The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1895-11-22

a grateful look at his champion, begar
10 tell his story in a low. husky whis
per:
In the winter of '72 wuz a-work
in in the lumber districk of Michg gan
To git to the place wuz a-stayin' al
he'd to go trough railroad tunnel
that is. didn't JUS have to but 1t wu7
a shorter cut.
"'Well, gents, tibet tunnels dark as
pitch at noon, so you kin imagine how
dark II wuz in tn evenin.
"'Well, / wuz a-comin' trough there
on the night of November the sevent'
an I'll never fergit tibet night ez Ions
ez live They wuz double track ir
the tunnel, so when I heerd the rum
blin' of a comm train / didn' know
which way she wuz a-comin'. 1 was
nearer the north end, so started back
tibet way, but, gents, my foot caught
an 1 fell on my mug. I heerd the train
comm nearer an tried to git up. but
my leg wuz caught JUS above the
ankle, an fer the life of me couldn
jerk loose. All the time tibet rumblin
wuz a-gittin' louder an louder. 1 took
my axt an tried to cut my boot, but II
didn' do no good.
You fellers kin imagine how I felt
Tibet train wuz a-gittin' nearer an
nearer, an then l purity near went
crazy. 1 didn' know which track she
wuz on, but you kin bet I wuzn' goin
to take no chances. Well, gents, they
wuz only one ting to do, so / chops off
my foot. Then I didn' know nothin'
more. When / comes to again 1 sees
as how the train wuz on the other
track, fer I wuz a-layin' JUS where
had fell.
'Thet's how 1 loss my leg, gents, an
now, If youse kin give me a few cents
so as kin git bed to sleep in tonight,
I'll be much obliged"
Here Kidd paused, and Tommy whis-
pered, in a voice hoarse with horror:
II thought you said it was a funny
story. Br-r-r."
well, listen to the rest of It, Some
Of the fellows began to dive in their
pockets, but one of the men who had
just come out of the hotel said the
tramp was lying, that he was caught
in the act of stealing a box of cigars
on the west side and that a cop shot
him in the leg while he was climbing a
fence with the stolen property 1
thought a fellow that could lie like
that deserve"
Here Kidd was interrupted by ring
at the door bell.
I leaned back in my chair to see who
the late visitor was that the lady across
the hall was admitting, and you can
imagine my surprise when 1 recognized
in him the haggard-looking boy that
had aroused our pity a short time be-
fore.
That scene will never grow dim in
my memory. He was SHining against
the door, his chalk-white face standing
out against the dark background Of
night.
His very heart was in his eyes.
Mrs. Carmolly stood there as If
struck dumb. For fully ten seconds
neither moved and then 1 saw, rather
than heard, the poor creature ask in a
low, trembling whisper:
ma, is the old man homer"
The spell was broken, the woman
shrieked, JIMMY and stretched out
her arms toward him. There was
dull thud and he lay senseless at her
feet.
We stood there motionless, unable to
move, while she, sobbing quietly, lifted
and carried him in her strong arms to
the room.
The little girl toddled up to the side
Of her mother, looked curiously at the
stiff form stretched on the bed, and
lisped:
"Dimmie s'eepin, mama? Dimmie
s'eepin'?"
The poor woman had her head
pressed to his breast, listening for
sign of life, and we knew by the heart
broken cry that Jimmy was sleeping.
Sleeping the sleep that is never dis
turbed with dreams.
We three softly closed the door and
went to bed
Kidd went on smoking.