The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-08-02
MERELY AN INCIDENT.
isabel Jamison in Chicago Tribune.l

and shadows, waking with oil, damp fin
gers the tardy ferns and Id flowers and
FLASHING gently against the massive stone
buttresses of "the long bridge" that had
double glitter of steel shooting like an
row across it and darting away through
the tanged brushwood on the other side of
the run. Between these rails lay a
narrow line of plank for foot-passen-
gers, and down this aerial pathway
the lissom form of woman was advancing
from the eastern bank, with head bent a
little forward and eyes fixed intently upon
the network of timbers and slender iron
brace that rose from the stone abutments
below. At the west end of the bridge, near
n sweep of rusty sde-track under the brow
of gravely bluff, stood tiny building,
large for handbook and small for {.
house" into which the girl disappeared with
little sigh of relief-she could now give
her whole mind to tho problem of dinner
and tie preparation of the pork and greens
that formed the nucleus thereof.
An old man. old and yellow and scanned
that ono might be excused wondering if
his rheumatic skeleton was not covered with
parchment, sat a whitely-scoured bench,
mending seine with trembling, claw-like
fingers. He was singing, too, in creaky
voice, and as the girl went about her work
among the shining pans and tender sprigs of
mustard and dock, she caught up the faint
uncertain strain in a clear, bell-I;ke tone
that rose and fell with a kind of solemn
pathos.
Ga the swift, sweet wings of the May wind
came the dull roar of grinding wheels and a
piercing whistle that went shrieking and
echoirg through the hollow ravines ard
woodland grottoS below.
'Here's wild grandad. Hark how
they're coming up the hill-must have a
light trainl o. gran'dad. its a special,
and they're going to side-t track here7 The
girl raised her voice almost to a scream
at the last sentence, for tie old man was
deaf the traditional post and Iabored
under the added disadvantage of having
never yet discovered the fact.
SWELL, we'll, Bah, my GIRL call to
whoop like Injunl A body'd think was
hard o hearing the way you go on" he re-
piled, in a thin. querulous voice, shufiling
the seine away under the bench upon which
he had been sitting.
"You smell dreadful fishy, and your hands
arc all tar, gran'dad, dearl Maybe the OIL
cials are on that train-do let me tidy you
up Bit" Bah shouted, the old man hob
bled away without paying the slightest
attention to this alarming possibility.
Bah got her greens on the stove and then,
being brimful of repressed curiosity, caught
up the braided rug that lay beside tho bed
and, going out on the backdoorstep, shook it
vigorously for fully five minutes From the
bach door she could see the Special side
tracked at the foot of the bluff. The engin.
Ger, in clean blue roundabout
and overalls, with a long-spouted
can in ono hand and a bit of waste"
in the other, was proving around the cold
girl" oiling the supple joints and giving an
occasional rub to the shining brass trim
mings; while from the platform of the rear
car poured a bewildering procession Of
daintily dressed women, with their attendant
cavaliers, followed by squad of solemn
darkies and fat lunch baskets
"A picnicl won't need to go over the
bridge again after ALL" said Bah to herself
with satisfaction. Inc old man was bridge
Waterman, but his rusty joints and misty
eyesight had incapacitated him for the |
duty years ago, and it was Bah who after |
the passage Of every train, tramped over |
the narrow line of plank with keen watchfuI
eyes fixed On the tinbers below.
Nov they are asking gran'lad about tho
fishlng." Bah continued. Just as if fish
ever bit at n picnic! And then, after they
have fished and fished the whole day ami
caught mud-turtle and two bullheads, AMI
got the skin all peeled off their nose; they'll |
come to gran'dad and pay him 10 cents a
pound for big bass and yellow perch to lie |
about when they get home. Why that girl
just getting off the coach looks a heap like |
mothers pictured"
Just here the greens boiled over, and Bah |
withdrew precipitately from her interesting
post of observation. By-and-by grandad |
came ,hufiling back having teen unusually !
successful in directing the picnic party |
away from the reliable "fshn' holes" and |
"minny rifles"
"They thanked me most perlite and gave |
me glass of wine for my trouble, Bah" he
chuckled with a deal of honest satisfaction |
at his cleverness. Il told 'em there was real
sinners III the run and no mistake for took
half dozen offn my trot-line this morning,
and the red -hpSS oh no To-
evenin'. Some of the felers is a-comincr
down to the pool after dinner to look at
them as I've got in the sinker' Q, they'll
buy fast enough this evenin', lass!'
More fools They'll hope they don't ex-
pect anybody has ever been to a picnic
will believe they caught a fish thcmselvesp
shouted Bab cynically
Don't ee fear, lassl There's plenty as
will Why, these fellers'll talk 'emselves
into believin' they caught 'em before they
get home!"
1t was after dinner, when the greens had
been dispatched, the bridge inspected after
the passage OF the 80 train, and Bah was
seated on the doorstep with her sewing that
a slender, muslin-clad figure seemed to start
out of the greenwood and stand at her
elbow and q sweet voice asked courteously, /
but a little patronzingly withal, for needle
arr thread to mend a discouraging rent in
the hounce of her dress. 1t was the girl
like mothers pictured"
Bah was good needlewoman, and set
about repairing damages with q defines
and good will that were very soothing to tho
strange young lady, whose temper had suf
tered almost much as her costume: and
sire was thus engaged when tiny locket
su pended from slender chain-Bab's only
with q tinkliug little crash
on the rough door-stone Miss Louise picked
it up tn find it open in her hand and a hand
some pictured face smiling up into her own.
She close! the loc>et and threw it into Babs
lap with a hanl that was not quite steady.
Your brother, suppose" she remarked,
opposing. however, nothing of the kind.
NO" Bah returned briefly, adding after