Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-11-13
THE VICTORY OF AN ATOM.
How a Child sh.med a Crowd of Jeor-

A large flag" rolled into the smok-
Ing car OF a New York and New Ha-
ven train at one OF the Connecticut sta
tons says the New York World. 1t
had possession OF small man. who
was accompanied by AN atom of hu-
manity which huddled down by the
small man i'm the corner of the seat
and was completely hidden by the
seats high back and by the man. The
man fumbled in his pocket for his tick
ct and when he found it tried TO put
1t between his teeth, where he could
End it easily when the conductor came
around. His hand went TO his eyes,
nose and ears to the amusement OF the
spectators. At last he succeeded in
getting the ticket into his mouth,
where it remained about minute.
and then fell out and into the lap OF
the atom beside him. Soon the man
missed his ticket. He arose with
Mortified expression on his face and
announced to the car occupants with
indistinct articulation that he had
swallowed it. The delighted passen-
gers made various suggestions to the
man. One advised him to swallow a
railroad guide to go with the ticket
Another suggested that he would swal-
low the conductors punch with a
string attached, so that the ticket
might be punched and the punch re-
covered At this point a short fat
man, wearing pair Of green glasses
and a snuff colored suit asked the man
where he was going.
"Sheeder ILL.," was the reply. Cedar
Hill was tho station he meant
The fat man pulled out time table.
consulted it q moment pulled out
from under tho seat a sandwich grip
opened it, took out small vial and.
rising. said:
1--WE are now at Wallingford. I
find the running time between here
and Cedar Hill, whittier our unfortu-
nate fellow pilgrim is bound, is fifteen
minutes / now hold in my hand n
bottle OF my famous GetthereelL or
OAAObo. plOHOoO w
enter them in a race against this train.
/ will now administer six of them to
our friend. and stake my reputation
as benefactor of the race against the
price of another ticket that they will
overtake the ticket in its hayward
course and restore it to its rightful
owner before Cedar Hill is reached"
oh NA1 'l1 Tot
approached the patient pills in hand.
while all the passengers roared. Sud-
denly bundle rolled off the seat and
tumbled out into the aisle in front OF
the pill man. 1t was the atom. His hat
had fallen off and mass OF tangled
yellow curls fell around his shoulders.
His blue eyes blazed and his sturdy
little legs were planted wide apart
In his fist he held the missing ticket.
His childish, treble voice rang out
clear and true.
You bad mans You makes fun OF
my poor papa You SAINT do it. you
naughty mans He's my papa!"
He stood there like an infant Ajax.
glaring defiance at all OF them for q
moment Then his chubby fists went
up TO his eyes and a tempest of sobs
burst forth.
A silence fell on the crowd. Tho
pill man stood moment with mouth
agape looking down on the atom.
Then he slipped into his seat looking
very sheepish. The atom climbed
back into his corner. while the smiles
faded from the faces around. Some
looked very steadily out of the win
dow and othors with sudden revul-
sion OF feeling. looked reproachfully
at the pill man. The conductor came
busting in, sized up the Jag" instant
ly and shook the man sharply. de-
manding his ticket. receiving only
mumbled and indistinct replies while
the atom looked up at him with such
a world OF helpless wonder and trou-
bic In his eyes as would have melted
the heart of an iceberg. The pill man
saw that look, arose. touched the con-
ductors shoulder and asked how much
the mans fare was TO the Cedar Hill
paid it out OF his own pocket, sat
down and looked the crowd squarely
in the face with the air of man who
has done the proper thing and knows
it. A colored man entered the car
announcing In succulent tones.
Oranges! bauanasl figs! candies!''
One man bought box OF candy.
reached over and dropped it into the
lap of the atom with benignent and
self-satisfed air. 1t was catching. and
soon the atom was half covered with
all sorts OF peace offerings. He looked
at the things in dazed sort of a way.
and then his blue eyes went from face
to face with puzzled expression.
Pretty soon two men were hanging
over the back of his seat two more
over the back Of the seat in front oil
him and the aisle near him was
crowded with men. all anxious to talk
to him, and to show him that they
were not the bad mans" he hac
thought them. The gigantic jag '
with man attachment had dwindleG
into insignifcance beside the atom.
Cedar Hill was soon reached and q
dozen men stood ready TO steer the
flag" and man safely out TO the plat
form of the station. all for the sake o.
the atom whose tiny fingers, strayine