothing A nd .

then he had said that whatever c ame b e

— —
tween them no that was not i t whate v er
,

h appened to either o f them Ah .

,

well many things might happen —would

,

doubtless happen ; but s h e would n o t forget ,

either .

The familiar S igh i ng o f the a i r b rake b e -

gan again and the low thunder o f the p a

,

tient wheels became the diapason beneath the

shrill song o f the brake shoes Then the
-
.

red eye o f a switch lamp glanced i n at Ger

- m

’
trude s window and the train swung slowl y
,
 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

separate noises o f the tra m had sunk into th °

soothing under roar s h e crept i nto her

-
,

berth wet eyed and thankful an d presently

-
,

went to sleep too happy to harbor anxious

thought for the morro w of un c ertain t ies
.
 TH E A N C I E NT S A N D I N V A L I D S

B RO C KWAY was up betimes the follow i n g

mo rni n g though not o f his o wn free will
,
.

Two hours before the Flying Kestrel

was due i n Denver the porter o f the Tadmor
,

awake n ed him at the command o f t h e i r as ci

ble ge n tleman with the hock bottle shoulders -

and diaph anous nose W hile the passenger

.

agent was sluicing his face i n the wash roo m -

some one pr o dded him from be hind and a ,

thi n high pitched voice wedged i tself into

,
-

the thunderous silence .

—
Mr ah Brockway ; I understand that
.

you are purposing t o take the party to ah

—
Feather P lume o r ah S ilver Feather o r some ,

—
such p l ac e to d ay and I ah protest " I have
,

n o desire to leav e Den v er until my ti cket is

made to conform to my stipulations s i r ”
, .

Brockway had soap in his eyes and the ,

porter had carefully hidden the towels for

which cause his reply was b rief an d to the
point .
9 6 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

P lease
wai t till I get washed an d dressed
’
before you begi n on me won t you P ,

W ait P D O you s a y ah — wait P I have

been doing nothing but wai t s i r ever since , ,

my ah s ti p u l a ti o n s were ignored
w
It s an .
’

outrage s i r I , ,

Brockway had found a towel and was usin g

i t vigorously as a c ounter irritant -
.

’
F o r Heaven s sake go away and let me ,

alone until I can get my clothes o n he

e xclaimed I promised y o u yesterday you
.

shou l d have the thi rty days that y o u don t '

n e ed .

The a ggrieved o n e had his ti cket o u t but ,

he put i t away again in tremulous i ndigna

tion . GO away P Did I ah — understand
you to tell me to go away s i r ? I ah h h ,
- -

but words failed him and he shu ffled o u t o f ,

the wash room cannoning against the little

-
,

gentleman in the grass cloth duster and velvet -

skull cap i n the angle o f the vestibule

-
.

Good morning Mr Brockway - sai d ,

.
,

the comforter cheerily Been having a tilt

,
.

with Mr Ti cket limits to be gi n the day wi th ?

.
-

’
O h as a matter o f course Brockway r e
, ,

pl i ed fl i nging the d amp towel into a c orner

, ,

and brushing his hai r as o n e who trans m utes

wrath into vigorous action .
9 8 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN S IT

t o n the general agent o f the C

, U in . .
,

—
S alt L ake and perhaps I can get him to go
up the canyon for me ” .

Think he will do it P
’
I guess so ; to o b lige me He d lose .

’
only a day and he d make thirty O dd -

U don t yo u s ee
’
friends for the C . .
,
.

’
I must confess that I don t s ee from a
”
,

purely business point o f V ie w was the r e ,

j oinder . We are all ticketed o u t and back

’
and we can t change o u r route if we want to .

B rockway laughed The business Of

.

passenger soli citing i s far reaching S ome -

.

f
o you — f —
perhaps most o you w i ll go agai n
next year ; and if the general agent o f the
C. U is parti cularly kind and Obliging
.
,

o u m a y remember his line

y .

—
Dear me why Of course Yo u s a y
”
,

your friend is on the tra i n P

Yes ” .

Very well ; you go and s ee him and ,

’
I ll help you o u t by b reaking the ne ws to the
thirty Odd-
.

Brockway struggled i nto his c oat and

shook hands with the friendly o n e Mr . .

’ ’
S omers you re my good angel You ve u n
,
”
.

de r ta k en a thankless task though ,

.

The womanish face under the band o f the

 T HE ANC IE N T S A ND I N V A LI D S 99

skull cap broke into a smile which w as n o t

-

altogether an geli c I shall get my pay as

.

I go along o u r friend wi th the bad case o f

ti cket dementia will be carryi n g the entire
responsibility for your absen c e before I get
through ” .

Good pile it on thick said Brockway , ,

’
chuckling Make em understan d that I d
.
’

give all my o l d shoes to gO —that I m s o ’

’
angry with Jordan for spoiling my day s
’
pleasure that I can t see straight .

’
I ll do it the little man agreed “ Take .
,

a cigar to smoke after breakfast and the

gray duster and velvet skull cap disappeared -

forthwith around the a n gle in the vestibule .

N ot until he was ready to seek Burton

did the passenger agent recollect that the
N aught fi fty was between the Tadmor and
-

the A riadne and that it would be the part

,

o f pru dence to go around rather than through

the P reside n t s car When he did remember

’
.

i t he stepped o u t i nto the vestibule o f the

Tadmor to get a breath o f fresh air while he
waited for the train to come to a stati on .

’
Mrs Dunham was o n the N aught fi fty s rear
.
-

platform and s h e nodded smiled and beck

, , ,

o n e d him to come across .

“I m glad to know that some b ody e lse

’
1 00 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

besides a curious o l d woman cares enough

fo r this grand scenery to get up early i n the
”
morning s h e said pleasantly
, , .

’
Yo u mustn t make me ashamed Brock ,

w a y rejoined “ ’
I m afraid I should have
.

’
been sound asleep this minute if I hadn t
been routed o u t by o n e o f my people .

Mrs Dunham smiled

. Gertrude was .

telling me about some o f your troubles Do .

they get you up ear l y i n the m ornin g to as k

you foolish questions ?
They do I ndeed ,
and B rockway glad ,

enough to find a sympatheti c listener told ,

the story o f the pertinacious human ga d fly

masqueradin g under the name o f j o rdan .

Dear dear " H o w u nreas onable " Wil l

,

you have to give u p the S i lver P lume trip

and stay i n Denver wi th him ?
’
I suppose s o I m goi ng forward pres
.

ently to try to get Mr B u rton and his wi fe

.

to take my pla c e wi th the party for the

day
N ot M r John B urton o f the C o l orado ,

Utah P
Y es do you know him P
O nl y through Gertrude she met them
when she was o u t here last year and s h e
”
,

likes Mrs Burton very m uch indeed

. .
 I A
g z Q
R M AN C
‘

E I N T RAN S IT

Up at B o v al l e y a little l ater he ex c used hi m

,

self and ran qui ckly forward to board the

A riadne . C ome what might Burton m u st,

be over persuaded ; the thirty O dd must be

- -

given no chance to defeat the Heaven born -

o pportunity made possible by the pertinacity

o f the g a d fl y .

S o marched the i ntention but the fates

,

willed delay B o v a l l ey is but a flag station

.
-
,

and the passenger agent had barely time to

swi n g up to the rear platfo rm o f the regular
sleeper when the train moved o n Then he
.

found that he had circumvented o n e obstacle

only to be hampered by another The rear
.

door o f the A riadne was locked and the ,

electri c bell was o u t o f repai r W herefore

.

i t was forty minutes later and Denver was

,

i n sight when the rear brakeman opened the

,

door and adm i tted him .

 B E T W EE N S T AT I O N S

W HE N Mrs Dunham returned to the c en

.

tral compartment o f the N aught fi fty the -

,

waiter was laying the table fo r breakfas t and ,

the President was looking o n wi th the stead

fas t gaze which disconcerts .

Good morning C ousin Jeannette Up

-
, .

ear ly to see the scenery are yo u ? The ,

genial greeting had no hint i n i t o f i nw ard

disquietude past o r present
, .

Yes a n d I wish I had been earlier

, I .

have been o u t o n the platform watching the

mountains grow ” .

’
Grand i sn t it ? Yo u m i ght hav e had
,

a better view if our car had been left in i ts

pr o per place i n the rear ; but o u r friend the
passenger agent took good care to secure that
for his o wn party ” .

Mrs Dunham was inclined to be chari

.

’
table. I fancy he couldn t hel p i t From .

1 03
 1 04 A R OM ANCE IN T R AN SIT

what he tells m e his people must be ver y ,

exacti ng .

“ Have you seen him this morning ?

the P resi dent i nquired with some small show ,

o f curiosi ty .

“ Yes o t o n the p l atform He has

; u .

been telling me some of his exasperating ex

p e r i en c es .

The P resi dent smiled i ndulgently .

s uspect o u r young friend h as fallen i nto a

”
habit o f magni fying his di fficulties he said , .

“ It s very easy to do
’
o u know w hen
y , ,

’
one s business makes a fine art o f e xagger a
tion
W h y he doesn t i m press me that way ’

”
, ,

at all said the good lady who knew noth

, ,

i ng o f her cousin s very excellent reasons for

’

disliking Brockway “ He seems to be a .

very pleasant young man and quite i n te l l i ,

gen t .

M r V e n n o r shru g ged h i s shou l ders

. I .

don t questi on his i n te l ligence — though i t

’

’
wasn t very remarkable at the di nner table -

last night Di d y o u happen to find o u t

.

whether he is go i ng al l the way acros s with

his party P
’
He didn t say H i s people are going
.

’
up to S ilver P lume to d ay but he can t go ,
1 06 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

ments put i t i n train i mmediate l y after

,

breakfast .

“ W hat are o u go i ng to do w i th your

y
self to day ? ” -
he asked o f Fl e e t w e l l whe n ,

they had drawn ap art and lighted their

c i gars .

“ Don t know ’
replied the c o llegian
, ,

between whi ff s whatever the others want

to do
I was j ust thinking the P resident con ,

ti n u e d carelessly “ The B eas wi c k e girls

,
.

want to call o n some friends of theirs and‘

that eliminates them I expect to be busy .

all day ; and C ousi n j eannette says s h e

’
d oesn t care to go about S uppose you and .

Gertrude take a run up i nto the mou n tains

’
o n o n e o f the n arrow gauges It ll fill in -
.

the day and y o u can be back in time for

”
,

dinner this evening .

’
I don t mind i f Gertrude wants to go
”
,

’
but I don t believe s h e does said Fleet ,

well wi th s o little enthusi asm that the P res

,

i dent looked at him sharply

Think not ?
’
I m almost sure she doesn t ” the col ’
~
,

legian replied placidly ,

.

Mr Fran cis V e n n o r was a conservat i ve

.

man slow to admi t even the contradi ction

,
 B E T WEEN S T A TI ON S 1 07

of facts W hile waiti ng for G ertrude the

.

pre v i o us evening he had convi nced himself

,

that his daughter was ab ou t to sacrifice her

self . To an i mpartial onlooker and he—
—
prided hi mself o n bei n g no less the evi
dence was l ogically conclusive ; and not ,

’
wi thstanding Gertrude s tardy denial he ,

still believed that his major pr emise w as c o r

rect or at m ost only erran t i n time
, , ,
.

Having thus s e t his judgment a bad ex

ample i t easily broke bou n ds agai n i n the
,

same di rection How should F l ee tw el l

.

kno w that Gertrude would n o t care to s pe nd

the day i n his company P P robably because
they had found time before breakfas t for
a n other o f their fo o lish disagreements In .

that case i t would be the part of wisdom to

,

separate them fo r the day ; and a plan by

which this might be accomplished a n d the ,

passenger agent checkmated at the same

tim e suggested i tself at the instant
,

“ W e ll let i t go at that the n

’
he said , , ,

answeri n g F l e etw e l l s as sumption You ’

.

can manage to wear o u t the day in town .

P erhaps the B eas wi ck e girls will let you g o

calling with them ” .

“ Think s o ? I ll go and as k them ’

,

F l ee t we l l said with more animation than he

,
1 08 A R O M ANC E I N T RAN S IT

had yet exh i b i ted ; and he threw away his

cigar and went about i t .

The P resident rose and crossed over to

Mrs
’
u n h a m s chair .

W here i s Gertrude P he inquired .

S he complained o f a headache and went

to her room S hall I call her P
.

’
O h no but if you haven t already do n e
,

s o I wish y o u wouldn t mention what Brock

’
,

way told you th i s morni ng about his

”
,

spendi n g the day in Denver I mean , .

C ertainly n o t if you wish it , the ,

chaperon agreed ; but the expression o f her

face was s o plainly i nterrogative that the
P r esident w as constrained to go on .

“ There is nothing to be anx i ous about

yet he hastened to say ; “ but you know
,

the o l d adage about the o unce o f preventi on .

Gertrude i s very self willed a n d they were -

,

together rather more than I could wish last

”
,

summer .

I think y o u are al together mistaken

”
,

C ousin Francis s a d the good lady

,
in ,

whom there was no drop o f match making -

b lood .
“ S he has talked very freely wi th
’
me abou t him and a young girl d o esn t do
,

that i f there is any sentiment in the air .

I hope you are right But i t will do no .

1 1 0 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

compartment . He had business in the

A riadne ; and a litt l e later Mrs Burton
, .
,

who was buttoning her shoe looked up to

,

find the c alculating eyes o f the P resident

maki n g a c al m and l ei su r el y val uation o f her
.
 WIT H D ENV ER IN SIG H T

T HE R E w as the usual early morn i ng c o n .

fusion in the aisle o f the A riadne when

Brockway pi cked his way forward to section
three over a li tter o f opened hand bags -
,

lately polished shoes and unshod feet ,

He .

found the Burton secti on empty with the ,

porter putting the finishing touches to his

’
morning s work o f scene shifti ng -
.

