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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Short Line War, by Merwin-Webster
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+Title: The Short Line War
+
+Author: Merwin-Webster
+
+Release Date: June, 2005 [EBook #8385]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 5, 2003]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHORT LINE WAR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Eric Eldred, Beth Trapaga
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+THE SHORT LINE WAR
+
+
+By
+
+MERWIN-WEBSTER
+
+[Samuel Merwin]
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I.     JIM WEEKS
+II.    MR. MCNALLY GOES TO TILLMAN CITY
+III.   POLITICS AND OTHER THINGS
+IV.    JIM WEEKS CLOSES IN
+V.     TUESDAY EVENING
+VI.    JUDGE BLACK
+VII.   BETWEEN THE LINES
+VIII.  JUDGE GREY
+IX.    THE MATTER OF POSSESSION
+X.     SOMEBODY LOSES THE BOOKS
+XI. A  POLITICIAN
+XII.   KATHERINE
+XIII.  TRAIN NO. 14
+XIV.   A CAPTURE AT BRUSHINGHAM
+XV.    DEUS EX MACHINA
+XVI.   MCNALLY'S EXPEDIENT
+XVII.  IN THE DARK
+XVIII. THE COMING OF DAWN
+XIX.   KATHERINE DECIDES
+XX.    HARVEY
+XXI.   THE TILLMAN CITY STOCK
+XXII.  THE WINNING OF THE ROAD
+XXIII. THE SURRENDER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+JIM WEEKS
+
+James Weeks came of a fighting stock.
+
+His great-grandfather, Ashbel Weeks, was born in Connecticut in 1748; he
+migrated to New York in '70, and settled among the Oneida Indians on the
+Upper Mohawk. It was the kind of life he was built for; he sniffed at
+danger like a young horse catching a breath off the meadows. He did not
+take the war fever until St. Leger came up the valley, when he fought
+beside Herkimer in the ambush on Oriskany Creek. He joined the army of the
+North, and remained with it through the long three years that ended at
+Yorktown; then he married, and returned to his home among the
+half-civilized Oneidas.
+
+His oldest son, Jonathan, was born in '90. He grew like his father in
+physique and temperament, and his migrating disposition led him to
+Kentucky. The commercial instinct, which had never appeared in his father,
+was strong in him, so that he turned naturally to trading. He began in a
+small way, but he succeeded at it, and amassed what was then considered a
+large fortune.
+
+In 1823 he moved to Louisville, and interested himself in promoting the
+steamboat traffic on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. As the business
+developed, Jonathan Weeks's fortune grew with it. His only son, who was
+born in 1815, was sent to Harvard; he spent a very merry four years there,
+and a good deal of money. He fell in love in the meantime, and married
+immediately after his graduation. Not many months after his marriage he
+was killed by the accidental discharge of a rifle, and, shortly after
+this, his widow died in giving birth to a son.
+
+The care of the child devolved entirely upon Jonathan, the grandfather. He
+assumed it gladly, even eagerly, and his whole existence soon centred
+about the boy, and James--for so they had named him--became more to him
+than his son had ever been. It grew evident that he would have the Weeks
+build, and, by the time he was fifteen, he was as lean, big-boned, awkward
+a hobbledehoy as the old man could wish. His grandfather's wealth did not
+spoil him in the least; he was the kind of a boy it would have been
+difficult to spoil.
+
+He had no fondness for books, but it is to be doubted if that was much of
+a grief to his grandfather. He was good at mathematics,--he used to work
+out problems for fun,--and an excellent memory for certain kinds of
+details enabled him to master geography without difficulty. The great
+passion of his boyhood was for the big, roaring, pounding steamboats that
+went down to New Orleans. His ambition, like that of nearly every boy who
+lived in sight of those packets, was to be a river pilot, and he was
+nearing his majority before he outgrew it.
+
+He was twenty-two years old when he fell in love with Ethel Harvey. She
+was nineteen when she came home from the Eastern school where she had
+spent the past five years, and she burst upon Jim in the first glory of
+her womanhood. When she had grown an old woman the young girls still
+envied her beauty, and wondered what it must have been in its first bloom.
+Small wonder that Jim fell in love with her; it was inevitable.
+
+He first saw her, after her return, on a bright June morning as he was
+strolling down the path from his grandfather's house to the street. She
+was riding her big bay mare at a smart gallop, but she pulled up short at
+sight of him, and drawing off a riding gauntlet held out her hand. From
+that moment Jim loved her. The old man was coming down the path, but
+seeing them there together, he paused, for they made a striking picture.
+Her little silk hat sat daintily on her hair, which would be rebellious
+and fluffy; the dark green riding habit with its tight sleeves revealed
+the perfect lines of her lithe figure, which swayed gracefully as the mare
+pawed and backed and plunged, impatient for the morning gallop. She seemed
+quite indifferent to the protests of the big brute, and talked merrily to
+Jim, who stood looking up at her in bewildered admiration. At last she
+shook hands again and rode away, and Jonathan Weeks walked back into the
+house with a satisfied smile. "They'll do," he said.
+
+It looked as though they would. Through the short happy weeks that
+followed, Ethel did not ride alone. Together they explored the country
+lanes or left them for a dash straight across the fields, taking anything
+that chanced to be in the way. In their impromptu races, which were
+frequent, Ethel almost always won; for racer though he was, Jim's sorrel
+found the two hundred and eight pounds he carried too much of a handicap.
+So the days went by, and though nothing was said about it, they talked to
+each other, and thought of each other, as lovers do.
+
+But all the while there was growing in Ethel's mind an intuition that
+something was wrong. She had not an analytical mind, but she became
+convinced that though she might learn to understand Jim, he could never
+understand her. It was not only that she was the first woman who had come
+into his life, though that had much to do with it. But he was a man
+without much instinct or imagination; he took everything seriously and
+literally, he could not understand a whim. And when she saw how her pretty
+feminine inconsistencies puzzled him, and how he failed to understand the
+whimsical, butterfly fancies she confided to him, she would cry with
+vexation, and think she hated him; but then the knightly devotion of his
+big heart would win her back again, and her tears would cease to burn her
+cheeks, and she would tell herself how unworthy she was of the love of a
+man like that. But the trouble was still there; Ethel grew sad, and Jim,
+more than ever, failed to understand. The old man watched, but said
+nothing.
+
+One evening Jim took her out on the river. It was the summer of '61, when
+the North was learning how bitter was the task it had to accomplish.
+Kentucky was disputed ground and feeling ran high there; little else was
+thought of. Jim had been talking to her for some time on this
+all-absorbing topic while she sat silent in the stern, her hand trailing
+in the water. Finally he asked why she was so quiet.
+
+"I think this war is very stupid," she said. "Let's talk about"--here she
+paused and her eyes followed the big night boat which was churning its way
+down the river--"about paddle-wheels, or port lights, or something."
+
+Jim said nothing; he had nothing to say. She went on:--
+
+"Don't you think it is tiresome to always mean what you say? I hate to
+tell the truth. Anybody can do that."
+
+"I thought," said Jim, "that you believed in sincerity."
+
+"Oh, of course I do," she exclaimed impatiently, and again Jim was silent.
+
+The next day he took her for a drive and it was then that the end came.
+They had been having a glorious time, for the rapid motion and the bright
+sunshine had driven away her mood of the night before and she was
+perfectly happy; Jim was happy in her happiness. The half-broken colts
+were fairly steady and he let her drive them and turned in his seat so
+that he could watch her. As he looked at her there, her head erect, her
+elbows squared, her bright eyes looking straight out ahead, Jim fell
+deeper than ever in love with her. The colts felt a new and unrestraining
+hand on the reins, and the pace increased rapidly. Jim noted it.
+
+"You'd better pull up a little," he said. "They'll be getting away from
+you."
+
+"I love to go this way," she replied, and over the reins she told the
+colts the same thing, in a language they understood. Suddenly one of them
+broke, and in a second both were running.
+
+"Pull 'em in," said Jim, sharply. "Here--give me the reins."
+
+"I can hold them," she protested wilfully.
+
+Then, without hesitation and with perfectly unconscious brutality, Jim
+tore the reins out of her hands, and addressed himself to the task of
+quieting the horses.
+
+It was not easy, but he was cool and strong, and the horses knew he was
+their master; nevertheless it was several minutes before he had them on
+their legs again. During that time neither had spoken; then Jim waited for
+her to break the silence. He was somewhat vexed, for he thought she had
+deliberately exposed herself to an unnecessary peril. But she said nothing
+and they finished their drive in silence.
+
+At her door he sprang out to help her to alight, but she ignored his
+offered aid. Though she turned away he saw that there were tears in her
+eyes.
+
+"Ethel," he said softly, but she faced him in a flash of anger.
+
+"Don't speak to me. Oh--how I hate you!"
+
+Jim seemed suddenly to grow bigger. "Will you please tell me if you mean
+that?" he said slowly.
+
+"I mean just that," she answered. "I--I hate you." She stood still a
+moment; then she seemed to choke, and turning, fled into the house.
+
+To Jim's mind that was the end of it. She had told him that she hated him.
+The fact that there had been a catch in her voice as she said it weighed
+not at all with him; that was an unknown language. So he took her
+literally and exactly and went away by himself to think it over.
+
+He was late for dinner that night, and when he came in his grandfather was
+pacing the dining room. But Jim wasted no words in explanation.
+
+"Grandfather," he said, "I think if you won't need me for a while I'll
+enlist to-morrow."
+
+"I can get along all right," said the old man, "but I'm sorry you're
+going."
+
+The older man was looking at the younger one narrowly. Suddenly and
+bluntly he asked:--
+
+"Is anything the matter with you and Ethel Harvey?"
+
+Jim nodded, and without further invitation or questioning he related the
+whole incident. "That's all there is to it," he concluded. "The team had
+bolted and she wouldn't give me the reins; so I took them away from her
+and pulled in the horses. There was nothing else to do."
+
+"And then she said she hated you," added Jonathan, musingly. "I reckon she
+hasn't much sense."
+
+"It ain't that," Jim answered quickly. "She's got sense enough. The
+trouble with her is she's too damned plucky."
+
+A few days later he was a private in the Nineteenth Indiana Volunteers. He
+made a good soldier, for not only did he love danger as had his
+great-grandfather before him, but he had nerves which months of inaction
+could not set jangling, and a constitution which hardship and privation
+could not undermine.
+
+The keenest delight he had ever known came with his first experience under
+fire. He felt his breath coming in long deep inhalations; he could think
+faster and more clearly than at other times, and he knew that his hands
+were steady and his aim was good. Somehow it seemed that years of life
+were crowded into those few minutes, and he retired reluctantly when the
+order came.
+
+His regiment was in the Army of the Potomac, and the story of its waiting
+and blundering and magnificent fighting need not be told again in these
+pages. Jim was one of thousands of brave, intelligent fighters who did not
+rise to the command of a division or even of a regiment. He was a
+lieutenant in Company E when the Nineteenth marched down the Emmittsburg
+Pike, through Gettysburg and out to the ridge beyond, to hold it until
+reenforcements should come.
+
+They fought there during four long hours, until the thin line of blue
+could hold no longer, and gray ranks under Ewell and Fender had enveloped
+both flanks. Then sullenly they came back through the town, still firing
+defiantly, and cursing the help that had not come. It was during this
+retreat that Jim was hit, but he did not drop. Somehow--though as in a
+dream--he kept with his regiment, and it was not until they were rallied
+in the cemetery on the other side of the town that he pitched forward and
+lay quite still.
+
+Everybody knows how the Eleventh Corps held the cemetery through the two
+bloody days that followed. But Jim was unconscious of it all, for he lay
+on a cot in the Sanitary Commission tent, raving in delirium. And the
+surgeons and nurses looked at him gravely and wondered with every hour why
+he did not die.
+
+But, as one of his comrades had said, "it took a lot of pounding to lick
+Jim Weeks," and in a surprisingly short time he was strong enough to be
+taken home.
+
+When he first saw his grandfather he was dimly conscious of a change in
+him, and as he grew stronger and better able to observe closely he became
+surer of it. Jonathan had been a young old man when Jim went away; now he
+looked every one of his seventy-three years, and instead of the tireless
+energy of former times Jim noted a listlessness hard to understand.
+
+One night after both had gone to bed Jim heard his grandfather groping his
+way down the stairs and out upon the veranda. He listened intently until
+he heard the creak of the rocking chair, which told him that the old man
+was visiting again with old friends and old fancies. The slow rhythm
+lulled Jim into a doze, and then into sleep. He awakened with a start; his
+pioneer blood made him a light sleeper, and he knew that the old man could
+not have got upstairs and past his door without waking him. "He must have
+gone to sleep down there," thought Jim, and rising he went down to the
+veranda. Jonathan had gone to sleep, but the black cob pipe was clenched
+between rigid jaws; his sightless eyes were open and seemed to be looking
+at the stars.
+
+At first Jim felt that sails, helm, and compass had been swept clean
+away, but he was strong enough to recover his bearings quickly. His
+grandfather's death marked an end and a beginning, and just as a needle
+when a magnet is taken away swings unerringly into the line of force of
+the original magnet, the earth, so Jim's life swung to a new direction.
+There was no one whose life could direct or influence his, and alone he
+started on what business men of the next generation knew as his career.
+
+The war had lessened but not destroyed Jonathan's fortune, and it went
+without reservation to Jim. The times offered golden opportunities to a
+man with ready money and good business training, and his success was
+almost inevitable. His life from this time was the logical working out of
+what he had in him.
+
+He turned naturally to the railroad business, and those who know the
+history of Western railroads from '65 to '90 will understand what a
+field it was for a man who was at once fearless and level-headed. The
+craze for construction and then the equally mad competition did not
+confuse him, they simply gave him opportunities. When the reaction
+against the railroads set in, and the Granger movement wrecked nearly
+all the Western roads, Jim bowed to the inevitable, but he saved
+himself--no one knew just how--and when the State legislators were over
+their midsummer madness he was again in the field, and again succeeding.
+
+With the details of these struggles we are not concerned. The "inside"
+history of many of them will never be known; in almost every case it
+differs materially from the story which appeared in the papers. Jim became
+famous and was libelled and flattered, respected and abused, by turns; but
+always he was feared. He was supposed to be dishonest, and it is true he
+did not scruple to use his enemies' weapons; but at directors' meetings it
+was the interest of the stockholders that he fought for.
+
+Men wondered at his success, and over their cigars gravely discussed the
+reasons for it. Some said it was sheer good luck that turned what he
+touched to gold, some laid it to his start, and others to his cool,
+dispassionate strategy. To some extent it was all of these things; but
+more than anything else he had won as a bulldog does, by hanging on. Often
+he had beaten better strategists simply by keeping up the fight when by
+all the rules he was beaten. For as the comrade of long ago had said, "it
+took a lot of pounding to lick Jim Weeks."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+MR. McNALLY GOES TO TILLMAN CITY
+
+It was Monday morning, September 23d. The telephone bell on the big
+mahogany desk rang twice before Jim Weeks laid down the sheet of paper he
+was scrutinizing and picked up the receiver.
+
+"Hello! Oh, that you, Fox? Yes--Yes. Hold on! Give me that name again.
+Frederick McNally. Dartmouth Building, did you say? Yes. Thank you.
+Good-by."
+
+The bell tinkled again and Jim swung round in his chair.
+
+There was another desk in the room, where sat a young man busy over a pile
+of letters. He was private secretary to a man who was president of one
+railroad and director in others, and his life was not easy. The letters he
+was working over were with one exception addressed to the Hon. James
+Weeks, Washington Building, Chicago. The exception was a pale blue note
+addressed to Mr. Harvey West, and the young man had put that at the bottom
+of the pile and was working down to it.
+
+The elder man spoke. "West," he said, "Fox has just telephoned me that
+he's found out who's been buying M. & T. stock. It's Frederick McNally;
+he's in the Dartmouth Building. He isn't doing it on his own hook, but I
+don't know who he is doing it for. Somebody wants that stock mighty bad.
+There isn't a great deal of it lying around, though."
+
+"Do you think that Thompson--" began the secretary.
+
+"Thompson would be glad to see me out and himself in," said Jim Weeks,
+"and he leads Wing and Powers around by the nose, but he can't swing
+enough stock to hurt anything at next election. I don't believe it's he
+that's buying. Thompson hasn't got sand enough for that. He'll never
+fight."
+
+There was a moment's pause. Jim walked over to the ticker and looked back
+along the ribbon of paper. "It's quoted at 68-1/2 this morning," he said,
+"but no sales to amount to anything."
+
+"You might go over and talk to Wing," he went on. "You can find out
+anything he knows if you go at it right. I don't believe there's anything
+there. However, I'd like to know just what they are doing. You'd better do
+it now. Send Pease in when you go out, will you?"
+
+Harvey slipped the blue envelope from the bottom of the pile of letters,
+called the stenographer, and started out. He read the note while he was
+waiting for the elevator.
+
+The M. & T. is a local single-track road, about two hundred miles long,
+running between the cities of Manchester and Truesdale. The former is on
+the main line of the Northern, and the latter on the C. & S.C., both of
+which are trunk lines from Chicago to the West. The M. & T. was not a
+money-making affair; it had cost a lot of money, its stock was away
+down, and it trembled on the brink of insolvency until Jim Weeks took
+hold of it. He put money into it, straightened out its tangled affairs,
+and incidentally made some enemies in the board of directors. There were
+coal mines on the line near Sawyerville, which were operated in a
+desultory way, but they never amounted to much until some more of Jim
+Weeks's money went into them, and then they began to pay. This made the
+M. & T. important, especially to the C. & S.C. people, who immediately
+tried to make arrangements with Jim for the absorption of the M. & T. by
+their line. C. & S.C. had a bad name. There were many shady operations
+associated with its management, and Jim decided to have as little to do
+with it as possible, so the attempt apparently was abandoned.
+
+The stock of the M. & T. was held largely by men who lived along the line
+of the road. Tillman City and St. Johns each held large blocks; they had
+got a special act of legislature to allow them to subscribe for it. These
+stockholders had great confidence in Jim, for under his management their
+investment was beginning to pay, and they, he felt sure, approved of his
+action in the C. & S.C. matter.
+
+Everything was going well with the road, and the stock was climbing slowly
+but steadily. It was not liable to any great fluctuation, for most of its
+holders regarded it as a permanent investment and it did not change hands
+to any great extent. Comparatively little of it got into the hands of
+speculators.
+
+But suddenly it began to jump. It was evident to every one who watched it
+that some important deal was afoot. Jim Weeks was as much in the dark as
+any one. He had watched its violent fluctuations for a week while he
+vainly sought to ferret out the motive that was causing them. And on this
+particular morning, though he sent his secretary, Harvey West, to talk to
+Wing, he had little idea that the young fellow would get hold of a clew.
+
+When the elevator stopped at the main floor, Harvey thrust the half-read
+note back into his pocket. "No time for that sort of thing this morning,"
+he thought. "I wonder how soon I'll be able to run down to see her." A
+moment later he was walking rapidly toward the Dartmouth.
+
+The men he saw and nodded to glanced round at him enviously. "Case of
+luck," growled somebody. That was true. Harvey was lucky; lucky first and
+foremost in that Ethel Harvey was his mother. He got his mental agility
+as well as his indomitable cheeriness from her. He was a healthy, sane
+young fellow who found it easy to work hard, who could loaf most
+enjoyably when loafing was in order, and who had the knack of seeing the
+humorous side of a trying situation. He had always had plenty of money,
+but that was not the reason he got more fun out of his four years in
+college than any other man in his class. He "got down to business" very
+quickly after his graduation, and now at the end of another four years he
+was private secretary to Jim Weeks. That of course wasn't luck. The fact
+that Jim had fallen in love with Ethel Harvey thirty years before might
+account for his friendly interest in her son, but it would not explain
+Harvey's position of trust. He knew that he could not hold it a day
+except by continuing to be the most available man for the place.
+
+It is probable that on this morning, the contents of the pale blue note
+contributed largely to his cheerfulness. It was evident that Miss Porter
+liked him, and Harvey liked to be liked.
+
+Wing's office on the sixth floor of the Dartmouth was a beautifully
+furnished suite, presided over by a boy in cut-steel buttons. Wing himself
+was a dapper little man, a capitalist by necessity only, for his money had
+been left to him. His one ambition was to collect all the literature in
+all languages on the game of chess; a game by the way which he himself did
+not play. "Mr. Wing had gone out to lunch about an hour before," said the
+boy in buttons. "Would Mr. West wait?" Harvey, who knew Mr. Wing's
+luncheons of old, said no, but he would call again in the afternoon. As he
+walked back to the elevator his eye fell upon another office door which
+bore the freshly painted legend, "Frederick McNally, Attorney-at-law."
+
+Harvey lunched at the Cafe Lyon, which is across the street from the main
+entrance to the Dartmouth. The day was warm for late September, and he
+selected a seat just inside the open door. From his table he could see
+people hurrying in and out of the big office building. He watched the
+crowd idly as he waited for his lunch, and finally his interest shifted to
+the big doors, which seemed to have something human about them, as they
+maliciously tried to catch the little messenger boys who rushed between
+them as they swung.
+
+Suddenly his attention came back to the crowd, centring on a party of four
+men who turned into the great entrance. Three of them he knew, and the
+fact that they were together suggested startling possibilities. They were
+Wing, Thompson and William C. Porter of Chicago and Truesdale, First
+Vice-President of the C. & S.C. and, this was the way Harvey thought of
+him, father of the Miss Katherine Porter whose name was at the bottom of
+the note in the blue envelope. Thompson, a fat, flaccid man with a
+colorless beard, was laboriously holding the door open for Mr. Porter,
+then he preceded little Mr. Wing. The fourth man was a stranger to Harvey.
+
+He was starting to follow them when the waiter came up with his order.
+That made him pause, and a moment's reflection convinced him that he had
+better wait. He decided that if the meeting of Porter with the two M. & T.
+directors were not accidental they would be likely to be in consultation
+for some time, and he would gain more by inquiring for Mr. Wing at the
+expiration of a half hour than by doing it now. So he lunched at leisure
+and then went back to the sixth floor of the Dartmouth.
+
+He was met by a rebuff from Buttons. "No, Mr. Wing had not come back yet,"
+and again "Would Mr. West wait?" Harvey could think of nothing better to
+do, so he sat down to think the matter out. He was puzzled, for the three
+men were in the building, he felt sure. Then it came to him. "Jove," he
+murmured, "McNally! McNally was that fourth man." He sat back in his chair
+and tried to decide what to do.
+
+Meanwhile four men sat about the square polished table in Mr. McNally's
+new office and anxiously discussed ways and means. The scrappy memoranda
+and what appeared to be problems in addition and subtraction littered
+about, made it appear that some ground had been pretty thoroughly gone
+over. There was a momentary lull in the conversation, and the silence was
+broken only by the tapping of Mr. Wing's pencil as he balanced it between
+his fingers and let the point rebound on the top of the table. There
+really seemed to be nothing to say. The alliance between C. & S.C. and
+Thompson's faction of the M. & T. directors had been arranged some days
+before. They had met to-day to see how they stood. McNally told what he
+had done, and it was not so much as they had hoped he would be able to do.
+The combination was not yet strong enough to take the field. For the past
+twenty minutes Thompson had been leaning over the table making suggestions
+in his thick voice, and McNally had sat back and quietly annihilated them
+by demonstrating their impracticability, or by stating that they had been
+unsuccessfully tried.
+
+Beyond asking one or two incisive questions of McNally, Porter had said
+nothing, but had stared straight out of the window. For the past ten
+minutes he had been waiting for Thompson to run down. It was he who broke
+the silence.
+
+"We're stuck fast"--he was speaking very slowly--"unless we can get
+control of that Tillman City stock."
+
+McNally shook his head doubtfully. "I'm afraid it's no good," he said.
+"Look what we've offered them already. They think the stock is going to go
+on booming clear up to the sky, and they won't sell. We couldn't get it at
+par."
+
+Porter's chair shot back suddenly. He walked over to the empty fireplace,
+the other men watching him curiously. He spread his hands behind him
+mechanically as if to warm them. Then he said:--
+
+"I think we could get it if we were to offer par."
+
+"Offer par!" thundered Thompson. "We could get Jim Weeks's holdings by
+paying par."
+
+Porter smiled indulgently. "I didn't say we'd _pay_ par for anything. But
+I think if Mr. McNally were to sign a contract to pay par the day after
+the M. and T. election, that he could vote the stock on election day."
+
+McNally's plump hand came down softly on the table. "Good!" he said under
+his breath.
+
+But Mr. Thompson failed to understand. "But the contract?" he said.
+
+"Such a contract would be a little less valuable than that waste paper,"
+Porter replied politely, indicating the crumpled sheets on the table. Then
+he turned to McNally and asked, "How many men will it take to swing it?"
+
+"Three, if we get the right ones. Yes, I know the men we want. I can get
+them all right," he added, in response to the unspoken question. "It will
+need a little--oil, though, for the wheels."
+
+"I suppose so," said Porter, dryly. "I think you'd better get at it right
+away. It's two o'clock now. The two-thirty express will get you to
+Manchester so that you can reach Tillman about seven-thirty. It doesn't
+pay to waste any time when you're trying to get ahead of Jim Weeks. He
+moves quick. Have you got money enough?"
+
+McNally nodded.
+
+Thompson had come to the surface again. He was breathing thickly, and his
+high, bald forehead was damp with perspiration. "That's bribery," he said,
+"and it's--dangerous."
+
+"I'm afraid that can't be helped, Mr. Thompson," said Porter. "It's neck
+or nothing. We've got to have that Tillman City stock."
+
+There were but four people in the room when he began speaking. There were
+five when he finished, for Harvey West had grown tired of waiting. He
+bowed politely.
+
+"Good afternoon, gentlemen. Ah! Mr. Porter. How do you do? I beg your
+pardon for intruding."
+
+Porter recovered first. "No intrusion, Mr. West. We had just finished our
+business."
+
+McNally took the cue quickly.
+
+"Mr. West?" he said interrogatively.
+
+Harvey bowed.
+
+"I will be at your service in a moment. Excuse me."
+
+Wing and Thompson had already taken the hint, and were moving toward the
+door. Porter hung back, conversing in low tones with McNally. Then he
+bowed to West and followed the others. McNally gathered up the papers on
+the table, folded them, and put them in his pocket.
+
+"Please sit down, Mr. West. What can I do for you? Wait a moment, though.
+Won't you smoke?" He held out his cigar case to Harvey, who took one
+gladly. Lighting it would give him a moment more to think, and thinking
+was necessary, for he didn't know what McNally could do for him. But
+McNally seemed to be doing his best to help him out.
+
+"Don't you think it very warm here?" he said, as Harvey struck a match.
+"Something cool to drink would go pretty well. If you'll excuse me for a
+moment more I'll go down and see about getting it," and without waiting
+for a reply, McNally put on his silk hat and stepped out into the
+corridor.
+
+"He certainly seems friendly," thought Harvey, as the footfalls diminished
+along the floor, and then he puzzled over what he should say when McNally
+came back. At last he smiled. "That's it," he said to himself, "I'll try
+to rent him that vacant suite in our office building."
+
+When West had made up his mind that the party of four were not to meet in
+Wing's office, he had decided to see if they were in McNally's. He could
+not ask for Wing, of course, so he asked for McNally and trusted to the
+spur of the moment for a pretext for his call. Now that McNally's absence
+had enabled him to think of one he took a long breath of satisfaction.
+He
+had accomplished what he had set out to accomplish, and contrary to
+Jim Weeks's expressed expectation. There was no doubt that it was a
+combination of the C. & S.C. and Thompson's gang that was booming the
+M. & T. Moreover there was no doubt as to their next move. "But it won't
+work," he thought. "Jim owns about half of Tillman City, and anyway
+they'll never sell when our stock is jumping up the way it is."
+
+And having settled this important matter he switched his train of thought
+off on another track. It reached Truesdale in a very short time, but it
+had nothing to do with M. & T., or with Mr. McNally. He took the note out
+of his pocket and read it through twice, and then smoked over it
+comfortably for some time before he began vaguely to wonder why Mr.
+McNally didn't come back. Five minutes later he glanced at his cigar ash.
+It was an inch and a half long. "That means twenty minutes," he said
+thoughtfully, and then it dawned on him that things had happened which
+were not down on the schedule.
+
+He walked quickly to the telephone, and a moment later Pease was talking
+to him.
+
+"No," said the stenographer; "Mr. Weeks went out to lunch about an hour
+ago. He said he wouldn't be back to the office this afternoon."
+
+There had been no words wasted in the two minutes' conversation between
+Porter and McNally after Harvey's abrupt entrance, and as a result of it,
+while the young secretary waited and thought over the good stroke of work
+he had done for Jim Weeks and of another good stroke he might some day do
+for himself, Mr. Frederick McNally took the two-thirty express for
+Manchester and Tillman City.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+POLITICS AND OTHER THINGS
+
+Harvey West was a young man. Perhaps had he been older, had his wisdom
+been salted with experience, he would not have put two and two together
+without realizing that the sum was four; but then, it is the difference
+between twenty-six and fifty that makes railroads a possibility. He
+walked slowly to the elevator and descended to the street. At the corner
+he paused and looked about, turning over in his mind the singular
+disappearance of Mr. McNally. "He can't do anything with Tillman's
+stock," thought Harvey. "They're solid for us." But Harvey in his brief
+business life had not fathomed the devious ways of the chronic capitalist.
+He knew that commercial honor was honeycombed with corrupt financiering,
+but to him the corrupt side was more or less vague, and never having
+soiled his fingers he failed to realize the nearness of the mud. Harvey
+had yet to learn that in dealing with a municipality or with a
+legislature, the law of success has but two prime factors, money and
+speed.
+
+He walked slowly over Madison Street and turned into State. Weeks was
+not in the office, and anyway he wished to clear his mind, if possible,
+before he talked with him; meanwhile sauntering up the east side of
+State Street with an eye for the shopping throng. People interested
+Harvey. He was fond of noting types, and of watching the sandwich-men,
+beggars, and shoe-string venders. Often at noon he would walk from
+Randolph Street to Harrison, observing the shifting character of
+Chicago's great thoroughfare. To Harvey it seemed like a river,
+starting clear but gradually roiled by the smaller streams that poured
+in, each a little muddier than the one next north, until it was clogged
+and stagnant with the scum of the city. But to-day he was going north.
+The sidewalk was crowded with eager girls and jaded women, keen on the
+scent of bargains. These amused Harvey, and he smiled as he crossed
+Washington Street. A moment later the smile brightened. Miss Porter
+stood on the corner.
+
+"Surprised to see me?" she laughed. "Father came up unexpectedly on
+business, and I tagged along to do some shopping. Are you in a hurry? I
+suppose so. You men never lose a chance to awe us with the value of your
+time."
+
+"No," Harvey replied, "I'm not at all in a hurry."
+
+"Good, then you can help me. I am buying a gown."
+
+They went into Field's, and for nearly an hour Harvey "helped." It did not
+take him long to realize that nowhere is a strong man more helpless than
+in a department store. He went through yards of samples, fingered dozens
+of fabrics; he discussed and suggested, all with a critical air that
+amused Miss Porter. She tried at first to take him seriously, but finally
+gave up, leaned against the counter and laughed.
+
+"Suppose we go up to the waiting room," she said. "You can talk, anyway."
+
+With a smile Harvey assented, and they seated themselves near the railing,
+where they could look down on the human kaleidoscope below.
+
+"By the way," said Harvey, after they had chatted for some time, "this
+morning's _Tribune_ has a good joke on one of your Truesdale neighbors.
+Did you see it?"
+
+"No. Tell me about it."
+
+"Why, it seems that he--it was Judge Black--is up at Waupaca. He went
+there in a hurry from Lake Geneva to get away from some cases that were
+following him and spoiling the vacation he's been trying to get since
+July. He moved so quickly that his trunk left him and went up to Minnesota
+or somewhere. Well, the Judge was asked to speak at an entertainment the
+first night at the hotel. An hour or so before the time set for the speech
+he fell into the lake and ruined his only suit of clothes. There wasn't a
+man there anywhere near his size, so he appeared before the guests of the
+Grand View Hotel in the 'bus man's overalls."
+
+Katherine laughed heartily.
+
+"Father will enjoy that," she said. "He loves to laugh at Judge Black."
+And she added, "I wonder where father is."
+
+"Do you return to Truesdale to-day?" Harvey asked.
+
+"No. Not until day after to-morrow. We go to the South Side to dinner,
+father and I. Father told me to meet him here at half-past three."
+
+Harvey drew out his watch.
+
+"It is after four now."
+
+"Yes, I'm a little worried. Father is usually very prompt. He had to see
+some men about the railroad, but he said it wouldn't take him long. I'm
+afraid something has happened."
+
+So was Harvey. The mention of Mr. Porter brought back to him certain
+peculiar facts, and for a moment he thought fast. Evidently something was
+happening. In case there was a chance of Tillman City wavering, Jim Weeks
+should know of Porter's activity and at once. Harvey rose abruptly.
+
+"Excuse me. I find I have forgotten some work at the office."
+
+"Must you go? I am sorry." She rose and extended her hand. "I shan't be at
+home either night or I'd ask you to come and see me. But you are coming
+down to Truesdale soon, remember."
+
+"Yes," said Harvey. "Good-by."
+
+He walked rapidly to the Washington Building. Jim had left no word, and
+Harvey called up the Ashland Avenue residence, but could learn nothing.
+The Northern Station master returned a similar report: Mr. Weeks had not
+been seen. Harvey sat down and rested his elbows on the desk. Already it
+might be too late. He called to mind Jim's business arrangements, in the
+hope of striking a clew by chance. He was interrupted by a few callers,
+whom he disposed of with a rush; and he was closing his desk with a vague
+idea of hunting Jim in person when he was called to the 'phone. It was the
+station master.
+
+"I was mistaken, Mr. West," he said. "Fourteen has just got in from
+Manchester, and he says he took Mr. Weeks out at noon."
+
+Harvey rang off and called up the M. & T. terminal station at Manchester.
+
+"Hello. This is Chicago. Is Mr. Weeks there?"
+
+"Well--say, hello! Hold on, central!--Will you call him to the 'phone,
+please?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Where? At the shops?"
+
+"Sorry, but I guess you'll have to interrupt him. Important business."
+
+"Can't help it if the whole road's blocked. Get him as quick as you can
+and call us up. Good-by."
+
+Harvey waited ten minutes, twenty, thirty, thirty-five--then the bell
+rang.
+
+"Hello!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Not there?"
+
+"Wait a minute. You say he took the 4.30?"
+
+"All right. Good-by."
+
+Harvey turned back to his desk with a scowl. He passed the next hour
+clearing up what was left of the day's work; then he went out to dinner,
+and at 6.45 met Jim Weeks at the Northern Station.
+
+"Hello," said the magnate, "what's up?"
+
+"Porter is," replied Harvey. "I cornered him and McNally with Thompson and
+Wing, and I think McNally's gone after the Tillman stock."
+
+"I guess not," Jim smiled indulgently. "They can't touch it. Tell me what
+you know."
+
+Harvey related his experience, and as one detail followed another Jim's
+eyebrows came together. He took out his watch and looked at it, then his
+eye swept the broad row of trains in the gloomy, barnlike station. The
+hands on the three-sided clock pointed to seven, and the Northern
+Vestibule Limited began to roll out on its run to Manchester and the West.
+Suddenly Jim broke in:--
+
+"I'm going to Tillman. Back to-morrow."
+
+He ran down the platform and swung himself, puffing, upon the rear steps
+of the receding train. Harvey stared a moment, then slowly walked out to
+the elevated. He had not yet learned to follow the rapid working of Jim
+Weeks's mind.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Porter was nervous. Being unsuccessful in his search
+for Weeks, and seeing the possibility of failure before him, he greeted
+the hour of five with a frown; but he realized that there was nothing to
+be done. McNally was on the field and must fight it out alone. It was a
+quarter after five when he stepped from the elevator at Field's, and
+confronted a very reproachful young woman.
+
+"Sorry, dear, but I couldn't get away any sooner."
+
+"What was it, dad? That old railroad?"
+
+"You wouldn't understand it if I told you."
+
+Katherine frowned prettily.
+
+"That's what you always say. Tell me about it."
+
+"Well, it was very important that I should see a man before he saw another
+one."
+
+"Did you see him?"
+
+"No, I couldn't find him."
+
+"Does it mean a loss to you, dad?"
+
+"I hope not, dear. But we must get started."
+
+"I thought you never would come. It was lucky that I had company part of
+the time."
+
+"That's good. Who was it?"
+
+"Mr. West."
+
+"Mr. West?--Not Weeks's man--not--"
+
+Katherine nodded. Her father looked at her puzzled; then his brow slightly
+relaxed, and he smiled. "By Jove!" he said softly. Katherine was watching
+him in some surprise.
+
+"Katherine, you are a brick. You shall have the new cart. Yes, sir. I'll
+order it to-morrow."
+
+"What have I done?"
+
+"You've saved the day, my dear." Suddenly he frowned again. "Hold on; when
+did you see him?"
+
+"I met him about three. I guess he was here an hour or more."
+
+"Couldn't be better! But he must be an awful fool."
+
+Katherine bit her lip.
+
+"Why?" she asked quietly.
+
+"Don't you see? If he had seen Weeks early enough they might have upset
+me. He must be an awful fool."
+
+Katherine followed him to the elevator with a peculiar expression. She
+wondered why her father's remark annoyed her.
+
+
+
+Before leaving Manchester Mr. McNally wired to the Tillman City Finance
+Committee an invitation to dine at the Hotel Tremain at 7.45 P.M. During
+the journey he matured his plan of campaign.
+
+This was not likely to be more than mildly exciting, for twenty years of
+political and financial juggling had fitted Mr. McNally for delicate work.
