The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
A Railroad Romance.
THE FIREMAN's STORY.

THE FIREMAN's STORY. |" A fr;ghttul tsce?' Wal, yes, yer correct; Fhat man on the engine thar Don't pack the handsomest countepance- Every inch of it sportin' scar; But tell you, pard, thar aint money enough Piled up in the national banks To buy that face-nor a single soar (No, never indulges. Thanks.) Yes, Jim is an old-time engineer, An better one never war knowed Bin runnin' var since the tust machine War put on the Quincy road; An thar aint galoot that pulls plug From Maine to the jumpin' off place That knows more about the big iron hoss Than him with the battered up tace. Git hurt in a mash-up 7" No, twar done In sort O legitimate way; He got it a tryin' to save gal
 Up var on the road last May. I hevnt much time fur to spin you the yarn, Fur we pull out at two twenty five ,Jist wait till I climb up an toss in some coal So to keep the old [" 90" alive. Jim war pullin' the Burln'ton passenger then Left Quincy halt an hour late, An war, skinnin' along purity lively, sos not To lay out number twenty -one freight. Tho "90" war more than a 'hopin' lem An a quiverin' in every nerve When all once Jim yelled-" mercitul God ? As she showed her sharp nose round q
 curve. jumped to his side O the cab, an ahead Bout two hundred paces or so Stood gal on the track, her hands raised,
 aloft,
 An her tace jst as white as the snow. It seems she war so paralyzed with fright That she couldn't move for'ard or back, An when Jim pulled the whistle she fainted
 and fell
 Right down in heap on the track. I'll never forgit till the day O my death The look that cum over Jim's face; He throwed the old lever clar back like
 shot
 Sos to slacken the " sos" wild pace. .s7' Then he let on the air brakes as quick as a
 flash
 An out through the window he lied, An skinned long the runnin' board cla'r ont
 in front An lay down on the pilot ahead. Then, list as we reached 'whar the poor
 creotur lay,
 He grabbed tight hold of her arm, An raised her right up SOS to throw her one
 side
 Out O reach of all danger an harm. But somehow he slipped an fell in with his On the rail as he throwed the young lass, An the pilot in strikin' him, ground up his
 face
 In irighttul an horrible mass! AS soon as stopped backed up the train To the spot whar' the poor fellow lay; An thar set the gal with his head in her lap An wipin' the war m blood away. he tears rolled in torrents right down from
 her eyes
 While she sobbed like her heart war all
 broke A pe'' - f~iard sioh sioht as that 'ar Wonld move the tough heart of an oak! We put Jim aboard an run back to town, Whar' for week arter week the boy lay 4 hoverin' right in the shadder O death, An that gal by his bed every day. But nursin' an docterin' brought him around Kinder snatched him right outen the grave His face aint so an'som' as twar' but his
 heart
 Remains iist as noble an brave. 0t course thars sequel-as story books say He fell dead in love, did this Jim; But he hadn't the heart to ax her to have Sich battered up rooster as him. She knowed how he felt, an last New Years
 day
 War the fust day O leap year, you know, z she jist cornered Jim an proposed on the
 spot,
 An you bet he didn't say no. He's buildin' house up thar on the hill, An has laid up a snug pile O cash, The weddin's to be on the first O next May Jist year from the day O the mash The gal says he risked his dear lite to save
 hers,
 An she'll jist turn the tables about An give him the life that he sayed-thar's the
 bell,
 Good day, sir, we're goin' to pull out"
 -Ktt, in Quincy JModern .Hrgo AUNT RUTH'S VALENTINE.