The Road Builders

aid Young Van. "Yo

hot

xas this morning? I-I'm a little hazy abou

hrough. He's hitched

n, and the former was gazing off dejectedly to the horizon, where he could see a few moving black specks and the gray-yellow line of the gra

the chief replied. "I'm going t

be a day or so before the young man would be able to resume his work. Then Carhart stepped out, walked part way down the knoll, and looked about him, and be

r them came a party of ladies and one or two young men to whom Tiffany was explaining the methods of construction. It seemed that Mr. Chambers had thought it wo

them in with a glance, then looked down over his own outrageously attired person and restrained a smile

He was thinking of his first meeting with Paul Carhart, in Chicago,-it was at the farewell dinner to the Dutch engineers,-and of his distinguished appearance as he rose to speak, and of his delightfully humorous enumeration of the qualities required in an American engineer. Thinking of these

t began, "something's going

to chew it. "I haven't got a word to say, Carhart. You've got a clear

tty well, Tiffany. You're doing

sure ab

fect

e going back on us steady with the rails. They just naturally do

. "Maybe you're right," he said after a m

worrying us considerable. Then there's the connections, too. The rails have

rland has 'Commodore Dur

guess

waiting for the Commodore to deliver your material. No,

out. "But what can we do, man? We can't draw a new map of the

rt began, 'something's going

nd by the Coast and Crescent, and t

t and Crescent? Who's got it all

ing tent floors. "It begins to occur to me," Carhart went on, "that we are working under the nerviest president that ever-But perhaps he c

s way out. He ain't a practical railroad man, and he's j

here, Tiffany; how far can I go in this busin

beat the H. D. & W. to Red Hills there won't be any questions asked. If yo

g. My mind'

as plain that he was uncertain

. "It all rests on me, and if I'm willing

t's for you to decide," he replied. "I don't know what else Mr. Cha

oing through his pockets,-"how long

Chambers wanted some sh

s?" And Carhart produced the torn

re was no such story around Sherman when we left. But we found a message waiti

rfee does own the line, what effe

trained a smile; he was thinking of where the money came from. "And I'll tell you this," Tiffany concluded, "if anybody comes into my office and tries to take possession for Old Durfee, I'll say, 'Hold on, my friend, who signed that paper you've got there?' And if I find it ain't signed by five judges-five, mind!-of the Sup

e Reamer and Mr. Chambers have put me here to beat the

the ta

month, Tiffany, that Peet had given you a list of the numbers of all my supply cars, with an

n my desk,

call for it day

Sher

ars out here, and I'm going to f

ose, "I'm sure Peet don't know how bad off you were f

Tiffany. I wired him to

ld be wholesale murde

ke the job of making

re shuffling to and from their work on the grade; the picked men of the iron squad, muscular, deep chested, were working side by side with the Mexicans and the negroes, as also were the spikers and strappers and

rs. Chambers and the young women again glanced toward him, and again they had nothing to say to him. To the truth that this ugly, noisy scene was a resolving dissonance in the harmony of things, that this rough person in spectacles was heroically forging a link in the world's girdle, these women were blind. They had been curious to come; and now that they were here and were conscious of the dirtiness and

maps and reports. He then wrote a note to Scribner, telling the engineer of the second division that the last report of his pile inspector was not satisfactory,-the third bent in the trestle over Tiffany Hollow on "mile fifty-two" showed insuffici

bly for a week or so, but there'll be time enough to look over your plans for cutting and filling on the west bank when I get back. I

another riding horse sent out here. My assistant's pony had to be shot-that littl

ur

.

he does these things. The Pierrepont Enterprise says he has already got control of the board, so it will probably be our turn next. If you h

.

to himself; adding after a moment, "Now what have I forgotten?" For several minutes he balanced there, supporting himself by resting the fingers of one hand against a tall case labelled, "A B C Spool Cotton," in the flat, glass

guess, from what an engineer gets paid. I'm in the wrong business. It's my sort of man who does the work, and it's the speculators and that sort who get the money,-God help 'em!" Again he made as if to rise, and agai

the Dutchman's pipe. And he'd better screen the fence with golden glow, set out pretty thick the whole way, between the nasturtiums and the

