The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1894-04-17
TWO TRAMPS.

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-
tally of freight car to the colder en-
braces of the wide, white world that
encompassed the track, very deep. Aft
sr moment or 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
counterpart that chung 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 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 received Billy, this is
a heather country" He took off his
cap and passed eight long and bony
fingers through his snow invested hair.
"D-n his eyesl" said Billy. He
was a 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, 81 have no doubt you are
right. Billy, your explanation is 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, 1t is his eyes. Billy,
agree with you. Say it again.
Billy for brief minute looked as if
ne would like to include other and near
er eyes in his anathema. He contented
himself, however, with a muttered
i''Arghl'' circular look at the prospect
of sloping meadow land and What
next, cully?"
STRANDED as we are upon an appar-
emily shoreless sea of snow, responded
the gentleman addressed as Gully, =
''our next move should be toward shell
ter" He paused to kick some snow out
of boot that was, as to the toes, over
hospitable to the elements. 'This is a
dismal spot.
To tell the truth, the Brighton cut
is one of the bleakest places IN the state.
The railway track comes winding down
a steep grade until it reaches this cut.
The soil whereabouts is not tillable, and
there are no fences for over half a mile.
A 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 1t after
the rattle of freight train has echoed
away that strikes chill even when the
gun 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
reality. 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 great
many things-some of them great. The
! fact that he was none of these is explana-
ton 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 q
tramp for sure. just as it is sufficient OF
man to say that he is king, so is II
enough introduction to make certain
that he is a tramp. These two were In
dubitably tramps. 1t was evident In
the consummate grace with which they
wore their curiously allotted clothes.
It was patent in the air Of nobility that
stamped them as true lords of the air.
1t was on their breath.
II may say without exaggeration, "
continued the taller of the two, that
this is a place unfit for such as we are
to 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
flay was dimming to the almost color
less 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 been within
earshot, the voice of Billy cursing as he
walked.