The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1893-01-25
A BABY IN THE SNOW.
A STRANGE CHRISTMAS EXPERT
ENCE OF A rRACkWht. .kER.


the Rnilrnnd Trnrh 4 Christmas uin.
Every time I think of Christmas
think OF the year 1879. " said nm old track
walker That's more than twenty years
ago isn't W Twenty years IL u good
long stretch Lots can happen to n man
in twenty years He could get rich and
spend IT all and get rich again in that
space oi time and still have lots of time
to spare But haven't I've lust stnd
poor right along
But ns ! was saying. speaking of
Christmas always reminds me of 1872 !
was trickwalking then for the Nandalia
line on section between Tcrre lInutc
and Harrington. III the state of Indiana.
That Christmas night was n curltrr. I'll
tell you heard at noon from the sec
ton buss that the thermometer was 10
degs hclow zero and ~ night came on
II seen,cd to rct colder and colder II
had showed the dav bctore-onc Of the
deepest ~ that ycar-iind the engines
had md pretty tough tir,p of IL plow-
Ing their way through in the morning.
After they did get 10y my section the
deep In some places by the side of the
track II was 80 cold that ! wrapped
coffee sacks around my feet before start
Ing ont lust 10 keep them from frost
bite You bnt I hAted To start ont, but
! did muster W the courage after
awhile II was about . o'clock when |
started to 20 back to Harrington. and
the wind was IN my face les Il dum
poor Christmas for me. Thought to
mysel! M the wind caught me belt in
the side of the head. Here I'm fatcd to
vuk this cold track until midnight
without even n kind word from anybody
10 say Merry Christmas to YOU" It's
PRETTY tough guess track walking
in 1ust about the worst trade man who
loves company can adopt
As ! was stamping along thinking
like this away off ahead of me saw
sparkle. It's tho st Louis express.
said to myself, and she'll be rumbling
over me at about sixty miles an hour.
You mad better go ont in the snow. old
man. unless you like being ground into
little hits Boo but that snow was
deep. WAY NJ over my waist But when
4 rot down oil the track and snugly
tucked away ir the drift ! was heap
warmer because the wind couldn't reach
me. And the old train came right ahead
with a buzz and roar. and her old vel
low headlight getting brighter and big
ger every second. II was u train of six
or seven passenger coaches All were lit
M as bright NJ kerosene oil could make
'em. One two three. four of the cars
whiz7ed vast me. But the fifth seemed
To stop II didn't. of course. but the
sight saw seemed to nail il to my eve!
"A man and woman They stood mt
the rear window It was open saw
the man with his arms nut out. suppli-
eating like. The woman had bundle
IN her arms. Then she didn't have it.
The man gave cry of horror that rang
out high above the clamor of the wheels
and the rattle of the rails and the creak-
ng Of the coaches. Something shot
down lust past my head and landed in
the snowdrift beside me. | shut my
ewes. but still saw the woman with the
bundle and the man with outstretched
nleading arms When ! opened my
eyes again the train was quarter of a
mile away, with her rear green light
sinking swiftly into dot and then dis
appearing The wind cut me sharp on
the cheek, and five miles off | heard the
church chime in Harrington tolling the
quarter hour That sight was dream,
old man said to myself as | pulled
my legs out of the drift But the bun
die, exclaimed. lnvoluntarily looked
down IN the drift and saw another hole
In the snow, not the one came out of.
but n smaller one
Maybe you've guessed the thing by
this time and maybe you haven I. Well
sir that bundle was just as cute 20
pound kid as want to look upon. Hurt?
Well ! guess not little bit. When |
found him he was laughing contentedly
as you please and chewing chunk of
snow tor sugar cake"
Who did he belong toy"
You tell. cant. never knew and
never expect to know He had good
clothes on, and the odd little collar of
lace he wore was marked with a pretty
silk He was fat as IA Christmas tur-
Key and the biggest eater you ever saw"
why didn't you find his parentsy'
Didn't try my durndest? Didn't
spend half my wages for the next month
advertising in the newspapers? But no
answer did ! get to any of them. 1t
seems to me that the man ought to have
come and got the child. for he evidently
didn't want to see it fired out like that.
His outstretched, supplicating arms
showed that. But perhaps he only
wanted to prevent its being killed. Who
knowsy Perhaps he was glad to get rid
of 1t, and when ne saw that somebody
had 1t all rlgnt he was glad enough to
leave It to its chance fate"
What became Of the childT
Named it Tom after myself. Tom
AcCormack is a pretty good. solid sort
Of u name. you know. My family may
not be very stylish. but none of them
have ben hanged anyway. And, you
see the Kids collar had q L on it. al
haA 90