!" said he, "it's to-morrow morning." He pulled his hat forward, took up the lamp, and stepped out t

rhaps because of it, was almost overwhelming. There wa

" he thought. "We're slap ba

" came from the th

e muttered. "Be wit

up his handbag, took a last look around, and then blew

ng out of his cab. "Al

-rail of his private car, tossed his bag to

ething of a hur

of a hurry,

ff his clothes. "It isn't exactly like Mr. Chambers's," he said, "but I guess I'll be a

all cutlery, not to speak of an itinerant dentist and a team of "champion banjo and vocal artists." As for the young woman, if you could have taken a peep into the sample case at her feet, you would have learned that she was prepared to disseminate a collection of literature which ranged from standard sets of Dickens and Thackeray to a fat volume devoted to the songs and scenes of Old

few signs of weariness on his face, and none at all in his eyes. "How much had I better tell him?" he was asking himself. "I wonder what he is up to, anyway? Possibly he has an interest in the lumber company

ne of these cars, least of all to supply a rival line. And in consideration of your future hearty cooperation with me in advancing this construction work, I will gladly take pains t

very

Car

nd white may have a stimulating effect." He found in his pocket the worn and thumbed list of cars, enclosed it in his letter, addressed an enve

, "do you know Mr. P

oy no

in his office, go to his house, but do

re be any

nybody but Mr. Peet himself. When you hav

e building, slipped past the office door, and

guess a bath will feel a

cked tub, called down the stairway to the proprietor's wife for hot water, and, undressing, piled his clothes on the one wooden chair in the room, taking care that they touched neither

is mind began roving over the broader problems of the work. "I've done a part of it," he said to himself, "but not enough. It won't do any good to have the cars if we haven't the materials to

he door. Carhart looke

what

ir," came f

o's

hat took y

out it? There

r, Mr. Carhart. Mr. Pe

t's

back with me. He's

im that I'm very sorry, but I c

y; and Carhart heard him

to Red Hills to get food through from there by wagon,-that's what I should have to do,-but there won't be any rails coming from Red Hills. I'm afraid-very much afraid-that Durfee has got us, cold. That's the whole trick. If he's going to seize the

clothes. A moment later a thin, spectacled, collarless man darted out of a room on the third floor of the Ea

" he

s,

ar that he tossed into the waiting hands. "Run after

ack and knocking at Carhart's door. "He's down in

his fingers encountered in his pocket was another half dollar. He took it out without glancing at it and handed it to the now bewildered boy. Then he returned to the mirror and bru

anding on the piazza when he heard Carhart's quick step on the stair

ly about and behind him, and then faced around. "Look here, Mr.

iffany?" s

turned, if anything, a sha

Would you mind wa

ke out again. "You didn't understand about those cars, Mr. Carhart. I know-the boys have told me-th

Peet," he said. "I was a little stirred up when my men began to go thirsty, but that's all past, and I'm going to drop it. I guess we both understand tha

thrown aside, hat tipped

curiosity over the spectacle of Carhart and Peet walking toge

ffhand manner, and he did not look at Peet; but he knew from the expr

you?" said Tiffany. "You're

the word in some surprise

tten it, had you?

May we really eat with you?

in." And taking up his coat, Ti

ce he thought that Peet threw him an inquiring glance, but he could not be certain. After supper, as he reached for the toothpicks and pushed back his chair, he was tempted to come o

shook the match, and dropped it with a little sputter into his coffee cup. Then the man who was building the Red Hills extension g

lied the host. "W

he ya

t his cigar, looked at him. Then he too got up, and the three men left the house together. And during al

. A fussy little engine was coughing down the track, whistling angrily at a sow and her litter of spotted, muddy-yellow pigs which had been sleeping in a row between the rails. From the roundhouse, off to the left, arose the smoke of five or six resting locomotives. Nearer at hand, seate

any of your cars here, Mr.

