Robert Barr

“ A short time after, when the men were coupling the private car to the west-bound train, Callahan rushed in to the telephone cabin and shouted—
"That you, Mr. Manson?"
"Yes; who are you?"
"Callahan. Say! I've just coupled Rockervelt's car to the 'Thunderbolt.' Release Number Three, for she will wait in vain. Telegraph all those people that Rockervelt was to meet at Tobasco to-morrow morning, to take the midnight train for Portandit and meet him there."
"Callahan, are you out of your senses?"
"No. It's all as I say. Nothing can stop us." ”

“ He forgets I'm president of a road, while he's only a general manager. I tell him I rank with Rockervelt, and not with mere G.M's."
The old millionaire laughed so heartily at his own remarks that some of the habitués of the reading-room looked up sternly at the framed placard above the mantelshelf which displayed in large black letters the word "Silence." Manson drew up a chair beside the old man and said earnestly—
"I came in to see you on business, Mr. Rogers. There is a young fellow in my office who will develop into one of the best railroad men of his time. ”

“ In the Train Despatcher's office at Warmington, one hundred and twenty miles to the east of Hitchen's Siding, the force was hard at work under the electric light. John Manson, division superintendent, strolled in, although it was long past his office hours; but he was one of those indefatigable railroad men loth to take his fingers off the pulse of the great organisation he controlled, and no employé of the road could be certain of any hour of the night or day when Manson might not be standing unexpectedly beside him. ”

“ You are not on your own road, but on the Burdock Route, now rapidly approaching Portandit. I took the liberty last night of hitching your car to this train, sir, instead of to your own Number Three."
Rockervelt sat up in alarm, glanced out of the windows, first on one side, then on the other. Bringing back his gaze to the man before him, hot auger added colour to the usual floridness of his countenance. ”

“ Manson quit the railway business! It was as if he had calmly announced his intention to commit suicide.
"That old fool Blair has been making trouble for you?" he cried.
"Oh, no! that is to say, there always has been a slight tension, and it doesn't grow better. I've made a little money—real estate has risen, you know, and that sort of thing—and I've been working hard; so I intend to resign. I take it you have some scheme to propose to Mr. Rockervelt?"
"Yes, I have."
"Very well. Your scheme, if it is a good one, will prove your best introduction. He's an accessible man ”

“ Duffield Rogers absolutely refused to leave his comfortable chair in the club and take a trip over the Burdock. The president delighted in Callahan's company, and got him made a member of the club, setting him down as a graduate of the Wahoo University, which was supposed to exist somewhere in the remote west. Rogers was a privileged member and a founder of the club, so the committee did not scrutinise his recommendation too closely.
"It's no use, Jimmy," he said. "Life is hard enough at best, without my spending any part of it in a beastly place like Portandit. ”

“ I've discharged Jimmy Callahan. I'm going in now to Mr. Blair, and I'll apologise and resign. I'll tell him you warned me to quit rushing round, and I didn't do it. I'm sorry I telescoped him, but not half so sorry as that I disappointed you."
"Nonsense" said Manson severely. "Go back to your desk, and let this rest for a day or two. I'll see the manager about it later on." He noticed the moisture in the younger man's eyes, and the quiver of his nether lip, so he spoke coldly. Emotion has no place in the railway business. ”

“ His clothes are untidy and seem to have been made for someone else. His hair, in disarray, gets on one's nerves. He is uncouth, Manson, uncouth. I shouldn't like Mr. Rockervelt to see that we have such an unkempt person on our clerical staff."
"I'll speak to him, sir; I admit his manner does not do him justice."
"When Manson next encountered Jimmy alone, he spoke with more than his usual severity.
"Callahan, I wish you would pay some attention to your clothes. Get a new business suit and take care of it. Remember you are in the city of Warmington, and not at Hitchen's Siding." ”

