The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1896-10-09
CHASED BY A TRAMP,


mile Of the one occupied by her family
The hlghroad. or turnpike, a. we called
u, was eluse By. and this IN summer time
was much ira, clcd on by irampi and
dlsrcpuiabic pcrons. But, as a rule
we al Massics' took little heed Of trmp',
and few Of those who came 90 beg ever
got served At our door. II any did get
servcrcd they were either The very
needy or the pafilcula ly "cheeky"
The former were relieved out pity fof
their condition. the latter 90 get Nd Of
them
Bot Mrs. Massic could deny even o.
very "chscky hergar" V she suspected
him Of being an imposier No doubt
she id Il with more iimidity than ten.
Gritty, but then there was usually big
dog or a big farm laboref within sound
of her voice. Therefore she dld do f.
occasionally Only that very forenoon
she had refused To serve a bufly turn
pike native who begged hard for piece
Of bread and a drink OF milk.
"You look strong and healthy Why
don't you worl 3" asked Mrs MASH.
allow can folks work when there
ain't any work for 'em to doi"
"There's plenty 70 do. u YOU only
look for /, In a lively place. she re-
piled.
awe beeu looking Tor D Tor three
months and ain'i found e yet" mid he.
"Thcn look for II illl YOU do find IT,
said the misses. and with that abe bang.
ed the door IN his face and leii him to
20 his way.
I thought Il was rather uniccllugly Of
Mrs. Massie to talk like that, but she had
been In a pet over something or other
that morning and was not quite herself.
Well. about an hour after that she
came 10 me IN quite a good humor and
asked me TO 90 Tor a walk and take the
baby, saving u would do ~ good 10 get
out BIT. SO, Of course. go, ready,
and We we're soon enjoying the fresh
air and the sunshine. For some distance
we walked on the turnpike, bu, before
long We came to a narrow lane which
led to our nearest neighbour, whose
farm was abou, mile away.
The lane. except for birds and Insects,
was as lonely plNee as any one could
wish for. Therefore We were nota III.
tie startled when, on turning corner,
we came upon a tramp-the very navy
whom Mrs. Massie had 40 rudely dis
missed that morning.
lie was lying In the shade Of thick
hedge, and he looked up az we passed.
When saw him through the Kitchen
window that morning. noticed that he
did not look very refined. neither In
manners nor In features, but now, on
passing close to him In the narrow lane,
I faneied he looked quite feroclo'u. Nv.
Identity he and Mrs. Massie recognized
each other, and u WAS plain that this did
not please her, Tor she turned away
from him with shudder, as though she
had seen a serpent
The NAVY must have seen that VIC
were afraid Of him. and no doubt this
gave him some satisfaction, but he walk.
ed on quickly and In silence for neither
Of us dared trust ourselves TO speal.
When we were little distance from
him, however. Mrs. MAssle whispered
to me to look ronnd and sec u he was
still lying down. turned my head and
saw that the tramp was on his feet and
following us, and then grasped my
companions arm, and she turned to look
also.
Just then the tramp stopped and pick.
cd up something which looked like a
thick stick or hedge stake, and. with
this In his hand, he came on quicker
pace, as though intending to overtake
us. At this my mistress turned pale
and trembled with fear. exelaimingi
"oh, heavens, he means TO murder ~
both. and this innocent babe ~ well
What shall We do, Jennie what shall We
dor"
"Give me the baby, and let US run fol
our lives" cried, feeling sure that the
tramp really Intended to do us harm.
But, In her great fear, Mrs. MsssI'
could not trust her baby out Of her arml
and Instead OF giving Il to me she press
cd the little thing all the closer to hei
breast. Thus we ran down the lane Al
fast a. our feet would take Us, not dar
ing to look back upon our pursuer. W.
knew the tramp was following, beeauI'
we could hear him shouting after US II
loud and angry tones. II seemed tina
he was trying to frlghten US, but VI
ran on and never paused moment Il
hear what he said.
The farmhouse toward which we wer
Fastening was not yet In sight, but VI
fed swiftly onward. horlng soon to fin
refuge there and TO gain the asslstane
Of its inmates. For awhile the tram
ceased TO shout, NO glanced around 4
see II he was still pursuing US, where
upon he raised his weapon, aud flourish
ing Il about his head shouted all tn
N. a a