“Are you the contractor having in charge the grading of this section of the Delaware Valley and Eastern Railroad?” he inquired.
“That’s what I’m here for,” responded McDonough, “though I don’t seem to be getting to work very fast.”
The man turned to Nicholson.
“And are you the engineer having in charge the fixing of permanent location and grades?”
“That’s about it,” replied Nicholson.
“Then, gentlemen, permit me to introduce myself to you as the sheriff of Meredith County, and to serve on each of you this writ.”
He bowed and handed to each of them a document bearing an official seal.
“It is a writ of injunction,” he continued, “from the court of Meredith County, issued at the instance of the Tidewater and Western Railroad Company, commanding and enjoining the Delaware and Eastern Railroad Company, its agents, employees, contractors, and engineers, and all and every of you, that you do from henceforth altogether absolutely desist from locating, staking out, grading, or building a line of railroad through Pickett’s Gap in said county, or along or upon the approaches thereto; which gap and approaches have been duly appropriated, condemned, and acquired for railroad purposes by the said Tidewater and Western Railroad Company.”