The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1893-03-18

fNS@\ boy, yet poor
aZ1 little Joe Bry- |
anhad scarcely ,
known anv other He could not re-
member when the long waiting-rooms,
with their tiled floors and dreary rows
of stationary settees and crowds OF
hurrying people, were not quite as IA
miliar to him and more homclil1e than
Lis mothers small, bare house, which
he knew as little more than place Tor
eating and sleeping.
At an age when any ordinary baby
might have been frightened into con-
WILSON'S by the shrek OF locomotive
Joe, securely fastened in his c:o'
would stare for hours through the
great window rndisturbed by the in
cessant rush and roar of arriving and
departing trains.
He had been only six months old |
when the DIRE adful accident happened |
which at one fell stroke made him
fatherlcss and transformed him from
strong, we'll developed infant to pitt,
full creature, which even death refused
to take
The old yardmen tell the story even
vet-how young Michael Bryan, as
straight and ohanly a fellow as ever
left his green, old, native island for the
better chances of the new world TINS
side of the sea, came whistlinT out OF
1h.. rouudhouse that morning and
stepped hastily from before an lncom-
ing locomotive, neither seeing nor
hearing another rushing up the parai-
lei track His mates cried out to him
too late! Nobody who saw 1t wouit'
ever forget the look of agony winch
distorted his handsome face in that
one horrible instant when he recog-
nized his doom. or the perpendicular
leap into the air, from which nc fell
back beneath the crunching wheels.
In the excitement and CONSERVATION
of the time no messenger had been
sent in advance to prepare the poor
Young wife for her trouble, and she
stood in the doorway with her baoy
growing in her arms. when the STOUT
bearers paused at her gate with their
mauglcd burden. She uttered a terri
bic cry and fell fainting-thc childs
tender back striking the sharp edge of
the door stone.
outright said everybody but the
mother. She herself always insisted
that only her constant watching over
the little Pickering life kept her from
gong mad in the first dreadful mouths
of her bereavement
When Joe was seven years old his
mother sent him to school. He went
patiently day after day, making no
complaint, but she awoke suddenly one
night to find him sobbing on the pill
low beside her. Only by dint of long
coaxiur was she able to find out the
cause Of his grief. Some of the rouGhe1
boys-more thoughtless than cruel, lei
us hope-had called him HumPy. and
asked if he carried bag of meal or
his back.
Mary famed with the fie rec anger OF
motherhood.
You shan't go another day." she de
clared 1.-The ruffians! I won't have
my darlin' put upon by the likes O.
them!''
So Joe's schooling had come to ar
untimely end. Yet, meager as was hi:
stock of book learning, the develop
ment OF his mind far outstrlpPed th'
growth Of his stunted and dcformc'
body Every body liked the patien
little fellow Juggling manfully at hi
mothers heavy water buckets ant
running willingly to every call OF TIN
station men. At twelve years old n
had picked up no small amount OF in
formation, especially on railroad top
les. He knew every locomotive on Tn
road, understood the intricacies of tn
side tracks and switches, and coul
tell the precise moment when any pan
ticular train might be expected wit
the accuracy of time table.
Yet the very quiclSness and ardor G
his nature deepened his sense of his il
trinity. The glances cast upon him o
stranger eyes, some pitiful, some CT
rious, others, alas! expressive only
annoyance and disgust, ranked like S
many arrows in his heart; not on
missed its mark. How wistfully n
ewes followed boys OF his own age
straight, handsome. happy-who spran
lightly up and down the steps OF II
coaches, or threaded their way alon
the crowded platforms. For one ola
of such perfect, untrammclcd life
would have bartered all the posslo
%, wears before him. Yet he never p
his warnings into words, even to
mother.
s.Croolzed Joe's a rum 'un," said one
his rough acluaintances. lie sens
his trouble we'll enough, but he dor
let on to nobody"
Mr.. Crump, the telegraph operate
was Joe's constant friend. 1t was
who, at odd moments, had taught 7
bow to read and had initiated hi
into somc- of the mysteries OF
clicking INSTRUMENT, which to 'o'
imaginative mind seemed some stran
creature with hidden life OF its ON
1t was growing toward dark one
vembcr afternoon. Joe-never an
welcome visitor-sat curled in a corr
of Mr.. Crump's office waiting TOT
mother to finish her work lie was
boriously spelling out by the FAC
light the words upon Il page OF an Ill
trated ne wspaper, quite obllvlous
the ticking, like that of a very 3ei
and rheumatic clock, which sounded
the room.
Mr.. Crump, too, had a paper bet
him, but his ears were alive. Suddel
he sprnng to his feet, repeating a't
a. A - u N<ax a