The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-09-06

give us words more emphasis, ''tnaU the
great secret of life is to live for one an
other, to help each other all we can; no
matter though my life be one long record
of darkness and error, and God knows it
has been, if / can lend a hel ping hand, now
and then, to some poor fellow more unfor-
tunate than | am; if | can make his bur
den lighter and his life trihs happier
then surely my life will not have been al
together in vain. That's the principle |
go on, boy, and it's not a bad one to fol
low, either. But to continue: from the first
time | knew him the lad had a great liking
for young girl in the village up there.
He was constantly singing her praises and
talking to mo about her, so that | came to
know her pretty well. l never saw her but
once. Joe had been up on the branch one
day with load OF freight, and on his way
back through town had picked her up and
brought her down to the junction. Just
for ride" he iaUghingly told me. but |
knew better; the sly rascal had been tell
ing her about me and the little mink had
taken this means to get a peep at the old
man and make his acquaintance. | heard
'em a'coming up the track. Joe was blow
ing for the switch, so [ went out and threw
her over and was just getting my flag ready
to let him know it was all right when he
ing all the way down. l didn't
know what to make of it at first,
and thought the boy must have gone
crazy, for there was my signal right
there in plain sight; however, the mystery
was soon explained. AS they shot past
mo onto the siding l saw a girls face
at the window. She was running the en-
CINE and had one hand resting on the lover.
Her cheeks were flushed with excitement
and she was laughing in great glee over my
discontinue. Joe was standing close be-
hind, watching her with proud, glad light
in his eyes, while his imp of a fireman with
SCOT begrimed face was leering and grin
ming ut me over tbs side of the tender. As
soon as they stopped she jumped down
from the cab and walked back with Joe to
whore | was standing. l recognized her at
once from his many descriptions, and we
were soon the best otfriends, laughing and
talking together as if we had known each
other for years.
"Joe was proud of her, tell you, and
every time he glanced at me it was with a
seli-contident air, as much as to say that
he was not far from wrong in praising her.
She was a handsome lass and no mistake.
She had tine most wonderful hair have ever
seen. TWAS black and glossy and fastened
in a coil at the back of her shapely head,
while in front the stray locks hung in care
less prOfusion over her broad, white fore
head and above pair of black, laughing
eyes that were never still.
"There lay her power, you could look
right down into them, they were deep,
deep and fascinating. They were eyes that
unless handled with care would play the
deuce with any mans heart; but she was
good girl, bright as she was pretty, and
possessed Of a charming disposition. NV
Old heart went out to her at once, and
could not help loving her just a little for
JOe's sake, and he, poor boy, why bless
you, lNd, he loved every hair other head.
"Weli, things ran along smoothly until
the end OF summer when | began to suS-
pect that all was not right with Joe. There
was evidently something on his mind that
was weighing down his usual buoyal.
spirits. He went about like one in a dream
he talked little and would sit here for hours
at time with his head resting on his
hand, brOOding over some secret trouble {;
while as for her. he never so much as even
mentioned her name now. | tried in vain
to reason with him; l coaxed and threat
ened, but all to no purpose, | could do
nothing with him one way or the other
true, he would occasionally make an effort,
for my sake, | thought, to brighten up a
little and look as if nothing had happened !;
but, Lord, the contrast was so great be-
tween that and his usual ight-heartedness
that it only made it all the more painful
to me.
"The other lads had told me all the par
and my poor heart ached for the
boy. | know what it meant 90 man who
loved with his whole soul, the way Joe did,
and feared the consequences. 1t was no
chlld's play with him, 1t was matter of
either life or death. II seems that fellow
up there had been paying tho girl consid-
cradle attention. He was the son OF a
prosperous merchant, handsome, smart
and fascinating but with a bad reputation.
had heard Of his doings and knew that no
good would ever come of his going with
her. Flattery and tine manners, backed BY
wealth and social standing, are powerful
levers in the hands of unprincipled men,
and many poor girl has been deceived
and her life darkened by just such means.
"Well, this scOundrel poisoned her mind
in soma way with his lying tongue, against
Joe, until she finally dropped him alto
gether. Joe was always little sensitive,
and being naturally quick-tsmpersd and
head-strong may possibly have said more
than he ought; but anyway, that's where the
trouble began. You couldn't blame the
girl, poor thing. 1t turned out atGerward
that she loved him all the time, but those
women are queer creatures; | never could
understand one of them yet. A man never
could understand = woman anyway. As
for him." and the old mans eyes glowed
with fierce anger, 81 swore that if ever he
crossed my path, old man as l was, pd
lHAhe Hill WISH ne u HcVeT seen Ul6 gay on
which he was born. Joe never went to tho
village now. asked him why he didn't
go up and see the girl and have a talk with
her. 1T would never do, Tom; it would
never do. | might meet him. he answered,
and the words came slow and distinct
while his fingers frightened cOnvulSively,
and it were best that he and | should
never meet Well, things went on from
bad to worse; the boy was actually broken
hearted. | can't say that he neglected his
work in any way, but it was all done me-
absent mindedly; he had no
heart in it. | don't believe he knew what
he was doing half the time, and it was dan
gerous, very dangerous, not only for him
but for others. Ordinarily he had the cool
est head and the steadiest nerve of any
man on the road, but he wasn't himself
now, and feared for his safety every time
he hauled out. The boys all noticed it, too.
They liked Joe and favored him all they
could, but such things soon get to the ears
OF tho bosses, and one day the rumor came
that he was to be laid off and new man
put in his place. To tell the truth l was
glad of it. had tried in vain to get him
to give up and go away somewhere for a
change, but he wouldn't listen to me at all.
Now, he would be obliged to go, and | knew
it would be the best thing for him, as the
rest would do him good. This was pretty
close onto the end OF the month, and one
day he got orders from the superintendent
to come down below and shove some freig hts
up the track. The grade is pretty steep
from here to R, ten miles above, and
whenever they get heavy load on it takes
an extra engine to help them over. Joe
was sitting here when the word came.
suddenly he turned toward me with a
strange light in his eyes, light | did not