Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1870-04-21

they are in the car, they bothel
every one to death, and drive the
guard mad, by expecting that
folks have entered into conspir.
acy to carry them past their des.
tiDation. Why, a friend of mine,
and a guard on the line between
New York and Chicago, once
told me of an old lady going to
the last place and wanted to- get
off at the first station.
Well, putting cows first, and
old women second, the next on
the list, tony way of thinking,
stand children, bless 'em. /
love children, got half a score of
them myself, but they always give
me the cold shivers when / see
them near a railway. For you
see, | suppose for company's sake,
being an out of the way lonely
spot, there was chap built him
self log shanty close to the line,
where he had made a bit OF a
clearing and perhaps he thought
it would be bit of company to
his wife and little ones to see the
trains go by with people IN, be-
sides being a bit of protection
from the wandering tribes about;
for you see where a man sets up
his tent, as you may say, ,out in the
wilderness, he's obliged to run
risks; SO any chance, however
small, of making it less risky is
snatched at.
got quite to knoW these peo-
pie, and nice, hard working folks
they were. Why, before they
had heen there six months, that
bit Of wilderness began to look
like a garden of Eden, and two
more people came and pitched in
the next bits. Iquite knew those
first folks, though we never spoke;
for | always went by them at
twelve miles an hour /; but the lit
tie ones used to stand at the shan
ty door and cheer, and as time
went on Id wave my hat to the
wife and husband too, SO that they
generally used to come out when
they heard me coming up or down,
and more than once mine has
been an anxious journey when
I've passed there and all has been
quiet, for, I've thought perhaps
the Injuns would be down, which
would have meant murder and
fire; but somehow / never had
that to trouble me, for the next
time I'd pass there would be some
one at the door or in the straw
berry patch in front.
We got to be such friends at
last that / used to buy candy and
doughnuts and heave them into
the garden as / went by for the
children TO scramble after, and
that's what it was that did it,
and this is how it was.
We were going comfortably a.
long one afternoon, till, as we got
near the clearing where my
friends, as | called them, were 10
Gated, | began to furridge about in
my pockets for a couple of papers
OF something that I'd got, when
my stoker says, "Hallol what's
that on the line?"
"Cow :" says /.
"Cow; no. be says. "Why
three children y
"Sound the" / did not stop
to finish but opened the valve my
self, making the still afternoon air
culver, with the hollow booming
roar it sent afar and wide.
''That's moved 'em," said my
stoker laughing to see the distant
flgures scamper away.
81 thought it would" | says;
and then with my hand on the
valve l made the thing scream
and roar again, for there was one
of them still in the middle Of the
track.
In a moment I'd forgotten all
the stuff in the papers, for curl
ous sort of feeling came over me,
one that for a few moments took
all the nerves from my limbs So