The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-03-25
waAr Az EyeIyEER roLB.

z am an engipeer.f Ever since the C.
road was isfd,, rve Travelled over II ev.
cry day Of my life.
engine il the san Ffancisso'
the prettiest engine on the road, and
as well managed, IL I say it, as the
It was a southwestern road, running
we will say, from "A. to e AtA, my
good old mother lived; at z. / had the
sweetest little wife under the sun, and
q baby; and / always bad O dollar o.
two for rainy day. / was an odd
kind of q, man. : Being shut up with
the engine, watching with all youl
eyes and heart and soul, inside and
out, don't make man talkatiye.
My .wife's name was Josephine, AND
called her Joe. Some people. called
me unsociable, and couldn't understand
how q man could feel friendly without
saying ten words in an hour. So
though had a few old friends-deal
ones, tool did not have so many ac.
quaintances as most people, and I die
not care to have. The house which
held my wife and baby was the dearest
place on earth to me, except the ole
house which held my mother up in A
never belonged to club, or mixed
myself up with strangers In: any such
way, and never shoAld If, it bad moi
been for CRANKY. You see CRANKY was
one of the shareholders, o handsome,
snowy fellow. I liked to. talk with
him, and We Were friends. He often
rode from z. to A. and back again, and
once he said: 30.
"You ought to belong to the Scisslti'
fic Club, Guelden."
Never heard of it, said L
"Wemeet once a fortnight, and have
jolly good time" said he. "We want
thinking men like you. We have some
among us now. Tllpropose you if you
like"
was fond Of such things, and 1 had
ideas that / fancied might be worth
something But then, an engineer
don't have nights and days to himself
and the club would have one evening
in fortnight from Joe, / said:
"Pll ask her, If she likes it, yes"
~" Ask whom ~ said he. an hfii
"Joe," said I.
81" If every man bad asked his wife
every mans wife would have said
cant spare You, my dear,' apd We
should have no club at all !" said Gran
by. L0u9tE~ITf~ aT.IFqikea
But made no answer. At home
told Joe. She said: "Then if CRANKY
belongs to it they must be superior
men."4 sr-ol. ea.rsEs E-e iis) ~.
mo doubt" said |. ..-sias-is
'It isn't everybody who could be
made a mem ber," said Joe, "Why,
of course, you must say yes"
So said yes, and CRANKY proposed
me. Thursday, fortnight, Iwent with
him to the rooms. There was some
men there with brains and some with.
out. The real business of the evening
was the supper, and SO it was every
evening.
I'd always been a temperate man.
1 actually did not know what effect
wine would have on me; but coming
to drink more of it than 1 ever had, at
the clubtable, found it put the steam
on. After so many glasses, | wanted
to talk; after so many more, / did.
1 seemed like somebody else, the
words were so ready. My little ideas
came out and We're listened to; / in
duIged i'm repartee; / told stories; 1
even came to puns. 1 heard one say
to CRANKY:
"By George, that is a man worth
knowing. thought him dull at
first"
Yet l knew it would he better to be
quiet Ned Guelden, with his ten words
an hour, than the wine.made wit
was.
Twas sure of it when, three hours la
ter, l tumbled up stairs to find Joe
waiting for ME, with her babe on her
breast.
I" You've been deceiving me-" said
Joe. 81 suspected it, but L wasn't
sure. A scientific club couldn't smell
like bar-room." tf f"t
(Which means l do" said l, wav-
ing in the middle of the room, like a
signal flag at a station, and seeing two
JOes. go
"And look like one," said Joe; and
she went and locked herself and baby
up in the spare bedroom together. i.
Ned" said she, "do you think a
thing SO much like a sbOttled-up and
stamped-down demon as steam is, is fit
to put into the hands of a drunken
man And some day, mark my words,
the time will come when not only
Thursday night, y but all the days of the
week, will be the same. I've often
heard you wonder what the feelings of
an engineer, who has about tie same
as murdered a train full of people, must
be, and you will know if you don't stop
where you are. A steady hand and a
clear head have been your blessings all
these years. Don't throw them away,
Ned. If you don't care for my love,
don't ruin yourself" - a eih'j !,
My little Joe! She spoke from her
heart, and bent over and kissed her.
One club night, as I was dressed to
go, Joe stood before me. ft .r1t. 1
B Med" said she, "I never had q
fault to find with you before. You've
been kind, and good, and loving al
ways; but / shall be sorry we ever met
If you go on this way. Don't ask me
what mean. You know.n T +
Joe" said ] "it's only one club
night" ..r...,l
ut will grow" said she. And she
put her arms around my neck.
"Don't be afraid, child I'll never
pain you again."
And meant it; but at II o'clock
that night, I felt that had forgotten
my promise and my resolution.
couldn't go home to Joe. i made
up my mind to sleep on the club sofa,
and leave the place for good next day.
Already l felt my brain reel as never
had before. In anhour was in land
Of stupor. ii-I -.
1t was morning. Awaiter stood rea-
dy to brush my coat. l saw grin up
on his face. My head steamed ready
to burst; my hand trembled! 1 looked
at my watch; 1 saw that 1 had only
five minutes left to reach the depot!
JOe's words came to my mind: Was
was not fit to answer. ought to have
asked some sober man. AS it was, 1
only caught up my hat and rushed
away. 1 was just in time. ..as,5
The San Francisco glittered in the
morning sun. The cars were filling
rapidly. From my post / could hear
the talking bidding each other good
bye, promising to write and come
again. Among them was an old gen.
tleman knew by sight-one of the
shareholders !; he was bidding two
timid girls adieu. h 70 -sa 'siF
"Good>bye, Kitty-good-tye Lue."
I heard him say, "DOn't be nervous.
The San Francisco is the safest engine
on the line, and Guelden the most care
full engineer. / wouldn't be afraid to
trust every mortal love in a batch to
their keeping. Nothing could happen
wrong with the two together"
Isaid, 7" FL get through it somehow,
and Joe shall never talk to me again."