Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-04-17

bit surprised, for never kn0weu how
F; to take Silent, any how.
"'We'll give him good start, and
then turn in and jack the caboose back
onto the track said Bates, an the rest
of us agreed. .. ..*
1T wasn't two minutes till Silent an
the apologetic-looking man stood in the
open door of the car, the bowler sorto
heralding their approach by his yells.
The bowler was in Silent's arms. an
the yellow-faced man looked discour-
ageder and depresseder an more stoop-
shouldered than ever. Before they
could speak, the conductor busted out:
Here! Why don't you throttle that cub
--saye Why don't he be as quiet as
the other?'
1.-The other baby's dead!' said ST.
lent, solemnly.
Then the apologetic man, with the
dead child in his arms. turned invent
out of sight back in the caboose. look
ing more discouraged than ever. An
Silent came out with the bowler an
jined' us. an the baby yelled louder
than before.
II believe that Silent spoke more then
than | ever heered him say before at
one time.
Hard row Nv stumps,' said Silent,
jerking his head toward the car. Wife
took sick two months ago, an he raked
up all he could, an sent her East to
her fathers folks, hopin' that the old
home people an scenes would help her.
Too poor to go with her, he stayed on
the claim, trying to make a home of it
and hoping that the wife an mother
would come back to him an the twins
we'll an hearty. Before she went size
made him promise that if she never
came back, an any thing happened to
either of the babies that she was too
weak to take along with her, he'd lay
it beside her in the little yard in the
old home village
''Silent went on to tell how the
woman died, away from her husband
an children, an had been buried with
out their ever seeing her again. After
a bit, one of the babies had sickened
an died, an the father tried to be true
to his promise. He was poor-didn't
own his claim yet-and the sale of his
one mule an ole linch-pin wagon
brought only enough to buy ticket
back to the ole homo village. Not
even enough left to buy a coffin for
the baby, an he had nothing to pay
express charges on coffin with if he'd
had one. They'd had little bundle
of grub, but he'd lost that
CAM said Silent, they hain't had
a bite since last night. DO you won
der the baby cried?"
1--WE didn't. Didn't even stop to
wonder. Never even looked at each
other, but when the engine came back,
ten minutes later, the driver and fire.
man seed the conductor an long
Jim an Bates an me workin'
like white-heads to jack that
burned ole caboose back onto
the track. An Silent was sittin' by,
holdin' the baby, who was howlin'
| louder than ever. An the conductor
never opened his head, not even when
jack fell over an nearly mashed his
foot out of all likeness. When they
heerd the story, the engineer and fire.
man took hold, an pretty soon Silent
dried up the baby's yells by giving it
some of the conductors dinner, which
had dried out a little. an the discour-
aged man tackled the rest.
pretty soon Silent an the conduct
or sneaked off, an we heard them a.
hammerin'. They browsed around on
the prairie awhile, goin' in an out of
the opposite door of the caboose sew
eral times. Then, when we had worked
ourselves mighty nigh to death, we got
her back on the track, an pretty soon
of we went.
wal, we were a different actin set
then. We all looked at the dead baby
in the rough little coffin that Silent an
the conductor had hammered out of
the desk. The little fellow laid on q
great bed of bright prairie flowers,
jest as if he was sleepin'. The other
little chap was stuffin' tho soaked din
ner down himself, an never whim-
per out of him.
"Pretty soon sez Silent to me-:
'Speers,' SCI he, well have a little
less of time than we lowed to have, ;
and chucked a bill into the open coffin.
I did the same, an SO did Bates and
Jim and the conductor. The apologetic
man didn't look so stoopy an dis
couraged after that, an the conductor
didn't use bad language during the
whole trip.
''An' Bates whitfield out for the
live baby the durnedest lookin' jumpin'-
jack you ever seed, an Silent didn't
say nothin'. but jest laid on his back
an smoked. Tom P. Morgan, in N.
Y. Mercury.
From the Booming West.
I