Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-10-25
A FIGHT WITH eRAv1TATIOS.

-TEs ..1-y fsr boys "a Ertt-C for IL
To-Irg-s- - = ~ Dr EdTsr1 Er-f-.s Hal= q
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grs-t y - may tFs-ros
SloE :. bis looks Tom Gordon certainly
vsg. -. be had good mind. /; look him
= lony tine 70 earn a Lesson; but. when
be had once learned it, be never had 70
look 3. il again. n athletic sp9rts, to, be
vas not brilliant; but be coud - relied
uuyn. He vas ike s.ous val Al hrst
tzse. though he was not 90 successful As 4
batter II football be vas rCi aggressive
enough % suit his schoo.-felloEs. but hs
was fearless. and IL could czrry AZ incehn-
it number Of opponents OF his bark In
the t1z-of-Ezr he vas unc0nqueTzole.
There vas : story THAI, when NJ.
Browns school, with Tom for anchor,
pulled the Normal stars, Toms three ROPE
men. after having. with Toms assistance.
secured AL extra foot q Two. vent Of and
q. 4 drink q soda S2tsT, leaving Ton %
mind he rope alone. Tom always denied
this s.orT. and ! must confess that il
sounds unlikely. l think the probability
is thai, If ihsy vent away a. al. they went
away one a. time.
Thai day Tom pulled anchor. bu. gener-
tain. Of course: and his numbering
"Rezdy, Hezver' vas enough Of Itself 70
tvke away the strength Of the other side.
Il was = great disappointment 70 Tom
when Mr.. Brown forbade the tugOf-Tsr
On the ground that il injured the boys.
y suppose it IS bad for you Ton was
heard 70 say: but = ooy ought 70 learn
how 70 keep his back straight and put his
strength 70 q thing He may have 70 lift
something heavy some day"
For the rest, Tom was a tsnder-heartai
fellOE, who could not bear 70 hurt any one.
When he vas : little boy in the sixth
class, one Of his classmates, mistsking gen
tleness FOX cowardice, forced Tom into a
fight. Tom hit out 50 quickly that one
knock settled the other fellow, aud then he
fell 70 crying because the blood came out
Of the little rzsc2rs nose.
One evening after supper Tom took the
electric cars and went in town on an eI-
rand for his father His business accom-
plished. he set out % walk home; for, al
though few fakes Of snow had fallen,
the night was fine, and he wanted 70 get
some good fresh air into his lungs before
sitting down 70 spend an evening with Gle
gro.
He had reached deserted part Of the
street, and was walking up a long hill no.
far from home, when he saw coming TO
ward him a heavy wheeled coaI-car,
dra N By one horse. The wheels were OF
the c4r-tracks, the drivers head had fallen
over on his shoulder, and he was fast
asleep. Meanwhile the brave old horse
P.Oddel On, With the contentment Of :
veteran in the coal business who has left
his load Of coal, whose driver is asleep
and who Is going down hill On his way
home.
From out Of sight far along the stree
came the singing Of wires, which means
that al electric car = approaching. a no
ment later the car, coming On Ike mad
hove IN sight some distance behind tn.
coal cart. A. It reached the summit Of thu
hill. and began the descent, its speed did
lot aOs,=.
Nearer and nearer il came, but the mo
torman did 10: seem 70 have anE.fear oi
running into the coal cart. He even turn
Fl round and said something 70 the con
ductog, who was standing behind him
Then ne turned back again, but he turnel
too late. He was nearer than he thought
He jammed On the brake, and reversed tbs
power Just as the old horse turned aside
70 draw the cart out Of danger; but tbs
tracks were covered with little layer Of
snow, and the car wheels slid over then
like the runners of a sleigh.
The whole weight Of the car struck tbs
corner Of the coal cart, and flung it from
the tracks. The wagon fairly surged OF
in the air, and came down on its side, with
the man underneath il and the horse still
in the shafts. Neither man nor horse stir
red after they fell.
The conductor and driver were both IN.
hurt. 'This is bad business, Phil, an
we'd better git OUT the driver said.
The conductor nodded, and pulled tbs
bell twice, and the car swept away The
only passengers were three ladies, who
probably did NOT know what had happened
Tom was not hundred feet away wheI
the thing happened. His horror at th,
sight itself was not greater than his aston
ishment and anger when the car moved on
For the first time in his life he would hav,
liked 70 have some one By the throat.
He rushed up 70 the cart excitedly. Il
had been thrown TO the right Of the track
The drivers leg was underneath one Of
the great wheels; and he had evidently
tainted, for he did not move nor speak
Tom seized him by the shoulder and shook
him roughly. The man reused up little
Pull your leg out when / llft," Ton
sIDulbus anu Lucu he stopped QOWu, duC
got hold Of the edge Of the wheel.
He Strengthened back, bent his knees
and gripped the wheel tight. Then, with
a great effort, he flung back MS head and
Strengthened his knees. Up came the cart
wheel, frame, and all.
"Pull your leg oulr' Tom shouted again
The man started, tried TO sit up, pulled hi.
leg little way out, gave up, and rolled
over on his face, with his head directly I'M
der the wheel.
1t was too much. Tom thought he
would rather have died than see such q
thing happen. He could not hold up sucl
load for more than a few moments, anc
it would kill the man when it fell. NJ
one was in sight. He could not move
not muscle, or he would have TO let 90
Oh, if he had only let the fellow lie there
and brought help.
''Get out Of there! Rouse up" ne cried
and then, as the man did not move, "Help
helpw he yelled. There's a man dying
helpn'
There was only one house near enough
10 send him aid in time, and he directed
his cries at that. There were lights in the
windows, but no one seemed to stir 10 helL
him. At last the strain became so great
that he could shout no longer He clench-
ed his teeth and resigned himself TO des-
pair.
A door slammed. He looked up at the
house, and saw girl running down the
steps. Could he hold out till she got to
him. "Pll make a good bluff at it any
way" thought Tom, grimlY; and he held