The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 30, 1902, Page 9

S ) - N S —_— = ——— \".:'3 \ W ) W <\ greatest writers of the suthor he was just in h His last wovel, “The Octopu: lished last year, has been recos- mized both here and abroad as the closest approximation to ihe great American novel of anything that has ever appeared from the pem of any writer. As a Californian Mr. Norris made = name that brimgs the credit to his State; 1thor of “The Octopus, x. wrote the stromgest book om Cali- fornia ever published. This mnovel, under the primal idea—so disastr rupted by h 1o be the first of & s devoted te that greatest orld forces, wheat. This story woncerns itself with the growing of the wheat. It was Mr. Norris’ idea book a movel with Chicago as a center and the motif of the book was the handling of wheat by the brokers in the pity while the third book of the tril should tell of the final distribution of wheat in Europe. Fortunately *“The Octopus” is complete in itself, and as a matter of tact would naturally be the most interesting of the trilogy for us of California; for Mr. Norris chose as the scene for this book the most im- uthor's y intef- mense wheat field kmown the world over—our own plains of the San Josguin Valley. The story concerns itself with the life of the tory, it will keep you nights until you have The character studies this book mre peculiarly Califor- = .y d particularly accurate and convinecing. 4 Immediately upon the death of Mr. Norris, realizing the great inter- est that would maturally be swak- e in his last movel, “The Octo- ws”—a masterpiece of fiction—The unday Call forthwith made ar- rangements at great expense with My, Norris’ publishers for the exclu- wsive rights of “The Octopus” for the Pacific Coast. The tallment of this great book was published in The Sunday Call of November and but few copies of that editi e left, so if you wish to read “The Octopus” weuld better apply for the first unday Call of November 9— .. e Octopus” will be followed by Gospel of Judas Iscariot,” by Dwight Baldwin, which ha d = tremendous furor both i Eurepe It throws a mew light ge life, the character d motives of this, the mest bitterly execrated man in either the bibl tory of all age: It shows the splendors, the vices follics, the wars and the feasts, and the sports and pleasures of Rome as they have mnever been wn before, and tells of the com- ing of Christ and his long and glori- struggle to establish his king- m of heavem om earth, and the reisarkable part Judas played im kis crucifixion. Then will eome “The Leopard’s Spots,” by Thomas Dixon Jr.;-“W Knighthood Was in Flower,” by Charles ~Major; “The GCentieman From Indiana,” by Booth Tarking- tom: “Tainted Gold,” by M Williamson, whose “Mystery Box, published a few weeks ago in The y Call, was ome ieal or profame his- ‘ s in this re “The Turnpike Ho Huwme, e ete. Just nder over this list of well as the n = of the nd remember yonu get all ories free with The Sunday b Other announcements will be made later. Copyright, 1901, by Doubleday, Page & Co. Continued from Last Sunday. : While the words were yet in his mouth the sound of the hoofbeats rgse to a roar, and a great, bell-toned voice shouted: “Annixter, Annixter, Annixter!” It was Dyke's voice, and the next in- stant he shot into view in the open square in front of the house. “Oh, my God!” cried mllei' The ex-engineer threw-the horse on its haunches, springing from the saddle; and @s he did so the beast collapsed, shud- dering, to the ground, Annixter sprang from the window and ran forward, Pres- ley following. There was Dyke, batless, his pistol in his hand. a gaunt, terrible figure, the beard immeasurably long, the cheeks fallen in, the eyes sunken. His clothes, ripped and torn by weeks of flight and hiding in the chaparral, were ragged be- yond words, the boots were shreds of leather. bloody to the ankle with furious spurring. “Annixter!” he shouted, and again, roll- ltn! his sunken eyes, “Annixter, Annix- er!” “Here, here!” cried Annixter. The other turned, leveling his pistol. “Give me & horge, give me a - horse, quick, do you hear? Give me a horse, or T'll shoot.” “‘Steadr, steady. That won't do. know me, Dyke. We're friends here.” The other lowered his weapon. “I know, I know.” he panted. “I'd for- gotten. I'm unstrung. Mr. Annixter, and I'm running for my life. They're not ten minutes behind me.” Come on, come Ol shouted Annixter, dashing stableward, -his suspenders flying. “Here's a horse.” “Mine?” wouldn’t carry le.” Annixter was already far ahead, trum- petinig ‘orders. “TPE' Buckskin!” he yelled. “Get her out, Billy.. Where's the stableman? Get out that buckskin. Get out that saddle.” 