North Carolina Newspapers

tin i erf. J' of Id all ELT otir j (K "Blue Walope RANCI5 LYNDE ( igQ5.y" Franclsynde to be known m F l ot the Grand river as Broncho Pete was Kr! Out on thearld extension cation caned 0med the section boss Tufe there is neither ) " nond within 100 IVw J that Broncho Pete Ct on the same principle 8 tnnw a horse do ma vfc jus payroll name WU matter w LUt; over tne v.. Anf OCCOSiuu - U tne extension, and on m Question i ! Inrine cab. Coming down l ..i- ffrnde a buncu ox 5 L on the slope above tha foktfs" and' after rao yards thundered down Ik ahead. - f ; . (ej solemnly at me, 'did (, to check the down grad (rain and snouieu auus of 'em." And so hi V- . . , lf1 Ij that looKea xo uie s toe specimen of a to pete. When we stopped Lnnt of the damages h C and looked the quivering lg giant thorougnorea over ker eyes. t nothing on top o' lioa s so ornery as a denied Wed. Andas a muie ne mere chance that I hap- on the engine at the time ent but it was not alto- fhanee that Broncho Pete l the division superintend- wben the engineer was explain the "mule." Su- Savage had found out witness to the killing. the sharpest possible con 4.1 . J J3 n tne rwo as uiey bluuu fctber across the office rail- iperintendent was big. and Idered, a born driver of with a bushy iron gray fas that shot cold fire at a Broncho Pete was gaunt t sallow, with a stoop In and a shuffle in his walk, Itt made you think of a to heel or of the Es- tt cousin, the coyote. ; k that Percheroj vof By m uucu last w cen. LUC UU1 ai a mule?" rasped the H up with a smile that softened any heart saye Won superintendent. . n been a-lyin' to you all ornery old mule, Cap'n nave they got out a new jes mat they're callin Per ptendent tried to with- pile and the honeyed ap- tne offender in the sweat do, Simmons," he said at have you killing stock Wi take a train over the me you've stuck the corn- money than tou'11 earn tot 'mule' of yours wai awmaa stallion. Mr. ays you did what vou f from hitting it after the Q the track, and I'll take f It and let you off once 11 70n don't quit killinst JJt running an engine on mat's all." pas gone I ventured tn P1 lor him. fnd all that," said tht 1L "lou can't fpll ma 1111 stock, and hA win iu, Fard. if ac Dave to make nn m. hlstorv. J?? me propitious fox iaing neglected mine laughed. - n. i inherited him foeer. hn; r Deuum' .: uu utl" running a P'tTi iuriner tney nn v , C:abontthe side?' un tne mon- TrV knw what napoo')' Nenr;;- , . . fte Gold Hiii w Ire Hm hrings Ine major m the Ten- f them 1 suppose." SP the old folks, eSUlthi unless ia ioo Dunp- tft ue' order is niTOQa :lb,iksoB. i W " wa8' and "Uunph! That's odd. Now you ipeak of it; I've noticed that he never takes a layoff, and he is keener5 than any Yankee to get in overtime. I won der "what lie is paylhg f or 3? J " rt "I have wondered too.!' i-'i.V v- ' ; "Well, whatever It is, ' he'll lose out If he docsht quit killing eth Byrama Jiorsea and cattle,"- said; the superin tendent, dismissing the matter In a sentence. -ne- has' had hU warning, and the , next thing ; will be the blue envelope.. ''i: But Superintendent Savage was not quite good as his word' It was only t little while after; the Norman-Per-heron;mul episode that I came upon Broncho , Pete , lounging in , ' the public room of the Hotel de Bunque in Gold Hill, the mining caMp at the-mountain terminus of the extension; . , "How-are you, Pete ?' Vs'aid I. "Hav ing your lay ; off at; this end of the run He smiled Joylessly.- "More o them derned mules o Seth Byram'sjMistah Graves Seems .'like I caynt'take a tram over , whisky now 'thout killin' some of 'em." ""J - ' v . . "Oh, eo it's a;yacation without payC t; "Yep-:thirty days. Thought I plight as well, wear 'em out up here as down yonder." ,;: ue autumn frosts : were , yellowing the . aspens i; on the great hills when Broncho Fete took his run again. Busi ness was booming on, the extension. : A new old strike in the gulch above the terminus, camp brought an ..influx of prospectors, , miners and i speculators and with the industrial army came ita camp followers, carrion birds and birds ' of prey, the desperate castoff drift that the law abiding east flings upon the snores of the unpoliced west. -We