Page:Frank Packard - On the Iron at Big Cloud.djvu/189

 other—and averted their eyes. Then they took Coogan up to his boarding-house, where he had moved after Annie and the little one died.

"He'll never put his finger on a throttle again," said Regan with a choke in his voice, as they came out. "The best man that ever pulled a latch, the best man that ever drew a pay-check on the Hill Division. It's hell, Carleton, that's what it is. I don't think he really knew you or me. He don't seem to remember much of anything, though he's natural enough and able enough to take care of himself in all other ways. Just kind of simple-like. It's queer the way that Devil's Slide has got him, what? We can't let him go out there." "I wonder if he remembers Annie," said Carleton. "I was afraid to ask him. I didn't know what effect it might have. No; we can't let him go out on the Devil's Slide."

But the doctors said yes. They went further and said it was about the only chance he had. The thing was on his mind. It was better to humor him, and that, with the outdoor mountain life, in time might bring him around again.

And so, while Regan growled and swore, and Carleton knitted his brows in perplexed protest, the doctors had their way—and Coogan, Chick Coogan, went to the Devil's Slide. Officially, he was on the pay-roll as a section hand; but Millrae, the section boss, had his own orders.

"Let Coogan alone. Let him do what he likes, only see that he doesn't come to any harm," wired the super.

And Coogan, when Millrae asked him what he