TALES OF THE ROAD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1649, 16 January 1913, Page 8

TALES OF THE ROAD.

;jj THE WILDERNESS RAILWAY. (Br Willi Lawson.) \ (All Ilights Reserved.).. .-- The Wilderness Railway was biiill more than 40 years ago to connect a harbour township which promised'to be s busy-port with an inland l township' 3C miles away. The, lino was built by the sido of the rough-and-ready Wilderness Bond which' traversed sandhills, open downs, and standing bush. 'And there it is to this day, jetill running, though the promise- has not yet been fulfilled; |h-e road which the railway hugs is an old wagon and stock road, and because of £ tho heavy traffic it carried there -woro J n<v grass or daisies growing' on it, as they p - Aji between the sleepers and on> cither '■>' side of tho Wilderness.Line. Only one °, traitf passed each way during tho day, *.- not sufficient, traffic© to injure tho whites, faced daisies. Therefore, they bloomed ~, luxuriantly wherever tho soil was suffit< cient to hold their.roots and the grass '- was a blaze.of green that lured the rpad- °. weary beasts on to tho rails; ' ■";, 1 Between -tho railway men and the 1 cattle 'men there-was a tacit misunder--0 standing amounting' almost to a class 3 war, and it arose, on tho one hand from 1 the cattlemen allowing- their cattle to • : wander fin the inctals, and on tho other • hand because the railwaymen showed gross » inconsideration to such cattle. Tho cattlor men said that if the line was. kept clear i of grass there would be no! trouble. To " which the railwaymen retorted that > .cvory consideration--was Rhowh'and all - care taken; as witness the.beautiful cowi catchers'.provided.- ,As these "arguments • were, usually shouted in hot blood they • carried very; little weight and '• did not I pacify at all. -...,,.:. - ; With a youth riding at their.head and ', Tommy-the Drover'at '.their heels,, three , hundred fat cattle were'travelling down ' tho Wilderness Road. : , It was Tommy's ; first-trip through the district,-arid the :. railway interested:hiiii a.lot. They were i approaching a .patch of bush and all -werci . eager for tho shade, for it : was a hot day. Several dozen of the/bullocks had chosen the Wilderness Line as' their ipath, and others were pressing in to snatch a Stray ; mouthful of gras,s ■ and.daisies.' ,In the ':' hot. air there.w'as ':a' ! ' 'queer throbbing, ; hardly a sound, more felt than- heard. Tommy had just settled in his own mind that 'it • was' Earthquake ■ w ; oather when' a ; piercing- scream' broko .into his - : : reyerio, and out of tho gloom of the road ahead there roared 'the Wilderness Train. Tho leaders of- tho mob'stared at it for 'one instant, ■' then, ' wheeling about,' they charged back,-..throwing, the'mob into ' confusion. , -The drovers .sont •- the -' 'dogs ' out-'to clear .them off . the ./line.. Those bullocks already on the track were quite panic-stricken and. would have galloped away'straight' down tho >track had :not Tommy a dog headed, them back to the 1 -mob which they were trying .to. hold over 'against, the fence away from -the line.-'.. • '-' '■ '• '•• : '--', : ■ Tommy,'accustomed to the courtesy that prevailed in- his -former, dealings with men in charge'"of ( engines on the. road, : expected thatj the'train would pull up, orat least slow down;-He had not heard of- the feud i;which existed< between ; the drivers, and'.'driver's. 'Wherefore, ho watched with rising wrath the uncheck-ed'-:a-pproncli of the Wilderness Train. It wis hauled by'.a' lpcomptivo' that, must haV'o been 'seniio when 'Gee-Tge Stephcn'3oh's/"lnvista"vwas pounding, the. iron road. From, an excessively tall funnel, black' ,'smoko poured,'.while steam . sang froma brass domo which looked-.as though it.ha'd beciia'misfit from Her cab towered like a signal cabin aliove ; her narrow-girthed .boiler, while her tiny wheels were dwarfed utterly by a magnificent cow-catcher which was tapping the. heads of, the-"daisies—those 'that had | .escftpM,. the cattle;: ji^pa*-,,. ■ 1 ' Behind'the engine ran four uttle':fourwhcel trucks, their loads covered by. yellow ' tarpaulins J '■' then came two- covered wagons. Last of,all rumbled- a passenger coach, surely the last of its race, with the guard,-' brakesman, porter, and clerk sitting on the >ear step.' ' Lest it .mi-ght appear that tho Wilderness Train was over-staffed, let.it be_ said that these offi- • cial.s were :all contained in. 