Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-03-28
TWO TRAMPS.

, The snow that lined the sides of what
the railroad men of that section called
the Brighton cut was, fortunately for
two persons who suddenly found them
selves transported from the cold hospi
tality of freight car to the colder en-
braces of the wide, white world that
encompassed the track, very deep. Aft
Ter moment OF two of partial insensi-
bility, more the result of bewilderment
than Of actual physical hurt, these two
lifted their heads up out of the white
counterpane that clung to them like
some active envelope and looked after
the train that was now merely mist
of smoke and an echo faint beyond the
curves of the forest.
Him." said the first one of the two
derelicts to rise and shake the snow off
his thin form, that was a fearful
breach of hospitality. We invest COM
mon carrier, SO termed in law, with the
dignity of carrying such uncommon per-
sonages as ourselves, and this-this is
the treatment we receive! Billy, this is
heather country!'' He took off his
cap and passed eight long and bony
fingers through his snow invested hair.
ON his eyes!'' said Billy. He
WAS person of few words and fewer
ATTRACTIONS. He was short, and his gen.
eral effect was toward the loutish.
Yes" the other replied, looking
about him, II have no doubt you are
right. Billy, your explanation is a most
agreeable one. 1t was owing to some
curious defect in that brakeman's eyes
doubtless that he failed to notice our
high estate. If any part of him is to
suffer condemnation, it is his eyes. Billy,
agree with you. Say it again!'
Billy for a brief minute looked as if
he would like to include other and near
er eyes in his anathema. He contented
himself, however, with a muttered
'Argh!'' circular look at the prospect
Iof sloping meadow land and What
next, cully?''
STRANDED as we are upon an appar-
emily shoreless sea of snow, !" responded
the gentleman addressed as "cully, :"
"our next move should be toward shell
ItCI l1O pduoCu " MIN cOiiiO ohOW Oul
of boot that was, as to the toes, over
hospitable to the elements. This is
dismal spot. y
To tell the truth, the Brighton cut
lie one of the bleakest places in the state.
The railway track comes winding down
a steep grade until it reaches this cut.
The soil thereabouts is not tillable. and
IfIo,o oro M fancoc fo,. ovo1, bn1f milo
IA thin strip of forest shuts out the west
ern view On gray'afternoon in mid
winter it looks very lonely, and there
is something in the silence of it after
the rattle of freight train has echoed
away that strikes a chill even when the
sun is shining. 1t was no wonder, then,
that to these two, just stranded there
from the comparatively warm recesses
of a lumber car, the place should seem
decidedly dismal. They were used to
dismal things, to be sure, but that ever
present yearning for luxury and its at
tendant inexertion-a yearning that had
made them what they were-rebelled
at every repetition of the unwelcome
'Ireality. 1t is not necessary to state
very particularly who these two were.
The one with the tall frame and the
taller language might have been a great
many things-some of them great. The
fact that he was none of these is expIana-
tion enough of his title as tramp. AS
for the other one, it is doubtful whether
he had ever had even possibilities. He
was by lapse of all other capabilities a
tramp for sure. Just as it is sufficient of
a man to say that he is king, so is it
enough introduction to make certain
that he is tramp. These two were in
dubitably tramps. 1t was evident in
the consummate grace with which they
wore their curiously allotted clothes.
1t was patent in the air of nobility that
stamped them as true lords of the air.
1t was on their breath.
Il may say without exaggeration, :"
continued the taller of the two, THAT
this is place unfit for such as we are
Ito rest in. Wherefore let US reconnoi
ter.
AS they passed up the slope toward
| the north it began to snow steadily.
| Over in the west the faint gray light of
day was dimming to the almost color
| gess shade of white upon white. 1t was
AN arduous task, stamping through the
| drifting snow. From time to time one
| might have heard, had one Teen within
| earshot the voice of Billy cursing as he
| walked.
| On what is known III that county as
the Brighton Mill road there is for the
most part a sprinkling of as fine farms
as there are anywhere in the west. The
| farlnhouses are well painted, and the
barns are r0omy and new enoCgh to lie
the envy Of many u man who has gone
farther toward the plains and rented Il
| log cabin. For Il distance of about a
mile east and west, however, this high
way passes through a barren district
that is marked by nothing save tum-
BILE down shanty, with a roof the bricks
of which have fallen eastward. This
shanty stands at point where the high
way is nearest to that point on the rail-
way known as the Brighton cut on the
summit of the arid slope leading down
to the rails For a good many years
this shanty had been the home, If one
may use the word so lightly, of GER
tain Doc Middals, concerning whom but
little seemed to be known, save that he
was "baching it," Just what presump-
tion of ownership or interest in the
shanty or its Surroundings went with
Middals' system of occupation there
seemed to be no one willing to testify.
This Doc Middals was queer fellow,
who rarely spent more than month OF
two at time in the shanty, and his go
ings and comings were SO erratlc, his
place so remote from the view OF othel
habitations that the question OF his
presence OF absence was always an oper
one. The farmers who passed on the
highway had long since given up specu.
lating on the subject. Middals freouent