of the transportation line, rejoic ing in crdwded trains and well loaded express cars, called, it, an era of pros perity, paying..: the cost in sleepless nights and unresting days as best wt might But among all the bungerers and thlrsterers after Overtime' none was more I avid . than Broncho Pete. "First tn,v! first out," was the train crew rule on the C and G. B,, and he never missed a call, not even when the working pressure rose 'to thirty-six hours out of forty-eight It was In the white beat of the rush that he got his blue envelope. In that day the C and G. R. paid In good hard money from the pay ear, matching the men wherever they were to be found, and so it happened that Pete got his pay, and the fatal envelope t the Gold Hill end of his run. -,, ; . D don't know' why be came to me with his grief, but be did, and the look In his lackluster eyes was that of a man suddenly stricken with death. ine oia maa tninics a. neap o' you all, Mistah Graves.: Don't ye reckon ye could get bim to take xae on again just for another months' he said gen tly. And then, with a courteous shake in bis voice, j "rm a-needln' that othe month's pay i ml-gbtly bad, and ifs al I'm askinV I ':''.r-. "" . : ' ' ''" I explained that ray influence . with 'the superintendent was enly that of a friendly outsider. But be begged i so hard that I , finally consented to ,da what I could when I should see Mr. Savage. . y - '. . - --s "Thank ye. Ye can cee bim right now-hercut . In eagerly. "He. .came up in the pay wagon with Mistah Bos suet." And so I fell neatly into my own trap. v -i .:" ' Now, apart from Broncho Pete's em bassy I was very anxious to see Mr. Savage in I my own behalf, and to con ferwlth him. The mine managers on the new strike had been foolishly stor ing their cleanups in the" local bank until now there , was near. $oOO,OOU worth of gold bars and bullion await Ing transshipment It was to arrange for the safe transit of this gold that I had come to the camp. - Ordinarily no special arrangement would have been necessary, but with in a fortnight there had been two stop pages of trains on the main line by a large and well organized gang of train robbers, and, though there was no hint of the presence of the brigands in Gold Hill, we were disposed to, be wary. Arrived at the pay car, which stood on a 'spur 'track at the station, 1 found the superintendent! and Mr. Bdssuet with the president of the bank In which the gold was held, and Blehkihsop, a government secret service man, hold ing a conference over the movement of the bullion: "You! are the very man we nave been waiting f for,", said the superintendent "About this gold .shipment, Mr. Mon tn." indlcatlne the bank president, "favors the regular train and an armed I guard. What is your idea about it r , ' "My notion Is that secrecy Is better than force If we can manage It" I ven tured. "I have been to see the sheriff, and he says a guard of such deputies as he could swear In at short notice could not be relied on." ' ' The government man nodded assent to this, : and .the bank president called for my alternative. ; ; ' T - Tt i n .oroin ftbiectlons. and Mr. Bossuet" I. re plied "It , is generally known We camp that Gold Hill Is the ena or w fhat the car-goes oacK from here with no booty 'large enough to tempt the robbers n mey the gold shipment, xue vj run special In any event tWhy not let It run ahead of. the regular and carry the gold?" "J ' t - -rrun -'uiArtirink materialized at :once. If 'iSSS were In Gold HULiwith spies out, the bullion could never be moved r from f. the bank without their .f3n naid ithe bank' presi- dent and Mr. Bossuet demurrebe, cause be bad bis wire anu with him. Even the governmentofflcej? thought it would be extra tsJtortoM. and Mr. Savage capped the climax of protest by saying:. . " j' '1nst '"It can't be done, Graves., I was just telling Bcssuet we'd have to put , bi3 cari in ithe regular i-m in . down to the junction. We are shy an "Broncho Pete?' I queried i He nodded.'- - jTi; j f-7: "He killed another of TKxm VT . --l TT'w Wi Normamt, and I had to let hinigo;'1 - " -r j "viwuuii ana isron :ho,rxte'g.fy;::;w "Can't you give him another chance. MrrSayage?"i; f ; The superintendent thought' not 'Tt would be subversive of all discipline,' Uras bis wording of it 1 .." 