The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-09-07
ROMANCE ON THE RAIL.

onu ehO oSSooion 5"SSSooSN 'hO osoi
Jim had "set 'em up handsome for tn
boys;" and the generous wine hat
warmed Caps blood until he felt tha
every man was brother, or he nigh
have been more reserved about this epi
sode in his checkered life. For Cal
seldom spoke Of his wife to the boys
and when he did it was with a deferen
tial air unusual in one of his class
There was legend current that ,
"green hand" on the road had once
hailed him with, "Well, Cap, how.
the old woman and the babiesW The
story ran that, without deigniDg ar
answer in words, Cap struck straight
from the shoulder, and his would bt
| friend went to grass with "shanty
over his eye for his undue familiarity
The chivalrouss spirit of the act appealed
to those rude natures more forcibly than
volume of sermons could have done
and all along the line Cap Lollard's
wife was invested with sort of halo ol
romance.
"Wal, gentlemen" began Cap, in re.
sponse to the solicitations of the crowd
eff nothin' else III do ye, suppose you
must have yer way so hyer goes.
"In the summer of '65 l was haulin'
a construction train, though l was put
on to a passenger that fall. There want
much business on the road an we was
ordered to ballast up long stretch O.
track, dodgin' out O. the grand pit an
back ag'in between the reg'iar trains.
Gall along the road thar was some
mighty fine farm-houses; an one struck
~, tsn1lor ha raor,l lo -
old style-low an spreadin' out over the
ground SOS to be comfortable an roomy.
A lot O. clamberif vines an halfa-dozen
wide-spreadin' oaks made it a mighty
cool-lookin' place on hot summer after
noon; and an Old-fashioned well.sweep to
one side made you think that water was
a pretty choice article, after all.
"Wal, hoss, you bet it was mighty
slow work settin' on the box in the sun,
with that house in sight, while the men
was unloadin' the flats; an it didn't
take me long to make up my mind that
/ was powerful thirsty when we got Jest
opposite that particular place. So down
Jumps, leavin' the fireman in charge,
an makes fur the house, all legs an no
ceremony.
"I was Jest fetchin' up at the well,
when / turned, an'-Jerusha Jane =
thar in the doorway stood about the
trimmest bit of female flesh an blood
that ever sot eyes on-you hear me
Lord love ye! / allow thar couldn't be
no two-legged man critter look at her
without it's maxim his mouth water.
"Fellars, ! felt jest like schoolboy
caught in melon. patch! My breeches
was in my boots; had only one gallus
no vest-ne coat-no collar, and an
old felt hat with three-quarters Of the
rim torn away, leavin' the rest stickin'
out like the visor of cap. An thar she
stood, a-loOkin' at me an larfin' a little,
l thought, because was so all struck in
heap. had waltzed up thar as brash
as a sky terrier; but one blink O. her
roguish eye, an you could "a knocked
me clean out o. time with feather.
Z" Hem Kin git drink, ma'am,
if you please ? says i, kind O. stam-
merin'.
" Yes, SIR says she, as clipper as a
bird. Jest wait, an I'll bring you a
diPPer." 49,, 49,.
ag'n before you could toss up fur the
beer, bringin' dipper that you could a
shaved by a deuced sight better than
ary three-cornered piece O. lookin'-
glass.
It's hot work ridin' on a locomotive
this weather, amt it p says she, droppin'
her eyes, modestlike; but 1 knOwed
she'd took me in from top to toe, one
gallus an all.
"It's alfred hot, says I an fur the
first time in my life lost my tongue
flat-fact! dummer'n wooden man
with his mouth shut.
"But didn't lose my eyes, hoss, you
bet Lord love ye she looked like as II
she'd jest stepped out of fairy.book,
with her sleeves rolled up almost to the
shoulders, an apron-strings circlin q
waist that Queen Victori' herself,
couldn't IA matched. As trim as pin,
an as neat as waxI- fellars, / felt as il
I'd jest drop down on my marrow-bones
in the grass an worship herl
But all the time / knowed she must
be a-thinkin' that l looked like a slouch
an that made nae sweat, you betl So
says, says l:
An glvln her Dack the dlpper,
Jest bumped myself fur that engine
cussin' my luck at every breath.
"Wal, you bet yerself, the next day
was tricked out like drill SARGENT
boots shiny-black pants, with a roll a,
the bottom, SOS to show the stia'nin >
b'iled shirt, with a ruffled front-red
butterfy-an' a crush hat that sever
dollars and ninety-nine cents wouldn't
buy. If that cut didn't take her eye
then I'd throw up my hand.
"She come to the door, but whirled
round like a flash, maxim an excuse o
goin' after the dipper again. But l seer
the corner of her mouth 90 up, and
knowed she was a-larfn' at my sudden
blowout. She was cute one, an
knowed thing or two. could see that
plain enough.