“ Yes sah de m m in de wash ’

,; g e a n s
’
room a n de lady
,

I s right here said a voice at Brock

,

’
way s elbow Good morning Mr Fred
.
-
, .

—
erick how do you find yourself o r aren t ’

y o u lost P
The forty minute lock out had left scant
- -

time fo r preliminaries and Brockway left o ff

,

the preamble .

“ I m not lost but I m going to be i f

’ ’
,

you and John don t help me o u t W ill you

’
.

do i t P
1 1 2 A R OM ANCE I N T RAN SIT

S ight unseen The little lady was .

eyi ng her shoes wistfully and hopin g that

B rockway would be bri ef .

I thought I could count o n y o u W hat .

i s your programme for to day P -

For John business I suppose ; for m y

, ,

self a carri age a handy card case and any

, ,
-
,

number o f how do y o u dos and good

byes Wh y P
.
’

I want you both to give me the day ,o u t

’ ’
and o u t L isten and don t s a y no till yo u ve
”
.
,

heard me through .

’
Go o n but don t let i t l ap over i nto
”
,
’ ’
Denver we re most there .

’
Brockway stated his case briefly It s .

’
probably the last chance I ll ever have to s e e
”
her he concluded .
,

Why should you wan t to s ee her when

there is nothing to be done as you say ? ,

I don t know that— but I do and you

’

”
,

m ust help me Will you P .

“Hel you carry o n a brazen flirtati o n

p
wi th that poor inno c ent girl P Never
, But
’
if John says he ll go I suppose I c an t hel p
’
,

myself resignedly-

’
Thank you I knew you wouldn t be
c ruel A nd if John should happen to balk
.

a little
1 1 4 A R OM ANC E I N T R A N S IT

It s going to cost you s o mething—a

’

whole day i n fact I promised to person

, .

ally conduct the crowd up to S ilver P lume

to day and the arrangements are all made
-
, .

’
N ow this O l d fellow says he isn t goi ng ; says
’
I ve got to stay i n Den v er wi th him and
telegraph another thirty days to his ticket o r ,
’
the heavens wi ll fall I m going t o do it .
,

and I want you to take my place wi th the

party ” .

S ame old maker o f hard and fast prom - -

’
i s es aren t you Fred
,
said the general
, ,

agent smiling ,
I suppose I can do it i f
.
,

you can square i t wi th E mily .

’ ’
I ve done that already ; she s awfully
—
good about i t says she ll go along and help ’

y o u o ut W hat s this
. place ? O ’
verton P
’
B y Jove I ll have to be getting back to my
car we re only fifteen miles o u t Th ank
’
.

y o u much o l d man — s ee y o u later

, and .

the passenger agent pushed through the

group i n the w ash room and dropped o ff to -

once more m ake the c ir c ui t o f c ar Naug ht

fift y .
 YA R D -
LIM IT S

I T was while Brockway was making his

second circuit o f the private car that Mrs .

Burto n looked up and encountered the cal

c u l a t i n g gaze o f the P resident .

A h — good morni n g Mrs Burton you

-
, .

remember me I see O n your way back to

, .

Utah are you P

,

Yes the “ sir was o n the tip o f

her tongue but she managed to suppress i t
, .

“ W e have been t o C hicago to t h e as

p ,

senger meeting ” .

S O I i n ferred D O you enjoy C hicago

.
,

Mrs Burton P
.

S he felt that five mi nutes o f this would

unhi n ge her reason but s h e made shift to ,

answer i ntelligently :
, Yes i n a way ; but ,

I v e n ever been about much

’
Mr Burton .

is always so busy when we are there .

Precisely ; always busy ; that is the

whole history of civilized man in two words ,

1 1 5
1 1 6 A R O M ANCE I N T RAN S IT
’
isn t it ? Bu t where is your good hus
band ?
“ He is i n the wash room s h e began ;
-
,

but at that moment Burto n appeared

”
.

Ha " sai d the P res i dent ; “good

m orning Mr Burton, You didn t expe ct
. .
’

to find me here chatti n g with your wi fe di d ,

you ?
,
—
Well no not exactly th at is
, Bur
’
ton s o n e weakness lay in u ndue deference
to his superior O ffi cers and he stumbled ,

helplessly B ut his w i fe came promptly to

.

the rescue .

“It s such a distin c ti on Mr V e n n o r

’
,
.
,

’
that we don t know h o w to properly a c
kn o wledge i t sh e retorted laughi n g
, , ,

Wi ll you excuse me i f I finish buttonin g

m y sh o e P
“ C ertainly certai n ly —the President s
,
’

tone was genially paternal ; I merely

wanted to have a word with Mr Burton .

and he rose and drew the general agent

across to the Opposi te section .

“ S i t down si t down Burton ’

; don t ,
”
,

stand o n ceremony with me he said , ,

patronizingly “ I c ame to as k a favor o f

”
.

you and positively y o u embarrass me

,
.

Burton s at down mechani cally .

1 1 8 A R OM ANCE IN T R A N S IT

Why c ertainly ; we shall be delight

,

ed ,
Burton rejoined L et me tell
.

B u t the P resident stopped him He had .

taken time to reflect that a little secrecy

might be j udicious at this point and he was
shrewd enough to distrust women i n any a ffair
bordering upon the romantic S o he said .

S uppose we make i t a little surprise for

both o f them Keep i t to yourself and
.
,

’
when your trai n is ready to leave I ll bri ng ,

Gertrude over to you How will that do P.

Burton was i n a fair way to lose his head

at being asked to share a secret wi th his
P resident and he promised readily
, .

“N ot a word Mrs Burton wi l l be de

. .

’
l ighted . I ll be o n the look o ut fo r y o u .

S O it was arranged ; and with a gracious

word o f leave taki ng for the wife Mr Ven
-
, .

nor went back to his car r u bbi ng his hands ,

and smiling inscrutably He found his .

daughter curled up in the great wi cker chai r

i n an otherwise unoccup i ed corner o f the
central compartme n t .

Under the weather this morn i ng Ger ,

trude ? he asked wisely setti ng aside the

,

constraint which might naturally be sup

posed to be an unpleasant c onsequence o f
their latest i nterv i ew .
 YAR D - LI M IT S 1 1 9

Yes a little s h e replied absently

, , , .

’
I presume you haven t made any plans
”
for the day he went o n ; “ I fancy you
,
P '
’
d o n t care to go visiting wi th th e B eas wi ck e
girls.
”
N o i n deed I can d o that at home
,
.

H o w would you like to go up t o S ilver

’
P lume wi th Mr Brockway s party P
.

’
S he knew well enough that her father s
cold eyes had surprised the sudden fl ash o f
gladness in hers but s h e was no t m i nded to
,

reopen the quarrel .

O h that would be delightful she said

, , ,

annulling the significance o f the words with

the indi ff erence o f her tone quite as de
lightful as it is impossible ” .

’
But it isn t impossible said the P resi ,

dent blandly
, o n the contrary I have ,

f —
taken the liberty o arranging i t subject to
your appro v al of course , I chanced u pon
.

two o l d fri ends o f ours who are g o ing with

the party a n d they will take care o f you
,

and bri n g you back this e v e n ing ” .

Frie n ds of ours ? s h e queried who

a r e they P

“ A h I promised not t o tell you be fore

”
,

hand W ill you go ?

.

C ertainly i f y o u hav e arranged i t s h e

, ,
1 2 0 A R O M ANC E I N T RAN S IT

rejoined still speaking indifferently b e c aus e

,

s h e w as unwilli n g to show him how glad s h e

w as . For s h e was fra n kly glad ; The gla

’
m our o f last night s re v elation was Over the
recollection o f those other days spent with
Brockway and she was i mpatiently eager t o
,

put her impressions quickly to the test of

—
repetition to suffer loss i f need be but by, ,

all means to make sure A nd because o f

.

this eagerness s h e quite overlooked the i n

,

congruity o f such a pr o posal coming fro m

her father — a n oversight which Mr Ven .

nor had shrewdly anticipated and reckoned

upon .

It w as 7 and the trai n was c lattering

.

through the Denver yards measuring the ,

final mile o f the long westward r u n Ger .

trude rose to go and get ready .

” ’
You needn t hurry said her father ; ,

“ the narrow gauge trai n doesn t leave for

-
’

’
half an hour I ll come for you when i t is
”
.

time to go .

He watched her go down the compart

men t and enter her stateroom wi thout stop
ping to speak to any o f the others Then .

he held u p his finger for the se c retary .

Harry when the train stops I want you

, ,

should g et off and see where Brockway goes .

 TH E M A D D I N G C R O WD

T WI CE a day in the t i me whereof these

,

things are wri tten the platform o f the Den

,

v er Union Depot gave the i ncoming migrant

his first tr ue glimpse o f the untrammelled
West . A broad sea o f planki ng open to ,

the heavens —and likewise to the world at

large — was the morning and eve n ing arena
o f a moving spectacle the like o f whi ch is

n o t to be wi tnessed i n any well ordered rai l

-

way station O f the self contained E ast

-
.

T N
Trains headed north east south and, , ,

west backed across the platform and drawn

,

apar t i n the m idst to leave a passageway for

the crowds other trai ns going and coming ,
1

with shouting yard men for outr i ders to clear

-

the tracks ; huge shifting pyramids Of bag

gage piled high o n tilting trucks dividing ,

with the moving trai n s the attention o f the

M odging multi tude ; the hurrying throngs
i mbued for the m oment with the strenuous
12 2
 T HE M A DDI N G CR O WD 1 2 3

travail spiri t o f the N ew W est ; these were

-

the pe rsons and the properties A nd the .

shrieking safety valves the clan ging bells

-
, ,

the tinnient gong o f the b reakfast roo m the

“
-
,

ru mbling trucks and the under roar o f ,

matter in motion were the pieces in the o r ,

c h es tr a .

It is all very different now I am told ,

.

They hav e iron railings with wi cket gates -

and sentinels in uni form who ask to see your

ticket and a squad o f policemen to keep o r
,

der and rain sheds o v er the platforms "

,
-
it
u sed not to rain i n the Denver I knew
" and ,

all the other appurtenances and belongings of

a well conducted railway terminus But the
-
.

elder order o f disorder Obtained o n the au

t u m n morning when the Flyi ng Kestrel ”
came to rest opposite the gap in the bisected
trains filling the other tracks Brockway .

was the first man out o f the Tadmor but the ,

g a d fl y was a close second .

“N O s i r I don t intend to lose ’

sight o f
; ,

Mr ah Brockway ” he quavered a n d
y o u ;
-
,
.
,
’
he hun g at the passenger agent s elbow while
the latter was marshalling the party fo r the
descent o n the breakfast room a process -
,

which vocalized i tself thus

B r o ck w ay handing the lad i es i n the de
,
1 2 4 A R O M ANC E IN T RAN S IT

barki ng pro c ess i on down the steps o f the

car : Breakfast is ready i n the dinin g room -
.

S pe c ial tables reserved for this party Wait .

,
’
and we ll all go i n together L eave your.

’
hand baggage w i th the porter unles s it s
-
,

SOm e th i n g you will need during the day .

Take your time ; y o u have thirty m i nutes

before the trai n leaves for C lear C reek
C anyon and the L oop ” .

"Mo m s of M e P er s on a l l y Co n du cted
’
How long did you say we d have P
What are they go i ng to do with o u r
c ar while we re gone P
’ ”
S ay Mr P asse n ger A gent are you sure
,
.
,

the baggage will be safe i f we leave i t wi th

the porter P
What t i me have y o u now ?
H o w far i s i t over to those moun
tai ns ?
’
O h Mr B rockway ; won t this be a
, .

good chance to s ee i f my trunk was put o n

the trai n w ith the others P
S ay ; what time did you s ay that C lear
C reek C anyon train leaves ? ”
B r o eé w ay answering the las t questi on
,

because the inquirer happens to be nearest

at hand E ight O clock
”
’
.

T l ze Q u er zs z w ith h i s watch " which he

'
‘
,
12 6 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

go back to P resident V en n o r and m ake his

report a c cordingly But the yard cre w al ,

ready busily dismemberi n g the Flying

Kestrel ” whipped the Tadmor and the pri
,

vate car out into the yard and the secretary

,

was left stan di n g i n the unquiet crowd .

Ha ving nothing better to do he saun ,

t e r e d across to the depot not intending to

,

s p y further upon the passenger agent but ,

rather cudgelling his brain to devise some

pretext upon which he c ould safely lie to
the P resident and s o appease his self respect -
.

The pretext did n o t suggest i tself ; and after

l ooking into the di ning room where he saw
-
,

Brockway and his thirty O dd i n o n e corner

-
,

and the Burtons whom he knew by sight

, ,

i n another he strolled o u t to the end o f the

,

bu i lding where the yard crew was swi tching

-

the Naught fi ft y to its place o n the short

-

spur . The P resi dent was standing on the

front p l atform and Q u a tr e m a i n having no,

plausible fals ehood ready reported the s i m

,

ple fact .

Very good said his employer

,
N ow
.

go back and keep your eye o n hi m ; and ,

at precisely five minutes o f eight c ome and ,

tell me where he is and what he is doing ” .

Q u a t r em a i n turned on his heel and swore

 T HE M A DDI N G CR O WD 1 2 7

a clerkly oath well sm o thered to the effect

, ,

that he would do nothi n g o f the sort It .

was n o t the first time the President had used

h i m as a private detective b ut happily use , , ,

had not yet dulled his reluctance N one .

the less he went back to the door Of the

,

dining room and waited and while he tar

-
,

ried curiosi ty came to keep wrath company .

W hat w as afoot that the P resident should

be so anxi ous about the movements o f the
passenger agent ? The secretary could not
guess but he determi n ed to find o u t
,
.

’
Three minutes before Q u atr e m ai n s time
limi t expired Br o ckway followed C losely
, ,

by a slope shouldered Old gentleman with

-

close s e t eyes came o u t wi th Burton

-
,
He .

nodded to the secretary and kept o n talk

ing to the general agent Q u a tr e m a i n could
.

scarcely help overhearing .