'one-suit of dungarees, under one hat...-, -■■'■'"■,'■ Tho dogs were'circling round the cattle, keeping them in 'a compact mass. For the bullocks -:nearest,ifhe line, hot so long since-taken from quiet river-flats,-the near approach of this.smoking engine-was try-' ing. Ono: of them, : mad : with fright, leaped across -the metals the vaunted cow-catcher,\clearod its bars by a bare inch,'crashed into .the fence beyond, and . lay. entan'gled in it. The- engine-driver blew, a shrill blast that set the bullocks < quivering. i\s he-passed hewaveda hand ' to the furious drover, while tho official on -the back step Wore -a nine-inch grin ] on : 'bis ruddy, face. Through, tho rattle and roar, of the • Wilderness Train the ; trainmen could .not-possibly hear what . Tommy the Drover said. 'Still, they could i easily imagine what its purport was and 1 that he felt hurt, so they went on thcrir ] way rejoicing that they had achieved a i victory over their' feudal' enemies of, th» road. ~ '-.:. ~;■ ; -; : - '- , In an hour's time, the' cattlo having . been gathered, together again, the drovers J made, their midday,camp. '.-'/• ■ . i .'.'.'Does .'.that train' come back this after- j noon?" Tommy-asked of'the youth. < ."Yes,: about three: 6'clock." ] "And that's the road like further on!?',' Tommy inquired; ... ' ,: .'".',"' .-"Gists'.; intot the aaridhiHl- about six' i miles further/' the youth answered.-"I01 1 be'hot there," he added. . [ , c . To himself, Tbuiiriy remarked that it t would be' dashed'hot—for the men of .the f Wilderness Train/ \ ■"-'•"•'.,. ■•.. ' j • Jogging steadily onward after dinner, ■> they readied the first of the sandhills at t about two o'clock. Hero tho grass and t the daisies gave'place to the wild lup- t ins;.tho cattle kept to the, traffic road, t for tho railway! track effered no' j ment either for fodder or. easy foothold, the sand being soft-between the sleepers. Further, onthereWas a deeD cutting between 'largo sandhills; and here. Tommy gave tho'.'word to'halt. v- ' ': . ' "What's up?" the youth ; shouted, • .."Come here, and'l'll tell you." : Tho youth laughed when he heard the : ,reason;foi I .tho halt.-..'■> -''■:' ,- , -'liightTohV he agreed. "That'll settle 'em." ■; /■ ■ ■■''~-■ ■-":......; Thenhe and the'dogs' assisted in tho t burial of the .Wilderness Eailway be- b ineath>soveral.fcet.:-of.;sand..'.T , hey made ii the cattlo "ring;" and-in the circle made b by more than a thousand hoofs both walls r< of the cutting were included. Very soon the; sand had been moved and had slid all over the line.: Eight through/ tho cut- : ting'tho game wenton. When it was ovor tl and ; .!the vengeance,'Of-Tommy was ap- c peased, far away behind'them could be f< seen the smoke of the Wilderness Train b returning; Tho cattlo were moved out ii of:the cutting and wandered along the p road whilp the;two!drovers,waited at a ti little distance to seß the train pull up. ! s' .She camo rattling along the level road, n" tho.„engino running backward', witc tho n: absurd ■ carriage next to it;-in it were (1 some,,passengers. Behind" it were the T same trucks and wagons filled with a re- h turn .-freight. The guard was riding on u the engine,, so he got as good a view of it the Band,-slide as the driver did. Tommy heard a yell from the whistle al that sounded despairing, then the squeal I« from tho engine brukes; but before they v jould' take effect the wonderful cow-catcher j r was buried in tho sand. Passengers and train-mon leaped down, and when the driver saw the drover in the distance ho „, ran. towards him, waving his arms and f% swearing Hike a madman. The blue-dun- £ gnrced official, however, checked him and {*, put a shovel into his hands, and they all y, fell to, clearing tho line, a, good four- „J hours' job. ''■'~ n j" "That'll keep 'em busy till we got through," Tommy said. "Ho can blow J' his whistle now till the cows como homo."