+In his connection with various corporations he had learned the art of
+subduing insubordinate legislatures without friction, if not without
+expense, and naturally the present task offered few difficulties. That was
+why, after an hour or so of thought, he straightened up in his seat,
+bought a paper, and read it with interest, from the foreign news to the
+foot-ball prospects. Mr. McNally's tastes were cosmopolitan, and now that
+his method was determined he dismissed M. & T. stock from his mind. He
+knew Tillman City, and more to the point, he knew Michael Blaney, Chairman
+of the Council Finance Committee. Finesse would not be needed, subtlety
+would be lost, with Blaney, and so Mr. McNally was prepared to talk
+bluntly. And on occasion Mr. McNally could be terseness itself.
+
+On his arrival he took a cab for the hotel. The Committee were on hand to
+meet him, and Blaney made him acquainted with the others.
+
+Michael Blaney was a man of the people. He was tall and angular, hands and
+face seamed and leathery from the work of earlier days, eyes small and
+keen, and a scraggy mustache, that petered out at the ends. He had risen
+by slow but sure stages from a struggling contractor with no pull, to be
+the absolute monarch of six wards; and as the other seven wards were
+divided between the pro- and anti-pavers, Blaney held the municipal reins.
+He still derived an income from city contracts, but his name did not
+appear on the bids.
+
+After dinner Mr. McNally led the way to his room, and in a few words
+announced that he had come for the M. & T. stock. Blaney tipped back in
+his chair and shook his head.
+
+"Can't do it, Mr. McNally. It ain't for sale."
+
+"So I heard," said McNally, quietly, "but I want it."
+
+"You see it's like this. When they were building the line, we took the
+stock on a special act--"
+
+"I understand all that," McNally interrupted. "That can be fixed."
+
+Williams, one of the other two, leaned over the table.
+
+"We ain't fools enough to go up against Jim Weeks," he said.
+
+"Don't worry about Weeks," replied McNally, "I can take care of him."
+
+"Who are you buying for?" asked Blaney.
+
+McNally looked thoughtfully at the three men, then said quietly:--
+
+"I am buying for C. & S.C. Jim Weeks is all right, but he can't hold out
+against us."
+
+"Well, I tell you, Mr. McNally, we can't sell."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Outside of the original terms--and they sew us up--we never could get it
+through the Council."
+
+McNally folded his hands on the table and looked at Blaney with twinkling
+eyes.
+
+"That's all rot, Blaney."
+
+"No, it ain't. The boys are right with Weeks."
+
+"See here, Blaney. You just stop and ask yourself what Weeks has done for
+you. He's sunk a lot of your money and a lot of St. Johns's money, to say
+nothing of Chicago, in a road that never has paid and never will pay. Why,
+man, the stock would be at forty now if we hadn't pushed it up. I tell you
+Jim Weeks is licked. The only way for you to get your money back is to
+vote in men who can make it go. We've got the money, and we've got the
+men. It will be a good thing for Tillman City, and a good thing"--he
+paused, and looked meaningly at the three faces before him--"a mighty good
+thing for you boys."
+
+"We couldn't put it through in time for the election anyhow."
+
+"The eighth? That's two weeks."
+
+"I know it, but we'd have to work the opposition."
+
+"Talk business, Blaney. I'll make it worth your while."
+
+"What'll you give?"
+
+"For the stock?"
+
+"Well--yes, for the stock."
+
+"I'll give you par."
+
+"Um--when?"
+
+"That depends on you. However, if you really want time, you can have it. I
+suppose you boys vote the stock?"
+
+All three nodded.
+
+"Well, you vote for our men, and I'll sign an agreement to pay cash at par
+after the meeting."
+
+"Why not now?"
+
+"I wouldn't have any hold on you. Anyhow, I won't pay till I get the
+stock, and you seem to want time."
+
+Blaney glanced at the other two. They were watching McNally closely, and
+Williams was fumbling his watch chain. Blaney's eyes met McNally's.
+
+"What'll you do for us?" he asked. "It'll take careful work."
+
+For answer McNally rose and went to the bed, where his bag lay open. He
+rummaged a moment, then returned with a pack of cards.
+
+"Forgot my chips," he said, seating himself. "Close up, boys."
+
+He dealt the cards with deft hands. Blaney started to take his up, then
+paused with his hand over them.
+
+"What's the ante?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, five hundred?" McNally replied.
+
+Blaney pushed the cards back.
+
+"No," he said, "not enough."
+
+Williams seconded his chief with a shake of the head.
+
+"Well, name it yourself."
+
+"A thousand."
+
+McNally pursed his lips, then drew out a wallet, and counted out three
+thousand dollars in large bills, which he laid in the centre of the table.
+
+"There's four playing," suggested Blaney.
+
+McNally scowled.
+
+"Don't be a hog, Blaney." He took up his hand, then laid it down and rose,
+adding,--
+
+"Can't do anything with that hand."
+
+The three Committeemen dropped their cards and each pocketed a third of
+the money. Mr. McNally fished a pad from his grip and wrote the contract
+binding himself to pay for the stock after the election on condition that
+it should be voted at his dictation. He signed it, and tossed it across
+the table.
+
+"All right, Mr. McNally," said Blaney, holding out his hand. "I guess we
+can see you through. Good night."
+
+"Good night, Blaney; good night, boys." McNally shook hands cordially with
+each. "We'll have a good road here yet."
+
+When their footfalls died away in the hall, Mr. McNally turned to the
+table, gathered the cards, and replaced them in his bag. The room was
+close with cigar smoke, and he threw open the windows. With the sensation
+of removing something offensive, he washed his hands. He stood for a few
+moments looking out the window at the quiet city, then he sauntered
+downstairs and into the deserted parlor, seating himself at the piano. His
+plump hands wandered over the keys with surprisingly delicate touch. For a
+short time he improvised. Then as the night quiet stole into his thoughts,
+he drifted into Rubinstein's Melody in F, playing it dreamily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+JIM WEEKS CLOSES IN
+
+It was midnight when Jim Weeks reached Tillman City. The next morning at
+breakfast he recognized Mr. McNally, and though he nodded pleasantly, his
+thoughts were not the most amicable. He knew that McNally meant mischief,
+and he also knew that McNally's mischief could be accomplished only
+through one man, Michael Blaney. Heretofore Blaney had not troubled Jim.
+Jim's power and his hold on Tillman City affairs had combined to inspire
+the lesser dictator with awe, and in order to obtain concessions it had
+been necessary only to ask for them. Jim never dealt direct with Blaney.
+The councilman to whom he intrusted his measures was Bridge, leader of the
+pro-pavers. Jim had won him by generosity in transportation of paving
+supplies. But when Jim left the hotel that morning he wasted no time on
+minority leaders. Bridge was useful to prepare and introduce ordinances,
+but was not of the caliber for big deals, so Jim ordered a carriage and
+drove direct to Blaney's house. Although the hour was early, the
+politician was not at home. His wife, a frail little woman, came to the
+door and extended a flexible speaking trumpet that hung about her
+shoulders.
+
+"No," she said in reply to Jim's question, "he's down on the artesian road
+watching a job. He won't be back till noon."
+
+The road in question leads from the city to the artesian well a few miles
+away. Jim turned his horses and went back through the town and out toward
+the country. He found Blaney just inside the city limits, sitting on a
+curb and overseeing two bosses and a gang of laborers, who were tearing up
+the macadam with the destructive enthusiasm of the hired sewer digger.
+
+"How are you, Blaney?" called Jim, pulling up.
+
+Blaney nodded sourly. He was a man of bullying rather than of tactful
+propensities and he could not conceal his distaste for an interview with
+Jim Weeks at this particular moment. To tell the truth, he had begun to
+fear the results of the agreement with McNally which rested in his coat
+pocket. Weeks was a hard man to fight, and wasted no words on disloyalty.
+However, Blaney knew that dissimulation would profit him nothing, for to
+keep the changed vote a secret would be impossible; so he squared himself
+for a row. Jim tied his horses to a sapling and sat beside him,
+remarking,--
+
+"I want to have a talk with you."
+
+"Haven't got much time," replied Blaney, making a show of looking at his
+watch.
+
+Jim smiled meaningly.
+
+"You've got all the time I need. I want to know what you're up to with our
+stock."
+
+Blaney gazed at the laborers.
+
+"Here!" he called to a lazy Irishman, "get back there where you belong!"
+
+"Come now, Blaney, talk business."
+
+"What do you want to know about that stock?"
+
+"How are you going to vote it?"
+
+"I guess I can vote it."
+
+"Are you going to stick to me?"
+
+"I don't know whether I am or not. I'll do what the Council directs."
+
+Jim gave him a contemptuous glance.
+
+"Don't be a fool, Blaney."
+
+"See here," said Blaney, rising; "what are _you_ trying to do?"
+
+Jim rose too.
+
+"You've answered my question," he replied. "You think you can throw me
+out."
+
+"I ain't throwing anybody out," muttered Blaney. He walked away and stood
+looking at the trench in the street which the men had sunk shoulder deep.
+Jim followed.
+
+"I'm not through yet, Blaney."
+
+"I haven't got time to talk with you," blustered the contractor. Jim stood
+a moment looking him over. Blaney's eyes were fixed on the Irishman.
+
+"How much did he give you?" asked Jim, quietly.
+
+Blaney whirled around.
+
+"Look out," he said. "I don't know what you're talking about, but a man
+can't say that to me." His fists were clenched. Jim spoke without emotion.
+
+"Drop it," he said. "I'm not here for my health. I knew all that some
+hours ago. If I couldn't work it any better than you've done, I'd quit.
+Now what I want you to do, Blaney--"
+
+"See here, you've said enough!" Blaney was excited. "You can't come around
+here and bulldoze me. We've bought that stock and we'll vote it as we
+like, damn it; and you can go to hell!"
+
+Jim looked at him thoughtfully; then he went to his buggy and drove back
+to the hotel. He saw that Blaney was frightened, but he evidently was too
+thoroughly bought up to be easily shaken. With what some men called his
+"gameness" Jim dropped Blaney from his mind for the moment, and began to
+plan for a desperate counter move. Before he reached the hotel the move
+was decided upon, and Jim was placid.
+
+The next man to see was Bridge. Jim paused at the hotel long enough to
+send a message to the station agent to have a special ready in fifteen
+minutes; then he went to the office of his lieutenant.
+
+Bridge was an architect with a yearning for politics. For several years he
+had tried to keep both irons in the fire, and as a result was not
+over-successful in either. But he was a shrewd, silent man, and could be
+trusted. Jim found him designing a stable.
+
+"Sit down, Mr. Weeks. What brings you to Tillman?"
+
+"Bad business," responded Jim, shortly. "Blaney's sold out to the
+C. & S.C."
+
+Mr. Bridge sat upon his table and said nothing. When taken by surprise Mr.
+Bridge usually said nothing; that is why he had risen to the leadership of
+a faction.
+
+"I don't know just what's happened," Jim went on, "but there's trouble
+ahead."
+
+"Does Blaney say he's going to vote against you?"
+
+"No," said Jim, "but he gave himself away."
+
+"Can you block him?"
+
+Jim passed over the question.
+
+"I wish you'd watch him, Bridge. There's a deal on, and Frederick McNally
+is the other party. He's for C. & S.C. of course. Do you know him?"
+
+Bridge shook his head.
+
+"Well, never mind. I'll watch him. But you worry Blaney. He's a little
+rattled now,--I reckon McNally's soaked him,--and if you're careful you
+ought to find out something. I want to know just how they've fixed it."
+
+Bridge nodded.
+
+"I'll keep an eye on him."
+
+"Well,"--Jim rose,--"I've got a train to catch. Good-by."
+
+He drove rapidly to the station; the agent hurried toward him as he pulled
+up at the platform.
+
+"I only got your message this minute, Mr. Weeks," he said; "there isn't a
+car in the yards."
+
+"What's that?" Jim looked at his watch. "Got an engine?"
+
+"Only the switch engine."
+
+"I'll take that."
+
+The agent hesitated.
+
+"You wouldn't get through before next week," he said. "There's a couple of
+passenger engines in the roundhouse, but they ain't fired."
+
+The telegraph operator leaned out of the window and broke into the
+conversation.
+
+"Murphy's firing the big eleven for sixteen from Truesdale. You might take
+that."
+
+"Got a good man to run it?" asked Jim.
+
+"Jawn Donohue's on the switch engine," replied the operator. "He knows the
+road."
+
+Jim dimly remembered the name Donohue. Somewhat more than a year before
+his manager had reduced a man of that name for crippling an engine on a
+flying switch.
+
+"He's the best man you could get, Mr. Weeks," said the agent, and turning,
+he ran down the platform toward the freight house. Jim called after him:--
+
+"He's got to connect at Manchester with the twelve o'clock for Chicago."
+
+Jawn's dumpy little engine was blowing off on a siding. Jawn was oiling.
+He was a short man, filling out his wide overalls with an in-'em-to-stay
+appearance. His beard was brushy, his eyes were lost in a gray tangle of
+brows and lashes, and he chewed the stem of a cob pipe.
+
+"Jawn," said the agent, excitedly, "get eleven up to the platform quick!"
+
+Jawn turned around, lowered the oil-can, and looked at the nervous agent
+with impassive eyes.
+
+"Why?" he said slowly.
+
+"You've got to connect with Manchester at twelve o'clock."
+
+Jawn replaced his pipe.
+
+"Wait till I kick them empties in on the house track. Who's it for?"
+
+"Don't stop for that! It's the President!"
+
+Jawn grunted, and walked deliberately across the tracks and into the
+roundhouse, followed by his fireman. Murphy, the hostler, was hovering
+about the big throbbing locomotive, putting a final polish on the oil-cups
+and piston-rods. Jawn, without a word, climbed into the cab, and out over
+the tender, where he lifted the tank lid and peered down at the water.
+
+"Never mind that," the agent called. "You can water up at Byron."
+
+Jawn slowly clambered over the coal and leaned against the doorway,
+packing the tobacco firmly into his pipe with his fire-proof little
+finger.
+
+"Young man," he said gruffly, "I run this engine for four years without
+taking water between here and Manchester, and I reckon I can do it agin."
+Then he pulled her slowly out of the roundhouse.
+
+In the meantime, the operator had sent this message to the train
+despatcher at Manchester:--
+
+  Want right of way over everything. Pres. coming on light engine.
+
+To which the despatcher replied:--
+
+  Run to Manchester extra regardless of all trains.
+
+When the engine finally rolled into the station Jim was pacing up and
+down; he was as nearly impatient as Jim Weeks could be.
+
+"You'll have to move faster than that," he said shortly, swinging himself
+up the steps.
+
+Jawn glanced at him without reply, then looked at his watch. It was twenty
+minutes after ten. He laid his hand upon the throttle and pulled. There
+was a gasp of steam, a whirring and slipping of the drive wheels, and the
+engine plunged forward. Jawn fingered the lever with a lover's caress. He
+knew old "eleven," every foot of her, every tube, bolt, and strap. As they
+cleared the yards, he threw her wider and wider open until she was lunging
+and lurching madly. The cinders beat a tattoo upon the cab, and Jim Weeks
+crowded up into the corner. The fireman, a strapping young fellow, threw
+in great shovels of coal with the regularity of a machine, pausing only to
+wipe his forehead with the back of his hand as the heat grew intense. When
+he opened the furnace door, Jim could see the glowing bed lift and stir
+with the jolt of the engine.
+
+Old Jawn, perched upon his high seat, never shifted his eyes from the
+track ahead. His face wore the usual scowl, but betrayed no emotion.
+Perhaps his teeth gripped the pipe-stem harder than usual, but then, it
+was a pregnant hour for Jawn. The feel of the old pet under his hand made
+his heart jump, and brought the hope that a successful run might lead him
+back to his own. Jawn knew that he deserved something better than a switch
+engine in the division yards, he knew that he was the best engineer on the
+road, but he had steeled himself against hope. As they whirled past the
+mile-posts his emotion grew. He felt that the President was watching him
+closely, and he coaxed the steel thing into terrific speed. The cab grew
+hotter and hotter. Jim loosened his grip on the seat long enough to
+unbutton his collar and to twist his handkerchief around his neck. The
+fireman was dripping, but Jawn sat immovable as marble. They whirled past
+little stations with a sudden roar. At Brushingham a passenger train lay
+on the siding. There was a mottled flash of yellow, then they were by, and
+for an instant Jawn smiled. He hadn't passed Jack Martin like that for
+years.
+
+Then they struck the hills. Up with a snort, over with a groan, and down
+with a rumble and slide, they flew. Here Jawn's eyes shifted to the water
+gauge. Jim locked one arm around the window post, and sat with eyes fixed
+on his watch. The minute hand crept around to eleven, passed it, and on to
+five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five. At thirty-five clusters of
+cottages began to shoot by. Jawn's arm began to straighten--the roar
+diminished a trifle. Thirty-seven they passed rows of coal-laden flat
+cars; thirty-nine, they slackened through a tangle of tracks; forty-one,
+the big engine rolled under the train shed and stopped in a cloud of
+steam.
+
+Jim stepped down and stretched himself. The fireman had staggered back
+into the tender, and lay in a heap, fanning himself with his cap. Jawn
+took a final glance at the water gauge, then he swung around and removed
+his cold pipe.
+
+"Mr. Weeks," he said gruffly, "I brung ye a hundred and three mile in
+eighty-one minutes. There ain't another man on the line could 'a' done it.
+I reckon that's why there's nothing for me but a switch engine." Without
+waiting for a reply he seized an oil-can and swung out of the cab. Jim
+followed in silence, and hurried away with a grim smile.
+
+At two-thirty Jim was in his Chicago office. For some time he was closeted
+with Myers, treasurer of the road, then he closed his desk and went out.
+He spent an hour with Spencer, a capitalist and an M. & T. director. From
+four to six he was locked in his office, going through his various
+collateral securities. At six he locked his office and went home with a
+feeling of relief. The battle was on, and Jim was ready. There would be a
+meeting at his house that evening between Spencer, Myers, and himself; not
+a long meeting, but one productive of results.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+TUESDAY EVENING
+
+Harvey West liked to be comfortable. His rooms were in a quiet apartment
+house on the West Side, within easy reach of the Metropolitan Elevated,
+and not far from the big house where Jim Weeks held bachelor sway. Harvey
+was not a musician, but a good piano stood in his sitting room. He had
+accumulated a few etchings and two bronzes; and on the centre table were
+piled the latest books. Harvey read these about as he listened to Grand
+Opera--he recognized that a man should keep in touch with such things. In
+a vague way he enjoyed them, but he was too honest to cultivate the glib
+generalities that give so many men a rating as connoisseurs of art, music,
+and literature. Harvey liked action. Business appealed to him, anything
+with motion and excitement; then, after the fever of the day, he was drawn
+to a few friends and a good cigar. But back behind his straightforward
+democratic temperament there was a dash of good blood, the sifting down of
+generations of gentlemen and gentlewomen, that accounted for Harvey's
+inherent good taste. He could not criticise the technique of a picture,
+but he never selected a poor one. And the few books he really liked were
+the kind one can read once a year with profit.
+
+Early on this Tuesday evening Harvey was trying to read, but his eyes
+would wander and his brow contract. At intervals he would turn in his
+chair and endeavor to bring his thoughts back to the book. Finally he
+shut it with a bang and, walking to the window, stood looking out over
+the city. It had been a hard day for Harvey. He had passed hours waiting
+to learn the result of Jim's efforts to head off McNally. The news that
+C. & S.C. would undoubtedly control the Tillman City stock at election
+had been closely followed by the discovery of unexpected strength in the
+opposition directors. People used to say of Jim that he was never so
+happy as when fighting in his last ditch, but Harvey derived no pleasure
+from such operations. On this occasion he was particularly troubled. He
+felt that his failure to tend to business the preceding afternoon had
+contributed largely to the loss of Tillman City; and, worst of all, what
+a fool Miss Porter must think him.
+
+The boulevard below was hedged with two long rows of gas-lamps which
+converged far away to the south. Sounds of the street floated up to
+him--the clatter of hoofs on the asphalt, disjointed conversations from
+wheelmen, juvenile calls and whistles. Harvey looked down at the strolling
+crowds on the sidewalk, and felt lonely. He turned away from the window,
+and took a cigar from the hospitable box on the mantel. Near the box was a
+kodak picture of Miss Porter which he had taken some time before. He held
+the picture to the light, and gazed at it earnestly. "You had a fine laugh
+over me yesterday, didn't you, when your father told you all about it?"
+
+Harvey's big sitting room was popular. His friends had the comfortable
+habit of dropping in at almost any hour of the day or night, sure of a
+hearty welcome. But to-night the thought of visitors caused him to replace
+the picture suddenly, seize his hat and stick, and start out
+for--somewhere. At first he entertained a dim notion of going to Lincoln
+Park, so he took the elevated down town, and started north on the Clark
+Street cable. But as the car jolted along, he remembered that the band did
+not play Tuesday evenings. He might take in the electric fountain, but in
+the crowd you couldn't go about and look at people without being in other
+people's way. Harvey was fond of the great public, but he liked to hold
+himself in the background. He rode past the Park under the long row of
+elms, gazing absently at the thronging walk where the middle strata of
+North Side humanity take their evening promenade. Passing the Park, he
+decided to go on to the Bismarck, where he could be among people and yet
+remain alone.
+
+A few minutes before eight he walked between the brown dragons which guard
+the entrance, and crossed the raised pavilion between the street and the
+garden. At the head of the stairs he paused a moment, then he turned aside
+and seated himself at a table near by, where he could lean against the
+railing and overlook the crowd below.
+
+It was still somewhat early, and the long rows of white tables stood
+vacant. By daylight the trees in a summer garden wear a homesick look, but
+to-night the festooned incandescent lamps spread a soft yellow light
+through the foliage, already thinned, though the night was warm, by the
+touch of September; while high up on their white poles the big arcs threw
+down a weird blue glare, casting a confusion of half-opaque shadows upon
+the gravelled earth. Far to the front was the stage with its half dome;
+the double-bass was tuning his instrument, a few others were sorting music
+or running over difficult passages.
+
+By this time the crowd was pouring in and spreading among the tables.
+Harvey leaned back and watched the almost unbroken line that moved from
+the gate to the steps. There were a great many family groups, with here
+and there a chaperoned party from the suburbs. A sound of scraping and
+squealing and grunting from the stage announced the orchestral
+preliminaries. There was a scattering fusillade of applause as the tall
+conductor appeared. Looking through the trees, Harvey could see him rap
+his stand and raise both arms. The concert was on. Harvey's glance shifted
+back to the stairway, and he started. On the bottom step, looking about
+for a vacant table, was William C. Porter. Behind him, standing, with head
+thrown back, was Miss Katherine Porter. For a moment she looked at the
+shifting scene before her. Harvey noted with hungry eyes the poise of her
+figure. Then she turned deliberately, and bowed to Harvey with a bright
+smile.
+
+A little later, as Harvey sat alone listening to the music, Mr. Porter
+appeared, picking his way toward the centre aisle. Harvey watched him
+idly. He finally reached the stairway, and came straight to Harvey's
+table.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. West," he said, holding out his hand. "Won't you join
+us? We shall be here for an hour, anyway."
+
+Harvey rose, and looked across the diagonal line of tables. Miss Porter
+was leaning forward with a smile. Harvey's mind had been made up, but he
+changed it and followed Mr. Porter.
+
+Katherine received him brightly and immediately put him at ease. For the
+time he forgot that Mr. Porter and he were nominal enemies. Mr. Porter
+talked entertainingly of the people about them, a subject which Harvey
+could continue with intelligence; and he was gratified to note the
+interest in the daughter's eyes as he commented on the oddities of human
+character.
+
+They were looking at a party of Germans, who sat listening to the music
+with the stolid interest of the race, when Mr. Porter rose and beckoned.
+Katherine nodded to some one behind Harvey. A moment later he was shaking
+hands with Mr. McNally.
+
+"We've been watching for you for some time," said Mr. Porter, as McNally
+took the vacant chair.
+
+"Have you?" McNally smiled easily. "I wish you had said that, Miss
+Porter."
+
+"Oh, Mr. McNally, you know I was hoping for you."
+
+Harvey's eyes betrayed him, for she added in a bantering tone,--
+
+"We must say such things to Mr. McNally, Mr. West; if we don't, he gets
+simply unbearable."
+
+McNally looked at her with an amused expression. Evidently they understood
+each other. As the banter continued, Harvey began to feel uncomfortable.
+He tried to listen to the orchestra, which was playing a lively march.
+
+"Good, isn't it?" said Miss Porter to Harvey.
+
+"Splendid," he replied.
+
+"Do you think so?" observed Mr. McNally. "Seems to me Bunge's a little off
+to-night. Too much drum. Queer motions, hasn't he?"
+
+Herr Bunge's motions were queer. He was very tall and spare, with an
+angular, smooth-shaven face, and with a luxuriant growth of hair that
+waved and flopped in the gentle breeze. His long arms were principally
+elbow, and they swayed and crooked and jerked as though he were pulling
+the music down out of the air. At times when he turned to the belated
+second violins, his gaunt profile would appear in silhouette against a
+glare of electric light.
+
+"Do you know," said McNally, fingering his programme, "Bunge ought to
+stick to this kind of stuff. Last week I heard him play some of the Queen
+Mab music, and it was wilful slaughter. Poor old Berlioz would have sobbed
+aloud if he had heard it."
+
+Harvey felt awkward. He could not follow McNally's comments, and it
+humiliated him. Miss Porter was quick to observe his silence, and
+endeavored to draw him into the conversation, while Mr. McNally seemed
+determined to hold the reins. There was some good-natured fencing, then
+Mr. Porter rose.
+
+"You'll excuse us, Mr. West," he said pleasantly. "We have an engagement
+for the latter part of the evening."
+
+"Yes," added his daughter, "we promised to go out to Edgewater--the Saddle
+and Cycle, you know."
+
+Harvey bowed and stood immovable, as father, daughter, and Mr. McNally
+left the garden. She had given him a quick glance, and he wondered what it
+meant. He sat down and absently broke the straws in his glass. The
+orchestra had stopped, and a buzz of conversation floated into the
+foliage. White-clad waiters bustled about with trays piled high.
+
+After another number he started for home, blue and angry. As he left the
+elevated and walked down Ashland Avenue, he saw that Jim's house was
+lighted up, and he crossed over. Jim and he were better friends than their
+relative positions indicated. Neither had family ties, and Jim's interest
+in the younger man was perhaps the nearest approach to sentiment he had
+felt for years. He seldom openly showed his regard, but Harvey was
+perfectly conscious of it, and he valued it highly.
+
+Jim was sitting alone at the table in the library. He greeted Harvey by
+tipping back and waving toward a seat. The table was littered with papers.
+
+"How are you?" said Jim. "We've stolen a march on you."
+
+Harvey smiled, and threw himself wearily into a chair at the other end of
+the table.
+
+"What is it?" he asked. "C. & S.C. again?"
+
+Jim nodded, and drawing out his cigar case, he took one and tossed the
+case down to Harvey, then said:--
+
+"Yes, and I think we've got 'em down. We've issued some more stock." He
+leaned on the table and spoke in a confidential tone. "And I reckon
+Porter'll be doing a hornpipe when he finds it out."
+
+"Who took it?" asked Harvey.
+
+"Spencer, Myers, and I. The books haven't been closed, you know."
+
+Harvey blew out a thin cloud of smoke, and looked at it meditatively.
+
+"Nine thousand shares," continued Jim, "If there's anything he can do now,
+he's welcome to try."
+
+"Do you think he will try?"
+
+"Oh, yes, he'll come at us with something or other. But he can't do a
+thing."
+
+There was a long silence, then Harvey said,--
+
+"You didn't pay cash for the stock?"
+
+"Ten per cent," Jim replied.
+
+Harvey fingered his cigar. Every new move of Jim's bewildered him. Jim's
+imperturbability, and his eagerness for a fight where some men would be
+discouraged, were qualities that Harvey was slow in acquiring. His
+admiration for Jim amounted almost to reverence. Perhaps had he realized
+the bitter fighting that was yet to come, if he could have foreseen the
+part that he was to play with zeal and judgment, he would have been even
+more bewildered, but Harvey was plucky enough; it needed only the right
+circumstances to develop him.
+
+"If he does fight," said Jim, breaking the silence, "if he succeeds in
+landing on us, why, then, look out for war. I'll put my last cent into
+M. & T. before I'll give him a chance at it."
+
+"Is he likely to grab the road?"
+
+"Maybe he'll try. But I'll have five hundred men with guns in his way.
+I'll tell you, West, I'm not going to give in. I never have yet."
+
+"No," said Harvey, thoughtfully, "I don't believe you have." And he added,
+"I saw Porter to-night."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Up at the Bismarck. McNally was with him."
+
+"Anybody else?"
+
+"His daughter."
+
+"Pretty girl, I hear."
+
+"Yes,"--Harvey spoke slowly,--"she is. A very pretty girl. Her father
+seems to be a gentleman."
+
+"Oh, Porter's all right. He's doing what 'most any man in his place would
+do. It's business. There's nothing personal in it."
+
+"I suppose not," Harvey replied. "It's still a little odd to me. I'm
+afraid I'd want to break his head."
+
+Jim laughed.
+
+"You'll get over that. I reckon you haven't got anything against his
+daughter."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Harvey; "but that's different."
+
+"Oh, is it?"
+
+Harvey sat for a moment without reply, then he tossed his half-smoked
+cigar into the ashtray and rose.
+
+"Don't go, West. I shall be up for a long while."
+
+"I'm tired," Harvey replied. "I need sleep. Good night."
+
+Harvey walked home slowly. Once in his room, he did not light up; instead
+he drew an easy-chair to the window and stretched out where he could feel
+the breeze. It had been a strange evening. He went back over the
+conversation in the Bismarck. Katherine had seemed even prettier than
+usual; but before every picture of her rose the calm, smiling face of
+McNally--McNally with his pudgy hands and his cool blue eyes, his ease and
+his well-placed comment. Harvey rested an elbow on the sill and looked out
+the window. The crowds were gone now. No sound came save the rustle of the
+leaves and the occasional rumble of the elevated trains. The moon was
+clouded, but over the trees the stars were out, as clear and soft as on
+other evenings that had not seemed so dreary. He turned away and walked
+over to the mantel, where Katherine's picture leaned against the wall. He
+found it without striking a light, and brought it to the window. By the
+dim light from the street and the sky, he could see her face in faint
+outline.
+
+"Well, Miss Katherine," he said, looking into the shadowy eyes, "I guess
+Jim Weeks isn't the only fighter here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+JUDGE BLACK
+
+There are two kinds of business men: those who make their business at once
+work and play, a means of acquiring wealth and a most exciting game whose
+charms make all other games seem flat and unprofitable; and another class
+who, though they may enjoy work, turn for recreation to whist or
+philanthropy or golf. Porter belonged to the latter class. He went into
+the fight against Jim Weeks simply because he hoped it would make him
+richer, and it did not occur to him that he could enjoy the action. On
+Wednesday morning he sat in his office wondering if he could not get away
+to the Truesdale golf links for a match that afternoon.
+
+He looked over the ground carefully, and could see no way by which Weeks
+could save himself from defeat, for the control of Tillman City gave
+C. & S.C. a majority of the stock. Weeks's allies were deserting him,
+so that he now had a bare majority in the Board of Directors. Anyway,
+McNally would be on the ground in case Jim should try to do anything.
+
+"Well," thought Porter, "I'll go. I guess it's safe enough." He had closed
+his desk when the door opened and an office boy came in with a telegram.
+Porter tore it open listlessly, but his indolence vanished as he read the
+first line. The message was from Manchester, and it read as follows:--
+
+  M. & T. subscription book stubs show issue of nine thousand shares
+  new stock to Weeks, Myers, and Spencer, ten per cent paid, dated
+  yesterday.
+
+  POWERS.
+
+When a man finds himself in an ambush, or when an utterly unexpected
+attack is made upon him, he shows what he is. It was characteristic of
+Porter that after the moment of dazed unrealization had passed he began
+almost mechanically to plan a break for cover; he wished that he had not
+gone into the fight, and berated his stupidity in not foreseeing the move;
+it had not occurred to him that the subscription for the stock had not
+closed long ago. After a few minutes of vain search for an avenue of
+retreat, he saw that it was too late to do anything but fight it out; Jim
+Weeks was not likely to let an antagonist off easily.
+
+He called to his secretary: "Telephone Shields to come over here, will
+you, as soon as he can? And ask McNally to come too." While he was waiting
+for them he sat quite still in his big chair and thought hard, but he
+could see no way of countering the blow.
+
+The two men he had sent for came into the office together. Porter did not
+rise. With a nod of greeting he handed the yellow envelope to McNally, who
+whistled softly as he caught its import, and passed it on to Shields, an
+attorney for the C. & S.C., an emotionless, noncommittal man.
+
+"Hm--it looks as though that beat you," he said slowly.
+
+Porter lost his nerve and his temper too for a moment. He rose quickly and
+took a step toward the lawyer.
+
+"Hell, man!" he exclaimed angrily. "We can't be beat. We've got to get out
+of this some way. That's what you're here for." Then he recovered himself.
+"I beg your pardon, Shields. Sit down, and we'll talk this business over."
+
+For nearly an hour the three men sat in earnest consultation; then the
+secretary was called in.
+
+"Find out if Judge Black is in Truesdale," said Porter. "If he is, I want
+to talk to him." Then he turned to Shields.
+
+"That's our move," he said. "We can allege fraud on the ground that the
+stock was issued secretly and with the purpose of influencing the
+election. Black's the man for that business."
+
+"It isn't much of a case, mind you," said Shields. "I'm afraid that
+Weeks's action is not illegal, and that a court would sustain it, but it's
+possible to raise a question that it will take time to decide."
+
+"That's all we need," said Porter, with a sigh of relief. "If we raise the
+question, Black will do the rest."
+
+It was several minutes before the secretary came back from the telephone.
+
+"Well, did you get him?" asked Porter.
+
+"No," said the secretary; "he isn't in Truesdale."
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"I couldn't find out. His stenographer wouldn't tell me."
+
+"Wouldn't tell you, eh?" said Porter. "Just get Truesdale again; I'll talk
+with that young man myself."
+
+When he began talking his voice was mild and persuasive, and Shields and
+McNally listened expectantly. As the minutes went by and he did not get
+the information he wanted, it became evident that the cocksure young man
+at the other end of the line was rasping through what was left of Porter's
+patience as an emery wheel does through soft iron. As might be expected,
+the process was accompanied with a shower of sparks. Porter's voice rose
+and swelled in volume until at last he shouted, "You don't care who I am?
+Why, you damned little fool--" and then he stopped, for a sharp click told
+him that he was cut off, even from the central office, and he was not
+angry enough to go on swearing at an unresponsive telephone.
+
+For a moment he stood biting his lip in a nervous effort to control
+himself, then he joined feebly in the laughter the other two men had
+raised against him. A moment later he pulled out his watch, and turning to
+McNally said:--
+
+"Keep your eye on Weeks, will you? I'm going to Truesdale on the
+eleven-thirty to find Black. Good-by."
+
+Katherine was not surprised when twenty minutes later her father appeared
+and told her his plans. That was the train she had expected they would
+take.
+
+"I'm going along too," she said. "You're going to play golf this
+afternoon, aren't you?"
+
+"No," replied her father, shortly, "I'm not going to play golf. I'm going
+to play something else."
+
+The five-hour ride to Truesdale was for the most part a silent one.
+Katherine knew that her father was worried about something, and when he
+was worried he never liked to talk, so she asked no questions and made no
+attempt to draw him away from what troubled him. Only when they reached
+Truesdale and her father was about to help her into the cart that stood
+waiting she stopped long enough to kiss him and say:--
+
+"Don't bother too much about it, dad. And don't plan any business for this
+evening; I want you to take me out on the river." As she turned the cart
+around and started up the broad smooth street toward home she frowned, and
+thought, "I wish he would tell me more about things. I believe I could
+help."
+
+Porter went straight to Judge Black's to continue his conversation with
+the stenographer, but it needed no more than a glance to convince him of
+the futility of trying to get any information from that source.
+
+The new stenographer was a boyish-looking person who tried to convince one
+that he was much older than his appearance would indicate. He had big feet
+and a high voice; he used only the bottom notes for conversational
+purposes save when in unwary moments Nature would assert herself in a
+hoarse falsetto. He patronized Mr. Porter. He said that the Judge had left
+town the week before, and that he would probably be back in about ten
+days. He would send him no messages whatever, from anybody: those were
+Judge Black's orders.
+
+The young man seemed willing to go on talking at great length, and he
+doubtless would have done so had not Porter suddenly left the room. The
+Vice-President had thought of a possible clew. He walked rapidly to the
+railroad ticket office and spoke to the agent.
+
+"Did Judge Black leave town a few days ago?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the agent. "I don't remember just what day, but he
+went up on twenty-two."
+
+"Oh, he went east then. Do you remember where?"
+
+"His ticket read to Chicago."
+
+Porter walked away thoroughly disappointed. The chance had looked like a
+good one and there seemed to be no other. But he must in some way find the
+Judge; he could not wait for him. The first thing he did was to call up
+McNally by telephone and repeat to him what the agent had said. He told
+McNally to find out at what hotel the Judge had stayed, if at any, and to
+look for anything which might prove a clew to his whereabouts. "It's a
+wild-goose chase, I know," he concluded; "but then you may manage to turn
+up something." He knew that McNally would do everything that could be done
+in Chicago toward finding the missing Judge, so he went to work along
+other lines.
+
+Judge Black was a member of two fishing clubs, one at Les Chenaux Islands,
+near Mackinac, and the other about forty miles north of Minneapolis, so
+Porter sent long and urgent telegrams to both these places. Then he began
+making long shots, working through a list of more or less likely places,
+which his knowledge of Black's tastes and habits enabled him to get
+together. Just before dinner a message came from McNally:--
+
+  Black at Sherman House Friday. Clerk says he took three-thirty train
+  on Northwestern for Lake Geneva. Can run him down in morning.
+
+Thursday morning the two little telegraph boys at Lake Geneva and the one
+at William's Bay had a busy time of it, for Porter and McNally between
+them kept the wires hot; but neither hide nor hair of Judge Alonzo Black
+could they discover. From ten o'clock on through an interminable day the
+messages kept coming back, 'not delivered.' At half-past four Porter
+telephoned his lieutenant to go to the lake and continue the search in
+person.