“You can introduce yourself he was ,

saying ; “ there isn t time for any formal’

’
ities . You ll find them docile enough
’
they haven t any kick coming with you you ,

— ’
k n ow and I ll be here to take them O ff
’
yo u r hands when y o u get back N o I ll .
,

not go over to the train unless you want me ,

’
to ; I m going to the telegraph Office with
Mr Jordan here and then u p town to s ee
.
,
-
1 2 8 A R OM ANCE I N T RAN S IT

our general agent about his ticket Good .

by old man and tha n k you again

, .

Q u a t r e m a i n looked at his watch It was .

to the m inute and he walked leisurely ,

around to the private car .

“ W el l ? ” said the P resident and the

,

steady gaze o f the c old eye slew the false

hood which the se c retary w as about to u t
ter
’
He s i n the te l egraph o ffice wi th o n e
”
o f his people Q u
,
a t r e m a i n replied angry ,

enough to curse himself for b eing s o weak

as to tell the truth .

Very good Go i nto my stateroom and

.

’
get the mai l ready I ll c ome i n and dic .

tate to y o u presently .

The secretary obeyed as o n e who may n o t

do otherwise and left the stateroom door
,

aj ar A moment later he heard a tap at

.
,
’
the door o f Gertr u de s room and then the ,

P resi dent and his daughter left the car to

gether Q. u a tr e m a i n slammed down the
cover o f his desk snat c hed his hat and fo l
, ,

lowed them . He had paid the servile

price and he would at least grati fy his cu
,

r i o s i ty .

He c aught sight o f them i n the crowd

streaming o u t toward the C olorado C ent ral
1 3 0 A R OM ANCE I N T RAN S IT

but a grai n o f swift wi t is sometimes worth

an infinity o f tardy logi c W hatever i nter .

vened the conclusion was clear and definite

,

’
Brockway s chance m ust be rescued at all
hazards— and there were only two minutes
i n which to do it .

S he s canned the throng o n the platform

eagerly hoping to c atch sight o f him but
, ,

the faces were all stran ge save o n e That .

’
was the face o f the P resident s private sec
’
r e ta r y and wi thout a mo m ent s hesi tat i on
, ,

s h e be c koned him .

Q u a t r e m a i n s a w the signal and m ade his ,

way to her window tak i ng c are to keep as ,

many human s c reens as possible between

himself and the group at the car steps
”
.

Mrs B urton I bel i eve

.
,
he said lift , ,

ing his hat .

Y es — hurriedly D O you know M r . .

Brockway ?
Q u a t r e m a i n bowed .

Do you know where he i s now P

Yes he s over i n the telegraph o fli ce
’
.

W i ll y o u take hi m a message fro m m e ,

qui ckly ?
C ertainly with pleasure ,
.

Then tell h i m I say he is go i ng to be

’ ’
l ost if he does n t c atch this train he ll n u
 T HE M A DDI N G CR O WD 1 3 1

d e r s ta n d . A nd p l ea s e —
hurr y there isn t a ’

seco n d to spare
Qu a tr e m a i n
nodded and vanis h ed i n the ,

crowd He understood nothi ng o f what was

.

toward but he suspected that what he was

,

ab o ut to do would so m ehow interfere wi th

the P resident s plans an d that was su ffi cient
’
,

to m ake him run when he was well o u t o f

sight . He found Brockway i n the telegraph
O fli c e writing a message with the slope
, ,

shouldered gentleman at his elbow and de ,

’
li v ered Mrs Burton s message zxer é a tz m and
’

shorn o f any introduction whatsoever .

The eff ect o n the passenger agent was

’
surprising i f not explanatory
,
S ays I m .

going to b e N o t if I know i t " I say

”
,

Tom flinging the pad o f blanks at the

operator t o call his attention
,
wire any
— —
thing e v erything this gentleman wants
you to ; I m O ff " ’

— ,
.
—
But Mr ah Brockway I I protest " ,

buzzed the gadfly clutching at the passen ,

g e r agent ; but he was not qui ck enough ,

a n d when the protest was formulated there ,

was no one b u t the operator t o listen to i t .

The engine bell was ringi n g and the trai n

-

had begun to move when Brockway das h ed

o u t o f the o ffice and the appreciative b s tan d
y
,
1 3 2 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN S IT

ers made way fo r him and cheered hi m as he

sped away across the platform I t was neck .

and neck and n othing to c ho o se ; but he was

-
,

making i t easily when he collided squarely

,

i n mi d career w i th the tall figure o f the

P resident For a single passionate instant
.

Mr Fran cis V e n n o r forgot his traditions

.
,

and struck o u t savagely at the passenger

agent The blow caught Brockway full i n
.

the chest and made him g asp and stagger ;

but he gathered hi m self quickly swerved ,

aside and ran o n c atching the rear hand

, ,

rail o f the l as t c ar as the trai n s wept o u t o f

the stat i on .
 1 34 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

He assu m ed that Gertrude was o n the train

—
wi th the B urtons Mrs Burton s message .
’

—
could m ean no less and Mr Francis Ven .

nor had doubtless been a t some pains to ar

range the little plan o f separation A nd to .

find i t falling to pieces at the last moment

was certai nly very exasperating B rockway .

admitted i t cheerfully and when he had ,

’
l aughed al oud at the P resident s d i s c o m fi t
ure until the sore spot under his right collar
bone
.
ached again he thought he, was fit to
venture among the T a dm o r i an s A c c ord .

i n gl y he made his way forward through the

,

two Observation cars to the coa c h s e t apart

-

for the thirty O dd -

.

His appearance was the s i gnal fo r a s alvo

o f exclamatory inquiry from the m embers o f

the party but Brockway had his eyes o n the

,

occupants o f a double seat i n the m iddle o f

the coach and he assured himself that ex
,

planations to the thirty Odd might well

wai t A moment l ater he was shaking hands
.

with M r s Burton and Miss V en n o r

. .

Dear me " said the proxy chaperon ,

w i th shameless dis i ngenuousness I was

really b eginning to b e afraid you were left .

Where have you been all the time ?

O ut o n the rear platform taking I n the ,
 O N THE NARR O W G A UGE - 1 35

scenery ,
Brockway replied ca l m ly sitting , ,
’
d o wn beside Gertrude Did n t y o u s ee
.

m e when I g o t o n P
Mrs Burton had seen th e l i ttl e i ncident
.
w

o n the stati on platform o u t o f the tai l o f her

eye as the train was getti n g under way so ,

s h e w as barely within truth ful limi ts when

s h e said No But s h e l ooked y ery hard at

.

Brockway and succeeded in making him n u

d er s ta n d that Gertrude was not to know any
thing about the pl o t o r i ts m arring The .

young man telegraphed acquiescence though ,

his lea n ing was rather toward straight for

war dn ess .

Did y o u rest well after your spin o n th e

engine last night P he as k ed o f Gertrude .

Q uite well thank,y o u Have you e v er .

r idden o n an engine Mrs Burton ?

”
, .

Many times replied the marplot and

,

then s h e made small talk desperately while

-
,

s h e tried to think o f some way of warni n g

her hus band not to be surprised at the s u d

den change i n Brockway s i tinerary for the ’

day . N othing better suggesting s h e struck ,

hands with temerity when Burton appeared

at the fo rward door with the conductor and ,

ordered Brockway to take Gertrude ba ck t o

the observation car -
.
 A R O M AN C E I N T RAN S IT
’
It s a shame that Miss V en n o r should
be missing the s c enery s h e said GO , .

along w i th her and make yourself useful .

W e will take care o f your an cients .

The small plotter breathed freer when

they were go n e S he kne w she had a little
.

duel to fight with her conservative husband ,

an d S he preferred to fight it wi thout seconds .

Her premon i tion became a reality as soon as

he reached her .

How is this ? he began ; “ d i d yo u

know Fred had changed his plans ?
S he shook her head “ He d i d n t take
.
’

m e into his confidence .

W ell what did he s ay for himself P

,

A bout changing his mind P N othi ng .

He didn t ? that s pretty c ool " What

’ ’

does he mean by runn i ng us O ff up here o n a

wild goose chase P
-

’
How should I know when he didn t
”
,

tell me P
W ell I ll j ust go and find o u t Bur
,
’
,

ton declared wi th growing displeasure

,
.

But his wi fe detai ned him S it down

”
.

and thi nk about i t for a few minutes first , ,

s h e said c oolly
,
You are angry now and
.
,

’ ’
you mustn t forget that he s with Miss Ven
nor .
”
 A R O M ANC E IN T RAN S IT

“B ut that is what o u wi l l have to tel l

y
him i f we go back ”s h e insisted with de
, , ,

l i ci o u s
e ffrontery .

Burton thought about i t for a moment ,

and ended by accepting the fact merely b e

’
cause i t was thrust upon hi m I couldn t
very well d o that you know ,he objected , ,

and she nearly laughed i n his fa c e because

he had fallen s o readily into her small trap
’
but if we don t break i t Off what shall we ,

do P
Do ? wh y nothing at all " Mr Ven
, .

n o r asks us to take his daughter with u s o n a

’
li ttle pleasure trip and he doesn t tell us to
-
,

bring her back instanter if we happen to find

Fred o n the train ” .

Burton was silenced but he was v ery far ,

from being convi nced and he gave up the ,

return project reluctantly promising himself ,

that he should have a very uncomfortable

day o f i t .

In the meantime the two young people i n

,
'

the Observation car were m aking hard work

-

of it A good man y undiscussab l e h appen

.

i ngs had i ntervened between thei r parting

and their m eeting and these interfered ,

sadly wi th the march of a casual conversa

tion . As u sually befalls i t w as the you n g ,
 ON T HE NARR O W-G A UG E 1 39

woman who first r o se superior to the embar

r ass m en ts .

I m glad o f this day sh e sa id frankly

’
, , ,

when they had exhausted the scenery the ,

matchless morni n g the crisp ai r and half a

, ,

dozen other commonplaces I enjoyed .

o u r trip down from S i lver P lume a year ago

s o much and i t seemed the height of i m

,
’
probabili ty to imagine that we d ever repeat
i t Di d you think we ever should P
N o indeed ” replied Brockway truth
, , ,

fully but I have wished man y times that

we might O nce in awhile when I was a
.
,

boy I used to get a day that was all my o wn

,

—a day in which I could go where I pleased

and do as I liked Those days are all marked
.

wi th white stones now and I Often envy the ,

b o y who had them

” .

I think I c an understand that .

’
C an y o u I didn t know little girls
ever had such days .

“ I ve had a few but I thi nk they were

’
,

never given me They were usually stolen

”
.
,

and so were doubly precious .

Brockway laughed S uppose we call

.

this a st o len day and try to make i t as much

,

like the others as we can S hall we ?

“It s a bar a i n ” s h e said impulsi v ely
.

’
g , , .
1 40 A R O M ANC E I N T R A N SIT
“ From this minute I am any i r r e sp o ns i
,

b l e age y o u please ; and y o n—you are to do

n othing whatever that yo u meant to do .

Will you agree to that ?

Gladly ” Brockway as sented the more
, ,

readily sin c e h i s plans fo r the day had been

s o recently demolished and rebuilt W e ll .
’

go where we please and do as we like ; ,

and for this o n e day nobody shal l s ay

’
Don t I
S h e lau g hed w i th him and then be c am e ,

suddenly grave “ .
’
It s no use ; we can t ’

do i t
” s h e sai d with mock pathos “ the
, ,

’
ancients and i nvalids won t let us
”
.

Yes , they w i ll Brockway asserted

, ,

cheerfu l ly Burton wi l l take care o f them

—that s what he s here for Moreover I
’ ’
.
,

shall take i t upon myself to abolish the per

v e r s i ti es an i mate o r i nanimate
”
,
.

P lease do .A nd i f Mrs B urton s c o l d.

’
S he d b etter not sa i d Brockway with
, ,
’
much sever i ty If she does I l l tell tales
.
,

o u t o f s c hoo l and gi ve h e r something else to

thi nk about ” .

C ould y o u P
You would b etter b eli eve i t ; she is
trembling in her shoes thi s blessed minute
 A R O M ANCE I N T RAN SIT

pocket dodged around the throng o f station

,

loungers and won back to the r ear platform

,

o f the observation car wi thout s e e 1 n g or being

-

seen o f the general age n t Then he drew.

the crumpled paper from his pocket and read

it shamelessly .

“To M I SS G E R T R U D E V E N N O R
,

C ar e J ohn B u r to n ,
O n Co l o r a d o Ce n tral
T r ai n 51 .

Co m e b ack f r o m G o l d e n o n fi r s t t rai n . H ave

ch an g e d o u r p l an s an d s h all l e ave D e n ve r at
”
,

P M
. . F RAN C I S V E N N OR .
 XV III

FL A GG E D D O W N

’
B RO CKWAY read the President s tel egram
twi ce folded i t very small and tu cked i t into
, ,

his waistcoat pocket .

’ ’
That s j ust about what I expected he d
’
d o and i t s a straight blu ff
, he m uttered , .

A ll the sam e she s not going back

,
’
A nd .

’
I ve g o t to block it wi thout get ting Burton
into trouble ” .

There was no time for anything b ut the

simplest expedient He jumped O ff agai n
.

and ran back to the telegraph O ffice .

S ay Jim that message to Miss V e n n o r

, ,

is bulled .A sk Denver to repeat it to Bea

ver Brook will you P
, he said interrupting ,

the operator as he was repeating the train

order .

The man o f dots and dashes finished the

’
order . C an t do i t Fred get me i n to ,

h o t water u p to my neck Think o f some

”
.

thing else .
1 44 A R OM ANC E IN T R A N S IT

Will you help me i f I d o ?

’
S ure any way that won t cost me my
j ob .

