The Last Spike Part 20

Long he sat in silence, having a last visit with La Salle, her bra.s.s bands gleaming in the twilight. For years she had carried him safely through snow and sleet and rain, often from dawn till dusk, and sometimes from dusk till dawn again. She had been his life's companion while on the road, who now, "like some familiar face at parting, gained a graver grace."

Presently the lamp-lighters came and began lighting the oil lamps that stood in brackets along the wall; but before their gleam reached his face the old engineer slid down and hurried away home with never a backward glance.

That night when Mrs. Hautman had pa.s.sed the popcorn and red apples, and they had all eaten and the men had lighted cigars, the engineer's wife brought a worn Bible out and drew a chair near the master-mechanic. The "old man," as he was called, looked at the book, then at the woman, who held it open on her lap.

"Do you believe this book?" she asked earnestly.

"Absolutely," he answered.

"All that is written here?"

"All," said the man.

Then she turned to the fly-leaf and read the record of Henry's birth,--the day, the month, and the year.

Henry came and looked at the book and the faded handwriting, trying to remember; but it was too far away.

The old Bible had been discovered that day deep down in a trunk of old trinkets that had been sent to Henry when his mother died, years ago.

The old engineer took the book and held it on his knees, turned its limp leaves, and dropped upon them the tribute of a strong man's tear.

The "old man" called for the letter he had written, erased the date, set it forward four years, and handed it back to Henry.

"Here, Hank," said he, "here's a Christmas gift for you."

So when the Wildwood Limited was limbered up that Christmas morning, Henry leaned from the window, leaned back, tugged at the throttle again, smiled over at the fireman, and said, "Now, Billy, watch her swallow that cold, stiff steel at about a mile a minute."

BOOKS BY CY WARMAN

SHORT RAILS

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

N.Y. TIMES REVIEW.

It is good for the soul that we should look into other worlds than our own, and Mr. Warman knows how to put us beside fireman and engineer and how to make us feel the poetry as well as the power of the tireless giants that fulfil for us moderns the ancient dream of the fire-breathing brazen bulls yoked for the service of man.

THE OUTLOOK.

A dozen or more spirited tales, tersely told, and with that surety of touch which comes only from intimate knowledge.... The romance, danger, bravery, plottings, and n.o.bility of action incident to life on the rail are all realistically depicted, and the reader feels the charm which attaches to the new or strange.

BOSTON ADVERTISER.

The reader will find much pleasure, and no disappointment, in reading these pages.

THE WHITE MAIL

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

THE NATION.

Cy Warman can always impart a living interest to a story through his close intimacy with locomotives, yard-masters, signals, switches, with all that pertains to railroading, in a word--from a managers' meeting to a frog. The tender enthusiasm he feels for the denizens of his iron jungle is contagious.

THE OUTLOOK

Mr. Cy Warman, by long personal experience, acquired a close and exact knowledge of the life of railroad men. "The White Mail" brings out realistically the actual life of the engineer, the brakeman, and the freight handler.

THE CONGREGATIONALIST

Cy Warman writes excellent railroad stories, of course, and his new one, "The White Mail," is short, lively, and eminently readable.

ST. LOUIS GLOBE-DEMOCRAT

In "The White Mail," Cy Warman, in the pleasant, witty style for which this poet of the Rockies has become noted, has presented a tender, touching picture.

TALES OF AN ENGINEER

_With Rhymes of the Rail_

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

THE CONGREGATIONALIST

There is true power in Cy Warman's "Tales of an Engineer," and the reader yields willingly to the attraction of its blended novelty, spirit, and occasional pathos. It does not lack humor, and every page is worth reading.

THE CHURCHMAN

A new departure in literature should be interesting even if lacking in the brilliant off-hand sketchiness of these pages. One steps into a new life. There is not a dull page in this book, and much of it is of more than ordinary interest.

NEW YORK COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER

There is a rugged directness about the description of rus.h.i.+ng runs on the rail, through which one can hear the thump-thump of the machinery as the engine dashes over the rails, and which seems to be illumined by the glow of the headlights and the colored signals.