+
+At seven Katherine and her father sat down to dinner. She had known all
+day that something was going wrong with her father's affairs, and she
+could read in his silent preoccupied manner that he had not yet been able
+to see a way out of the difficulty. She knew that she could not make him
+forget his troubles. Many vain attempts had taught her that, so she
+waited. The long dinner wore on Porter's nerves; once he rose suddenly and
+walked toward his library, but stopped short when he reached the door and
+came back to the table. Then he drummed on the arm of his chair.
+
+"Two days more of this," he said, with a nervous laugh, "and that man
+Black will have my life to answer for."
+
+"Judge Black?" asked Katherine. "What has he done?"
+
+"Done? He's disappeared off the face of the earth just at this particular
+moment when I've got to have him here."
+
+"Why," cried Katherine, "I know where he is. He's at the Grand View
+Hotel--"she paused and leaned forward, her elbows on the table and her
+hands clasped before her. "It's some place up in Wisconsin that sounds
+like alpaca. Waupaca--that's it. Grand View Hotel, Waupaca, Wisconsin."
+
+"Are you sure that's right?" he asked. "How do you know?"
+
+"Mr. West told me," she answered. "There was such a good joke on him in
+the paper. I meant to tell you about it."
+
+But Porter was smiling over something else. After a moment he said:--
+
+"We'd have been swamped long ago in this M. & T. business if it hadn't
+been for the kind services of that wise and valuable young man, West. I
+think I'll pay him a regular salary after this to keep him on the other
+side in all the fights I get into. Lord, what a fool he is!"
+
+He left the room so abruptly that he did not see how Katherine's cheeks
+reddened, nor how her lips pressed together in vexation. If he had he
+would not have known the reason for it any more than Katherine did.
+
+
+
+Rainbow Lake is pretty in the daytime, but it is beautiful under the
+moonlight when you can stretch out distances and imagine that the lights
+at Bagley's Landing are those of a city twenty miles away, and when the
+solid pine groves on Maple and Government islands loom up big and black.
+The Judge was enjoying his vacation the better for its lateness. He had
+bolted his supper early enough to secure his favorite chair in the best
+part of the piazza: a mandolin orchestra was playing a waltz from "The
+Serenade," and playing it well, the Judge thought. He threw away the match
+with which he had lighted his third cigar--to keep off the mosquitoes, he
+blandly told his conscience--and leaned back in the Morris chair, thinking
+how congruously comfortable it all was, now that he had his own clothes
+and the 'bus man could work without soiling his other suit.
+
+A clerk came out of the office, peered about in the half light for a
+moment, and approached the Judge, touching him on the shoulder.
+
+"Judge Black," he said, "Truesdale wants to talk to you on the 'phone."
+
+Five minutes later the legal luminary came out of the telephone box. He
+was swearing earnestly, but softly, out of deference to the
+candy-and-cigar girl. He walked slowly across the office.
+
+"There's a train for Chicago at 8.30, isn't there?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," said the clerk. "Do you want to take it?"
+
+There was another pianissimo interlude, at the end of which the clerk was
+given to understand that he should order the 'bus for that train. Then the
+Judge went back for his chair, but it was occupied by a little girl who
+was just too old to be asked to sit somewhere else.
+
+As Jim Weeks had said, Thompson wouldn't fight, and Porter realized this
+quite as well as Jim. The recalcitrant Vice-President played no part in
+Porter's calculations except as a somewhat blundering and obstinate tool.
+But on Friday morning Thompson's office boy announced Mr. Porter. Porter
+stated his case clearly. It was his plan to remove Weeks and Myers by
+judicial order from the Board of Directors. That would leave the
+opposition a majority of the board. Then Thompson was to call a meeting
+and assume control of the books. That done, the battle would be decided,
+and the election a mere formality. Thompson was badly rattled, for he
+hadn't a grain of sand in his composition, but in the end he conquered his
+fears and agreed to play the part Porter assigned to him.
+
+At half-past two a disjointed-looking train panted into the Harrison
+Street Station, and Judge Black climbed disconsolately out of the smoker.
+There was a coating of cinders on the top of his derby hat; there were
+drifts of cinders in the curl of the brim; there were streaks of cinders
+along the lines where his coat wrinkled; and there was one cinder in his
+left eye which gave him so leery and bibulous an aspect that an old lady
+who narrowly escaped colliding with him turned and looked after him in
+indignation, being half minded to go back and plead with him to lead a
+better life.
+
+It was fifteen minutes later when the Judge reached Porter's office, but
+before three o'clock he had signed an order enjoining James Weeks and
+Johnson Myers from acting as directors of, or from interfering in any way
+with, the affairs of the corporation known as the Manchester & Truesdale
+Railroad Company, and from voting the nine thousand shares of stock in
+that company which had been issued September 25th.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+BETWEEN THE LINES
+
+On Friday afternoon Harvey closed his desk with a feeling of relief. There
+had been plenty of work for the past few days, and Harvey's thoughts had
+acquired such wandering habits that his work seemed harder than usual. He
+had not seen Katherine since Tuesday evening, but another note, dated
+Thursday evening, was in his coat pocket. He read it again:--
+
+  MY DEAR MR. WEST: As you have inferred from the postmark I am back at
+  Truesdale; we returned Wednesday. I have about despaired of seeing
+  you here, at least of your own free will, so I have decided to kidnap
+  you. Will you come to a coaching party Saturday afternoon--or rather
+  a brake party? We shall start from our house, weather permitting, at
+  four o'clock, and drive out to Oakwood, returning by moonlight.
+  Please don't let any stupid business interfere with your coming down
+  and having a jolly time.
+
+  Cordially,
+
+  KATHERINE PORTER.
+
+Harvey slowly folded the note and replaced it in his pocket. Then he spoke
+to Jim.
+
+"Mr. Weeks, will you need me to-morrow?"
+
+Jim looked up pleasantly. Since the recent issue of M. & T. stock, Jim's
+eyes had smiled almost continuously.
+
+"Guess not," he replied. "Going away?"
+
+"Just over Sunday."
+
+"You aren't going anywhere near Truesdale, are you?"
+
+"Why, yes."
+
+Jim whirled around to his desk and rummaged through some pigeonholes.
+
+"I want to get word to a man down there," he said,--"some fellow that Fox
+talks about, who has a good team to sell. I thought I had his card. Well,
+never mind, I'll call up Fox in the morning and get his name and address.
+Then if you have time"--Jim smiled--"you might talk with him and see what
+they are. Don't commit yourself; just size things up."
+
+Harvey bowed.
+
+"I don't believe you need come around in the morning. I'll call you up or
+wire you. But don't lose any dinners on account of it."
+
+The next morning Harvey went to Truesdale.
+
+The Oakwood Club House stands on a knoll some eight miles up the river
+from Truesdale. Giant elms shade the wide veranda, while others droop over
+the white macadam drive that swings steeply down to the bridge and
+vanishes in a grove of oak, hickory, and birch. If you stand on the steps
+and look west, you can see, through the immediate foliage, the Maiden
+County hills, their blue tops contrasting with the nearer green of the
+valley. To the left, an obtruding wing checks the view; on the right,
+leading straight down to the river, is a well-worn path.
+
+After dinner the party strolled up and down the veranda, gradually
+separating into couples. The twilight creeping down found Harvey and Miss
+Porter alone by the railing. She stood erect, looking out over the valley,
+her scarlet golf jacket thrown back, her hair disordered by the long ride
+and curling about her face. Harvey watched her in silence. He was glad
+that she was tall; he liked to meet her eyes without looking down. He had
+often tried to remember the color of those eyes. Presently she turned and
+looked at him.
+
+"They're gray," he said, half to himself.
+
+"No," she replied; "sometimes they are brown and sometimes green. They are
+not gray."
+
+Harvey leaned forward.
+
+"I'm sure they are."
+
+For a moment they stood looking into each other's eyes, then she turned
+away with a little laugh and removed her sailor hat, swinging it from her
+hand.
+
+"Look," she said, with an impulsive gesture toward the west. Harvey
+followed her gaze. The dark was settling into the valley. There were
+splotches of foliage and waves of meadow, with a few winding strips of
+silver where the river broke away from the trees. "And to think that we
+have only a few more such days."
+
+"Yes,"--he spoke softly,--"we don't see things like that in Chicago."
+
+"Why don't you come to Truesdale?"
+
+"So long as Mr. Weeks stays in Chicago, I am likely to be there too."
+
+"You are fond of Mr. Weeks?"
+
+"Yes, I am."
+
+"I never met him--I've heard a great deal about him." She sat upon the
+railing and leaned back against a pillar, her eyes turned to the foliage.
+"Father says he is a good business man."
+
+"He is."
+
+"Mr. West," she threw her head back with a peremptory toss--"I want you to
+tell me something."
+
+"Wait," he replied, "come to the river. Then I'll tell you anything."
+
+She smiled, but acquiesced, and they went down the path. Harvey drew up a
+cedar boat and extended his hand, but she stepped lightly aboard without
+his aid. Harvey pushed away from the bank and began slowly to paddle
+against the current.
+
+"Now," he said, "the Sister Confessor may proceed."
+
+She looked up at him. He thought she was smiling, but she spoke earnestly.
+
+"I want you to tell me about this M. & T. fight."
+
+"I don't believe there is anything to tell."
+
+"You think I am not interested."
+
+"No--not that."
+
+"You men are all alike. You think a girl can't understand business." She
+seemed to be musing. "You like a girl who is helpless and fluttery, who
+can be patronized."
+
+"No," said Harvey, "not that either."
+
+"I wish you would tell me."
+
+"How much do you know?"
+
+Before replying she looked out over the water for several moments. Harvey
+rested his oars and waited. She turned to him, still musing.
+
+"I'll be frank," she said. "I am not going to say how much I know, but I
+want you to tell me all about it."
+
+Harvey began to row.
+
+"Of course," she went on, "I have heard father's friends talking."
+
+Harvey smiled.
+
+"You puzzle me," he remarked.
+
+"Why should any one wish to get control of your road?"
+
+"Because there is coal on the line."
+
+"Is Mr. Weeks firmly in control?"
+
+Harvey leaned over the oars.
+
+"I wish I knew--" he hesitated. "Are we good friends?"
+
+"I can speak for myself."
+
+"Why are you interested in this business?"
+
+"Because--well, I will tell you the truth. Of course I know that father
+and Mr. Weeks are--I suppose you would call it fighting. Father doesn't
+understand how I could ask you down to-day."
+
+"I am glad you did."
+
+"I wanted you to feel that--you see we have been good friends, and it
+would be too bad to let a thing like this--don't you understand?"
+
+Harvey leaned forward and impulsively extended his hand. She drew back.
+
+"Just shake hands," said Harvey. He clasped hers firmly, releasing it with
+a quiet "Thank you."
+
+They were drifting down stream under the trees with no sound save a faint
+rustle from overhead. Strands of moonlight sifted through the foliage,
+blurring the east bank into shadow.
+
+"Do you know what I am thinking of?" Harvey asked in a low tone. She
+smiled faintly and shook her head. They swung into a patch of moonlight,
+and for a moment their eyes met; then she looked away and said,--
+
+"We must go back."
+
+"It isn't late," Harvey remonstrated.
+
+"We must go back."
+
+Harvey obediently took up the oars, then hesitated.
+
+"Please don't stay here," she said.
+
+They went up the path in silence. The brake stood at the steps, and the
+other members of the party were laughing and talking on the veranda.
+Harvey stopped before they left the shadow. Miss Porter walked a few
+steps, then turned and faced him.
+
+"What is the matter?" he asked. "Can't you trust me? Are you afraid of
+me?"
+
+She came forward and laid her hand upon his arm.
+
+"Don't misunderstand me," she said with hesitation. "If I were as sure of
+myself as I am of you--Come, they are watching us."
+
+An hour later they stood at Mr. Porter's door.
+
+"Good night," said Harvey, but she lingered.
+
+"Shall I see you to-morrow?"
+
+"Do you think I had better come?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Perhaps your father--"
+
+"I want you to. Anyway," smiling, "father is in Chicago."
+
+Harvey smiled too.
+
+"I'll send the trap for you, and we'll drive--at ten, say. I suppose you
+are at the hotel."
+
+"Yes," said Harvey. "Good night."
+
+Mr. Porter's summer home was located on the river bank, something less
+than a mile from the Truesdale Hotel. The walk was somewhat lonely, and it
+gave Harvey time to think. At first he was bewildered. She had seemed to
+be mistress of the situation, but at any rate he had told her nothing
+about M. & T. affairs. There came into his mind a suspicion that she knew
+more than she had led him to believe, for she would naturally not let a
+man who had no claim upon her sway her loyalty to her father. And yet,
+those eyes were honest. They had looked into his with an expression that
+would charm away graver doubts than his. "I'll make her tell me," he
+thought. "I'll find out to-morrow just what she means, and if--" In spite
+of himself, Harvey's heart beat fast at thought of the possibilities which
+lay behind that "if." From doubt, he drifted back into a review of the
+evening. He called up pictures of her on the brake, on the boat, or on the
+shaded path. When he reached the hotel he sat down on the veranda and
+lighted a cigar. "Yes," he repeated to himself, "I'll make her tell me."
+But in the morning, after a more or less steady sleep, Harvey looked out
+at the calm sunlight and changed his mind. "I'll wait," he thought, "and
+see what happens."
+
+At ten, the Porter trap stood in front of the hotel, and Harvey climbed
+into the trap and took the reins. As he started, a telegraph boy ran down
+the steps calling to him. Harvey took the yellow envelope and with a
+thought of Jim's errand he thrust it between his teeth, for the horses
+were prancing. Later he stuffed it into his pocket until he should reach
+the Porters'. The drive was exhilarating, and by the time he pulled up in
+the porte-cochere he had himself well in control. She did not keep him
+waiting, and they were soon whirling down the old river road.
+
+Katherine was in a bright mood. For a space they talked commonplaces.
+Harvey thought of the telegram, but dared not take his attention from the
+horses until they should run off a little spirit, so he let them go.
+
+"Isn't it splendid," she said, drawing in the brisk air and looking at the
+broad stream on their right. "Do you know, I never see the river without
+thinking of the old days when this country was wild. It seems so odd to
+realize that Tonty and La Salle paddled up and down here. They may have
+camped where we are now. Sometimes in the evenings when we are on the
+river, I imagine I can see a line of canoes with strange, dark men in
+buckskin, and painted Indians, and solemn old monks, with Father Hennepin
+in the first canoe. So many curious old memories hover over this stream."
+
+The horses were slowing. Harvey said abruptly,--
+
+"Will you mind if I open a telegram?"
+
+"Certainly not." She reached out and took the reins. Harvey opened the
+envelope with his thumb. He read the message twice, then lowered it to his
+knees with a puzzled expression.
+
+"Bad news?" asked Miss Porter.
+
+"I don't know. Read it if you like."
+
+She handed back the reins and read the following:--
+
+  Mr. Harvey West:
+
+  You are receiver M. & T. Come to Manchester at once.
+
+  Weeks.
+
+"Well," he said, "what do you think?"
+
+She slowly folded the paper and creased it between her fingers.
+
+"Can you make it?" she asked.
+
+Harvey looked at his watch. "Train goes at eleven. I've got thirteen
+minutes."
+
+"Turn around. It's only three miles. We can do it."
+
+Harvey pulled up and turned. Then he hesitated.
+
+"How about the team?" he said; "I can't take you home."
+
+"Never mind that. Quick; you can't lose any time. I'll get the team back."
+
+Harvey nodded and gripped the reins, and in a moment the bays were in
+their stride. Harvey's hands were full, and he made no effort to talk.
+Miss Porter alternately watched him and the horses.
+
+"They can do better than that. You'll have to slow up in town, you know."
+And Harvey urged them on.
+
+As they neared the town, Harvey spoke.
+
+"Will you look at my watch?"
+
+She threw back his coat and tugged at the fob until the watch appeared.
+"Three minutes yet. We're all right."
+
+But a blocked electric car delayed them, and they swung up to the platform
+just at train-time. Harvey gripped her hand:--
+
+"Good-by. I shan't forget this."
+
+But though her eyes danced, she only answered, "Please hurry!"
+
+As Harvey dropped into a seat and looked out the car window, he saw her
+sitting erect, holding the nervous team with firm control. And he settled
+back with a glow in his heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+JUDGE GREY
+
+On Friday, after Jim Weeks had told Harvey that he was free to go to
+Truesdale, he followed the young man almost fondly with his eyes and he
+did not at once resume the work which awaited him. For Harvey's request
+had set him thinking. During years that passed after the day when he took
+his last drive with Ethel Harvey, he had not dared to think of her. Later
+when he heard of her death, he did not try to analyze the impulse which
+led him to offer a position to Harvey. As he grew to know the young fellow
+he gradually admitted to himself his fondness for him, and now that he
+believed that Harvey was in love, he allowed himself for the first time
+the luxury of reminiscence.
+
+The old Louisville days came back to him when he and Ethel rode together
+through country lanes and he loved her. The wound was healed; it had lost
+its sting a score of years ago, but his mood was still tender, and as he
+stared at the pile of papers on his desk, thoughts of C. & S.C. were far
+away. At last, however, the consciousness of this came upon him and he
+thought, "I reckon I need exercise," and then a moment later, "It'll be
+quite a trick, though, to find a horse that's up to my weight."
+
+He had hardly taken up his work when Pease appeared and told him that a
+man wanted to see him. The man was a deputy sheriff, and he came to serve
+on James Weeks the injunction which Judge Black had signed in Porter's
+office two hours before.
+
+It may be that his earlier mood had something to do with it; for as Jim
+laid the paper on his desk, his thoughts went back half a century to one
+of his boyhood days. It was a summer afternoon, and Jim and some of his
+friends had been in swimming; somehow it became necessary for him to fight
+Thomas Ransome. Jim had never been in a fight before, and he had no
+theories whatever, but he found that he could hit hard, and it never
+occurred to him to try to parry. Thomas was forced to give back steadily
+until his farther retreat was cut off by the river and he saw that more
+vigorous tactics were required. With utter disregard of the laws of war he
+drove a vicious kick at Jim's stomach. Had it landed, its effect would
+probably have been serious, but Jim, for the first time since the fight
+began, stepped back, and with both hands gave additional impetus to the
+foot, so that Thomas kicked much higher than he had intended, and losing
+his balance, he toppled into the river with a very satisfactory splash.
+
+Jim smiled at the recollection and then read the injunction again to see
+if it were possible to catch Porter's foot. His eye rested long on the
+sputtery signature at the bottom, and he thought, "I might have known that
+Porter wouldn't go into this business without owning a Judge."
+
+He put the paper in his pocket, then locked his desk, and with a word to
+Pease he left the office. Jim dined down town, and not until after dinner
+did he think of Harvey and his leave of absence. He would need his
+secretary to-morrow, and it would not do to have him out of reach. But the
+moments of reminiscence that afternoon came to Harvey's rescue, and Jim in
+the most unbusinesslike way decided to get on without his secretary. "He
+can't go through that but once," thought Jim.
+
+He left the restaurant and walked rapidly to the Northern Station, and for
+the second time that week the Northern Limited took Jim to Manchester.
+
+Jim was going to see Judge Grey. He had already decided what he wanted the
+Judge to do; whether he could get him to do it was another question, which
+Jim was going to put to the test as soon as possible.
+
+The trains on the Northern in coming into Manchester run down the middle
+of one of the main business streets, and engineers are compelled by city
+statutes to run slowly. As the Limited slowed down, Jim walked out on the
+rear platform and stood gazing at the brightly lighted shop windows. At an
+intersecting street he saw a trolley car waiting for the train to pass;
+the blue light it showed told Jim it was the car he wanted, so he swung
+quickly off the train and stepped aboard the car as it came bumping over
+the crossing. It was evidently behind its schedule, for once on clear
+track again it sped along rapidly. A man was running to catch the car, and
+Jim watched him with amused interest. At first he gained, but as the speed
+of the car increased he gave up the race; but he had come near enough for
+Jim to recognize him as the man who had dined only a few tables from him
+that evening in Chicago and who had sat a few seats behind him on the
+Limited. Jim smiled. "They're mighty anxious to know what I'm doing," he
+thought.
+
+Judge Grey did not go away on vacations. He was a homely man, with a large
+family, and he took serious views of life. He was country bred, and he had
+never outgrown a certain rusticity of appearance. It was said that his
+wife always cut his hair, and the concentric circles made by the neatly
+trimmed ends lent verisimilitude to the tale that she began at the crown
+with a butter dish to guide her scissors, then extended the diameter of
+her circle by using next a saucer, and last a soup bowl.
+
+The Judge greeted Jim warmly, invited him into the library, and sat down
+to hear what he had to say. Jim told him almost without reservation the
+story of the fight for the possession of M. & T., beginning with his large
+investment in the road and his election to the presidency of it. He did
+not try to make a good story; he told what had happened as simply and
+briefly as possible, and he interested Judge Grey. Part of it was already
+known to him, and part filled in gaps in his knowledge. To him it was the
+story of an honest struggle for something worth struggling for. When it
+came to the latest move, and Jim without comment handed him Black's
+injunction, the Judge's wrath flamed out.
+
+"That's an outrage!" he exclaimed. "It's just a legal hold-up."
+
+"Possibly," said Jim. "It was the best move they could make, though. But,"
+he went on after a short pause, "I've got the right in this business, and
+I want you to help me."
+
+"You want me to dissolve the injunction, I suppose," said the Judge,
+cautiously.
+
+"No," said Jim. "I don't. Just the other way. I'd like you to issue an
+injunction that will go a little farther."
+
+There was another short pause, and then Jim began explaining his plan. As
+he explained and argued, the fire, which had been crackling cheerfully
+when he came in, flickered more and more faintly, and it was but a fading
+glow when that most informal session of the Circuit Court in chancery
+sitting came to its conclusion.
+
+"That's all right, then," said Jim at length, rising as he spoke.
+
+"Yes," said the other. "We'll do it that way. Are you going right back to
+Chicago, Mr. Weeks?"
+
+"No," said Jim. "I shall be here for some time. From now on this fight
+will be along the line of the road."
+
+
+
+Mr. Wing was oppressed by a sense of his office boy's superiority. He read
+disapprobation in the round-eyed stare, and even the cut-steel buttons,
+though of Wing's own purveying, seemed arguslike in their critical
+surveillance. He would have abolished them had he not felt that the boy
+would understand the change. If the boy had only forgotten to copy letters
+or had manifested an unruly desire to attend his relatives' funerals, his
+employer would have been a happier man. As it was, he felt apologetic
+every time he came in late or went out early.
+
+The directors' meeting which Porter and Thompson had decided upon on
+Friday was to take place the next afternoon in Wing's office; so, contrary
+to the little man's custom on Saturday afternoons, he returned thither
+after lunch.
+
+Porter and Thompson were already there, and the former was giving the
+Vice-President his last instructions, with the evident purpose of
+stiffening him up a bit. For Thompson seemed to need stiffening badly. One
+by one, and two by two, the directors came straggling in, and presently
+Porter, with a parting injunction to Thompson, left the room and crossed
+over to McNally's office, where his lieutenant was waiting for him. There
+they plotted and planned and awaited the result of the directors' meeting
+across the hall.
+
+In Wing's office the meeting was about to begin. It was easy to
+distinguish between Jim's friends and the C. & S.C. people; for the
+former, a doleful minority, were crowded in one corner doing nothing
+because there was nothing they could do, while on the other side of the
+room were the gang, with Thompson in the centre, talking in low tones over
+the programme of the meeting. There seemed to be no hope whatever that the
+President would be able to save himself, for his opponents had a clear
+majority of two, and they were met to-day to press this advantage to the
+utmost. Had Jim been there at hand, his cause would not have seemed to his
+friends so desperate, for it was hard, looking at him, to imagine him
+defeated; his very bulk seemed prophetic of ultimate victory. But Jim was
+not there; he was not even in Chicago.
+
+There was one man in the minority group who seemed somewhat less cheerless
+than his companions. When they asked him what hope there was, what way of
+escape he saw, he could not answer, but he still professed to believe that
+the President's downfall was not so imminent as it seemed. And the thought
+that perhaps this one man knew more than he could tell kept the minority
+from becoming utterly discouraged. The foundation for his hopes lay in a
+telegram he had received that morning from Jim, which read, "_Don't get
+scared, everything all right._" Evidently Jim was not submitting tamely,
+but whatever was going to happen must happen soon if it was not to be too
+late, for Thompson was already calling the meeting to order. As the
+directors seated themselves about the long table and listened to
+Thompson's opening remarks,--Thompson liked to make remarks,--it seemed
+that for once in his life Jim was beaten.
+
+At that moment, in the arched entrance to the Dartmouth, a man whose damp
+forehead and limp collar bore witness that he was in a hurry, turned away
+from the wall directory he had been scrutinizing and entered the nearest
+elevator.
+
+"Six," he said. Once on the sixth floor he looked about for a minute or
+two and walked into the outer office where Buttons was on guard, demanding
+audience with Mr. Wing.
+
+"Mr. Wing is in," said the boy, "but he is engaged and can't be
+disturbed."
+
+"They're here, are they?" said the man. "Well, I want to see Mr. Wing and
+Mr. Thompson and Mr. Powers."
+
+"But you can't see them," was the answer. "There's a directors' meeting in
+there."
+
+"In there, eh?" said the man, and without further parley with Buttons, he
+entered the room indicated, closing the door behind him.
+
+Meanwhile Porter and McNally in the other office were discussing
+probabilities and possibilities and thinking of a good many others which
+neither of them cared to discuss, though all were in their way pleasant.
+Suddenly they were interrupted by the apparition of Buttons. His eyes were
+rounder than ever, and his white hair looked as though some one had tried
+to drag it out of his head.
+
+"Please, sir," he gasped, "Mr. Thompson wants to see you right away."
+
+Porter jumped to his feet and fairly ran out of the room. As he turned
+into the hall a muffled uproar greeted his ears, and it made him hurry the
+faster. But McNally stayed where he was. He, too, heard the strange noise,
+but he felt that he would not be able to do any good by going in there.
+McNally did not "come out strong" amid scenes of violence. His heart
+troubled him.
+
+It was not more than five minutes before Porter came back. His face was a
+study.
+
+"They're raising hell in there," he said. "Weeks's judge has just served
+an injunction that kicks Thompson and Wing and Powers off the board.
+Thompson just curled up,--he was almost too scared to breathe,--and Wing
+seemed to be having some sort of a fit. There was one idiot up on the
+table yelling that the meeting was adjourned and trying to give three
+cheers for Weeks." (It was the man with the telegram.)
+
+"Well," said McNally, "what's going to happen next?"
+
+"I don't know," said Porter, breathlessly. "I don't see that anything can
+happen. As things stand now there isn't a quorum of directors and all the
+officers are suspended. The road can't do business."
+
+Suddenly he leaned forward in his chair and exclaimed:--
+
+"By George, if that road doesn't need a receiver, no road ever did.
+Telephone Judge Black quick. We'll get in ahead of Weeks this time."
+
+There was no delay in finding the Judge. Porter had indicated to him the
+advisability of keeping himself on tap, as it were, and he was now
+prepared to settle with neatness and despatch the legal affairs of his
+employers. Before dark that afternoon he had regularly and with all
+necessary formality appointed Frederick McNally to be receiver for the
+Manchester & Truesdale Railroad Company.
+
+But it was significant of Jim Weeks's foresight that the road already had
+a receiver, for at that very moment he had in his pocket an order from
+Judge Grey appointing Harvey West to that position.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+THE MATTER OF POSSESSION
+
+The M. & T. terminal station at Manchester was in reality two buildings.
+From the street, it looked like an ordinary three-story office building,
+except that there were no stores on the street level. Instead, the first
+floor was taken up by two large waiting rooms, the ticket office, and a
+baggage room. Entering through the big doorway in the centre, you ascended
+a few steps, passed through the waiting room, then up some more steps and
+across a covered iron bridge which spanned a narrow alley. This bridge
+connected the station proper with the train shed.
+
+The offices of the company occupied the two upper floors. The same
+stairway that led to the bridge doubled on itself and zigzagged up the
+rest of the way. As you reached the second floor, the office of the
+Superintendent was before you, across the hall. To your right were large
+rooms occupied by various branches of the clerical force, while to your
+left the first door bore the word "Treasurer," and the second was lettered
+"President." The Treasurer's office was a large room, cut off at the rear
+by a vault which contained the more valuable of the company's books and
+papers: the main vault was downstairs. A narrow passage between the vault
+and the partition led to a small window which overlooked the train shed
+and the alley. On one side of this passage was the vault entrance, on the
+other was a door which had been cut through the partition into the
+President's private office.
+
+Early on Monday morning, after a brief survey of the various officers and
+a few words with the Superintendent, Harvey assumed the direction of the
+road and established himself in the President's room, while a big deputy
+sat at the desk in the outer office. The night before, at the Illinois
+House, Jim and Harvey had talked until late, discussing every detail of
+the situation. Jim had gone over the fight of Saturday, winding up with a
+few words of advice.
+
+"We'll have trouble," he said. "Porter isn't going to let things slip away
+any easier than he has to. The safe plan is to suspect everything and
+everybody. Keep everything in sight. I'll be here to help, but from now on
+you represent the road."
+
+Harvey arranged the desk to suit him, then he opened the small door behind
+him and crossed the passage. The vault door was open, but a steel gate
+barred the way. A key hung by the window, and as Harvey unlocked the gate
+and swung it open, a bell rang. He examined the shelves, and noted that
+the books were in place. He knew that the possession of those books meant
+practically the possession of the road.
+
+Reentering his office he found the deputy standing in the other doorway.
+
+"Gentleman to see you, Mr. West," said the deputy. "Won't give his name.
+Says it's important."
+
+"Show him in," Harvey replied.
+
+The deputy stepped back and made way for a quiet-looking man who was even
+larger than himself. The newcomer closed the door behind him.
+
+"Mr. West," he said, "Mr. Weeks ordered me to report to you. I'm Mallory,
+from the Pinkerton agency. I have three men outside. Have you any
+instructions?"
+
+Harvey checked a smile. It reminded him of the stories of his boyhood. But
+in a moment it dawned upon him that if Jim thought the situation so
+serious, he must be very careful.
+
+"Yes," he answered slowly. "Put one man near the vault--here"--he opened
+the small door--"let no one go into the vault without my permission. Then
+you might put one man in the hall--somewhere out of sight--and one outside
+the building. You understand that there may be an attempt to get
+possession of the books. Do you know any of the C. & S.C. men--William C.
+Porter, or Frederick McNally?"
+
+The detective shook his head.
+
+"Well, then, just keep things right under your eye, and report every hour
+or so."
+
+The detective nodded and left the room. A little later Harvey opened the
+side door, and saw a man lounging in the passage, looking idly out the
+window.
+
+Shortly after ten Jim came in to talk things over. He told Harvey that the
+C. & S.C. people had a counter move under way, but he was unable to
+discover its nature. He had seen McNally in company with a number of men
+who did not often leave Chicago. "He'll be up here, yet," Jim added
+prophetically; and he went out without leaving word. "Don't know how long
+I'll be gone," was all he would say; "but you'll see me off and on."
+
+Ten minutes after Jim's departure McNally appeared. Harvey heard his voice
+in the outer office, then the deputy came to Harvey's desk.
+
+"Mr. Frederick McNally," said the official. "He asked for the
+Superintendent first, and I sent him in to Mr. Mattison, but he sent him
+back to you. Will you see him?"
+
+"Yes," replied Harvey. "And you may stay in the room."
+
+The deputy held open the door, while McNally entered.
+
+"How are you, West?" he said brusquely. "There seems to be some confusion
+here. The Superintendent disclaims all authority, and refers me to you."
+
+"Sit down," said Harvey, waiting for McNally to continue. Evidently
+McNally preferred to stand.
+
+"I wish to see some one in authority, Mr. West."
+
+"You may talk with me."
+
+"You--are you in authority?"
+
+Harvey bowed, and fingered a paper-weight.
+
+"I don't understand this, West." He glanced at the deputy. "I wish to see
+you alone."
+
+For a moment Harvey looked doubtful, then he smiled slightly, and nodded
+at the deputy, saying,--
+
+"Very well."
+
+"Will you tell me what this means?" asked McNally, when the door had
+closed.
+
+Harvey looked gravely at him and said nothing.
+
+"Well?" McNally's coolness was leaving him. "Are you in control of this
+road, or aren't you?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"In that case"--he produced a paper--"it becomes my duty to relieve you."
+
+Harvey looked at the paper; it was an order from Judge Black appointing
+McNally receiver for M. & T. Harvey handed it back, saying, coolly,--
+
+"Sit down, Mr. McNally."
+
+"I have no time to waste, West. You will please turn over the books."
+
+"They are in the vault," said Harvey, pointing to the side door.
+
+McNally looked sharply at Harvey, but the young man had turned to a pile
+of letters. After a moment's hesitation McNally opened the door and pulled
+at the steel gate. As he was peering through the bars, a heavy hand fell
+on his shoulder.
+
+"Here!" said a low voice. "You'll have to keep away from that vault."
+
+"Take your hand away!" McNally ordered.
+
+"Come, now! Move on!"
+
+"Mr. West, under whose orders is this man acting?"
+
+"His superior officer's, I suppose," Harvey called through the door
+without rising.
+
+"Call him at once, sir."
+
+The detective beckoned to a boy, and sent him out of the room. In a moment
+his chief appeared.
+
+"This man sent for you, Mr. Mallory," said the detective.
+
+"What is it?" asked Mallory.
+
+McNally blustered.
+
+"I want to know what this means. Do you understand that I am the receiver
+of this road?"
+
+"Oh, no, you aren't." Mallory stepped to the door. "Is this true, Mr.
+West?"
+
+"No," said Harvey, "it isn't."
+
+"You'll have to leave, then, my friend."
+
+"Don't you touch me!" McNally's face was growing red. For reply each
+detective seized an arm, and the protesting receiver was hustled
+unceremoniously out of the room.
+
+An hour later McNally returned. He greeted the deputy with a suave smile,
+and requested an interview with Mr. West.
+
+"I'm not sure about that," said the deputy.
+
+"That is too bad," smiled McNally. "Kindly speak to Mr. West."
+
+With a disapproving glance the deputy opened the door. Harvey came
+forward.
+
+"Well," he said brusquely, "what can I do for you?"
+
+McNally stepped through the door and seated himself.
+
+"I've been thinking this matter over, Mr. West, and I believe that we can
+come to an understanding. If your claims are correct, the road has two
+receivers. You are nominally in possession, but, nevertheless, you are
+liable for contempt of court for refusing to honor my authority. Whichever
+way the case is settled, I am in a position to inconvenience you for
+resisting me."
+
+He waited for a reply, but Harvey waited, too.
+
+"In the interest of the road, Mr. West, it would be very much better for
+you to recognize me, even to the extent of having two receivers. It could
+not affect the outcome of the case, and it might avoid trouble."
+
+"I can't agree with you," Harvey replied. "I shall retain control of the
+road until the case is settled."
+
+McNally rose.
+
+"Then, I warn you, you will have a big undertaking on your hands."
+
+"I suppose so."
+
+"Very well; good morning."
+
+"Good morning, Mr. McNally."
+
+At noon Harvey went out to lunch. He met Jim at the hotel, and told him
+what had happened. Jim smiled at Harvey's seriousness.
+
+"The fight hasn't begun yet," he said. "When you've been through as many
+deals as I have"--he stopped and drew out his watch.
+
+"It's one-thirty. You'd better get back. I'll go with you and look over
+the field."
+
+As they walked through the waiting room Harvey fancied that he heard a
+noise from above. However, the noon express, out in the train shed, was
+blowing off steam with a roar, and he could not be positive. But Jim
+quickened his pace, and ran up the steps with surprising agility.
+
+As they neared the second floor the noise grew. There was scuffling and
+loud talking, culminating in an uproar of profanity and blows. The first
+man they saw was McNally. He stood near the stairway, hat on the back of
+his head, face red but composed. Before him was a strange scene. Mallory
+and the big deputy stood with their backs to the Treasurer's door,
+tussling with three burly ruffians. Beyond the deputy, one of the
+detectives was standing off two men with well-placed blows. The two other
+detectives were rolling about the floor, each with a man firmly in his
+grasp. There was a great noise of feet, as the different groups swayed and
+struggled. In the excitement none of them saw Jim and Harvey, who stood
+for a moment on the top step.
+
+A stiff blow caught the deputy's chin, and he staggered. With a quick
+motion Mallory whipped out a pair of handcuffs. There was a flash of steel
+as he drew back his arm, then the maddened rough went down in a heap, a
+stream of blood flowing from his head. One of the others, a red-haired
+man, gripped the handcuffs and fought for them. It all happened in an
+instant, and as Harvey stood half-dazed, he heard a breathless
+exclamation, and Jim had sprung forward.
+
+Some persons might have thought Jim Weeks fat. He weighed two hundred and
+forty pounds, but he was tall and wide in the shoulder. On ordinary
+occasions his face was so composed as to appear almost cold-blooded, but
+now it was fairly livid. Harvey drew in his breath with surprise; he had
+seen Jim angry, but never like this. In three strides Jim was behind the
+red-haired man. He threw an arm around the man's neck, jerking his chin up
+with such force that his body bent backward, and relinquishing his hold on
+the handcuffs he clutched, gasping, at Jim's arm. But the arm gripped like
+iron. While Mallory was pulling himself together and turning to aid the
+deputy, Jim walked backward, dragging the struggling man to the head of
+the stairs. On the top step he paused to grip the man's trousers with his
+other hand, then he literally threw the fellow downstairs. Bruised and
+battered, he lay for a moment on the landing, then he struggled to his
+feet and moved his arm toward his hip pocket, but Jim was ready. The
+breathless President started down the stairs with a rush. For an instant
+the man wavered, then he broke and fled into the train shed.
+
+On his return Jim had to step aside to avoid another ruffian, who was
+walking down with profane mutterings. This time Harvey had a hand in the
+fighting, and he leaned over the railing to answer the man's oaths with a
+threat of the law. Jim and Harvey stood aside while the four detectives
+and the deputy led the remainder of the gang downstairs to await the
+police.
