Ranching For Sylvia Volume-554 - Harold Bindloss (best black authors TXT) 📗
- Author: Harold Bindloss
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"Will You Come Back With Me And Wait For Supper?" He Asked. "I'd Be
Glad Of A Talk."
"I Think Not," Said George. "You're On The Far Side Of The Town And
There Are Two Streets To Cross; You See, I'm Going To Brandon, And I'll
Take Enough Gumbo Into The Cars With Me, As It Is. Then My Train
Leaves In Half An Hour. I Suppose I Mustn't Ask You To Come Into The
Queen's?"
"No," Said The Clergyman. "Our Old Guard Won't Tolerate The Smallest
Compromise With The Enemy, And There's A Good Deal To Be Said For Their
Point Of View. After All, Half-Measures Have Seldom Much Result; A Man
Must Be One Thing Or Another. But We Might Try The New Waiting-Room At
The Station."
The Little Room Proved To Be Dry And Comparatively Clean, Besides Being
Furnished With Nicely Made And Comfortable Seats. Leaning Back In One
Near The Stove, George Turned To His Companion.
"How Are Things Going Round Here?" He Asked.
"Very Much As I Expected; We Tried And Failed To Apply A Check In Time,
And Of Late We Have Had A Regular Outbreak Of Lawlessness. At First
Sight, It's Curious, Considering That Three-Fourths Of The Inhabitants
Of The District Are Steady, Industrious Folk, And A Proportion Of The
Rest Are Capable Of Being Useful Citizens."
"Then How Do You Account For The Disorder?"
Volume 554 Chapter 22 (The Spread Of Disorder) Pg 166Hardie Looked Thoughtful.
"I Suppose We All Have A Tendency To Follow A Lead, Which Is Often
Useful In An Organized State Of Society; Though It Depends On The Lead.
By Way Of Counter-Balance, We Have A Certain Impatience Of Restraint.
Granting This, You Can See That When The General Tone Of A Place Is One
Of Sobriety And Order, People Who Have Not Much Love For Either Find It
More Or Less Easy To Conform. But, If You Set Them A Different
Example, One That Slackens Restrictions Instead Of Imposing Them,
They'll Follow It, And It Somehow Seems To Be The Rule That The
Turbulent Element Exerts The Stronger Influence. Anyway, It Becomes
The More Prominent. You Hear Of The Fellow Who Steals A Horse In A
Daring Manner; The Man Who Quietly Goes On With His Plowing Excites No
Notice."
"One Must Agree With That," George Replied. "Popular Feeling's Fickle;
A Constant Standard Is Needed To Adjust It By."
Hardie Smiled.
"It Was Given Us Long Ago. But I Can't Believe That There's Much
General Sympathy With These Troublesome Fellows. What I Complain Of Is
Popular Apathy; Nobody Feels It His Business To Interfere; Though This
State Of Things Can't Continue. The Patience Of Respectable People
Will Wear Out; And Then One Can Look For Drastic Developments."
"In The Meanwhile, The Other Crowd Are Having Their Fling."
Hardie Nodded.
"That's Unfortunately True, Though The Lawbreakers Have Now And Then
Come Off Second-Best. A Few Days Ago, Wilkie, The Station-Agent, Was
Sitting In His Office When A Man Who Had Some Grievance Against The
Railroad Walked Up To The Window. Wilkie Told Him He Must Send His
Claim To Winnipeg, And The Fellow Retorted That He Would Have
Satisfaction Right Away Out Of The Agent's Hide. With That, He Climbed
In Through The Window; And I Must Confess To A Feeling Of Satisfaction
When I Heard That He Left The Station In Need Of Medical Assistance. A
Week Earlier, Taunton, Of The Store, Was Walking Home Along The Track
In The Dark After Collecting Some Of His Accounts, When A Man Jumped
Out From Behind A Stock Of Ties With A Pistol And Demanded His Wallet.
Taunton, Taken By Surprise, Produced A Wad Of Bills, But The Thief Was
A Little Too Eager Or Careless In Seizing Them, For Taunton Grabbed The
Pistol And Got His Money Back. After That, He Marched The Man Three
Miles Along The Track And Into His Store. I Don't Know What Happened
Then, But I Heard That There Were Traces Of A Pretty Lively Scuffle."
George Laughed, But His Companion Continued More Gravely:
"Then We Have Had A Number Of Small Disturbances When The Men From The
New Link Line Came Into Town--They've Graded The Track To Within A Few
Miles Now--And I Hold Beamish Responsible; They Haven't Encouraged
These Fellows At The Queen's. In Fact, I Mean To Walk Over And Try To
Volume 554 Chapter 22 (The Spread Of Disorder) Pg 167Get A Few Words With Them As Soon As I Leave You."
"One Would Hardly Think Saturday Evening A Very Good Time," George
Commented.
His Train Came In Shortly Afterward, And When It Had Gone Hardie Went
Home For A Rubber Coat, And Then Took The Trail Leading Out Of The
Settlement. He Was Forced To Trudge Through The Tangled Grass Beside
It Because The Soft Gumbo Soil Stuck To His Boots In Great Black Lumps,
And The Patches Of Dwarf Brush Through Which He Must Smash Made
Progress Laborious. After A While, However, He Saw A Long Trail Of
Black Smoke Ahead, And Sounds Of Distant Activity Grew Steadily Louder.