The condu c tor and engineer had signed

the order but Brockway begged fo r a res
,

pite “ Just a mi nute Halsey while I

”
.
, ,

write a message he said snatching a pad , ,

o f blanks and writing hasti l y while the c o n ,

d u c t o r waited .

To F RAN C I S V E N N O R ,

Priv ate Ca r 0 50 D en ve r , .

C an t y o u r e co n s i d e r an d l e ave D e n ve r t o m o r
’
-

r o w m o rn in g a s p r ev i o u s l y arran ge d ? A m qu i te
,

s u r e M i ss V e n n o r p r e fe r s to g o o n A n s w e r at
”
.

B e ave r B r o o k . F R E D E R I C K B R O C KW A Y .

He tossed the pad to the Operator .

’
There you are Ji m don t break yo u r ,

neck to make a rush o f it and when you

hear the answer c omi ng d o what you can to
—
make it limp a li ttle anything to change
the sense a bi t ” .

“ I ll do i t
’
uoth the operator and
q ; ,

then the conductor gave the si gnal and ,

Brockway bo arded the trai n and rejoined

Gertrude .

D id yo u think I had deserted yo u P

he asked .

“ O h n o and Mr Burton s been i n to ’

; ,
.
1 4 6 A R O M ANCE IN T RAN S IT

The trai n was storming up the canyon ,

dodging back and forth from wall to wall ,

roaring over dimi nuti v e bridges and vying ,

with the foami ng torrent at the track side i n -

i ts twisti ngs and turni n gs The noise was .

deafening but i t was bearable sin c e it served

, ,

to isolate them .

Does the compact mean that we are

to have no secrets from each other P he
as ked not dari ng to anticipate the answer ;
,

but Gertrude parried the di rect question .

W hat do two people who are trying to

be very young and foolish and irresponsible
know about secrets P sh e demanded Yo u .

’
are beati ng about the bush and I won t have ,

it . Tell me "
For reply he took the telegram from his
,

pocket opened it smoothed i t carefully o n

, ,

his knee and handed it to her

,
S he read it .

at a glance and a faint flush came and went

,

in her cheek but whether o f vexation o r not

,

he c ould not determine .

You are very daring she said passing , ,

the square Of paper back to him and her ,

voice was so low that he barely caught the

words .

’
Yo u told me I wasn t to do anything
that I m eant to do : I c ertainly di d n o t pre
 F LA GG E D DO WN I 47

meditate intercepting y o ur telegrams — o r

answering them ” he added .
,

Then you have answered i t How ?

He turned the paper over and wrote h i s
reply o n the back word for word ,
.

You dared to s a y that to my father "

she exclaimed How could you P
.

Under some cir c umstanc es I think I ,

could dare anything But yo u are angry as ,

”
.

’
I said you d be .

—
O f course I a m very I demand to b e
”
.

taken back to Denver this mi nute .

Do you mean that ?

’
Didn t I s a y i t ? ”
Brockway tried i n vain to read a c ontra
diction i n her face but the steady eyes were ,

veiled and i t is the eyes that speak when the

,

lips are silent .

’
I m sorry he began ; “ it m eant a
,

great deal to me but I know it was i n e x ,

’
c u s ab l e I ll go and tell Burton and you
.
,

can g o back from the Forks where the trains

”
,

meet .

N ow Gertrude had builded upon the s u p

position that she was safe beyond the reach
o f recall and she made haste to retract
”
, .

Yes do " sh e said tragically ; m ake

, ,

me go down o n my knees and beg y o u n o t to

1 4 8 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN S IT
’
I ll do it i f you insist How was I to know
, .

that you were only tr yi ng to humiliate me ?

The swift li ttle recantation gave B r p ck wa y
a glimpse into her personality which was ex
c ee di n gl y precious while i t last e d A man .

may fall in love with a sweet face o n slight

provocati on and wi thout prelimi naries but ,

he knows li ttle o f the height and depth o f

passion until association has taught him .

But l ove of the instantaneous variety has

this to c ommend it that i ts demands are
,

modest and based upon things visible .

Wherefore certain small excellences o f char

,

acter i n the subj ect brought to light by a

,

better acquaintance come i n the nature o f

,

so many ecstatic little surprises .

’
That is the man s point o f view The .

woman takes the excellences for granted ,

and i f they are lacki n g o n e of two things

,

may happen a great smashi ng o f i deals o r ,

a n attack of heavenly blindness Gertrude.

was o f the tribe o f those who go bl i nd and

d eep down i n her heart s h e rejoiced i n
’
Brockway s audaci ty Hence it was only
.

’
for form s sake that she said H o w was I to
,

know that yo u were only trying to h u m i l i

ate me P
”
I hu mil i ate you " he repeated quite ,
1 50 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN SIT

To take the c onsequen c es of my i m pu

d en c e P
”
‘
Y es Yo u don t know my father ; he ’

”
.

is steel and i ce when he is angry .

R ememberi ng the Object lesson o n the -

station platform i n Denver Brockway vent ,

u r e d to dissent from this though he was ,

politi c enough n o t to do s o openly .

v eu think he will be very angry

”
,

then ?
Indeed I don t—I know it ’
.

“ I m sorry but I m afrai d he wil l be

’ ’
;
angrier yet before long ”
“ VVh P”
.
,

y
You read my m essage : I asked him to
’
answer at Beaver Brook He ll be pretty .

sure to send y o u a peremptory order to turn

’
b ack from Forks C reek won t he P ,

“ Wh f course he will and I ll have ’

y o , ;
—
to go back after all I sha n t dare disobey
,
’ ’
.

’
O h why didn t you make i t impossible
, ,

while you were doing i t P

I had to do what I could ; and you ,

and Burton and the operator had to be

, ,

’
saved blameless But I ll venture a pre
.

di cti on A s well as you know your father

.
,

you may prepare yourself to be surprised at

what he will s a y I am no mi nd reader but
.
-
,
 F LA GG E D DO WN 1 5 1

’ ’
I m going to prophesy that he doesn t r e
call you .
”
’
But why P I don t understand
W e are due at Beav er Br o ok i n five
mi n utes wai t and you will see ” .
,

S O they waited while the pygmy loco

moti v e snorted and labored and the yel ,

l o w torrent roared and fled backward and ,

the gray cliffs o n either hand flu n g back

the clamorous echoes and the cool damp
,

air o f the canyon flushed now and then

,

wi th a jet o f spray blew in at the car win

,

dows .

Fo r the first time since her father had

suggested the trip wi th the Burtons Gertrude ,

began to understand that it could scarcely

have been his inte n tion t o gi v e her an unin
t er r u p t e d day in the company of the pas

senger agent . But in that case why had he

,
’
proposed the trip knowing that Brockway s
,

party would be on the train ? The answer

to this query did not tarry S he had caught
.

the surprised exclamations of the T a dm o r i

ans when Brockway made his appearance ,

and they poi nted to the supposition that his

presence on the trai n was unexpected A nd .

he had been ev idently embarrassed ; an d

Mrs Burton was curiously distrai t and u n
.
1 52 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

mistakably anxious to get the m o u t o f the

way before her husband should return .

These things were but straws but they ,

all poi nted t o o n e conclusion Her father .

k n ew o r thought he kne w that the p as

, ,

senger agent was to stay behind in Denver ,

a n d he had deliberately se n t her away fo r

the day to precl u de the possibili ty of a n o th e _

meeting A nd when he had discovered that

.

the little plan had miscarri ed he had qui te ,

as deliberately ordered her return .

’
S peaking broadly the P resident s daughter
,

was not undutiful but s h e was sufficiently

like her father to be quickly resentful o f c o
e r c i v e measures W herefore when s h e had
.
,

cleared up the small mystery to her o w n

satisfa c tion s h e hardened her heart and
,

promised herself that nothing short o f a

repetition o f the peremptory order should
make her return o n the forenoon train A nd .

the s h r i ek o f the eng i ne whistling fo r B eaver

,

B rook punctuated the reso l v e

,
.
1 54 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

It was a d i saster and no less He began

, .

b y c alling i t a mistake but mistakes which ,

i nvolve the possible loss o f fortunes small ,

or great are n o t to be lightly spoken o f

, .

B y the time he reached the end of the fifth

letter he had run the gamut o f expedients
,

and c oncluded to try the e ff ect o f a l ittle

wholesome parental authority .

Go o u t and g et m e a C olo r ado C entral

t i me c ard
-
” he said to Q u a tr em ai n and
,

when the secretary returned wi th a copy o f

the O ffi cial time table Mr V en n o r traced
-
,
.

o u t the schedule of the m orni n g trains east ,

an d west Number Fi fty o n e was not yet

.
-

due at Go l den and a telegram to that stat i on

,

wou l d doub tless reach Gertrude .

Take a message to M iss Gertrude

”
,

Harry he b egan but while he was trying

,

t o formulate it i n words whi c h should be

peremptory wi thout being i ncendiary he ,

thought better Of i t and went o u t to send i t

himsel f There was a querulous o l d gentleman
.

i n the telegraph o ffice who was making li fe

b urdensome for the operator and i t was ,

with no little d i fli c u l ty that the P resident

’
se c ured enough of the you n g man s time and
a ttention to serve his purpose .

Yo u are quite sure you can reach Go l den

 T HE FOO L I S H WIRES 1 55

before the train gets there are y o u P he ,

said writing the number o f his telegraph

,

fran k i n the corner of the blank .

O h y es ” replied the operator with an

, , ,

’
u pward glance at the cl ock there s plenty
o f time .
’
I ll send i t right away ” .

But I ah—protest I declared the q u er u

lous gentleman and he failed no t to do s o
,

most emphatically after the P resident left

the O ffice .

The Operator turned a deaf ear and sent ,

the message to Miss V en n o r and when i n ,

’
due course o f time Brockway s answer came
, ,

he sent i t o u t to the private car The P resi .

dent was still dictating and was i n the midst

o f a letter when the yellow envelope w as

handed him but he stopped short and opened

,

’
the telegram The reading o f Brockway s
.

i n solent question imposed a severe test upon

’
Mr V e n n o r s powers o f self control and the
.
-
,

outcome was not wholly a vi ctory o n the

side o f stoicism .

C urse his impudence he broke o u t ,

’
wrathfully I ll make this cost him some
’
thing befo re he s through with i t and he
sprang to his feet a n d hurried o u t with the
i nflammatory message in his hand .

It is a trite saying that anger is an ev il

1 56 A R OM AN C E IN T R AN SIT

c ounsel l or and whoso hearkens thereto wi ll

,

have many things to repent o f N O o n e .

knew the value o f this aphorism better than

Francis V e n n o r but for once i n a way he
,

allowed himself to disregard it He knew .

well enough that a delicately worded hint to

Burton would bri n g the general agent and
his wi fe and Gertrude back to Denver o n the
next train but wrath would n o t be satisfied
,

with such a placable expedient O n the .

contrary h e resolved to communicate di

,

r e c t l y with Gertrude herself and to rebuke ,

her Openly as her unduti ful conduct de

,

served .

In the tele g raph office the operator was

still having trouble with the querulous gen
tl e m an but the P resident went to the desk
,

to wr i te his message shutting h i s ears to the

,

shrill voi ce o f the g a dfl y .

But s i r I m ust ah— protest

, ,
I d is .

t i n c tl y hear d Mr ah —Brockway tell you to

.

se n d anything I desired a n d I demand that ,

—
you send this ; i t was part Of the ah s ti p u
lation s i r "
,

“ This was a message o f five hundred

Odd words to the loca l ra i lway agent i n the
small town where Mr Jo rdan had purchased .

his tic k et setting forth his grievance at length;

,
1 58 A R O M ANC E IN T RAN S IT

to the irrelevant c hattering o f his sounder .

He heard Denver call Beaver Brook and ,

when the station in the canyon answered he ,

promptly gro u nded the wire and caught up

his pen .The effect o f this manoeuvre was
t o short circui t that particular wire at Gol
-

den cutting o ff all stations beyond ; but

,

this the Denver Operator could not know .

’
A s a result the P resident s telegram got no
,

’
farther than Golden and B rockway s fri end
,

took i t down as it was sent A t the final .

word he opened the wi re aga i n i n time to

hear Beaver Brook swear at the prolonged
”
break and as k Denver what was wanted
, .

Thereupon followed a smart quarrel in

telegraphi c shorthand i n which Denver a c
,

c u sed Beaver Brook o f go i ng to slee p over

his instrument and Beaver Brook intimated

,

that Denver was i ntoxicated A ll Of whi ch .

gave the o bstructionist at Golden a clear

minute in whi c h to determi ne what to do .

If I only knew what Fred wants to have

happen he mused “ I might be able to
, ,

’ ’
fix i t up right for him A s I don t I ll .
,

f —
j ust have to make hash o i t no I won t ,
’
,

’
either I ll j ust tr I m i t down a bi t and make
—
i t talk backward that s the idea and three ’

words dropped w i ll d o i t by j in g Wonder ,

 T HE F OO LI S H W I R E S 1 59

i f I c an get the swit c h b oard dow n fine

enough to cut the m o u t P Here s h e c omes
again .

The quarrel was concluded and Denver

’
began to repeat the message Brockway s .

friend bent over his table with his soul i n

his ears and his fi n ge r tips Denver was
-
.

impatient an d the preliminaries chattered

,

through the sounder as o n e long word At .

the final letter in the address the Golden ,

’
man s switch key flicked to the right and
-

then back again ; and at the tenth word i n

the message the movement was repeated .

O K . said Beaver Brook

.
, .

R epeat cli c ked Denver

”
.
,

“ N o time ’
; trai n s here came ba c k ,

from the station i n the c anyon and Bro c k

way s friend s a t b a ck and chu c kled s oftly
’
.
 CH I E FL Y S C E N I C

W H E N the trai n dre w up to the p l atfor m

at Beaver Brook Brockway asked Gertrude
,

i f he should go and s ee i f there were a mes

sage fo r her .

No
, she said perversely l et i t find
,

me i f i t can ”
, .