5 minutes of furious haste, illy, the stableman, resley,: = Dyke himsel? darting hither and thither about the vellow mare, buckling, strapping.. cinching, their lips pale, their fingers trembling with excitement. “Wane anything to eat?’ Annixter's head was under.the saddle fixo, as' he tore at the cinch. “Want anythjsg?: t? v oney? Want a ‘gungas peturned Dykabivsid watched every spring. Fni kified) tnust $ % “There’s the hydrant;'Quick now T got as far as thé"Keen River, but they turned me back,’ he sdld between breaths as he drank-* 3 “Don’t stop to “talk.’ 4 My mother, and-the little tad—"" T'm taking care of them. They re stop- ping with me.” “Here?” 'You won’t see 'em; by the Lord, you won't. You'll get away. .Where's that back cinch strap, Bflly? ' God damn it, are you golng to let him be shot before he can get away? Now, Dyke, up you go. She’ll kill herself running before they can catch you.” ““God bless you, Annixter. Where's the little tad? Is she well, Annixter, and the mother? Tell them—"" “Yes, yes, 's. All clear, her have her own gait, Dyke. You're on the best horse in ‘the county now. Let go her head, Billy. Now. Dyke—shake ands? You bet I will. That's all right. Yés' God bless you. Let her go. You're off. Answering the goad of the spur and already quivering with the excitement of the men who surrounded her, the buck- skin cleared the stable corral in two leaps; then, gathering her legs under her, her head low, her neck stretched out, swung into the road from out the drive- way, disappearing in a blur of dust. With the agility of a monkey, young Vacca swung himself into the framework of the artesian well, clambering aloft to its very top. He swept the country with & glance “He Pres? Let Well demanded Annixter from the ground. The others cocked their heads to listen. “I see him: I see him!” “He's going like the devil, for Guadalajara.” “Look back, up the road, mission. Anything there?” The answer came down .In & shout of apprehension. ‘There’s a party of men. Three or four —on horseback. There’s dogs with 'em. They’re coming this way. Oh, I can hear the dogs. Amd, say. oh, say, there's an- other party coming down the lower road, going toward Guadalajara. too. They've got guns. I can see the shine of the bar- rels. And, oh, Lord, say, there’s three more men ‘on horses coming down on the jump from the hills on the Los Muertos stock range. They're making toward Guadalajara. And I can hear the court- house bell in Bonneville ringing. Say, the whole country is up. As young Vacca slid down to the ground two small black and tan hounds, with flapping ears and lolling tongues, loped into view on the. road in front of the house. They were gray with dust, their noses were to the ground. At the gate where Dyke had turnéd into the ranch- house grounds. they halted in confusion & moment. One started,to follow the high- Wwayman’s trail toward. the stable corral, but the other, quartering over the road with lightning’ swiftness, suddenly picked Up the new Scent leading on toward Gua- dalajara. He tossed his head in the alr, and Presley abruptly shut his hands over his hear!. Ab. that terrible cry! deep-toned, re- Vverberating like the bourd::pof 2 great bell. It was the trackers exulting on the trail of the pursued, the prolonged, rau- cous howl, eager, omindus, vibrating with the alarm of the tocsin, sullen with the heavy mufing note of death. But close upon the bay of the hounds came the gallop of horses. Five men, their eyes upon the hounds. their rifles ‘across their pommels, their horses reeking and black with sweat. swept by In a storm of dust, gnm;‘n{ hoostal;d_ streaming manes. at was Delaney’'s ga: “"J,‘-‘;‘“",,"‘ ey hf’ gang,” exclaimed “The other. was that " gald Vacea. 5. B, chap Christian, ad two deputies with him; and the in the white slouch b Y from Visalia.” AL L he et “By the Lord, they aren" . deAclare):l Annixter, . hRor e s the men ‘turned towar again they saw Hilma and )gn‘.h’)yl;xoeutl.