The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-01-12


they gave IL 10 me 10 take me hom. al,
! may as Wei use II as not | don,
want To get You into trouble"
on, Id risk the trouble" said III.
conductor placing the lamp on the
floor and taking his seat beside the on
glneer II heard about your worry 10
day. It's TOO cursed bad. II a mar
mad got drunk at his post, as you and
nave known EN- To Go, il wo,ldn',
nave seemed so hard, bit. at It's worst,
yonr case was only an error Of iudr.
ment, and then nothing really hap.
pencd. Old 80 seems to have the
habit ofpulling herself through. sup-
pose You and she have been In worse
fixes than that with not a word said
about it,"
"Oh. yes" said John We've been
In many tight place together; but
we won't be any more Its tough. as
you say. I've been fifteen years with
the company and seven on old 50. and
at first 1t comes mighty hard. But /
suppose III get used 10 it,"
Look here, John" said the conduc-
tor, lowering his voice to "a confden-
tial tone, "thc president Of the road is
with us tonight Ills private car is
the last but one on the train. How
would II do 10 speak TO him? II you're
afraid TO tackle him I'll put in word
for you in a minute and tell him your
side Of the story"
John Saggart shook his head
1T wouldn't do" he said. "IIe
wouldn't overrulc what one Of his sub
ordnates had done. unless there was
serious injustice in the case. It's the
new manager. you know. There's
always trouble with a new manager.
lie sweeps clean. And | suppose he
thinks 10y bouncing one o. the Oldest
engineers on the road he'll scare the
rest
We'll. don't think much Of him, be-
tween ourselves" said the conductor,
what do you think he has done to-
night? He's put new man on s6-a
man from one of the branch lines who
doesn't know the road. | doubt If he's
ever been over the main line before.
Now it's an anxious enough time for
INC With all the Christmas traffic NOV
ing, with the thermometer at zero, and
She rails like glass, and like to have
man in the front | can depend on"
Its bad enough not 10 know the
road" said John, gloomily. but it's
worse not to know old Sc. She's a
brute If she takes a notion
FL don't suppose there's another en-
CINE that could draw this train and
keep her time"
mo. She'll do her work all right If
you'll humor her." admitted saggart.
nho could not conceal his love for the
engine, even while he blamed her
Well said the conductor, rising
and picking up his lantern, the man
in front may be all right. but | would
feel safer if you would be further
ahead on the train than the smoker.
I'm sorry can't offer you a berth to-
night, John. but we're full clear
to the rear lights. There isn't
even vacant upper on the train"
'Oh, il doesn't matter" said Sag
CART. II couldn't sleep, anyhow. I'd
rather sit here and look ont the win
dow"
well. so long" said the conductor
IN drop in and see you as the night
passes on"
Saggart lit his pipe and gazed out
into the darkness. lie knew every
inch of the road-all the up-grades and
the down-grades and the levels. He
knew ii even better in the darkest
-. IL y, Il
sionally the black bulk Of barn or
,lump of trees showed for one moment
against the less black sky and Saggart
would say to himself: Now he should
shut off an inch Of steam or NOW he
should throw her wide open"
The train made few stops but he
saw that they were losing time--s6 was
sulksng, very likely. The thought of
the engine turned his mind to his own
fate. No man was Of very much use in
The world, after all, for the moment he
steps down another is ready to stand
m his place. The wise men in the city
who had listened to his defense knew
% well that an engine was merely a
of iron. steel and brass,
inu tndt given HuiilotT VI IountS Oh
steam would get it over given mum |
Der of miles in a given number of
iours, had smiled incredulously when |
lc told them that an engine had her |
.antrums and that sometimes she had |
20 be coddled up like any other fe-
male, and that even when man did |
MS best there were occasions when |!
nothing he could do would mollify her,
md then there was sure to he trouble.
although, John had added, in his de- |
ire to be fair. that she was always |
'orry for it afterwards. which remark, |
40 his confusion, had turned the smile |
nto a laugh.
lie wondered what So thought of the |
,ew man. Not much, evidently. for |
he was losing time which she had no
business TO do on that section of the |
Dad. Still, it might be the fault of the
lew man not knowing when to push
Ter for all she was worth and when to |
'ase UP. All these things go to the
making up Of time. Still, it was more
han likely that old So, like Gilpin's
,orsc, was wondering more and more
What thing upon her back had got
Hell have trouble" mnttered John to