Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1877-01-09

mon enough with us. Among you young
chaps its worse yet, and it would cure
You il on once felt The crawling inside
OF YOU that have. Well,at last | made
out to set thinking oil the warm room at
home there, with the felt slippers all
ready aud Louise and the Youngest and
the flask Of arrack ana the sugar AID The
lemons of the table. and the cat and the
tea-Selt'e singing and 10y degrees be-
gan to feel a 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 1t
was whirlng ard bowling yet in the air
as entered the cut by the oii-mi !,
through which might have seen any
thing at all ten PAGES oG. went ahead
on The righ. hand track of the two in the
cut because that was free from snow, and
from that side could see my house
sooner.
And, in truth, I went along quito care
lesSly, for was going from The yard, and
that w as tie ir-,rack. 50 no train could
come on me irom behind. and at that
hour none was to bo expected in front
besides must have heard il coming.
Just as was in the middle OF the cut,
which lies yol know, in the curve, and
where that night one could not see car
length OF. heard a whistle behind me.
and tight after il the clap and clap Of the
approaching train. noticed, too, TIA;
he engine was pushing the train before
il. because The slroSe Of the engine was
much farther behind than he rolling OF
The wheels. thought. "ah tha. Is the
reserve train OF some twenty pair OF
wheels lha, stood yonder ahead on
tho track, and that they are shuutinG
over 10 the frcigh. house" Blu, all this
passed ou'y vaguely through my mind,
rs one always thinks mechanically of his
work even when his head and heart are
toll OF other things. | saw vaguely, in
reality didn't feel the siighte5. in,ercs:
in il, Tor the train must directly pass ne
on the other track. But when the ping
and pAug of the wheels on the hard lrol-
cn track had got q ute close up, and |
already beard the coupling chain on the
ioremos, car c.inkiog back and forth, ,srd
saw The light Of The signal lantern begin
TO S|iIo by me on the saoT, partly
turned my head TO call Happy New
Year!' to the fellows upon the train.
Bu. there was 10 train on the track /;
and at the same instant l got violent
blow 10 the back. The sparks danced
before my eyos-slap!-I lay llat on my
face on the track. and, puug! pung! the
cars besau to 80 over me-
Hele the old engineer made another
pause. /. was still as death in the room,
and laces. broaihless, and riyeted leaned
forward aud round the table. He filed
the glasses again, pressed down the to-
bacco 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 HornIg here today,
have to 90 through squeeze by those
examiners, our ideas come along one
after the other slowly and in some sort
oi order, 50 that one can take good
look at EN-. They even say We engi-
neers are slower than other men, because
all the qa;ckness has gone out OF Us into
our engines. But boys. in the second
between the blow and my lying flat on
the ground l did more thinking than
ever did before since Easter to Whit
suutide.
Fns. about home, the warm room and
every thing in it, and the New Years
chimes; and the going to church in The
morning; that the assistant station mas
ter as he lay there under the CLOAK on the
snow; aud then | began reckoning as
il was giving the orders for making
uo all the trains, about the train that
was passing over me. How was il, /;
was on the wrong track, the one I'd
been on. coming ont on the in-,rack
And then all at once thought what before
in the midst of my cogitations had for
gotten-the outward track had seen as
early as noon already deep buried in
snow, and that was why they were com
ing out on the in track. Then | saw
plain enough the train Just as it stood
there couldn't be more than ten or eleven
freight cars, they all went high above
the rails--they would do me no harm
| lay fat enough between the rails.
But the engines | knew all three en-
gines that stood fired up at the station as
well as my tobacco pouch, The whit
teukind'would 60 harmlessly enough over
me, even though had been stouter than
| was; tie Herman too might be mer-
cilul to me, ct any rate if it was carrying
little water and fire, and the sleepers
urder me didut stand up too much but
under the 'Sius' one Of the new. low
built elephants, was dead man. Ay,
dead That would not be the worst. |
should be slowly crushed and torn into
shreds. W hich engine was it then com
ing there? ?
"All this, you see. boys. l had thought
/ L ...-- N..t ltat