The Van Buren press., 1895-02-02


didn't seem TO make 20 much differ-
cnce. When he first came. on the road
he was = little past twenty, and his
open, boyish ways made some of the
fellows guy him and want TO play
tricks ON him ct first. But 1t didn't
take them long to f1nd out that he had
plenty of mettlc. A gang Of Us were
lying around the Albany roundhouse
one day, waiting for . train to be
made up, when .Bilr Lawson began to
nag him and see II he couldn't get q
fight out Of him. 1t seems they had
some trouble down the road, and
when .Bill' had offered to hght Johnny
had refused. lie tried to keep oGt Of
Bills way, but when Bill said he was
afraid, Johnny turned and walked
squnrcly up to him and said Quietly:
You take that back never knew
just how II was done, But Bill made
some sort Of feiht. and the next mo-
ihent the big, hulking lubber was ly-
Ing on the ground. Bill didn't seem
to know what hit him. But he went
at Johnny with such . savage look
that q lad without genuine pluck
would have turned feather. But when
Bill lay sprawling ON the ground q
second time we found out that Johnny
was n scientific boxer. There was an
ugly CLEAN In 'Bilps' eye when he got
up, and ms he got close up TO Johnny
all of a sudden he hourished a big
jackknife he always carried. How he
got it out Of his pocket never could
tell. He made y lunge, but Johnny
lodged cleverly and the knife Just
grazcd his face. He was on Bill
quicker than It takes to tell it, chok
ing the life ont Of him. We started to
separate them, but when we found
that Johnny had '13ili SO that Ne could
not do any damage with the knife we
let them fight 1t out 'Bill' finally
held his hand up for mercy and then
Johnny let him up. After we got
them cooled of Johnny made 'Bilr
shake hnnds, and, though he didn't
show 1t then. think afterward 'Bill'
came to think as much of him as the
rest of u.s.
up the road not very far from Al
bany there is pretty little farm that
runs down to the river. and right at
the corner of 1t was water tank. 1t
happened that on this farm there was
o dark-eyed little girl who was the
idol Of all the boys along the road.
She wouldn't flirt with us, but she
used often to come down to the water
tank and get little packages which the
engineer, who was friend of the fam
lily, used to bring down from Albany.
She was plump and peachy, with dark
eyebrows and long lashes, and under
them the pretticst pair of eyes l ever
saw. There wasn't one OF US who
wouldn't have married her quick If
she'd had ua But she was sort O. re-
served and shy and none OF us had
nerve enough to make love to her. All
except Johnny. All 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 1t wasn't very long be-
fore he made her know all about it.
To woe was to win with Johnny, and
regular Us his train passed the farm
Jenny-that was the little DANES
name-was always there to meet him.
We used to chaf Johnny good deal
over the matter, but we couldn't get
much out of him. Somehow, through
the engineer or somebody. though, we
found out that Johnny was going to
marry the girl If he could get his
father to consent. He couldn't very
we'll marry on the salary he was get
ting as a raw brakeman.
Things ran along through the sum-
mer and into fall, ana we noticed that
Johnny had got very quiet and re-
served like, and was evidently brood
ing over something. At last we found
out that Johnny had been promised a
raise, and that along about the holi-
days he was to be made q passenger
brakeman, and then he was going to
get married. There wasn't one of us
that wasn't glad OF 1t, or who envied
him his good luck. The fall stretched
into the winter, remember, and my,
wasn't it beautiful weather! You'd
stand mp on top Of a car, as the train
wound along the 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 hard
ships and everything else. Johnny
was on the same train with me and
happy as lark, thinking how he
would marry and 20 up to Albany to
live. ! used to notice, though, that
every once in awhile his brow would
cloud up, as II he was thinking Of some
thing that hurt him.
''Such weather couldn't last, though,
and when the end came, It came with
q squall. The thermometer dropped
forty degrees, and cold driving rain
that had set in In the afternoon turned
night into drifting, binding
snow. We had big train that night,
and with the snow and the sleet and
the cold 1t gave US no end Of trouble.
She parted three or four times going
not more than twenty miles, and it
was cold and dangerous work slipping
along the top setting brakes or get
ting down to make couplings. The
wind howled and whistled and the
snow cut your face like going through
a hedge. 1t was dark and the lanterns
didn't show plain through the snow,
and everything seemed to 20 wrong.
Several times we thought we were
stalled in the drifts, but we'd uu-
couple and send the engine and two
or three cars through the drift, and
then back up and take the rest Of the
train through. We wanted to get
through to Albany, for the next day
was lay of.
Johnny and l fought like beavers
against the cold, and, tell you, it
was ticklish work. felt more anxious