\ the doorway of the little house where the latter lived. They were looking out, bee wildered, ignorant of what had happened But on the porch of the ranchhouse it. self, alone, forgotten in the excitement. Sidney—the little tad—stood, with pale face and serious, wide-open eyes. She bad seen everything, and had understood. She sald nothing. Her head inclined to- ward the roadway, listened to the shouted Vacca. He’s headed toward the ehrman’s cousin. He - wctiap - him (here. .JAowed the crew of the freight train for But suddenly—the engineer dominating the highwayman—he shut off his steam and threw back his brake to the extreme notch. Directly ahead of him rose a sem- aphore, placed at a point where evident- 1y a derailing switch branched from the line. The semdphore’'s arm was dropped over the track, setting the danger signal that showed the switch was open. In an instant Dyke saw the trick. They had meant to smash him here; had been clever enough, quick-witted enougl’ to open the switch, but had forgotten the automatic semaphore that worked simul- taneously with the movement of the ralls. To go forward was certain destruction. Dyke reversed. There was nothing for it but to go back. With a wrench and a spasm of all its metal fibers, the great irightened "engineer. “Then we'd jump or be smashed. Hi! look! There he is.” As the freight en- flne rounded a curve, Dyke’s engine came nto view, shooting on some quarter of a mile ahead of them, wreathing in whirl- ing_smcke. 5 “Tne switch ain’t much farther on,” clamored the engineer. ‘“You can see Pix- ley now.” Eyka, his hand on the grip of the valve that controlled the steam, his head out of the cab window, thundered on. He was gback in his old place again; once moré he was the engineer; once more he felt the engine quiver under him; the fa- millar noises were in his ears; the fa- miliar buffeting of the wind surged, roar- ing at his face: the familiar odors of hot faint and distant baying pf the dogs. . Dy thundered acroks the rallway tracks by the depot at Guadalajara not five minutes ahead of his pursuers. Luck seemed to have deserted him. The tion, usually so quiet, was now occupied by the crew of a freight train that I on the down track: while on_the up line, near at hand and headed in the same direction, was a detached locomotive, whose engineer and fireman recognized him, he was sure, as the buckskin leaped across the rails. He d no time ‘to formulat, plan since that morning, when. tortuved:with: thirst, he had vgntured near. thé.spring at the headwaters of Brodersdp: Cr 3 on Quien Sabe; apd had all. but fallén? into the hands of the posse that-had.heen watching for that” very move. Jti was: useless now to regret ‘that he nam,meg to foil pursuit by turfifng “back: oo . hil tracks to regalibithe Thountains east of | Bonneville. Now “Dalapey was almost.on = him. To distance thkt Bosds Was the only & thing to be_thought of now. It was no '% longer a question of hiding ‘I “pursuit should flag; they had driven him oul f the shelter of the mountaiss; this populous countryside’ wi emy ‘might of the road. He would eithet escape of rggl knew very well that he. wou low himself to be takdl aliv had no mind to be killed—t fight—till escape was bloek thought was to leave pursh, Weeks of flight had shaj every sense. As he turned per road beyond Guadalajara.be saw the ihree men ‘galloping down, from: Der- rick’s stock range, making’ {gr the road sghead of him. They wauld-cut:him off there. He swung the buckskin #bout. He must take the Jower road across Los Muertos from Guadalajara. and he must reach it before Délaney’s dogs and posse. Back he galloped, the buckskin measur- ing her length with every leap. Once more the station’ came in sight. Rising in his stirrups, he looked across the fields in the direction of the lower road. There was a_cloud of dust there. From a wag- on? No, horses on the run.jand their riders were armed! He could catch the flash of gun barrels. They were all clos- ing in on him, converging on Guadalajara by every available road. The uppef road west of Guadalajara led straight to Bonneville. That way was impossible. Was he in a trap? Had the time for fight- ing come at last? But as Dyke