Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-05-25

they'd see me through. So betwee
'em they did my duty and No. 2
went up and down in her reg'la
runs jest rs if / was at the leve
myself. You know l was tellir
about the watcr-tank near the house
1t didn't use to be used much, bu
that week seemed as though ther
wasn't train either way, that didn'
git out O water just there, and som
of 'em would come over to see abou
the boys. And their wives KEEP
sendin' nice thlngs-and they wa
all poor people, too. You see, some
how it travelled about fast what little
Pard had done, stoppin' the trair
that night, n he such mite of
child. An it got into the news
papers, and the President of the roa(
came TO see i'm and all that. But he
jest went on from day to day, fol
Death struck i'm from the first mo
ment as he stood there in the winter
rain.
From his talking while he was de
lirious we found out pretty much all
how it was. He heard the storm
in his sleep and the roarin' Of the
run, and that set him to- dreamin'
Of course he knew it was my night
and / had often told him what a bad
place it was and what to do if any
thing happened-never thinking he'd
60 to doin' of it hisself. But he gifts
up in his sleep, takes his lantern and
goes out to meet me. I'd be a sittin'
there watchin' of him by his bed, m
he'd begin first, jest kind 3 mutterin'
md I'd hear him say, softly like, as
eff he was talking to hisself:
"Pard's due at the run in twenty
minits. I kin git there in time"
'Peared like it was all going
through his mind agin, and he was
doin' over jest what he did that
night. We could tell when he got
to the place where the road broke,
for he says: "Kin l git over on that
log? Eff don't my pard'll be killed.
Then it seemed as though he was
goin' down to the curve where we
found him. And he'd shiver like as
if the cold rain was strikin' him.
You see, we could mostly foller
HIM by watchin him, and ketchin'
what he said. Oncet or twicet he
shook right hard, and his teeth chat
tered. We thought 1t was the cold
he was feelin again, as he felt it out
there in the night with nothin' on
HIM. Then he keeps still awhile like
he was a waitin' an listenin for the
train, and you'd see him hold his
breath, tearin' he couldn't kctch the
sound. Pretty soon he speaks agin,
gently like, and says:
"Kin see the light in time?"
Then he waits a bit. Next he
jumps up in bed on his knees and
screams out at the top of his voice
"Stop her, Pard! Stop 29w
Stranger, I've seen trightful things
in my time, but l never seen any
thing so awful as that was. Pale
and wild, with the fever on him, that
mere baby was tryin' to make me
hear, and the wind howlin' and the
rain roarin' the way it was. And
we'd try to keep him still, n his
mother would coax him, and I'd try
to quiet him, md he scream agin,-
"Culvert's gone! Stop her, Pard!"
And I'd take him in my arms, and
he'd be all of qulver. Then it
seemed like ne heard me whistle, for
he says
"All right! He's blowin' brakes"
And l puts him back in bed and
he lays still 4 mint like he was a lis
tenin', an says
'IHe's reversin' of 30, he is. My
pard-pard's safe!''
Then he'd shut his eyes and drop
off, and smile in his sleep, like he
was satisfied. By-and-by he'd begin
and 60 all over it again, and so, day
after day, alters the same. He SEEM
ed to hev it in his mind all the time.
The doctor, you know, him I was
a tellin about, well, he stopped off
that night and staid with us the
whole week and nursed baby like it
was his own. N when it was all
over, l thought it was no more'n
right, II says to him: ''Doctor,
can l pay you?" "No," says he,
Latham, you can't. His life saved
mine. nd besides that, Latham"
md he filled up like, "besides that,
Latham, I've got one jest his age.
There amt nothing you can give me
but that little curl there on his fore
head" SO Mary takes the scissors
and cuts it off. He kissed 1t, n put
1t in his pocket, N went away.
On the night of the break at Dew
IFS Run, wen l got off the machine
to 90 and see what was the matter, |
pulls out my watch, N it was twelve
O'clock and three minutes. Some of
the neighbors had come from around
in the mountains, n minister from
the village, about fifteen miles off.
l didn't give attention to nothin' for
| was stunned like and didn't know
how it all was.
was sittin' in front Of the house
on large stone, where Charley used
to sit and wait for me when l was
comm by, and l heered 4 whistle; N
| seed Il train. 1t stopped near
where l was. The locomotive was
No. 90. The boys had her dressed
in mournin'. Bill Walker was run
min her, and Crary was firm. There
was three coaches filled with the
boys and their wives and children.
They was in their best clothes, N
when they came by where l was sit
tin'-they all knew it was little Char
ley's place-the men took off their
hats and the women had their hand
kerchiefs to their faces. alters
knowcd they was very fond of him,
but it seemed as though they had
lost an only child. There was six
little boys, all the same size, and
they took him up, and we all follow.
ed up the side of the mountain. 1t
was a mild day and the sun was
shinin' bright. We crossed Devils
Run and came to piece of level
ground where there was some large
pine trees. 1t was just over the cliff,
little ways from the road, say Il
hundred feet, and in plain sight OF