The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-09-04

at the window. She was running. Che en-
CINE and had one and resting on th~elever.
Her cheeks were flushed with excitement
she was laughing in great glee over my
discontinue. Joe was standing close be-
hind, watching her with q proud, glad light
in his eyes. while his imp of fireman with
oot-begrimedf face was leertng and grin
ming at me over the side of the tender. As
soon as they stopped she jumped dswu
from the cab and walked back with zoe to
where 1 was standing. l recognized her at
once from his many descriptions, and we
were soon the best of friends, laughing and
other for years.
"Joe was proud of her, I tell you, and
every time he glanced at me it was with q
~self-confdent air, as much as to say that
ne was moi far from wrong in praising her.
she was q handsome lass and no mistake.
she had the most wonderfulh hair I have ever
seen. twas black and glossy and fastened
IN a coll at the back of her shapely head,
while in front the stray locks hung in care.
less profusfon over her broad, white fore
head and o q pair of black, laughing
eyes that were never still.
mere 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
a-good girl, bright as she was pretty, and
possessed OF a charming disposition. Ny
old heart went out to her at once, and I
could not help loving her just a little for
Joe's sake, and he, poor boy, why bless
you. Lad, he loved every hair other head.
well, 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
weighing down his usual buoyant
spirits: He went about like one in a dream;
he talked little III would sit here for hours
at q 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. I tried in vain
to reason with him; 1 coaxed and threat
ened, but all to no purpose, l could do
nothing with him one way or the other;
true, he would occasionally make an effort,
for my sake, I thought, to brighten up q
little n look IS if nothing had happened;
but, Lord, the contrast was 80 great be-
tween that and his usual Observation-Disclosures
that it only made it all the more painful
to me.
aThe other lads had told me all the par
ticulars, and my poor heart ached for the
boy. knew what it meant to a man who
loved with his whole soul, the way Joe did,
and l feared the consequences. 1t was no
child's play with him, it was a matter of
either life or death. 1t seems hat q fellow
up there had been paying the girl consid-
cradle attention. He was the son of a
merchant, handsome, smart
and fascinating but with q bad reputation.
l had heard of his doings and knew that no
good would ever come of his going with
her. Flattery and fine manners, backed by
wealth and social standing, are. powerful
levers in the hands of u~nprincipled men,
and many a poor girl has been deceived
and her life darkened by just such means.
swell, this scoundrel poisoned her mind
in some way with his lying tongue, against
Joe, until she finally dropped him alto
gether. Joe was always q little sensitive,
n being naturally quick-tempered and
head-strong may possibly a said more
than he ought; but anyway, that's where the
trouble began. You couldn't blame the
girl, poor thing. 1t turned out atterward
that she loved him all the time, but those
women are queer creatures; / never could
understand one of them yet. Aman never
could understand q woman anyway. As
for him." and the old mans ayes glowed
with fierce anger, "I swore that If ever he
crossed my path, old man as l was, pd
make him wish he'd never seen the day on
which he was born. Joe never went to the
village now. Iasked him why be didn't
go up and see the girl and ave . talk with
her. 1T would never do, Tom; it would
never do. might eethim, he answered,
while his fingers frightened ~convu1sively,
sand 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-
heart in it. l don't believe he knew what
he was doing half the time, and it was dam
gerous, very dangerous, not only for him
but for others. Ordinarily hebad the cool
est head and the steadiest nerve of any
man on the road, but he wasn't himself
0xr orl \ foorod flr HE c,fafxv 49,
he hauled put. The boys all noticed it, too.
They liked Joe and favored him all they
could, but such things soon get to the ears
of the bosses, n one day the rumor came
that he was to be laid of n q new man
put in his place. To tell the truth I was
glad of il. I 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, andI 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
te come down. below and shove some freights
up the track. The grade is pretty steep
from here to R., ten miles above, and
whenever they get a heavy load on it takes
an extra engine to help them over. Joe
sitting here when the word came.
"Suddenly he turned toward me with a
strange light in his eyes. a light I did not
like, and after gazing earnestly at me for
for a moment said: Tom, do you believe
in dreams? Do you think there is any
such thing as a ~presentiment of coming
danger? Now, Pm willing to acknowledge
that, in common with most railroad men, /
am a little bit superstitious, but seeing that
10. had something ofthe kind ON his mind
nov,I thought it my duty to try and laugh
it out of him, so I said as boldly as / could:
why, nonsense, boy no person in his right
senses ever believes in such stuff; anyhow,
it's all foolishness, utter feelishness, and /
don't know what you mean by such talk
once taking his eyes of mine: Il
had a strange dream last night. My
engine had jumped the track and
caught me under it, under a mass
of iron and steel, with escaping steam
on one side n a blazing fre-box on the
other. o! Godl it was terribly real. I
cried out in bitter agony and awoke,
trembling in every limb. 1t makes me
shudder even now to think of it, and it will
all come true, Tom, it will all come true.
l feel that it only foreshadows the ap-
proach of some great danger which lean
for it, ready and waiting. pve courted
death a thousand times and after what I've
suffered, Tom, it's welcome now in any
form, and the sooner it comes the better
"'Hush! boy! you're not talking like
yourself now, and l won't listen to you,'
soy Ii DoSlnuluS W SSt q ilIble provoked
at him; 'f you keep on like that i shall be-
gin to think you've clean gone mad, any
how. Throw off such nonsense and 90
about your work like a man. The idea of a
smart young fellow like you losing his
head over a fool of a. Have a care,
Toni have q care how you speak of her,
says he all of a sudden. breathing hard
while his eyes shone with a fierce glitter,
'or l shan't be accountable for what I do.
You've been a good friend to me and l
don't want to hurt your feelings in any
way if 1 can help it. I don't deserve the
kindness you've shown me, Tom; I don't
deserve it; Pm not worthy of it, but if
things had gone different with me, you'd
never have cause to regret it. As for her,
Tom,' and his voice grew husky with emo
ton, IF ever you see her again, tell her I
have loved her through it all. Dear girl,
God grant she may never suffer as i
have done 1 was really the one to blame.
She was too good a girl for a rough fellow
like me and l ought never to have encour-
aged her. l might have foreseen the con-
sequences, but I was blind, blind to every
thing in my great love forher. She was
49, al IL