The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-01-04

his face. He was en- Bill quicker
than it takes to tell it, choking the
life cut of him. We started to sepa-
rate them, but when we found that
Johnny had 'Bilr so that he could not
do any damage with the knife, we let
them fight it out. 'Bilr finally held |
up his hand for mercy, and then John |
ny let him up. After we get them |
cooled off, Johnny made 'Bill' shake |
hands, and, though he didn't show it !
ther, I think afterward 'BilP came |
to think as much of him as the rest |
of us.
up the road not very far from
Albany there is a pretty little farm
that runs down to the river, and right
at the corner of it was Wanter tank.
1t happened that on this farm there
was dark-eyed little girl who was
the idol of all the boys along the
road. She wouldn't fiirt with us, but
she used often to come down to the
water tank and get little packages
which the engineer, who was a friend
of the family, used to bring down
from Albany. She was plump and
peachy, with dairy eyebrows and long
lashes, and under them the prettiest
pair of eyes 1 ever saw. There wasn't
one of us who wouldn't have married
her quick if she'd had us. But she
was sort O. reserved and shy and
none of us had nerve enough to make
love to her. All except Johnny. Ali
| the girls smiled on Johnny and he
smiled on them. He didn't have to
see the lass twice before he was head
over heels in love with her and it
wasn't very long before he made her
know all about it. To WOO was to
win with Johnny, and regular as his
train passed the farm Jenny-that
was the little DANES name-was al
ways there to meet him. We used to
chaff Johnny a good deal over the
matter, but we couldn't get much out
of him. Somehow, through the en-
gineer or somebody, though, we found
Iout that Johnny was going to marry
the girl if he could get his father to
consent He couldn't very well marry
ON the salary he was getting as
raw brakeman.
''Things ran along through the sum-
mer and into the fall, and we noticed
that Johnny had got very quiet and
reserved like, and was evidently
brooding over something. At last we
found out that Johnny had been prom
ised a raise, and that along about the
holidays he was to be made a pas
senger brakeman, and then he was
going to get married. There wasn't
one of US that wasn't glad Of it, Oh
who envied him his good luck. The
fall stretched way into the winter,
remember, and my, wasn't it beauti-
full weather! You'd stand up on tor
CT a car, and as the train wound
alcng the river shore mile after mile
just drinking in the air and view
Braking is a hard life, with lots OF
danger and pretty slim pay. But
those days we'd forget all about the
hardships and everything else. john
lny was on the same train with me
; and happy as a lark, thinking how he
would marry and go up to Albany
to live. I used to notice. though. thai
every once in a while his brow would
cloud up, as if he was thinking OF
something that hurt him.
"Such weather couldn't last, though
and when the end came, it came will
a squall. The thermometer dropped
forty degrees, and cold, driving
rain that had set in in the afternC OF
turned toward night into a drifting
binding snow. We had a big trai1
that night, and with the snow and the
sleet and the cold it gave us no enc
: of trouble. She parted three or fou
,, times, going not more than twent!
, miles, and it was cold, dangerous
work slipping along the top settinf
!, brakes or getting down to make coup
!, lings. The wind howled and whistlet
and the snow cut your face, like go
, ing through a hedge. 1t was darl
: and the lanterns didn't show plai1
; through the snow, and everythin:
:, iseemed to go wrong. Several time
t.1nJ1uhf cfa11a6 in th,
drifts. but we'd uncouple and sent
the engine and two or three car
through the drift, and then back III
! and take the rest of the train through
We wanted to get through to Albany
for the next day was a lay-off. am
two days after that came Christmas
"Johnny and I fought like beaver
= against the cold. and. I tell you, i
= was ticklish work. I felt more anX
, ious about Johnny than I did abou
myself, for I was old at the business
, and he was new, and I knew how
J easy it was for sudden jerk to sent
,, , a man flying down between tn,
: wheels. But Johnny wouldn't listen
: He said he wasn't afraid, and jus
!, then the whistle sounded dow
: brakes We were sitting in the ca
boose, shivering around a dirty little
! gers, and I thought my ears were
:, frosted. too. You see the storm came
, so sudden we didn't have time to ge
, any muffiers, and the mittens were
: pretty thin. Well, we climbed out
: and Johnny ran on ahead, saying
! that he was all right and he'd tak<
the front. The cars on top were as
+ slippery as glass, and we had almos
; to creep along from one car to an
, other to keep from falling off, fol
! she was running at a good pace, anG
! the snow on the tracks made the cars
+ lurch and swing. I looked up, ant
through the snow and the dark I rec
, ognized the landmark, and knew we
, We're nearing the water tank, where
Johnny's girl lived. Just at that mo-
ment the train gave a frightful jerk
and 1 saw the engine go rearing iI
i the air, and about a hundred feet
j ahead I saw a lantern swing wildly
i in the air and go down. I went fiat
on the car and hung there for deal
life. We stopped in ten or twenty
yards and I swung off the car like
mad. Great God, thought, if thai
was Johnnyv
"Something made me feel that he
had gone under the wheels, and wher
I crawled ahead a few cars there ]
found him, lying all white and still
He was too much stunned to say q
word. We picked him up and started
to carry him to the house-where
Jenny lived. I saw that the wneels