Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1873-12-13

LAGLC EeA4AAG a Al4AN WIFI AAAllAG AaAAAAA
kerchief fluttered in vain, and theI
another, when even the reply she re
ccIVed from the train convinced hel
that there had been change Of sOmt
kiad, and that she would receive NJ
= more signals from the same hand. L
was odd enough, but her long-accus
toned bit of morning pleasure seem
1 ed suddenly turned into something
1 childish and uninteresting-a worn
] oRt amusement that was time to put
aside with her discarded dolls. And
r 50 she sadly prepared to give it up, IL
the first fit of genuine blues she had
ever indulged in; but, n few evenings
afterward, she fingered at the garden.
gate a little, after her return from
; Aunt Betsy's, to see the night express
go flashing by. 1t was a grand sight
! when it came, incomparably more in,
b tcresting and mysterious in the dark
ness than ever in the day, and Katie
wondered she had never thought sc
, before; but she almost uncOnsciously
raised her little lantern and swung
; 1t around her head, as she had used to
wave her handkerchief.
4 Could she believe her eyes!
2 She almost refused to give them any
faith at first, but then there followed
quick flush IN her cheek and warm
i glow at her heart; for she was sure
! there had been an answering Light,
and she could almost picture a tall
form in -Aark=hlue eloLhing. standing
on the platform between two of the
cars.
She knew very little Of railway
matters, but was not so dull that
there was any special mystery to her
mind in such thing as a change of
trains by a conductor. She did not
let Grandfather or Grandmother
Crowninshield see her, however, the
next evening when she again erept out
to the gate, almost smothering her lit
tie lantern; for she had a haif-huttering
sort of dread that this second expert
ment might fail.
Fail? No; the greeting from the
train was as ready as was katie's own
good evening"" and the little lantern
was likely thenceforth to be the very
foremost of prime favorites with its
mistress. And now, while the OctO-
Der days grew cooler and the glorious
evenings longer, Grandmother Crow
ninshield began to grumble little at
the disposition her darling evinced to
pay so very many visits to Aunt
Betsy.
'It's a long walk for you, child"
she said; "and it's right through the
cut too. What if a railway train
should come along before you could
get out?"
go grandmama, that'l never hap
pen," laughed Katie; ''the railroad
and I are very good friends"
''You ought to be-" said grand
mother, al never saw any living being
care more for a dumb thing than you
have always done for that there train.
But grandmother was nearer right
than Katie; for only night or so af-
ter that-it must have been that Aunt
Betsy's clock was slOw-for Katie was
in the very middle of the cut when
her ears were suddenly filed with
the shrek and roar with which the
train dashed in at the upper end.
Her heart beat quickly for mo-
ment, but not with fear; for, as she
sprang lightly upon a projecting rock
that she had often before noted as a
very available perch, she gathered her
futtering dress more closely about
her aud exclaimed:
''There, I'm safe enough; but to
think of its coming so near"
Near enough, indeed, and Katie
leaned back hard against the crag be-
hind her; for it seemed as if she could
feel the breath of the iron monster on
her cheek. In one hand she clutched
more lightly the folds of her shawl,
aud IN the other she raised her Ian
tern, as if its feeble star could be of
some protection. and then her grasp |
Of it ftrazzr- -ss.sltteuly very tight, in |
decd; for, leaning out little from the |
platform of car, and looking for
ward, rs if impatient for the train to |
clear the cut, stood tall, handsome, !
bearded man, in dark-blue clothes,
with n lantern in his hand, and his
eager, watching, cxpectant face, came !
so very close to her own!
1t was like a flash of hghtningS but
Katie knew the face, and she knew
also that she herself had been seen,
and she had even marked the swift
palng of the brouzed Yisage as-it re-
cognized her and then swept on into
the darkness beyond.
''He was afraid would be hurt" "
she thought; and then she said, aloud: |
Bat he must have seen how safe was,
up here on the rock. 1 don't believe
he swung his lantern at our garden
gate tonight
Katie did not relate her adventure
even to her grandmother, and on her
next visit to AuRt Betsy's she was
careful to come away in time.
Il don't want 10 get home SO very
much too early" she said to herself,
as she finished her visit and hurried
her departure; "but don't like being
caught in the cut at all I'm glad
T'm so sure not to meet anybody. 1
believe I'd want to hide away from a
stranger tonight, almost as much as
from a railway train"
II was indeed an unusually dark and
gloomy night, but Katie was destined
to be disappointed in the hope of get
/ ting through the cut without seeing
ANYBODY. As has been said, the gran
lite ledge had necessarily been pierced
on a curved line, so that no one stand
I ing at one end of the cut, moderate as
We're its Dimensions, could see more
than half way through.
! Aunt Betsy's house was some little
/ distance from the upper entrance, and
! the approach to the latter was gloomy
/ enough that night, even for one who
/ knew every inch of the way as well
as Katie did; but her little lantern
shOne out cheerily against its bright
reflector, thro wing its radiance ahead,
as if it were trying to tell her; ''There,
dear, that's it; don't be afraid, now,
! III show you the trackp But Katie
remembered, just then, that it was
/ getting later every minute, and she
| tripped briskly into the cut, wonder
I ing why the lantern-light should make
/ it look so strangely high and narrow.
! She had not gone far, however, before
the granite walls brought to her ears,
all the way from the lower end and
| round the curve, rs if they had been
! speaking tube, the sound of voices
that were evidently meant to be low
and guarded. There we're other
SQUADS mingled with the voices; and
Katie could not make out more than
a word or so here and there, but there
was something about it all that star
tied and frightened her. At first she
was half inclined to turn aud make
the best of her way back to Aunt Bet
sy's; but that seemed foolish, and
Katie was really a courageous little
soul. She hid her lantern under her
shawl, however, and stepped very
lightly and swiftly forward, trying to
remember if there we're not rock or
hollow where she would be as safe
from men as she had been from the
passing train. She did not think of
or find any such place, and, after all.
the persons whose voices troubled her
were not in the cut, nor were they
coming to meet her. She was very
. nearly through, herself, before she
could any way make Out what it all
|. meant; but, as she paused in the deep
, shadows of the rocks and peered
timidly out toward the now dull and
L-r,n,,f flnl snnnls with Which the rnicns