Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-12-20

man leaned out and waved to the engineer
he darted off like lightning lie had hi
steam up, and he just scuttled
well he was 50 excited for "A while
that he couldn't tell whether the express
was gaining on him or not but after wen
ty or thirty miles, he thought he heard j
pretty near. Of course the express loco
motive was drawing a heavy train Of cars
and it had to- make a stop or two-a al
Charlestown, and at Concord junction, auc
at Ayer--so the pony engine did real,
gain on 1t a little and when it began to b,
scared it gained a good deal But the first
place where it began to feel sorry, and &.
want its mother. was IN Hoosac tunnel 1t
never was in tunnel before, and it seem
ed as if it would never get out 1t kept
| thinking, what if the Pacific express wa.
to run over it there in the dark and 1t.
mother off there at the Fitchburg depot. in
Boston, looking for it among the side tracks
! 1t gave perfect shrek aud Just then it
shot out of the tunnel There were lot
| Of locomotives loating around there AT
| North Adams, and one Of them shouted
out TO it as it few by What's your hurry.
| little one and it Just screamed back
| Pacific express y and never stopped to ex-
plain. They talked IN locomotive Ian
guage-'
ooh, what did it sound like - the boy
asked
"Well, pretty queer I'll tell you some
day. 1t knew 1t had no time to fool away
and all through the long dark night when
ever "a locomotive hailed it, it just scream
ed, Pacific express and kept on. And
the express kept gaining on it. Some Of
the locomotives wanted to stop it, but they
decided they had better not get in its way,
and so it whilled along across New York
state, and Ohio, and Indiana, till it got to
Chicago And the express kept gaining on
it. BY that time it was 50 hoarse it could
hardly whisper, but it kept saying, Pacific
express Pacific express y and it kept
right on till it reached the Mississippi river
There it found a long train of freight cars
before it on the bridge 1t couldn't wait,
and 50 it slipped down from the track to
the edge of the river and jumped across,
and then scrambled up the embankment to
the track again
Papa n said the little girl, warningly.
Truly it did, said the papa.
Ho. that's nothing, said the boy. "A
whole train of cars did it in that Jules
Verne book 80
"Well, the papa went on, after that it
had little rest, for the express had to wait
for the freight train TO get off the bridge,
and the pony engine stopped at the first sta
ton for drink Of water and mOuthful
of coal and then it flew ahead There was
a kind old locomotive at Omaha that tried
to find out where it belonged, and what it 5
mothers name was, but the pony engiue
was 50 bewildered it couldn't tell. And
the express kept gaining ON it, On the
plains 1t was chased by a pack Of prairie
wolves, but it left them far behind and
the antelopes were scared half to death
But the worst of it was when the night
mare got after it. 80
The nightmare Goodness ~ said the
boy.
I've had the nightmare" said the little
girl
"Oh yes, mere human nightmare said
the papa But a locomotive nightmare Is
a very different thing
why, what is it like 20 asked the boy
The little girl was almost afraid to ask.
well, 1t has only one leg, to begin with -
"Pshaw ="
Wheel, | mean. And it has four COW
catchers, and four headlights, and two
boilers, and eight whistles, and it just goes
whirling and screeching along. Of course
it wobbies awfully and as its only got one
wheel it has to keep skipping from one
track TO the other
II should think it would run on the cross
ties said the boy.
"Oh, very well, then &" said the papa
IF you know SO much more about it than
do! Who's telling this story, anyway :
Now shall have to go back to the begin
ming. Once there was little pony en-
They both put their hands over his mouth
and just fairly begged him to 20 on, and
at last he did. well, 1t got away from
the nightmare about morning, but not till
the nightmare had bitten large piece out
of its tender, and then it braced up for the
homestretch 1t thought that if it could
once beat the express to the Sierras, il
could keep the start the rest of the way
for it could get over the mountains quicker
than the express could, and it might be in
san Francisco before the express got to
Sacramento The express kept gaining on
it. But it just ripped along the upper
edge of Kansas and the lower edge of Ne
braska and on through Colorado, and
Utah, and Nevada and when it got to the
Sierras it Just stopped little and went
over like goat it did, truly Just doub-
led up its fore wheels under it, and Jump
ed And the express kept gaining on it.
BY this time it coudn' say Pacific express
any more, and it didn't try. 1t just said
Express Express and then Press A!
Press " and then Ess Ess = and pretty
soon only SIS IS : And the express
kept gaining ON it. Before they reached
San Francisco, the express locomotive
COW catcher was almost touching the pony
engines tender it gave one howl of an
guish as it felt the express locomotive 5
hot breath ON the place where the night
mare had bitten the piece out, and tore
through the end of the San Francisco de
pot, and plunged into the Pacific ocean, and
was never seen again. There, now, ~ said
the papa, trying to make the children get
down, that's all. Go TO bed. The little
girl was CRYING, and SO he tried to comfort
her by keeping her in his lap.
The boy cleared his throat. what is
the moral, papa :" he asked huskily.
Children obey your parents, said the
papa.
And what became of the mother loco
motive pursued the boy.
'She had a brain fever, and never quite
recovered the use of her mind again.
The boy thought awhile "Well, | don I
see what it had to do with Christmas, any
way
"Why, it was Christmas eve when the
pony engine started from Boston, and
Christmas afternoon when it reached San
Francisco"
"Ho!" said the boy. "No locomotive
could get across the continent in day and
a night, let alone little pony engine"
But this pony engine hat to. Did you
never hear of the beaver that clomb the
tree Z"
"Noi Tell
YES, some other time.
But how could il get across so quick Z
Just one day ~
well, perhaps it was year. Maybe it
was the Hert Christmas after that when it
got 70 San Francisco"
The papa set the little girl down, and
started to run out of the room, and both of
the children ran after him, to pound him.
When they were in bed the boy called
down stairs to the papa well, anyway |
didn't put up my lip"
Hdiper'S Young People.
Carving ChrisInlaH.