On the Iron at Big CloudPackard, Frank L. (Frank Lucius)
General
On the Iron at Big Cloud
Packard, Frank L. (Frank Lucius)
Canadian fiction -- 20th century; Railroad stories; Short stories, Canadian
Things were moving slick as a whistle that night. No extra traffic,
no road troubles, in--out, in--out, all along the line the trains were
running like clockwork from one end of the division to the other. If
there was anything on my mind at all it was the Limited, Number Two,
eastbound. We were handling a good deal of gold in those days, there was
a lot of it being shipped East then--is still, from the Klondyke now,
you know--and we were getting a fair share of the business away from
the southern competition. We hadn’t had any trouble, weren’t looking for
any, but it was pretty generally understood that all shipments of that
kind were to get special attention. Number Two was carrying an extra
express car with a consignment for the mint that night, so, naturally,
I had kept my eye on her more closely than usual all the way through the
mountains from the time I got her from the Pacific Division. At the time
I’m speaking about, four o’clock in the morning, I was almost clear of
her, for she wasn’t much west of Coyote Bend, fifteen miles from here,
and she had rights all the way in. Half an hour more at the most, and
she would be off my hands and up to the dispatchers of the Prairie
Division. She had held her schedule to the tick every foot of the way,
and all I was waiting for was the call from Coyote Bend that would
report her in and out again into the clear for Big Cloud. Coyote Bend is
the first station west of here, you understand? There’s nothing between.
She was due at Coyote at 4.05, and I want you to remember this--I said
it before, but I want to repeat it. I want you to get it _hard_--she had
run to the second all through the night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account