Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-12-15
Romance of a BooI-HeeI.


employees of the Ohio and Mississippi Ry..
Company. were on their way to their work
in the car shops Of the company, one mile
west of this place, their attention was at
tracted by q bOOt-heel, freshly torn off.
sticking in the frog" of the railroad track.
a short distance from the shops. They
stopped moment to examine it, and found
that the heel was so securely. fastened in
the iron frog" that it required smart
blow with crutch Zone of the men had
lost leg) to remove it. Long nails pro-
truded from the heel, and all the evidence
went to show that it had taken consider
able effort to tear it from the boot. 1T
appears to me-" said one of the men, ''that
some fellow has had a narrow escape from
being run down by train last night, or
else he has been badly frightened and
wrenched his boot-heel off when there was
no occasion for it." 1T reminds me-"
replied his companion in a low tone, ''of a
little adventure that happened to me sever
al years ago upon the Pan Handle Road.
Twas then u young man, but it isn't likely
that I'll ever forgetit and he cast rueful
glance at the empty leg of his pants. ''The
story is soon told, he went on, turning the
bOOt-heel over in his hand as if to find in
! scribed upon it a story similar to his own.
Il was walking on the track near CadlZ
junction, in Ohio. 1t was one dark and
blustery night in February, and a heavy
snow-StOrm and wind beating into my face
was almost sufficient to have blinded one
had it been broad daylight. l was walking
briskly along, not dreaming Of any harm,-
in fact, sir was then returning from
visit to my sweetheart, who had that even
ing promised 10 be my wife,-when sud-
1 a. ,l,-sT Il ha
| tween to rails where side track Joined the
main track, Just as this heel was fastened
in the frog here at our feet. At that mo-
ment / heard the shrill whistle of a locomO-
tive, and looking up the track l saw,
! through the binding snow, a light bearing
| down upon me. had passed the depot a
few minutes previous and had noticed sew
eraI persons standing on the platform. The
persons were waiting for train, and here
was one coming! 1t was an unusual hour
/ for a train, and the idea of meeting one
| had not occurred to me before, but now
/ the awful truth flashed upon me. | made
| a desperate effort to release my foot and
the horror of my situation was increased a
hundred fold when found that it was Sc
curely fastened between the rails. The
light was so close that its reflection upon
the new snow blinded me. As a man will
in a like situation, 1 thought of thousand
| things in an instant. l thought of my
aged parents, of events of my past life, Of
my promised bride: and the thought that
should be torn from her, or, what was
worse, be manned for. life, was infinitely
more dreadful than the thought of death.
But I'll not trouble you with these painful
details. What l supposed to be the head
light of locomotive was blazing, like the
fires of hell, right in my face. 1t was this
leg that was fastened" he said, swinging
his stump back and forth, tand l just
| threw myself f''-''Yes, yes, interrupted his
companion, with blanched cheeks, ''you
threw Yourself to one side and the engine
severed your leg from your bodyf"
E'Not exactly" returned the story-teller,
| smiling blandly upon his victim. ''The
truth is, sir, am almost ashamed to say
that the light did not proceed from loco
motive but from the lantern of a watch
man who happened to be coming down the
track"
''And the shrill whistle that you heard p
THAT, l presume, came from a one
horse saw-mill NOT far off.
But your leg-how did you lose that ?.
.'As many another brave man has lost
his, " came the answer, accompanied by a
heavy sigh, and far-away look as if to re-
call the Scenes of some field of battle; 81
fell under moving machine and had it
chopped off"
-''Well, all / have to say" replied his
companion, somewhat disgusted at the turn
the romance had taken against him, "all I
have to say is that hope your girl went
back on you and married an ax-handle-
maker or some one else who could make
her happy"
''She stuck to me-" said the romaneer,
pstuck to me through good and evil report,
and married me-married me one raptur-
Gus evening in the merry month of May,
and now" and his voice grew husky with
emotion, "and now I'd give the top of this
bald and beetling pate if she hadn'tr'
He turned his face away to hide his tears,
and the two walked slowly into the nearest
saloon,
| Chicago Times.