Page:Ralph on the Railroad.djvu/1024

200 "As I get it," observed old John Griscom, "the road is in for a bid on the service the Midland Central is getting."

"You don't mean through business?" spoke an inquiring voice.

"Sure, that," assented the veteran railroader. "We've beat them on the China & Japan Mail run to Bridgeport, and now the scheme is to run the Overland Express in from the north, catch her up here, and cut out Bridgeport at a saving of fifty miles on the regular western run."

"Then they will have to take the Mountain Division from Stanley Junction."

"Just that, if they expect to make the time needed," assented Griscom. "Hey, Bill Somers," to a grizzled old fellow with one arm, who was shaking his head seriously at all this confab, "what you mooning about?"

"I wouldn't take that run," croaked Somers, "if they gave me a solid gold engine with the tender full of diamonds. I left an arm on that route. Say, Dave Little and I had a construction run over those sliding curves up and down the canyon grades. It lasted a month. There were snowslides, washouts, forest fires. There's a part of the road that's haunted. There's a over one section, where they kill a man about once a week. Little lost his leg and his job there. My