Violence of the Mountain Man. William W. Johnstone

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      After a supper of ham and fried potatoes, Van Arndt and Gibbs walked out of the depot café and stood for a moment on the darkened patterned-brick platform. The train that had brought them to Grant was sitting on the track, puffing as it vented steam from the pressure the fireman was maintaining.

      “Do you think there is any depot café anywhere in the country that serves anything other than ham and fried potatoes?” Gibbs asked with a little laugh.

      “That seems to be the standard fare all right,” Van Arndt answered. The truth was, Van Arndt was just agreeing with Gibbs, because he had not ridden on enough trains to be able to comment.

      “I have to admit that it wasn’t bad eatin’, though it could have been that I was just hungry,” Gibbs said.

      “Yeah, I suppose, but—” Van Arndt paused in mid-sentence. “Damn, look at that!” he said excitedly, pointing toward the front of the engine.

      “Look at what?”

      “I think I saw, no, I know I saw a little child crawling across the track in front of the engine.”

      “What? Are you sure?”

      “I’m positive. It was a little girl. She must have gotten away from her mother.”

      “Good heavens, she’s got no business crawling around on the track!” Gibbs said. “What if she is under the train when it starts? There’s no way the engineer could possibly see her. Good Lord, she could be run over and killed.”

      “Yeah, that’s what I think, too. Come on,” Van Arndt said, starting toward the front of the train. “Let’s see if we can find her.”

      “Yes, by all means, let’s do!” Gibbs agreed.

      The two men hurried toward the front of the train, then around to the other side.

      “Where is she?” Gibbs asked. “I don’t see her!” “I don’t see her either. Maybe she’s under the train.”

      “Oh, heavens, I certainly hope not,” Gibbs said.

      “We’d better look. I’ll look under the tender, you look under the express car,” Van Arndt suggested.

      Van Arndt leaned over to look under the tender while Gibbs headed for the next car behind. Once Gibbs passed Van Arndt, Van Arndt stood up, pulled his knife, then moved quickly until he was standing right behind Gibbs.

      Sensing Van Arndt’s presence, Gibbs turned around. “What is it? Did you see her under the—unhh!”

      Van Arndt, holding the blade sideways and palm up in his hand, plunged the knife into Gibb’s left side, aiming for the heart. Gibbs grunted in pain as the blade slipped easily in between his fourth and fifth ribs. His eyes grew large, and he looked at Van Arndt with an expression of confusion on his face and in his eyes.

      “Mason! What—what are you—?”

      That was as far as Gibbs got before his eyes closed and he fell off the knife. Quickly, Van Arndt took Gibbs’s money before pushing him under the car. Then he walked back around to the depot platform, and was standing there when the other passengers came out of the café and boarded the train.

      Van Arndt didn’t reboard. Instead, he remained on the platform until the train started to leave; then he hurried into the depot. He saw a man behind the counter. The man was wearing a billed cap with a shield that read: STATIONMASTER.

      “Are you the stationmaster?” Van Arndt asked.

      “That’s what it says on my hat,” the man said, pointing to the shield. “The name is Travelsted. What can I do for you?”

      “Mr. Travelsted, you’d better come quick!” Van Arndt said. “I think the train just ran over someone as it was leaving the station.”

      “What?” the stationmaster gasped. “What are you talking about? What do you mean you think the train ran over someone?”

      “It was a fella named Gibbs,” Van Arndt said. “I’m pretty sure he must’ve got run over.”

      “You are just pretty sure? Good Lord, man, that’s not something that you can just casually speculate about. What makes you think this man—Gibbs, did you call him?”

      “Yes, Donnie Gibbs.”

      “What makes you think the train ran over Gibbs? Did you see it happen?”

      “No, I didn’t exactly see it. But I’m pretty sure it happened.”

      “Are you and Gibbs friends?”

      “Not in particular,” Van Arndt said. “The thing is, we met on the train, and we come in here to take our supper together. Then, after supper, we was standin’ out here on the depot platform waitin’ to get back on the train. That’s when Gibbs said he seen a baby crawling on the track. I have to tell you, Mr. Travelsted, I looked, but I didn’t see nothin’. I told him I didn’t see nothin’, but he was bound and determined to go rescue the baby, so round the train he went. I waited for him, but he didn’t come back. Then, when the train pulled away, I thought maybe he’d be standin’ on the other side, but he wasn’t.”

      “Are you sure he didn’t come back? Don’t you think it could be that he got on the train without you seein’ him?”

      “I suppose that could be so,” Van Arndt said. “But I have to tell you, I was watchin’ pretty close and I sure didn’t see him come back. I hate to say it, Mr. Travelsted, but I got me this awful feelin’ СКАЧАТЬ