neared the depot at Gua- dalajara his eve fell upon the detached locomotive that lay quietly steaming on the up line, and with a thrill of exulta- tion, he remembered that he was an en- gineer born and bred. Delaney’s dogs were already to be heard and the roll of hoofs on the lower rcad was dinning in his ears as he leaped from the buckskin before the denot. The train crew scat- tered like frightened sheep before him, but Dyke ignored them. His pistol was in hand ‘as, once more on foot, he sprang toward the lone engine. ‘Out of the cah!” he shouted. *“‘Both of 3 Quick, or I'll kill you both." The two ‘men tumbled from the fron apren of the tender as Dyke swung him- self up, dropping his pistol on the floor ot the cab and reaching With the old instifict for the familiar Jevers, % The great compound ‘hissed and trem- bled as the steam was released and the huge drivers_stirred. turning slowly on the tracks. But there was a shout. De- laney’s posse, dogs and men, swung into view at the turn of the road, their fig- ures leaning over as they took the curve at -full speed.' Dyke threw everything. wide open and caught up his revolver. From behind came the challenge ‘of . & Winchester. The party on the lower road were even closer than Delaney. They had seen his maneuver, and the first shot of the fight shivered the cab windows above the engineer’s head. But_ spinning futflely, ers of the engine. at 1 The engine moved, aveled past the depot and the-freigl n and, gathering. speed, rolled out on.the" track beyond. Smoke, black and bofiing, shot skyward from the stack; haot a‘joint that did not shudder with the mighty;strain of the steam: but the great fron brute— one of Baldwin's newest and best—came to call, obedient and docile as soon as ever the great pulsing heart of it felt a master hand upon fts levers, It gathered its speed, bracing its steel. muscles, {ts thews of iron, and roared out u the open track, filling the air with the rasp of its tempest breath, blotting the sun- - shine with the beich’ of its hot, thick £ first, the driv- aught' the rals. smoke. Already it was lessening in the . distance, when Delaney, Christian and 3 | | the Sheriff of Visalla hed .up to, the i T 3 % sanen had verytht 'ms posse had seen every “Stuck! Curse the luck!" reeked in his nostrils, 10} compound braced itself, sliding with rigid side of him, parallel pano- wheels along the rails. Then, as Dyke ng. vociferated the cowpuncher, m.-:hl ve ?ll,vt:wnbyth(e alnai:m: lnl;;plled the deverse. it drlenw 'back dtrfl‘:n But the Sheriff was already out of the P g b ghod e greater danger, returnihg toward the saddle and into the telegraph office. wheels ‘of his- engine, streamed by In less. Inevitably now the two engines, one green and brown blurs. s He found himself settling ta the old go. sition on the cab “seat, leaning on his elbow from the window, one hand on the controller. All at once, the instinct of on the up, the other on the down line, must meet and pass each other. Dyke released the levers, reaching for his revolver. The engineer once mors be- came the highwayman, in peril of his ‘There's_a deralling switch between h ; and Pixley, isn’t there?! he cried. es.” 'Wire ahead to open it. We'll derall Come on.” He turned to De- . ithe pursuit that of late had become so life. Now, beyond all doubt, the time f 'zme‘;n'bnde fu{:eom:;;o &'vh.ey sprang lnlt‘o strong within him prompted him 10 shoot 1 hting was at hand. s tached to the freight train. a glance behind. @ saw the other en- 'he part; n the heavy freight ‘gclno. that lumbered after in pursuit, their eyes fixed on the smudge of smoke on ahead that marked the path of the fugitive, suddenly raised a shout. He’'s stopped. He’s brol do ‘Watch, now, and see if he jumps off.” “Broke nothi He's coming Ready, now; he's got to pass us. The engineer applied the brakes, but the heavy freight locomotive, far less mo- bile than Dyke's fller, was slow to obey. The smudge on the ralls sTew swittly larger. “Me’s coming. He's coming—look out, gine on the down line, plunging after him, rocking from side to side with the fury of its gallop. Not yet had he shaken the trackers from his heels; not yet was he out of the reach of danger. He set his teeth and, throwing open the fire door, stoked vigorously for a few moment