Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1881-02-18
Sslgrf HlsfsIlaay.
Little Bewie-

Cars stop twenty minutes for re-
freshmen,s,' called out conductor
Richardson at Aliens junction
Then as the train came 10 ds al
bait. he jumped down upon the Sta
:ion platform. ran along 10 the font
OF the long line Of passenger cars,
and swinging iuto the cab, and said 10
the en- nginecr:
Frank, | want Won 10 come back
with me to the first Ts.ssengrrl coach
and see little girl that | hardly
know What 70 make Of"
The engineer nodded without speak
ing. deliberately wiped his oily, smok ,
haqds in a bunch cf w. to a
look al his grImy, uusry
narrow lIlile mirror that hunS~.l 80
. astean- gage, pulled of his short frock
put on coat, changed his little greasy
black cap for q soft feit--,aking these
''drrss up articles from the tender
box, where the engineer always has
something slowed away for an emer-
gencv. and went back To the coach.
and made his wav TO the seat here
the kind hearted conductor set talk
ing to bright-loooking little girl
dressed in q womau's shawl aud bon
net.
Several Of the passenger were group.
ed around the seat, evidently much
interested in the child, who wore a
sad prematnrciy old countenance, bu,
seemed to be neither timid nor con-
fused.
Here is the engineer" said tue
conductor, kindly, as Frank ap-
preached.
She held up her band to him, with
w,nsome smile breaking over her
pinched little face, and said
MY papa was an engineer before
he became sick and went 10 live on a
farm in Montana He is dead and
mamma is dead She died first before
Susie and Willie. Ny .apa used to
tell me after he should be dead there
be no one TO take care Of me, and then
| must get on the cars and go TO bis
old home in Vermont. And he said,
if the conductor wouldn't let me ride
because hadn't any ticket, | must
ask for the engineer, and tell him
him 1 was James Hendricks little
girl, and that he used to run on the
M-and G-road."
The pleading blue eyes were now
full OF tears; but she did not cry after
the manner of children generally.
Engineer Frank now quickly stoop.
ed down and kissed her very tenderly;
and then, as be brushed the tears
away from his own eyes he said:
"Well, my dear, so you are little
Bessie kendrick? It's my opinion
merciful providence guided You on
board this train"
Then tnrning around to the grouT
Of passengers, he went on:
al knew Jim Kendrick, the father
of this little girl, we'll. He wa, a
man of ten thousand. When I first
came to 1ndiana-befors | got &C.
clinated-I was sick, and l got home.
sick and discouraged. Couldn't keep
my board bill paid up-not to men
ton my doctors bill-and | didn't
much care whether | lived or died"
"One day when the pay-car came
along aud the men weregetting their
monthly wages, there wasn't a cent
coming to me, for hadn't been free
from the ague nor worked an hour fol
the last month"
81 felt so 'blue' that / sat down on
a pile of railroad ties and leaned my
elbows on my knees with my head in
nv hands and cried like great boy
out of sheer homesickness and dis
couragement."
"Pretty soon one of the railway mer
came along and said, in a voice tina,
shounded like sweet music to my ears
for | hadn't found much real sympathy
out there, although the boys were all
good to me in their way:
You've been having rough time
Of it, and you must let me help you
out"
! 81 looked MP, there stood Jim Ken