Not so serious, that is, in delaying the traffic of the road, but more serious in another way, since both entailed3 loss of life. The first one occurred just three days after the wreck at Vinton. A freight-train had taken a siding about five miles east of Wadsworth to allow the through east-bound express to pass, but the brakeman on the freight, who was a green hand, forgot to throw the switch back again after the freight-train had backed in upon the siding. He climbed up into the cab, and he and the engineer and fireman sat there chatting away, all unconscious of the impending4 disaster. In a moment, they heard the roar of the approaching train, and then it flashed into view far down the track. They turned to watch it, to admire the clean lines of the engine as it whirled toward them; then, as it reached the switch, they were horrified5 to see it turn in upon the siding. There was no time to move, to cry out, to attempt to save themselves. An instant of horrified suspense6, and the crash came, and the two engines, together with the cars immediately behind them, were piled together into a torn and twisted mass of wreckage7,—wreckage through which blistering8 steam hissed9 and about which in a moment hungry flames began to lap,—wreckage from which no man came forth11 alive. But, as the accident occurred upon a siding, the main track was not even blocked, and the wreckage was cleared away without the feverish12 haste which marked the wreck at Vinton.
The third wreck occurred at Torch, a little station on the east end of the road, when both engineer and fireman of an east-bound freight-train forgot their orders to take the siding there, to make way for the west-bound flier, and continued on full speed past the station. The conductor recognized the error at once, but he was away back in the caboose at the other end of the train. He sent a brakeman flying forward over the cars to warn the engineer of his danger, but, before he had got forward half the length of the train, the express hurtled down upon them, and both engineer and fireman paid for their forgetfulness with their lives. This wreck was so far east that it was handled from Parkersburg, and the gang from Section Twenty-one was not called out.
This series of accidents impressed deeply upon Allan’s mind the terrible peculiarity13 which belongs to railroading. In most of life’s ordinary occupations, a mistake may be retrieved14; on the railroad, almost never. To make a mistake there is, almost inevitably15, to sacrifice life and property. The railroad man who makes a mistake never has the chance to make a second one. If he survives the first one, his dismissal from the road’s employ will follow. Mistakes on a railroad are too expensive to risk them by employing careless men.
The employés of the road breathed easier after the accident at Torch. Until the fatal three had occurred, every man feared that his turn would come next; now they knew that they were safe until another series was started. Whether it was from the increased self-confidence and self-control which this belief engendered16, or whether there really was some basis for this railroad superstition, at any rate, no more accidents occurred, and the road’s operation proceeded smoothly17 and uneventfully.
One exciting battle there was in late September. The fall rains had been unusually heavy and persistent18; every little brook19 became a roaring torrent20, loosening bridges and culverts, seeping21 under the road-bed, and demanding constant vigilance on the part of the section-gangs. As the rain continued without abating22, the broad river, which usually flowed peacefully along far below the railroad embankment, rose foot by foot until the whole stretch of embankment along the river’s edge was threatened. Long trains of flat cars were hurried to the place, loaded with rock and bags of sand. These were dumped along the embankment, which was washing badly in places, and for a time it looked as though the encroachments of the water had been stopped. But the rain continued, and the river kept on rising, until it was seeping along the top of the embankment. If it once began to flow over it, nothing could save the track, for the water would slice away the earth beneath it in great sections.
All the men that could be spared from the other portions of the road had been hurried to the scene. At the gravel23-pit just below the city, a gang of fifty men was working, filling heavy sacks and loading them on flat cars. A great steam-shovel was heaping the loose gravel upon other cars, and, as soon as enough were loaded to make a train, they were hurried away to the danger point. During that culminating day, no effort was made to preserve the train schedule. The work-trains were given the right of way, and even the lordly east-bound passengers had to flag through from the embankment to the gravel-pit. Train-master and superintendent25 were on the spot, directing where the gravel should be dumped, and watching anxiously the gauge26 which marked the rise of the water. Another inch and it would be over the embankment.
But from the last inspection27 of the gauge Mr. Schofield arose with a shout of triumph.
“It’s no higher than it was half an hour ago,” he said. “It hasn’t risen a hair’s breadth. It’ll begin to fall before long. We’re all right if we can only make the embankment hold.”
Hope put new life into the men, and they worked like beavers28; but whether the embankment could withstand much longer the tremendous pressure of the water against it seemed exceedingly doubtful. The whole length of the river seemed to be concentrating its strength to push against this one spot. Allan, as he paused to look up the muddy current, almost imagined that the water was rushing toward the embankment with the deliberate purpose of overwhelming it. The débris which the broad current hurried along told of the damage it was doing in other places. Lordly trees had been uprooted29, outbuildings carried away, stock drowned, fertile bottom land covered with gravel and rendered worthless,—but all this seemed trivial to the boy beside the danger which threatened the road. He could guess how long it would take to rebuild this great stretch of embankment, should it be swept away. For weeks and months, the system must lay powerless, lifeless, disrupted.
“She’s going down, boys!” he cried, rising with beaming face. “She’s gone down half an inch. We’re going to win this fight!”
