The Yellowstone journal., 1893-05-01
!, BABY IN THE SNOW.
STRANGE CHRISTMAS EXPERT
ENcs Oe a rRACKWAl.kER.

| slight Nres twenty Wears Ago. when
the SNOW WIS Prcd W Isanks Along
tn. Railroad rrack--A Christina. Gift
Every time tnlnk ot Christmas
tn,nk oi the year 1879. said I'm old track
svaiker That more than twenty years
ago ispt It, twenty years is IA good
.ong stretch Lots can happen to man
twenty Years He could ge, rich and
sy@nd II all and get rich again in that
slals OF tine and still have lots of time
~ slrare But l haven't FIVE Just staid
pOOr r.gnt along
But ~ was saying speaking OF
Christmas always reminds ne OF 1872. ]
was trackwalk,ng then for the Vapdalia
lire Oh 4 section between Terre Haute
and Harrington IN the state OF Indiana.
That Christmas night was corker, I'll
ELL von n.ard at noon from the Sec
10u Ooss tfyit the thermometer was 10
ieys DeiCw zero ana IA night came on
I scanned 20 ret colder and colder. it
nad snow.Si the dav betora-one Of the
deepest " that ye;,r-and the engines
n,sft nad pretty tough time Of it plow
ING tnelr way through III the morning
After they did get 10y my section the
sncw was ranked nD sev III or eight feet
deep IN SOME places by the side of the
track. II was 30 cold that | wrapped
coffee sacks around my feet before start
ing ont, lust to keep them from frost
o,te 2ou bet ! mated to start ont. but
! did muster mp the courage after
awbile. 1t was about . o'clock when
started to 90 back to Harrington. and
:re wlnG was in my face. It's durn
ptsw Christmas for me-. | thought to
mvsei: as the wind caught me belt in
the side ri the head Here I'm fated to
walk this cold track until midnight
without even kind word from any body
10 say Merry Christmas to you" Its
oratrtv tough guess track walking
10 ,ust anout the worst trade Il man who
loves company can adopt
As was stamping along thinking
ike rms away oh ahead of me saw d
SPARKLE It's the 81. Louis express. |
said to myself srd she'll be rumbling
over me at about SIXTY miles an hour.
iHn na,i ha'ter go out III the snow. Old
nan. unless you like being ground into
| :'tie nlts. Boo but that snow VII,
teaD Nav rp over my waist. But when
cot down OF the track and snugly
-nrFeH away ir the drift ! was Il heap
varr!ler pecaase the wind couldn't reach
me And the old tram came right ahead
with II nuzz and ii roar. and her old yei
"w headlight getting brighter and big.
ger every StHoDd 1t WAS u tram of six
or seven passenger coaches All were lit
'r ~ rr1gnt Ms Kerosene oil could make
e'n Que two three. four of the cars
wn,zyed past me But the fifth seemed
n stop II didn't OF course. but the
sight I saw seemed to nail it to my eye
"A man and woman. They stood at
the rear window 1t was open, ! saw
'he man with his arms mt out, suppl.
eating like The woman mad a bundle
IN rer arms Then she didn't have it.
The man gave cry of horror that rang
our nigh AbOve the clamor of the wheels
ana the rattle OF the rails and the creaf
INC II the coaches. Something sh,,t
the sncwdrltt beside me- | shut INV
eves. ont still saw the woman with the
nundie and the man with outstretched
rieading arms When ! opened nv
eyes again the train was a quarter OF 4
mule awav with her rear green light
slnk1ng swiftly INTO a dot and then dis
appearing The wind cut me sharp on
the "neek. and five miles off | heard the
cnurcn chime IN Harrington to!ling the
quarter hour That sight was dream,
old man. ! said to myself as pulled
nv Ieys out OF the drift. But the bun
die. exclaimed. lnvoluntariiy looked
down IN the drift and saw another hole
IN the snow not the one came out Of
out Y smaller one.
Maybe you've guessed the thing by
this time and maybe you haven't. Well
ar that bundle was just as cute 20
pound Kld ~ want to look upon. Hurt
Well. ! guess not little bit. When !
found him ne was laughing contentedly
~ Won please and chewing chunk of
snow tor u sugar cake"
who did be belong tor
'iou tell cant. never knew and
never expect to know He had good
clothes on and the odd little collar Of
lace ne wore was marked with a pretty
slk y He was tat as q Christmas tur
sey and the biggest eater you ever saw
why didn't you find his parents!
Didn't try my durndesty Didn't
spend malt my wages for the next month
advertising In the newspapers! But nc
snfwer did I get to any OF them II
Seems to the that the man orght to have
come and got the child. for he evidently
didn't want to see it fired out like that
His outstretched. supplicating arms
showe': that. But perhaps he only
wanted TO prevent its being killed. Who
snows. Perhaps he was glad to get rid
1t 1t, and when he saw that somebody
esd " ali right he was glad enough to
leave it to its chance fate.
what became of the childT
Named It Tom after myself Tom