+
+From the various offices frightened faces were peering through half-open
+doors. A few stripling clerks appeared with belated offers of assistance,
+but Jim waved them back. Already Jim was cooling off. He could not afford
+to retain such a passion, and he mopped his face and neck for a few
+moments without speaking. His breath was gone, but he began to recover it.
+
+"Hello," he said, at length, "where's McNally?"
+
+Harvey started, then ran down the hall, glancing hastily into the
+different offices. When he returned, Jim had vanished. While he stood
+irresolute, two stalwart brakemen appeared from the train shed and stood
+on the landing. One of them called up,--
+
+"Can we help you, sir?"
+
+"Wait a minute," said Harvey.
+
+A door opened down the hall. Harvey looked toward the sound, and saw Jim
+backing out of the wash-room, followed by McNally, whose arm was held
+firmly in Jim's grasp. They came toward Harvey in silence.
+
+"He was hiding, West," said Jim, a savage eagerness in his voice. "He
+hadn't the nerve to stick it out. Corker, isn't he?"
+
+McNally stood for a moment looking doggedly out through the window over
+the roof of the shed.
+
+"You've got yourself into a mess, Weeks," he said, speaking slowly in an
+effort to bring himself under control. "This'll land you in Joliet."
+
+For reply Jim looked him over contemptuously, and tightened his grasp
+until the other winced. Then he suddenly loosened his hold, stepped back,
+and calling, "Catch him, boys!" kicked McNally with a mighty swing.
+
+Harvey laughed hysterically as the flying figure sailed down the stairway,
+then he heard Jim say to the brakemen,--
+
+"Take him to Mallory, and tell him to put him with the others."
+
+"Well," said Harvey, nervously, "I guess that's settled."
+
+"No," said Jim, "it's only just begun. He'll be on deck again before
+night." The next sentence was lost in the mopping handkerchief, but as he
+turned into the office, he added, "We'll have to lose the books to-night,
+West."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+SOMEBODY LOSES THE BOOKS
+
+When Harvey went to dinner in the evening he left a force of ten
+detectives guarding the offices. Jim, who had spent the afternoon with
+Harvey, superintended the placing of the men. Mallory, the lieutenant in
+charge, was ensconced in the Superintendent's office, and six of his
+assistants were with him, privileged to doze until called. One man stood
+in the hall, in a position to watch the stairway and the windows at each
+end; one patrolled the waiting room; and the ninth man strolled about in
+front of the building, loitering in the shadows and watching the street
+with trained eye. Before leaving the station Jim had a short talk with
+Mallory.
+
+"Watch it awful close," he said. "There's no telling what these people
+will do."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Weeks. They won't get ahead of us. But I should feel a bit
+safer if you'd let me put a man by the vault."
+
+Jim shook his head.
+
+"There's such a thing as doing it too well, Mallory. And by all means I
+hope that you won't do that."
+
+He looked closely at the detective, who glanced away with a cautious nod.
+
+That evening after dinner, Jim telephoned for Mattison, the
+Superintendent, and a long talk ensued in Jim's room at the hotel. Neither
+he nor Harvey wasted time in recounting the experiences of the day; they
+had too many plans for the night. As Jim had said, it was necessary to
+lose the books, and to lose them thoroughly. It was equally important that
+the action should not be confided to any ordinary employee. The fewer men
+that knew of it, the safer Jim would be, and so he finally decided to
+confine the information within its original limits.
+
+"You two are lively on your feet," he said. "And it is a good deal better
+for you to do it."
+
+"How about the detectives?" asked Mattison.
+
+"You'll have to keep out of their way. Mallory won't trouble you so long
+as you keep still; but remember, every man, detective or not, that catches
+you, makes one more chance for evidence against us."
+
+"But isn't the building surrounded?"
+
+"No. There's only one man outside, and he is in front. You can go through
+the alley and climb up to the window--it's only the second floor. Mallory
+has orders to keep out of the vault room. He's over in your office,
+Mattison."
+
+"I suppose," suggested Harvey, "that unless we are actually caught with
+the books, we can throw a bluff about a tour of inspection or something of
+that sort."
+
+"And if we are caught," said Mattison, "I suppose we can run like the
+devil."
+
+"You'll have to trust the details more or less to circumstances," was
+Jim's reply.
+
+"How about the books?" asked Harvey. "What shall we do with them?"
+
+"Mattison had better take care of them. We can't bring them to the hotel,
+and anyhow, it is just as well if you and I, West, don't know anything
+about them. Then, when we want them again, it is a good deal easier for
+Mattison to find them than for any one else. Sort of accident, you know."
+
+It was finally agreed that before attempting to get the books, Harvey and
+Mattison should make a _bona fide_ tour of inspection, by this means
+finding out where each man was located. Mattison reminded them that the
+watchman in the train shed was not to be overlooked, but they decided to
+chance him.
+
+"There's one thing about it," said Mattison, smiling. "If Johnson doesn't
+catch us, I can discharge him for incompetency."
+
+Shortly after midnight Harvey and Mattison started out. They found the
+station dark. As they tiptoed slowly along, edging close to the building,
+everything was silent. They reached the arched doorway, and were turning
+in when the glare of a bull's-eye lantern flashed into their eyes.
+Mattison laughed softly.
+
+"That's business," he said.
+
+"What are you up to?" growled the man behind the lantern.
+
+"Where's Mallory?" was Mattison's answer.
+
+The man hesitated, then whistled softly. The whistle was echoed in the
+waiting room. In a few moments the door opened and a voice said, "What's
+up?"
+
+"Two chaps want Mallory."
+
+Harvey and Mattison still stood on the stone step, looking into the
+lantern. They could see neither door nor man. After a short wait,
+evidently for scrutiny, the door closed. When it opened again, Mallory's
+voice said, "Close that light," adding, "Is anything the matter, Mr.
+West?"
+
+"No," replied Harvey. "We're keeping an eye open. I see your men know
+their business. Have you had any trouble?"
+
+"Everything is quiet. Do you care to come in?"
+
+Harvey responded by entering, with Mattison following. As they crossed the
+waiting room, Mallory drew their attention to a shadow near a window.
+
+"One of our boys," he said in a low tone. "I put out all the lights. It
+makes it a good deal easier to watch."
+
+Up in Mattison's office the detectives were lounging about, some dozing,
+some conversing in low tones. The gas burned low, and the window shutters
+were covered with the rugs from the President's office, to keep the light
+from the street.
+
+The two officials, after a glance about the room, returned to the hall.
+Harvey tried the door of each office, then returned to Mattison and
+Mallory. While they stood whispering,--for at night sound travels through
+an empty building,--there came the sound of a window sliding in its sash,
+apparently from the Treasurer's office.
+
+Mallory paused to listen, then coolly turned and continued the
+conversation.
+
+"What was that?" muttered Harvey.
+
+The lieutenant affected not to hear the remark.
+
+"Some one is getting into the building," Harvey whispered. Mattison
+stepped lightly across the hall and, bending down, listened at the
+keyhole. He returned with an excited gesture.
+
+"Don't you hear it?" he asked.
+
+"No," said Mallory. "I don't hear anything."
+
+"Are you deaf, man?"
+
+"No, but I think I know when to hear."
+
+It occurred to Harvey that Jim had done his work well. But then, Jim's
+orders, however brief, were always understood. Harvey motioned the others
+to be silent, and tiptoed across the floor. He listened as Mattison had
+done, then passed on to the President's door. Cautiously he drew a bunch
+of keys from his pocket, and feeling for the right one he slipped it into
+the lock, threw open the door, and darted into the office. Mattison and
+the detective followed, stumbling over chairs, and colliding with the door
+to the inner office, which had closed after Harvey. In the dim light they
+could see two figures struggling in the passage by the vault. While
+Mattison sprang forward, Mallory quickly lighted the gas.
+
+The light showed that Harvey had crowded the fellow up against the vault
+door. The newcomer was a medium-sized man, rough-faced, and poorly clad.
+On the floor was a small leather grip, which evidently had been kicked
+over in the scuffle, for part of a burglar's kit was scattered about the
+passage.
+
+Mallory jerked the man's wrists together, slipped on the handcuffs, and
+led him out into the hall. In a moment the detective returned.
+
+"I left him with the boys, for the present. Case of common safe-cracking."
+
+"Do you think so?" said Harvey, adjusting his cuffs, and moving the
+strange tools with his foot. "If he wanted money, I should think he would
+have tackled the vault downstairs."
+
+Mallory stooped, and replaced the kit in the bag. Suddenly he said,--
+
+"Raise your foot, Mr. West."
+
+Harvey did so, and the detective arose with a dirty paper in his hand. He
+looked it over, and handed it to the others. It was a rough pencil sketch
+of the station building, showing the alley, the window, the Treasurer's
+office, and the vault.
+
+"What do you think of it?" asked Mallory.
+
+Harvey turned it over. A second glance showed it to be the front of an
+envelope, for part of an end flap remained. The upper left-hand corner had
+been torn off, evidently to remove the return card, but so hastily that a
+part of the card remained. Straightening it out, and holding it up to the
+light, Harvey read:--
+
+  ----esleigh,
+  ----ster, Illinois.
+
+Mallory looked over his shoulder, and exclaimed:--
+
+"That's easy. Hotel Blakesleigh, Manchester, Illinois."
+
+"How does that help you?" asked Mattison.
+
+Harvey lowered the paper.
+
+"Don't you see," he replied. "There are two good hotels here, the Illinois
+and the Blakesleigh. McNally is not at the Illinois." He turned to the
+detective. "You'd better let the fellow go, Mallory."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because it is the easiest way to handle it. Keep the tools, though."
+
+"But I don't understand, Mr. West."
+
+"Well, there is no use in discussing it. We won't prefer charges."
+
+"But the man was caught in the act."
+
+"He didn't get any thing, poor devil. No; we're after bigger game than
+this. We have enough for evidence. And don't sweat him."
+
+"This is too deep for me, Mr. West. Surely there's no harm in questioning
+him, now that I've got him."
+
+"Can't help it, Mallory. When that man reports to his employer, I want him
+to say that we suspect nothing beyond his attempt to crack the safe."
+
+The detective turned away with a frown.
+
+"I suppose you know your business, Mr. West."
+
+Harvey and Mattison followed him to the hall, closing the door after them.
+They said good night, and left the building.
+
+"See here, West," said Mattison, when they were fairly around the corner,
+"wasn't that a little hasty? It wouldn't hurt to keep the man out of the
+way."
+
+"No, I don't agree with you. What McNally has done so far will be upheld
+by his judge. And another thing, Mattison; just at present, it isn't to
+our interest to get an investigation under way. We're going to do the same
+thing ourselves."
+
+Slowly and cautiously they slipped around the next square, and, by
+returning through the alley, brought up in the shadow of a building,
+across the street from the train shed. Here they waited to reconnoitre.
+The night was clear, and the arc-lamp at the corner threw an intermittent
+glare down the street. As they looked, a long shadow appeared on the
+sidewalk. Mattison gripped Harvey's arm, and drew him back into the alley.
+They crouched behind a pile of boxes.
+
+"It's like stealing apples," whispered Harvey. "When the old man gets
+after you with a stick."
+
+"Ssh!"
+
+The footsteps sounded loud on the stone walk. Then a helmeted figure
+passed the alley, and went on its way.
+
+Waiting until the sound died in the distance, the two stepped to the walk,
+looked hastily toward each corner, and ran across the street. Once in the
+station alley, they paused again.
+
+"Look!" said Harvey, pointing; "he left the ladder."
+
+Sure enough, a light ladder reached from the ground nearly to a
+second-story window, which stood open.
+
+"Well, here we are," Mattison whispered. "How do you feel?"
+
+"First-class. Better let me go,--I know the combination."
+
+Mattison stood at the foot of the ladder, and steadied it while Harvey
+stealthily climbed to the window. Drawing himself into the passage, the
+receiver set to work on the vault lock. He turned the knob very slowly,
+guarding against the slightest noise, but the faint light that came
+through the window was not enough to bring out the numbers. Harvey leaned
+back and considered. The scratching of a match would almost surely be
+heard by the detectives. He leaned out the window, and beckoned. Mattison
+came creeping up, and Harvey explained in a few whispered sentences. "Go
+back and look up the street," he concluded. "We've got to light it outside
+the building."
+
+While Mattison was gone, Harvey felt his way through the Treasurer's
+office and paused to listen; then he drew up a chair which stood near the
+door, and climbing up, slipped off his coat and hung it over the half-open
+transom. Then he closed the transom, and the room was practically light
+proof. With the same caution he reached the floor, and tiptoed back to the
+window, where he found Mattison waiting on the ladder.
+
+"All right," whispered the Superintendent. "Are you ready?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Mattison struck a match on his trousers leg, shielded it with his hands,
+then handed it to Harvey, who kneeled at the door and began to whirl the
+knob. Before he was through the light was close to his fingers, and he
+held another match to the flame, taking care to light the wrong end. At
+last the lock clicked, and Harvey opened the door a few inches, then he
+whispered to Mattison, "If I whistle, you get down and I'll drop the
+books."
+
+He swung the door open, but stopped bewildered. Before him was the steel
+gate with the clanging bell. However, the risk must be run, so motioning
+Mattison to climb down he drew out his keys, and with a match ready in his
+hand he jerked the gate open and dashed into the vault. Striking the
+match, he quickly located the books he needed, carried them to the window
+and pitched them out. Then he heard a thud on the door. He threw one leg
+over the sill, but stopped--his coat was still on the transom. Some one
+was struggling to break in the door now, for it shook. Harvey sprang back,
+mounted the chair, and tore down his coat, tumbling to the floor, chair
+and all, with a clatter. A voice shouted, "Open the door, or I'll shoot!"
+but Harvey gave no heed. He ran to the window and literally fell down the
+ladder, filling his hands with slivers. There came a crash from above, and
+a muttered oath, and Harvey knew that the door had given way. He gave the
+ladder a shove, and as it fell upon the cobblestones with a great noise,
+he turned and sped up the alley after a dark figure that was already near
+to the corner.
+
+He caught up with Mattison in the next block, and relieved him of half the
+load. Then for a long time they ran and doubled, fugitives from half a
+dozen detectives and a few lumbering policemen. At last Mattison turned up
+a dark alley in the residence district. Coming to a board fence, he threw
+the books over, then climbed after. Harvey followed, and found himself on
+a tennis court. Mattison led the way through the yard, past a dark house,
+and across the street to a roomy frame residence.
+
+"Come in with me," he said to Harvey. "You can't go back to the hotel
+now."
+
+Harvey laughed nervously and nodded. Mattison opened the door with his
+night key, and with the heavy books in their arms the two burglars stole
+up to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+A POLITICIAN
+
+Any man whose interests are extensive and diverse has sooner or later to
+master the art of making other men work for him, and he must be content to
+trust the management of a great part of his affairs to other hands. Jim
+Weeks loved to keep a grasp even on the comparatively insignificant
+details of his business, but he showed wonderful insight in the selection
+of his lieutenants, and he could impart such momentum to his projects that
+they moved forward as he meant them to, though his own hand was not
+guiding them. Like other men accustomed to giving orders, he took it for
+granted that his directions would be carried out.
+
+Bridge, the Tillman City alderman to whom he had intrusted the task of
+watching Blaney, had worked for Jim long enough to know that this affair
+was in his own hands, and that something more than obedience and zeal was
+expected of him. Though Jim's words had been brief, it was easy to see
+that the matter was important; important enough to give Bridge a great
+opportunity. He wanted to make the most of it, and, in the excitement of
+laying his plans, the design for the stable was forgotten.
+
+As the day wore on and his scheme crystallized, he fluctuated between a
+sort of exalted confidence and the depths of nervous depression. He was
+naturally a steady, humdrum sort of man, but he was planning to do an
+audacious thing. His chance had come, and he meant to take it. At last,
+just before supper time, he resolutely locked his office, and started out
+to see Blaney. He hesitated a second or two before the contractor's house;
+then he ran up the steps and rang the bell.
+
+The door was opened by a little girl, who peered up at him through the
+dusk with a child's curiosity. Bridge knew her, but he was of that kind of
+bachelors who are embarrassed in the presence of children.
+
+"Good evening, Louise," he said. "Is your father home?"
+
+"No, sir, he isn't," she answered.
+
+There was a moment of awkward silence, and then he stammered,--
+
+"Well--good night." He bent down and gravely shook hands with her, and
+turned to go down the steps, but at that moment Blaney himself appeared.
+
+"How are you?" he said. "Did you want to see me?"
+
+"If you've got the time," said Bridge.
+
+Blaney led the way into the house, and motioned Bridge to a seat in the
+parlor. He himself paused in the hall to swing Louise up to his shoulder
+and down again.
+
+"What's the matter with you to-night?" he asked. "You don't seem to want
+to play. Are you sick?"
+
+"A little," answered the child. "I'm kind of tired, and my head hurts."
+
+He ran his thick hand through her red curls, and looked at her anxiously
+for a moment. Then he followed Bridge into the parlor.
+
+"What can I do for you, Bridge?" he asked gruffly.
+
+Bridge hesitated a moment; then he said, "Jim Weeks was in town this
+morning."
+
+Blaney looked up sharply, and asked, "Did you see him?"
+
+"Yes," answered the other. "That is, he came down to see me. You know the
+M. & T. election is coming pretty soon now, and he got the idea that our
+stock was going to be voted against him. He wanted me to fix it up so
+things would go his way in the Council, and I told him that I'd do what I
+could. I came around to you to see if your crowd were going to do anything
+about it."
+
+The coolness of the inquiry almost stupefied Blaney, but he managed to
+speak.
+
+"I'd like to know," he said, "what business that is of yours, anyway."
+
+"It's my business, right enough," said Bridge, easily. "I could ask the
+same question in Council meeting, but I thought it was best to talk it
+over with you quietly. There isn't any good in trying to fight Jim Weeks,
+and I should think you'd know it. If ever a man had a cinch--"
+
+"What are you up to, anyhow?" demanded Blaney, now thoroughly exasperated.
+"Did you come around here to try to bulldoze me? Well, I'll just tell you
+you may as well save your breath. Do you understand that? Weeks thinks he
+can come his old bluff down here, but he's going to get fooled just once.
+We've got the backing that'll beat him. That's all I've got to say to
+you."
+
+"Well, I've got a little more to say to you," said Bridge. "I came around
+here on my own hook to find out whether you were just making your regular
+bluff or whether you meant to fight, and I've found out. And now I'm going
+to give you your choice. I'll either give you the hottest scrap you ever
+had, and make what I can out of Weeks by it, or I'll go in with you so you
+can get your deal through quietly. You can take your choice."
+
+"What the devil do you mean?"
+
+"I mean just this. That if there's any possible show of kicking that
+damned bully out of here so that he'll never come back, I'd like to be in
+it. And I guess my services would be valuable."
+
+"Look here," demanded Blaney, sharply. "What have you got against Weeks?"
+
+"What have I got against him?" repeated Bridge. His face was flushed and
+his shining eyes and clenched hands testified to his excitement. "Hasn't
+he made me pull his hot chestnuts off the fire for the last two years?
+Hasn't he held me up and made me pay a good rake-off from every deal I've
+been lucky enough to make a little on? And hasn't he loaned me money until
+I don't dare sign my own name without asking him if I can do it, and--" He
+stopped as though knowing he had gone too far; then he laughed nervously.
+"It's all right what I've got against him; that's my business, I guess,
+but--"
+
+Again the unfinished sentence was eloquent.
+
+This time it was Blaney who broke the silence. "I guess," he said
+cautiously, "that if you want to tip Weeks over, you'll find there'll be
+some to help you."
+
+Bridge laughed bitterly. "There are plenty who'd be glad enough to do it
+if they could. He's had his grip on all of us long enough for that; but
+I'm afraid it's no good. We can't beat him. He's got us in a vise."
+
+"I don't know about that," said Blaney.
+
+"Why, man," exclaimed the other, "what can we do? And if we try to buck
+him and get left, he'll squeeze the life out of us. You know that."
+
+Blaney did know that, and Bridge's words brought certain unpleasant
+consequences plainly before his mind. All the while Bridge was talking
+Blaney had been trying to find out what his motive was. He had always
+believed that Bridge was hand and glove with Weeks, and at the beginning
+he had suspected a trap. But what Bridge had said was entirely plausible;
+he had given himself away without reserve, and had frankly confessed that
+Weeks had been driving him. Bridge would be a valuable ally in the scheme
+Blaney wanted to put through. Jim was popular in Tillman, and if he were
+to be sold out to a corporation like C. & S.C., it would, as Bridge had
+hinted, be well for all parties concerned in the transfer that it should
+be accomplished as quietly as possible. Bridge was at the head of a
+compact and determined minority, and if he opposed the deal, he could make
+matters very uncomfortable for Blaney and his henchmen. But with Bridge on
+his side the field was clear and there could be no doubt as to the success
+of the scheme. The one thing that troubled Blaney was that Bridge might
+demand money; but there was no need of facing that issue yet, for Bridge
+had apparently not thought of it. "He's just getting even for something,"
+thought Blaney.
+
+There was a long silence, which Blaney broke at last.
+
+"We don't have to buck him all by ourselves," he said. "We're well backed.
+C. & S.C. are behind us. Are you with us?"
+
+Bridge answered him steadily. "I've been waiting for a chance like this
+for a year," he said. "You can count me in for all I'm worth."
+
+He rose to go and held out his hand to Blaney. "Good night," he said, "and
+good luck to us."
+
+"So long," was the answer. "I'll come around in a day or two, and we can
+arrange details."
+
+The interview had been a hard one for Bridge, and it left him weak and
+nervous. When he sat down to supper at his boarding-house table that
+evening he had no appetite. He went to bed early, but he did not sleep
+well, and the next morning found him exhausted by the interminable hours
+of dozing, uneasy half-consciousness. He spent the next day in hoping that
+Blaney would come, though he had no reason for expecting him so soon, and
+by night he was in worse condition than ever. He would have gone again to
+see Blaney had he dared, but he felt that such a proceeding would imperil
+the whole affair; he must wait for Blaney to make the next move.
+
+Day followed day with no variation save that Bridge found the delay more
+and more nearly unbearable, and the week had dragged to an end and another
+begun before anything happened. On Sunday afternoon he started out for a
+walk, but he had not gone far when he met Blaney. To his surprise, the
+contractor looked as though the past week had been as hard for him as it
+had been for Bridge. His face looked thin and his eyes sunken and there
+were bristling uneven patches of sandy beard on his face. When he came up
+to Bridge he stopped.
+
+"I suppose you've been looking for me," he said. "I've been staying right
+at home taking care of my kid; she's had the scarlet fever."
+
+"Louise?" asked Bridge, with real concern. "I hope she's better."
+
+"I guess she'll pull through all right now," answered Blaney, "but she's
+been pretty sick, and it's kept me busy night and day. You see my wife
+can't do much at nursing. But I tell you scarlet fever is no joke."
+
+"I never had it," was the answer, "but I'm glad it's come out all right.
+By the way," he went on, as Blaney started to walk away, "when will you be
+able to talk over that business with me?"
+
+"Why, now as well as at any time, I suppose," said Blaney, after a
+moment's hesitation.
+
+The contractor had an office near by, and at his suggestion they went
+there for their conference.
+
+"How many men can you count?" he asked when they were seated.
+
+Now that the period of forced inaction was over, and there was something
+important to do, Bridge forgot that his head was burning and his throat
+dry, and for the first time in three days he was able to think
+consecutively. For half an hour they figured their united strength and
+talked over the individual members of the Council. But at last Bridge
+said:--
+
+"Before we go any further, I want to know more about this business. I've
+taken your word so far that we would be backed up all right, and I hope we
+are. But I can't afford to be beaten, and if Weeks isn't clean busted up,
+he'll hound me to death. I've got to know more about this business."
+
+Blaney looked out of the window. "Seems to me you're pretty late with that
+talk about not going in," he said.
+
+"I know I've committed myself to some extent without knowing just what I
+was getting into," answered Bridge, "but I won't go any farther till some
+things are cleared up."
+
+"What do you want to know?" asked Blaney.
+
+"I want to know what you're going to do. Voting that stock against Weeks
+won't do any good. We can't get him out all by ourselves."
+
+"We aren't all by ourselves. C. & S.C. are with us."
+
+"That's what I'm trying to get at. To what extent are they with us?"
+
+Blaney hesitated. It had not been a part of his plan to tell of the
+prospective sale of the stock. He had meant to have the Council direct the
+voting of the stock for C. & S.C. faction, and then when they had
+committed themselves by this act, to urge upon them the necessity of
+selling out and to tempt them with the offer of par. But a glance at
+Bridge's set face convinced him that the new ally meant what he said, and
+he knew too much already for the safety of the scheme unless he were
+furthering it.
+
+"They're with us to this extent," said Blaney, slowly. "They're going to
+buy our stock."
+
+"That's all rot," said Bridge. "We can't sell. M. & T.'s a good investment
+now, and it's getting better every day."
+
+"Wait till I get through," interrupted Blaney, bent now on making an
+impression. "Don't you think the Council would vote to sell at par?"
+
+"What's that got to do with it?"
+
+"C. & S.C. are going to pay par, that's all."
+
+Bridge looked at him incredulously. "Then we're to vote the stock as they
+dictate, just on the strength of their telling us they'll pay par for it
+afterward. I'm afraid it'll be a long time afterward. How do you know they
+aren't playing us for suckers?"
+
+"How do we know?" repeated Blaney. "I'm not quite as green as you think. I
+know because I've got it down in black and white. They can't get around a
+contract like that."
+
+Unlocking a drawer in his desk, he drew out a sheet of paper which he
+thrust into Bridge's hands. "Read it," he said.
+
+Bridge read it through once and then again; it was briefly worded, and he
+had no difficulty in remembering it. As he laid the paper down he was
+conscious of a violent throbbing in his head, and he shivered as though an
+icy breeze had blown upon him. He rose uncertainly from his chair and
+moved toward the door.
+
+"What's the matter?" demanded Blaney. "Where are you going?"
+
+"I don't feel very well," said Bridge. "I think I'll go home and go to
+bed."
+
+When he reached the foot of the stairs, however, he turned not toward his
+room, but toward the railway station; for in his mind there was a confused
+purpose of going to Chicago immediately and telling Jim Weeks exactly what
+he had found out.
+
+Scarlet fever is not ordinarily a man's disease, but it had fallen upon
+Bridge. He had exposed himself to it on the evening when he went to
+Blaney's house to make the preliminary move in his game; and now after the
+five days of tense inaction it attacked him furiously.
+
+He was in a raging fever when he left Blaney's office, but he did not
+realize it, borne up as he was by the excitement of winning. There could
+be no doubt that he had done as good a stroke of work for himself as for
+Jim Weeks, for Jim was not the man to let the merit of his lieutenants
+go unrecognized. He felt sure that Jim would win the fight, even with
+C. & S.C. against him, and though he had not recognized the worthlessness
+of the contract Blaney held, he was confident that Jim could use his
+knowledge of the existence of such a contract with telling effect.
+
+As he walked on, the exhilaration of his triumph died out of him, and his
+steps faltered and his sight became untrustworthy. He realized that he was
+not fit for travelling, and reluctantly he turned back to his room. He was
+a long time in reaching it, and when he staggered in and dropped into an
+easy-chair he knew that he was a very sick man. With a foreboding of the
+delirium that was coming upon him he gathered himself together for a final
+effort and scrawled a copy of the contract upon a slip of paper. With
+shaking hands he folded it and crammed it into an inner pocket; then he
+rose and moved slowly toward the bed. He fell twice in the short distance,
+but he kept on, and his head sank back in the pillows before consciousness
+forsook him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+KATHERINE
+
+As Katherine drove home alone on Sunday morning she was troubled. In
+aiding Harvey to catch the train for Manchester she had acted upon the
+veriest impulse, and Katherine liked to imagine herself a very cool and
+self-possessed young woman. Slowly it dawned upon her that by helping
+Harvey she had set her hand against her own father. In an impersonal way
+she had realized this, but Harvey's presence had filled her thoughts, and
+she had not allowed herself time to consider. And now that the cooler
+afterthoughts had come she was almost as indignant with herself for
+showing such open interest in Harvey as for hurting her father's cause.
+Then she grew startled to realize that even in her thoughts she was
+placing this man before her father. Harvey was not a fool. He would see
+that she had been disloyal, and he would cease to respect her. She
+wondered if she was disloyal.
+
+On reaching home she hurried to her room and sat down by the open window,
+looking out over the lawn that sloped down to the road. Harvey would think
+her weak, and would feel that he could sway her from her strongest duty.
+
+The day was bright. Far in the distance she could see a bend of the river.
+There was no sound, no life; the rolling country stretched away in idle
+waves, the checkered farms lay quiet in the sun, over all was the calm of
+a country Sunday. Her eyes wandered and she closed them, resting her
+fingers on the lids. Life was serious to Katherine. Since her early teens
+she had lived without a mother, and the result of her forced independence
+was a pronounced and early womanhood. She had learned her lessons from
+experience and had learned them with double force. She had never been in
+love, and save for a very few youthful flutterings had never given the
+idea a concrete form; and now that she should manifest such weakness
+before Harvey partly alarmed her. She suspected that he loved her, but
+would not permit herself to return it. She knew too little about him, and,
+besides, her first duty was with her father. She had yielded to impulse,
+but it was not too late to reconsider. She had aided the enemy by a
+positive act; she would do as much for her father. With firm eyes she rose
+and went downstairs, fully decided to investigate the matter until she
+could discover a means of throwing her energy against Weeks and Harvey.
+
+During the next two days her determination grew. Mr. Porter was in Chicago
+and Manchester, and was not expected home immediately, so Katherine had
+plenty of time for thinking. She drove a great deal, went around the links
+every morning, and tried to read. It did not occur to her that her effort
+was not so much to side with her duty as to crowd down the thoughts of
+Harvey that would steal into her mind. She permitted herself no leeway in
+the matter, but kept resolutely to her decision.
+
+Tuesday afternoon she drove until quite late, and returning found her
+father and McNally awaiting dinner. Although she was quicker than usual in
+her efforts to entertain their guest, the meal was hurried and
+uncomfortable. When in repose McNally's face was clouded, and the
+occasional spells of interest into which he somewhat studiously aroused
+himself could not conceal his general inattention. Her father, too, was
+preoccupied, and was so abrupt in his conversation as to leave small trace
+of the easy lightness of manner that Katherine had always known.
+
+After dinner Katherine excused herself, and stepped out through the long
+window that opened on the veranda. Evidently a crisis had come, and she
+wished that an opportunity would arise through which she might join their
+discussion. Just outside of the library window she sat down on a steamer
+chair and gazed up at the dark masses of the trees, the thinning tops of
+which were at once darkened and relieved by the last red of the western
+sky.
+
+"Yes, Porter, they kicked me out. My men and I made a stiff fight for it,
+but they outnumbered us."
+
+At the sound of McNally's voice Katherine started guiltily. It had not
+occurred to her that the matter would be discussed downstairs; usually her
+father's private conversations were held in his den on the second floor.
+She wondered whether she ought to make herself known.
+
+Then she heard McNally again, answering a low-spoken question from her
+father.
+
+"He was a good man, or perhaps you would call him a bad one. He was just
+getting down to work on the vault door when West and his gang of
+Pinkertons broke in on him and nailed him."
+
+Another question from Porter.
+
+"No, Porter, they are on to us now. You see, the books are gone, and
+there's no use in trying to get hold of that end of the road; but we can
+seize it from this end and get everything except their building."
+
+With cheeks burning and with conscience troubling, Katherine rose and
+stood before the window.
+
+"I didn't intend to put myself in your way," she said, laughing nervously,
+"but I couldn't help hearing."
+
+Looking in through the dim light Katherine thought she saw McNally start.
+After a brief but embarrassing pause Porter spoke, using the tone
+Katherine associated with the stern but kindly rebukes of her childhood.
+
+"Did you hear all we said, Katherine?"
+
+"Most of it, I'm afraid."
+
+"You understand, dear, that this is very confidential business?"
+
+"Yes, dad." With an impulsive start Katherine seated herself on the low
+sill of the window and clasped her hands in her lap. "I wish you would let
+me talk it over with you. You know I am interested in your affairs, dad.
+And," hesitatingly, "maybe I can help you."
+
+For a space all three were silent. Katherine was leaning back in a pose
+that brought out all her unconscious beauty. The waning light fell full
+upon her, and the sunset seemed to be faintly reflected in her face. Her
+hair was coiled above her forehead in easy disorder.
+
+McNally, sitting back in the shadow, looked fixedly at her, and as he
+looked it seemed to him that her beauty spiced the atmosphere. He found
+himself drawing in his breath keenly and almost audibly, and gripping the
+arms of the easy-chair: with a sudden half-amused feeling of boyishness he
+relaxed his grip and leaned back comfortably. It was some time since the
+introspective Mr. McNally had found it necessary to reprove himself for
+such a slip of demeanor.
+
+"I couldn't help seeing what was going on," continued Katherine. "And you
+told me the other day that I had helped you some." She turned appealingly
+toward her father, who sat with head lowered, scowling at the carpet.
+McNally broke the pause.
+
+"There is very little we can tell you, Miss Katherine. A business matter
+of this importance is too complicated for any one who has not grown up
+with the problems. It would involve the history of two railroads for years
+back."
+
+"Why is it," asked Katherine, earnestly, "that a man never credits a woman
+with common sense? I am not blind. I know that the M. & T. is a feeder to
+C. & S.C., that it supplies us with coal, and that we could earn and save
+money by making it a part of our system. Mr. Weeks is fighting us for some
+reason, and we are planning to force the question. Isn't that so?"
+
+"Where did you learn this, Katherine?" asked her father.
+
+"From no one particular source. You have told me a great deal yourself,
+dad."
+
+"The question is, Miss Katherine," McNally said, "what good could you
+possibly do? Without implying any doubt of your ability, you see our
+course is already mapped out for us by circumstances. In fact, there is
+only one way open that leads to a logical outcome. If we were in a
+position where we needed tactful advice, you could undoubtedly be of help,
+but just now what we want is a force of strong, aggressive men."
+
+"Mr. McNally is right, dear," said Porter. "Everything is decided, and all
+we can do is to tend to business. This Weeks is following rather a
+dishonorable course, and we are prepared to meet him; that is all."
+
+Katherine leaned forward and twisted the curtain string around her finger.
+
+"Is he really dishonest?" she asked.
+
+"Well, dear, that is a hard question. No man has a right to condemn
+another without careful deliberation; but it happens that many business
+dealings savor a little of underhand methods, and it looks to us as though
+Mr. Weeks were not over particular."
+
+"What has he done?"
+
+"Well, you see, dear--"
+
+Katherine broke in with unusual warmth. "Oh, I know what you are going to
+say. Some more complications that I couldn't understand. Why won't you
+tell me?"
+
+Porter arose.
+
+"We'll talk this over at some other time, Katherine. I have an appointment
+with Judge Black for this evening, but I will be back before long." He
+added to McNally, "He came in on the 8.25. I'll leave you with Katherine."
+
+When he had gone there was a silence. Katherine felt that her father's
+absence should alter the tone of the conversation, but she waited for
+McNally to take the initiative.
+
+"What a glorious night," he said at length, rising and coming to the
+window. "Did you ever see such a lingering afterglow? Suppose we sit
+outside."
+
+Katherine rose and made room for McNally to step through the open window.
+Together they walked across the veranda, McNally seating himself on the
+railing, Katherine leaning against one of the stone columns.
+
+"How long have you been ambitious to be a business woman, Miss Katherine?"
+
+"I hardly wish that. Only I like to share father's interests."
+
+"Do you know, I like it. I like to see a woman show an independent
+interest in important affairs. Nowadays not only young girls but women of
+position seem to care for nothing but the frivolous. I don't know but what
+our pioneer ancestors got more out of life, when the woman and her husband
+worked side by side."
+
+"Will you tell me about the M. & T. business, Mr. McNally?"
+
+"I hardly feel that I can, Miss Katherine. To my mind that rests with your
+father."
+
+"Probably it does, but father still thinks me a child. He thinks I cannot
+grasp the situation."
+
+"Even if I felt at liberty to discuss it, I don't know what I could tell
+you beyond a mere recital of dry detail. Personally, I should like to do
+so, Miss Katherine; I honestly admire your independence, and I believe
+that you might even be able to suggest some helpful ideas, but business
+does not concern itself with the personal equation."
+
+Katherine looked thoughtfully at McNally's shadowed face. She was a little
+surprised with herself that she should so persist, but it did not occur to
+her to stop. Deep behind her desire to be honest with her father was a
+desire to prove that Harvey was, after all, in the right. She did not
+recognize this, she did not even know it, but Harvey's personality had
+taken on hers a vital grip that was as yet too strong, too firm, too close
+at hand to be realized. As for McNally, his intention to evade was too
+evident to be overlooked. He was dodging at every turn, and it was
+becoming clear to her that he was concealing facts which it would not do
+to disclose. And this suggested that her father was doing the same. The
+bit of conversation she had overheard came back to her, and as she thought
+it over it sounded odder than when she had first heard it. Why should her
+father wish to seize the road? If it belonged to Mr. Weeks, and if he did
+not care to sell, what right had her father or any one else to take it by
+force? She had been looking out over the lawn, but now she turned and
+fixed her eyes intently on McNally's plump, smooth-shaven face. He was
+looking toward her, but seemed not to see her. Instead there was the
+shadow of a smile in his eyes which suggested air-castles.
+
+"Mr. McNally," she said abruptly, "if we want the M. & T. road, why don't
+we buy it and pay for it?"
+
+McNally started. During the long silence he had been feasting on
+Katherine's beauty. He was not a young man, but as he gazed at the earnest
+young face before him, and at the masses of shining hair, half in shadow,
+half in light, he felt a sudden loneliness, a sudden realization of what
+such a woman could be to him, what an influence she might have upon his
+life. And losing for the moment the self-poise that was his proudest
+accomplishment, Mr. McNally stammered.
