have been a novelist. Give you a spike and a
cross-tie and you'd infer a whole railroad. But you pique my
curiosity. Where are these American royalties of yours going in the
Rosemary?"

"To California. The car belongs to Mr. Somerville Darrah, who is
vice-president and manager in fact of the Colorado and Grand River
road: the 'Rajah,' they call him. He is a relative of the Carterets,
and the party is on its way to spend the winter on the Pacific coast."

"And the little lady in the widow's cap: is she Miss Carteret's
mother?"

"Miss Bessie Carteret's mother and Miss Virginia's aunt. She is the
chaperon of the party."

Winton was silent while the Limited was roaring through a village
on the Kansas side of the river. When he spoke again it was not of
the Carterets; it was of the Carterets' kinsman and host.

"I have heard somewhat of the Rajah," he said half-musingly. "In
fact, I know him, by sight. He is what the magazinists are fond of
calling an 'industry colonel,' a born leader who has fought his way
to the front. If the Quartz Creek row is anything more than a stiff
bluff on the part of the C. G. R. it will be quite as well for us
if Mr. Somerville Darrah is safely at the other side of the
continent--and well out of ordinary reach of the wires."

Adams came to attention with a half-hearted attempt to galvanize an
interest in the business affair.

"Tell me more about this mysterious jangle we are heading for," he
rejoined. "Have I enlisted for a soldier when I thought I was only
going into peaceful exile as assistant engineer of construction on
the Utah Short Line?"

"That remains to be seen." Winton took a leaf from his pocket
memorandum and drew a rough outline map. "Here is Denver, and here
is Carbonate," he explained. "At present the Utah is running into
Carbonate this way over the rails of the C. G. R. on a joint track
agreement which either line may terminate by giving six months'
notice of its intention to the other. Got that?"

"To have and to hold," said Adams. "Go on."

"Well, on the first day of September the C. G. R. people gave the
Utah management notice to quit."

"They are bloated monopolists," said Adams sententiously. "Still I
don't see why there should be any scrapping over the line in Quartz
Creek Canyon."

"No? You are not up in monopolistic methods. In six months from
September first the Utah people will be shut out of Carbonate
business, which is all that keeps that part of their