It came a mi nute later by the hand o f

, ,

C onductor Halsey S he read it with a little

.

frown o f perplexi ty gather i ng between the

straight brows .

D O we live o r die P Brockway asked ,

crucially anxious to know what his friend

had been able to do fo r him .

’ ’
Why I don t understand i t at all ; it s
,

simply Greek after the other o n e

,
P apa .

says : Do not return o n forenoon trai n .

’
We shall wai t for you .

Good I am a true prophet an d o u r ,

whi te day is assured .

“Y—yes but I don t begi n to under ’

,

1 60
 1 62 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

S how me the O ld Man o f the Moun

tain when we come to it she said ” of ,

c ourse there i s an O ld Man o f the Moun

,

tain P
There is indeed b ut we passed him
, ,

—
long ago at least the o n e that is always ,

’
poi nted o u t to the C ookies as yo u cal l ,

them . B ut i f yo u will watch the outlines o f

the cl i ff s you c an find o n e o f your o wn i n
any half mile o f the c anyon
-
” .

’
I don t wan t o n e if they are as cheap
as that I suppose you have made them at
.

’
a pin c h haven t y o u ? when you had fo r
,

gotten to point o u t the real o n e ?

’
I m afraid I have ; just as I have bee n
o bliged to i nvent statist i cs But that is the .

fault o f the man with a n ote book he wil l -

have them you know ”

,
.

’
Why don t yo u tell h i m the truth ?
Because he is too nu m erous i n my cal l
’
i ng and again because I don t Often know
”
,

enough o f the truth to satisfy him .

But it is wrong to i nvent thi ngs s h e ,

protested dropping her i rresponsible r Ol e

,

to fight for the love o f truth wh i ch was her

P u ritan birthright .

I agree wi th y o u b ut ci cer on i c lyin g

"

is
 C HI E F LY S C E N I C 1 63

’
en can t tell the
f us
lie .

ii dedi d
w '
’ fi

G er tr reply The bound in g

not .
,

swaying rear platform o f a movi n g trai n

which is reeli n g Off miles and mountain
heights of a stupendous natural pan o rama is '

not exactly the place for a dispassio n ate dis

c us s i o n o f ethi cal principles It hurt her to .

believe that her companion did not love truth

in the abstract and s h e m eant to have it,

o u t wi th him later ; but for the moment she

put duty as ide and opened the door to en

t h u s i as m .

“Just think she ex claimed ; yester

day the hori zon was s o far away that it was
actually invisible and now you can almost
’
reach out and touch it P lease don t let me
”
.

m iss anythi n g that I ought to see .

“Did anyone show you The Mule

when you were up here last year ?
NO .
”
It is just around the second curve ahead .

L ook well up the mountai n side for a big -

’
bowlder facing the canyon ; i t s a pi cture
”
,

not a figure .

S he followed his dire c t i ons , grasping the

1 64 A R O M ANC E I N T RAN S IT

hand rails and l eaning far out to get a wider

-

view . Brockway wanted to put his arm

around he r and hold her but not daring to , ,

stood by to catch her if s h e s h ould lose her

balance P resently the great bowlder ci r
.

cled i n to view a n d s h e got a very s a ti s fa c

,

tory S ight o f the pi ctured mule o n its face

before a sudden swerve o f the trai n swept it
o u t o f range .

How wonderful sh e ex c laimed .

How di d anyone ever get up there to

pai nt i t ?
’
It is only a water painting as the peo -
,

ple up here cal l it ; a natural discoloration

’
o n the face Of the rock he answered Isn t .

it li fe like though ?
-
,

“Indeed i t is i t i s almost incred i ble

; , .

’
Then suddenly :
,
That isn t a s c eni c fi b ,

is it P
’
NO If you ll agr ee n o t to flog me w i th
.

m y o wn whi p I ll promise to tell you the

’
,

truth and nothing but the truth all day , .

Isn t that a very large pro mise P

’

Brockway had a fleeting glimpse into the

b ook o f prophecy and sa w that i t m ight
easily become s o N one the less he would
.
,

n o t go b ack .

’
L arge or small I ll keep i t to the l etter
, .
1 66 A R O M ANCE I N T RAN S IT
“Y es i t s Forks C reek famous for i ts
’
, ,

pies E verybody eats pie at the Forks

. .

W i ll yo u cli mb down from the heights o f

the sublime and go and eat pie with me ?
A nything you say she rej oi ned laugh
, ,

i ng and a few minutes later John Burton ,

the canny w as scandali zed to s e e the P resi

’
dent s daughter walki n g up and down the
narrow platform wi th the passenger agent ,

eating her half o f an apple tu rnover whi c h

B ro ckway had bou g ht and shared w i th her .
 ON TH E HE I G H T S

J O H N B URT O N w as scandalized and he ,

s ai d as much to his wife when the trai n was

once more o n i ts way up the canyon .

’
E mily there s going to be a fracas when
,
’
we get back to night I t s my opinion that
-
.

the P resident sent his daughter wi th us to

’
get her o u t o f Fred s reach .

Then it serves him ri ght said Mrs , .

B urton complacently
, S he is n o t a child
.

’
she s Old enough to know her o wn mind .

’
That m ay be but it doesn t let u s o u t
,
.

’
I wish you d go back and s i t wi th them
awhile .

A nd get myself disliked P N o thank ,

you . I may not shine as a star in the chap

’
e r o n i c fi r m a m e n t but I m a human being
, .

’
Think o f it ; put yourself i n Fred s place i f ,
’
you haven t hopelessly outlived the p o ss i b i l
’
i ty and see how you d like to be du en n aed
”
,

at such a time .
1 68 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN SIT
’
It isn t a question o f likes and but
at that moment the truants appeared to
speak for themselves .

’
It s chilly o u t there i n the O pen car ,

and we came in to talk and get warm sai d ”

,

Gertrude “ D id y o u get any pie Mrs ,

. .

Burton
’
N o ; Mr B urton wasn t as thoughtful
.

—
as F r as Mr Brockway ” . .

Mr Brockway was twi ce thought ful

.
,

l aughed Gertrude as the passenger agent ,

drew a pie from under his coat and pro

c e e de d to cut i t into quarters with his
po cket knife
-
.

Burton sai d O h pshaw with depre

, ,

c a to r y emphasis but he accepted his allot,

ment an d ate it with the others A fterward .

,

when the talk took flight into the regi on o f

badinage he went away and devoted himself
,

d utifully to the T a dm o r i an s .

W hen he was gone the tr i o made m erry ,

with true holiday zest For Gertrude the .

,

little plunge i nto the stream o f u n c o n v en

t i o n a l i ty was refreshi ng and keenly ex h i l
a r a ti n g and s h e bore her part j oyously for
, ,

getting the day o f reckoning and seeking ,

o nly to make the most o f th e few hours o f

.

outlawry .
1 70 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

presentment is merely the a be o f m odern

realism .

S o Brockway beheld and rhapsodized i n

secret and laughed and c hatted openly and
, ,

sank deeper and deeper i n the pit o f perplex

i ty as the trai n burrowed i ts way into the
heart o f the mountai ns F o r keeping even
.
,

pace with the gallop o f love pride rode mili ,

tant . L ife without Gertrude would be but

a barren waste said o n e and better a des
, ,

ert and solitude therei n than an E den e n

venomed by the serpent o f i nequali ty r e ,

t o r te d the other Whi c h proves that c lass

.

disti n c tions are buttressed from belo w n o

l ess se c urely than they are sus pended from
above and that feudalism in the subject has
become extinct i n o n e form on l y to flourish
qui te vigorously i n another .

But these were under thoughts In his

-
.

proper person the passenger agent was doing

,

his best to keep his promise to Gertrude ;

to make the day a little oasis o f care free -

enjoyment i n the humdru m desert o f com

m o n pl a c e .

At Georgetown B urton proposed the

,

trans fer o f the entire party to o n e o f the O b

servat i on cars for the better viewing o f the
-

L oop and the thi ng w as done forthwith

,
 O N T HE H E IG HT S 7 1

B ut at the last moment Gertrude decided to

remain i n the coach and Br o ckwa y stayed ,

with her as a matter o f cour se

,
.

’
I ve seen it twi c e and I don t care t o
’
,

hang over the edge o f it ” she said Be .

,

’ ’
sides i t s very comfortable i n here ; don t
,

you think so P
“ I m n o t finding any fault
’
Brockway ,

rej oined I wish we might have the coach

.

to ourselves fo r the rest o f the day .

Do you ? I thought you had been e n

j oying yourself all along ” .

S o I have i n a way ; but I hate and

,

abhor a crowd— I ve had to be the nucleus ’

o f too many o f them I suppose ,

.

W hat do you call a crowd ? s h e i n

quired l aughing at the outburst o f v i n di c
,

t i v e n ess .

Three people —sometimes Half the .

pleasure o f this forenoon has been slain by

’
the knowledge that we ll have to fight for
o u r dinners with the m o b at that wretched

little ta bl e a Wal e at Graymont '

.

’
C an t we escape it P
Not with out going hungry .

I think Mr and M r s Burton are go i ng. .

to escape it .

What makes you think that P

 A R O M ANC E I N T RAN S IT

Th i s sa i d Gertrude po i nt i n g to a we ll
, ,

fi l l ed lunch basket under the seat

-
.

Praised b e A llah B roc kway ex

claimed fervently
, You can trust B u r
.

ton to look o u t fo r the smal l personal c o m

forts . A nd he never SO much as hinted at
this when I was grum b ling about the dinner
awhi l e ago ’
I ve a m i nd to punish him
.
” .

H ow P
B y c o n fis c a ti n g the b as ket W e co u ld .

run awa y by ourselves and have a quiet li t

tle pi cn ic dinner while they wrestl e w i th the
m ob .
”
But Gertrude demurred T h at woul d
be to o c allously v illanous she objected , .

’
C an t we d i vide wi th them P
A nd go away by ourselves wi th the
spoils P
Yes i f you li ke
,
.

I do l i ke I kno w a plac e and the way

.
,

to get there A re you good for a climb P

.

B rockway possessed himself o f the basket ,

spread a n ewspa per o n th e opposi te seat and ,

began to m ake a very fair and equitable

division o f the eatables .

I m good for anything s h e sai d then

’
,

she pulled O ff her gloves and helped h i m

d i vide t h e l un c heon .
 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT
’
Then I l l n o t do I t I t would be rather
awkward for both o f us .

A hundred feet o r m ore above the level

o f the rail way track they c ame to a small

plateau and i n the midst o f it Brockway

, ,

stoppe d suddenly and spun her around wi th

her face to the southward N O uninspired
.

pen may set do w n i n u nmalleable phrase a

descripti on o f what she saw ; nor can any
tide gau ge o f language spoken o r written
-
, ,

measure the great wave o f emotion which

swept over her choking the flood gates o f
,
-

expression From the moment the ascend

.

i ng trai n enters the canyon at Golden until

it pauses opposite the hotel at Graymont ,

the scenery is rugged and inspiring bu t it ,

belittles itself by its very nearness But .

from the plateau where they were standing ,

the vista expands as if by magic The .

mighty m ountain at whose foot the train

pauses becom es but a foothill and j ust b e ,

yond i t in i ndescribable grandeur and

,

majesty rises the huge snow clad bulk of

, ,
-

’
Gray s P eak stupendous awe I n s p I r I n g
, ,
-
,

daz zling the eye with i ts unspotted mantle

o f shimmering white an d slaying the sense
,

o f proportion with i ts immeasurable vastness .

G ertrude c aught her breath and Brock ,

 ON T HE HEIGHT S 1 75

way stood unco v ered be side her sile n t and ,

watchful . W hen her eyes began to fill with

tears he broke the spell
”
.
,

Forgive me he quickly “ it
,

was almost c ruel n o t to prepare you b u t I ,

wanted to s ee if i t would appea l to you as it

does t o m e ” .

It is unspeakable she said softly

, , .

S hall we stop here ?

NO.
” He took her arm again and to
gether they climbed higher o n the mountai n "

side silently as b efi t ted time and place

, ,

but each with a hear tful o f thoughts t o o

l arge fo r speech .
 XX I I

ON TH E S P UR -
T RA C K

A T the precise moment when Gertru de

and Brockway pausing i n thei r breath cut
,
-

ting scramble u p the bowlder strewn mou n -

ta in si de were casting about for a suitable

-
,

place i n which to eat their luncheon P res ,

ident V en n o r and his guests were rising

from the table after a rather early midday
meal in car N aught fi fty Whe n the ladies
-
.

had gone to thei r staterooms the P reside n t ,

sent Q u a tr em a i n upon a wholly u n necessary

errand to the post O ffi c e and drew up a
-
,

chai r to smoke a cigar with F l ee tw el l .

It was not for n othing that he banished

the secretary The forenoon train from
.

C lear C reek C anyon had arrived wi thout

bringing Gertrude ; and the wires which ,

he had waited upon wi th increasing dis

quietude still remained churlishly silent
,
.

’
A crisis i n Gertrude s aff air seemed immi
nent and as a last resort Mr V e n n o r had
, , , .

1 76
1 7 8 A R O M ANC E IN T R A N S IT

more than civilly tolerant cousi n s I know .

her better than you do my boy and I can , ,

’
assure y o u that she s not to be so lightly
won O urs is a fairly practical family I
. .

think I may say but there is a streak o f I o

,

mance i n i t which comes to the surf ace n o w

and then i n the women and Gertrude h as ,

’
her full share o f i t Moreover s h e doesn t
.
,

care a pi n for the provisions o f the will ” .

C onfound the wi ll " said the colle

’
gian . I don t see why the o l d gentleman
had to fall back o n a medi aeval dodge that
always defeats i tself ” .

N or I the matter would h ave been

very much simplified i f he had not But .

unfortunately we have to do with the fact

,
.

’
It strikes me that we ve had to do with
it all along I used to thi nk Gertrude was
.

rather fond of me but S i nce this money a f

”
,

’
fai r has come up I m not so sure o f it
”
, .