+
+"Oh," he said, "we couldn't--it wouldn't do--"
+
+From the change in every line of Katherine's pose he knew that he had said
+enough. She had turned half away from him and was standing rigid, looking
+out into the night. Glancing at her dimly outlined profile, McNally could
+see that her lips were pressed closely together. He pulled himself
+together and stood up.
+
+"Why not go in and have some music?" he asked. "This conversation is too
+serious for such an evening."
+
+Katherine bowed and led the way into the house. As they passed through the
+library toward the piano she paused to turn the electric-light key. With
+the flood of light Katherine's ease returned, and she laughed lightly as
+she pointed to a gaudily decorated sheet of music on the piano.
+
+"Shocking, isn't it?" she said. "That's the kind of music we play down
+here in the country. We need your influence to keep us from degenerating
+musically. Play me something good."
+
+McNally glanced at her with a laugh.
+
+"Coon songs, eh?" he replied. "Well, some of them aren't so bad." He sat
+down at the instrument and let his hands slip over the keys. Katherine
+sank upon the broad couch in the corner. She was apparently her old self,
+friendly and interested in Mr. McNally and his music, but there was
+nevertheless a distinct change. McNally felt the difference and tried to
+throw it off, but the force of the situation grew upon him. Slowly he
+realized that in spite of her pretensions she was not really in sympathy
+either with him or with her father. He struck into a Liszt rhapsody with
+all the fervor he could muster.
+
+McNally was a good musician. He possessed the power, lacking in many
+better pianists, of using music as a medium to connect his own and his
+listener's moods; but to-night he fell short, and he knew it. He stole a
+glance at Katherine. She looked exactly as usual, but still there was a
+difference that baffled him. He threw all his art into the music. He
+labored to color it with sincerity and strength. But all the while he knew
+that the ground was lost. What he did not know was that Katherine was
+passing through a crisis, and that her thoughts were miles away from him
+and his rhapsody. He ended with unusual brilliancy, and she smiled with
+pleasure and thanked him simply, but still he felt the change. Then Porter
+came in, and after a brief general conversation Katherine withdrew.
+
+She did not go at once to her room. Instead, she slipped out on the little
+second-floor balcony and sat down to be alone and to think. She had made
+an honest effort to throw her interest with her father and with what she
+believed to be her duty, and now that the evening was gone she had nothing
+to show for it. For a very few moments she wondered at it all, and at the
+fate which seemed to draw her toward Harvey. Then, as the thought of him
+again took concrete form, and as the last two days with him came back to
+her mind, her whole heart went out to him, and she was startled,
+frightened at the strength of his hold upon her. For a moment she gave
+herself up to dreams, dreams of a better, sweeter existence than any she
+had dared to imagine, then came the thought of her father, and Katherine
+broke down.
+
+Downstairs, McNally and Porter sat for a long time with only a desultory
+conversation. Then McNally said,--
+
+"Porter, I envy you a daughter like that."
+
+"She is a good girl," Porter replied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+TRAIN NO. 14
+
+The fight for the possession of the Manchester and Truesdale Railroad
+divides itself naturally into two acts. During the first week, while it
+would be absurd to say that the acts of either side were legal, all the
+proceedings had worn the cloak of law. But now matters had come to a
+deadlock. Judge Grey was both able and willing to undo any or all of the
+acts of Judge Black, and conversely. The last event of the first act was
+the attempt on Tuesday morning of the C. & S.C. people, armed with writs
+from Black, to seize the books of the company. They were courteously
+received and the vaults were thrown open to their inspection; but as the
+books had been spirited away the night before, the search was fruitless.
+Porter and McNally had been beaten at their own game, and they withdrew
+their forces to Truesdale. The fight was to be kept up on other lines.
+
+Wednesday morning, No. 7 on the C. & S.C. brought down a much larger
+number of passengers for Truesdale than ordinarily came on that train.
+They climbed down to the station platform from different cars, and
+regarded each other with studied indifference, but there was something
+homogeneous about the crowd that drew upon it the frankest stares of the
+station loafers. There were no women or children among them, they carried
+no baggage, and there was an air about them, carefully repressed but still
+discernible, which suggested that if any one were looking for trouble they
+were the men to whom to apply. They seemed to be trying to attract as
+little attention as possible, but they were followed by many curious
+glances, as they straggled in a long irregular line up the street toward
+the Truesdale Hotel.
+
+Katherine had driven into town that morning, and from her high trap she
+watched the spectacle with amused interest. Seeing McNally coming out of
+the hotel office she pulled up her horses and nodded to him with a
+peremptory cordiality which left him no escape from coming to speak to
+her.
+
+"So war is declared," she said laughingly, nodding toward the rear guard
+who were disappearing in the hotel entrance. "I see you are massing your
+troops. Is that the entire army, or only a division?"
+
+McNally tried to utter a protest, but she went on unheeding. "I think
+they're too absurdly comical for words. They try so hard to look as if
+they weren't spoiling for a fight."
+
+"Miss Porter," said McNally, seriously, "your father's interests are at
+stake now and we must be discreet."
+
+"I suppose so," she said; "but really those men are irresistibly funny."
+
+She gathered up the reins and the horses started, but as they moved away
+she turned and called back to him,--
+
+"Be sure and come out to luncheon--that is, if you don't go to the front."
+
+The words troubled McNally. Only two days before he had been dragged out
+of his hiding-place in the Manchester station and kicked downstairs. This
+experience still occupied a large place in his thoughts, and he took
+Katherine's remark as a reflection on his personal courage. Though he had
+no idea of "going to the front," he decided not to go to the Porters' for
+luncheon.
+
+All that morning new people kept streaming into Truesdale. No. 22 brought
+in McDowell, a division superintendent on the C. & S.C. and other less
+important employees of the same road came in on every train. All over the
+city was the exciting premonition that something was going to happen. The
+army, as Katherine had called it, was reenforced by two fresh detachments
+brought in on the C. & S.C. from no one knew just where, but they were
+carefully guarded from being too much in evidence, and there was not the
+least disorder. When noon came and nothing had happened the tension
+relaxed a little, and the town returned to its accustomed quiet.
+
+At the M. & T. station, however, the excitement increased, manifesting
+itself in many ways. The trains came in and went out on their scheduled
+time, and the routine work went on without variation, but there was a
+nervous alertness evident everywhere. Train crews stood in little knots
+about the platform and yards, speculating about the fight whose issue
+meant much to each of them, but in which they had not as yet been able to
+take a part. At one forty-five No. 14, which leaves Truesdale at two
+o'clock for Tillman City, St. Johns, and Manchester, backed down to the
+station to take on its passengers. Carse, the conductor, stood near the
+cab talking to the engineer and the fireman, keeping all the while an eye
+on the passengers.
+
+"We're getting a big crowd to-day," he observed. "That's McDowell of the
+C. & S.C. getting in the rear coach there. He's a mean brute. Ain't you
+glad we ain't under him, Downs?"
+
+The engineer nodded emphatically, and climbing down from the cab,
+stood beside the conductor. "Seems to me," he said, "there are a lot
+of C. & S.C. boys taking this train. I've spotted three or four already."
+
+"Say," exclaimed Carse, "do you suppose they're going back to Manchester
+to have another shot at the old man? I brought them back from there
+yesterday on No. 5, and they were the sickest crowd you ever saw. The old
+man can give them just about all they want."
+
+He paused and glanced at his watch. "We pull out in thirty seconds," he
+said. And at two o'clock No. 14 started northward on what was to prove a
+most eventful run in the history of the M. & T. The train rattled over the
+yard switches, slid creaking under the brakes down to the river, rumbled
+across the bridge, and then toiled up the first of the long grades between
+Truesdale and Sawyerville.
+
+Carse was collecting tickets in the second car when suddenly it thrilled
+and trembled, and the train, with grinding squealing brakes, came to a
+stop. The conductor was all but thrown from his feet, but he staggered to
+the platform, and leaping down ran toward the engine, followed by an
+excited crowd of passengers.
+
+"What's the matter?" he demanded of Downs, whom he found clambering out of
+the cab.
+
+"That's what I want to know," answered the engineer. "Didn't you pull the
+signal cord?"
+
+"No," said Carse, looking puzzled. "I wonder what's up."
+
+At that moment a man came forward from the group of passengers: it was
+McDowell. "I signalled you to stop," he said.
+
+Carse waited an instant for him to go on, and then asked impatiently,
+"Well, what's wrong?"
+
+"Nothing that I know of," said McDowell, easily. "I wanted the train to
+stop."
+
+Carse stepped toward him angrily. "I don't know whether you're drunk or
+not," he said, "but that's a damned poor kind of a joke. You'll find that
+out as soon as we get to Sawyerville."
+
+"Oh, no, I won't," said McDowell. "I'm superintendent of this road, and
+the first thing I'm going to do is to fire you. Haven,"--he called to one
+of the group behind him,--"you can take this train to Manchester."
+
+Another man pushed into the circle. He was Stewart, the sheriff of Evelyn
+County. "Mr. McDowell is quite right. Mr. Frederick McNally, the receiver
+of the road, appointed him this morning. And I now serve on you a writ
+from Judge Black--"
+
+"See here," interrupted Carse, "are you sheriff of Evelyn County or of the
+whole United States? You'd better keep out of this; the county line's
+about half a mile back."
+
+"We're wasting time," said McDowell, shortly. "James and Mangan, take the
+engine. We'll take charge of this train, sir, county or no county."
+
+"Not if I can help it," said Carse, under his breath. Then shouting, "Get
+away, boys; don't mind me," he sprang upon McDowell, hitting out swift and
+hard, and in a second the two men were clinched and rolling in the sand.
+Downs took the hint and, leaping into the cab, let off the air brake and
+seized the throttle, while Berg, his big fireman, wrenched free from the
+two men who tried to hold him and rushed toward the cab. For a moment it
+looked as though No. 14 was going to get away.
+
+But the first detachment of Mr. McNally's army was not at hand for
+nothing. Berg was pulled down from the step he had succeeded in reaching,
+and a blow from behind stretched him unconscious beside the track. Downs
+caught up the shovel which lay at his feet, and brought it down hard on a
+man who was climbing over the tender; then without turning he drove the
+handle squarely into the face of another who was standing on the step and
+trying to clutch his legs. But the odds were too great, and in a moment he
+was rushed back against the fire-box, and his arms were pinioned fast.
+McDowell had been freed from his assailant by two of his brawny
+supporters, and he rose to his feet with some difficulty; the blood was
+streaming down his face, but he was quite cool. Seeing that resistance was
+at an end, he called to the men in the engine:--
+
+"Let up on that man; we don't want to kill him. Bring him down here."
+
+A moment later, he said: "Put bracelets on all three of them and take them
+into the smoker. Some of you stay around and see that they don't do any
+more mischief." Then turning to the men he had already ordered to take
+charge of the train, he said: "All right, boys, let her go. We're nearly
+ten minutes late."
+
+McNally's plans were well laid; so well laid that McDowell's mistake in
+not stopping the train soon enough did not prevent their being carried out
+successfully. The sheriff of Malden County had been told what was expected
+of him, and he was waiting on the platform of the Sawyerville station when
+No. 14 pulled in. There had been no warning, there was no possibility of
+resistance, and everything moved as smoothly as clockwork. The writs were
+served, the telegraph office seized, and the M. & T. employees about the
+station replaced by McDowell's "boys" almost before the dazed incumbents
+knew what was happening. The new telegraph operator wired to McNally, who
+had already taken possession of the Truesdale terminal, telling him
+briefly of the fight for the train and the capture of Sawyerville. McNally
+sent back brief instructions for the conduct of the rest of the raid. They
+were told to make no attempt to keep schedule time, but to go slowly and
+cautiously, and to use as little violence as possible. Altogether McDowell
+had reason to feel well satisfied when he came out on the station platform
+ready to take his train on its unique journey up the road.
+
+There stood near him a number of passengers gathered in an excited group,
+discussing the fight, the delay of the train, and the somewhat remote
+chance of getting to Manchester. One of them, a very stout man with
+deep-set, watery eyes and a florid complexion, recognized the
+Superintendent and turned to him.
+
+"Are we likely to have to wait as long as this at every station?" he
+asked.
+
+"I guess so," answered McDowell, shortly.
+
+"This is an outrage," exclaimed the other, angrily. "I took this train for
+the purpose of getting to Manchester."
+
+"You'd better get aboard then," said McDowell. "We're going to start now."
+
+His coolness exasperated the stout man, and he shouted after the
+Superintendent, "I won't submit to this. I tell you, you'll be sorry for
+it before I get through with you."
+
+McDowell paid no heed to the threat, and nodded Haven to go ahead; but a
+young telegraph operator, whose services were to be required further up
+the road, heard the words and shouted to the angry man:--
+
+"If you don't want to take the train, there's probably a livery stable
+here, or else you can go to the hotel. It's a gold cure, but I guess
+they'd take you in."
+
+McDowell laughed and went into the car. He did not hear what his former
+passenger answered, and he did not care. He would probably have been less
+amused if he had known that the man was none other than State Senator
+"Sporty" Jones. It does not pay to enrage any man wantonly, and especially
+not a man who makes it his main principle in life to get even. And as any
+of his circumspect associates could inform you, Senator Sporty Jones was
+just such a man.
+
+It was nearing six o'clock when No. 14 slowed down in the southern
+outskirts of Tillman City. The army, though depleted, was jubilant, and
+more than made up in _esprit du corps_ what it had lost in numbers. The
+raid had so far been completely successful: all the stations had been
+seized, and the south-bound trains they had met had been held up and
+placed in charge of C. & S.C. employees. There had been no resistance
+worth mentioning, and they had prevented any warning of their coming from
+going up the line ahead of them. Tillman City was lying an unsuspecting
+prey, though fairly in their clutches.
+
+Bill Stevens, the agent at Tillman, knew that something had gone wrong,
+for No. 14 was later than usual, and had not been reported from the last
+two stations; so when the drooping semaphore told him that she was in the
+block, he went out on the platform to find out what had happened. As the
+train came panting up to the station he saw two strange men in the cab
+instead of Downs and Berg, and this puzzled him more than ever.
+
+The sheriff was the first man off the train; he walked straight up to the
+agent, and in two minutes the formalities were over. Stevens and his
+subordinates were discharged, and the ticket office and baggage room put
+in charge of the new employees with a celerity born of practice. A number
+of deputies under McDowell's orders scattered out to take possession of
+the roundhouse, the freight depot, and the yards.
+
+Still standing on the platform in an excited crowd of raiders, former
+employees, and station loafers, was the agent. He was thinking fast, for
+he saw the importance of getting word to Manchester of what was happening
+along the line. The telegraph line was in the hands of the enemy, but a
+locomotive--It was worth a trial, anyway. There were three at Tillman: 33
+that had just brought in No. 14, 7 on a siding waiting to take the train
+to Manchester, and 10, the regular yard engine. The two passenger engines
+were out of the question, for they were already well guarded, but the
+little switching locomotive lay at the northern end of the yard, and had
+not as yet been seized by the deputies. In the confusion, and aided by the
+gathering dusk of the early October evening, something might be done.
+
+Glancing around, Stevens saw Murphy, the hostler, standing at his elbow.
+Without turning toward him he spoke softly.
+
+"Murphy," he said, "slip out of this crowd and follow me. I'm going to try
+to get away on 10. I want you to throw a switch for me."
+
+The hostler nodded without a word, and threaded his way after the agent to
+the edge of the platform. Once out of the glare of the station lights
+there was less need for caution, and the two men set out at a rapid walk
+toward the north end of the yards.
+
+Suddenly a deputy came out from behind a freight car and laid a detaining
+hand on the agent's arm.
+
+"What are you up to?" he demanded.
+
+There was no word of reply, but Murphy's fist shot out, landing dully on
+the man's jaw, and without an outcry he sank inert on the sand.
+
+The agent darted forward, keeping out of the heavy sand by bounding along
+the irregularly laid ties, and in a moment he was climbing into the cab of
+the switch engine.
+
+"Thank God! there's steam and water," he thought, and throwing over the
+reversing lever he grasped the throttle and came backing rapidly down the
+siding.
+
+It was too dark for the men at the station to see perfectly what had
+happened, but they saw enough to excite their suspicion, and No. 33, which
+had already uncoupled from the train, ran up the main track to
+investigate. James and Mangan and a couple of deputies were in the cab.
+
+Murphy had already thrown the switch and was standing beside it, holding a
+coupling pin in his hand, awaiting developments. The two locomotives were
+running right at each other, and unless somebody changed his mind very
+promptly a collision was inevitable; but the agent was in such a frame of
+mind that a smash-up was rather to his liking than otherwise, and he
+pulled the throttle a little wider open. He would waste no steam
+whistling, but grasping the hand rail he swung out from the cab and waved
+his free arm.
+
+"Look out!" he yelled, "I'm coming."
+
+Furthermore it was obvious to the men in 33 that he meant to keep on
+coming, and as none of them had any wish to try conclusions, even with
+little No. 10, the big locomotive stopped short and went backing down the
+track, the deputies shouting to their comrades at the station for
+reenforcements.
+
+No. 10 slowed down as she backed on to the main track, and as Murphy threw
+the switch she stopped and then moved forward. Stevens waited for Murphy,
+who left the switch open and climbed into the cab. Then with a clear track
+before her No. 10 went tearing down the long grade as fast as her dumpy
+little drivers would carry her.
+
+Halfway to Byron is a milk shed with a short siding, and when they reached
+it Stevens shut down and stopped with a jerk.
+
+"Get out," he said to Murphy, "and throw over that switch and put out the
+lamp."
+
+As they started on again he said dryly, "When they strike that, it may
+teach 'em to go slow for the rest of the run."
+
+It was just six-seventeen by the station clock when Mason, the operator at
+Byron, heard No. 10 coming in. He ran out on the platform, but Stevens
+waved him back.
+
+"Get in there," he said as he dropped from the cab. "I want you to send a
+message quick."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+A CAPTURE AT BRUSHINGHAM
+
+On the same Wednesday morning Jawn Donohue was oiling the old switch
+engine preparatory to making up a train of coal cars. Since his ride with
+the President, Jawn had been even more silent than before. His work had
+been done with the same gruff independence, and his fireman had received
+the usual quota of stern rebukes; in fact, Jawn was outwardly so like his
+old self that none suspected him of emotion, but Jawn knew how thin was
+the veneer. It is hard upon a man to lose ground in the great struggle.
+Conscious of his ability, proud in his experience, Jawn grew daily more
+bitter at the prospect before him, and more hostile to his superiors. For
+a few days after the ride he had hoped for some word; he had felt that
+such an appeal as the one he had made to Jim Weeks should be productive of
+some notice, if not of a definite result. But as the week wore away, and
+no word came, his heart sank. Every day he rattled the dumpy little engine
+about the division yards, chewing the stem of his pipe, and hardening his
+heart against the world. He spent Sunday in his room at the
+boarding-house, for he had no family. Monday and Tuesday passed in worse
+than solitude, and when Wednesday morning came, and with it a message from
+the division superintendent, Jawn, in spite of his hopes, was taken by
+surprise. The message was addressed to the agent, and was very brief:--
+
+  Send J. Donohue and fireman to Manchester at once.
+
+Jawn and his fireman took 16 for Manchester. Beyond a brief word Jawn had
+said nothing, but his heart was disturbed. He was sure that it couldn't
+mean discharge, for they would not call him north for that--a word and a
+check would have settled it. It was hardly likely that one of the
+passenger engineers was to be reduced in his favor; Jawn knew the inside
+history of every man's connection with the road, and he could see no
+reason for a change. No, as he worked it over and over in his mind during
+the three-hour ride, he began to suspect that there was special work to be
+done.
+
+If Jawn had been present at the brief scene in Mattison's office that
+morning, or if there had been a friend at court to tell him of it, he
+would have been a happy man. For while Jim Weeks, aggressive as ever, was
+organizing his forces for the defence of the road (Jim foresaw what
+Porter's next move in the natural course of events would be), Mattison had
+turned to the division superintendent, and said: "Who can you put on the
+engine, if we have to come to rough work? The nerviest man we've got." And
+before the other could reply, Jim had turned from a conversation with
+Harvey to say: "Donohue's got to take out that train. He's on a switch
+engine at Tillman."
+
+Jim was continually surprising his subordinates with his intimate
+knowledge of the details of management. Mattison had long been accustomed
+to his ways, but he gave Jim a glance of wonder before he repeated the
+order to the division chief. And so Jawn was called to Manchester as the
+nerviest man on the road.
+
+In the meantime a scene not unlike that at Truesdale was being enacted in
+and about the Manchester station. There was the same reticence, and the
+studied quiet and perfect discipline were even more pronounced; for with
+Jim and Harvey to issue orders, and with Mattison and Mallory to execute
+them, the chance of a slip or a misunderstanding was too slight to be
+considered. A long train of tourist cars was made up shortly after noon
+and backed into the train shed, where it lay awaiting orders. Jim had no
+very definite idea of using it, at least until force was the only
+expedient; but he had been through too many fights to be caught off his
+guard. Instructions were wired from the despatcher's office to the
+operators all along the line, ordering them to report promptly any
+irregularity or suspicious circumstance. Meanwhile the regular trains for
+Truesdale pulled out through the yards and went on their way.
+
+When Jawn came into the Superintendent's office at two o'clock he found a
+group of men standing in nervous attitudes, all evidently awaiting orders.
+A boy stopped him and asked his business.
+
+"I want to see Mr. Mattison," said Jawn, removing his pipe and holding it
+awkwardly: Jawn, though at home on an engine, was ill at ease in an
+office.
+
+"Can't see him," snapped the boy; "he's busy."
+
+"He sent for me."
+
+"Name, please."
+
+"Donohue."
+
+"Sit down, Mr. Donohue."
+
+Jawn sat down in a corner and the boy disappeared. In a short time he
+returned and led Jawn to Mattison's desk. Mattison wasted no time, but
+told him the situation in a few sentences. "Now, Donohue," he said, in
+conclusion, "you understand, do you, that we are putting a big
+responsibility on you? Mr. West will be in command, and you will be
+subject to his orders without question; but if for any reason you should
+have to act rapidly, or should be thrown on the defensive, I shall expect
+you to do what is best for the road. Run no unnecessary risks, but
+remember, we must hold the line at any cost--if we lose an engine doing
+it. Do you understand?"
+
+Jawn, standing beside the oak desk, looked down at the Superintendent and
+nodded gravely. Mattison returned the look with a brief searching gaze,
+then he turned to his work, saying, "Very well, you may go."
+
+Harvey was all over the station. The strain of the last two days had told
+upon his nerves, but the prospect of a conflict buoyed him up. He had a
+long talk with Mallory, in which a campaign was mapped out as fully as was
+possible in the circumstances. It had been decided to hold the men ready
+to board the train at a moment's notice; but Harvey, as three o'clock
+came, ordered them aboard, for he realized that the longer the delay the
+greater would be the need of prompt action. So the long line filed out
+across the platform to the waiting cars, and the men made themselves
+comfortable for a long wait. Mallory stationed two of his own men in each
+car with orders to maintain strict discipline. In the baggage car were
+stored extra chains, hawsers, coupling links, crowbars, patent frogs, and
+every other device which, in Mattison's estimation, could be used in case
+of extreme circumstances, and there were chairs for Harvey and his
+lieutenants.
+
+Later Harvey walked up to the engine, where Jawn and his fireman were
+oiling and polishing.
+
+"Everything all right, Donohue?" he asked.
+
+Jawn growled and looked back at the coal in the tender.
+
+"She ain't much of an engine," he replied.
+
+Harvey looked her over. She was an ordinary light yard engine with a
+footboard in place of the pilot and with a sloping tank. He called to the
+yard master who stood near.
+
+"Haven't you got a better engine than this, Pratt?"
+
+Pratt came across the platform.
+
+"I understood you wanted an old one," he said.
+
+"We do," replied Harvey; "but we want one that will hold a little water,
+and one that can make time if necessary."
+
+"Shall I change, sir?"
+
+"It rests with the engineer. Donohue, can you do anything with this
+engine?"
+
+Jawn leaned against the cab and slowly shook his head.
+
+"Get another, then," said Harvey, and as the change was effected Jawn's
+heart was won. In an unreasoning way he promptly attributed his changed
+condition to Harvey; for in spite of his gruff shell the kernel of Jawn's
+nature was keenly susceptible to kindness, and to him a good engine and
+plenty of authority was the greatest kindness in life.
+
+For two hours the train waited. Then, at five o'clock, a detail was sent
+into the restaurant, and the men were supplied with sandwiches and coffee,
+eating without leaving their seats. In half an hour all were fed, and they
+stretched out on the cane seats as comfortably as their crowded condition
+permitted. The long wait did not improve tempers, and it was a sullen,
+weary train load that counted the minutes on into the dusk. Jawn sat on
+his high seat and dozed.
+
+The suspense was even more tense in the offices on the second floor of the
+station. Jim and Harvey spent most of the time in the private office,
+going over every possible combination of circumstances, Jim giving Harvey
+explicit directions for each case--when to use force, when not, when to
+call on the law, and when to send for aid. Occasionally Jim would call in
+Mattison to ask a question concerning some detail of the road, or he would
+send for Mallory to explain more fully his directions. It was plain that
+Jim desired to leave nothing to chance, now that the real struggle was on,
+but to throw all his available resources into the conflict. Mattison had a
+map drawn for Harvey, which showed every station, curve, switch, and
+siding; this Harvey studied during the lulls in the conversation, and as
+he already was familiar with all but the minor details of construction, he
+soon had his information upon a working basis. At six-fifteen Mattison
+came in.
+
+"Mr. Weeks," he said, "the despatcher reports something the matter. For
+two or three hours, he says, the local reports have been confused and
+unsatisfactory. A few minutes ago he called up Tillman City and hasn't yet
+succeeded in getting any reply. The local men are sending in train
+reports, but something isn't right. He's got a notion that they aren't our
+old men."
+
+"Tell them to try again," said Jim. "Ask them something a new man wouldn't
+know."
+
+Mattison left the office and hurried to the stairway. On the landing he
+met a newsboy who was running up, calling:--
+
+"Shcago Even' Papers! Extry! All about big railroad war!"
+
+Mattison seized a paper and glanced at the headings. "Fight for M. & T.,"
+he read. "Trunk Line Gobbles Small Road." His eye ran over the article; it
+was dated that afternoon from Truesdale. He turned and ran up the stairs,
+dashing into Jim's office and spreading the paper on the table.
+
+"It's up to us," he said. "They've been at work all the afternoon."
+
+As he spoke a boy came running into the office.
+
+"Message from Byron, sir."
+
+Mattison snatched the paper and read aloud,---
+
+  C. & S.C. train leaving Tillman north seizing road.
+
+  STEVENS.
+
+"That's the Tillman agent," said Mattison. "What's he doing at Byron?"
+
+"Probably had to run for it," responded Harvey, putting on his hat and
+buttoning his coat. "That means fast work. Clear the track for me,
+Mattison."
+
+"Wait a minute," said Jim. "Have we any trains north of Byron?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then don't send any orders. They would warn the other side. No, go ahead
+and beat them if you have to break their heads."
+
+As Harvey dashed out of the office Jim's eyes sparkled. He liked to do his
+own fighting, and it was half regretfully that he turned to the
+Superintendent.
+
+[Illustration: HARVEY'S MAP OF THE M. & T.]
+
+"If they're as near as that, Mattison, it means trouble. You'd better
+collect another gang and send it out after West. Take men off the trains,
+out of the yards, anywhere you can get them."
+
+The wheels were soon in motion again, and another train backed under the
+iron roof and slowly filled with brawny men.
+
+Harvey swung aboard his train and it started with a jerk, rolling rapidly
+over the network of tracks, past the switch tower, under the signal
+bridge, and out toward the open country. The little army was not sullen
+now. Figures sat erect, eyes flashed, young men spoke eagerly, older ones
+gruffly, and through the train ran a steady murmur of inquisitive wonder.
+Apparently, save for a few dozen sticks and clubs, the men were not armed,
+but many hip pockets bulged suspiciously.
+
+In the baggage car Harvey and Mallory were talking earnestly. Mallory was
+for travelling slowly lest they should encounter a loose rail or an open
+switch, but Harvey disagreed. He spread the map out on a box and rested a
+finger on the dot marked Tillman City.
+
+"There they are," he said, "or were a few minutes ago, and they're coming
+right toward us. Now, to keep us from getting word they have to stop at
+every telegraph station, and that takes time. We've got a clear track and
+can travel fully twice as fast as they can. Here"--he moved his finger up
+the line of the road--"here at Brushingham is a long siding. I want to
+make that siding before they do."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because we must pass them there."
+
+"They aren't going to lie up and let us run by."
+
+"Yes, they are," said Harvey. "Wait a moment." He called to a brakeman who
+stood at the door, "Go up to the engine and tell the engineer to get to
+the siding at Brushingham at full speed."
+
+The man nodded and ran forward. Another moment and those in the baggage
+car felt a jerk and a lift, and soon they were rattling over the rails
+with sway and roll. Harvey, meantime, was explaining to Mallory a plan
+which made that veteran chuckle merrily. His eyes wandered to the heap of
+chains, ropes, and iron piled on each side of the rear door, and he
+chuckled again. But Harvey's face was serious.
+
+"It's something of a question whether we can get there in time, Mallory.
+It's a sixty-five mile run for us to thirty-eight for them. We have all
+the advantage, of course, but there won't be any time to spare." He drew
+out his watch and timed the clicks of the rails. "He's hitting it up in
+good style."
+
+"What are we making?"
+
+"About fifty, and pulling up all the time. It won't take us much over an
+hour at this rate, and I don't believe that they can make it in anything
+like that time. There are a lot of little stations north of Tillman, and
+they've got to stop at every one."
+
+Nevertheless, as the minute hand crept around the watch, the two men began
+to peer out through the side window. It was dark now, and as the landmarks
+were not too familiar either to Harvey or to Mallory, they were unable to
+get their bearings.
+
+"Where are we?" Harvey called to the brakeman.
+
+"Getting into St. Johns," was the reply.
+
+Sure enough, in another moment colored yard lights were whizzing by. There
+was a great clatter as they took the switches, then a row of streaked
+electric lights, a dim impression of streets and of clanging bells, a
+shriek from the locomotive, and again they were in the open. A few minutes
+later Harvey gave orders that a brakeman climb forward on the engine ready
+to throw the Brushingham switch. Soon the car jarred and struggled under
+the air brake, and then slowed down, grinding and pounding, almost to a
+stop. The brakes were released, and the train rolled easily out beyond the
+station on to the long siding. Harvey pulled the signal cord.
+
+"Now, Mallory," he said, as the train came to a standstill, "we can go
+ahead."
+
+Mallory picked up a patent frog from the floor, and with Harvey and the
+brakeman swung out of the car and ran down the track. From the windows
+projected a long row of heads, but no questions were asked as the three
+men ran forward. A short distance ahead of the engine they stopped. Away
+to the south a small bright light rounded into view.
+
+"Here she comes," said Mallory.
+
+Harvey made no reply, and the frog was adjusted to the east rail of the
+main track. Then they went back and clambered aboard the engine. Mallory
+ordered a squad of men forward, and stationed some on the pilot and
+running board, others on the tender and front platform. The light grew
+slowly larger, sending out pointed rays and throwing a shine on the rails.
+There was the sound of a bell and of the exhaust, and the train pulled
+slowly toward the bleak little station. Suddenly, when within speaking
+distance, the approaching engine struck the patent frog and left the rails
+with a jar and a scrape, ploughing her nose into the slag.
+
+"Go ahead," said Harvey.
+
+Jawn pulled the throttle lever, and the long train moved slowly southward.
+No. 14 was not full now. The process of dropping men at every station had
+left only about half the employees, who clustered in the forward cars and
+looked curiously at the passing train. At a shouted order from Mallory,
+one of his men dropped off with a squad at his back and took possession of
+the wreck, while Harvey, flushed with victory, moved on to undo the work
+of the afternoon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+DEUS EX MACHINA
+
+As Senator Sporty Jones stood on the Sawyerville platform and watched No.
+14 vanishing round a curve, his rage against the Superintendent cooled
+somewhat and hardened into a determination to make somebody pay. The more
+he thought of it the clearer it grew that the "somebody" should be a
+bigger man than McDowell, though Sporty meant to get even with him, too,
+some day. He knew, as did every one who had read the newspapers, the broad
+outlines of the fight between Weeks and Porter for the road. As he thought
+it over, the problem seemed to grow more complicated. The Senator hated
+the two men about equally and had a long score against each of them; for
+though both were lobbyists on a large scale, neither of them had thought
+him worth conciliating. He was afraid lest in trying to hurt one he might
+help the other.
+
+He was capable of quick, clear thinking, and as he ran over in his mind
+what he knew of the fight, he saw that what encouraged these men so openly
+to resort to violence was a judicial deadlock. There was just one force
+which could profitably be appealed to now, the State Executive.
+
+He walked slowly down the rickety wooden steps and across the road; then,
+after looking about irresolutely, he turned toward the weather-beaten
+little hotel.
+
+Before he had gone far the deposed station agent overtook him. He was
+smoking a cigarette with short, nervous puffs, and he fell in step with
+the Senator, evidently relieved at having a chance to talk.
+
+"What did you think of that?" he asked. "Pretty sudden, wasn't it?"
+
+The Senator grunted a savage assent, and the agent went on:--
+
+"Well, all I say is, these fellows needn't think they've got any cinch
+until Jim Weeks has had his innings. He's going to have it, too. This kind
+of a scrap is right in his line."
+
+The Senator seemed to be listening, and the agent was encouraged to try
+his hand at prophesying what would happen when Jim Weeks should come down
+the line. When they reached the hotel both men paused, and the Senator
+said affably,--
+
+"Come in and have something."
+
+"All right, if you mean ginger ale," laughed the agent. "It's a temperance
+house, with a gold cure on the side."
+
+The disgust of Senator Sporty Jones was expressed with such blasphemous
+force that the agent was moved to add,--
+
+"You can get anything you want down in the next block."
+
+"All right," grunted the Senator. "Wait a minute, though; I want to
+telephone."
+
+"There ain't a telephone in town," said the agent. "The line goes up the
+other side of the river to Tillman. I don't believe you can find a 'phone
+nearer than Truesdale."
+
+"How far's that?" asked the Senator, after an expressive pause.
+
+"'Bout fifteen miles by the river road. You have to go round by way of
+Oakwood. It's going to rain, too," he added, glancing at the clouded sky.
+
+The look of annoyance on the Senator's face settled into one of
+determination, and the agent began to fear lest the invitation to "have
+something" had slipped from the great man's mind.
+
+The Senator asked slowly, "Is there such a thing as a livery stable in
+this"--he gulped--"in this town?"
+
+"I guess old man Barnes could let you have some sort of a horse. He's got
+a place just the other side of Hogan's. I'll go down there with you if you
+like."
+
+The parley with Barnes took only a few minutes, and at half-past three the
+Senator drove down the main street and turned west toward the river road.
+His vehicle was a light delivery wagon with a canopy over it, and was
+drawn by a ragged old white horse, which, according to the livery man, was
+an exceptional animal.
+
+"The General's an aristocrat, he is," said Barnes. "I might say a
+thoroughbred. I hate like poison to let him out to a stranger, but I let
+you take him because I see you understand a horse."
+
+There was no flicker of intelligence in the agent's face as he heard the
+words, but when the Senator asked him to accompany him on the drive he
+declined. "I want to be on hand," he explained, "when Jim Weeks comes down
+the line." So Senator Jones started out alone on his drive to Truesdale,
+and the agent watched him from the door of Hogan's saloon. "Go along with
+him!" he thought. "I guess not. It'd be a circus, though, to see what
+happens when they get to the river bridge." Then, as Barnes joined him on
+the steps, he added, "What do you suppose the General will do to him?"
+
+"Oh, he won't hurt him," answered Barnes. "He'll just turn around and come
+home when he gets good and ready. Come in and have something."
+
+The General took a violent dislike to the Senator. It annoyed him to have
+people try to make him go whither he would not, and he shook his head
+angrily in response to the impatient jerks at the reins. When the Senator
+tried to accelerate the pace by whacking his toughened flanks with the
+whip, he kicked up his heels derisively and then stumbled along more
+wearily if possible than before.
+
+The miles crept by as slowly as he could wish, and he was pleased when
+they passed a fork of the road and he knew he was being driven to the
+river. He disliked rivers, and had long ago decided that he would never
+cross one. That his resolution had once been broken was not his fault, for
+they had dragged him over the Oakwood bridge at the end of a stout rope;
+but this only made him firmer in his determination, and people who drove
+him were wont to stay on the west side of the river.
+
+Old man Barnes had given the Senator no hint of this prejudice of the
+aristocratic animal he was driving, so he had no foreboding of what was
+going to happen. Now that he had made up his mind that it was worse than
+useless to try to interfere with the General, he was jogging along in
+comparative comfort, regardless of the rain which had grown from a fine
+drizzle to a steady downpour. He thought the chances were in favor of his
+reaching Truesdale and a telephone by midnight. He smiled at the thought,
+for he had evolved a scheme that would disconcert both of the contestants
+for the M. & T. alike, and would show them that he, State Senator Sporty
+Jones, was not a man to be sneezed at.
+
+About a half a mile above the Oakwood Club House and in full view of it
+the road crosses the river, and the Senator noticed the big, rambling
+building on top of the hill, and wondered if they had a telephone there.
+"I'll try and see, anyway," he thought.
+
+The General turned willingly up the approach to the bridge, increasing his
+speed to an almost respectable trot. When he reached the top he stopped in
+his tracks and stared with disfavor at the worn planks before him. The
+Senator snatched the whip from its socket and beat upon the General until
+his arms were tired. At every blow the horse would kick feebly, and then
+resume a droop-eared attitude, as though grieving over the depravity of
+man. The Senator looked around helplessly, but there was no aid in sight,
+so he climbed down from the wagon and walked around to the bridle. The
+General may have suspected another attempt at dragging, for a vicious snap
+of his yellow teeth caused the Senator to step back out of reach,
+completely baffled. He stared an instant at the solemn face before him and
+then shaking the whip he said,--
+
+"You've got me down this time, damn you, but I'll--"
+
+The Senator stopped, his favorite threat unuttered, threw the whip into
+the river and turning, walked slowly across the bridge, and as he went the
+story he meant to tell over the 'phone to the Governor grew to fearful
+proportions. As for the General, when he saw that the victory was won, he
+turned about and sauntered back to Sawyerville.
