After Adam graduated from high school, he continued to work for local farmers.
The tall, wavy haired young man had been working farms since age 12, when he first arrived in Fairbanks.
His duties included bucking hay bales, cleaning barns, feeding livestock, milking cows, driving mules, eventually driving tractor, servicing machinery, working fields, and more.
Adam developed a reputation as an outstanding farm hand, but pay was meager, and he was often paid with farm produce; however, Edith needed all the help she could get to raise Adam's younger siblings and provide for their needs.
As the nation found itself mired in economic depression, locally, things were difficult as well.
Running the restaurant was becoming more cumbersome and less successful.
It was hard to provide for the children, but they did offer one advantage for Edith...
she didn't have to fill a payroll.
They provided the labor force for her cherished Corner Café.
The kids waited tables, cooked, washed dishes, cleaned tables, ran errands, and cleaned the floor after closing time.
Edith obtained produce from local grocers and farmers.
She also kept a garden that provided vegetables throughout the year.
Finally, a lucrative opportunity came for Adam - a job opening from Oregon-Washington Railway.
The company was repairing and replacing tracks and building branch lines.
They needed local laborers; and Adam, with his reputation for being physically powerful and industrious, easily obtained a position.
He was hired as a gandy dancer for a railroad section gang.
A gandy is a 5-foot metal bar, similar to a crowbar, used to lift and place the rails in perfect alignment.
In order to do that, the worker jumped up and down, bouncing the bar to move the rail into place.
From a distance it looked like he was dancing, hence the term gandy dancer.
The pay was higher.
It provided consistent hours and a regular paycheck.
Adam developed a friendship with Jesse, another railroad worker.
Jesse was a married man a few years older than Adam.
They shared an interest in hunting and went often.
Usually, they hiked along Mud Creek and bagged several pheasants.
They were both expert marksmen, and Adam developed an accurate eye with his late father's 20-gauge.
However, Jesse did drink a great deal, and his drunkenness was increasing.
Adam became aware that something was bothering his friend.
An unspoken cloud of darkness surrounded Jesse's life, and it seemed to be getting darker.
Jesse finally confided that Marie and he were having problems.
At that time it was uncommon for a couple married for several years to be without children, and Adam suspected that was the problem.
Marie's parents lived across the street from Edith and her kids.
Adam noticed that Marie was living with her parents.
When asked about that, Jesse confided that Marie and he had a bad fight one night when he was drunk.
Jesse said he couldn't remember what had happened, but Marie moved out; they were separated and would soon divorce.
As Adam saw more of Marie in the neighborhood, he became fond of her.
She had raven tresses, deep brown eyes, fair skin, high cheek bones, and fine features.
He felt that she was the kindest, most beautiful woman he'd ever known.
Although Marie was still legally married, Adam became attracted to her.
He, like others, assumed that Marie was barren and perhaps that was the reason for Jesse's sullen, intoxicated, and subsequent violent behavior.
Jesse quit work and was continuously drunk and fighting in the bars.
Adam hadn't seen him in months but heard of his out-of-control behavior.
Over the next year, Adam and Marie saw each other often.
When he got home from work, Marie was there to greet him.
They were together every evening, and finally started spending nights together at one or the other's parents' home on a regular basis.
They talked about marrying after the divorce from Jesse became final.
After a few more months, it was evident that Marie was with child.
Edith, a highly experienced mid-nurse, oversaw the delivery of Marie's baby.
Edith had delivered several babies when she worked for Dr.
Murphy at Belmont.
This delivery was different, though.
Marie told Edith what she already suspected...
Adam was the father of this baby.
Edith realized she was delivering her first-born grandchild.
There was another difference though - a second baby came forth.
The twin girls were born a few minutes apart, and Edith thought they seemed identical.
The only difference - one had a caliche on the left, the other on the right.
Adam and Marie were happy but uncertain about the future.
The railroad work was finished, and Edith finally couldn't make the mortgage payments on the restaurant.
The bank foreclosed on her dream.
Although Edith was able to work at the grocery, times were still difficult.
For Adam, the only work he could find was as a farm hand - again, pay was meager.
Then, unexpectedly, although Marie hadn't seen Jesse in a year, he showed up at her parents' home.
He'd been drinking excessively as he threatened Marie and said he hated both her and Adam.
Jesse informed Marie that he would never give her a divorce and that he would kill his former friend.
That evening Marie's father was celebrating the birth of his granddaughters.
He was exuberant and rejoicing at the nearest downtown saloon.
He was too boisterous and didn't realize Jesse was at a corner table.
Jesse heard enough and rose to his feet as he stumbled toward the equally inebriated new grandfather.
Jesse plunged a knife into his father-in-law.
Jesse sped out of town as Marie's father was taken to the family's home.
Marie's mother took her husband to the hospital.
His wounds were painful but not severe.
He was discharged after a few days.
The family had enough of Fairbanks, and with Jesse running the countryside on the loose; Marie's parents decided the family would return back east to stay with relatives.
Adam knew that Marie had family in Oklahoma, but he didn't know where, and he never heard from her again.
Adam was deeply distraught.
Due to Marie's continued marital status, he was unable to marry her.
And now, the love of his life and their twin daughters were gone.
There was no clear picture for his future.
With war waging in Asia and Europe, the U.
S.
was trying to build a larger military.
Adam saw an opportunity to leave his heartache, learn a skill in the Air Corps, and make a future.
Aircraft was the wave of the future, and private airlines were developing.
At the booming Pan-American Airlines, many of the employees had trained in the Air Corps.
Adam hated to leave his mother and siblings, but this was an opportunity to gain skills and send back a monthly allotment.
As Edith gave her blessing, Adam boarded the Great Northern and headed to Seattle, where he enlisted...
a broken man, but with hope for the future.