“ Here was Number Sixteen, the freight from the west, coming in, and there were no orders for her. Number Three, known to the outside world as the "Pacific Express," the fastest train on the road, was already forty minutes overdue, tearing westward through the night somewhere, and Jimmy did not know where. All he knew was that she was trying to make up lost time as well as the greasy metals would allow, and here he stood without orders!
Once more he seized the key, and calling the despatcher's office in Warmington, once more demanded: "What orders for Sixteen?" ”

“ The situation revealed itself to his mathematical brain as a well-known arrangement of men and pawns would display to an expert what could or could not be done on the chess-board. He knew where Number Three would lose further time on the up-grades, but now, alas! it was on the level in the flat country, where every minute meant a mile. Nevertheless, there was one chance in a thousand that the express had not yet reached Hitchen's, and his quick mind showed him the right thing to be done. ”

“ Manson, I'll make the road-bed of the old Burdock as good as you've got the Midland, and I'll——"
"Tut, tut" said Manson in his most unenthusiastic tone; "you can do nothing without money, and the Burdock's got none. Be thankful if you receive your fifteen a week with reasonable regularity. Now, here is a letter to the Hon. Duffield Rogers. Give it to the hall-porter at the club, and Mr. Rogers will invite you in. You will find the president a humorous man, and you have a touch of the same quality yourself ”

“ We attach his private car to Number Three, Wednesday night, and your best time to see him might be in his car during the four miles he's running to the Junction. The express waits for him at the Junction. You haven't much time, but it will prove all the time he'll want to allow you if your project doesn't appeal to him."
"Say!" cried Callahan, athrill with the portent of a sudden idea, "couldn't you persuade Rockervelt to hitch his car to the Burdock 'Thunderbolt'? I'll run him through to Portandit, and save him that dreary daylight trip from Tobasco."
Manson shook his head. ”

“ Rockervelt is au important man who knows his own importance. Etiquette prescribes that I should give you a letter to the general manager, and he is the proper person to introduce you to Mr. Rockervelt. So, you see——"
"Oh, very well" exclaimed Callahan shortly, sorry he had asked. This rebuff, following so closely on the heels of his disappointment, clouded his usual good nature. He was about to go on, when Manson detained him, grasping the lapel of his coat.
"Don't be offended, Jimmy; and I'll tell you something no one else knows. I'm going to quit the railway business." ”

“ As long as you have to hand over your eastern traffic to the Rockervelts at Warmington, and take what western freight they care to allow you, you are in the clutch of the Rockervelts, and they can freeze you out whenever they like. ”

“ Instinctively the division superintendent knew what had happened. To the most accurate of men, faithful and exact through years of service, may come an unaccountable momentary lapse of vigilance. The train despatcher had forgotten Number Sixteen! ”

“ Blair, do not forget what I told you about paying attention to your clothes. You will be meeting important men whom you may have to persuade, and it is better to face there well groomed; a prepossessing appearance counts in business. Prepossession is nine points in the game. Here is the letter, so be off." The division superintendent rose and extended his hand. ”

“ The division superintendent put on his hat and left the room less hurriedly than Jimmy had done. He made his way to that sumptuous edifice known as the University Club. The social organisation which it housed had long numbered Manson as a member, but he was a most infrequent visitor. He walked direct to the cosiest corner of the large reading-room, and there, in a luxurious arm-chair, found, as he had expected, the Hon. Duffield Rogers, an aged gentleman with a grey beard on his chin and a humorous twinkle in his eye. Mr. ”

“ For three reasons, sir. First, the fewer people that know of such escapes, the better; second, Hammond, who was responsible, voluntarily resigned on plea of ill-health; third, Hammond was your nephew. ”

“ Very well. I get a general manager for fifteen dollars a week; cheapest in the country, and doubtless the best. I confess, however, my chief delight in offering him the position is the hope of seeing old Blair's face when he first meets in conference the youth he has dismissed, his equal in rank if not in salary. It will be a study in physiognomy."
If the staid John Manson thought that Callahan's native modesty would prevent him accepting the management of the Burdock Route, he was much mistaken. When Manson related quietly the result of his interview with the Hon. ”