+
+In the party of golfers whom the rain had driven from the links to the
+shelter of the Oakwood Club was Katherine. She had gone once around the
+short course and perversely enough her score was unusually good; but she
+could not get her mind off the more exciting game which she knew must be
+in progress along the railway line west of the river. Altogether she
+welcomed the rain, and was glad when its increasing violence drove them to
+the shelter of the club house. There at least she was near a telephone.
+She had no disposition to make one of the merry group of men and girls who
+were drying out before the crackling log fire, but after a moment of
+hesitation she joined the circle.
+
+One of the men was standing by a window, peering through a field-glass at
+the more ardent and impervious enthusiasts who were still following the
+ball.
+
+"The rain's letting up a bit," he said at length. "You can really see
+things--hello!"
+
+The group before the fire turned toward him, attracted by the long silence
+which followed the exclamation. They saw a look of puzzlement on his face
+which gradually gave place to a broad grin.
+
+"What's up?" asked somebody.
+
+"By George," he exclaimed, lowering the glass, "that's funny." He raised
+the glass again and this time his shoulders shook.
+
+"I didn't know anybody out on the links could be as funny as that," one of
+the girls observed.
+
+"He isn't on the links," answered the man with the glass, "he's on the
+bridge. And the horse is turning round and going back." With which
+singularly lucid preface, the young man told what he had seen of the
+General's victory at the Oakwood bridge.
+
+It was about fifteen minutes later when Sporty appeared, dripping and mud
+bespattered, but kept warm by glowing fires of indignation, and vigorously
+demanded of the attendant the use of the telephone. At the sound of his
+voice one of the older men turned quickly and approached him with a word
+of greeting. "But what's the matter with you, man?" he added, noting the
+Senator's sorry condition.
+
+"They're having a riot on the railroad," answered Sporty. "Can I use your
+'phone?"
+
+"Sure," answered the other. "Right this way," and the two men crossed the
+hall and disappeared in the office. A few minutes later the man came back
+and rejoined the group.
+
+"He's State Senator Jones, Sporty Jones, you know. He says they're having
+no end of a time over on the railroad. When I left him he seemed to be
+trying to telephone all over the State at once."
+
+"I've heard of him," said Katherine, "but I've never met him. I wish you'd
+bring him here after he gets through telephoning." And the man with some
+surprise said he would.
+
+The Senator did not reappear from the office for nearly an hour, and in
+that time he worked fast. He began by calling up Representative Jim Cleary
+of the Seventh District, a man with influence who happened to be in the
+capital on business. The Senator wasted no oratory on him, he simply told
+him what it was necessary to do. After that he talked with other men about
+the State, and repeated what he had said to Jim Cleary, suggesting to them
+the proper way for putting "pressure" on the Governor. Then, having
+prepared his avalanche, he telephoned to the executive mansion and asked
+for the Governor. He learned from the Secretary that the Governor was
+busy, but would be at liberty in a few minutes.
+
+"All right," said Sporty. "Let me know when he's ready to talk to me."
+
+He rang off and rose from his chair, stiffly, for the damp and the cold
+had struck through. The man he knew appeared at his elbow, and leading him
+in to the fire introduced him to those who were still grouped about it, to
+Katherine last of all.
+
+"You must have had an afternoon full of experiences," she said.
+
+"Yes," answered the Senator. "I enjoyed my drive over from Sawyerville
+immensely. The weather was somewhat unpleasant, but I had an excellent
+horse and we made very good time, until we got a hot-box. I was obliged to
+leave the vehicle with a farmer, and walked the last two miles."
+
+"Indeed?" said Katherine. "But please tell me about the riot. It must have
+been very exciting."
+
+"I hardly think it would interest a lady," said Sporty, uneasily.
+
+"Senator Jones,"--Katherine was speaking with much severity,--"I did not
+think when I first saw you that you could prove so disagreeable."
+
+Sporty beamed. "It wasn't very much of a riot," he said. "They just hit
+the fireman behind the ear and put handcuffs on the engineer, and started
+out to grab the road. They'll have to fight for it."
+
+"Was what they did legal?" she asked.
+
+"Oh, no; not at all. It's just a hold-up."
+
+The Senator was saying rather more than he meant to, and he was glad that
+the telephone bell broke off the conversation at this point. He excused
+himself abruptly and went to have a talk with the Governor.
+
+Katherine walked to a window and stood staring out with unseeing eyes. At
+last she turned to a man who stood near her and said:--
+
+"I don't believe it's going to rain any more. Will you have them bring up
+my trap, please?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+McNALLY's EXPEDIENT
+
+Katherine's casual acquaintances thought of her as a cool, unemotional
+young woman, and when asked for their estimate of her would give it with
+confidence that it was accurate. The few who knew her better were less
+sure what they thought of her, and there was considerable diversity in
+their opinions. She had a strong will and plenty of confidence in it.
+Until she had found herself standing between Harvey West and her father,
+she never had the least doubt that in any situation she would be able to
+do what she wanted. But without knowing it she liked to let her impulses
+direct her, and her confidence that her will could, if necessary, overrule
+them gave them freer play than they would have had in a weaker
+personality. She was keenly sensitive--and this she recognized--to the
+atmosphere of her immediate environment.
+
+To-day the gray of the dripping sky and the sullen river and the pasty
+macadam road seemed to have got into her thoughts and to pervade
+everything. There was a feeling of eternity in the gathering twilight as
+though there had never been anything else and never would be. But she knew
+there had; it was only three days since she and Harvey had driven along
+this road. She recalled the glisten of the sunlight on the river, and the
+crimson of the hard maples stained by the first early frost, and she knew
+it was not the sunshine nor the tingle in the air nor the beautiful way in
+which Ned and Nick flew along stride for stride over the hard white road,
+but something else, something quite different, which had made her glad
+that Sunday morning. She looked straight ahead and tried to imagine that
+not the wooden English groom, but Harvey, sat beside her. Then realizing
+whither her imaginings were drifting, she pulled herself up sharply.
+
+"You sentimental idiot!" she thought.
+
+The groom spoke. "Beg pardon, Miss Katherine?" and she knew she must have
+thought aloud.
+
+Just then a black tree stump at the roadside seemed to spring out of the
+ghostly twilight, and Nick, who never had the blues, amused himself by
+shying at it. Ned caught the spirit of the lark and over the next mile
+these two good friends of Katherine's supplied her with just the kind of
+tonic she needed.
+
+It was late when she reached home and she had but a narrow margin of time
+left in which to dress for dinner; but telling the groom not to take the
+horses to the stable she hurried into the house and came out a moment
+later with a handful of sugar. The two beautiful heads turned toward her
+as she came down the steps and Nick gave a satisfied little whicker. She
+fed them alternately, a lump at a time, talking to them all the while in
+the friendly bantering way they liked. She was quite impartial with the
+sugar, but while Ned with lowered head was sniffing at her pockets for
+more, she laid her cheek against Nick's white, silky nose and whispered to
+him:--
+
+"I think I like you best to-night. You did just right to shy at that
+stump. No, Ned, it wouldn't be good for you to eat any more sugar just
+before dinner. Good-by. If it wouldn't shock father and dent the floor,
+I'd take you into the house with me. But I don't suppose you'd like it,
+though."
+
+Katherine was glad she was late and that she had to dress in a hurry. What
+she dreaded was being left alone with nothing to do but think. She had
+gone over the ground again and again until she had lost her sense of
+proportion. She had tried to believe that the raid was right and that her
+father's methods were above reproach; she had tried to be unwavering in
+her loyalty to his cause, but in spite of herself McNally's allusions and
+the fragmentary conversations she had overheard raised doubts which her
+father's evasions did not set at rest. In spite of herself her sympathies
+swung to the square, straightforward, courageous young fellow who had got
+into her heart without her knowing it. She had tried to make herself
+believe her father's insinuations about Jim Weeks; but what Harvey had
+told her, in his undiscriminating, hero-worshipping way, had made too deep
+an impression for that.
+
+When she had finished dressing, as she stood before the mirror to take a
+final survey, she addressed a parting remark to the figure in the glass:--
+
+"It won't do you any good to go on bothering this way. You haven't
+anything to do now but go down to dinner and be as charming as possible,
+particularly to Mr. McNally, whom you cordially detest. When the time
+comes to do something, I hope you'll do it right."
+
+It was just seven o'clock when she came down the stairs to be informed by
+the butler that the gentlemen had not come home yet, and should he serve
+dinner at once?
+
+Katherine waited nearly half an hour, trying to amuse herself with a very
+pictorial magazine, and, finding that tiresome, by playing coon songs at
+the piano. But the piano reminded her of Mr. McNally, and she didn't want
+to think of him; so giving up trying to wait she ordered dinner.
+
+Dining alone when you have made up your mind to it beforehand is not an
+unmixed evil; but in Katherine's frame of mind it was about as irritating
+as anything could be. When it was over she called for her coffee in a big
+cup, and she drank it, black and bitter, with a relish. The frown which
+for the last hour had been contracting her level brows disappeared, for
+she had thought of something to do. As she rose from the table she said to
+the butler:--
+
+"Will you order the carriage, please, right away. I'm going out."
+
+Porter was with McNally in one of the offices of the M. & T. station. The
+two had been sitting there ever since the building had been seized by the
+deputies, getting satisfactory reports from station after station as the
+raiders moved up the line. Porter was on the point of starting home for
+dinner when the reports began coming in from Tillman City. The first of
+the yellow sheets the boy brought them simply repeated the news that had
+come in so many times that afternoon. The station was in the hands of the
+C. & S.C. men, and there had been no resistance. But the second sheet was
+less satisfactory, for it told of Stevens's escape on the yard engine.
+
+Porter read it and exclaimed petulantly, "McDowell must have been asleep
+when he let a man get away like that."
+
+"Do you think there's much harm done?" asked McNally.
+
+"I'm afraid so. Weeks will hear all about it in a few minutes, if he
+hasn't already, and he's sure to hit back. He moves quick, too."
+
+"We can wire McDowell to stay right where he is, and rush through another
+train with re-enforcements," suggested McNally. "We may not be able to get
+the rest, but we can at least keep what we've got."
+
+"You'd better make up another train, anyway. We can fill it up with men
+from our carshops. McDowell had better keep right on up the line. If we
+have to fight, it'll be better to do it at some small place than at
+Tillman. We're less likely to be interfered with. Tell McDowell to go slow
+and not too far."
+
+The order to McDowell with the promise of reeforcements was sent out in
+time to catch him before he left Tillman, and then McNally turned his
+attention to massing his reserve. At the end of an hour and a half of hard
+work he saw the last files of the rear guard march down the platform and
+into the train. His frown expressed dissatisfaction, for these men were
+not so good fighting material as those McDowell had captained. Their
+manner was sheepish; they did not finger lovingly the clubs they had been
+provided with, and altogether they seemed to feel a much greater respect
+for law and order than was appropriate to the occasion.
+
+They were the best men available, however, and there were several hundred
+of them, and McNally was about to give the order which would send them up
+the road to the succor of McDowell, when Porter came hurrying toward him
+from the telegraph office.
+
+"Don't send those men out yet, McNally," he said. "There's something wrong
+here. I think they've bagged McDowell."
+
+The train despatcher came into the waiting room, and seeing them walked
+rapidly toward them.
+
+"Something has gone wrong, gentlemen. We've been talking to Gilsonville
+and he's all balled up. He isn't the same man who was there fifteen
+minutes ago."
+
+"They've got past McDowell then," said McNally. "And they couldn't have
+done that without catching him. We'd better get that train away as fast as
+possible then, hadn't we?"
+
+"I don't think so," said Porter. "Have them ready to start at a minute's
+notice, and we'll plan out what's the best thing to do."
+
+Back in the little office again Porter explained his plan. "You see," he
+said, "these fellows are not likely to be very much in a fight. We don't
+know how many men Weeks has got, but the farther down the line he comes
+the weaker he'll be. If we let him come far enough we can do the same
+trick to him that he must have done to McDowell; but if we meet him
+halfway, he may beat us. That leaves us at his mercy."
+
+"Do you think Weeks is on the train himself?" asked McNally.
+
+"Can't tell. It would be like him. If he isn't, that young West is. Most
+likely West is, anyway."
+
+"He's the man that blocks our game, if he is a fool. If anything should
+happen to him, there wouldn't be any question as to who was receiver of
+the road."
+
+Porter said nothing and there was a long silence. Then McNally went on,
+speaking slowly and guardedly:--
+
+"If there is anything of a mix-up such a thing would be likely enough to
+happen. He's young enough and cocky enough to get hurt quite naturally."
+
+Then Porter spoke quickly, for he read the unsaid meaning in the words.
+"That's going too far. I want the road, but not that way."
+
+McNally's drooping lids quivered, but otherwise his face was
+expressionless. He made no pretence that Porter had misunderstood him. He
+spoke as though unheeding the interruption.
+
+"If we bring about his disappearance for a day or two,--it needn't hurt
+him any,--we'll control the road, fight or no fight."
+
+He had meant to say something more, but he stopped, his eyes fixed on the
+opening door. Following his gaze Porter turned.
+
+"Katherine!" he exclaimed.
+
+With automatic courtesy, McNally rose and drew up a chair for her, but
+Katherine did not take it. She had worn a high-collared black velvet cloak
+over her house dress, and she drew it off and threw it over the desk. Then
+coming up behind her father she touched his forehead lightly with her cool
+hands.
+
+"Keeping everlastingly at it," she said, trying to speak lightly, "without
+any dinner or anything. Is business getting so very, very serious?"
+
+The tenderness of it touched Porter, and though he felt that she should
+not be there he could not send her away.
+
+"We're right in the thick of it now," he said.
+
+"It will all be over one way or the other in a day or two."
+
+"And then," said Katherine, with a little laugh, "and then I'll have
+somebody to play with again."
+
+She stooped and kissed him, and then noticing that McNally was still
+standing she addressed him for the first time.
+
+"Please don't wait for me to sit down. I'm going to stay right here."
+
+Porter yielded to the restfulness of having her there and sat with closed
+eyes, while she stroked the trembling lids with the tips of her fingers.
+Neither of the men spoke, and at last Katherine broke the silence.
+
+"Don't you think," she said to her father, "that everything would go just
+as well if you came home with me now and took a little rest? You'll feel
+lots better to-morrow, if you do, and there's a to-morrow coming, you
+know. It isn't likely that anything more will happen tonight, is it?"
+
+"I'm afraid it is," said McNally. "You see we think Weeks is coming down
+the line now, with a trainful of armed men, and he may force us into a
+fight before morning."
+
+"I see," said Katherine. "That is, when his army meets the one you sent up
+the line this afternoon."
+
+Porter moved his head free from her hands and asked sharply,--
+
+"What do you know about that, dear?"
+
+"Just what Senator Jones told me," she answered. "He got off the train at
+Sawyerville and drove over to the Club to telephone."
+
+"Do you know which Senator Jones it was?" asked McNally. "Was it the one
+they call 'Sporty'?"
+
+"Yes," laughed Katherine; "I'm very sure it was that one."
+
+McNally turned quickly to Porter. "He's got it in for your people, hasn't
+he?"
+
+"Yes," the other answered; "but he can't do much harm. Nobody pays any
+attention to him. Do you know, Katherine, whether his telephoning had
+anything to do with us?"
+
+"I'll tell you everything I know about it," she said, and she recounted
+what she knew of the doings of the Senator on that afternoon.
+
+"Is that bad news?" she asked, when she had finished.
+
+"We can hardly tell till we see what happens next," said McNally.
+
+Katherine seated herself in the chair McNally had placed for her, and
+listened while her father and McNally talked over their plans and
+speculated upon the probable import of the messages which kept coming in.
+There was no attempt to keep Katherine in the dark as to what their plans
+were, and for the time she had given up looking at the perplexing aspects
+of the situation, and was enjoying the action and excitement of it. But as
+the clock ticked off one hour and then another, she noted her father's
+increasing weariness, and she determined to make another attempt to get
+him home, where he could, at least, have a few hours' rest.
+
+She rose, and walking around behind him, as she had done before, she
+clasped her hands over his eyes, and said:--
+
+"You're completely worn out, dad. Please come home. I don't believe
+anything is going to happen after all."
+
+Porter sighed wearily; but he said, "My dear, if Jim Weeks is coming down
+the line, something is sure to happen."
+
+"Do you think he's on the train himself?" she asked.
+
+McNally looked up quickly. It was not the question, but something that the
+question suggested to him, that made him say:--
+
+"Probably not. We think young West is in charge of the gang."
+
+Katherine's hands were still clasped over her father's eyes, and McNally
+took the opportunity this afforded him to accompany his words with a
+meaning look that was insolent in its intentness. In spite of herself
+Katherine felt the blood mounting into her cheeks and forehead, and
+McNally, seeing the blush, made no effort to conceal his smile. Katherine
+did not flinch from his gaze, but returned it squarely. Dropping her hands
+to her father's shoulders, she said steadily:--
+
+"I suppose he is on the train. He likes that sort of thing. Of course Mr.
+McNally will lead our forlorn hope when it starts out."
+
+She smiled as she said it, for he winced under the thrust.
+
+He rose hurriedly, and as he moved toward the door he spoke to Porter.
+
+"I've got some business to attend to with Wilkins. I'll be back soon."
+
+When he had left the room Porter turned to Katherine.
+
+"You'd better go home now. I can't go until we know what is going on out
+on the road. I'll come as soon as I can, but you must go now."
+
+He had spoken gently, but with a finality that left Katherine no hope of
+persuading him. He took up her cloak and threw it over her shoulders, and
+kissed her.
+
+"Good night. I'll come along by and by."
+
+"If you don't, I'll come back after you."
+
+Without waiting to hear her father's dissent, which she knew would follow
+this declaration, she fled from the room and down the steps to her
+carriage.
+
+As she settled herself among the robes and cushions she heard McNally's
+voice:--
+
+"Can you find the right men to do it?"
+
+The door slammed and the carriage clattered away with Katherine wondering
+what "it" was.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+IN THE DARK
+
+After leaving Brushingham, Harvey and his crew merely duplicated the
+enemy's performance of the afternoon. The C. & S.C. employees were thrown
+out before they had become thoroughly settled, and with each new capture
+messages flew back to Mattison at Manchester, giving him and Jim Weeks a
+detailed account of the progress of the train. The greatest care was
+exercised to keep news of the train from Truesdale. Wherever there was a
+possibility of the ejected men reaching a telephone, they were actually
+taken in custody and placed under guard. The operators were instructed to
+answer all messages from the Truesdale despatcher as intelligently as
+possible, in order to continue the deception.
+
+It was a long, hard ride. Harvey was called upon constantly to exercise
+ingenuity in the handling of his forces, and though Mallory was of great
+assistance, the strain of responsibility rested upon Harvey. He was tired
+when he started, but as the night wore on toward morning, nothing but his
+sound nerves kept him on his feet. At two-thirty o'clock they were within
+twenty miles of Truesdale, and Harvey and Mallory were both in the engine,
+anxiously looking for obstructions. From Mattison's despatches they knew
+that reenforcements were flying down over an open road, but the collecting
+of a second force had taken time, and it was nearly midnight before the
+second train was on its way, a hundred and sixty-five miles from Harvey's
+present location.
+
+Nearly all Harvey's men had been dropped along the line, and he was in no
+position for a conflict, particularly as he had no knowledge of the
+enemy's location or preparedness. Mallory was for pausing until the other
+train should reach them, probably about daylight. He argued that they had
+nothing to gain and everything to lose. Harvey, undecided, referred to his
+map, spreading it out on the fireman's bench while Mallory lighted matches
+and held them over the paper. Harvey ran his finger down the line to
+Sawyerville.
+
+"Just north of the Sawyerville station," he said, "there is a curve and a
+deep cut. I am inclined to think that if they try to block the road
+they'll do it there. The quarries are right at hand, and all they need to
+do is to roll a few rocks down."
+
+"Do you think they would try that?" asked Mallory. "It would block them
+worse than it would us."
+
+"I don't know about that, but I'll feel a lot easier when we're through
+that cut with open country between us and Truesdale. Run slow, Donohue,
+and put out your headlight. Mallory, you see that the train is perfectly
+dark. We might as well try a little bluffing even if we do strike them.
+They won't know but what we've got five hundred men aboard, and the others
+will reach us before they find it out."
+
+Mallory clambered over the coal in the tender, while the fireman crawled
+out on the running board and extinguished the headlight. The night was
+very dark, and Jawn leaned out of the cab window, his left hand gripping
+the throttle lever. The fireman was badly in need of sleep, and showed a
+tendency to grumble in a half-incoherent way, but Jawn was as silent as at
+the start. To Harvey, who even in the excitement was afraid to sit down
+for fear of falling asleep, the engineer was a marvel in his machine-like
+self-control.
+
+Slowly the line of empty cars rolled along. Jawn's eyes were glued to the
+track in front, which to Harvey seemed a constantly resolving confusion of
+shadows. The tall gray telegraph poles crept by with monotonous regularity
+until Harvey turned away and looked out at the dim meadows on the left,
+over which was spread a ghostly film of mist.
+
+"There's the cut," said Jawn.
+
+Harvey looked forward, but could see nothing. Jawn, however, gradually
+slackened speed until they were barely moving. Mallory appeared on the
+tender and came over the coal to the apron, where he stood leaning out
+with one arm around the cab door-post. The fireman heaped a shovel with
+coal, and staggering wearily into the cab he knocked open the door of the
+fire-box from which a dull glow tempered the darkness. Harvey seated
+himself on the fireman's seat, holding himself stiffly erect and trying to
+distinguish the track before. Jawn slowly brought the train to a stop.
+
+"What is it?" asked Harvey. "See anything ahead?"
+
+"No. We're about two hundred yards from the curve."
+
+Harvey turned to Mallory.
+
+"We'd better throw out a few men ahead, Mallory, to see that the track is
+clear."
+
+"Haven't got many left, not more than half a dozen altogether."
+
+Harvey stepped down and stretched his tired limbs.
+
+"I'll go myself," he said. "Call one of your men up here."
+
+Mallory climbed back on the tender and whistled. A man who had been
+sitting on the steps of the first car came forward.
+
+"You wait here, Donohue," said Harvey. "If everything is all right, I'll
+come back." He struck a match and looked at his watch. "We've been taking
+time enough. It's three-fifteen now. I'll walk along the top of the cut on
+the left-hand side, and you "--to the detective--"you take the other side.
+Keep within easy hail--" He paused abruptly. Through the crisp night air
+came the roll and snort of an engine. There was a long silence in the cab.
+
+"She's running slow," said Jawn, at length.
+
+Harvey stood breaking the match into bits. The noise of the other train
+came slowly nearer, but so slowly that all listened breathlessly. After a
+little they could hear the rumbling of an exhaust, and Jawn muttered,
+"She's stopped."
+
+"We'd better wait," said Mallory. "It's more than likely that they have
+another gang ready for us. They probably will be coming this way before
+long."
+
+Harvey stepped up to the fireman's seat again, and fixed his eyes on the
+black cut ahead. It was still dark, but he could now distinguish the deep
+shadow which marked the spot where the track bent sharply to the left
+between its rock walls. For some time all were silent, listening to the
+noise of the other engine. Jawn sat on his bench, which he had not left
+for hours, ready either for going ahead or for backing, as the
+circumstances should dictate. Mallory moved to the step and swung out as
+before, watching and listening. The fireman swung his arms and shifted his
+feet in an effort to keep awake.
+
+Occasionally they could hear men shouting, then there would be no sound
+save the subdued hiss of steam. After a long wait a bell rang, and Jawn's
+grasp tightened, but the other engine gave only a few coughs and stopped
+again. The ensuing silence was broken by Harvey stepping to the tender and
+beckoning to the detective, who had been sitting on the coal.
+
+"All right," said Harvey. "We'll go ahead and see what they're up to. You
+take the right bank, and keep close to the edge where I can talk to you if
+necessary." He swung out of the cab and began laboriously to climb up the
+seamed sloping rock, which reached a man's height above the cab roof.
+
+Excepting the occasional cracks and jagged projections there was no
+foothold, and it was at the expense of cut and scraped hands that he
+scrambled up the soft limestone and reached the top. He sat for a moment
+on the ground to recover his breath and to pull himself together. The
+detective was standing on the opposite bank and Harvey rose and stumbled
+forward. They crept along, climbing fences and tripping through
+underbrush. As they rounded the curve the ground began to slope away, and
+soon they could see the headlight of an engine. Behind it, at the
+Sawyerville platform, stretched a train of lighted cars.
+
+Harvey and the detective had been talking across the cut, but now for the
+sake of caution they went on in silence. Harvey slipped around a farmyard
+that backed up to the track, and struck into the woods that lie north of
+Sawyerville almost up to the station and its lonely cluster of houses.
+Stepping quietly along a bridle path he soon came within earshot of the
+station.
+
+Little knots of men stood on the platform talking excitedly. The new
+station agent and operator was running about in his shirt sleeves with his
+hand full of papers. Within the cars were crowds of men; Harvey estimated
+that there were several hundred. Standing near the engine, the centre of a
+small group, was a large man whom Harvey thought was McNally, but he could
+not be certain at that distance and in the uncertain light of flickering
+station lamps.
+
+Harvey's sporting blood was up, and with entire forgetfulness of his
+exhaustion he crept slowly forward, worming through the brush and long
+grass behind a snake fence. Slowly he progressed until only a muddy road
+intervened between him and the north end of the platform. Taking advantage
+of a noisy blow-off from the engine, he piled some brush up in front of
+him and stretched out at full length with his chin on his arm, viewing the
+scene through the opening between the two lowest rails of the fence. Now
+he could easily recognize McNally, and without being able to distinguish
+words could even hear him talking. Suddenly McNally stepped out from the
+group and called down the platform,--
+
+"Blake, are Wilkins and the boys back yet?"
+
+The reply was lost to Harvey, but McNally shouted,--
+
+"If they aren't here in five minutes, go ahead."
+
+That told Harvey just what he wanted to know, and slowly turning he began
+crawling back. But before he had gone very far, he heard a sound which
+suggested possibilities. It was the wheezing of his own engine at the
+other end of the curve. Now that he stopped to think, he realized that it
+must have been perfectly audible to McNally's party. From this it was
+naturally to be inferred that "the boys" had been sent out on a mission
+similar to his own. It occurred to him that he and they might have passed,
+and that the repassing might not so easily be accomplished. He increased
+his efforts and soon was deep enough in the woods to get to his feet and
+run. When he drew near the farmhouse he took a detour and passed it with
+fifty yards to spare. He could not afford to rouse any dogs. He was
+getting into the open when three or four men appeared directly in front of
+him, walking slowly from a strip of woods toward the track. Harvey dug his
+heel into the ground and dodged back, but the men saw him and without a
+word started in pursuit.
+
+The chase was not a long one. Harvey was completely hemmed in, and
+exhausted as he was and spent with running, he was soon overhauled. He
+tried to call out, but one of the men gripped his mouth.
+
+Mallory, as soon as Harvey was out of sight, settled down to await his
+return with more or less impatience. The fireman leaned against the
+forward end of the tender and promptly fell asleep, but Jawn waked him
+with a growl, whereupon the exhausted man stood erect, struggling to bring
+his rebellious nerves under control. As the minutes slipped by Jawn's eyes
+shifted from track to bank and back to the cut again. The clouds that
+lingered from the afternoon rain hid every star save one near the horizon,
+which struggled to announce the coming dawn.
+
+Ten minutes passed, and fifteen. Then came the warning bell of the other
+locomotive, followed by a quick succession of puffs as the big drivers
+gripped the rails. Jawn leaned far out the window and scanned the banks of
+the cut. No one was in sight. He ducked in and seized the throttle lever.
+
+"Hold on," said Mallory. "Are they coming this way?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Mallory seized his arm.
+
+"Back up, then. We can't meet them."
+
+Jawn jerked his elbow from Mallory's grasp and opened the throttle.
+
+"Are you crazy, man!" Mallory shouted. "Stop her! You'll kill us!"
+
+Jawn opened her a little wider. For an instant Mallory looked at him in
+wonder, then he sprang forward and jammed the lever close to the boiler.
+
+"Reverse!" he ordered.
+
+For reply Jawn turned on Mallory and crowded him back. Weak-nerved from
+the long strain, suffering for lack of sleep, the two men broke down for
+the moment, and struggled about the cab. The fireman stumbled back against
+the boiler with a dazed face, but after a moment he recovered and rushed
+between the two men.
+
+"This ain't right!" he screamed. "If you two fight, we're ditched."
+
+As he spoke, the detective who had gone with Harvey came slipping and
+tumbling down the cut, and clambered aboard the engine. Jawn and Mallory
+fell back against the opposite benches and glared at each other. Jawn
+suddenly reached for the throttle.
+
+"Wait a. minute," gasped Mallory; "she's stopped."
+
+Half reluctantly Jawn listened. Sure enough, the other train had paused,
+evidently just around the curve.
+
+"The man's right," Mallory went on. "We haven't got any business
+scrapping; we've got to pull together. Now tell me what you were trying to
+do."
+
+Jawn looked out ahead before he replied,--
+
+"I ain't going to leave Mr. West down there."
+
+"Isn't Mr. West back?" asked the detective, in a startled tone. "He's had
+time enough to go clear to the station and back. I went pretty near to it
+myself. They've got a train full of men. It looks like business."
+
+"Hear that, Donohue?" said Mallory. "What do you think we can do against a
+gang like that?"
+
+"That don't make no difference, Mr. Mattison says, 'Hold the line if you
+lose an engine doing it,' and I'm going to hold it."
+
+"But stop to think, man. There isn't a possible chance of holding it.
+We'll do more good by dodging back and keeping them guessing until the
+relief comes. As it stands now we are perfectly helpless."
+
+"Now look here," said Jawn. "You go back and fetch every man you got."
+
+"What are you up to?"
+
+"No difference what I'm up to. You fetch your men."
+
+Mallory looked sharply at Jawn, then he motioned to the detective, who
+dropped to the ground and hurried back.
+
+"What's your plan?" Mallory asked again. But Jawn shook his head and
+watched the cut.
+
+In a moment the detective reappeared followed by five others. All six came
+crowding upon the apron. Without leaving his seat Jawn gave his orders,--
+
+"Get on the tender, as high up as you can, and when we go at 'em, yell
+like hell."
+
+With startled, wondering faces the men clambered back, Mallory among them,
+taking positions on the tank and on what was left of the coal. From around
+the curve another succession of puffs drew Jawn's eyes to the front, and
+his grip tightened.
+
+"Hold on, back there," he called, "and don't yell till I holler. Fire up,
+Billy."
+
+Billy fired up and the engine moved slowly forward. She crept cautiously
+toward the curve, foot by foot. On the rock wall dead ahead a yellow light
+flashed, and then crept around toward them. Jawn waited until it was
+almost full in his eyes.
+
+"Whistle, Billy," he said.
+
+The hoarse whistle shrieked, and the other engine seemed to start, then
+hesitate.
+
+"Now," said Jawn, without looking around, and he let out a tremendous yell
+of "At 'em, boys!" The men on the tender promptly raised an uproar, the
+fireman shouted as he jerked the whistle cord, and Jawn sat with one eye
+on the indicator, the other on the approaching headlight, his bass voice
+all the while roaring out a fiery challenge not unmixed with profanity.
+
+The engineer of McNally's special had received no orders to sacrifice his
+engine, and had no desire to sacrifice himself. He wavered, stopped, then
+tried to back. But Jawn let out another notch, and rammed his bull nose
+into and through the other's pilot with such force that both locomotives
+left the track.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+THE COMING OF DAWN
+
+The collision occurred at the southern end of the cut. It had for the men
+in the C. & S.C. train the additional force of unexpectedness. It was not
+violent, as railway collisions go, but the shock of it was enough to jerk
+the huddled, dozing men out of their seats, and to awaken them to a full
+consciousness that something had happened. In the stupefied hush which
+followed the crash they heard outside the train a chorus of
+shoutings,--derisive, blasphemous, triumphant. That completed their
+momentary demoralization; a panic swept them away, and the frenzied men
+fought each other in the effort to reach the car doors.
+
+But the rush was checked as suddenly as it had begun. The first men to get
+through the doors had hardly leaped to the ground when they saw from the
+shadow of the cut the vicious spit of revolvers and heard the bullets
+singing unpleasantly over their heads. Where they stood the gray dawn made
+them perfectly visible, but the blackness of the cut screened their
+assailants and made it impossible to guess their numbers. About twenty men
+had got out of the C. & S.C. train when the volley was fired, and the
+celerity with which they scattered brought another cheer from Mallory's
+men intrenched in the cut.
+
+Some of the fugitives scurried to the woods, while others struggled back
+into the cars. The shots had been heard inside the cars, and the rush to
+get out of them was succeeded by the impulse to lie down. The men were
+without leaders, without means of measuring the peril they were in or the
+force of their opponents, without knowledge of what was expected of them;
+and they lay cowering but angry in the barricaded cars, awaiting further
+developments.
+
+There was no one to tell them what to do. Where were their leaders? The
+murmur ran through the line of cars that McNally and Wilkins had deserted
+them. For neither of them was on the train when the collision occurred.
+
+McNally, standing on the Sawyerville platform near the rear end of his
+train, had already given the signal to go ahead when a man came out of the
+woods, hurried across the muddy road, ran down the platform, and clutching
+his arm said eagerly:--
+
+"Mr. McNally, Wilkins wants you to come over here. We've caught one of
+them and he says he thinks it's the one you told him about."
+
+McNally turned and shouted to the engineer, "Hold on up there a minute";
+but the cry was unheard, and the long train continued slowly toward the
+curve. Smith, who had just brought the report to McNally, started up the
+platform in pursuit, but McNally stopped him.
+
+"Never mind," he said. "They won't go far. Now tell me about this fellow
+you've caught. Where was he?"
+
+"Right over here in the woods; it's only a little way. Wilkins wanted you
+should come over there."
+
+"Go ahead," said McNally. "Show me the way."
+
+The two men crossed the road and entered the woods by the path. It was
+still as black as midnight under the trees, and they felt their way
+cautiously. Just north of the farmhouse they left the path and stepped
+into the crackling underbrush. They had gone but a few paces when they
+were stopped by the sound of a low whistle close by at their left.
+
+"There they are," said the guide.
+
+McNally started to follow him, but hesitated and then whispered:--
+
+"I'll wait here. Send Wilkins out to me, will you?"
+
+When Wilkins appeared McNally stepped back a little and looked around
+nervously before he spoke.
+
+"Can they hear us?"
+
+Wilkins shook his head.
+
+"How much did you tell that young fellow of our conversation?" questioned
+McNally.
+
+"Smith? Nothing but just what he told you. I said I thought he was the man
+you told me about."
+
+"What does he look like?"
+
+"Big man--straight dark hair. I took these out of his pockets."
+
+They were a handful of papers, and McNally took them eagerly. "That's
+something like," he said.
+
+It was too dark to make out anything, and he struck a match. The crackle
+was followed by another sound from the thicket, as though a man had moved
+suddenly and violently. McNally started and dropped the match, glancing
+suspiciously toward the spot whence the sound came.
+
+"It's only the boys," said Wilkins. "Here, I'll give you a light."
+
+As he sheltered the flickering match-light with his hands, McNally glanced
+over the papers. One of them he found by unfolding to be a map of the
+railroad. There were some memoranda, scrawled and unintelligible, and last
+of all, what appeared to be a note in a crumpled blue envelope, bearing a
+week-old postmark. He scrutinized it closely, and then rubbed his soft
+hands over it. There was the caricature of a smile on his face.
+
+"That's all the light I need. He's the man."
+
+As Wilkins dropped the match, McNally turned a little and slipped the blue
+note into his pocket. Then he handed the other papers to Wilkins,
+saying:--
+
+"Put them back where you found them. We don't want to rob him."
+
+In a moment, with lowered voice he went on:--
+
+"I don't think it's necessary for me to give any further instructions.
+When you go back there just tell those men what we want. It's necessary
+that West shall be out of the game for the next day or two, that's all.
+I'll walk along toward the train, and when you get through with them
+follow me down the track. What force have they on the other train?"
+
+"Not more than twenty men."
+
+"That simplifies--"
+
+As he started to speak there came to his ears a splintering crash followed
+by a quick succession of shots.
+
+McNally smiled. "The boys are rushing things," he said. "I hope they
+aren't doing anything rash. I'll hurry along and pacify 'em. Follow me as
+soon as you can, will you?"
+
+He turned to go, but Wilkins waited.
+
+"Mr. McNally," he said, "I guess you'd better attend to that West business
+yourself. I'll send one of those men to you, and take Smith down to the
+train with me."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I guess you can see what I mean all right," said Wilkins. "I'd rather let
+you be responsible for any kidnapping."
+
+He did not wait for a reply, but hurried into the thicket, and nodding to
+one of the men who still held Harvey he said in a low tone:--
+
+"You're wanted out there. Your partners can hold this chap all right."
+Then with a gesture motioning Smith to follow, he felt his way through the
+woods and down the side of the cut to the track.
+
+Once out of the shadow of the trees he could see plainly enough, for dawn
+was breaking fast. The rear end of his train was in sight, about a hundred
+yards up the track; the head of it was hidden by the curve. From the cut
+he could hear derisive shouts and cat-calls, but from his own train not a
+sound. Puzzled and a little alarmed, he broke into a run. He passed the
+rear cars and came around the curve in sight of the men in the cut.
+
+"Get back there, you damned robber!" shouted one of them, and the command
+was followed by a shot.
+
+The bullet went high over Wilkins's head, but it had its effect none the
+less. He sprang up the steps of the nearest car and threw himself against
+the door. It resisted his efforts, however, and from inside the car came
+another warning, for a gruff voice said:--
+
+"Quit that, if you don't want to be blown full of holes."