'Ok 1V ' T "YesI know, but he is ,th ; this emergency. It is barely possible that the undertaking may ask for a good bit of cold nerve; and f I'll back u xennessee moonshiner against : the world for that" :?j'-?:&-:.tAv-:;: ;"A whatn said the: secret service man' sharply, ' ' ' -'-"0 f-jt-Z- ' ' I laughed and corrected mvseif i saId.moonshiner, and I meant .'moun taineer. Broncho Pete Is a Tenhes- ,seean.'tV,r v-. .. - -:z. --v".: .J -l -r-- .Blenkinsop drew a notebook from his pocket and .began to turn the leaves. We dropped him out of .the discussion, and by dint of a little special pleading I; won my point. Mr. Bossuet with. Urew.his obeOtion. The bank: president aamitteo ; that there niii ::ko " o chance in-, a hundred of movlns the jold secretly from the bank, to the c'art ana Mr. savage sent i the porter ; with aJ message to Pete, directing him to report at once for duty.. : i ' v i -We were all four in the midst of .the tram .time station bustle; on the plat form when the negro came back . with Broncho Pete in tow. For once the lackluster eyes had ? lost- their "shifti ness, and the stoop and shuffle were 'gone. . m,,. .: r. I -y.- ; v"l allow, I ain't go'n to forget this, 'Mistah Savage,' he began In his soft .slow drawl, but the superintendent .cut him off brusquely. "Never mind that I said Td dis charge you,.; and I did.. But I didn't say I wouldn't hire you over again. Get the 256 around here and make her up with the pay car to run as first sec tion of No. 4. Be livery abwut it. We haven't any time to selL Pete came to attention like a soldier on duty, and sprang to obey'.1 In the confusion of the moment I lost sight of j "Precisely. H So if that fellow should happen to be galloping to bead us off . hOf-can do Jt casily';-.? ;J v ."IJeavens!" -1 7i gasped.' "You ; don't Tiiik';?!-. iy. "No, .1 don't think-I know. Five mln- in overalls and, a was ..helping the The negro came back with Broncho Pete ' "- in tow. Blenkinsop, but a little later I saw him at the step of the 25G talking, to Bron cho Pete. When he came back to us he was smiling sardonically. "You are quite right," be said to me. "Your Tennesseean is the man for your money. He has just been telling me that he Is in need of another month's, pay. I have taken the liberty to assure him that the "express company will see that he gets It if he pulls through on this run without er let us say, without killing any cattle." And be fore 1 could enter a disclaimer; to this unauthorized bargain he put his back to me and said to' the superintendent, "If you don't object I'll make one in your little picnic party." The plan for . transferring the gold from the bank vaults to the car was hfct'a very brilliant one, but it was the best we could devise on the spur of the moment. : The pay car was a disused Pullman "special," - half office and half hotel. Bossuetr was an epicure, and it was a standing joke on the line that he took In supplies for the pay car kitchen at every stop; hence jwhen the delivery wagon of a well known firm of grocers cam e , down . with hampers for the pri vate car there was nothing about it to excite suspicion. " " ; - ' At least that was what we hoped, and. so we believed when the transfer was safely -made and the 256, with Broncho Pete at the throttle, was pick ing her way out of the Gold Hill yards and preening herself , for the flight down the , mountain. The paymaster was In the central compartment-with &!s -womankind ; v the superintendent, Who was our acting conductor, was on the engine with Pete and Blenkinsop and ! stood on the; rear platform. ' "It's aTgo," said I, not without some prldeful emotions: The plan of embar kation had beien mine.