Although there were half-a-dozen palms itching for the throttle of the La Salle, no man had yet been assigned to the run. And the same kindly feeling of sympathy that prompted this delay prevented the aspirants from pressing their claims. Once, in the lodge room, a young member eager for a regular run opened the question, but saw his mistake when the older members began to hiss like geese, while the Worthy Master smote the table with his maul. Henry saw the La Salle cross the turn-table and back into the round-house, and while he "looked her over," examining every link and pin, each lever and link-lifter, the others hurried away; for it was Christmas Eve, and nobody cared to say good-bye to the old engineer.
When he had walked around her half-a-dozen times, touching her burnished mainpins with the back of his hand, he climbed into the cab and began to gather up his trinkets, his comb and tooth-brush, a small steel monkey-wrench, and a slender brass torch that had been given to him by a friend. Then he sat upon the soft cushioned coach-seat that his wife had coveted, and looked along the hand-railing. He leaned from the cab window and glanced along the twin stubs of steel that passed through the open door and stopped short at the pit, symbolizing the end of his run on the rail. The old boss wiper came with his crew to clean the La Salle, but when he saw the driver there in the cab he passed him by.
Long he sat in silence, having a last visit with La Salle, her brass 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 passed 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
12mo. $1.25
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 nobility 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
12mo. $1.25
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
12mo. $1.25
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 rushing 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.
THE EXPRESS MESSENGER
And Other Tales of the Rail
12mo. $1.25
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS
Boston Transcript
The author's work is familiarly and pleasantly known to magazine readers for the realistic details of Western railroad life, which give them a dashing, vital movement, though they are often highly romantic. The romantic in them, however, seems very human—indeed, there is a ring of true feeling in these little tales.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Mr. Warman's work has about it the merit of a genuine realism, and it is as full of romance and adventure as the most exacting reader could desire. It is a volume of sketches that is well worth reading, not only because they are well written and full of action, but for the pictures they give of a life that the world really knows very little about.
Philadelphia Press
The poet appears in the descriptive passages, and there is a melodious rhythm to his prose style that is pleasurable in a high degree. Mr. Warman has a field of his own, and he is master of it.
FRONTIER STORIES
12mo. $1.25
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS
Review of Reviews
Nobody knows his frontier life better than Mr. Warman, and his yarns of Indians, striking miners, cowboys, half-breeds, and railroad men, are full of vivid reality. There is plenty of romance and excitement in this score of stories.
The Churchman
Eighteen tales which certainly are excellent in their kind, quick, breezy, full of the local color, yet with delightful touches of universal humanity.
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune
They are honest little chapters of life simply written,
an effective word of slang stuck in here and there
where it does not seem at all out of place; honest,
open-hearted, steady-eyed narratives all, with the breeze
of the Western prairies in every line, as well as the
brotherhood of man, and his triumphs and his failures
impressing themselves upon you at every turn.
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
153-157 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK