happen by that time that the young man will show up here again. All
we'll git out of it hereabouts is a black eye in the newspapers--it
bein' held up that Sunkhaze ain't a safe place to settle in. And all
that truck--you know! Furthermore, from things you've dropped to me,
Mr. Parker, I knew you were playin' kind of a lone hand and a quiet game
here. My old father used to say, 'Run hard when you run, but don't start
so sudden that you stub your toe and tumble down.' So in your case I
just took the responsibility and held the thing back."

The postmaster's eyes were searching Parker's face for signal of
approbation.

The engineer went to him and shook his hand with hearty emphasis.

"You've got a level head, Mr. Postmaster," he said, delightedly. "We'll
start exactly where we left off and so far as I am concerned the place
will never get a bad name from me. In return for your frankness and your
service to me, I'll give you a hint as to what happened to Colonel Ward.
I know you won't abuse my confidence."

When he had finished, the postmaster said earnestly, "Mr. Parker,
however much old Gid Ward owes you, you owe Josh Ward a good deal more.
He ain't a man to dun for his pay. But if he ever does ask you to square
the account you won't be the man I take you for if you don't settle. If
you feel that you owe me anything for the little service I've done you
and your bus'ness, just take and add it to the Josh Ward account. Of all
the men on earth I pity that man the most."

There were tears in Dodge's eyes when he stumbled down the tavern
stairs.

One cheerful moment for Parker had been when the postmaster informed
him of Sunkhaze's equilibrium in the matter of news-monging But a more
cheerful moment was when Mank, his foreman, standing with him on the
ice above the submerged Swogon told him that a sandbar made out into the
lake at that point and that the locomotive was probably lodged on the
bar, only a little way below the surface.

When they had sawed the ice and sounded they found this to be true. As
soon as a broad square of ice had been removed they saw her, all her
outlines clear against the white sand. The sunken sleds were equally in
evidence. It was not a diver's job, then, as Parker, in his worryings,
had feared. On the thick ice surrounding the whole there was solid
foothold for the raising apparatus and Parker's crew set at work with
good cheer.

It was a cold, wet and tedious job, the grappling and the