- :y " ; - : Blenkinsop pointed to a horseman In a wide : flapping sombrero galloping breakneck down the wagon road which led by' a short cut to the foot j of the mountain: ; y ;;H-: ': ' ' .V "That remains f to b seen,! he said doubtfully.. "How far ls.it to Mounts- foot by the railroad r' , : "It Is -a grade -loop," said I. miles and a fraction, I believe.' "And by the wagon road?" t a Httle more .than' one." - 'Four utes ago fhat fellow battered derby hat driver of , the grocer's wagon to unload ine vegetables." t,. , ;,, . ,: v - It was a moment-for action, prompt and decisive, and my hand was on the bell cord to give the signal which should, call Savage back to us -when the' car gave a great lunge and a leap, and the flight down the steep grade be came a mad race, r . ' "You needn't mind,' said Blenkin sop coolly. : "Savage has seen him. With the superintendent on the en gine arid in command, there was noth ing for us to do. But when we rushed down the last incline into the Mounts foot yards we .were both hanging off by the hand rails to see what portend ed. ' ' . ; . (The galloping horseman had beaten us, but only, by the narrowest margin. We saw him rape down to the station and fling himself from the saddle. s A moment iater.,we were . thundering over the switches, and as the lurching treas ure car , spun around the curve V below the station we "of the rear guard had a -Vanishing glimpse of a crowd : of men swarming upon the engine of a waiting freight train. ': Blenkinsop stepped inside and came out with a repeating rifle '"You may ring up Savage now If you want to.- The fight will be at our end of the string from this on." " ' " ' "What do you mean?" I asked. "That," said he, pointing backward. We had trailed out on a bit of straight track, the only qne of fony con sequence between Gold Hill and Whis ky mountain. Following bis gesture the freight engine, free of Its train and black with clustering men, tore around the curve in chase. A mile farth erf oh Savage and the paymaster Joined us the" superintend ent cool and grim and Bossuet pale to the ears with very natural alarm "Dear me," he said, striving like the brave little man he was to speak calm ly, "I am very much afraid we are in for it." ;. . "It looks that way," said Savage. "I means. a race straightway to the junc tion. There isn't a station this side o the main line where we could stop and raise a corporal's guard to fight them.' "You know both engines," said 1 "Can the 256 do it?" He shook his head. "With Simmona at the throttle and a chance to take wa ter at Tyree she might As it is the 510 carries two gallons of water to our one, and our tank will go dry some where on the Whisky mountain hill1 "But the wires!" I broke in. "The alarm will go down the line,, and surely somebody will have wit enough ta throw a stitch and ditch them!" The superintendent shook his head again, f We may as well look it fairly in ihe face. Those fellows are., bigger fools than I take them to be if they baVen't dropped a man . off to cut the wires long before thlsl No, I have giv en Simmons his orders. If his water holds out he is to run to Summit siding on Whisky mountain. Then if nothing has happened to change the situation we shall put the women on the engine, let Simmons drop down the farther grade with them out of harm's way, and we'll stay by the car. At least I shall." There were three more affirmatives to that vote, and little Mr. Bossuet stumbled into the car to bring out more rifles. In those hard money days the pay car went well provided with arms. Notwithstanding her great weight and the smallness of her driving wheels the freight engine Was holding us-" -well In leash. Curve after curve was passed at hair raising speed, but on the reverses we could see the great man covered machine. "They've got a good runner," said Blenkinsop, fingering his piece like a soldier enamored of battle. "If I could get a fair sight at him" With the word he stood clear of. the hand rail and his .rifle went to his face. At the crack of it a man on the tender of the pursuing locomotive flung his arms abroad and pitched headlong, "No good," said the marksman as loolly as If he had shot at and missed a clay pigeon. ?We've got to think up some other way of .stopping them." VTf we had anything to. drop on the track," said Bossuet, and thereupon we became potential wreckers, stripping the pay car of everything movable that could be flung Out upon the rails. Nothing came of this forlorn hope, and when in the last resort we trun dled the small cash safe out and heav ed it over only to see It bound from the ties and go rolling off down the -embankment we were at the end of that expedient. - ; The superintendent , laughed grimly at the sight of our final petard bound ing off; into the creeklaughed and reached for one of the rifles. "We shall reach Whisky in five min utes more, at this gait. - Our business now is to keep them back far enough to give us time to transfer the women at Summit siding," he said, and when next the storming engine" came In eight a -rattling volley from the rifles played upon it - : . - !, When we had our next glimpse of the brigands we were climbing , the Whis ky mountain grade and our pursuers were, well out of rifle shot to the rear. ; Savage turnedMo me.