The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1883-07-27
His Baby Was Dead.


off for few days, says Peck's Sun, on
account of sickness at home, but one
day he appeared on the train, looking
pale, and the brakeman who had run
with him for years, knew that the con-
ductor's mind was away at the bed
side of his baby. With punch in hand
and his heart in his throat, the con-
ductOr entered the smoking car, and
said Tickets" in a voice not at all like
its usual sound. 1t was more like an
appeal to his Heavenly Father to watch
over the baby at home. Four drum
mers were sitting together in two seats,
all good friends of the conductor and
as he took their thousand mile tickets
to punch, one said, "Old man, you
were up late last night. Beware of the
wine cup" and he laughed and the
other boys laughed, and the conductor
tried to smile, but he couldn't. An
other drummer who had Travelled with
the conductor for years and loved him
as brother, thinking he was little
off, said, 20, boys, wait till he goes
through the train and collects few
cash fares, and he will brighten up.
Then | will tell him the last story
then they all laughed at their old
friend. and he punched the last of their
tickets and went on with forced
smile, and as tear drop rolled down
his dark cheek the boys thought he
had a cinder in his eye. The last said,
"Come back soon to your own chcka-
biddy," and as he went out of the car a
laugh rose, and he stood on the plat
form minute because he felt faint,
and then he entered the other car.
He knew almost every passenger, and
on any other day he would have been
proud to have them speak TO him as
they did, and chaff and joke, but that
day every word seemed to be a bullet.
He was present in body, but his mind
was far away, and when he put a check
in the band of a lady's turban hat in
stead of putting 1t on the window, and
she blushed and the passengers laugh
ed, they thought he did it for a joke,
but it was because he did not know
what he was doing, his mind being with
the sick baby at home. He hurried
along and lady with little three
year old girl was next, child just the
age of his sick one. The mother had
thought it would please the conductor
to let the child hand the ticket to him,
and the little one had the ticket in its
fat had, and was shrinking back be-
hind mammals shoulder, and saw the
conductor before he saw her, and he
looked so strange and sad that the lit
tie one opened her eyes with wonder,
and handed up the ticket carefully as
though he would bite, and when he
saw her he almost tainted, and when
she said, "Where's 'Ooor baby" he
thought his heart would jump out of
his breast. Tears ran down his face
and he whispered, "She may be dying
now," and as he went out on the plat
form at station he felt that it would
almost be mercy if the train would
run over him. He went in the car and
finished his work and returned to the
smoker and sat down on the end of a
seat, got nervous and went into the
baggage car, passing the large hearted
drummers who were full of fun and
wanted him to be, and they said, Come,
old boy, sit down here and have a smoke,
won't you?" but he said in a husky
voice that he didn't have time, and as
he went out the door he braced up
enough to turn and smile at the boys
through the window and throw a kiss
at them, because he didn't want them
to think he would go back entirely on
old friends, but when he got into the
baggage car he looked like a man who
had lost every friend. At the next sta
ton woman with little girl,was cross
to the child and jerked 1t along by the
arm, and hesnatched the little one from
the mother and tenderly lifted it cn the
car, she pushed the little one along the
isle and set it down in the seat as
though she would like to break its
bones, and the conductor looked at her
as though if she were a man, he would
everlastingly wipe the platform with
her. He got on the car in the rear of
the smoker that time, because his old
friends, the drummers, were so thought
less of his feelings. He did not realize
that they were unaware of his sorrow.
Every kindly expression from the pass
engers seemed to him like an unfeellng
remark and he would have given a
months salary to have been at home,
or anywhere that everybody felt as
badly as he did. At the next station
he got a dispatch. and his hand shook
like leaf, but he went into the smoker
and sat down in front of the drummers,
and opened the dispatch, glanced at it
and put his head on his hand and
leaned his elbow on the window. The
boys looked at him and one said, not
thinking that anything had occurred