But how slowly the water receded31! It seemed to Allan, at times, that it was rising again; but the crest32 of the flood had passed, and by the next day the danger was quite over. The embankment had to be rebuilt where it had been badly washed; and it was rebuilt more strongly than ever, and guarded by a wall of riprap, but never for an hour was the traffic of the road interrupted.
So October passed and November came. Always there was the track demanding attention,—an endless round of work which would never be completed. Always there were the trains rushing over it in endless procession,—the luxurious33 Limited, sending every other train headlong into a siding out of the way; the slower “accommodation,” which stops at every station along the road and is very popular with the farmers and dwellers34 at crossroads; the big through freight, drawn35 by a mighty36 giant of an engine, hauling two thousand tons of grain or beef or coal to the great Eastern market.
And the through freight is the greatest of them all, for it is the money-maker. The Limited, glittering with polished brass37 and rare woods and plate-glass, is for show,—for style. It makes the road a reputation. It figures always in the advertisements in big type and on the back of folder38 and time-table in gorgeous lithograph39. Its passengers look out with aversion at the dingy40, ugly freight, standing41 on the siding, waiting for it to pass. But it is the freight that is meat and drink to the road; it enables it to keep out of the receiver’s hands, and sometimes even to pay dividends42.
For Allan, the days passed happily, for one serious cloud was lifted from his life. Dan Nolan had disappeared. He had not been seen for weeks, and every one hoped that he would never be seen in that neighbourhood again. Jack43 had taken good care to spread the story of the fallen rock, and Nolan was wise to keep out of the trainmen’s way.
“He thinks I saw him that day,” remarked the foreman, “an’ he’s afeard of a term in th’ penitentiary44. Well, he’ll git it; if not here, somewheres else.”
One trouble still remained, for Reddy showed no sign of improvement. His aversion to all his old friends seemed rather to increase, and he would wander away for days at a time. With this development of vagrant45 habits, he fell naturally in with other vagrants46; played cards with them under the big coal-chute, rode with them in empty box-cars,—in a word, degenerated47 utterly48 from the happy, industrious49 Reddy of other days. Still, he showed no disposition50 to harm any one, so his friends deemed it best to let him go his way, hoping against hope that time might work a cure. His wife had been given the position of janitress of the depot51 building, and so provided for the family.
Physically52, Allan had never been in such splendid condition. Constant work in the open air had hardened his muscles and tanned his face; he was lean and hard, his eyes clear, his nerves steady. He was always ready for his bed at night, and always ready for his work in the morning. He felt within himself an abounding53 health and vitality54, that brought him near to nature, and made him love her great winds and tempests. The only things he missed were the books to which he had always been accustomed. He was usually too tired in the evening to do more than read the newspaper; but he was gaining for himself a first-hand experience of life more valuable than any reflection of it he could have caught from the printed page. The foundations of his education had been well laid; now he was laying the foundations of experience. Somehow, for the time being, books seemed to him strangely useless and artificial. He was drinking deep of life itself.
And as the days passed, Allan grew to know the trainmen better. He was admitted to the freemasonry of their fellowship, and sat with them often in the evenings at roundhouse or yardmaster’s office, listening to their yarns55, which had a strange fascination56 for him. It was at the roundhouse that engineers and firemen met, summoned by the caller to take their engines out; at the yardmaster’s office, conductors and brakemen reported. And the boy found all of them alike prepared for what might befall, ready, instinctively57, without second thought, to risk their lives to save the company’s property or to protect the passengers entrusted58 to their care.
A great admiration59 for these men grew into his heart. They were like soldiers, ready at a moment’s notice to advance under fire,—only here there was not the wild exhilaration of battle, of charge and sortie, but only a long, cold looking of danger in the face.
Even the humblest of them had his heroisms, as the boy found out one night; for, surely, none was humbler than Bill Griffith, the lame10 crossing-flag-man. It was at the roundhouse one evening that Allan chanced to ask how Bill lost his leg. “Tookey” Morton—the oldest engineer on the road—who had just come in to report, turned around at the question.
“He’s lost both legs, my boy,” he said. “He’s wood on both sides from the knee down, only you can’t see it because his pant-legs hide it. Ten years ago, Bill was one of the best engineers on this road. He had the old Ninety-six,—you remember her, boys,—one of them old passenger-engines, built too light for the business. Well, one night Bill was spinnin’ down the grade at Loveland when the side-rod on his side broke, and in about half a second had whipped the cab to pieces and smashed both Bill’s legs. His fireman, who was green, jumped at the first crash; so what did Bill do but get up on the stumps60 of his legs and walk to the throttle61 and shut her off. They found him layin’ on what was left of the deck, and thought he was dead. But he pulled through, and was given that billet at the crossin’. And there ain’t a man, woman, or child has been hurt there since he’s had it.”
The section-men were soon to have their hours of danger, too, for the road was falling among troublesome times. The first wind of it came in an order to all employés issued from general headquarters.