- "Go up ahead and see how our water Is hojding out' he commanded, and I obeyed, running forward .through the . stripped . car, where Bossuet was telling the frighten ened women of the plan to (send them ahead oh the engine, and Scrambling over the tender to the foot plate of the laboring 256. The fireman 'Was shovel ing the coal as one who toils for dear life,' and Broncho Pete was standing at his levers, his angular Jaw set and the sleepy ejes ablaze for the first and only time In iiiy; seeing b thorn. , . . "tThe water !'! X "shautsd. coming close to his : r , to make myself heard above the clattering' din bf s the euginb3' F ::' Gone!" hei ahswered.". "She1 Hucked I dry .at the foot of the hill.'' ; ; - . "What arc. you going to do?", ; 'aiaie Suniinjt hiding'-if" I: have" to burn the ciown sheet out of her," he caid. '.-.' : 't ;- ;'?;" ";: ::. I passed the: line over the mountalr In quick mental review, in ; its climt it ' skirts the spurs and heads the gulches in alternate loops. Rounding the last of the shoulders it describes a huge "U" 'In passing around the final and most abyssmal of the gulches. Ii the bend of the "XT' the narrowing chasm is spanned by a light bridge of the "overhead" type, and the approach to this bridge from either direction is down grade. The southern end of the great loop is the summit of the moun tain, and just beyond the cutting hi the summit shoulder through which the line passes is Summit siding. ' We were skirting the shoulder of the northern approach when Broncho Pete sprang to his box v and leaned far out for a look to; the rear. Our three pay car rifles barked sharply, and they were answered 2 promptly by a drop ping volley from; the 510. Pete ducked inward and gave his engine anothei notch of the throttle. ; "'Tain't no use,'' he said soberly. "We ain't goin' to have 'no time to transfer them wimmen.'?. Then he call ed shaiply to his fireman and gave the boy an order which I did not hear arid a moment later we were on the inner curve of the "U," racing down to the bridge at a speed which promised any thing but a safe passage over the spi dery, structure. . ' -.' Nevertheless , before I could gasp second time we had stormed; up the opposite grade and were thunderiria through the cutting at the precise mo ment that the ; freight ' engine came in ; sight on ffie' northerly sho'uMerl ; Once more Pete yelled to his fire man. :. x ' . " ;'" . "Get a move, now!" he commanded And the boy shot out of the gangway and .raced ahsad to the switch. As 1 learned afterward, the superintend ent's ordqr had been to make a flying switch at the siding this to bring thtj car and engine side: by side for the quicker transfer of the women. I Sav age was on the forward platform tc pull the coupling pin, but at the last moment his nerve failed him and -he countermanded the order. "Go on!" he shouted. "We can'l make it They're too near." But now the man became the master. "I know what I'm a-doin'!" he yelled back, with a fierce oath to cap it "Yon pull that pin!" And when the engine jerked the car for the kick it was th6 superintendent who obeyed. The pay car was scarcely over the switch when Pete sent the engine spin ning back into the cutting and hroughi it to a stand. ; "Mistah Graves," he said, ."the revo nUer allowed you all 'd pay Ine anothei month. Take that and this" shoving the blue envelope with Its unbroken rouleau of gold pieces into my hand "and send 'em to Squire Jackson. Tell him that squares him and me, and say I'll nev trouble him no more. Now git off-quick!" "But you what are you going t do?" I cried. "I figger to hit them Kn-Kluxera right about the middle o' that bridge Git off, will