ger, and never took an unnecessary chance, thought of what between
men confidence may sometimes mean. He sat a moment with folded arms on
the side of his bed, studying the tired face, defenceless in the
slumber of fatigue. When he turned out the light and lay down, he
wondered whether, somewhere in the valley of the great river to which
he was to take his men in the morning, he should encounter the slight
and reckless horsewoman who had blazed so in anger when he stood
before her at Marion's. He had struggled against her charm too long.
She had become, how or when he could not tell, not alone a pretty
woman but a fascinating one--the creature of his constant thought.
Already she meant more to him than all else in the world. He well knew
that if called on to choose between Dicksie and all else he could only
choose her. But as he drew together the curtains of thought and sleep
stole in upon him, he was resolved first to have Dicksie; to have all
else if he could, but, in any case, Dicksie Dunning. When he awoke day
was breaking in the mountains. The huge silver watch, the low-voiced
man, and the formidable six-shooter had disappeared. It was time to
get up, and Marion Sinclair had promised an early breakfast.

CHAPTER XIII

THE TURN IN THE STORM

The beginning of the Crawling Stone Line marked the first determined
effort under President Bucks, while undertaking the reconstruction of
the system for through traffic, to develop the rich local territory
tributary to the mountain division. New policies in construction dated
from the same period. Glover, with an enormous capital staked for the
new undertakings, gave orders to push the building every month in the
year, and for the first time in mountain railroad-building winter was
to be ignored. The older mountain men met the innovation as they met
any departure from their traditions, with curiosity and distrust. On
the other hand, the new and younger blood took hold with confidence,
and when Glover called, "Yo, heave ho!" at headquarters, they bent
themselves clear across the system for a hard pull together.

McCloud, resting the operating on the shoulders of his assistant
Anderson, devoted himself wholly to forwarding the construction plans,
and his first clash over winter road-building in the Rockies came
with his own right-hand man, Mears. McCloud put in a switch below
Piedmont, opened a material-yard, and began track-laying toward the
lower Crawling Stone Valle