Have y o u ever asked her P inquired

the P resident wi th an apparent lack o f i n
,

t er e s t whi ch was no i ndex to his anxiety .

“Why— no n o t i n s o many words I

,

believe .But how the deuce is a fellow to

make love to a girl when his grandfather has
done i t for him P
That my dear C hester is a question
, ,
 O N T HE S PU R -T RAC K 1 79

you ought to be able to answer for yourself .

Y o u ca n hardly expect Gertrude to beg yo u

to save her li ttle patrim o ny for her .

It was an unfortu nate w a y o f putting it

’

and Mr V en n o r regretted his unwisdom

.

when F l ee tw el l carried the thought to i ts

legitimate conclusion .

There i t is again you see That cursed

, .

legacy tangles the thing every time yo u

make a rush at it I can u n derstan d just
.

how she feels about i t If she refuses me i t

’
will cost her something i f S he doesn t there
will be plenty o f the clan who will say that
she had an eye to the money ” .

What differen ce will that make s o lon g ,

as y o u kno w better P
The question was s o deliberate and mat
ter o f fact that Fl eetwel l forgot himself and
- -

let fra n kness run away with him .

’
That s just i t ; how the deuce is a fel
low going to know but at this point
the c o l d eyes checked him and he suddenly ,

remembered that he was speaking to Ger

’
trude s father Whereupon he s tu l ti fi ed him
.

self and made a promise .

P erhaps you are right after all he , ,

’
added A nyway I ll have it o u t with
”
.
,

her to night after s h e comes back

-
, .
1 80 A R O M ANC E I N T RAN S IT
’
Have it o u t with her doesn t sound
very lover like ” suggested the President
-
, ,

mi ldly . I can assure you beforehand that

y o u will have to take a different tone with
her whether you are si ncere o r not other
,

wi se you will waste your breath and enrich

half a dozen chari ties we know o f ”
”
.

’
O h I ll do it right
, sai d Fl ee tw e l l
, ,

n onchalantly
“ ’
but I d give my share o f
’
the money tw i ce over i f i t didn t have
—
to be done at all that i s i f the m oney ,

m atter could be taken o u t o f i t ent i rely I

”
,

m ean .

They smoked o n i n reflective silen c e fo r

five full minutes befo r e the P resident s aw fit
to resume the conversation Then he said ,

slowly and in his levellest tone

You are going to speak to her t o night -

—
very good y o u have m y best wishes as y o u ,

know But i f anythi ng should happen ; if

.

you should agree to disagree ; i t is you who

’
must take the ini ti ative If y o u don t m ean
.

to marry her you must tell her s o plainly

, ,

and before y o u have given her a chance to

refuse y o u D O you understand P
.

F l ee tw el l S prang to his fee t as i f he had

received a blow He was a young giant in
.

physique and he looked uncom fortably be l

,
 XX III
’
TH E L AN D OF H EA RT S D E L I G H T

H E R E i s the place I was looking for ,

s a i d B rockway handi n g Gertrude to a seat

,

o n a great fallen fir which had once been a

senti nel o n the farthest outpost o f the tim

’
ber line
-
. It s three years since I was here ,

but I remember this log and the little strea m

o f snow water-
’
Isn t i t clear and pure ?
.
”
E v erything ought to be that up here in
”
,

the face o f that great shining mountai n ,

s h e said and then they spread thei r lunch

eon o n the tree trunk between them and
-
,

piti ed the crowded T adm o r i a n s in the l i ttle

hotel below .

I feel as if I could l ook down benig

n a n t l y o n the whole world
” Gertrude de ,

c l ar e d searching for the paper o f salt and

,

finding i t not The things o f yesterday

.

seem immeasurably far away ; and as for

to morrow I could almost persuade m yself
-
,

’
there isn t go in g to be any .

1 82
 ’
T HE LAN D OF H EAR T S D E L IGHT 1 83

’
I wish there wasn t going to be any ,

said Brockway ; but the manner i n which

he attacked th e cold chi cken slew the p es
s i m i s m in the remark .

Do you ? I could almost s ay A men to

that s h e rej oined soberly ,
.

You P I should have thought you would

be the last person i n the world to want to
st o p Time s trai n
’ ” .

S he laughed softly That is very human

.
,
’
isn t i t ? I was thi nki n g preci sely the same
thing o f you . Tell me why you would like
to abolish the to morrows— o r is it only the
-

very next o n e that ever will be that you

w an t to escape ?
’ ’
I t s all o f them I think but you mustn t
,

ask me to tell y o u why ”

”
.

W h y mustn t I P ’

’
Because I can t do it and keep my prom
i se to tell you the truth ” .

That is frank at least ,s h e retorted , .

I hope you are not a c o nscience stricken -

train robber o r a murderer or a n ything of

-
,

”
,

that kind .

Hardly , Brockway replied helping ,

himself to an o ther sandwich but y o u

would be quite horrified if I should tel l y o u
what I have really d o ne ” .
1 84 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

Do you think so ? You might try m e

and s e e ” s h e said half pleading and half
, ,

j esting .

Brockway thought ab out i t for a moment

I ll do i t —o u o n e c ondition ”
.

’
.

You ought to be ashamed to propose

condi tions to me What is i t ? ” .

That you will tell me qui te as truthful l y

why you agreed with me about the aboli tion
o f the t o morrows -
.

’
It was Gertrude s turn to cons i de r bu t ,

she ended by accepting the prov iso

”
.

A fter you s h e said with a constra i ned

, ,

little laugh But who would ever think o f

.

exchanging c o n fi den c es at this alti tude over

a stolen l uncheon "
’
N ot many perhaps but i t s quite in
,

keeping with o u r compa c t ; we were not to

’
d o ordinary things you know A nd I m ,
.

sure this confession I am go i ng to m ake is

’
unpremedi tated
”
.

Is it s o very dreadfu l ?
It is I assure you though I can make
, ,

it i n five words I am hopelessly i n love

.

’ ’
don t laugh please there i s n t the s l ightest
”
,

element o f levi ty i n it for me .

Nevertheless s h e d i d l au gh albe i t there

, ,

w as pain at the catching o f her breath .

1 86 A R OM AN C E I N T R A N S IT

—
Does the the young woman think as yo u

do P
’
It is and I don t know what she
thinks .
’
I ve never asked her you know ”
, .

’
You haven t ? A nd still you s i t here
o n this log and eat cold chicken and tell m e
’
c almly that i t s hopeless I sai d awhile
’
ago that y o u were very daring but I ll r e
”
,

tract in deference to that .

’
It s n o t exactl y a lack of courage ,

Brockway objected moved to defend him ,

self when he would much rather hav e done

something else There is another obsta
.

cle and i t is insurmountable S he is rich

,
. . .

’
rich in her o w n right I m told and I am
”
,

a poor man .

H o w poor ?
P i tifully so from her po i nt o f v i ew
,
So .

p oor that i f I gave her a fi v e room cottage -

and one servant I could do no more ”

,
.

Many a woman has been happy wi th less .

Doubtless but they were n ot born i n

,

the purple ” .

So me o f them were i f by that you mean ,

bor n with mo n ey t o throw away I suppose .

you might say that of me ” .

Brockway suddenly found the Denver eat

i ng house cake very dry but he could not
-
,
 ’
T HE L AN D o r H EAR T S D E L I G HT 1 87

take his eyes from her long e n ough t o go

and get a dri nk from the rill at the log end -
.

But you would never “ marry a po or

”
,

man he ventured to say

,
.

’
Wouldn t I That would depend very
much upon circumstances ” s h e rejoined , ,

secure in the as surance that her secret was

n o w double locked in a dunge on o f Brock
-

’
way s o w n building If i t were the right
.

’
thi n g to do I shouldn t hesitate though in ,

that case I should go to him as destitute as

the beggar maid did to King C ophetua ” .

’
Brockway s heart ga v e a great bound and
then seemed to forget i ts office .

How is that ? I —I don t understand ’

,

he stammered .

Gertrude gaz ed across at the shining

m ountain and took c ourage fr o m i ts calm
passi v ity .

I will tell you becaus e I promised to

, ,

s h e sai d I too have money i n my own

.
,

right but it is only in trust and i t will be

, ,

t aken from m e i f I do not marry in a c

c o r dan c e with the provisions o f my grand

uncle s will ’
8 0 you see unless I accept
.
,

my — the person named in the will I shall ,

be as do werless as any proud poor man could

as k .
”
1 88 A RO M A N C E IN T RAN S IT

But you will accept your c ousin sai d ,

’
B rockway qu ickly putting Fl ee t wel l s name
,

into the hesitant little pause .

S he looked steadfas tly at the great peak

and shook h e r h ead
”
.

I shall n o t she answered and her

, ,

v oi c e w as so low that Bro c kway saw rather

than heard the deni al .

Why he demanded .

S he t urned to hi m with sudden reproach

i n her eyes .Yo u press me to o hardly ,

b ut I suppose I have given y o u the right .

—
The reason is because I I don t thi nk ’

enough of hi m i n the right way ” .

Tel l me o n e other thing i f you c an —i f ,

y ou will. D o you love someone else ? ”

His voice was steadi er n o w and his eyes ,

held her s o that she c ould not turn back to

the sh i ning mountain as s h e wanted to , .

N one the l ess she answered h im truthfully

, ,

as s h e had promised .

I do .
”
I s he a poor m an
He says he i s ” .

How poor ?
A s poor as y o u sa i d y o u were a m o
m ent ago .
”
A nd you will g ive up all that you have
 1 9 0 A R OM A N C E IN T RAN S IT

after you it i s I w h o should

serve . A nd when he had touched his
lips to the water s h e drank deeply and ,

thanked him .

Brockway thrust the dri pping cap absently

i nto his pocket and stood l oo king down o n
,

her like a man i n a maze ; stood s o long

that s h e glanced up with a quizzical li ttle
smile and said A re you sorry P
,

He c ame to himself wi th a start and sat

down o n the tree trunk beside her -
S or .

r y Yo u know better than that But I do .

’
believe I m a b i t idi oti c wi th happiness .

A re y o u qui te sure you know what you have

done
Q uite I think
. I made up my m i nd
—
last night to do i t i f y o u should ask me .

It was after o u r ride o n the engine ; after

my father had let me see what was in his
mi nd .

“A h
y e s —
,
your f ather He w i l l be ver y .

’
angry won t he P
,

Y es —reluctantly .

But you will n o t let hi m make yo u r e

cant ? ”
S he laughed joyous l y You th i nk y o u .

are i n love with me and yet that shows ,

h o w little y o u really know o f me o r o f the ,

 ’
T HE L A N D O F H EAR T S D E L I G HT 1 9 1

family characteristics We have plenty o f

.

’
unlo velinesses but fi ck l e n ess isn t o n e o f
,

them .
”
Forgive me he said humbly
, but,

i t seems to me there is so li ttle to hold you ,

and so much to turn you as ide I .

A series o f shrill shrieks from the loco

motive in the valley below i n terrupted him ,

’
and he rose rel u ctantly They re c alling
’
us in we ll have to go .

S he took his arm a n d they ran down the

steep declivity across the small plateau and
, ,

s o on to the bottom o f the railway cutti n g .

Just before they reached the train Brockway ,

asked if he should tell the Burtons

As you please ” s h e replied I shal l
, .

tell my father and C ousin Jeannette as soo n

as we get back ” .

They found the passengers all aboard and

the train waiting for them and Mrs Burton , .

scolded them roundly fo r their misdeeds .

W e had a mind to go o ff and leave

o
” s h e said “ i t would have served you
y ,
u

right for running away Where ever have .

you been
Up o n the hill taking in the scenery
, ,

B rockway replied and Gertrude abetted

him with an enthusias ti c description o f
1
9 2 A R O M A N C E I N T RAN S IT

Gray s P eak as seen from the plateau —a

’

description whi ch ran o n wi thout a break

u nti l the trai n paused at S ilver P lume ,

where the T a d m o r i a n s debarked to burr o w

i n a silver mine Burton burrowed with.

them as a matter o f course but h i s wi fe de

, ,

c l i n e d to go .

I shall stay right here an d keep an eye

o n these truants
” she declared with great
, ,

severi ty A nd B rockway and Gertrude ex

.

—
changed comforting glances as who should
s ay
“ What matters i t now ?
,
—and clasped
hands u nder cover o f the stir o f debarkation .

A nd Mrs Burton s a w all this without seem

.

ing to and rej oi ced gleeful l y at the b ottom

,

o f her match making heart -

.

When the T a dm o r i a n s had i m pe d ed the

mi ne and had come back muddy and b e
,

sprinkled wi th water and besmirched with

candle drippi ngs the trai n went o n i ts
-
,

way down the canyon Havi ng done what .

he might toward pumpi ng the well o f tour

ist curiosity dry o n the outward j ourney ,

Burton was given a litt l e rest during th e

afternoon and the quartette sat together in
the coach and talked commonplace i n an
i ties when they talked at all A nd the bur .

den of eve n this desultory c onversati on fell

 A R O M ANCE IN T RAN S IT

Y ou still think i t will be better for you

’
to tel l him first ? that I d better not go to
hi m at once
I do but you may speak to hi m after
ward if y o u thi nk best ”
, .

It must be this evening When shall I

.

come
A ny t i me after dinner If you wi l l
.

’
watch the window o f my stateroom I ll l et ,

you k n ow when yo u can find him alone .

The day was going o u t i n a dusty twilight ,

and they were again standing o n the rear

platform o f the second obser v ation car -
.

W hen the trai n clattered in over the switches

and stopped o n the outer track o f the Denver
station platform this last car was screened
,

by the dimly lighted hulk o f the Tadmor

switched in to receive its lading Brockway .

ran down the steps and swung Gertrude

lightly to the platform after wh i ch he put
his arms about her and k issed her passion
ately .