+
+Wilkins stepped out of line of the door before he answered:--
+
+"Let me in, you fool. It's me, Wilkins."
+
+The door opened slowly and he looked into the barrel of a levelled
+revolver, which was lowered when he was recognized. He looked about the
+crowded car in increasing amazement, the men shifting sullenly under his
+glance. At last he said:--
+
+"What in hell are you men doing here? Scared to death, too; and by half a
+dozen men! Stand up now, and go out there and tie 'em up. It won't take
+you but a minute."
+
+There was an inarticulate growl of protest, and the man who had been
+guarding the door spoke:
+
+"They've got us in a hole. We started to get off the train and they shot
+at us from the cut. They can pick us off like rabbits."
+
+Wilkins hesitated. He did not know whether or not the men in the cut would
+shoot to kill, but he saw that their position gave them a tremendous
+advantage in the first rush. He did not care to face the responsibility of
+ordering a charge that would prove too costly. After a moment he said:--
+
+"It'll be all right if you all do it together. One of you speak to the men
+in the forward cars and I'll go back and do the same thing. Then when we
+give the signal make a rush."
+
+Wilkins went through toward the rear of the train, as he had said, but his
+object was to gain time and to wait for McNally. Then the responsibility
+could be shifted to where it belonged. When he reached the rear platform
+he saw McNally coming up the track. He hurried to meet him, and in a few
+words laid the situation before him.
+
+McNally's upper lip drew away from his teeth as he heard it, but he spoke
+quietly.
+
+"They've got us bluffed down, haven't they? But I guess it's about time we
+called them. They'll be pretty careful not to hit anybody with those guns
+of theirs. Have the men come through to the rear of the train and get off
+from this platform where they'll be screened by the curve. Then they can
+spread out through the woods and come down on 'em from the sides of the
+cut."
+
+Of course the odds were overwhelming; they were greater even than the
+numerical disparity would indicate, for the men in the cut were utterly
+exhausted. They had staked everything on their bluff and had been
+sustained for a time by seeing that it was succeeding. But at last Jawn,
+standing in the cab of his derailed locomotive, saw something that made
+him call quickly to Mallory.
+
+"They've started," he said.
+
+"Where are they?"
+
+"Comin' up through the woods."
+
+Mallory glanced quickly about and said, "We're flanked. There's no good in
+staying here, is there?"
+
+"The baggage car'll hold together for a while, and the other train ought
+to be here now."
+
+"Well," said Mallory, "we'll try it. Come on, boys, get to cover."
+
+The men climbed into the car, and Jawn and Mallory were discussing methods
+for defending it, when the fireman thought of something.
+
+"How about Bill Jones?" he asked. "He's back with the flag. Ain't he
+liable to get snapped up?"
+
+"He'll have to take his chances," said Mallory.
+
+"Hold on, though. It won't do for them to find him."
+
+He glanced out of the window and then ran out on the platform.
+
+"There's time enough, I guess," he muttered, turning and speaking into the
+car. "I'm goin' back with him."
+
+He disappeared, and Jawn quietly assumed command of the defences. "Don't
+do any shooting," he said. "It won't help any in this mix-up. These are
+good to hit with," and he showed a coupling pin he held in his hand.
+
+When the preparations were made for the defence, and all the bulky
+articles in the car had been placed where they would be most in the way of
+an attacking party, the men waited. They were stupid with fatigue, and
+even the prospect of an immediate attack failed to arouse them; but they
+were still game, and though they lay about the floor in attitudes of utter
+exhaustion their sullen determination to hold the car was unmistakable.
+
+At last a shower of stones came rattling about the car, and they heard the
+shouts of two hundred men who came charging down the banks into the cut.
+Jawn and his men breathed more freely now that the waiting was over, and
+drew themselves up with a spark of their old alertness. One man began
+singing, drumming on the car floor with a stick,--
+
+"There'll be a hot time--"
+
+and another, springing to his feet, took to balancing his loaded club,
+shifting it from finger to finger, and then catching it in his hand he
+struck quick and hard through the air to see where the grip was best.
+
+Then they heard the sound of feet on the north platform, and some one
+tried the door. "Guess they're in here," they heard him say.
+
+"Guess you'll find that you're dead right about that," observed the man
+who had been singing.
+
+Jawn said no word, but waited with blazing eyes beside the door. He meant
+to strike the first blow with his coupling pin. There were two ineffectual
+thuds against the door and then a crash. The hinges started and one panel
+splintered inward. Another, and this time the door fell and a giant of a
+man, jerked off his balance by the sledge he had swung, staggered into the
+car. Jawn struck; the man's collarbone crackled under the coupling pin and
+he fell forward with a yell. Then over him and over the fallen door came
+the rush. The handful of defenders chose their corners and fought in them,
+each in his own way; some in a sort of hysteria, screaming curses, some
+striking silently, and one, the singer, with a laugh on his lips. When the
+fireman was struck senseless, this man fought over him until forced back
+by press of numbers, so that he no longer had room to strike.
+
+The defence of the baggage car was over, and the defenders, disabled and
+disarmed, were submitting to the handcuffs or to the bits of rope which
+were used in securing them, when there came a sound of cheering, which
+made their captors leave them hastily and clamber from the car. The relief
+had come.
+
+It came on the run, with Mallory at the head. There was no order, no
+pretence at formation; simply a stream of eager, angry men, some running
+through the cut along the tracks, others stumbling through the woods
+above, all animated by the desire to reach the scene of action as quickly
+as possible. And waiting for them was another mob of men, the main body of
+McNally's army. They were crowded in the cut on both sides of the train
+they had just captured, with the knowledge rankling in their hearts that
+they had been held at bay by a handful of determined men. They were glad
+they had somebody to fight.
+
+The moment the two bodies of men came together the confusion became
+indescribable. The men had no means of distinguishing between friend and
+foe. They were at too close quarters to make fighting possible, and if it
+had been, no one would have known whom to strike and whom to defend. The
+cut was densely packed with men who strained and swayed and struggled and
+swore, but who could not by any possibility fight. But slowly the
+increasing weight of the new arrivals began to tell, and slowly, almost
+imperceptibly, the mass began to move south. Eventually they would push
+out of the cut to the open, where they could discuss matters more
+satisfactorily.
+
+In the excitement they did not hear the long train that came clanking up
+from the south and stopped just behind the C. & S.C. train. But a moment
+later the uproar ceased, as sounded high and clear the echoing bugles,
+"Forward, Fours left into line, March!" Looking, they saw six companies of
+the National Guard come swinging across the open, the horizontal rays of
+the rising sun gilding their fixed bayonets.
+
+There was no need for shot or bayonet thrust, the mob was quiet. McNally,
+as he stood panting in the thickest of the crowd, knew what it meant. The
+time for violence was over; his army had outlived its usefulness. And he
+knew that however the fight for the M. & T. was to be won, this was the
+beginning of the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+KATHERINE DECIDES
+
+It was some hours before definite information was to be had concerning the
+present condition of affairs. No one knew whether his side had won or
+lost, whether the M. & T. was a Weeks road or a Porter road, though in the
+excitement each claimed control and made immediate efforts to enforce
+orders relating to its conduct. Messages flew back and forth along the
+singing wires, and wrecking trains started almost simultaneously from
+Manchester and from Truesdale, with instructions to clear up the muss at
+Sawyerville, in order that the regular train service be resumed.
+
+But before matters were more than fairly under way, there came a sudden
+suspension of action. The Weeks wreckers paused at Brushingham, and
+contented themselves with pulling Harvey's first capture back on the
+rails. That done, the conductor stuffed a bundle of somewhat contradictory
+but imperative orders into his pocket, and stretched himself on the little
+red bench on the Brushingham station platform; the engineer, after a
+shouted order, settled down to the nearest approach to rest known to an
+engineer on duty; the division car repairer and the roadmaster curled up
+in the caboose, for they had been routed out at an unseemly hour; the
+station agent amused himself reading the messages that rattled through to
+the South and back, telling of a muddle at headquarters. When a wrecking
+train is held for orders, it is safe to assume that something has
+happened.
+
+Down the line there was a similar occurrence. The Truesdale repair crew
+was caught at Sawyerville and ordered back. But before the astonished
+conductor had read the message through, another came ordering him on,
+subject no longer to the Superintendent's orders, but to those of Colonel
+Wray, 3d N.G.
+
+The Governor of the State, in the conduct of routine matters, was usually
+content to follow precedent, which means that the State House clerical
+force was let more or less severely alone to govern the community, while
+the executive directed the politics of his party with a view to coming
+elections. At times an emergency occurred, miners struck, excited citizens
+lynched a negro, henchmen of the other party strained the voting laws,
+municipal corporations endeavored to steal State privileges--in any of
+which cases he delayed definite action until public sentiment bayed at his
+heels, then he acted with shrewdness and despatch. At the time of the
+fight, this same noisy public was keen on the scent of the railroads.
+Certain street railway corporations had called out abuse by methods which
+were excusable only for their success, and the mass saw no reason to
+believe that one corporation was better than another. Discriminating
+freight tariffs, which had seemed to favor a neighboring State, had
+thoroughly antagonized the country districts--and the country districts'
+vote. From even the solid communities had come rumors of restlessness and
+discontent. Ward bosses were worried, county magnates were dodging reform
+committees instigated by the traditionally conscientious minority, and the
+Governor knew that certain bills which awaited his signature were not
+likely to increase his following.
+
+So it was that the great man was watching, watching and waiting, for the
+opportunity to strike a blow which should swing public sentiment around in
+his favor. Up to the present the whole State had been quiet. The miners
+were as orderly as the Sunday-school over which he presided when in his
+native town. The great labor organizations he was so eager to conciliate
+perversely gave him no opportunity.
+
+And so it was that when messages came pouring in upon him from bosses and
+chairmen and advisers urging immediate interference in the M. & T. fight,
+when the sheriff of Malden County sent in an hysterical report, all
+instigated by the pungent advices from mad and muddy Senator Sporty
+Jones--the Governor inclined his ear. He was a shrewd man, and he knew
+that in order to make a distinct impression on The Public his blow must be
+sudden and spectacular. The longer he thought on it, the more the
+opportunity pleased him, and before the evening was far advanced Colonel
+Wray was speeding to Truesdale.
+
+The Third was not a city regiment. It was made up of men from the middle
+sections of the State, a company to every few counties with battalion
+headquarters in three of the smaller cities, Truesdale for one. In the
+city regiments was a blue-stocking element which did not fit the
+Governor's present needs.
+
+As soon as Colonel Wray reached Truesdale, he established himself in the
+inhospitable warehouse which in reports was called an armory. Before
+midnight the local company was collected, uniformed, and in order. Later
+special trains arrived, and squads and companies marched through the
+echoing streets, to sit dozing about the armory. At three-thirty a train
+came in from the southern counties bringing the second battalion, three
+hundred husky farm lads who glowed with responsibility as they stacked
+arms and awaited orders.
+
+Then came a telephone message that McNally's relief train had left for the
+North. Colonel Wray waited no longer but marched over to the station,
+seized the telegraph office and the telephone, placed guards at each
+entrance and about the train shed, ordered the yard master to make up
+another train, levied on the station restaurant for six hundred cups of
+coffee, and tore fly-leaves from the news-stand books to write special
+orders for the waiting adjutant.
+
+Meanwhile Porter was feverish. He tried to bulldoze the sergeant in the
+telegraph office only to be hustled off by a corporal's guard. He finally
+reached the Colonel's ear, but was heard in courteous silence. He made an
+effort to call up the Oakwood Club to send a message to McNally, but the
+sunburned young fellow in the 'phone box leaned on his rifle and shook his
+head. The same thing happened when he tried to get out of the
+building--"Sorry, sir. Captain's orders"--and the baffled magnate paced up
+and down the waiting room between long files of light-hearted boys in
+blue. It was humiliating to consider that he had subscribed heavily toward
+fitting up the Truesdale armory, that half the officers knew him and
+feared his influence.
+
+While he was racking his brain sudden orders were shouted through the
+building. The lounging groups came up with a jerk, there was a rattle of
+arms, and in ten seconds the farm boys had resolved into a machine, a set
+of rigid blue lines that reached the length of the waiting room. There was
+another order, and one after another the companies broke into columns of
+twos and swung through the glass doors, which were held open by a couple
+of scared but admiring waiters.
+
+Porter followed the last company and stood in the doorway behind two
+crossed rifles watching the troops climb into the cars. The Colonel stood
+at the track gate as the men marched through, talking with his aids.
+Porter thought for a moment of calling to him, but realized the futility
+of it after the treatment he had just received. Besides, even a railroad
+president could hardly keep his dignity with those ridiculous guns under
+his nose. So he turned and walked slowly to his temporary headquarters in
+the station agent's office, but to find that the young captain left in
+command by Colonel Wray had made himself at home and was issuing orders to
+a snub-nosed lieutenant.
+
+Porter took a chair and looked out of the window. For a moment he was too
+weary to be aggressive. Worry and loss of sleep had lined his face, and
+the absence of news from McNally kept his nerves strung. As he sat there
+gripping the arms of the chair, face a little flushed, hair disarranged,
+collar dusty, he looked ten years past his age. It was a critical moment
+in the fight, and he knew it, but cornered as he was, absolutely
+uninformed as to his position in the struggle, or the meaning of the
+military display, a sense of helplessness almost unnerved him. Heretofore
+his fights had been largely conducted through deferential employees. He
+was accustomed to bows and scrapes, to men who feared him, who watched his
+every move in awe, and to find himself utterly at the mercy of these tin
+soldiers was disgusting. It was twenty-four hours since he had had a wink
+of sleep and eighteen since he had eaten a full meal--facts which in no
+small measure lessened the stability of his mental poise. And there he sat
+waiting through the darkness and the dawn.
+
+The reds and golds in the eastern sky spread and paled. The little
+green-clad city stretched down the gentle hill, now indistinct in the
+haze. An early electric car whirred and jangled past the station, and
+Porter was half conscious of the noise. He got up, straightened his stiff
+joints, and went to the lunch counter, where he had to jostle between two
+gawky privates before he could order a cup of smoky cereal coffee and a
+sandwich. After getting a place he could not eat, so he returned to the
+office. Now that some sort of routine was established, the Captain showed
+a willingness to meet him civilly.
+
+"See here," said Porter, after a few commonplaces had been exchanged, "how
+long is this going to keep up? There is no sense in holding me here."
+
+"Sorry, sir. I have no desire to inconvenience you, but my orders are to
+let no one out and no one in. And you know what orders are for."
+
+"Oh, that's all right,"--Porter leaned back in his chair and looked out
+the window,--"but there's such a thing as going to extremes. Sometimes
+common sense supersedes orders."
+
+"You forget, Mr. Porter, that you are here for the purpose of conducting a
+raid, and we are here to stop that raid. Under the circumstances it is my
+duty to hold you and every one connected with the affair until I am
+otherwise ordered."
+
+"But I am not a thief, man."
+
+"No, perhaps not." The Captain turned to some papers on the desk, and
+Porter continued to look out, wearily, with a sudden dull ache above his
+eyes.
+
+A corporal appeared in the doorway, saluting.
+
+"There's a young lady, sir, says she's got to see Mr. Porter."
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"Don't know, but she sticks to it."
+
+"It's my daughter," said Porter, with an effort to rise. "Where is she?"
+
+"Wait," the Captain said; "I'll speak to her," and he followed the
+soldier.
+
+Porter sat still. After a little he heard voices in the waiting room, and
+Katherine entered the office. At the sight of his worn, haggard face her
+annoyed expression vanished, and she drew the Captain's chair beside her
+father's and laid her hand upon his forehead.
+
+"You are sick," she said gently.
+
+"Nonsense"--he made a feeble effort to shake off her hand--"I asked you
+not to come back. I'm tired, that's all."
+
+Katherine rose and looked about.
+
+"Come into the waiting room, dad, and lie down. You must have some sleep
+or you won't be good for anything."
+
+"You must go back," said Porter, shaking his head. "This is no place for
+you."
+
+Katherine looked quietly into his eyes. It was not the first time that the
+strain of his busy life had told upon her father's nerves, and she knew
+what was the matter.
+
+"Come, dad," she said. "Get a little sleep, and I'll stay by and wake you
+if there is any news."
+
+Porter scowled, then slowly rose. The Captain, who had been hesitating in
+the doorway, came forward to assist. Porter turned on him savagely. "Let
+me alone. I can walk, I guess." But at a glance from Katherine the Captain
+took an arm, and Porter submitted, seemingly unconscious of his
+inconsistency.
+
+Along the walls of the waiting room were benches, and on one of these they
+tried to make Porter comfortable. When she saw that his head must rest on
+the wooden seat, Katherine hesitated and looked at the Captain, who was
+following her with his eyes.
+
+"I wish there was something for a pillow," she said. "Perhaps"--she stood
+erect and looked slowly about the waiting room, then stepped to the door
+of the office, returning with a pretty frown. "I wonder"--she met the
+Captain's gaze smiling frankly--"if you would let me take your coat."
+
+He was not an old officer, and he was not a hermit, so with but slight
+hesitation he unbuckled his belt, removed the coat, rolled it up, and as
+Katherine raised her father's head he slipped it underneath.
+
+"Will you send one of your men to a drug store for some camphor?" said
+Katherine, fumbling in the purse that hung from her belt.
+
+The Captain beckoned to one of the soldiers who were clustered about the
+door, and placed him at Katherine's disposal. When he returned she soaked
+her handkerchief with the camphor and laid it on her father's forehead. He
+was already asleep.
+
+"He'll be better as soon as he has had a little rest," Katherine said.
+"You are very good to help us." The Captain bowed with the expression of a
+man who has just been promoted, but said nothing.
+
+For an hour Porter slept, and during that time Katherine stayed by him,
+moistening the folded handkerchief and chafing his wrists. The Captain,
+his importance and self-command oozing away a bit at a time as he watched
+the cool, quiet girl, hovered near as often as his dignity would permit
+with offers of assistance, most of which Katherine accepted. He put her
+horses and trap in charge of a militiaman, he brought out a rocking-chair
+for her, and when, a little after eight o'clock, Porter showed signs of
+waking, he sent out for some breakfast.
+
+On Porter, the touch of sleep, the welcome cup of coffee, and more than
+anything else his daughter's soothing presence, seemed to have a marked
+effect. He sat up, leaning back heavily, and with a struggle collected his
+thoughts. Katherine joked with him, and fussed over him with a maternal
+solicitude that made the Captain smile.
+
+At eight-thirty, as Porter was sipping another cup of coffee, the corporal
+appeared.
+
+"A man says he's got to see Mr. Porter, sir. A Mr. McNally."
+
+"McNally," cried Porter, starting up only to sink back, breathing heavily.
+"Bring him here. I've got to see him."
+
+The Captain hesitated.
+
+"Did he state his business?"
+
+"No, sir. But he has a pass through the lines at Sawyerville, signed by
+Colonel Wray."
+
+"Um--let him come in."
+
+It was not the Mr. McNally who had played for Katherine two nights before.
+That had been a well-groomed, self-possessed man of the world; this was a
+muddy, unshaven, angry man, who spoke in a loud voice and smothered an
+oath just too late to keep it from her ear.
+
+He recovered somewhat, but even McNally could not lose sleep and temper
+for so many hours without a more or less immediate result. As she looked
+at him with a cool bow, Katherine thought of Harvey, and something caught
+in her throat.
+
+"Well," said Porter, "what about it? What's happened? Who's running this
+road?"
+
+McNally looked curiously at the Captain before he replied. That officer,
+at an appealing glance from Katherine, left the group.
+
+"The Governor is running it. He's played a game that knocks us silly. He's
+come down on us and cinched things for the senatorship at one crack."
+
+"What do you mean?" In his excitement Porter sat erect.
+
+"The Old Man has declared the M. & T. under military rule until the courts
+choose to settle it to suit themselves. That throws us out, throws Weeks
+out, and the devil take the hindmost."
+
+"Has there been trouble?"
+
+"They smashed into us at Sawyerville"--he suddenly remembered
+Katherine--"Excuse me, Miss Porter, I must see your father alone."
+
+"He cannot be excited, Mr. McNally."
+
+"There is no time to waste--"
+
+Katherine turned abruptly and went into the office.
+
+"Yes," said McNally, "they ripped into us at Sawyerville and we had the
+hell of a time till Wray's guards came up and stopped it. Wray let me
+through,--it was just after daylight,--and I picked up a horse from a
+farmer and rode down. But we got West though, damn him!--caught him
+sneaking through the bushes."
+
+"Be careful, McNally, we've got to be careful. It's no time to get mixed
+up in a thing like that--we--we can't afford--"
+
+"That's all right, Porter. We don't know where he is--I don't know, you
+don't know--and before we find out he'll be loose again."
+
+"But--Jim--Weeks don't forget that kind of thing, McNally--Jim Weeks--"
+
+"Oh, damn Jim Weeks! I'll take care of him."
+
+Porter paused to drink at a gulp what was left of his coffee.
+
+"Remember, McNally, I can't back you if you get careless--I can't back
+you, you know."
+
+"God, man! you've got to back me! You've got to back me through
+everything, or you'll go down with me. I tell you, Porter, we're too far
+in to back out, and it's nerve that's going to win. If you don't back me,
+if you don't draw on every cent you've got to shove it through, you'll be
+the one to be hit--not me." He paced the floor. "Yes, sir. It's you if
+it's anybody." Suddenly he stopped. He looked hard at Porter, then he
+turned quickly and strode into the office. Katherine was standing at the
+window.
+
+"Miss Katherine--"
+
+"Mr. McNally, my name is Miss Porter."
+
+"Miss--Miss Porter, I met a friend of yours this morning. I met him under
+peculiar circumstances. We had some words, I regret to say, and he left
+this with me." The plump, dirty hand drew a blue envelope from McNally's
+coat pocket. "It has seemed to me that where your father's honor was as
+seriously involved as in this matter, you should have followed some other
+course than that of traitor."
+
+In his excitement, McNally misunderstood Katherine's silence.
+
+"You have deliberately drawn out your father and me that you might aid our
+opponents. I have watched you--I have seen it--it is not your fault that
+we are not ruined--and for the sake of a man that I caught spying on us
+this morning, sneaking through the bushes in the dark--"
+
+There was a groan from the doorway. Porter stood there with one hand over
+his eyes. Katherine looked for an instant, then she brushed past McNally,
+and with one arm about her father she called to the Captain, who stood at
+the other side of the waiting room. He came at once.
+
+"Captain," she said, "I must ask you to take care of my father. Please
+telephone for a doctor and a closed carriage, and see that he is sent home
+at once. I shall drive there in the trap to prepare for him. Don't let
+this man"--she turned contemptuously toward McNally--"speak to him or
+excite him in any way. Will you do this?" As she spoke her face softened,
+and she held out her hand. The Captain took it.
+
+"Yes, Miss Porter, I will take care of him."
+
+Katherine, without looking again at McNally, walked to the door and called
+for her trap. As she waited on the steps, a newsboy came running down the
+walk, crying:--
+
+"Nine o'clock Extry! All 'bout M. & T. riot!"
+
+Katherine stopped him and bought a paper. The black headings told the
+story tersely, but one item stood out with vivid distinctness. She read,
+"Harvey West Disappears--Supposed that He Was Kidnapped--His Followers
+Swear Vengeance--Rumored that He Is Hidden Near The Oakwood Club." For a
+moment the blood left her face, and her nerves tightened, but when the
+trap was pulled up she was herself, and the smile she gave the soldier in
+charge brought forth an earnest but amateurish salute.
+
+Then Katherine drove home--it was her duty to go home. But, her duty done,
+she would drive straight to the Oakwood Club.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+HARVEY
+
+Before the dawn broke on Thursday morning Harvey was a prisoner. It was so
+absurd, so ridiculously theatrical, that had he not been too tired to
+think clearly, his sense of humor would have been equal to the occasion;
+as it was, he was angry, baffled, desperate. While held in the thicket by
+Wilkins's gang he had caught a voice too like McNally's to be easily
+mistaken, and when McNally struck the match that showed him the papers,
+Harvey had with an effort flopped over on the leaves, bound as he was, and
+through the bushes had caught a glimpse of McNally's face and figure.
+
+While the shooting and the uproar sounded from the cut Harvey was held in
+the woods, but before the second encounter his captors jerked him to his
+feet, tied his handkerchief across his eyes, and led him stumbling away.
+In a few moments Harvey lost all sense of direction. He figured that he
+was still on the east side of the track, and in all probability was going
+southeast on the river road. For a short while he tried to keep the
+direction, but realizing that he might be turned without knowing it, he
+gave up and decided to rely upon a chance opportunity to escape.
+Undoubtedly his guards were acting simply as agents, and it occurred to
+him that he might be able to influence them; but as his occasional
+attempts at conversation brought only profanity in reply, he fell back
+upon silence.
+
+Through his thin bandage he could feel that the light was growing
+brighter. Then he was led from the road, splashing through a ditch and
+sprawling over another fence. He bumped into a tree. The men jerked him
+roughly away and led him forward, twisting and stepping from side to side.
+Occasionally his foot struck a fallen log. Evidently they were in a heavy
+wood.
+
+At best their progress was very slow and was marked with numerous haltings
+and delays. Finally, about two hours after the start, Harvey was thrust
+through a doorway and a lock clicked behind him. He tore off the
+handkerchief and found himself in a small office, evidently deserted, for
+the rusted stove, the broken chair, and the floor were thickly coated with
+dust. There was one window, empty of glass and boarded up from the
+outside. He looked through a crack and saw the caved-in shaft house and
+the straggling waste heap of a worked-out mine. "Wonder how long they're
+going to try this game," he thought. He picked up the remains of a chair
+and tipping it over sat on the rounds.
+
+Harvey was nearly done for. Aside from the strain of the week, and
+particularly of the night just ended, he was wet to the knees, and his
+head ached from a chance blow received during his brief struggle near the
+Sawyerville station. His eyelids drooped, and for fear of dropping off to
+sleep he rose and walked the floor. Gradually his head cleared. It
+occurred to him that McNally would have run the risk involved in
+kidnapping him only because it was very important he should be gotten out
+of the way. Therefore, he reasoned, it was equally important from his
+point of view that he remain decidedly in the way. He looked through the
+crack and saw three men standing a few yards from the window talking
+excitedly. Their voices were gradually rising.
+
+"What you goin' to do with him?" asked one. "We can't keep him here."
+
+"Well, it's only for a few days."
+
+"But who's goin' to feed him?"
+
+"Yes," said the third, "an' how about us?"
+
+"Oh, you'll be all right," from the big man, who seemed to be the leader;
+"that's all fixed."
+
+"Who's goin' to do it--McNally?"
+
+"Ssh!" the leader looked around, and all three lowered their voices.
+
+Finally they seemed to reach an agreement; for the first speaker turned
+and walked rapidly toward the woods, and the others took to patrolling the
+small building.
+
+Again Harvey walked the floor. If he was to be of any service to Jim Weeks
+during what was left of the fight, it was absolutely necessary that he
+escape as soon as possible. In the course of his work as Jim's private
+secretary he had become fairly well acquainted with the details of his
+employer's many interests. Nearly all the mines along the M. & T. were
+owned or controlled by the capital which Jim represented, and Harvey knew
+the location of each of these. There was but one abandoned mine in the
+Sawyerville district, the Valley Shaft; it was about four miles from
+Sawyerville station and perhaps three or four from the Oakwood Club.
+
+Therefore, he reasoned, if he once broke loose from this galling
+restraint, he would soon be in a position to communicate with Jim.
+
+Outside, the big man stood directly before the window; his fellow could be
+heard walking to and fro in the rear of the building. Harvey looked about
+the room. There was nothing to serve as a weapon, except some part of the
+stove. He bent down and removed one of the small iron legs, taking care to
+make no noise. Then he examined the window. The boards were half-inch
+stuff, nailed on with little idea of security, probably because the office
+contained nothing worth stealing. He figured that it would be no difficult
+matter for a man of his weight and strength to force an exit. For the
+moment he forgot his weariness.
+
+Accordingly he drew back across the room, and bracing for a second against
+the wall, he ran forward and threw himself at the boards. They gave way
+more easily than he had supposed, and a rapid effort landed him squarely
+on the leader, who had turned at the noise. The struggle was short. Each
+had received a few hard blows when the man jerked his right arm loose and
+reached back for his revolver.
+
+Harvey took advantage of his open guard to strike a quick blow with the
+stove leg and brought the fellow to the ground. Harvey rolled him over,
+took the revolver from his pocket, and picked up his own hat. A noise from
+behind the building called to mind the other man, and he hurried forward.
+The other was walking stealthily toward the shaft house.
+
+"Say," called Harvey.
+
+The man turned sullenly.
+
+"Your friend there--he doesn't feel well," Harvey laughed nervously and
+gestured with the revolver; "you'd better look after him. I've got to go
+now." He paused to glance back at the big man, who was lying on one elbow
+and rubbing his head, then he turned and ran toward the woods.
+
+Once on the way, however, Harvey's sudden nervous strength deserted him.
+One of his opponent's blows had cut his scalp, and he was surprised to
+feel blood trickling down his face. He ran until his breath gave out, then
+he walked, struggling to overcome the dizziness that was coming on him.
+After going some distance he found a bridle path, and soon saw the river
+road before him. The need of hurry urging him on, he left the path to cut
+across a meadow. With some difficulty he drew himself upon the fence, and
+paused for breath with one leg thrown over the top rail. Then he felt a
+wave of dizziness, and, his muscles relaxing, he pitched forward into the
+long grass.
+
+Good nursing, proper food, and a brief rest were enough to pull together
+Porter's yielding nerves. There was some delay at first in getting a
+physician, and Katherine was obliged to wait for the greater part of an
+hour before the slowly driven carriage brought her father home.
+Considerable time passed before his improvement justified her in leaving
+the house, and then it was so near noon that she decided to wait until
+after lunch.
+
+Once on the road behind Ned and Nick, and beside the erect groom,
+Katherine realized the delicacy of the situation. Up to this moment she
+had been acting frankly upon impulse. It was so clear to her mind that
+McNally had been instrumental in the kidnapping of Harvey, and the sudden
+emotion aroused by the whole affair had so overwhelmed her, that for the
+time her only thought had been to get to Harvey, to be near him and of
+some service to him. But Katherine's impulse on this occasion was not far
+in advance of her reason, and what had begun in a whirl of excitement was
+continued in a spirit of quiet persistence. To be sure, there was a moment
+of wavering, but even then she did not think seriously of turning back.
+Anyway, there was nothing marked or unusual in frequent drives to the club
+during this crisp golfing weather.
+
+It was after two o'clock when she reached the club. The links were dotted
+here and there with golfers, and the usual autumn quiet hung about the
+verandas and halls of the building, but in the office there was bustle and
+excitement. Katherine stood near the wide fireplace in the lower hall
+drawing off her gloves and looking through the office door. A man was
+telephoning, a big man with a quiet voice. In a moment he rang off and
+turned around. His face interested Katherine and she watched him as he
+talked to the steward; she could not help hearing the conversation.
+
+"I've got to have another horse," the big man was saying. "I'll pay you
+whatever your time is worth. I want this whole county stirred up in half
+an hour."
+
+"But, sir, I cannot leave the club. We are short of help as it is, and the
+caddies are busy."
+
+"I've no time to talk. A man has been kidnapped and very likely injured.
+You get a rig--any kind, a farm wagon, if the horses are good--and have it
+here in fifteen minutes. Figure your time at whatever you like and send
+the bill to me."
+
+He handed a card to the steward, who looked at it with a slight start, and
+murmuring, "Certainly, Mr. Weeks," started down the hall. Katherine
+stopped him.
+
+"What is it, Perry?"
+
+"Jim--Mr. Weeks. He wants a horse."
+
+"You may lend him my trap--And, Perry, say nothing of it." Without waiting
+for a reply, she went into the reading room, picked up a magazine, and,
+throwing open her jacket, sat on the broad window-seat. A moment later Ned
+and Nick were pulled up on the drive, Jim Weeks climbed in beside the
+groom, and they hurried down toward the bridge.
+
+The magazine lay open in Katherine's lap. She rested an elbow on the
+window-sill and sat for a long time looking out across the valley. Not two
+weeks before this day she had stood on the veranda with Harvey, looking at
+the same picture through the haze of twilight. Then it had seemed like
+summer; now it was unmistakably autumn. Then the leaves were only
+beginning to yield to the touch of the waning year; now they were aflame
+and dropping--as she looked a whirl of them danced across the sloping
+lawn, the stragglers settling in the grass already marked by little dabs
+of red and russet brown. Farther off, in the valley, were corn-fields, now
+squares of yellow and bronze and gold. It was a glowing picture, but to
+Katherine it meant only that summer was dead, and she viewed it with vague
+regret.
+
+The afternoon wore on, but Katherine took no account of it. At a little
+after four, when Jim Weeks drove up and entered the building, she was
+startled into looking at her watch. She heard the telephone bell ring, and
+realized that he was talking. Then he paced up and down the hall. She
+wanted to go out there and ask him about Harvey, whether he was found, or
+whether--she shuddered a little at the thought of injury--but a feeling of
+helplessness possessed her. She realized that the time was slipping
+rapidly away. Jim Weeks might go, and she would have learned nothing,
+would have done nothing. But she had not come altogether in vain. She
+recalled with half-defiant pride that Jim had used her horses.
+
+"You are Miss Porter?"
+
+Katherine started, and turned with a slow blush. Weeks stood gravely
+looking at her.
+
+"I understand that I have to thank you," he continued. "They were your
+horses, I believe. I hope I have not inconvenienced you by keeping you
+here. But it was an emergency."
+
+"Has Mr. West been found?" Katherine struggled to keep the anxiety out of
+her voice.
+
+"No." Weeks sat down. "It seems impossible to get any word. I've roused
+things pretty effectively though, I think. There's a reward up. The
+sheriffs of both counties are at work, and the farmers are all stirred up.
+There's nothing to do but wait. If he's found, and by any chance is hurt,
+they're to bring him here."
+
+"Wouldn't it be a good plan to have a doctor here, in case--"
+
+"I don't think it is necessary. Of course the probability is that he is
+locked up somewhere and is being held for a day or so. If he is knocked
+out, it was not done intentionally. They wouldn't dare."
+
+At the word "they" Katherine winced a little, but Weeks apparently was
+entirely impersonal. There was a silence, Weeks sitting with slightly
+drawn brows but with an otherwise impassive face, Katherine looking out
+the window. A little later a wagon came slowly up the roadway. Two men
+were on the seat and a third reclined in the box. They were driving
+carefully, and Jim did not hear the sound of the wheels until a subdued
+exclamation from Katherine drew his attention. She was sitting erect, her
+hands gripping a cushion. Jim followed her gaze, then without a word he
+rose and hurried from the room.
+
+A moment later Katherine saw the wagon pull up at the steps, Weeks running
+down to meet it. The man beside the driver dropped back into the wagon box
+and raised the reclining figure; then he and Jim helped him to the ground.
+
+In spite of the soiled clothes, the matted hair, and the bandage across
+the forehead, Katherine recognized Harvey. When she saw that he could
+walk, even though leaning heavily on the others, her heart bounded. The
+three came slowly up the steps. Then she could hear Jim's voice in the
+hall, evidently issuing an order, and the steward slid one of the hall
+settees into the room and piled rugs upon it.
+
+Katherine rose in some doubt as they entered. She had taken up two of the
+cushions, one in each hand, and stood holding them. By now it was nearing
+five o'clock. The sun was about setting, and while outdoors it was still
+light, the long low room was already dim with approaching evening, so that
+not until he was close at hand could she see Harvey distinctly. But when
+she did distinguish the pale face and the weary eyes, her hesitation
+vanished and she hastened to lay the cushions on the settee. Harvey
+evidently had not observed her, for he suddenly drew back.
+
+"Really, Miss Porter, I'm not such an invalid as these people are trying
+to make out. I don't need to lie down." He laughed slightly as Jim drew
+him forward. "It's just a little stiffness. See here--" he broke away from
+his helpers and walked somewhat uncertainly to the settee, sitting on the
+edge. "What's the matter with that?"
+
+"Lie down, West," said Jim, quietly. Katherine glanced at him quickly. It
+was a peremptory order, but delivered in a quiet friendly tone whose calm
+assertiveness admitted of no debate. With an impatient gesture Harvey
+obeyed. Indeed, as Katherine looked almost shyly at this big,
+self-contained man she wondered if it would be possible to disobey him.
+And with the sudden realization of his secure authority came a wave of
+pity for her own father, the man who had thrown himself against this human
+rock and who was suffering for it. She turned away an instant for fear
+that her face would reveal her emotion.
+
+"Well," said Jim, looking at his watch, "by starting now I can catch the
+early train to Chicago. Be careful, West; there's no hurry. I'll wire you
+in the morning if there is anything important. Miss Porter, may I ask you
+to see that the steward takes care of Mr. West? I'll send a doctor out.
+I'm sorry to trouble you--there's no one else."
+
+Katherine inclined her head. And then she realized that Harvey and she
+were alone.
+
+"Won't you draw up a chair?" said Harvey. "I want to talk to you. I'm glad
+you're here. It's an awful bore to be alone when you're this way."
+
+His attempt at an easy manner gave Katherine a sense of relief. She sat
+beside him.
+
+"I'm sorry you are hurt. How did it happen?"
+
+"I think I fell off a fence. Wonder if I lost my handkerchief?" He thrust
+his hand into his pocket, and drew out a revolver, clasping it by the
+barrel. "That's funny. I don't remember--oh, yes." He stuffed it back into
+his pocket.
+
+"What is it? Tell me about it."
+
+Harvey looked thoughtfully at her. It occurred to him that to let her know
+of McNally's actions, which presumably were instigated by Porter himself,
+would be bringing matters too close home.
+
+"No," he replied, "it's rather a disagreeable story. If you were a good
+nurse you would try to make me forget it. I'm glad you are here--very
+glad. How did you happen to come?"
+
+"I often drive out. It is growing dark. I must think about getting back."
