THE COURIER.
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her aa Boon aa I beard from Larry, and
would more than likely have something
amusing to tell her.
''It was snowing hard when we reached
the senator's, and when we got out of
the carriage she gave Duke tenderly
over to me and I remember how she
dragged on my arm and how played out
and exhausted she seemed.
"You really must not worry at all,' I
said. 'You know bow uncertain railroad
men are. It's euro to be better at the
next inaugural ball; we'll be dancing to
gether then.'
The next inaugural ball,' she said as
we went up the steps, putting out her
hand to catch the snow-flakes. 'That
seems a long way off.'
"I got down to the office late next
morniug, and before I had time to try
Grover, the dispatcher at Holyoke called
me up to ask whether Larry was still in
Cheyenne fie couldn't raise Grover,
he said, and he wanted to give Larry
train orders for 151, the east bound
passenger. When he heard what I had
to say, he told me I had better go down
to Grover on 151 myself, as the storm
threated to tie up all the trains and we
might look for trouble.
"I had the veterinary surgeon fix up
Duke's side, and I put him in the ex
press car, and boarded 151 with a mighty
cold, uncomfortable eensation in the
region of my diaphragm.
"It had snowed all night long, and
the storm had developed into a blizzard,
and the passenger had difficulty in mak
ing any headway at all.
"When we got into Grover I thought
it was the most desolate spot I had ever
looked on, and as the train pulled out,
leaving me there, I felt like sending a
message of farewell to the world. You
know what Grover is, a red box of a sta
tion, section house barricaded by coal
sheds and a little group of dwellings at
the end of everything, with the desert
running out on every side to the sky
line. The houses and Etation were cov
ered with a coating of snow that clung
to them like wet plaster, and the Biding
was one deep drift, banked against the
station door. The plain was a wide,
white ocean of swirling, drifting snow,
that beat and broke like the thrash of
the waves in the merciless wind that
swept, with nothing to break it, from
the Rockies to the Missouri.
"When 1 opened the station door, the
Enow fell in upon the floor, and Duke
sat down by the empty, fire'esa stove
and began to howl and whine in a heart
breaking fashion. Larry's sleeping room
upstairs was empty. Down stairs every
thing was in order, and all the station
work had been done up. Apparently
the last thing Larry had done was to
bill out a car of wool from the OasiB
sheep ranch for Dewey, Gould & Co.,
Boston. The car had gone out on 153,
the east bound that left Grover at seven
o'clock the night before, so he must
have been there at that time. I copied
the bill in the copy book, and went over
to the section house to make inquiries.
"The section bos3 was getting ready
to go out to look after the track. He
said he had seen O'Toole at five-thirty,
when the west bound passenger went
through, and, not having seen him since,
supposed he was still in Cheyenne. I
went over to Larry's boarding house,
and the woman said he must be in Chey
enne, as he bad eaten his supper at five
o'clock the night before, so that he
would have time to get his station work
done and dress. The little girl, she
said, had gone over at. five to tell him
that supper waa ready. I questioned
the child carefully. Sho said there was
another man, a stranger, in the station
with Larry when she went in and that
though she didn't hear anything they
said, and that Larry was sitting with
his chair tilted back and his feet on the
stove, she somehow had thought they
were quarreling. The stranger, she
said, was standing; ho had a fur coat on
and his eyes snapped like he was mad,
and she was afraid of him. 1 asked if
she could recall anything else about him,
and she said, "Yes, he had very red
lips.' When I heard that, my heart
grew cold as a snow lump, and when I
went out the wind seemed to go clear
through me. It was evident enough
that Freymark had gone down there to
make trouble, had quarreled with Larry
and bad boarded either the five-thirty
passenger or the extra, and got the con
ductor to let him off at his ranch, and
accounted fot his late appearance at the
dance.
"It was five o'clock then, but the five
thirty train was two hours late, so there
was nothing to do but sit down and
wait for the conductor, who had gone
out on the seven o'clock east bound the
night before, and who must have Been
Larry when he picked up the car of
wool. It was growing dark by that
time. The sky was a dull lead color,
and the snow had drifted about the lit
tle town until it was almost buried, and
was still coming down so fast that you
could scarcely see your hand before you.
"I was never so glad to hear anything
as that whistle, when old 153 came lum
bering and groaning in through the
snow. I ran out ou the platform to
meet her, and her headlight looked like
the face of an old fiiend. I caught the
conductor's arm the minute he stepped
off the train, but he wouldn't talk until
he got in by the fire. He said he hadn't
seen O'Toole at all the night before, but
he had found the bill for the wool car on
the table, with a note from Larry ask
ing him to take the car out on the Q.T.,
and he had concluded that Larry had
gone up to Cheyenne on the five-thirty.
