Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1872-12-05

sinuating the emerald tops toward her.
sob, no, grandpa, keep 'em YOURSELF"
shaking her head and smiling.
81 feel" rambled Caspar, filling his |
senses and his jaw with perfumed roots,
until blind man would have pro-
nounced him Mexican, if his nose had
sat in judgment over Caspar, ~ rally |
feel as if l needed somethin' refreshin',
| workin hard day after day for nothin',
you might say. Sort OF seem your
work go to pieces under your eyes, and
KNOWN the danger to them on the
road"
"What do you mean, grandpa ?" cried
Madge, turning white as her bread and
butter.
"Why, honey, you see we've picked
and picked in that cut, and the siles as
unstiddy as water. The stones and
earth list roll on the track contineral.
| The company orto do somethin' to that
cut. Stones as big as you is Jared down
every train. But then the roads new,
the roads new, yet"
"Men amt got no sense" broke in
the old wife. "Don't you see you're
skeer ng that child to death for fear
Charley'll git smashed up. He runs on
that road"
Two blades of keen remorse leaped
from Caspar's bleared eyes.
"Now, don't you be skeered, honey.
Take an ingen, honey
He reached over to pet her fingers.
"Charley DIDN'T pass the day when
the dirt was rattlin' down so. He don't
pass till half.after eight this evening,
and we left the track as clean as this
table. Yes, sir, them rails is as free and
bright as new tin pans. So, don't you
be skeered, honey"
"Fm not scared about anything,
grandpa" said Madge TREMENDOUSLY, but
smiling like rainbow.
There, new, mother" cried Caspar
triumphantly, returning to his onions,
"you come down on me for nothin'.
She amt skeered Bit
No, not a bit She flew about the
room like a bird, washed the earthen-
ware, brought her grandfather his pipe,
and dropped at his feet to him some
funny story afoat. In his enjoyment
he wrapped himself in such cloud
that she could hardly see the clock.
Madge slipped out to the gate. She
! was often there, looking up the road.
The two old people sat inside, thinking
of the days when they were young.
She was restless, and fitted over the
+ cinder sidewalk, following magnet
which would have drawn her from the
center of the earth. To the road, of
course How often had she watched
the rails converging horizonwards until
| they sharpened themselves to a needle
point The railroad had a fascination
for Madge. When baby, she used to
! follow her grandfather to his work, and
hide among bushes to see the big freights
numbering by, and the express trains
whirling into town like screaming land
demons. She had heard of the sea, and
the spell it had upon sailors, but she
saw the railroad and felt the spell,
which nobody seemed TO remark, that
5 it cast over inland laborers. She saw
r her boy playmates sucked up by the
r road y heard her grandfather tell of
: hair-breadth escapes from collisions, of
cool courage in men who placed them
! selves between the people they carried
| and most horrible death. She had
learned the power and mission of " the
| road" In short, she was as loyal a
daughter of the rail as any Maine skip
, per's child is of the sea. Madge had
dtlulIIty 1OA OH IL blllo
her throat swelled, her eye kindled,
when the great iron animal swept past
, her. Charley drove an engine, and his
engine was, in her eyes, fitting ex-
) ponent of the strength and beauty of
4 his manhood. Such was the romance
7 of her little dry life. Every body must
7 have his enthusiasm. She had been in
the towns great depth at night arrived
from holiday trip, and had laughed
!. aloud to see some busy engine hurrying
2 up and down, picking up freights like a
!. hen gathering her chickens; now
g breathing loud enough to deafen a null
e titude, now concentrating his strength
D and painting slowly away at the head of
/ its charge. She had walked from sleep
. to hear them calling to each other
!, through the darkness, and translated to
e herself what they said.
i 1t was proper thing for Madge to be
an engineers wife. She thought it a
e fitting thing to be Charley's wife under
d any circumstances, assure you. There
e was now only little strip of time be-
e tween Madge and Charley. She looked
:, over that little strip, and saw just how
/ it would be. They were to have cot
y tage on the clean street; her grand
!, parents, if they became inhrm, were to
y have home with her; "and these two
e little hands, said Charley, twill make
b me the dearest nest; I'll be so glad to
s run into it at nightr'
o Madge's pink face took on rose as
she thought of all these things, looking
d up and down the cut to see if the track
Z. was clear, as her grandfather had said
d 1t was clear. She felt relieved and
l, foolish about coming out there through
e the twilight to spy for Charley's welfare
n and much inclined to hide from the
k smoke rising far off But those unsta
st bic sandy walls towering over his way
e Madge watched them jealousy. JUS
as the thunder of the train could be
d heard, her heart stood still to see them
dissolve, like pillars ground down by
e. some malicious Samson, and piled uror
r the track until nothing could be seer
is for yards but one long hill of earth ane
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