Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-03

was passing by. The reporter was about to
pass on without needing the request when
notion struck him and he stopped. The tramp
again began his tale Of woe, which was cut
short by THE STAR man saying:
'Wefi, III do this for you If you'll tell me a
story about yourself and some of your tramp
ing experiences; I'll give you your supper, and,
after you've told me your story, III give You a
half dollar besides. How does that strike
you?"
Look here, pard, 1 amt no tramp, an l
amt got nothin ter tell lose all my stuff
bettin' on dc election. an wasn't in it. See2''
"All right, then. I'm sorry can't help you.
You ought to have known better than to risk
your money. Goodnight" and the reporter
started to move on, but the tramp stopped him
and said:
"I'n go yer. boss an it's a bargain but let's
hurry, for 1 need some chuck de wust kind
The reporter took him to a restaurant across
the street, where he would not feel out of place
and the bill of fare was more substantial than
choice or varied.
After the waiter had brought his supper the
unfortunate pitched into 1t, and The STAR man
pulled out q copy Of the evening paper and
pretended to read it, meanwhile watching his
protege out of the corner of his eye. Poor fell
low! he must have been telling the truth about
the date of his last meal for he ate with an APP
petite that made the colored waiter open his
mouth in astonishment. Great bites Of bread
with hunks of corn beef and cabbage disap-
peared into his mouth and we're washed down
by huge freshets Of coffee that reminded one Of
the muddy Potomac water striking provision
store during flood.
It seemed as if he never would finish eating
but at last he drew back his chair, wiped his
stubby-bearded face with an elaborate flourish
of the napkin, and declared that he was ready
for the "chin biz" as he termed it.
Say, boss he said, "talkins kind or dry
work. Lemme have a bottle Nv beer This
was brought him, and he swallowed il down
and commenced.
HOW THE TRAMP SAVED TRAIN.
"Well, yer wants ter know somethin' bout
any little ting interest run across since /
been trampin', does yer? Lemme fetch up my
thinker bit. Mebbe yer'll like to hear bout
how l saved train out west wunst,' ne said.
refectingly. and continued: at was dis wav.
1 was countin' ties on de Topeky an Sanity Fe
road, headin' to Kansas City. One evenin' Jest
bout dusk " en- l turns eroun' err curve 1 sees
er trestle on fire. 1t was long in dc fall,
mighty dry time, an de grass all eroun wuz
burnt, an it must have catched from a spark
from an engine that passed by. Goshl The
trestle was blazin' an the sleepers wuz 80
badly charred dat if train had struck it, it
would have fell through, sure. 1t was sitooated
yer couldn't see it from either side, till almost
on it. 1t was in the center of a heavy curve.
like. BY jimmy! knowed somethin' was got
ter be done, an done mighty quick, too. /
couldn't be in two places ter wunst ter stop
trains comm both ways, an l didn't know
which wun would come fust- I commences ter
think. an hustles my thinker till yer c'u'd
fairly hear her click. 1 had newspaper in my
pocket, SO runs up de track wun way eZ fer
ez dast ter go an cuts big stick wild a split
In de top. puts de paper in dis split and
sticks de whole ting up in de middle Nv de
track SOS the engineer II see it an stop. Den
/ hustles back past de trestle an goes as fur de
udder side as kin an waits.
Il fairly hugs myself fer Joy, t'inkin how de
passengers'll give me DE stuff wen dey finds
out saved DER lives. l hadn't waited long,
neither, wen 1 hears a train acomin on nv
side de trestle, an my heart jumps clean up in
my throat. Wen she come in sight she proved
ter be dodgasted cattle train. / stops her,
dough, an de boys aboard Nv her did de square
ting by me, yer bet. Dey all shipped in an
gave me a grub stake, an l didn't have ter
walk ter Kansas City, neither. OATS allus my
luck. II it had been passenger train I'd
got good ting out Nv il.
Say, lemme tell yer how pal of mine an
ME wuz skeered purtey near ter death up in
Jersey wunst. We struck barn wun night,
after it wuz dark, an went ter sleep in it. Mex
mornin' my pal wakes mp just day is break
in, an see somethn' hangin' over in wun COR
ner from rafter. He wakes me up, an saws.
kind soft like, Bill, watts dat hangin' over
yonderY couldn't quite make it out, an We
II
an. by gum, dere wuz dead man hangin' from
a rafter by a rope, wild his head on wun side.
Mebbe We didn't shake dat barn at double
quick. Ugh, it makes me all creepy now ter
tink of sleepin' all night wild stiff A day or
two after we heerd in town we struck dat
man workin' for some farmer had hung hissef
in barn. We didn't say nothin'. fur some
body might or fought We knowed more erbout
it den We did. See?
NEARLY DONE FOR BY FARMEB's DOG.
eyer see dem scars yer?" he asked, leaning
over and pointing 10 four or five deep hvid
wounds on his neck and lower part of his face
81 could show yer more NV 'em on my
shoulders an breast, too, if l wanted, " he con-
tinued.
How did I get EN-? From dog. OATS
how. fought my time had sartainly come dat
day. 1t wuz up in Pennsylvany. stopped at a
farm house wun day. Before / went up ter de
house looks on de front gate an dc fence ter
see eft dere is emmy sign ter look out fer dogs,
but don't see none. Yer see, We tramps has
all kinds er signs SOS we kin tell each udder if
dere Is emmy bad dogs eroun', if de people is
liable ter give yer ennyt'ing ter eat, an SO on.
II didn't see no dog sign, but see some
thin wat meant could git somet'in' ter eat go
waded in. wuz knockin' at de door. wen
big bulldog slips up behint me an pulls me
down. Den We had it. / didn't have notin'
ter defend myself wild, an he wuz the
viciousest brute ever see. He went at me
like lion, bitin me in de face an neck.
l yelled ez loud ez l could an tried to
keep him off wild my hands Somebody come
ter de door W en- Yelled an it wuz a woman.
Wen she see vat wuz goin' on, she yelled, an
some more come out, but dey didn't do moth
in, but yell and wiring DER hands. De brute
wuz bitin' an hsulin me all over de
groun, an I wuz purity near give
out tryin' ter keep him away from
my throat, wen man runs up wild stick an
tries ter make him let go Nv me. By gum dat
dog lets go Nv me, an l turns on him. an
tainted just den. I wuz purity near dead,
tells yer. He wuz q dog dat de farmer had
ist got from de city, it turned out, an after he
left me he jumped on de farmer hisself, but he
laid i'm cold wild his club.
81 laid up fer six weeks in dat house before
got well enough ter tramp. It came purity
near fxin' me, but de people at de house
treated me white an doctored me up.
''W'at is de sign means look out fer de dog?
amt givin not'in' way, see? But if yer ever
happen ter notice tree notches erbout half
inch part, cut on gate, or fence, err ennywhere
near a house. yer want ter look out for some
thin dat's fond Nv fresh calfmeat, see2 II you
don't heed dat sign yer mighty apt to have
trouble il yer amt keerful
POINTER FOR NIGHT TIME
"f ever yer have ter sleep out somewhere at
night. wen yer amt got no cover, femme give
yer pointer wat ter do: Yer want ter take of
yer coat an pull it over yer head an shoulders,
an cover yer head up wild II 80 close none Nv
yer breath kin git out, an it'll sur
pris0 YER how warm var KIN kdep Da,