God knows when the n ext t i me w ill

be ” he said wi th a sudden foreboding o f
, ,

evil and then he took her arm and led her

swiftly across to the private car leav i ng the
,

Burtons to g o whi ther the y woul d .

 XX IV

TH E E N D OF A S T O P OV E R
-

TH E waiter was laying the plates fo r di n

ner when Gertrude came out o f her state
r o om and Fl ee twel l rose and placed a ch air
,

for her where they would be out of earshot

o f the others .

Had a comfortably good time to day -

he inquired stretching himself lazily o n the

,

lounge at her side .

Yes. W hat have you been doing

S ociali zing as P riscilla Says ; canter
,
’

i ng about all over Denver looking up peo ,

ple we shouldn t nod to at home W here

’
.

are your friends

The Burtons ? I think they went to a
hotel They are n o t going o n till to morrow
.
-

night.

I wonder what became o f the passenger

’
agent I haven t seen him since morning ”
,

said the collegian wi th his eyes lying in

,

wait to pounce upon her secret .

I 9S
 A R O M ANC E IN T RAN S IT

He was wi th us s h e replied c al ml y
, , ,

and Fl ee twel l sa t up i mmediately .

’
O ughtn t I to be jealous he de
m a n de d .

’
I don t know why you shou l d be ?
I fancy the others would s ay I ought to

Wh y
’
For obv i ous reasons 5 aren t we sup e

posed to be as good as engaged

’
I don t kno w about the supposit i on
but we are n o t engaged ” .

’
No and your father says i t s my fau l t .

Will you set the day ?

Her smile w as sweet and ine ffable What .

an enthusiastic wooer you are C ousin C hes ,

’
ter C ouldn t you rake up the embers and
.

fan them i nto a tiny b i t o f a blaze ? just fo r

’
form s sake yo u know ” .
,

’
That s nonsense he answered placidly
, , .

’
We ve known ea c h other too long for any
’
thing o f that sort B u t y o u haven t answered
”
.

m y questi on .

A bout the day ? That is nonsense too , .

’
You know perfectly well there isn t g oing to
—
be any d ay n o t for us .

F l ee twe l l drew a l on g b reath and ran hi s

fingers through his hair .
1 9 8 A R O M ANCE IN T RAN S IT

V en n o rc onsidered the mai n question at is

’
s u e namely the fate Of Gertrude s legacy
, , .

A nd when they came to the table together

they were s o evidently at peace that the
P resident drew another false conclusion and
wore his best Ki ng George smile throughout
the entire di nner hour -
.

A t the concl us ion o f the meal F l e etwel l ,

dodged the customary cigar wi th his cousin .

Under the circumstan c es he deemed i t pru

dent to give the chapter Of accidents a clear
field Moreover he co njectured that Ger
.
,

trude had somewhat to s ay to her father and ,

would be grateful for an undisturbed half

hour wherefore he proposed a stroll u p
town to Mrs Dunham and the Misses Beas
.

wicke and presently left the car with the

,

three Of them i n tow .

The P resi dent w as i n his stateroom r e ,

filling his c igar case ; and when he came

-

out ,
Gertrude and Q u a tr e m a i n were alone
i n the large compartment .

W here are the others ? he asked ,

pausing at her chair to l i ght his cigar .

They have gone u p town for a walk -

.

H m and left you behind P

-

’
I didn t care to go S he s aw that her
.

Oppor tunity was come and gave the secre ,

 T HE EN D O F A S TOP OV ER - 1 99

tary a look which should have made h i m

vanish at once It did not but her father
.
,

c ut the knot of that di fficulty .

It s a fine night ; will yOu take a turn

’

”
outside with me whi l e I smoke P he said .
,

S he acquiesced and they went o u t to ,

pace up and down the long platform Two .

turns they made in silence while Gertrude

sought vainly for words confessional and at ,

the third her father helped her without i h

tending to .

W hen is i t to be ? he asked abruptly , .

S he supposed he meant her marriage to

Brockway but s h e determined to make him
,

speak plai nly SO s h e sai d

. W hen is what ,

to be
’
Your m arriage D i dn t you and C hes
.

ter settle matters between you just before

d inner ?
”
S he laid fresh ho l d Of her courage and
answered truthfully ,
Yes but n o t as you
.
,

i magine C hester asked me because I

.
, ,

fa n cy you told him to ; and I refu ed s

”
,

him .

S he expected nothing less than an o u t

pouring Of bitter words but s h e was d i s ,

appoi n ted O nce and again they measured

.

the length o f the great platform befo re he

2 00 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

spoke Then he sai d quite temperately

.
, ,

s h e thought SO i t is the p as senger agent

, ,

after all i s i t P
“ Y es ” S he sai d it reso l utely as o n e
,

,
.

who may not be moved .

Very good 3 you are your o w n mi stress ,

and i f y o u elect to be the wife o f a wage

’
earni n g m echani c I suppose i t s your o wn
”
,

affai r .

There was so li ttle heat in the innuend o

that it seemed scarcely worth while to r e
sent i t ; ne v ertheless she ventured to s a y
Great grandfather V e n n o r was a carpenter
-

”
,

and I suppose he worked for wages .

Doubtless but there is the better part

Of a century between then and now How .

ever I presume you have c ounted the c ost

, .

’
Yo u l ose your money and that s the end o f,

—
i t unless C hester happens to marry first
” .

W hat difference would that make P It

was I who s e t the condit i ons o f the wil l
asi de .

A ll the di ff erence i n the world In this .

case the law takes n o cognizance o f i n te n

,

tion If C hester marries first i t would be

.
,

taken as pr z m axf a cz e evidence that h e had

’ ’

prevented you from fulfilling your part o f

the condi tions But that i s nei ther here nor
.
2 02 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

My good will I He turned upon her

almost fiercely Yo u have n o right to.

expect i t W h has c ome Over you i n the

.

last twenty four -

life ? Has llow but to crook his

“ “
at yofi to make you turn your back upon
everything that is decent and respecta
ble P
Don t ” s h e said
’
wi th a little s o b in
, ,
’
her voi ce I c an t listen if yo u abuse him .

I love hi m ; do y o u understand what that

means P
’
NO I don t y o u are daft crazy
, , ,

hypnot i z ed The gathering throng was

.

beginning to make privacy impossible o n the

platform and he led her back to the c ar
, .

’
You ll do as y o u please i n the end I sup
”
,

pose but n o t here o r now

,
He handed .

her up the steps Of the private c ar and turned

to go away .

“P apa o ne word she pleaded , .

W on t you s ee Mr Brockway to night ?

’
.
-

N o and i f I do i t will be the worse for ,

him . A nd when she had entered the car ,

he we n t away qu i ckly and climbed the stai rs

to the train despatcher s O ffice on the second
-
’

floor of the Union Depot .

 T H E EN D O F A S TOP O VER
- 2 9 3

Meanwhile Brockway had eaten his supper

,

and posted himself where he could watch

what he supposed to be the wi n d o w o f Ger
’
trude s stateroom for the promised signal .

He saw the car empty itself first o f F l ee twe l l ,

a n d the ladies and then Of the President and

,

his daughter and while he was waiting for

,

the latter to return F l ee twel l c ame back , ,

br e athless .

“ By J o ve Mr Brockway this is great

”
,
.
,

luck " he exclaimed You kno w Den .

’
ver pretty well don t you ,

Fairly well I knew it better when I

”
.

lived here .

“D O o u happe n to know this gentle

y
man ? h anding Brockway a card with
a name written across i t .

Yes ; very well indeed , .

’
Then I wish you d come and help me
’
find him I ve been o u t i n a cab once and
”
.
,

the dri v er got lost W ill you d o it ? .

“ W ith pleasure i f you ll get me back ’

,

here quick I have an engageme n t that

.

ca n t be put O ff
’
.

They ran o u t through the building and

to ok a carriage Just get me to the house
.
”
,

said the collegia n a n d you can come ,

”
straight away back in the cab but beyond ,
2 9 4 A R OM ANC E IN T RAN S IT

th i s he O ffered no explanations and Brock ,

way gave the order to the driver .

W hen they reached the house in question ,

F l ee t we l l rang the bell and the answer from ,

within seemed to be satisfactory A ll

”
.

right he called back from the doorway ;

,

and a few minutes later Brockway was again

o n the station platform watching the non ,

commi ttal windows Of the pri vate car .

It was while the passenger agent was u p

town wi th F l e etw e l l that P residen t V e n n o r
’
went to the despatcher s room The result .

O f his vis i t may be told in the words o f a

ter e order whi ch presently clicked through
s

’
the sounder i n the yardm as ter s o ffi c e .

J . H . M .
,

D en ve r Y ar d .

S en d out Car N a u gh t ty, P r e s i d en t V en n o r

-
fi f
an d p ar t y , on N u mb e r 1 03 , t e n fi v e th i s P M
-
. .

“A . F . V .

O f th i s B rockway knew nothing and he ,

haunted the vicini ty Of the spur track with -

great patience for the better part o f two

hours A t nine forty fi v e F l e etwel l and the
.
- -
,

ladi es returned They were all lau ghing and .

chatting gayly and when they entered the ,

car Brockway gave up his v i gil It was too

,
.

late to hope fo r a private interview with Mr .

 ""V

W E S TWAR D HO

W HE N B rockway boarded the Tadmor ,

m ost Of the thi rty odd had go n e to b ed but

-

a c ommi ttee o f three was wai ting in the

smoking room o n the chance that th e pas
-

senger agent would put in an appearance b e

fore the departure O f the night trai n for the
west The little gentleman in the grass cloth
.
-

duster and velvet skull cap was chairman o f

-

this committee and he stated its Object

,
.

“ We ve been trying to make you more

’

trouble Mr Brockway he said pleasantly

,
.
, , .

Before the others went to bed we dis ,

c ussed the advisabili ty O f leaving Denver

to night i nstead O f i n the morning
-
, It .

would give us an extra day i n S alt L ake C ity ,

and that is what most Of us would like C an .

i t be done P
Brockway glanced at his watch and an
’
s w e r e d promptly It ll take sharp work ;
.

’
the train l eaves i n ten minutes I l l try i t
.
,

2 06
 WE S T WAR D HO 2 07

’
but i f I make i t I can t go with y o u ,
My .

’
hand baggage is at the hotel and there s n o
-
,

time to send for it .

O rdinarily the amendment would have

,

killed the original proposition ; but Mr .

’
S omers s a w that in Bro ckway s eyes which
made him hasten to forestall argument .

”
I was afraid o f that he said but it ,

’ ’
can t b e helped O f course we d l ike to
.
,

have yo u wi th us but I believe the extra

”
,

day is o f greater importance .

Brockway made a dumb show expressive

Of his gratitude “ A ll right ; then I ll bid
.
’

y o u all good b y and get

-
you o u t
, to night -
,

if I can .

“ But I ah—protest came w i th shrill

emphasis from the vestibule and the night ,

capped head O f the gad fly was thrus t around

the door jamb -
I ah— stipulated
.

Brockway snatched the ticket extending -

telegram from his pocket thrust it i nto Mr , .

S omers s hand and fled without another

’
,

w o rd . O ne mi nute later he was pleadi ng

eloque n tly with the train despatcher -
.

O h say Fred let up " protested the

, , ,

ma n o f orders “ It s too late I tell y o u ’

,
. .

’
The tr a i n l l pull o u t in two minutes and I
”
,

’
couldn t raise the yard i n that time .
 A R O M ANC E I N T RA N S IT

But the passenger agent would not be

denied .He carried his point as he usually ,

did and was shortly racing o u t across the

,

platform clothed wi th authority to hold the

,

trai n until the Tadmor could be coupled

thereto .Graffo the conductor was found
, ,

j ust as he was about to give the signal bu t ,

he wai ted while the switching engine whipped -

the Tadmor around and coupled i t to the

rear o f the train gr umbling m eanwhile as
, ,

was his time honored preroga tive

-
.

’
L ike to know how the blazes I m goin g
to m ake time t o night wi th them two extras
-
,

hooked o n at the last minute I he growled ;

but Brockway corrected him .

’
There s only o n e he began and
,

when Graffo would have contradicted him ,

two be lated passengers came in sight hurry ,

ing across the platform to catch the wai ting

train . B rockway c onsiderately ran back to
help them aboard It was the general agent
.

and his wife and Mrs Burton made breath .

less explanations
”
.

C h an g e d o ur m inds at the last m i nute

'

she gasped “ .John was afrai d the Pr esident

m ight n o t find him wi th his nose in his desk
when he gets there ” Then with truly
.
,

’
feminine i rre l evance : I ve been dyi n g to
2 10 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN S IT

electri c lamp fell fairly upon the oval me

d al l i o n o n the side Of the moving c ar and ,

he s a w the gilt figures “ 0 50 flash for a

half second before his eyes
-
.

In a twinkling he kne w what had been

done and what he should do
, When the .

T a dm o r came u p he caught the hand rail

,
-

and boarded the trai n without s o much as

a thought for his belongings left behind
’
at the u p town hotel The Tadmor s s m o k
-
.

i ng room was deserted and he went i n to

-
,

burn a reflec tive cigar and to ponder over

,

the probable outcome Of this latest proof o f

’
the Pres i dent s resentment .

Havin g failed to get speech wi th Gertru de ,

he could only guess at the result Of her i n

t er v i e w with her father b ut the sudden
,

change in the iti nerary spoke for itself and ,

thus far the guess was t win brother to the

truth . B ut two hours had i ntervened b e
’
tween M r V e n n o r s hasty decision and the
.

departure o f Train N um b er 1 0 3 and m any ,

things m a y b efall in two hou rs .

 XXV I

A BL I ND SI DI NG

W H E N the Pres ident went back to the

Naught fift y after his visi t to the despatcher
-
,

he meant to tell Gertrude at once what he

had done a n d the reason therefor ; but s h e
,

had retreated to her stateroom and in r e ,

ply to his tap at the door had begged to be

excused . A fter that there was ample time
,

fo r reflection and the P resident walked the

,

fl oo r Of the central compartment smoking ,

many cigars and dividing the time impar

,

t i al l y between wondering what had become o f

the o ther members o f the party and s p e c u ,

lati n g as t o the pr o bable e fl ec t upon Ger

’
trude s hallucination o f the sudden and u n
a n n o unced flitti n g .

