United States or Canada ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Before seven o'clock Bannon had succeeded in getting two more lights up on poles, one on each side of the track. It was just at seven that the timbers suddenly stopped coming in. Bannon looked around impatiently. The six men that had brought in the last stick were disappearing around the corner of the great, shadowy structure that shut off Bannon's view of the wharf.
Bannon noticed that every man within hearing stopped work, waiting for the answer. "Sure," he said. "Why not?" There was some dissatisfied grumbling among them which he was quite at a loss to understand until he caught the word "Christmas." "Christmas!" he exclaimed, in perfectly honest astonishment. "Is to-morrow Christmas?" He ran his hand through his stubby hair.
Bannon against my father, that is that makes you so ready to suspect both him and me?"
"Here," he said; "put your foot in the hook and hang on, and you'll come down in no time." Grady laughed nervously. "No you don't. I suppose you'd be glad to get rid of me that way. You don't come that on me." The men were watching with interest; Bannon raised his voice a little. "All right," he said, thrusting his foot into the great hook, "if you feel that way about it.
Not a quarter of a mile away was a big steamer, ploughing slowly up the river; the cough of her engines and the swash of the churning water at her bow and stern could be plainly heard. Peterson stopped work for a moment, and joined him. "Well," Bannon said, "we're in for it now. I never thought they'd make such time as this." "She can lay up here all night till morning, I guess."
Bannon was leaning on the rail, his face away from Peterson. After a while he spoke thoughtfully. "Well, that cinches it. I guess he meant to hold us up, anyway, but now he knows we're a good thing." "How's that? I don't see," said Peterson; but Bannon made no reply. "What did he have to offer the next time he came around? More in the same friendly way? When was it?" "Just this afternoon.
If you'd taken the trouble to be decent when I went to you in a friendly way a very little would have been enough. But now I've got to be paid. What do you say to five thousand as a fair sum?" "They'd be willing to pay fully that to save delay," said Bannon, cheerfully. "They would!" To save his life Grady could not help looking crestfallen. It seemed then that he might have got fifty.
He paused and shrugged before continuing: "If I thought you were still to be distrusted, Miss Bannon, I'd say: 'There's a free door; go when you like, back to the Pack, turn in your report, and let them act as they see fit.... Do you think I care for them? Do you imagine for one instant that I fear any one or all of that gang?" "That rings suspiciously of egoism!" "Let it," he retorted.
Farmers living on other than the Manistogee roads came into Ledyard and hurried back to tell their neighbors of the chance to get ahead of the railroad for once. Dennis, who was in charge at the yard, had hard work to keep up with the supply of empty wagons. Sloan disappeared early in the morning, but at five o'clock Bannon had a telephone message from him.
Bannon arose, caught Grady's arm, and whirled him around. "Grady," he said, "shut up." The delegate tried to jerk away, but he could not shake off that grip. He looked toward the committeemen, but they were silent. He looked everywhere but up into the eyes that were blazing down at him. And finally Bannon felt the muscles within his grip relax.
Word Of The Day