The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-07-23
Johns Train.

outside, and this wind from the Sc
sounds cold aud feels cold. ]
4 you'll believe it, when John is foo
r ish he says that fire is like th
, light in my black eyes. John talk
a lot of nonsense. But there,
haven't started that story. l thin
John and always fancied one an
other ever since we went barefootet
to the little yellow school house a
? che corners, but then we did hav
so many fallings out, hot one da,
and cold the next. The making
up, though, were nice, and l fan
cIed sometimes that John did it al
purposely, that he would have ;
falllngout time that there might b,
a falling-in one.
There is one thing though
that did make me mad-the Way
John would show attention to Sas,
Cullis. She was little shipper
snapper sort of blne-eyed thing
She had a pretty milky kind of {
complication, a lot of curls pasteC
together over night, and she knew
how to put blue, yellow and red to
gether, and come out some Sunday
as gay as a rainbow. But / knew
the girl was hollow as a pumpkin
stem. She had little brains, but q
heap of self, and L knew she could
not make John happy. So unlike
him.
There had been a GOODNESS be-
tween John and me, but when | saw
John Gray and Sase Cults walk
away from the harvesting at Uncle
Tobias's l was not cool a bit; l was
hot. II any one had touched me
with wet finger l should have
sizzled. "That john" 1 said, sis a
fool" "She is not fit for him, and
yet she's winding him round her
little finger, as she does one of
those pasted up curls around a
stick" He was smart, enterpris-
ing yeung fellow, was my John.
Why, he started brakeman on our
road only few years ago, and was
at the tail end of the train. The
next thing people knew he was
handling baggage at the forward
end. Then, well, don't know all
the steps, but one day John had a
bit of ribbon tied to his blue cap,
and he looked real foolish under it.
| asked him what it meant and
he blushed and said he was "con-
ductor."
81 am real glad" 1 said.
- ra won ~ onI hn Snol-o 70 ~,
in a quick, surprised way. II
didn't know that you cared nova
days
"Why, john" I told him, "of
course l do"
Then he turned to me like flash
and looked at me just the very
same way when we sat on the old
and made up after a quarrel. But
then l was not going to have any
more of that alter he had been cut
ting up so with Sase Cults; and |
noticed, too, that | was needed at
home, and l broke ont: "Why,
John, believe l have lost my
mind, for l haven't skinned the
milk at home" 1t is real handy to |
have some such thought near you
in an emergency, | used it to good |
effect, and turning left the cOnduc-
tor to his reflections. About a |
week after that L wanted to go to |
the Mills and do some shopping. L
thought | would take the first af-
ternoOn train down and come back |
on strain reaching home about
seven. 1t would be dark then, l
we'll knew, and | could have had an
earlier, but l knew it was Johns
train, and | wanted to see what
kind of a conductor he made. l
didn't want him to see who | was,
and so l borrowed sister Cynthy's
veil. This and my own would make
Il screen he could not see through.
Then l wore some of mothers fix
ings, and knew John couldn't tell
me from Methusaleh. Well, every
thing passed off just l had planned
it. My lord, the new, nObby con
dpctor, game Up to me and took my
ticket. He suspected nothing.
Behind that thick fence of wells |
was sale as Adam.
"Good mother" he said.
The idea of it, calling me good
Good mother" he remarked,
'are you going far2''
/ cracked my voice and pitched
it high, shrieking, "a leetle way,
sir, but I'm skittish, as I'm alone"
Don't worry; I'll look after
you"
'Well," / said to myself, "John
makes a good conductor"
Sin two minutes from that time l
was saying. "Jnhn der: make a
good conductor" That fellow
went and sat down by the side of
young woman, who CHANGED to turn
her head, and there was Sase Cullis.
Now it is no part of conductors
business to be flirting with young
girls, though Sase was hardly that,
being several years older than
John, and kind of an aged bird l
used to think.
All of d sudden, just then, the en-
CINE gave the danger signal and
whistled down brakes. My! didn't
John drop Sase and spring for the
door of the car?
"WhaG is the matter?" l thought,
raising the window near me and
looking out. AS looked, my blood
turn to ice and refused to flow.
Coming round the curve beyond US,
horribly, was the headlight
of the locomotive of the evening ex-
press! How came it there, it was
of no use to imagine. [ thought OF
a hundred dismal, dreadful things
all at once, of a terrible crash, of
people scalded by the hot steam, of
people mangled, of people shot
down the bank into Mud creek
close by. Above all, there was
John. What if anything should
happen to him? And there he was,
back again. He had come to the
car door and shouted "brakesr'
knew what he meant. He supposed
a brakeman was on had, but L had
81 h. nd fo