The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-04
BABY IL THE SNOW.
STRANGE CHRISTMAS EXPERT
efCe Or a rRACkWAl-kER


tn. snow Was rt,~t IN Bank, Along
the isa',r"ad trsck-A Christmas Gift.
Every time ! think of Christmas !
'nluK al tine year 1872. sad AN old track
vaiker That = more than twenty years
ago ispt IT. Twenty years Is IA good
'ong stretch Lots can happen To Il man
n twenty vaars He could get rich and
'.rend Il ali and get rich again IN thai
-taH'e OF time ami still have lots OF time
:" spare itnf ! haven't I've Just stald
l~OS r,gn, Hong
But ~ I was saving speaking OF
lhrlstmaa always reminds me OF 1872, |
was trackwalkln. then tor the Vandalia
Ire on n section hetween Terre Hau'e
and tlrrIngl"n IN the state Of Indiana
fhat Christmas night was u corker. I'll
Ell Won heard at noon from the sec
Ion p'ss that the Thermometer was 10
iers "'iow' zero and rs night came on
I sean,ts 20 ret colder and colder. II
nad showed the dav before-One of the
ieeFs.~t IN that vrlr-and the engines
nah mai n pretty tough time of 1t pillow
ing fne,r wav through III the morning.
After n did get ny my section the
snCw "a banked nm srv n or eight feet
deep ~ s.Hne places by the side of the
TACK. II WAS 80 cold that | wrapped
coffee sucks around my feet before start
ing ont. inst TO keep then, from a frost
o'te. You bet ! mated to start out, but
: did muster mp h courage after
awhile 1t was about . o'clock when /
Afo r$Asl VN uN hnck RI Enrvn,%n mad
re w1nG WAS In my face. It's a durn
pccV Christmas for me-. ! thought to
mvsei: ~ the wind caught me a belt in
me side ri the head. Here I'm fated to
u'aIk This cold track until midnight
without even n KIND word from anybody
'r say Merry Christmas to you" Its
oretrtv tough. ! guess track walking
IN :ust about the worst trade "A maj who
:cves company Il adopt.
As : WAS stamping along thinking
ike TINS. away oil ahead of me | SAW .
.parkla. It's the ST. Louis express,
.a,d to myself and she'll be rumb.ing
rvev me at about SIXTY miles IN hour.
fou mad better 90 out IL the snow, old
nan. unless o like being ground into
vile OTIS. Boo but that snow wa,
len Nav up over INV waist. But when
rot down OFT the track and snugly
'rrRei away IT the drift | was a heap
"ir1ner ret.iuSe the wind cOuldnt reach
~, II the Old tram came right ahead
T'fh "A puzz and "A roar. and her old vel
'"w neahlight getting brighter and big
yer every second II was II train of six
u seven passenger coaches. All were lit
~ ~ mr. II rs Kerosene oil could make
e'n One two three. tour OF the ears
'vnizved taSt me But the fifth seemed
n stop ~ didn /. of course. but the
slgnt ! saw seemed to nail II to my eye.
A uian and a They stood at
the rear window II was open. saw
MAJ with Ms arms mi ont, suppl.
rst1nR like. The woman mad u bundle
n ner arms. Then she didn't nave IT.
~ man gave a cry Of horror that rang
mt nign above the clamor Of the wheels
n rattle OF the rails and the creaf-
ING IT the coaches. Something sh.t
lust past my head and landed in
the sncwdrft beside the. shut INV
eves. on still saw the woman with the
and the mar with outstretched
pleading arms When opened my
again the train was a quarter OF .
nile away with ner rear green light
.irK,ng swiftly ntO n dot u then dis
'nv.arins The wind cut inc sharp on
he cheek. and five miles off i; heard the
,nnrcn chime IN Harrington tolllng the
iuart-r noGr That sight was Il dream,
pid ri~n ! SAID Ia myself as | pulled
nv .egs on OF the drift. But the bun
lie exclaimed. Involuntary | looked
Town IN the drift and saw another hole
N the snOw no the one ! came out of
out u smaller one.
Mayte you've gaessed the thing by
'nis time and maybe you haven [. Well
that bundle WAS just as cute "a 20
ponnd KID "a ! Hdnt to look upon Hurt
Well. ! guess not u little bit, When |
him ne was laughing ~contentedly
" Won please n chewing a chunk Of
tor n ,lgar cake
w n did he neiong TO-"
Son tell cant. ! never knew and
never expect tn know He had good
on and the odd little collar Of
ace ne wore WA marked with a prett,
lik tie was tat ~ "A Christmas tur.
'ey and the biggest eater you ever saw
'Wny :idn I Won find his p~arents:'
'iGdD ! try INV durndesti Didn't !
nall nv wages tor the next month
IN the newspapers. But nc
'nsweT did ! get to any OF them. Il
+se'ils u me that the ma Ought to have
Ollie aud got the child. tor he evidently
want 10 see II fired out like that.
liz ontstreiched suppIicating arms
moved: that. But perhaps he only
wanted to prevent It's being killed. Who
'nows' Perhaps he was glad TO get rid
{ u. and when ne saw that somebody
N u all night ne vas glad enough to
II 70 ~ chance fate.
W hat E',;iine OF the childF'
Named u Tom after myself. Tom
ictnrmack IL a pretty good, solid sort
{ n name. @ know My family may
q be very stylish. but none of them
ave- ben hanged anyway. And. you
b. n xId = collar had . + on it. al
lost w u name him Tom"