+
+"No," said Harvey, quickly, "don't go. I don't want you to go. I want to
+talk to you." His voice dropped as he spoke, and both suddenly became
+conscious of a change that had come over them, between them. Katherine sat
+still, turning her head toward the window, and though she could not see
+him she knew that Harvey was looking at her. The room was darker now.
+
+"Have you thought how odd this is," Harvey went on, "this conversation? We
+are talking just as though nothing had happened, just as though we were
+the same people who--who bought things at Field's; but we aren't. There's
+no use in thinking we are." He paused to raise himself on his elbow. "Do
+you know it is just twelve days since we were here?"
+
+Katherine laughed a little.
+
+"You have counted them?"
+
+"Yes. Last night when I was coming down on the special I thought about
+it--you know it seems longer, it seems a year ago. You remember we talked
+about the M. & T. And the next day when you drove me to the station--do
+you remember? I've wondered since then, a good many times, what you meant,
+whether you really wanted to see us win." She started to speak, but he
+broke in: "If I dared think so--"
+
+"You think I am weak."
+
+"No, if you really want to know what I think--I think you are the
+strongest girl I ever knew. Katherine,"--he reached impulsively for her
+hand, but she drew it away,--"I think you are--well, I might as well say
+it, you probably know it anyhow. I love you. I--I don't know that there is
+anything else to say."
+
+Katherine leaned back and looked at him. Her back was toward the window,
+and he could see only the outline of her head.
+
+"Are you sure?" she asked slowly.
+
+"You mean--you think I'm not well, that I haven't control of myself--I do
+love you, Katherine, so much that I can't get along without you. You
+believe me, don't you? You must believe me!"
+
+"Yes," very slowly, "I believe you."
+
+"Then--"
+
+"I don't know what to say. I'm afraid I--Oh, don't say any more! It isn't
+right." She rose suddenly as if to move away, but Harvey caught her dress
+and then her hand.
+
+"Katherine, you aren't going to leave me this way. Perhaps you don't want
+me, perhaps I have been mistaken and foolish, but I love you, and that
+ought to count for something."
+
+"It does--you don't understand--" She looked out the window for a moment:
+the first low-lying stars were out. "Don't you suppose," she said at last,
+in a labored voice, "that I have feelings? Don't you suppose that I--I
+don't mean that, either. You have been fighting my father--I have helped
+you. I have helped you to injure him, my own father. He is sick now, and I
+left him to-day, because--" Harvey's grasp tightened. "I have been
+disloyal to him, I have been dishonest--and that counts for something,
+too. No--we have been good friends, we can still be good friends. Perhaps,
+if it had been different--but it wasn't."
+
+"You don't mean this, Katherine."
+
+She drew her hand away and stood erect, dignified now and calm.
+
+"I am going home. I know that you love me, and I know that you will not
+hurt me any longer; for it does hurt me, I will tell you that."
+
+"But I shall see you--" With an effort, he raised himself to his feet and
+stood, weak and giddy, leaning on the back of the chair. "I won't give you
+up!"
+
+"Lie down. You mustn't tire yourself. We don't know what may happen," she
+steadied his arm as he sat down on the couch; "we only know what is right
+for us now. Good-by. I will speak to the steward."
+
+With throbbing head Harvey sank back on the cushions. A few moments later
+the doctor came in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+THE TILLMAN CITY STOCK
+
+The Governor was a familiar figure in Chicago, and his presence in a hotel
+lobby ordinarily excited no more than a glance of curious interest from
+the loungers about the news stand. The sensation he caused, when he
+entered the office of the Great Northern on Friday afternoon, was due to
+the company he brought with him; for on one side walked a pale, nervous,
+careworn man, who was hardly recognizable as the dapper, self-contained
+William C. Porter, and on the other, burly as ever, and, though grave,
+confident as ever, was Jim Weeks.
+
+A man who was registering at the desk watched them as they stepped into an
+elevator, and then said to the clerk:--
+
+"Have you got your furniture well insured? Because you can bet your life
+the fur will begin to fly in a few minutes."
+
+But the conference, which any reporter in Chicago would have given his
+ears to hear, was a quiet one. The Governor dominated the situation, and
+at the very outset he made this clear. In his dealings with the
+Intelligent Voter he was wont to call a spade by many high-sounding names,
+but when he chose he could call it a spade, and he did choose so to do
+this afternoon.
+
+The road, he said, was for the present in the hands of the State. Every
+station was guarded by a detail of State troops who had instructions to
+pay no attention to any writs from any court whatever. In every case they
+were to respect actual possession, and to allow the routine work of
+running the road to be carried on by the men they found in charge. This
+state of things would continue until the Governor was fully convinced that
+there would be no further attempt by either party to obtain possession of
+the road by force.
+
+The Governor went on to point out that a continuation of this arrangement
+was against the interest of both parties, as it brought the affairs of the
+road into unpleasant prominence, and every added day of it antagonized the
+people more, and might eventually lead to some rather drastic legislation
+which would hurt every road in the State.
+
+The courts would of course settle the question of possession in time, but
+meanwhile some sort of an understanding must be reached. The Governor
+proposed as a solution of the difficulty that the two men should jointly
+sign a paper he had drawn up.
+
+It was a petition addressed to the Governor himself, asking him to appoint
+one or more men to act as receivers of the road until the suits should be
+settled by the regular process of law. The men to be appointed were to be
+allies of neither party in the fight. Both parties agreed to refrain from
+any further attempts to use force in getting possession of the road.
+
+Weeks readily, and Porter after a moment of hesitation, signed the paper,
+and the Governor announced that his appointment would be made immediately.
+
+It was then arranged that the regular annual election of directors, which
+was due on the following Tuesday, should be held as usual. After the legal
+questions were settled, the Governor's commission would turn over the road
+to the newly elected board.
+
+When the conference was over, and it had not been a long one, the two
+warring railway magnates, who in the past week had set the whole State by
+the ears, rose and politely took their leave. As they went down in the
+elevator together, Weeks remarked,--
+
+"Autumn seems to have taken hold early this year."
+
+"Yes," answered Porter, "it's extremely disagreeable weather. I have my
+carriage here. May I save you a walk?"
+
+"No, thanks," said Jim; "I'm not going far."
+
+When they parted at the door they did not shake hands, but there was
+nothing in their manner to indicate that they had not just met for the
+first time at an afternoon tea.
+
+Jim went straight to his office, told Pease that he must not be disturbed,
+and settled himself to some hard thinking. That afternoon had materially
+changed the situation, and had for the most part simplified it. There was
+no further necessity for guarding against force. There was no longer
+anything to be apprehended from the legal juggling of Judge Black, for the
+Governor's interposition had rendered him quite harmless. When the case
+was tried it would be before an unprejudiced court. The seizure of the
+road by the militia had come at the right moment for Jim, for it left his
+employees in possession as far down as Sawyerville.
+
+The longer Jim thought, the simpler the problem became. He must bring
+about the election of his board of directors. As matters stood he could
+accomplish this only by voting the nine thousand shares of new stock he
+had issued the week before, thus giving Porter a more or less strong case
+against him. But if he could command a majority of the stock without this,
+there would be absolutely nothing for the courts to decide, and Tuesday
+evening would see him completely victorious. And so, for the first time
+that week, Jim turned the whole force of his attention to the Tillman City
+stock.
+
+It was just ten days since he had instructed Bridge to find out what was
+at the bottom of Blaney's defiance, and in that time he had heard no word
+from his lieutenant. There were but three days more.
+
+If it were his habit to act on impulse, as his wonderful quickness led men
+to believe, he would have gone straight to Tillman City, and carried on
+his fight there in person. But on reflection he concluded that his
+presence there would be likely to ruin whatever schemes Bridge might be
+working out. "I'll wait a little longer," he thought.
+
+Bridge was in the hospital. His landlady had found him in his room about
+an hour after the fever overtook him, and visions of a red quarantine card
+on her door-post had such disquieting force that in an incredibly short
+time the doctor and the oldest boarder were carrying the unconscious
+politician wrapped in a pair of blankets to the carriage which was to take
+him thither.
+
+Tillman City was proud of its hospital, and the nursing and the medical
+attention which Bridge received were as good as they could have been. But
+after all it seemed to make little difference, for the fever raged in him
+in spite of all efforts to break it. He lay, utterly insensible to his
+surroundings, the object of the curiosity, as well as the kindness, of
+those about him; for scarlet fever in a man, especially so severe a case,
+is enough out of the ordinary to be interesting. Sometimes his delirium
+became so violent that men had to hold him down to the bed, but for the
+most of the time he simply rolled and tossed, moaning softly or chattering
+unintelligible syllables.
+
+Wednesday evening his fever was slightly lower and he lay comparatively
+quiet. Sitting by the screen which kept the light of the night lamp from
+his eyes was Grace Burns. She had been a nurse only a little while, and to
+her Bridge was not a case but a man. She felt a great pity for the
+pathetic figure on the bed and, when she saw that it was good for him to
+have her by, she spent more than half the hours of the twenty-four
+watching him. She was a young woman, not yet thirty, and she had the poise
+which comes from nerves that are never out of tune. Some of her nervous
+strength she seemed to impart to him, and he was rarely violent while
+under her care.
+
+Now as she watched him she saw him throw back the covers and sit up on the
+edge of the bed. The movement was so quick that before she could reach him
+he was struggling to his feet.
+
+"The contract," he said. "I must take it to him right away." His voice and
+his inflection were perfectly natural.
+
+"Yes," she said easily, "I'll attend to that. There's plenty of time. Now
+lie down again."
+
+He looked at her in a puzzled, questioning way, but obeyed, and in a few
+moments his moaning told her that the dull fever dreams had again come
+upon him.
+
+When the doctor came to make his last visit before the night, he looked
+grave.
+
+"Has he had any lucid intervals?" he asked.
+
+She told him what had happened earlier in the evening.
+
+"It's hard to tell," he said, "whether that was dreams or not."
+
+As he started to go, she asked,--
+
+"Did they tell you downstairs that some one had been here to see him?"
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"He came while I was down in the office, and they said he had been here
+two or three times before. He wanted to see Mr. Bridge, he said, on a very
+important business matter."
+
+The doctor smiled. "I'm afraid," he said, "that business will be
+indefinitely postponed. Who was the man?"
+
+"He's one of our aldermen, Michael Blaney."
+
+They were startled by a cry from the bed. Bridge was sitting bolt upright,
+and terror was in his face.
+
+"Stop him, Weeks!" he gasped. "He's trying to choke me. Pull him off. You
+said he shouldn't touch me."
+
+The voice died away in a moan, and he sank back in the pillows, breathing
+thickly. The nurse slipped quickly to his side, clasped his wrist in her
+cool hand, and laid the other on his forehead, and in a few moments his
+breath was coming more regularly and the mad light was gone out of his
+eyes.
+
+The doctor looked on admiringly. "You'll pull him out of this if anybody
+can," he said. "It's strange he's got this Weeks business in his head. He
+hasn't known anything since Sunday night, and there wasn't much about it
+in the papers up to that time."
+
+There was a silence while the doctor, after a long look at his patient,
+turned and walked to the door. When he reached it he said:--
+
+"There's something beside scarlet fever that keeps up that delirium, I
+believe; something on his mind. I'd watch what he says pretty carefully,
+if I were you. He may give you a clew to what's bothering him. Then
+perhaps we can bring him around. Good night."
+
+Grace Burns was not in the habit of reading the papers, for her
+activities, her sympathies, and her thoughts were pretty well absorbed
+without them, but on Thursday morning she read with eager interest the
+account of the fight for the M. & T. railroad. She also read an editorial
+on Jim Weeks, and then found out all she could from the newspapers of the
+two days previous. When she had finished, she abandoned a half-formed
+project of the night before to write to Weeks and explain the situation to
+him on the chance of his being of assistance. She saw on what a large
+scale this man did things and concluded that it was unlikely that he had
+any connection with Bridge's affairs, if, indeed, he had ever heard of
+him. He would be too busy to pay much attention to anything she might
+write.
+
+All day long she listened to the sick man's continuous talk, hoping that
+some meaning would transpire through the incoherent sentences, something
+that would guide her to the source of his trouble; but her patience had
+little reward. He spoke vaguely of a contract once or twice, and as many
+times he mentioned the name of Jim Weeks, and at those times she thought
+of her plan again; mentally she would begin framing the note she would
+write to the great capitalist. But as often as she did this she realized
+that she had nothing to say to him, and with a sigh she put the thought
+away to wait at least until she could find out something more definite.
+
+The next morning, Friday, she read in the papers of the dramatic
+happenings of the day before and of Jim Weeks's going to Chicago,
+presumably for a conference with the Governor. The bigness of it appalled
+her a little, and again the courage she had been storing up over night to
+write the note oozed away. For after all it was a question of courage,
+courage to do something which common sense called absurd on the bare
+chance that it might do good.
+
+The day was a repetition of the day before, but late in the afternoon the
+persistent thought, "it might do some good," drove her to write to Jim
+Weeks. The note read:--
+
+"Mr. Bridge [she did not know his initials] is dangerously sick here in
+the hospital. He has been delirious ever since he was brought here, and
+has frequently called for you, sometimes as if he wanted to tell you
+something, and at others as if he desired your protection. I write in the
+hope that you will be able either to come or to suggest some clew to his
+delusions which may enable us to remove them."
+
+It was mailed that evening and reached Jim about noon Saturday. Not half
+an hour afterward she received a telegram which took a load off her
+mind:--
+
+  Shall reach Tillman at eight this evening and will drive direct to
+  the hospital. Please arrange it so I can see him immediately after I
+  arrive there.
+
+She was in the sick room watching, when Jim was shown in. He walked
+directly to the bed and stood looking down at Bridge for a moment, and
+then spoke to Grace Burns.
+
+"Has he any chance? What is it?"
+
+"It's scarlet fever. The doctor doesn't seem to think there's much hope."
+
+"Poor devil," said Jim under his breath.
+
+The nurse suddenly bent forward over the sick man, and motioned Jim to
+silence. Bridge's lips were moving and he seemed to be struggling to
+speak.
+
+"Yes, he's here," said the nurse in answer to the half-heard question.
+
+Jim dropped on one knee beside the bed. "Yes, I'm Jim Weeks," he said. "Do
+you want to tell me anything?"
+
+Again it was the nurse's ear that caught the words, "My coat--in the
+pocket--the contract."
+
+"I'll get it," she said quickly, and in a moment she had come back into
+the room, with the coat Bridge had worn when they brought him to the
+hospital.
+
+Jim took the coat, took a handful of papers out of the pockets and glanced
+over them. A scrawled and crumpled sheet caught his eye, and straightening
+it out he read it carefully, holding it close to the dim night lamp. He
+stood erect again, staring intently at the grotesque shadows on the
+screen. Grace Burns, who was watching him, saw that for the moment Bridge
+was forgotten.
+
+But presently his face softened and a smile came into his eyes. Again he
+went to the bedside and dropped on one knee. He spoke softly, but there
+was a restrained ring in his voice.
+
+"You've saved us, Bridge; can you understand me? We're going to win out.
+You were in time."
+
+He took the thin hand that lay on the coverlet and it clasped his
+convulsively. He looked curiously at the sick man, and then as the weak
+grip was not relaxed he sat down on the side of the bed and waited. Five
+minutes crept away, and another five, and then the slow easy breathing
+told them that Bridge was asleep.
+
+As the hand let go of his, Weeks rose to go. The nurse followed him to the
+door, where she said simply:--
+
+"Thank you for coming. It saved his life."
+
+"Then it was you who saved it," said Jim. "And you saved me, too. I won't
+forget it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+THE WINNING OF THE ROAD
+
+The Chicago papers reach Tillman City by nine o'clock every morning, and
+the inhabitants wait till then for information from the outside world. At
+supper time they read fragmentary Associated Press despatches and a more
+or less accurate chronicle of local happenings in _The Watchman_. Since
+the coming of the new editor, Tillman's one daily had contrived to worry
+along without the assistance of a patent inside, for he was an ambitious
+young fellow with a knack for writing snappy editorials, and he made the
+most of the meagre news the city furnished.
+
+He did not hear of Jim's arrival in town and his drive to the hospital
+until next morning. When told of it, he laid down his pipe and began
+slipping on his coat.
+
+"I suppose he's in town yet," he said to the reporter who had brought the
+news. "If he is, I'm going to see him; then I can make something out of
+what he might have said. He's the kind that makes me mad. He's got as good
+a story inside him as any man in the United States this morning, but it
+would take a chemical process to get it out of him."
+
+Jim was in his room at the Hotel Tremain, trying to decide upon the best
+way to bring Blaney to terms. The most direct course would be to go to
+Blaney and try to convince him of the worthlessness of McNally's contract.
+Blaney was badly scared already: that was evident enough in his manner
+during the interview Jim had had with him on the artesian road. The two
+weeks of suspense, during which time it was clear that Jim was winning,
+would not tend to increase Blaney's confidence. It would not take much of
+a bluff to complete his demoralization.
+
+But the difficulty lay in the manner of approach. To make the bluff most
+effective, Blaney should be frightened into seeking Jim. If he went to
+Blaney's house, the contractor would probably suspect that some weakness
+in Jim's position made him depend on Blaney's aid. Jim was not worrying
+over the problem as other men worry, for he had been quite sincere in
+telling Bridge that they were sure to win. Years of this kind of fighting
+had given him a just estimate of the immense value of time, and he had
+forty-eight hours left in which to get control of the Tillman City stock.
+Campaigns have been lost and won again in less time than that.
+
+When the bell-boy brought up the editor's card Jim stared at it a moment,
+then told the boy to show him in. Had the boy looked up he would have seen
+that Jim was smiling. His plan had come to him.
+
+When the editor came into the room he found Jim lounging in a big chair
+with his feet on another, bent apparently on spending the morning in
+luxurious idleness. Jim did not rise but greeted him cheerfully, and the
+editor took the chair Jim nodded to and accepted the cigar Jim offered
+him. This was the beginning of what the editor afterward spoke of as his
+trance.
+
+For there sat Jim Weeks, the wary, the close-mouthed, the reporter's
+despair, artlessly telling the whole inside history of the fight for the
+M. & T. At first the editor hardly dared to breathe for fear of bringing
+Jim to his senses and the story to a premature conclusion; but as the
+President talked apparently in his right mind, the editor became bolder
+and began asking questions. In answering, Jim told him that the fight was
+practically over. It would formally be decided on Tuesday at the
+stockholders' meeting; but as Jim and his allies controlled a majority of
+the stock, the outcome was certain.
+
+Then having cleared away the preliminaries Jim came to the point. "Your
+finance committee here in Tillman is going to vote your stock against us,
+though," he said. "Porter has pulled their leg with a fake contract, and
+they're just about big enough fools to be caught by that sort of a game.
+I've known about it for some time, and I might have done something if we
+hadn't stood to win anyway. As it is they can't beat us, no matter how
+they vote."
+
+There were more questions and more perfectly frank answers, and at last
+the editor knew practically all there was to know about the dealings of
+the wily Mr. Blaney. Jim did not seem to take the contract very seriously,
+but he was evidently perfectly familiar with its provisions. When the
+editor rose to go his head was fairly awhirl.
+
+"Mr. Weeks," he asked, "have you given this story to any one else?"
+
+"No," said Jim.
+
+"We don't come out till to-morrow afternoon," said the editor. "We haven't
+a Sunday edition. Will the story be any good by that time?"
+
+"That's as you think," said Jim. "I shan't give it to any one else."
+
+The bewildered editor went on his way rejoicing, and Jim packed his bag
+and started for Chicago. He had planted his mine under Blaney and he could
+do nothing more with him until the time for exploding it. Jim was
+satisfied with his plan. The story which _The Watchman_ was to print the
+next afternoon was almost sure to scare Blaney into submission. True, the
+time was short between the issue of the paper and the stockholders'
+meeting, but this fact was after all rather to Jim's advantage than
+otherwise. The only element of uncertainty in Jim's success lay in the
+possible countermove which McNally might make to reassure Blaney. The
+chances were, Jim thought, that McNally would not hear of the story in
+_The Watchman_ until Tuesday morning.
+
+Jim reached Chicago late Sunday afternoon.
+
+On Monday he and Harvey were back in the office working on other matters.
+Not until Tuesday morning did Jim start for Manchester, where the
+stockholders' meeting was to be held that afternoon.
+
+At eleven o'clock Jim walked into the lobby of the Illinois House, lighted
+a cigar at the news stand, nodded familiarly to the clerk, and passed on
+into the writing room. The clerk said to a bell-boy,--
+
+"Go into the bar and tell Mr. Blaney that Jim Weeks is here."
+
+Blaney had been waiting for that message for the past hour, for he had
+told the clerk to let him know as soon as Jim should arrive, and he had
+expected him earlier; but now he only swore savagely at the bell-boy, and
+ordered another whiskey. It was the last of a long series of bracers, and
+it did its work a little too well.
+
+With soldierly erectness he walked out of the bar, across the lobby, and
+into the writing room. Jim was writing at a desk and did not look up as
+Blaney entered, so the contractor went round behind him and dropped his
+hand heavily on Jim's shoulder.
+
+"I want to talk to you," he said fiercely.
+
+Jim looked up as if to see who it was, and then turned back to his
+writing.
+
+"Well, talk away," he said.
+
+"I want to see you in private," said Blaney, excited to rage by Jim's
+indifference.
+
+Jim affected to consider for a moment; then he rose and led the way to the
+office, where he told the clerk that he wanted a room for an hour or so,
+and that on no account must he be disturbed.
+
+The two men climbed to the room in silence. When they reached it, Jim
+followed Blaney in, locked the door behind him, and put the key in his
+pocket. The action made Blaney nervous, and the warmth at the pit of his
+stomach was beginning to be succeeded by something that felt like a large
+lump of cold lead.
+
+"Well," said Jim, "we're private enough now. What have you got to say?"
+
+Blaney pumped up all the bluster he could.
+
+"All I want to find out is, who wrote that story in _The Watchman_."
+
+"That's all, is it?" said Jim. "I could have told you that downstairs. I
+wrote it."
+
+Then Blaney broke loose. He was working himself up to a perfect frenzy of
+denials, accusations, threats, and blasphemy. The man was a pitiable
+spectacle, and Jim, leaning back against the locked door, watched him in
+mingled amusement and contempt. He was surprised that Blaney should have
+become so utterly demoralized. He had never considered the contractor a
+big man, or even a good fighter, but that he would go to pieces so easily
+was unexpected. He did not know how violent the explosion in Tillman had
+been. The town sided with Jim Weeks, and when the people realized how he
+was to be sold out, the storm exceeded the editor's wildest expectations,
+and Blaney was brought face to face with political ruin.
+
+Jim let the almost hysterical rage expend itself before he interrupted.
+Then he said:--
+
+"Shut up, Blaney. You've made a fool of yourself long enough. And I've
+fooled with you long enough. You've been trying ever since you were
+alderman to throw me down. You've talked about how much you were going to
+do, and all the while we've been laughing at you. Then this McNally came
+along and set up you and Williams to a dinner at the Hotel Tremain and
+paid you some money and gave you this fool contract, to get you to vote
+the Tillman City proxies his way."
+
+Jim took a copy of the contract out of his pocket and read it aloud, while
+Blaney listened in stupid amazement. "McNally is a smart man," Jim went
+on, folding the contract and replacing it, "and he sized you up just about
+right when he figured he could take you in with a fake like this, that
+isn't worth the paper it is written on. And when you'd got fooled so you
+thought C. & S.C. would pay par for your stock, what do you do but go
+around and tell a man you know is working for me all about it! And now
+when I've got you just where I want you, where you can only wriggle, you
+come around and try to scare me. Do you know what you are? You're just a
+plain damn fool."
+
+Blaney did not seem to hear the last words of what was probably the
+longest speech Jim Weeks had ever made. His attention had been riveted on
+something else.
+
+"Bridge," he exclaimed. "Bridge gave that away, did he?"
+
+"Yes," said Jim; "Bridge gave me this contract. There's just about one
+more fool thing you can do, Blaney, and that is try to touch him. Try it!
+Why, man, if you do I'll break you to pieces." The words had a ring in
+them, but Jim quieted instantly. "I'm looking out for Bridge."
+
+There was a long silence. Blaney dropped limply into a gaudy rocking-chair
+and with a dirty handkerchief mopped the sweat out of his eyes. Jim had
+not moved from his position before the door. His lips were grave, but
+something in his eyes suggested that he was smiling. It was Jim who spoke
+at last.
+
+"I don't believe you've got anything to say to me, and I haven't much more
+to say to you. You've got the Tillman proxies for five thousand shares and
+you're going to vote them in a couple of hours. You can vote them either
+way you like. It doesn't make much difference to me because I win by at
+least four thousand even if you go against me. But if you do, you'll find
+it hard work a year from now to get a city job laying bricks in Tillman.
+I'll guarantee that. If you choose to vote 'em my way that story in _The
+Watchman_ will fall by its own weight. I'll leave you alone so long as you
+don't monkey with Bridge."
+
+"I won't monkey with Bridge," said Blaney, sullenly; "but I'll tell you,
+you're making a big mistake to take any stock in him. He's been lying to
+you. I never saw that contract before. He came to me and tried to get me
+to go up against you, and when I wouldn't he must have got up that
+contract to get even with me. That's what made me so mad about that story
+in the papers."
+
+"I see," said Jim, with unshaken gravity. "Well, there's no use in talking
+any more, I guess. We understand each other." And with these words Jim
+unlocked the door and walked downstairs to dinner.
+
+By four o'clock it was all over; the road was won, and Jim, struggling
+into his overcoat, was reflecting on how beautifully success succeeds. For
+Blaney had not been the only one to change sides, and the result of the
+election had been a sweeping victory, which surprised even Jim. The
+stampede had caught Thompson and Wing, and the only holdings which had
+been voted against him were those directly represented by Porter. Porter
+had attended the meeting and was surprised to find that his relief at
+having the fight well over was almost strong enough to make up for his
+chagrin and disappointment at being defeated.
+
+He met Jim at the door, and after a word of commonplaces he inquired after
+Harvey.
+
+"He's getting on all right," said Jim. "He got a crack over the head
+that's bothering him a little, but it's nothing serious."
+
+"Weeks," said Porter, abruptly, "I want a word with you about that affair.
+That attempt to kidnap him was dirty business. I don't think I need say
+that it was done without my sanction. The man who was responsible for it
+is no longer in my employ. Good day."
+
+"That," mused Jim as he drove to the Northern Station, "is what comes of
+having a daughter like Miss Katherine Porter."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+
+THE SURRENDER
+
+Jim looked up from a desk that was piled high with letters and memoranda.
+
+"West, what do think of that?" he said, handing a type-written sheet
+across to the other desk.
+
+It was an order addressed to Mattison, reinstating J. Donohue in the
+passenger service of the M. & T.
+
+"He deserves it," replied Harvey, briefly. "Shall I send it on?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Each turned back to his work. Such interruptions were rare now in Jim's
+office in the Washington Building. For any man of wide and commanding
+interests to drop his routine even for a day or so means a busy time
+catching up later on; and in the case of Jim, who had lost all told the
+better part of two weeks, the accumulation was almost disheartening,
+particularly to Harvey.
+
+Although he had to come to Chicago early Friday morning, spending only one
+night at the Oakwood Club, it was not until Monday that Harvey was able to
+resume work. In the meantime he had neither seen nor heard from Katherine.
+During that long night at the club he had planned, in a feverish, restless
+way, to drive to her home in the morning; but the morning saw him speeding
+to Chicago, weak and nerveless. During Friday and Saturday he was confined
+to his room by order of the physician, but on Sunday, a bright day, he
+walked out.
+
+His first letter to Katherine was written Saturday afternoon. It was a
+simple statement, a manly plea for what he desired more than anything else
+in the world, and as he read it over he felt that it must have an effect.
+That it deeply moved Katherine was shown by the reply which came on the
+following Tuesday. She did not waste words, but there was in her little
+note an honest directness that left Harvey helpless to reply. She made no
+concealment of her love, though not stating it, but repeated practically
+what she had said that afternoon at the club. Again it was, "We must
+wait--" even indefinitely. Harvey read the note many times. Tuesday night
+he sat down with a wild idea of answering it, but his inner sense of
+delicacy restrained him. She had put the matter in such a light,
+practically throwing herself on his generosity, his love for her, that he
+realized that to write again would only make her duty harder. And in the
+intervals when Harvey's passionate impatience gave way to calmer
+reflection, he knew that he loved her the better for her strength.
+
+Wednesday and Thursday passed. Harvey's complete recovery was slow, though
+he worked hard at his desk; even the news of Jim's victory seemed to have
+little effect on him. He was listless, his work contained little of the
+old vigor and energy, and there were rings under his eyes. Jim said
+nothing, but he had not been blind to Katherine's tell-tale interest when
+Harvey was found. He knew Harvey, even better than the younger man
+suspected. From the nature of his work and experience Jim had learned to
+read human nature,--probably that faculty had much to do with his
+success,--and the fact that in Harvey's make-up were certain of his own
+rugged characteristics had drawn him to Harvey more than to any other man
+of his acquaintance: this in addition to the one touch of sentiment that
+had influenced Jim's whole career, for he could not forget that Harvey was
+the son of the only woman he had ever loved.
+
+Thursday evening Jim sat down to his solitary dinner with a feeling of
+utter loneliness. There came back to him, clearer than for a quarter of a
+century, all the yearning, the unrest, the self-abandon of his love for
+Ethel Harvey. The years had rounded him, and built up in him a sturdy
+character; he stood before the world a man of solid achievement, calm,
+successful, satisfied. His spreading interests, his intricate affairs, the
+prestige and credit of his position--these had combined to concentrate his
+energies, to hold, day and night, his thoughts, crowding out alike dreams
+and memories. He had given the best of his life, not for gold, but for
+power, credit, influence. The struggle had fascinated him, he had risen to
+each new emergency with a thrill at the thought of grappling with men of
+mettle, of calling into play each muscle of the system he had organized.
+But as he left the table and walked with unelastic step into the library,
+there rose before him the picture of Harvey, weak and pale but filled
+nevertheless with the vigor of youthful blood, stretched on a couch, while
+over him, gentle in her womanhood, Katherine was bending. As the scene
+came back he again moved through it, and again, as he turned to go, he
+caught a glimpse of her eyes, and he saw in them the look that no man can
+view without a prayer, a look that melted through the crust of years and
+left Jim's heart bare.
+
+It was dark in the library, but he cared not. He sat before the wide table
+staring at the shadows. For the first time in many years he was far from
+stocks and from the world. He tried madly, desperately, then humbly, to
+fight down the other picture--that of the only other woman whose eyes had
+reached his heart; but the struggle was too great, and with head buried on
+his outstretched arms Jim gave way to a flood burst of memory that poured
+out years in moments.
+
+Some time later he raised his head. Habits so fixed as Jim's will assert
+themselves even in moments of stress, and now what was almost an instinct
+urged him to such action as would even slightly ease the strain. Harvey
+was his hope, Harvey's happiness and Katherine's was all that appealed to
+him now, and so with set teeth he rang for his carriage. Jim Weeks had
+faced many problems, he had gone lightly into many battles, but never
+before had his energies been so set upon a single object.
+
+Jim drove direct to Harvey's rooms, and, finding them dark, walked in,
+lighted up, drew down the curtains, and sank wearily into the easy-chair.
+He was by this time near his old self, save for the wrinkles about his
+eyes, which seemed deeper. He had not before been in Harvey's quarters,
+and he looked about with almost nervous interest. Later he picked up the
+evening paper and tried to read, but dropped it and took to walking about
+the room. On the mantel was the Kodak picture of Katherine, and he paused
+to look at it. It so held his interest that he did not hear the door open
+five minutes later.
+
+Harvey closed the door and threw his overcoat on a chair.
+
+"Beg pardon for keeping you waiting," he said, apparently not surprised at
+Jim's presence. "If I had known you were here, I'd have come back earlier.
+Been out for a little exercise."
+
+Jim nodded, and turned back to the photograph.
+
+"This is Porter's daughter, isn't it?" he said abruptly.
+
+With a brief "Yes," Harvey threw himself into a chair by the table. After
+a moment Jim turned and stood with his back to the mantel, looking at
+Harvey, then he crossed over and sat down.
+
+"West, I've been thinking of you to-night, and I've come over to have a
+talk with you. You are in bad shape. You show it plain enough. If it were
+any other time, if we weren't already so far behind with our work, I'd
+send you off somewhere for a vacation. You need it."
+
+Harvey smiled wearily.
+
+"A fellow can't expect to get over a row like that in a day or so. I'll be
+all right in a week."
+
+"Look here," Jim leaned back and looked squarely at Harvey, "why don't you
+own up? Why don't you tell me about it? It's--it's her, isn't it?"
+indicating the photograph.
+
+Harvey returned Jim's gaze with an expression of some surprise, then he
+leaned forward and looked at the carpet, resting his elbows on his knees.
+
+"Of course," Jim continued, "it isn't exactly in my line, but I might be
+able to bring some common sense to bear on it. When a man's bothered about
+a girl, he's likely to need a little common sense. I understand--of
+course--if you'd rather not talk about it----"
+
+There was a long silence. Harvey broke it.
+
+"I don't know but what you're right. I haven't known just what to do.
+Things are pretty much mixed up. You want me to tell you?"
+
+Jim nodded.
+
+"It isn't that she doesn't care for me. I think she does. You know she's
+always honest. But somehow it strikes her as a question of duty. She loves
+her father, and she feels that she hasn't been loyal to him. I've written
+to her,--I've used up all my arguments,--but she puts it in such a way
+that I can't say another word without actually hurting her. To her mind
+it's just a plain case of right and wrong, and that settles it. You know
+she's that kind of a girl."
+
+"Yes," said Jim, "I suppose she is."
+
+"I've gone over and over it until I'm all at sea. I don't seem to have a
+grip on myself. I can't write to her or go to see her. It would be simply
+dishonorable after the way she has talked to me--and written." Harvey rose
+and walked to the mantel, resting his elbows on it and looking at the
+photograph.
+
+"When was it?" asked Jim. "That day in the Oakwood Club?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you know she loves you?"
+
+"I didn't say I knew it."
+
+"Well, then, I do."
+
+At this Harvey turned, but Jim's face was quiet.
+
+"Yes, I know it. You say there is nothing in the way but her father?"
+
+"That is all I know about."
+
+"I can ease your mind on that. I had a short talk with Porter Tuesday, and
+I think he's a little ashamed of himself. He told me that he was against
+that kidnapping scheme and that he has broken with McNally. Probably Miss
+Porter has had a talk with him by this time,--I don't see how they could
+help it,--and if she has, I guess some of her ideas have changed a
+little."
+
+Jim paused, but as Harvey stood facing the mantel without speaking he went
+on:--
+
+"There's just one thing for you to do, West. You go down there and begin
+all over again. If she's got any pride, she won't write to you--Why, man,
+any girl would expect--You've got to! Understand? You've got to!"
+
+As he spoke Jim rose and stood erect; then, as Harvey still was silent, he
+took to pacing the floor. Harvey was looking, not at the picture, but
+through it into a calm summer night on the river, when Katherine had given
+him that first glimpse of herself, the woman he loved and was always to
+love. He saw her beside him in the trap, watching with bright, eager eyes
+the striding bays, and later tugging at his watch-fob. He saw her in the
+gray twilight, bending down over him and saying in that low thrilling
+voice: "We don't know what may happen. We only know what is right for us
+now." As he slowly turned around he felt a mist come over his eyes and he
+was not ashamed. Jim stopped and stood looking at him. Harvey asked
+simply,--
+
+"Can you spare me over Sunday?"
+
+"You'd better go to-morrow."
+
+"But the work?"
+
+"I don't want to hear about that,"--Jim's voice was gruff,--"you take the
+morning train. Don't come back till you're ready."
+
+Their eyes met in embarrassed silence, then Harvey sat at the table and
+wrote a few words.
+
+"Will you have your man send that tonight?" he asked, handing it to Jim.
+"It's a telegram."
+
+Jim took it, slowly folded it, and put it into his pocket. He reached for
+his coat, and Harvey helped him put it on. Several times Jim started to
+speak, but it was not until one glove was on and his hat in his hand that
+he got it out:--
+
+"I'll tell you, West, I--A man learns something from experience, one way
+or another. I've known what such things are--I know what it means to love
+a woman, and to try to live without her." He suddenly gripped Harvey's
+hand, holding it for a moment with a silent, nervous pressure, and Harvey
+felt the perspiration on his palm. "I made a mistake, West, and I've paid
+for it--I'm paying for it now. If I hadn't--If I had made it right, she
+would have been--you would have--" The words seemed to choke him, and with
+a strange expression he loosened his grip and started toward the door.
+Halfway he turned. As he stood there, stalwart yet humble, a new pathos
+crept into his features. "West, a man doesn't get much in this world if he
+waits for things to straighten themselves out. Good night."
+
+Before Harvey could recover from a certain awkwardness, Jim had gone. He
+could hear the heavy tread on the stairs. Then came the slam of a carriage
+door, and he knew that Jim was going back to the big, empty house.
+
+The next morning, Friday, Harvey took the early train for Truesdale. He
+picked up a carriage at the station and drove rapidly out to Porter's
+home. From the porte-cochere he hastened to the door, rang the bell, and
+asked for her. In the wide hall he stood, coat still buttoned, hat in
+hand, looking eagerly up the stairway. In a moment she appeared (he could
+not know that she had been watching for him), coming slowly down the
+stairs, not hesitating, but holding back with a touch of the old dignity.
+For the moment her beauty, her strong womanhood, gave Harvey a sense of
+awe, and he stood looking up at her, not knowing that his eyes told the
+story. And then, as she stayed on the lower step, a quiet assertiveness
+came over him, and he stepped forward.
+
+"Katherine," he said, and extended both hands.
+
+She still hesitated, looking at him with eyes that seemed to question, to
+read his as if searching for something she feared might not be there; then
+she took the last step and stood before him.
+
+"Katherine," he repeated, but stopped again, for now her eyes were shining
+on him with a look that thrilled and exalted him, and with sudden joy in
+his heart he drew her to him.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Short Line War, by Merwin-Webster
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