Jack stuck a copy of it on the order-hook on the wall of the section-shanty, and then read it over again with a very dark face. Thus it ran:
“NOTICE TO EMPLOYÉS, ALL DEPARTMENTS
“The police department of this road has just been reorganized, and all employés are hereby directed to aid it in every possible way in keeping all trains, freight and passenger, free from tramps. This nuisance has grown to such proportions that it must be checked. Trainmen discovered permitting tramps to ride on their trains will be summarily discharged. Section-men will see that no fires are built by tramps on the right of way, and that they do not linger on railroad property.
“[Signed] A. G. Round,
“Supt. and Gen. Manager.
“Cincinnati, Ohio, November 14.”
“That means trouble,” said Jack, “if they try t’ carry it out,” and turned away to his work without further comment.
But that night in the yardmaster’s office Allan heard the order discussed with freedom and much emphasis.
“We can’t deny,” said one man, “that th’ hoboes have been robbin’ th’ road right an’ left, but what kin24 we do? Try t’ put ’em off an’ git a bullet through us or a knife in us?”
“It’s put ’em off or git fired,” remarked another, grimly.
“The road couldn’t stand it any longer,” remarked the yardmaster. “Car after car has come into the yards here broken open and any amount of stuff missing. It’s been costing the road a pretty figure to straighten things out with the shippers.”
“The tramps get in out here at the heavy grade just east of Byers,” remarked a conductor. “Those fool despatchers load us up so heavy that we can’t make more than six or eight miles an hour up that grade,—sometimes we stick and have to double over. Well, the tramps lay for us there every night, and, while we’re crawling along, or maybe cutting the train in two to double, they pick out a likely looking car of merchandise, break it open, hunt around inside, and throw off what they want, and then drop off themselves. We don’t even know the seals are broken until we get into the yards here.”
“There’s a dozen other places on the road just as bad,” said the yardmaster.
“But how’s a feller t’ know what’s goin’ on inside a car?” queried62 a brakeman, sarcastically63. “That’s what I’d like to be told.”
“Well,” retorted the yardmaster, “I guess the superintendent will tell you quick enough, if he ever gets you on the carpet.”
The brakeman snorted skeptically.
But trainmen and tramps alike soon found out that the management of the road was in deadly earnest. The force of police had been strongly reinforced. Tramps were summarily thrown off the trains. When they showed fight, as they often did at first, they were promptly65 arrested, arraigned66 before the nearest police justice, and given a term in the workhouse.
To be sure, all this was not accomplished67 without some cost. One detective was shot through the head and killed, and many others had escapes more or less narrow, but the tramps soon lost their boldness. They no longer broke open freight-cars at will and helped themselves to their contents, or rode from place to place as their fancy dictated68. But they took their revenge in other ways.
One night an extra west-bound freight ran through an open switch at Greenfield and crashed into the freight-house. An investigation69 showed that the switch-lock had been broken, and the switch thrown. A night watchman on Section Twenty-eight found a big pile of ties on the track, and stopped another freight just in time to prevent a wreck.
Ugly rumours70 were flying about of the tramps’ intentions, and it was at this juncture71 that another order came from headquarters. It ran:
“NOTICE TO SECTION-FOREMEN
“All section-foremen, until further orders, will divide their gangs into tricks, and have one man constantly on duty patrolling the track from end to end of their section. All sections must be gone over not less than once every three hours, and special vigilance is required at night. The road relies upon its section-men to see that this work is faithfully done. Double time will be allowed for this extra duty. To go into effect at once.
“[Signed] A. G. Round,
“Supt. and Gen. Manager.
“Cincinnati, Ohio, November 30.”
And simultaneously72 the road’s police force was augmented73 by a dozen special detectives. The management was determined74 to prove that it could protect its property. Besides, the other roads of the country were looking on with much interest to see what the result of this struggle would be, for the tramp nuisance was rampant75 everywhere.
For a time, it seemed that these precautions had been effective. There were no more robberies reported, and few tramps attempted to steal rides. To be sure, the station at Madeira caught fire one night and burned to the ground, but there was no proof of incendiarism. Still the road did not relax its vigilance. Threatening rumours came to it from the underworld. The detectives, assuming tramp garb76 and fraternizing with the “hoboes,” became aware of something sinister77 in the air, but could never quite fathom78 the mystery. They were sure of only one thing—something was going to happen.
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1
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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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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entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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blistering
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| adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡 | |
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hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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13
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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14
retrieved
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| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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15
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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21
seeping
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| v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出 | |
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abating
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| 减少( abate的现在分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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beavers
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| 海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人 | |
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uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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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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receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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folder
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| n.纸夹，文件夹 | |
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lithograph
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| n.平板印刷，平板画；v.用平版印刷 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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dividends
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| 红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金 | |
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43
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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44
penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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45
vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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vagrants
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| 流浪者( vagrant的名词复数 )； 无业游民； 乞丐； 无赖 | |
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degenerated
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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50
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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51
depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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52
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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53
abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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54
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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55
yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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56
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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60
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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61
throttle
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| n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压 | |
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62
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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63
sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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64
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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65
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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66
arraigned
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| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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67
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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68
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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69
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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70
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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71
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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72
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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73
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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74
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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75
rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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76
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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77
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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78
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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