ow many have you here all together?" he asked; and after a moment of rapid

s,

l, w

what you've got in mind, but I can

can

as it is. I'm so short now I don't know

ed up, first at Peet, then at Tiffany, as if he had something to sa

ed Tiffany, at last. "What

rned to the superintendent. "Suppose you do this, Peet," he said, speaking slowly; "suppose you tell your yard-master that I am to be

ewilderment. "What in-" he began; but Carhart,

y well, Tiffany. Tell him where we stand-where Mr. De R

Carhart's up to, but I'll tell you this, I've seen him in one or two tight places, and I never saw him look like this before. He's got something he wants to do, and he's decided that it's necessary, and it ain't for you and me to stand

ist with sweat. He looked from one man to the other, and from both to the roundhouse, and the depot, and t

ound and surveyed the nearest line of cars-box, flat, and

e yard-master. Dougherty, this is Mr. Carhart

it. I want you to keep steam up in three engines. And pick up all the men you can find and start them unlo

e, and his eyes, after taking in Paul Carhart's

hands, turned away; and Tiffany, after a gl

id Tiffany, in a lo

re him. "Dump all that freight on the ground!" he moaned. "Look here, Tiffan

mind the tr

t freight out her

yes. If Peet had looked at him, he would not

n the tracks. The tired, wheezy switch engine, enveloped in a cloud of its own steam, was laboriously making up the first train. And moving quietly about, issuing orders and giving a hand here and there, followed by the disturbed eyes of the general superintend

uncertainty. "None," he replied; "that is, none to speak of. They run a combination car each way every day-two cars when

nderstood. But if it's such a mistake,

er got beyond Total Wreck. Mr. De Reamer never built it. The old Shipleigh crowd did that before Mr. De Reamer bought up this property." The faint glim

to go down o

nful. Carhart went on. "There are sidings a

yard there; but it

ings are there

Yellow House a

w l

two mile

ng is t

-five

of such mingled astonishment, incredulity, and expansive delight, that Peet's curiosity b

on his shoulder. He was somewhat frightened-never before, even in his own emphatic life, had his routine notions receiv

I ought to know what"-th

don't ask him. If we smash, it won't b

n't give me away. I don't want any swearing in Sherman to-morrow. I don't want a

tful. "It will take a lot of men,

e them all West w

he station agents and train crews and sw

replied Car

you'll take '

ry little. "If nece

rain until you've got the men to do the work. I'll need a little time, but if you'll give me an hour and half to two hours, say until nine-thirty, I'll have your outfit ready.

head. "For how m

through with it." Nothing could surprise

ny added. "You'll w

I want five hundred more at the end of the track, and, say ten

g for all this?" and then as neither of the

ow. You can trust to picking up fifty or a hundred laborers in the neighborhood of Paradise

he hands of shadowy figures, were bobbing here and there. There was a great racket about them of bumping cars and squeaking brakes, and of shouting and the blowing off of locomotives. "I don't bla

t he's about. But-" he paused. They were standing by a heap of merchandise. The heap was capped by a dozen crates of chickens which, awakened from the

If I were sure it would come to nothing worse than a sligh

bad as th

rd turns out, you know what it will mean-no more De Reamer and Chambers men on the S. & W.

on and of romantic adventure. The breathlessness of the scene was borne in on his consciousness on a wave that almost took away his breath. Carhart was the sort of man whom he could not understand at all. He knew this now, or something

. Carhart, Tiffany, and Peet, walking up alongside the train, could distinguish, through the dark, men sitting on brake wheels, or swinging their legs out of box-car doors or standing in groups in the

r go, Paul,"

"I'll rely on you to kee

t. "I'll have the three trains and al

r the commissariat too

, Peet. I haven't cars enough yet. As soon as enough

morrow afternoon, likely

nds with the two men, an

Peet. "You've g

ght a speck of light swung up in a quarter

e Paradise Unlimit

een them they lost no time in completing the preparations for the journey down to Total Wreck. Of the two regular trains on the line, No. 3, sou

eemingly bent on destruction, swarmed over the line and tore it to pieces. Trains ran north and west laden with rusty old rails, sw

" said Tiffany, on the first morning, as the two engineers st

frontier. At Sherman they said that owing to insufficient business the P. S. trains would be discontinued for a time, and no one was surprised at the news. Far off in New York, in the Broad Street office of Daniel De Reamer, it was some time before they knew anything about it. The little world was rolling on. Men were cla

ds which had once been known as stations; a lonely row of telegraph poles stretching from one bleak horizon to another; a rickety roundhouse or two: this