A lmost a t the last moment whe n he had ,

begu n t o fear they had gone to the theatre ,

Mrs Du n ham and the young people returned

.
,

full to the lips with suppressed excitement

and in the mi dst o f the bustle o f departure
2 11
2 1 2 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

the two young women m ade a descent upon

’
Gertrude s room while Mrs Du n ham took
, .

the P resident asi de W hat passed between

.

them Q u a tr em a i n who w as pretending to

, ,

be asleep in the nearest chai r could n o t over ,

’
hear ; but that Mrs Dunham s news was .

startling and not altogether unpleasant was

plainly evident to the se cretary .

By this time the pr i vate car had been

switched to i ts place in the train and when ,

the steady rumbling o f the wheels betokened

the beginning Of the westward j ourney Ger ,

tru d e appeared w i th the two youn g women ,

and there w as a dramati c little scene i n the

c e n t r a l compartment t h rough which the sec ,

r e ta r y di d not even pretend to sleep The .

’
P resident s daughter demanded to know
where they were going and why s h e had ,

not been told ending by throwing herself

,

’
i nto Mrs Dunham s ar ms and cr yi n g as i f
.

her heart would break A nd fo r th e first .

,
’
time i n Q u a tr em ai n s knowledge o f him the ,

P resident had nothing to say while Fleet ,

well spoke his mind freely though in terms ,

u nintellig i ble to the secretary and M r s , .

Dunham bore the weeping young woman

away to the privacy o f her o wn stateroom .

A fter whi ch Mr V en n o r deserted of all Of

,
.
,
2 1 4 A R OM ANCE IN T RAN S IT

place to the metallic smile It could scarcely .

be prearrangement this time he decided i t ,

was fate and no less ; and having admitted

s o much he crossed the platforms and let
,

himself i n to the ante room o f the Tadmor

-
.

Br o ckway was still sitting in the smoking

room a n d he was s o taken aback that he re
,
’
turned the P resident s nod Of recognition no
less sti ffly than it was gi ven W hereupon .

Mr V e n n o r entered the compartment gath

.
,

ered up his coat tails and sat down beside

-
,

the passenger agent to finish his cigar .

N ow Bro ckway inferred naturally that , ,

’
Gertrude s father had come to have i t o u t
wi th him and for the first fi v e minutes he
,

wai ted nervously for the P resident to begi n .

Then i t oc c urred to him that possibly Mr .

V e n n o r had come to accord him the inter

v iew which Gertrude had promised to pro
cure for him and he spent five other min
utes Of tongue tied embarrassment trying to
-

pull himself together su fficiently to state his

case with becoming clari ty and frankness .

The u pshot Of all this was that they sat s m o k

ing solemnly and in phlegmatic silence for
upwards Of a quarter o f an h o ur at the end ,

o f whi ch time the P residen t rose and tossed

his ci gar butt o u t of the wi n dow

-
.
 A BLIN D S IDI N G 2 1 5

Going o n through with your people are -

you ? he said steadying himself by the

,

door jamb
-
.

Yes ; as far as S alt L ake Brockway ,

replied wondering i f he O ught to apologize

,

fo r the i ntention .

H m ; changed your plans rather s u d

-

’
den l y didn t you P
,

’
The party changed them I wasn t no
t i fi e d till ten minutes before train time -
.

N O P I supp o se y o u did n t kn o w we
’

were going o n t o night ei ther did you P o r

-
, ,

did the despatcher tell you P

N O o n e told me I knew nothing Of i t .

till I s aw the Naught fi fty i n the train -

.

A nd that w as ?
“Just at the last moment — after the trai n
had started in fact ”
, .

Ah Then I am to understand that o u r

.

movements have nothing to do with your b e

i n g here now P
Brockway had begun by being studi ously
deferential and placable but the questions ,

were growi n g rather personal .

You are to understa n d nothi n g O f the

s o rt
,
he replied O n the c o ntrary I
.
,

am here solely because you s aw fit to change

your itinerary .
 A R O M ANCE IN T RAN S IT

P resident V e n n o r was so wholly un u s ed to

anything like a retort from a j uni or and an
inferior that he s a t down i n the o pposite seat
and felt m echanically in his pockets fo r a
cigar. B rockway promptly capped the cli
max O f audacity by O ffering o n e o f his o wn ,

and the President took i t absently

It is scarcely worth your while to be
d isr espectful Mr Brockway
” he said when
,
.
, ,

the cigar was alight .

’
I don t mean to be .

But you inter c epted my telegram this

m orni ng and sent me a most impertinent
,

reply .
”
I did ; and a li ttle whi le before that
”
,

y ou had tried to knock me down .

S O I did but the provocation was very

,

c onsiderable y o u must admi t that ” .

C heerfully ” said Brockway w h o w as

, ,

c oming to his o wn in the matter o f self pos -

session W i th gratifyi ng rapidity But I .

take no shame fo r the telegram A s I told

.

Miss Gertrude I would have done a much

,

worse thing to compass the same end ” .

The P reside n t frowned a n d co u ghed d ryly .

The incentive was doubtless very strong ,

but I am told that yo u have since been mad e

aware o f the facts i n the case r e l a ti v e to
-w
2 1 8 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT

i ng to put love before luxury quoth Brock ,

way wi th more phi losophy than he could

,
'

properly lay claim to .

—
H m ; love in a cottage and all that I , ,
’ ’
suppose It s very romanti c but y o u l l
.
,
’
pardon me i f I confess I m not able to take
any such philosophi cal view Of the matter ” .

’
O h certa inly I didn t suppose you
,
.

’
would be But i f you don t like it the
.
,

remedy is in your o wn hands said Bro ck ,

way , with great composure .

Ah yesterday you told me I was mis

taken i n my man this time it i s you who
are m i staken Gertr u de will get nothing
”
.

from me .

Brockway met the c ool stare Of the ca l cu

l at i ng eyes wi thout fli n c hi n g and refused to ,

be an g ry .

’
Yo u kno w very we ll I didn t m ean
that ” he said cal mly I wouldn t touch ’
, , .

a penny Of your m oney under any ci rcu m

stan c es that I c an imagine just now ” .

Then what do you mean ? demanded

the P resident .

Brockway thought he might as well die fi gh t

i ng s o he shrugged his shoulders and made
,

s hift t o l ook i ndifferent and unconcerned .

’
I m well enough satisfied with m y pres
 A BLIN D S IDI N G 2 1 9

ent i ncome and pr o spects a n d Gertrude is,

quite willing to share them wi th me but if

’
you think I m not earning enough money ,

why you are the P reside n t Of a very con

,

s i d e r a b l e railway compa n y
’
and I ll cheer
,

fully attack a n ything you s e e fit to give me

from the general passenger agency down ” .

Ha I said the P resident an d for on ce

,

i n a way he acknowledged himself fairly out

done in cold blooded assura n ce
-
you have
the courage o f your convictions to s a y that
to me .
”
“N ot at all repli ed Brockway riding
, ,

at a gallop alo n g the newly discovered road

’
to the P resident s fa v or I merely suggest
’
it to help you o u t I m very well con
.

tented where I am ”.

O h you are
, . A nd yet you would c on
sent to take servi ce under me after what ,

has passed between us P I s a y y o u have

courage I could break you i n a year .

“P ossibly but you wouldn t know ’

; y o u , .

The P resident rose and held out his hand

with a smile which no man might analyze .

Y o u refuse to be bullied don t y o u ? ,

’

and you s a y you would attack anything I .

believe yo u would and I like that y o u

,

shall be gi ven the opportuni ty and under a ,

2 2 0 A R O M ANCE I N T RAN S IT

harder master than you have ever b a d Yo u .

may even find yourself required to make bricks

’
without straw C ome now hadn t yo u bet
.
, ,

ter retract and go about your business P

N ever a word and where Gertrude
goes I go ” said Brockway taking the
, , ,

proffered hand wi th what show o f i n di ffe r

ence he c ould command .

“ Very well i f you will have i t s o If

,
.

you are o f the same mind in the morni ng ,

’
perhaps you d better join us at breakfas t and
we can talk it over W ill you come ? .

Yes if you will tell the other members

”
,

o f your party why I am there .

The P resident smiled again sardoni cally ,

this time .

I think the occasion for that h as gone

by he said “ Good night -
.
, .

W hen the outer door closed behind his

visit o r Brockway c ollapsed as was his u n
,

doubted privi lege Then he revived under

.

the stimulus O f an o v er wa x i n g and masterful

desire to see Gertrude again before he slept
—to share the good news with her befo re
the burden o f i t should crush hi m A nd he .

was considering how it m ight be brought

about whe n the engineer ble w the whistle
for Bending B o w .
 A R O M ANC E I N T RAN S IT

and taking all sorts o f risks consideri n g the

ha z ard he ran o f lighti ng u pon the wrong
o ne .

But good fortune was with him Before .

t h e smoking wheels had quite ceased grind

i ng fire o u t Of the brake shoes he came to -

,

a wi n do w wi th a ti ny corner Of a h an dk e r
chief fluttering beneath it It was Ger .

’
trude s signal and he understood then that
,

he had been keeping tryst o n the wrong

side o f the car as i t stood o n the spur track -

i n Denver The win dow was closed and

.

curtained like the others but i t went up ,

n oiselessly when he tapped o n the glass .

N o w it was pi tchy dark both wi thin and ,

without but love h as sharpened senses and

,

eyes which no night h as ever yet been black

enough to be fool .
”
Frederi ck " sai d a
soft voice from within an d there was joyful ,

surprise i n the si n gle word Then a hand .

c ame o u t to h i m an d he possessed him ,

self O f i t as o n e who will keep that whi ch is

his.

God bless yo u he whispered ;

”
,

hardly dared hope to find y o u up .

“I wasn t u ’
sai d the tender voice
p , ,

with a touch o f sweet shyness i n it but

I c ouldn t go to sleep for thi nking h o w dis
’
 T HE D R U MM I N G WH E EL S 2 2
3

appointed you must be How did you find .

o u t we were going ?
” ’
By the merest c hance but it s all right
now—your father has j u st been i n to s e e
me .
”
’
H as he ? O h I hope you didn t quar
,

rel 3
N ot at all said Brockway reassuringly
, ,
.

W e sat together and smoked like two I n

dian s at a p o w wow and neither o f us said a
-
,

word fo r nearly half an hour A fter that .

,

he got up to go away and then he thought ,

better o f it and s a t down agai n and we had ,

it out about the telegrams and other things .

That cleared the air a bit and before he ,

left he accepted the situation without saying

,

so in so m any words and promised to graft

,

me o n the C U in some place where I

. .

’ ’
can earn more money Don t cry ; it s t o o
.

good to be true but the fact remains ”

,
.

’ ’
I m not crying but I m glad enough to
,

’
do a much more foolish thing Yo u won t .

let my money make any difference n o w will ,

you ? ”
’
Your money isn t in i t and I think I ,
’
made your father u nderstand that I d n ever
’
have spoken if I hadn t known y o u were
going to lose i t .
2 2 4 A R OM ANCE I N T RAN S IT
’
But I I haven t lost it . Didn t he
’

tell y o u

Tel l me what P
A bout C ousin C hes ter and Hannah
B eas wi c k e they were married this evening .

’
I don t u nderstand the legal part o f i t but ,

’
papa says that saves my money Yo u won t .

let i t make any di ff erence ?

Brockway gripped the small hand as if he
were afra i d it might es c ape h i m after all ,

and tried to flog himself around to the new

point o f view It was a breath taki ng proc
.
-

ess but he compassed i t more quickly since

,

there was no time for the nice weighing Of

scruples Moreover i t was too late to g i ve
.
,

poverty pride a second hearing

-
SO he .

said :
’
I can t let i t make a differen c e now ,

but I shall always be gl ad that I as ked you

when we both believed y o u were going to
lose it A nd I ought to have guessed about
.

your c ousi n s m arr i age but I didn t I

’
— ,
’

helped him find the C ounty Cl erk and ,

wondered why he was so anxious about i t .

’
I m glad you didn t have to b reak his
’

heart .

S he laughed happil y There was n o.

question o f hearts between us ; he knew

2 2 6 A R OM ANC E I N T RAN S IT
’
the others ? I m c oming i n to breakfast
”
,

you know Your father asked me

”
. .

I said always .

Co n du cto r G r af o comi n g o u t o f the tele

,

graph O ffi ce wi th a scrap o f tissue paper i n

his hand : A l l abo O ard I - -

That parts us agai n ” said Brockway , ,

s o rrowfully “ Good night dear ; God keep

.
-
,

you safe — the air brakes sighed s y m p a th eti

-

cally and he kissed her hand and released it

,

“till to morrow -
H i s face was at the
w indow and two soft arms c ame o u t o f the
,

square Of darkness and went about his neck ,

and two lips that he c ou l d n o t s ee brushed

his cheek .

Till to morrow she repeated ; and

-
,

then the train began to move and she let

him go qui c kly that he might run no risk Of
stumbling .

The engine groaned and strained filling ,

the air with a jarring as Of nearby thunder

the steam hissed from the cylinders and the ,

great driving wheels began once more to

-

m easure the rails Brockway swung lightly

.

up to the step of the T a dm o r and wh en the ,

last switch lamp h a d shot backward into the

-

night went to his berth to wrestle with his

,

happiness until tardy sleep came bringi n g ,

 H
THE D R UMMI N G WH EEL S 2 2 7

In its train a b ea ti fi c vision in wh i ch

song of the drumming wheels became
I overture to a wedding mar ch and the m e l
,

low blasts o f the wh i stle ran g a m erry peal

Of j o y bel ls
-
.