ye!" And with that he hurled me out of the gangway. - I was half stunned by the fall, but 1 was alive enough to see the last act in the tragedy. The freight engine had passed the bridge in safety when Pete launched the 250 like a stone from a catapult out of the cutting. There, wa? a yell of terror from the robber crew. J A collision on the steep mountain side. meant death" to every man involved, and the only possible chance for escape lay in flight. The big freight pullei buckled and heaved as the man at the. levers stopped and reversed her, but she was no more than fairly on the bridge in the backward motion when the flying passenger engine overtook her. There was a wild shriek, a crash, and the thing was done. It was late in the afternoon, and the wreck train crew had been tolling foi hours In the tangle of twisted bridge girders and crushed and battered ma chinery at the bottom of the canyon when we came upon' all that was left of Broncho Pete. - Blenkinsop and 1 were both among the tollers, and It was the secret service man who helped lift the poor torn body to the stretcher "You know, his story," said I when we were following the stretcher out oi the gulch. "What is it?' . "You spoke better than you knew," said Blenkinsop. briefly. ."He was a moonshiner, and he killed a man, nol an officer, but the spy who betrayed him.- An old fellow Jackson by name, went on his bond, and! he ran away. Fo years he has been paying the bail bond a little at a time, arid that is how t got on his track." .-. "Did he know you were after him?" "Yes, I arrested him Just as he was getting on the engine at Gold HillJUe begged for time to make this run, said he owed it to you, and he gave me his word of honor to go back to Tennessee with me when he had done your turn. , "And you trusted him?" " .:r - The detective nodded. You . see, 1 was a revenue officer once In the Ten nessee mountains, and "I know ' the breed. It will kill a man at the drop of the hat but It won't lie' -; "Yet I don't understand why he didn't take his chance. He might have pulled the throttle open and sent the engine back alone." , . . Blenkinsop smiled gravely. . r ; " "Don't ; your he said. "It's plain enough. ; It was the 'blue envelope ii either case, and be chose to take it here instead of on a gallows In Tennessee. m '.V from the cradle up, By name and by trade. : ''.;Vr-i .'.-.'" Every garment made to fit and workmanship guaranteed. ;,; Agent fo'r two of the largest con cerns in the country. , . . . HAAS TAILORING CO BALTIMORE, MD. MARKS AM H El M, NEW YORK. Together with this my line of Gents' Furnishings are of the height of fash ion. New styles shipped me every week. ..... . ... -:. - . JULIUS P. TAYLOR, The Tailor. 109 Pr inccts St.. oct 10 tf Three Good Mules .Suitable for farm or wagon use. We have, our usual ' line ' of seasonable goods: ; ; 1 SEED. OATS. SALMpN. " PULL CREAM CHEESE. CAKES AND CRACKERS. BAGpING AND TIES. sARtoiN' es.';'. . 'fjf. AdTulitoci - of other groceries always on hand." ; Hail Sc Pearsall. INCORPORATED) OCt 12 tf Harris lifhia Water r?i strongest Lithu Water knoirn z I . .. Harris' Littiia Ginger Ale.. The best In the market A trial will convince yoa H L HOLLERS. tc25-tf REMOVAL NOTICE. Our friends and patrons will find us hereafter in-our new building, spe cially erected for our large and in creasing business," where we will be pleased to see them. We can show them some of the finest cloths for maklnj? Fall and Winter Suits. F. H. KRAHNKE & SONS. MERCHANT TAILORS, Next to Southern Express Building, oct 2 tf . The Jones House, Atkinson, N. C. it .Mow Open for the Patronage of th Public Board" by the Day, Week or Month. Specla' Attention to Travelling Men. v Hates, Reasonable. MRS. J. B. JONES, lrop. CJontract for your , CAKES, CRACKERS, CANDY and CHEESE. : ; We are amoug. the ; Very' few-if not alonewho have contracted for our wants during , this year. Ask us for prices. - All these ar ticles are; auvancing. (S3 : oct 5 tf oome say tnat; city girls are poor. ignorant tnings.- Some of them can not tell a horse from a cow but they do know that HolHsters Rocky Moun uua iea is one i me greatest Deau tifiers known. - Tea or Tablets, 35 cents.J. Hicks ' Bunting Drug Co. ;V" - v - .: