Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-02-05
THE STAGE-COACH BABY.

he pointed To the door OF the rendeZ-
vous with gesture that admitted of
no delay.
Them copper-colored coyotes
would set thar like alabaster images
all night and the hull of ter-morrer
II there warn't somebody to boot them
off, An they lissen an don't onder-
stand word, but look pizen KNOWN
you'd think they wuz drinkin' 1t all
in"
The Indians filed out and without
sound disappeared into the night and
the usual complement OF visitors gath
cred at the stove with the man on the
cracker box as centerpiece. There was
a man who was selling patent clothes
reels, and another who was selling
Bibles old Capt Lemming and the
postmaster and man from the Mis-
souri, Bottoms whose team was hitched
outside. He told them that he en-
pected his 'old woman" and little
gal" by the stage, which was usually
late.
"Speakin' OF the stage" said the
man on the oracker-bo I'm regu-
larly glad amt in it Onct over them
driveways twixt here and Omaha was
enough for me. No, thankee. pard.
ii can't go by steam. then | stays
where be. I've no notion for travel
lin with wimmen and sick babies in
stage coach
Tell as bout it, can't YEP" sug-
gested the clothes-reel man, who was
dying Of what he called 'endway" at
being stranded in such forlorn place.
"'Taint,so much to tell" said the
cracker-box man. cutting off a good
sized chew from the pig" of tobacco
offered 10 him. AN guess can wind
1t up atore the stage gets here. but
the doin' and the sufferin' of it is
what hurts my feelins to think when
warnted to whoop and holler. that
kept it all. in just on account of that
good for-nothin'-say! I'm gettin'
ahead OF my story.
Boys dye member when the
bridge over Pigeon river was built
an what a lot of money and work an
political -shenanigan 1t took. an how
picters OF the fine structure. as they
called it was in them New York pa
pers an how sot up all the fellers on
the prairie felt cause they didn't have
to take off their shoes an stockings
an ford the crick. An how the work
was we'll under way when the s., 900
necessary TO finish it off was sent oil
by speshRl messenger? Say, was on
the stage when the Teller with that
money started to come through.
There was four or five OF us on the
inside of the coach that day-and one
woman with a sick baby-she was
tryin' TO get it home TO her folks nfore
1t died, she said. She was young an
pretty, but her eyes were red with
cryin' an talSin' care OF the young un
day an night She didn't have much
to say to any of US but when she
looked .Rtuus with them big sorrowful
eyes oar hearts just went down into
our boots and we would have laid
down an let her walk over us
The baby was wrapped up in
shawls an wells and lay on pillow
an was Esd with ono of them nussin-
bottleS an it whined an cried a leetle,
in faint sick way. and the mother
kissed ana cooed tO,it an sung leetle
hymns that made us all get colds in
our heads, an she feared it was gettiu
worse and would die before she got
home She was goir' to the fur end
OF the stage route she said, with her
eyes full OF aears.
The tother passenger that inter
ested US rid on the boxsyith the driver.
/ don't know how it was that we saw
eyed right of that he was the Teller
that had the money for chat bridge!
guess it wur on the same principle that
birds OF the air know when to get to-
gether an go ssnth-a kind OF instinct
Fact was, we didn't cotton rightly to
that bridge scheme We thought the
next county were putting ON airs with
a wrought iron bridge out on the prai-
RE for the COVE to hoof over. But
twern't any of ,our funeral and we
didn't make it one
But that Teller with cloak with a
cape TO it. sot up an deck a seem the
Landscape DER. as the old hymn SEES
an lookin' kinder rich an satisfied
jes told on himself, an we kinder
wondered whar he kept the spondulics
AZ he had 'em in his boots, or in belt
or his hat linin'. An we got TO talk
In it over inside, an the leetle woman
sp0ke up kind o. quick an. ses she.
Don't pleased my baby is worse an
sure enutf il were. an had kinder
convulsion that made us feel as If we
were murderers fur distArbin' OF it.
'.AB' then somethin' happened.
Tie horses fust took to gallopin'. an
there were a pistol shot an the stage
stopped SO quick we was all in heap.
The little woman grabbed her baby
an its piller an laid 'em both on the
seat an hung over them. jest then
Che door OF the stage few open an a
head was stuck in. IL were tibet OF a
man with mask on an he had apis
toi pinted ahead of him.
'' Got out you fellers,' he says In a
low voice, but as plain as ye ever
hoard in your lie; be lively now.