The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-04-17
SELECTED STORY.
The Tragic End Of Happy
Young Life.

stanustlll Win an abrupt, awkward Jerk
we could almost he's the big, drifting
fakes as they fell. Not breath of air
was stirring and the big, round moon
filtered down through the snowstorm
with a white, softened light that re-
vealed near by objects in a strange,
ghostly sort OF way. The soft
coal fire that spluttered fitfully in the
old-fashioned cast iron upright stove
lacked cheer enough to break the spell
of the outside air. Without knowing
precisely why, we sat mostly in silence
or muttered an occasional n onosyllabic
observation as 10 how soon we might
reach Jersey City. We were four hours
behind time and somewhere back of us
we knew was the West Shore express,
likewise behind time and endeavoring
to make up something of its lost run.
Sitting in the little red caboose in the
rear of the big freight train, rumbling
along through blind fog of snow with
flying express at our heels gave an
uncanny sensation that l, for one, did
not relish in the least. The drummer
who had boarded the train at Newburg
sat morosely on pile of grips, which
afforded him softer seat than the hard,
wooden benches strung along the sides
of the car. A couple of shippers anx-
iously discussed the prosp6 cts for get
ting their stock to market without hav-
ing them half frozen to death.
AT the entrance of Joe, the brake
man, however, the glum little party
seemed to thaw at once. He swung
down off the roof Of the last box car
and in through the door in a CHEEKY,
wholesome sort of fashion that warmed
us at once.
"Joe," said one of the shippers, "be
we going to reach Jersey City afore
Christmas?"
"Isn't this good enough for you to
live in? How'd you like to be out
braking tonight"
Giant no snap, that's fact" the
shipper assented.
"No, you bet it amt" said Joe, de-
cisively. "But this amt a patching to
what it is sometimes"
Something in the manner in which
Joe carefully filed his cob pipe, took
bit Of stick from the floor, pok ed it into
the fire and lit his pipe slowly, indi-
Gated that story was coming.
"Strai ge," said Joe at last, with
rumnant look into the fire and long,
steady pull at his pipe, somehow to.
night reminds me OF day two years
ago. That was when we brought
Johnny Haines home. Guess you must
"a known Johnny" he added, turning
to The shipper.
"Nope. Heard of him. Go on, Joe.
What was the ory?"
mot much of one" Joe replied,
deprecatingly. "Just a brskeman's
yarn, only it's little out of the COM
mon run. The first day l ever saw
Johnny Haines thought he was about
the handsomest lad ever set eyes on.
He came up on No. 6 on her first trip.
We used to meet often up and down
the road and got to know each other
pretty well. He was one of these lads
with fresh, pink.and.white complex
ion and jolly laugh that made you
warm up to him at once. He was
straight and strong, and when he used
to stand jauntily on top of the car, the
train going forty miles an hour and he
not seeming to think it was moving at
all there wasn't girl along the road
by. The lad was anxious to stick and
worked hard, and, as he kept his mouth
shut pretty close, it was long time be-
fore we found out anything about who
he was. He had Ii tie ways about him
that made us think once in awhile that
he hadn't been brought up TO work,
and his hands at first were as soft and
white as a girls. One of the fellows
told us a story of how Johnny belonged |
to good family, but he got kicked out
for some reason or other, but we al
ways thought he made it up, and, in
fact, we never did find out his story I'M
til that night, mean the night we took
him home"
Joe stopped, pulled vigorously at his
pipe for few moments, blinked rather
suspiciously several times, and finally
the rather husky voice went on.
sit seems that the lads name wasn't
Hain es at all. He took that to conceal
his own. His first name really was
Johnny, though, and, as that was what
every body called him, the last didn't
seem 10 make so much difference.
When he first came on the road he was
little past twenty, and his open, boy
ish ways made some of the fellows guy
him and want to play tricks on him at
find out that lie had plenty of mettle.
A gang of us were lying round the AL
bany rouLdh' use one day, waiting for
a train to be made up, wien 'Bill'
Lawson began 20 nag him and see if
he couldn't get fight out of him, 1t
seems they had some trouble down the
read, ard when 'Bill' had offered to
fight Johnny rad refused. He tried to
keep out of Bills way, but when 'Bill'
said he vas afraid, Johnny turned and
walked squarely up to him ard said
quietly: You take that back. l never
knew just how ii was done, but 'Bill'
made some sort of feint, and the next
moment the big, hulking lubber was
lying on the ground, 'Bill' didn't
seem to know what hit him. But he
went at Johnny with such savage
look that lad without genuine pluck
would have turned feather But when
'Bll' lay sprawling on the ground
second time we found out that Johnny
was scientific boxer. There was an
ugly CLEAN in sBill's' eve when he got