The indicator of ‘the steam gauge ro: his speed increased; a gllncs at the tele- firnpn poles told him he was doing his fty miles an hour. The freight engine behind him was never built for that pace. Barring the terrible risk of accident, his chances were good. “Name of the State of Californial™ shouted the Sheriff to the bewildered en- gineer. “Cut off from your train."” The Sheriff was & _man to be obeyed without hesitating. Time was not al- “I remember perfectly well there's a derafling switch between here and Pix- ley,” shouted the Bheriff above the roar of the locomotive. *‘They use it in case they have to derall runaway engines. It runs right oft into the country. We'll pile debating as to the right or the wrong of requisitioning the engine, and before any :{:e l(l;n}xg{l; o‘t (‘hitl tifly or danger of e affajr the freight engine was alread; B ead. fiying out upon the down line, hot In pure m?-."'m thass. T e s suit of Dyke, now far ahead upon the up *“If we should meet another train com- tr £ ing up on this track—" protested the sthere’s,a shot. He’s shooting already.” " A ‘Boight, white er of wood le: intovthe air from the sooty window sill of the“cab. “Firé on him! Fire on him!"* While ‘the engines were yet two hun- dred yards apart the duel began, shot an- swering shot, the sharp staccato reports punctuating the thunder of wheels and the clamor of steam. Then the ground trembled and rocked; a roar as of heavy ordnance developed with the abruptness of an ex- ploston.” The two engines passed eacn other,-the men firing the while, emptying their revolvers, shattering wood, shiver- ing glass, the bullets clanging against the metal. work as they struck and struck. The men leaned from the cabs toward each other, frantic with excitement, outing cur: the engines rocking, the steam roaring; confusion whirling‘in the scene like the whirl of a witch's dance, the White clouds of steam, the black ed- dies from the smokestack, the biue wreaths from the hot mouths of revolvers, swirling together in a blinding maze of .vapor, spinning around them, dazing tHem, ¢izzying them, while the head rang 'with hideous clamor and the body twitch- #d and trebled with the leap and jar of the tumult of machinery. ~Roaring, clamoring, reeking with the .smell of powder and hot oil, spitting “déath, tless, huge, furious, an ab- rupt vision of chaos, faces, rage-distorted, peering through smoke, hands gripping outward from sudden darkness, prehen- sile, malevolent; terrible as thunder, swift as lightning, the two engines -met and passed. “He's hit,” cried Delaney. *“I know I hit him. He can’t urf.lr now. After him He won't go through Bon- o t was true. Dyke had stood between eab and tender throughout all the duel, exposed, reckless, thinking only of at- tack and not of defense, and a bullet from one of the pistols had grazed his hip. How serious was the wound he did not know, but he had no thought of giv- ing up. He tore back through the depot at Guadalajara in torm of bullets, and, inging to the broken window ledge of cab, was carried toward Bonneviile, n.over the long trestle and Broderson %reek and through the open_country be- tween the two ranches of Los Muertos and Quien Sabe. 4 But to go on to Bonneville meant certain death. Before, as well as behind him, the roads were now blocked. Once more he thought of the mountains. He resolved to abandon the engine and make another final attempt to get into the shelter of the hills in the northernmost corner of Quien Sabe. He set his teeth. - He would not give in. There was one more fight left in him yet. Now to try the final hope. He slowed the engine down, and, reload- ing his revolver, jumped from the pla form to the road. He looked about him, listening. All around him widened an ocean of wheat. There was no one In sight. The released engine, alone, unattended, drew slowly away from him, jolting pon- derously over the rail Jjoipts. As he watched It go & certain indefinite sense of abandonment, even in that moment, came over Dyke. His last friend, that had also been his first, was leaving him. He remembered that day, long ago, when he had opened the throttle of his first machine. To-day It was leaving him alone, his last friend turning against him. Slowly it was going back toward Bonneville, to the shops