Mower County transcript., 1889-07-24

and proposed with the rest of the Brother.
hood) to stay by the company and his loco.
motive. This made the strikers exceeding.
lyangry and, as consequence, Anna was
constantly fearful of some harm Detailing
Joe, or the dearly-loved engine-or both.
One night when Burdette had to pull
mail train number four out of Steamville,
| Anna, in strange but earnest manner,
begged PERMISSION to accompany him.
"Why, my dear little girl" said Joe,
that can hardly be. No-you stay at home
| and have breakfast ready on my return"
But the girl entreated with remarkable
persistence, though she could give no good
or logical reason for her wish. At last
Burdette yielded, and when Number Four
pulled out of Steamville there was girl,
wrapped in a big shawl, huddled like a
bundle on Joe's seat in the cab. She hid
herself thus so that JOS enemies might not
report him for carrying a passenger on his
engine, and she remained in her hiding
place while Joe, with his hand on the lever
and his eye set straight ahead, guided the
throbbing locomotive through the misty
darkness Of November night over the intri-
cate maze of main tracks, side tracks,
switches and sidings Of the great Steam
vile yard.
They had got about one mile from the
depot, and were still crawling very slowly
through the yard filed with idle cars, when
Burdette missed his fireman who had gone
to the tender to throw down some coal.
Still keeping his hand on the lever, Joe
peered through the leather curtain and, as
he did so, was rudely dragged from the
locomotive by strong arms, welded by two
of the desperate and revengeful strikers.
In ,bo ;lo
awake, had grasped the situation. She un-
derstood, perfectly, that the intention of the
rascals who had kidnapped Burdette and his
fireman was to allow mail train No. 4 to pro-
ceed on it's way-unguided and unfettered-
to rush with increasing speed to certain de-
struction. But the girl was equal, and
more than equal, to the occasion. She was
| bright as dollar and smart as a whip and,
as Burdette had frequently asserted, she
knew as much about a locomotive as many
of the engineers on the Chicago & Over
| land. She now saw an opportunity to save
! Joe's reputation, as well as to make one for
| herself; she also saw the chance-nay, the
imperative need-to save the old locomotive
and many lives, and so to Illustrate the vile
plans of the unprincipled strikers.
| How she did it not even the girl herself
could tell after the exciting time was past.
| The mail train was scheduled to run over
the division without a stop, and run it did.
For three hours the plucky girl stood in the
cab, guiding the train through all it's dan
gers, both seen and unseen. She peered
ahead into the darkness, she watched the
| steam-guage, and anon shoveed coal into
the furnace like an Old-time fireman.
1t was hard work and the hours were of
well nigh interminable length; but the end
came, and mail train No. rolled into Chi
cago On. time.
| To-day the boys hardly call Joe Burdette
''crazy," and they are willing to admit that
Joe ought to have a "soft spot" for the girl
who did so bravely on that eventful night.
Nor is one of the Chicago & Overland en-
ployes jealous of the fact that upon the pay.
roll of c. & 0. engineers appears, each re-
curing month, the name of Anna Pender
w. II. s. ATKINSON.