The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1891-12-18

don't 20 back now, pa,
AWell; flwon,t. It'll be sssmucha as L
can do 70 get through this story without
going over any o. It again. Well, the
thing that the little Pony Engine wanted
TO be the most in this world was the loco
motive Of the Pacific Express, that starts
out every a~fternoon'at 8, you know. It In.
tended to apply for the place as soon as the
cowcatcher wal grown, and 1T was always
trying to attract the locomotives atten-
ton, backing and filling on the track
alongside of the train, and once it raced it
g little piece and beatit, before the Express
locomotive was under way, and almost got
in front of it or a switch. My, but it's
mother was scaredl She Just yelled to it
with her whistle, and that night she sent
it to sleep without a particle Of coal or wa
ter in its tender.
But the little Pony Engine didn't care.
1t had beaten the Pacific Express in 100
yards, and what was to hinder it from
beating it as long as it chosen The little
Pony Engine could not get it out of its
head. 1t was just like a boy who thinks he
can whip a man,
TIL boy lifted his head. 1Well, a boy
can, papa, If he goes to do it the right way.
just stoop down before the man knows it
INT catch him by the legs and tip him
right over"
"Hol Iguess you see yourself" said the
little girl s%cornfully.
"Well, I could" said the boy; "and some
day I'll just show you"
Nov, little cock sparrow, nowl' said
the papa, and he laughed. "Well, the lit
tie Pony Engine thought he could beat tho
Pacific Express, any way, and so one dark,
snowy, blowy afternoon, when his mother
was Off pushing some empty coal cars up
past the knownothing crossing beyond
Charlestown, he got on the track in front
OF the Express, and when he heard the con-
ductor say, All aboardl' and the starting
gong struck, and the brakeman leaned out
and waved to the engineer, he darted off
like lightning. He haS his steam up and
he just scuttled.
well, he was SO excited for awhile that
he. couldn't tell whether the Express was
gaining on him or not, but after twenty or
thirty miles he thought he heard it pretty
near. OF course the Express locomotive
was'drawing a heavy train Of cars and it
had to make a stop or two-at Charles
town, and at Concord Junction, and at
Ayer-so the Pony Engine did really gain
on it a little, and when it began to be scar
ed it gained a good deal. But the first
place where it began to feel sorry and to
want it's mother was in Hoosac tunnel. It
never was in a tunnel before, and it seemed
as if it would never get out. 1t kept think
ing what if the Pacific Express was to run
over it there in the dark. and it's mother off
there in the Fitchburg depot in Boston,
looking for it among the side tracks? It
gave a perfect shrek, and just then it shot
out of the tunnel. There were a lot of
locomotives loaing around there at North
Adams, and one of them shouted out to it
as it flew by, What's your hurry, little
one?' and it just screamed back, Pacific
Express and never stopped to explain.
They talked in locomotive language''-
ooh, what did it sound like?" the boy
asked.
"Well, pretty queer. I'll tell you some
day. It knew it had no time to fool away,
and all through the long, dark night when
ever a locomotive hailed it it just screamed
Pacific Express and kept on. And the
Express kept gaining on it. Some of tbs
locomotives wanted to stop it, but they
decided they had better not get in its way,
and SO it whizzed 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 so hoarse it could
hardly whisper, hut it kept saying Pacific
Express! Pacific ExpressE' 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 SO it slipped down from the track to the
edge of the river and jumped across, and
then scrambled up the ENHANCEMENT to the
track again"
"Papa!" 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"
well" the papa went on, 'safter that 1t
had ahttle rest, for the Express had to wait
for the freight train to get off the bridge,
and the Pony Engine stopped at the first
station for a drink of water and a mouth
fui 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's mothers name was, but the Pony
Engine was SO be wildered that it couldn't
tell. And the Express kept gaining on it.
On the plains it 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
nightmare got after it."
"The nightmare? GOodnessv' said the
boy.
"Tve had the nightmare said the girl.
ooh, yes, a mere human nightmare"
said the papa. But a locomotive night
mare is a very different thing"
"Why, what's it like?" asked the boy.
The little girl was almost afraid to ash.
"Well, it has only one leg, to begin with"
"Pshawv'
"Wheel, I mean. And it has four cow
catchers and four headlights and two boil
ers and eight whistles, and it just goes
whirling and screeching along. Of course,
it wabbles awfully, and as it's only got one
wheel it has to keep skipping from one
track to the other"
"Ishould think it would run on the cross
ties," said the boy.
ooh, very well, then" said the papa, III
you know so much more about it than I
do. Who's telling this story, anyway?
Nov l shall have to GO back to the begin
ming. Once there was a little Pony En"-
They both put their hands over his
mouth and fairly begged him to go on, and
at last he did. "Well, it got away from
the nightmare about morning, but not till
the nightmare had bitten a large piece out
of it's tender, and then it braced up for the
homestretch. 1t thought that if it could
once beat the Express to the Sierras it
could keep the start the rest of the way,
for it could get over the mountains quick
er than the Express could, and it might be
in San Francisco before the Express got to
Sacramento. The Express kept gaining on
it. But just tipped along the upper edge Of
Kansas and the lower edge of Nebraska and
onthrough Colorado and Utah and Nevada,
and when it got to the Sierras it just
stopped a little and went over them like a
goat-it did, truly; just doubled up its
fore wheels under it and jumped. And the
Express kept gaining on it.
"By this time it couldn't say Pacific Ex-
press any more, and it didn't try. 1t just
said Express! Express!' and then ''Press!
'Press!' and then ''Essl 'Ess!' and pretty
soon only 'Ss! 'Ss!' And the Express kept