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

@ao when the long freight train
(S1YP0 would come to a standStll
al with an abrupt, awkward
EW jerk, We could almost hear
&3D the big, drifting fakes as
SS;E they fell. Not breath OF
air was stirring, and the
big. round moon filtered down through
the snowstorm with white softened
light that revealed nearby objects IN
O strange, ghostly sort of a way. The
soft coal fire that spluttered ffully
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 most
ly in silence or muttered an occasional
monosylabic observation as to how
soon we might reach Jersey City. W.
were four hours behind time, and
somewhere back of us we knew was
the West Shore Express likewise be-
hind time, and endeavoring to make
up something of it's lost run.
Sitting in the little red caboose in
the rear Of the big freight train, rum
bling along through a blind fog OF
snow with a flying express at our
heels gave an uncanny sensation that
I, for one, did not relish in the least.
IQ0 WIN uuu OohluCu eiiS
train at Newburg sat morosely on a
pile of grips, which afforded him
softer seat than the hard, wooden
benches strung along the sides of the
car. A couple of shippers anxiously
discussed the prospects for getting
their stock to market without having
them half frozen to death.
At the entrace 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 cherry,
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?"
"'Taint no snap, that's fact" the
shipper assented.
"No, you bet it ain't," said Joe. de-
cisively. "But this amt patching
to what it is sometimes"
Something in the manner in which
Joe carefully filed his. cob pipe. took
a bit of stick from the floor, poked il
into the fire and lit his pipe slowly
and thoughtfully, indicated that a
story was coming.
STRANGE" said Joe at last, with a
ruminant look into the fire and a
long. steady pull at his pipe, "some-
how tonight reminds me of the day
afore Christmas two years ago. That
was when we brought Johnny Haines
home. Guess you must "a known
Johnny" be added, turning to the
shipper.
"Nope Heard Of him. Go on, Joe
What was the story?'
"Not much Of a one," Joe replied
yarn, only it's little out of the com.
mon run. The first day 1 ever saw
Johnny Haines I thought he was
about the handsomest lad I ever set
eyes on. He came up on No. 6 on he1
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 a fresh. pink and
white complexion and a jolly laugh
that made you warm up to him a,
once. He was straight and strong.
and when he used to stand jaunt'ly
on top of the car. the train going
forty miles an hour and he not seem
ing to think it was moving at all
there wasn't a girl along the road
that hadn't smile for him as he
went by. The lad was anxious to
stick and worked hard, and, as he
kept his mouth shut pretty close, ii
was long time before we found out
anything about who he was. He had
little 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 story of how Johnny belonged
to good family, but 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
until that night. I mean the night
we took him home"
Joe stopped, pulled vigorously at
rather suspiciously several times, and
finally the rather husky voice went
on
''It seems that the lads name wasn't
Haines at all. He took that to con-
ceal his own. His first name really
was Johnny, though, and, as that was
what everybody called him, the last
didn't seem to make so much differ
ence. When he first came on the road
he was little past twenty, and his
open boyish ways made some of the fel-
lows guy him and want to play tricks
on him at first. But it didn't take
them long to find out that he had
plenty of mettle. A gang of us were
laying around the Albany round house
one day, waiting for a train to be
made up, when 'BilP Rawson began
to nag him and see if he couldn't get
a tight out of him. 1t seems they had
some trouble down the road, and
when Bill had offered to fight, John
ny had refused. He tried to keep out
of Bills way, but when 'BilP said
he was afraid, Johnny turned and
walked squarely up to him and said
quietly, You take that back /
never knew just how it was done,
but Bill made some sort of feint,
and the next moment the big, hulking
iubber was lying on the ground.
'BilP didn't seem to know what hit
him. But he went at Johnny with
such savage look that a lad without
genuine pluck would have turned
feather. But when Bill lay sprawl
ing on the ground a second time, we
found out that Johnny was a scien-
tific boxer. There was an ugly gleam
in Bills eve when he got up. and
as he got close up to Johnny, all of
a sudden he flashed a big jackknife
he always carried. How he had got