of the raliroad, the camp of the enemy, that enemy that had ruined him and wrecked him. For the last time in his life he had been the engineer. Now, once more, he became the highwayman, the outlaw against whom _all hands were raised, the fugitive skulk- ing in the mountains, listening for the ery of dogs. gul he would not give In. They had not broken him yet. Never, while he could fight. would he allow S. Behrman @, triumph of his capture. lhl*'leu;oun?i nif wound was not bad. He plunged into the wheat on Quien Sabe, making northward for a division house that rose with its surrounding trees out of the wheat like an island. He reached ft, the blood squeiching In his shoes. But the sight of two men, Portuguese farm-hands, staring at him from an angle of the barnm, abruptly roused him to action. He sprang ferward wu: peremptory commands, de=— anding a horse. n‘M Gug;\da!ajara‘ Delaney and the Sher- iff descended from the freight engine. “Horses now,” declared the Sheriff. “He won’t go Into Bonneville, that's cer- tain. He'll leave the engine between hers end there, and strike off into the coun- try. We'll follow after him now in the saddle. Soon as he leaves his engine, he's on foot. We've as good as got him " Phetr horses, tcluding even the buck- skin mare that Dyke had ridden, wers still at the station. The party ‘swung themselves up, laney _exclaiming, “Here's my mount,” as he bestrods the buckskin. At Guadalajara, the two bloodhounds were picked up again. Urging the jaded horses to a gallop, the party set off alon the upper road, keeping a sharp looker to right and left for traces of Dyke's abandonment of the engine. Three miles beyond the lom they found S. Behrman holding his dle horse by the bridle, and looking at- tentively at a trail that had been through_rh:he s&nndjn‘ wh‘n:t on Sabe. e party drew rein. “The sngl:e passed me on_the tracks further up, and em{t{ sald 8. Behrman. “Boys. 1 think he left her here. But before any one could answer, the b'oodhounds gave tongue again, as they picked up the scent. “That's him,” cried 8. Behrman, “Get on, boys.” They dashed forward, following hounds. S han torioaty U ed to his saddle, panting, perspiring, mop- ping the roll of fat over his cost collar, and turning in after them, trotting uon’ far in the rear, his great stomach tremulous jowl shaking with the s ait. :“Whal a day.” he murmured. “What av.” Dyke's trall was fresh, and was follow- ed as easily as If made on new-fallen snow. In a short time, the posse swept into the open space around the division house. The two Portuguese wers still there, wide-eyed, terribly excited. Yes. yes, Dyke had been there not half an hour since, had heid them up, taken a horse and galloved to the northeast, to- ward the foothills at the headwaters of the Broderson Creek. On again, at full gallop, through young wheat, trampling it under the fly- ing hoofs; the hounds hot on the scent, baying continually; the men, om _fresh mounts, secured at the division house, bending forward in their saddles, spurring relentlessly. 8. Behrman jolted along far ia the rear. And even then, harried through an open country, where there was no ce to hide, it was a matter of amazement how long a chase the highwayman led them. Fences were passed; fences w tarbed wire had been slashed apart by the fugitive’s knife. The ground rose un- der foot: the hills were at hand; still the pursuit held on. The sun. long past the meridian, began to turn earthward. Would night_come on befors they wers up_with him? “Look! Look! Thers he fis! Quick, there he goes!" High on the bare slope of the nearest hill. all the posse. looking in the direction of Delaney’s gesture, saw the figure of a horseman emerge from an arroyo, filled with chaparral, and struggle at a labor- ing gallop straight up the siope. Sud- denly, every member of the party shout- ed aloud. The horse had fallen, pitched the_rider from the saddle. The man rose to his feet, caught at the bridle, missed it and the horse dashed on alone. The man, pausing for a second. looked around, saw the chase drawing nearer, then, turn- ing back, disapveared in the chaj Delaney raised a great whoop. “We've got you now.” Into the slopes and valleys of the dashed the band of horsemen, the now so fresh that it could be easily tral) dise