The night winds moaned among the empty freight cars. The arc lamps hummed and sputtered1, making the flying frost look like diamond dust dropping from the grinding stars. Out of a shadowy alley2 a bent3 man crept, crouching4 under the snow-hung eaves. Far down the track, at a crossing, the man saw the flash of a helmet and the glint of brass5 buttons, and dodged6 among the cars. The man had committed no crime against the law, but he was willing to, and so avoided the silent guardian7 of the peace, pacing his beat. Beyond the track he came to the street door of a two-story building, struck a match, read the number on the transom, and entered the hall. At the top of the first flight of stairs a door stood open. Beneath a gas jet in the open room Dan Moran sat reading a book. He had heard the unsteady footsteps on the stair, but had not allowed them to disturb him. Now the prowler paused, steadied himself against the door-jamb, coughed, hiccoughed, hello'd in a whisper, and Moran looked up.
"Well, Greene," said Dan, "what brings you abroad on a night like this?"
"Business!" was the half-whispered reply, "Business, ol' man."
Now the rum-crazed rambler left the door, put a trembling hand on the table in the centre of the room, glanced back toward the stairs, and peered into the face of the old engineer. "We are betrayed!" he whispered, leaning heavily upon the stand. His wrist shook violently, causing the table to quiver. The smoking outfit8 upon the table made a low, rumbling9 noise. "What's that?" he asked, glaring about.
Having satisfied himself that all was right he put both hands upon the table, and gazing again into the face of Moran, repeated: "We are betrayed. Cowels is goin' out with Blackwings on the Denver Limited to-morrow night. The plumber10 told the foreman an hour ago--I heard 'im. Least they think he's goin', but he ain't. He's goin' to--"
"Oh, Greene, you're drunk. Go home and have a good sleep."
"Home! Did you say home? I ain't got no home. Drunk? Yes, I been drunk lots o' times, but I ain't drunk now. Honest, I ain't teched a drop to-day. Got a bot about you, ol' man? Say, if you have, fur th' love o' life gimme a drop--half a drop--Dan, I'm all afire inside."
It was an awful picture that Moran looked upon now. The bloated face, the sunken, blood-shot eyes, the blazing, hideous11 nose, burning in the iron-gray stubble, all topped by a shock of tousled, unkempt hair, made a picture horrible in the extreme.
"Say!" Greene began again, glancing toward the door, "meet me at seven thirty to-morrow night, on the 'rep' track near the round-house, an' I'll show you a trick."
"What sort of trick will you show me?"
With another look over his shoulder at the door the drunkard leaned over the table and whispered. When the old engineer had gathered what the man had said he got to his feet, took his midnight caller by the collar and lead him to the top of the stairs. Greene was opposed to leaving the cheerful room, so Moran was obliged to go with him to the street door. Having put the wreck12 out into the frosty night the engineer went back to his book. But he could not read. That awful face into which he had looked, and the black soul that he had seen as well, haunted him. He sat with his feet upon the table and smoked pipe after pipe, in a vain effort to drive the frightful13 picture from his mind. The news that Greene had brought disturbed him also. His fireman was going to desert the Brotherhood14, and take their old engine out.
Blackwings! How he loved that locomotive, and how absurd it seemed now for a man to become so attached to a mere15 machine! But she was not inanimate. She lived, moved, breathed. How often, as they swept beneath the stars of an autumn night, had he felt her hot breath upon his face, heard the steel singing beneath her feet and felt her tremble, responsive to his lightest touch. How wild and free and glad she had seemed, let loose in the moonlight with the Limited behind her. How gracefully16, easily, she lifted the huge, vestibuled train from swale to swell17. How she always passed station after station on the tick of the clock, keeping to the time-card, unvarying as the sun. Proud and queenly, yet gentle, she always answered the signals of the less fortunate locomotives that stood panting on the side tracks, with their heavy loads. Even the Meteor, the engine that wore white flags and pulled the president's private car, always took the siding and saluted18 Blackwings as she swept by majestically19 with the Limited.
More than once Moran had refused promotion20 that would take him from his engine--from the open fields and free, wide world in which they lived and moved together--to the cares and anxieties of a stuffy21 office. He had been contented22 and happy with Blackwings, his books and his briar-root pipe. He did not share the troubles of his less fortunate brothers, who hugged and exaggerated their grievances23 until they became, to them, unbearable24. But when they quit he climbed down, took off his overclothes, folded them carefully and carried them away with him. He had nothing to gain by the strike, but he had much to lose by remaining at his post--the confidence and respect of his fellow-toilers. Besides he, in common with the rest, regarded the classification of engineers as unfair to the men and to the travelling public. If a man were competent to handle a passenger train, said the strikers, he ought to have first-class pay. If he were incompetent25 he ought to be taken off, for thousands of lives were in the hands of the engineer during the three years through which, at reduced pay, he was becoming competent. These were the arguments advanced by the men. This business upon the one hand, and a deep longing26 upon the part of the management to learn just how far the men could go in the way of dictating27 to the officials, in fixing the load for a locomotive, and the pay of employees, caused the company, after years of sparing, to undertake the chastisement28 of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.[3]
[3] The Burlington officials claim that, by resolutions in the lodge29 room at Lincoln, the engineers fixed30 the load for certain classes of engines, together with the penalty for pulling more. They argue that if allowed to do this the men would want to make the time-cards and fix freight rates. They certainly had as much right to do the one as the other.
It is to be presumed that the generals, colonels and captains in the two armies fought for what they considered right. At all events they were loyal and obedient to their superiors. But each had found a foe31 vastly more formidable than had been expected. They had not dreamed that the fight could become so bitter. Life-long friends became enemies. Family ties were severed32, homes were ruined, men's lives were wrecked33, women's hearts were broken, and out of the shadow of the awful strife34 came men fit for murder. It was these things that had kept Dan Moran awake far into the morning.
Presently he heard a whistle, opened his eyes, looked at his watch and then undressed and went to bed, while other workmen, more happily situated35, passed under his window on the way to work.
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1
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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plumber
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| n.(装修水管的)管子工 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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15
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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24
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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dictating
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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32
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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33
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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