The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1883-03-16

Business had brought me to the little
town 81 D.. among the New Hamp-
shire hills. and here. much aga nsf my
viii. was dcfancd for several days.
VIII Il waiting for instructions from nv
employers. The nearest periodical
store was twelve miles away. and. with
ont books Or papers. time hung heavy
on my hands
The only break in nv mono;onous
life wa the arrival 81 the trains twice a
day. and in the dad calm OF my exist
ence this lite ripple 81 excitement be-
came - much 70 me = the opera under
more IN orable circumstances II was
while lounging upon the platform that
became acquainted with George Sea
forth, engineer on the X. q. A M. Rail-
road. He was man about fhirfy-five
wears III age. Not what would be called
m educated man. hut sensible and
clear headed. His home was in Con-
cord. where ne had wife and two chill
dren. He ran from Concord 10 D..
and for two hours. while waiting for
the down train" he was in D..
The acquaintance. 81 first begun 10
while away an idle hour. on nv pat.
q least. grew TO strong liking. and to-
day there y no one among my acquaint-
anccs for whom feel greater resrect
and esteem than for George Sea:orth.
He had been on the cars since be was
sixteen. first IS 1rain-boy. then as brake
man. fireman. and for the last ten years
- engineer.
"Yon must have had some strange
adventures In that time" I said one
day. Is We sat upon the platform Of the
Little station. waiting for the train.
">trange adventures be repeated.
taking his pipe from his mouth. and
looking meditatively across the green
fields. ''Strange adventures, You NAV
well say that, Dir. We train men are
ALWAYS having adventure"
''Suppo'e you tell me some Of them. /"
4 suggested.
We'll" looking II bis watch. 80
there's plenty of time. don mind tell
ing you Of one queer one had six years
ago. come fail. though don't often
speak Of i; for you see when Z mans
been facc 20 face with death. he can't
talk Of IL very well"
Isettlcd myself On the rough bench
that did duty - : chair. = comfortably
- could. took fresh cigar, and he
began:
IL happened il this way. Va run
ming the old Lion from Lee 70 Fairtown.
II yon know anything about New En-
gland. you know that Scptember's !
gre bmonth for fairs. and this particu-
isr September was 10 exception % the
general rule. We had lots OF extra
work 70 do. but - We had extra pay.
There was no grumbling Il was toward
the last Of the month that the fair af
N - came on. Two or three extras
were put on. timed 20 ~ 10 rum between
The regular trains Jim Turner ire for
ne then Jim was - good fellow as
ever lived, with but one fault he
would 20 or On . time once III
while He didn't do Il very often. and
- he'd do more work than any other
man On the road. the company kept
him. But Jim had been pretty sober
LATELY. ] believe he hadn't drunk any
thing for Is much - six months: W
md Of got out d the habit 81 watching
nm and he went and came pretty much
Wei, We got along an right this
time. ill ainost night We stopped Il
- for wood and water. While we
were waiting. March. The depot master.
came along, and says he 'Seaforth. 1
want Won % DO me favor"
What ID itr" says I. for March
and were pretty good friendA