There Was An Angry Red Glare On The Western Horizon, Though The Light
Was Beginning To Fade, When He Reached The End Of The New Line And
Found A Crowd Of Men Distributing Piles Of Gravel And Spiking Down The
Rails Which Ran Back, Gleaming In The Sunset, Lurid, Straight And
Level, Across The Expanse Of Grass, Until They Were Lost In The Shadowy
Mass Of A Bluff. Near The Men Stood A Few Jaded Teams And Miry Wagons;
Farther On A Row Of Freight-Cars Occupied A Side-Track, A Little Smoke
Rising From The Stacks On The Roofs Of One Or Two. Their Doors Were
Open, And On Passing, Hardie Noticed The Dirty Blue Blankets And The
Litter Of Wet Clothing In The Rude Bunks. As He Approached The Last
Car, Which Served As Store And Office, A Man Sprang Down Upon The Line.
He Wore Wet Long Boots And An Old Rubber Coat Stained With Soil, But
There Was A Stamp Of Authority Upon His Bronzed Face.
"How Are You Getting On, Mr. Farren?" Hardie Inquired.
"Slowly," Said The Other; "Can't Catch Up On Schedule Contract Time.
We've Had Rain And Heavy Soil Ever Since We Began. The Boys Have Been
Giving Me Some Trouble, Too."
"You Won't Mind My Having A Few Words With Them?"
"Why, No," Said Farren. "Guess They Need It; But I'm Most Afraid
You'll Be Wasting Time. The Scandinavians, Who're Quiet Enough And
Might Agree With You, Can't Understand, And It's Quite Likely That The
Crowd You Want To Get At Won't Listen. Anyway, You Can Try It After
They've Dubbed The Load Off The Gravel Train; She's Coming Now."
He Pointed Toward A Smear Of Smoke That Trailed Away Across The
Prairie. It Grew Rapidly Blacker And Nearer, And Presently A Grimy
Locomotive With A Long String Of Clattering Cars Behind It Came Down
The Uneven Track. It Had Hardly Stopped When The Sides Of The Low Cars
Dropped, And A Plow Moved Forward From One To Another, Hurling Off
Masses Of Gravel That Fell With A Roar. Then The Train, Backing Out,
Came To A Standstill Again, And A Swarm Of Men Became Busy About The
Line. Dusk Was Falling, But The Blaze Of The Great Electric Light On
The Locomotive Streamed Along The Track. While Hardie Stood Watching,
Half A Dozen Men Dropped Their Tools And Walked Up To His Companion.
"We're Through With Our Lot," Announced One. "We're Going To The Butte
And We'll Trouble You For A Sub Of Two Dollars A Man."
Volume 554 Chapter 22 (The Spread Of Disorder) Pg 168"You Won't Get It," Said Farren Shortly. "I Want The Ties Laid On The
Next Load."
"Then You Can Send Somebody Else To Fix Them. We're Doing More Than We
Booked For."
"You're Getting Paid For It."
"Shucks!" Said The Other Contemptuously. "What We Want Is An Evening
At The Butte; And We're Going To Have It! Hand Over The Two Dollars."
"No, Sir," Said Farren. "I've Given In Once Or Twice And I've Got No
Work Out Of You For Most Two Days Afterward. You Can Quit Tie-Laying,
If You Insist; But You'll Get No Money Until Pay-Day."
One Of The Men Pulled Out His Watch.
"Boys," He Said, "If We Stop Here Talking, There Won't Be Much Time
Left For A Jag When We Make The Butte. Are You Going To Let Him Bluff
You?"
The Growl From The Others Was Ominous. They Had Been Working Long
Hours At High Pressure In The Rain, And Had Suffered In Temper. One Of
Them Strode Forward And Grasped Farren's Shoulder.
"Now," He Demanded, "Hand Out! It's Our Money."
There Was Only One Course Open To Farren. His Position Was Not An Easy
One, And If He Yielded, His Authority Would Be Gone.
His Left Arm Shot Out And The Man Went Down With A Crash. Then The
Others Closed With Him And A Savage Struggle Began.
Hardie Laid Hold Of A Man Who Had Picked Up An Iron Bar, And Managed To
Wrest It From Him, But Another Struck Him Violently On The Head, And He
Had A Very Indistinct Idea Of What Went On During The Next Minute Or
Two. There Was A Struggling Knot Of Men Pressed Against The Side Of
The Car, But It Broke Up When More Figures Came Running Up And One Man
Cried Out Sharply As He Was Struck By A Heavy Lump Of Gravel. Then
Hardie Found Himself Kneeling Beside Farren, Who Lay Senseless Near The
Wheels With The Blood Running Down His Set White Face. Behind Him
Stood The Panting Locomotive Engineer, Trying To Hold Back The Growing
Crowd.
"Looks Pretty Bad," He Said. "What's To Be Done With Him?"
"We Had Better Get Him Into His Bunk," Directed Hardie. "Then I'll
Make For The Butte As Fast As I Can And Bring The Doctor Out."
"It Would Take Two Hours," Objected The Engineer, As He Gently Removed
Farren's Hat. "Strikes Me As A Mighty Ugly Gash; The Thing Must Be
Looked To Right Away. If I Let Her Go, Throttle Wide, We Ought To Make
Carson In Half An Hour, And They've A Smart Doctor There." He Said
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