Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-10-26
WILLIELEE,.


one thought of calling him Willie
except his sister. Willie was poor
and homcly. His hair was what
might be called blue white, his eyes
were pale and without expression,
and he was altogether very plain
person. He and his sister Mary had
a little house in the outskirts of the
city near the car barns. His close
proximity to the barns doubtless
was what led him to think he would
become q car conductor. At any
rate, he did become one, and Mary,
as she used to be wedding in her lit
tie garden beside the street, would
look up and see him pass and say to
herself:
Nov, don't he just look fine with
those blue clothes and brass but
tons?"
His sisters eyes could not see that
the navy blue of the clothes painful
ly brought out the sickly pallor of
his face and made his sleeping eyes
DINNER. To her he was handsome
and the uniform made him hand
somer. Mary was partial to uni
forms. There was policeman in
that suburb for whom she had the
greatest regard, and in the evening
when she would go out to watch for
Willie's car going by on its last trip
the policeman used to come and
hang over the gate and she would
tell him what good boy Willie was.
The men at the barns did not know
much about Willie. He never met
at their gatherings in the office and
stables and sung and danced and
joked as the others did. Halfofthem
did not know his name, but the time
keeper said his car was always on
time and the nickels he turned over
were always right in number.
Willie's passengers did notlike him
either. They said he opened and left
open the door in winter and shut it
in the heat of summer. He made
them sit close on the seats, and gray
est offense of all he would. make ne
men go inside t.fe car when there was
room insteGd/ of standing on therear
plo+-.rm in a crowd. Allthis served
TO make him unpopular, still he new
er violated a rule of the company,
and the keenest :'spotter" could new
er have reported him single mis-
demeanor.
Willie did not like girls. He used
to say to Mary, "GirIs are nuisance.
wouldn't let one of them get on my
car i'll could help it," There was
no use irving to get up Irritation
with Willie, he was adamant. Al
neighbor, rosy checked Rachel
Moore, had loved Willie ever since
they were children and PLAYED
in the dust of the road before the
city had moved down to them. Willie
liked Rachel, too, after a fashion,
very much as he loved Mary, but he
never thought of marrying her to
any one else. Mary used to say to
him, willie, suppose should die,
what would you do for a housekeep-
err" Mary didn't think OF dying,
she was thinking of the policeman,
and Willie would answer, 'Don't talk
about such absurd things, Mary"
Thatwas all the satisfaction she ever
received.
Yet it was through a girl that Viii
lies life was changed. How these
women do change our lives, some in
one way and some in anotherI Willie
was superstitious. He said he was
unlucky every time he ran on car No.
lib. A man had shot himself in it
once, and another had fallen off the
front platform and broken his leg,
and Willie was always having trou-
BILE when he was on it.
One February day ear 113 started
from the barn at its usual hour
with Willie Lee asconductor. Every
thing went on all day and Willie
was fattering himself that he was
going to escape i'll luck for once, but
she turks around us when we are
least conscious of her presence. 1t
was nearly night and a rain set in.
rain that froze to everything and
made the track very slippery. A
young lady who often went down on
Willie's car asked to be left off at the
avenue and Willie rang the bell.
She stepped off, but as fate would
have it another car was coming
from the opposite direction, the track
was slippery, new driver was man
aging the brake, and instead OF
stopping, as is the usual etiquette in
such case, the car came on. Willie
standing on the step took in the
situation at glance, and though he
was always slow he made this the
exception. He jumped from the car
and almost threw the girl from the
track just in time to save her, but he
slipped and fell and was ground I'M
der the horses feet and the cruel
wheels. Then the car stopped and