I wired the Cheyenne office and man
aged to catch the express clerk who had
gone through on the extra the eight
before. He wired me saying he had
not seen Larry aboard the extra, but
that his dog had crept into his usual
place in the express car, and he had
supposed Larry was in the coach. He
had seen Freymark get on at Grover,
and the train bad slowed up a trille at
his ranch to let him off, for Freymark
stood in with some of the boys and sent
his cattle shipments our way.
"When the night fairly closed down
on me, I began to wonder how a gay,
expansive fellow like O'Toole had ever
stood six months at Grover. The snow
had let up by that time, and the stars
were beginning to glitter cold and
bright through the hurrying clouds. I
put on my ulster and went outside. I
began a minute tour of inspection, I
went through empty freight cars run
down by the siding, searched the coal
houses and primitive cellar, examining
them carefully, and calling O'TooIe's
name. Duke at my heels dragged him
self about, but seemed as much at sea
as I, and betrayed the nervous suspense
and alertness of a bird dog that has
lost its game.
"I went back to the office and took tho
big station lamp upstairs to make a
more careful examination of Larry's
sleeping room. The suit of clothes that
he usually wore at his work was hang
ing on the wall. His shaving things
were lying about, and I recognized the
silver backed military hair brushes that
Miss Masterson had given him at Christ
mas time, lying on his che.Tonier. Tho
upper drawer was open and a pair of
white kid gloves was lying on one corner.
A white string tie hung across his pipe
rack, it was crumpled and had evidently
proved unsatisfactory when he tied it.
On the cheffonier lay several clean hand
kerchiefs with noles in them, where he
had unfolded them and thrown them by
in a hasty search for a whole one. A
black silk muffler hung on the chair
back, and a top hat was set awry on the
(Continued on Page 8.)
IMMIIMIMIIIMMK'IMIMIIIIMIMIII
Ladies'
i Tailor-Made
Suits
Half Price.
lMMIIIimMMMMIIIIIIMMMIIMC
MILbgR& PAINE
f 0MHHMIM3MIIMMIMMMMMMO0MMIOIC
I EUINuKBI BURLINGTON
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Colorado Springs and return $18.85.
Pueblo and return 919.00.
Glenwood Springs and return $30 '25.
Salt Lake and Ogden and return 32.00.
Hot Springs, S. D., and return 81750.
Custer, K D.t and return 818.95.
Deadwood, S. D., and return $21.50.
Spearfisb, S. D and return $23.00.
Sheridan, Wyo., and return$27.85.
St. Paul &. Minneapolis and return $14.30
Duluth, Minn., and return 818.60.
Kasota,Minn., and return $12.05.
Waseka,"Minn., and return 812.05.
Superior.1 Wis., and return $18 GO.
GIty Ticket Office
u
jGor. lOtn and O Streets-5$Qjxaj?5jS7th st- Between Pand Q.J
Telephone 235,
k''V''
47. ?:;.
3fed
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THE FRANK P.
.ISO jVortll
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VA.
Ci
& no o i r 1 1 -v TTrfj-r T 8- os --
j j J THIS WHJEJIC AT jt v jt
9
104 ortl T&xxtto. St.
BIGGEST STORE,
TvrAvryFfc
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(XSX8
HMM Ill Of
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We are greatly overstocked on ladies'
reauy-io-wear emu.
It is our policy never to carry a lot
of ready made garments from ono
season to another.
We are determined to dispose of
every one of those suite, and to do
it quickly.
: While they last you can tako your
choice at exactly half price.
; Think or it. $40 suits for $20;
$30 suits for $15; $20 suits for
cin. ..:, f -r c ..
etc. X
IOOOOuMMmMOatlO0i
Tickets on sale July
8th, 9th and 10th
limited to return
Oct. 31st.
Burlington Depot
Telephon; 25.
j
S
AN INVITATION
To a drive can scarcely be re
fused, when the airing on wheels
is to be taken in one of our fine
carriages that are ideals of abso
lute comfort for the occupants.
Springs that give no jar, a
strength and solidity that makes
them good for a life time, and
prices nnapproached, make our
pleasure vehicles and wagons
universal favorites.
Finest storage rooms in the city.
LAWRENCE CO.,
lUtlx Street.
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