The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-11-14
A Railway Lesson.

three passengers entered the train on
the Iowa Division of the Chicago and
Northwestern Road at B~ridgewater.
Among them was a stylishly -dressed
young man, who wore q stiff white hat,
patent-leather shoes, the neatest of
cuffs and shiniest of stand-up collars.
He carried a cane, and carefully brushed
the dust from the seat in front ofme be-
fore he sat down.
Just across the aisle, opposite him,
sat a tired woman, holding a sick baby.
/ never saw on any face a more discour-
aged wornout, d~espairing look than that
on the mothers face. The baby was too
sick even to cry. 1t Lay moaning and
gasping in it's mothers lap, while the
dust and cinders flew in at the open
door and windows. The heat and the
dust made travelling, even for strong
men, almost unbearabie.
/ had put down the stylish young man
as a specimen of the dude family, and
was making a mental calculation on the
probable existence of brains under the
new hat, when, to my establishment, he
leaned over the aisle and said to the
woman,
Madam, can / be of any assistance
to you? Just let me hold your baby
awhile. You look very tired"
The woman seemed much surprised,
though the request was made in the po-
htest and most delicate manner.
"Oh, thank you, sir!p said she, trem-
ulousiy. Il am tired" and her lips
quivered.
"I think the baby Will come to me-"
said the young man with a smile. Poor
thing! it's too sick to make any objec-
ton. L will hold it carefully, madam,
while you lie down and rest awhile.
Have you come far? !"
From the Black Hills"
"Whatl BY stage?"
Eyes; but the baby was well when /
started. am on my way home to friends
in the East. My husband-my"-
"Ah yes, / see!" continued the young
man, in a sympathetic tone, as he glanced
at the bit of crane in the little travelling
hat. BY this time he had taken the
baby, and was holding it in his arms.
"Now you can lie down and rest a lit
tie. Have you far to go?"
"To Connecticut, replied the woman,
almost with a sob, as she YEARLY ar
ranged a shawl over a valise and pre-
pared to lie down in the seat.
"Ah yes, j see! And you haven't
money enough to go in a sleeping-car
have you, madame" The poor woman
h1rcha5 fa;n+Ir al ,,,,+ ooa bond ovar
her face, while the tears dropped be-
tween her worn fingers.
/ looked out of the window, and a
mist came over my eyes, while /
changed my calculation of the young
mans mental ability. He looked
thoughtfully and tenderly down at the
baby, and in a short time the mother
was fast asleep.
A woman sitting across the aisle from
me, who had heard as much of the con
yersation as / had, came and offered to
relieve the young man of his charge.
IL am ashamed of myself for not offer
ing to take the baby from the mother,
before. Poor little thing it's asleep"
$50 it is. I'll surrender it to You
now" with a cheerful smile).
AT this point the train stopped at o
station, and the young man rose In his
seat, took off his hat, and said in a clear.
earnest voice:
Ladies and gentlemen, here is an OPP
portunity for each one of us to show
that we have been brought up in a
Christian land, and have had Christian
fathers and mothers. This poor wom-
an" (pointing at the sleeping mother)
"has come all the way from the Black
Hills, and Is on her way to Connecticut.
Her husband is dead, and her baby is
i'll. She hasn't money enough to travel
in a sleeping car, and is all tired out
and discouraged. What will yen do
ahout it?"
"Dol" cried a big man down near the
water-cooler, rising excitedly, dol
Take up a collection, the American citi-
zens' last resort in distress. ELL give
FIVE dollars
The effect was electrical. The hat
went round, and the way the silver dol
lars and ouarters and ten-cent pieces
ratified in it, would have done any true
heart good.
/ wish / could describe the look on
the woman's face when she awoke, and
the money was given to her. She tried
to thank us all, and failed; she broke
down completely. But we didn't need
any thanks.
There was q sleeping car or the train,
and the young man saw the mother and
child transferred to it, at once. / did
not hear what she said to him, when he
left her, but it must have been a hearty
God bless you'll"
Mere than one of us In the car took