The Lamar register., 1891-03-28
THE FLAGMAN'S STORY.

"a ~, SIR hothlnE at all. You
see thrusting out the insensible bit n,
wood and leather which did duty for
his once sturdy limb. you see sir !
was. not so long ago, a irelgb,-bondIar
on tho Little Miami. and able IN bnn5io
INC heaviest with the best OF EN- br,t ~
redectlvely, 1T was with me in time
ne with other strong men who daiIv
take their lives in their hands. not al
ways 20 go down to the sea in sbips
but 10 face every day the iron monsters
between whose wheels and tho plistor-
ing track Turks oftcufjmes something
TAR worse than death1-the speoka,'s
eyes following, as he spoke. a aocl, Of
crows returning from the bottoms 50
incir 'caw. cav, sounding weirdIy
clear upon the summer air.
well, he resumed after "A mans.
II wa unfortunate enough one day to
iail victim TO one Of the biacx
monster slip, a Wild catching at
something which gave way, an express
laundering by. n fall. and-well. Won
can Imagine the sound Of crushing
bone-, the groan Of agony. the clnnr Of
The rushing ambulance. the hosuital
and-au tho rest, with n glance
neither gloomy nor moross at his poor
MANNED limb.
A mercy twas only my leg? Well.
ycs consitsrin' had four motherless
girls 90 bring up and educaie. Yes,
but sir II the company hadn't had a
bcrth Ike this az Langdun's Crossing
i1r q cripple Ike me. whore would the
mercy have como IN. Tdlike 20 lSnow?r
The listener thought Of the great
rr-.leiion In the mans wages. tho many
mouths ~ feed upon s2j per month. Of
bis happy philosophy. his CHEEKY man
uer nad smile. and wondered in his
hgart ~ hearts II honest Tom Owens
was not entitled 10 the uamo hero"
.Ye-,7 thoughffully. ii was in the
line 81 duty that got tho Lords per
uiission 20 60 about on one good leg.
but you see slr. II / had never met
with thaS accident and been assigned
% thl- very crossing. soul one night.
uuprvparsd might have been hurried
Into otcrui'y-
There was q simple earucstness in
ils speaker words and manner which
attracted tho regurd Of his listener.
.mprl,.ing him with the belief that in
the EnEman's soul lived aconsciousuess
o. having done something far nobler
End higher than his mere simple duty.
You'd Iiks % hear the storygr after
a pau-c. We'll just take my stool
hers ia tho sentry box and IN be
p'c4sei 20 tell g. sir, and in as few
words ~ possible.
III r sumrthing nigh onto two years
r1E he began. when one pretty cold
night la Ducenbcr | sat doing by the
irr in MY little house over yonder,
sat there half asleep and half awake,
rot disturbed by ihc chi!drau's chatter
u-glad me till nigh outo 9 O'Clock.
bad about c1nrluded 10 so 10 bed then,
h1t az I sin sat thrns, the heavy rum
bling oi "a team as it uc1rgi the crossing
he7e struck my ear Il was no unus-
ual llipE i1r teams obs returning from
Cincinnati at that hour Of course, but
! listened as ! had got in thc habit Of
doing in my sleep, ] sometimes
think sir-f1r the muflied thunder Of
the horses hn0fs a. they passed through
the DUCK creek bridge over yonder, 20
the pike beyond
Something within the room ut that
moment attracted my attention, 50 that
e was hiIl i've minutes before ] thought
Of ;te team again
Did you bear that wagon 60
through the BRIDGE ! asked OF my
eldest daughter, dimly conscious some
how trHtt . had not
%. Yes. she answered earclessly. i
think ! did"
Another i've minutes passed. l
looked ~ tho clock. In ten minutes or
less the Chicago express would thun-
dor by. Restless and uneasy some
how. / went TO the door and opened it.
The moon WIS nt it5 full. bathing every
object In its pure white light.
Il glanced down the track! A dark
object threw it, black shadow directly
across the spot Il WIS my daily duty to
guard
% The tsamr gasped reaching for
my hat. Ny GodH and the next mo,
ment. As weIl As my halting step would
usrfuii. / was making for the crossing
That shrill whistle in the distance
could it already be the eNpressF
In less time than it takes to tell H.
sir had clambercd into the wagon
mon ,he foor Of which, with white.
up;urned face. lay young man, dead
Ii YOU will permit me to say IT, sir
dead drunk! 49,,
The train WIS between Lin"ood
and RussclIs. Even now its hery eye
cleaned banefully over the track Inc
bo-.es trcmbled. reared and wouldn l
abey the rcins. Pray? Aye sir, that
instant Of peril taught me the difference
between form and earnest prayer
Good Lord. deliver us meant some
,EirJ more than an idle petition spoken
witIi a smile on the lip. | needed heiP'
supcrhuman helpl A second later the
cxnress. shrielsing like demon, flashed
I,y and on the crossing lay no writhlng
bor.es. no torn and bleeding men, no
,grecl,ed and useless wagon.
oTbe Young man, aroused by the
noise had by now struggled to MS ieet'
.. What is it?' he asked doggedly'
vet half comprehending,
Il was trembling as violently as 'ne
horses. and for moment was unaole 70