The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-11-27

up comes the station-master and said to me:
'Hauser is taken sick, and you will have to
take No. 3 in his place.
Ten thousand thundersr said L but |
hope it won't last till midnight, Mr.. Station
master, for then | must be at home. or there
is i'll luck for the new year,
'Fiddlesticksn said he; only you besure
you're on hand,' and away he was gone in
the driving snow.
l thought I'd taken the matter more to
heart than it was worth, and laid the cold
shiver that crept over to my skin TO the I'M
canny blast that came snorting at me as l
came out with the engine. The whole air
was full of white snow, and as the wreaths
of it drove like white ghosts across the en-
CINE, could hardly see the smoke stack.
OF the light signals, one caught only now
and then glimpe, red white or green; of
the horn and pipe Signals, what with the
bowling of the wind about the cars and car
wheels, and the singing in the telegraph
wires and the rumbiing of cars and the whist
ing of the engines, one heard only enough to
be sure one had not understood them. OF
the shouts OF the men one could make just
nothing but that they shouted.
Then there were couple of hundred cars
being shunted about in all directions at the
same time; on all sides they came looming
like great shadows out of the darkness and
thick snow and straight vanished in it again.
The poor switch tenders, wet to the skin, up
to their knees in snow, sprang this way and
that between the rolling cars. You know
how distributing station looks of winter
night. God only knows how tits we're not
all made mince meat of in the course of it;
and Pve all my life long been surprised when
next morning haven't heard that this one
or that one YVES killed on the spot. And if
anything does happen then the strict gentle
men at the green table in their warm Office
up there out with the rules out of their pock-
cts. To be sure, it's the only way. But if
they would only just for once in their lives
take the trouble to look on themselves out
side!
That night then it was right bad, and the
Sylvester punch, too may have touched the
mems heads little beforehand, for the ring
ing went at a rate as if Satan himself was
giving the orders. The cars flew so this way
and that, and the lights went by like flashes
and everywhere one heard the groaning and
the clinking of the buffers crashing together,
and the men crept about under and between
the cars as if the wheels were gingerbread
and the buffers downy pillows. But before
all there was wretched little assistant sta
tion-master-I could not bear the man, be-
cause he once came very much in my way in
certain matter-but 1 could not help look
ing in amazement as / saw his signal lantern
everywhere, swinging in an inch, swinging
horizontally, swinging crosswise, up, down,
behind, before and heard his shrill voice
through all the storm. And see, I'd just
called to the man, as l saw him slip through
between two buffers, that he ought not to be
so devilish reckless, In storm where one
could neither see nor hear thing and might
slip down into the bargain. But he had
laughed at me and called out: You attend
to your own work, Zimmerman and never
mind me; we must be through before mid
night-forward, forwardH and away he was
gone. l had called after him with good
will: TO the devil with you, thenp and
that shall not forget my life long, but shall
think OF it with sorrow on my death-bed."
Here the old engineer made pause, wiped
his forehead took draught from bis glass of
punch, and went on:
II heard him still giving the order For
wardp yonder among my comrades, and
heard the car chains clink, and then sound
what like was it? have you ever heard a
butcher hack through thick bone with his
ax?-and then dull cry, and then again
only the cling and clang of the buffers clash
ing together. A cold shudder ran over me !;
then got the signal to 60 ahead-there was
no stopping. forward, forwardv In mo-
ment was far away IN the other end of the
yard where no one could know what had
happened.
But 1 did my duty still, only as if was
dreaming, and when half hour later, we
had got through and / entered the engine
house again, the boss said to me, Have you
heard Zimmerman, Assistant Station-master
Porges has beenlkilledlon the spot, crushed to
death between the buffers %
l didn't ask many questions my very
heart shuddered and l don't know how I
took care of my engine and got on the way
Ao r L,,4 ko.~ r
group with lanterns standing there, and
something covered with cloak lying on the
snow. didn't stop; I shivered all over !;
aud can tell you boys Pd have given heaven
knows what if 1 hadn't wished him to the
devil half an hour before. tried hard to get
that out of my head. meant nothing par
ticular by it; twas way of talking common
enough with us. Among you young chaps
its worse yet, and it would cure you if you
once felt the crawling inside of you that
have. Well at last made out to get think
ing of the warm room at home there, with
the felt slippers all ready, and Louise and the
youngest, and the flask of arrack and the
sugar and the lemons on the table, and the
cat and the tea-kettle singing and by degrees
| began to feel little lighter.
Now, with all this thinking of this and
that. you'll readily believe that hadn't paid
much heed to wind and weather, road or
pathway: and all knew was it was whirling
and bowling yet in the air as 1 entered the
cut by the oi[mill, through which I might
have seen the windows OF my house, if one
could have seen anything at all ten PAGES off.
went ahead on the right-hand track of the
two in the cut because that was freer from
snow, and from that side 1 could see nv
house sooner.
And, in truth, I went along quite carelessIy,
for was going from the yard, and that was
the in-track, SO no train could come on me
from behind, and at tina. hour none was tobe
expected in front. Besides I must have
heard it coming.
Just as 1 was in the middle of the cut
which lies, you know, in the curve, and
where that night one could not see car
length off, heard whistle behind me, and
right after 1t the clap and clap of the ap-
preaching train. l noticed, too, that the en-
CINE was pushing the train before it, because
the stroke OF the engine was much farther be-
hind than the rolling of the wheels. I
thought, 'ah that is the reserve train of some
twenty pair of wheels that stood wonder
ahead on the track, and that they are shunt-
ing over to the freight house, But all this
passed only vaguely through my mind, as
one always thinks mechanically of his work
even when his head and heart are full of 9TH
er things. saw vaguely, in reality didn't
feel the slightest interest in it, for the train
must directly pass me on the other track.
But when the ping and pang of the wheels
on the hard frozen track had got quite close
up, and 1 already heard the coupling chain
on the foremost car clinking back and forth,
and saw the light of the signal lantern begin
to glide by me on the snow, partly turned
my head to call a Happy New Yearv to the
fellows upon the train.
But there was no train on the track; and
at the same instant got violent blow in
the back. The sparks danced before nv ewes
-slap!-I lay fiat on my face on the track,
and, pung! pung the cars began to pass over
me-"
Here the old engineer made another pauses
1t was still as death in the room, and face.
breathless and riveted leaned forward and
round the table. He filled the glasses again,
pressed down the tobacco into his pipe, and
went on:
You see, boys, when we sit this way round
the table, or stand on the engine, or even,
like poor Hornlg here to-day, have to go
through squeeze by those examiners, our
ideas come along one after the other, slowly
and in some sort of order, so that one can
take good look at 'em. They even say we
engineers are slower than other men, because
oil ,.~1rx