The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-06-26
| inns LITTLE DAUGHTER. |
The RAILWAY Signdlmdn'S
StOru.
BY W. 8. SMITH.
z.,,1T Observation-Disclosures
BY W. s. SMITH.

III thatalthough I've been signalman
lov for close on quarter of century,
r,e never yet had an accident at my
ox Eve come very near it on several
,ocasior,s. as YOU may guess; but, some
lew. providence has always seemed to
".on in lust at the right moment an pre-
vent II.
one ease can call to mind every bit
&c nloin now as when it happened,
rhich is getting on for 10 years ago,
n,i,bcr no more nor no less, but that's
80 Doubt because it concerned my own
,e,f more than il did any o the others.
| ,ou'd like to hear the story? Well,
,;r there isn't over much dom Just
now an as your train isn't due for half
mn hour or so. don't mind tcllin' it.
\, the time ! speak of, hadn't been
oroniuted signalman AT the old junction
down wonder (ieEking his thumb in
direction over his left shoulder) more
tban few months. It's been pulled
down now, an bigger box put up,
hut in those days there was just us
much work TO do, and not so much
room TO do it in.
was on day turn that week, an as
walked down the line bit afore seven
in the mornin'. the sun shinin' bright
IL an the birds twitterin' an hoppin'
about from bush to bush, | couldn't
holm thinlin' how much nicer an pleas
anter il was than bein' on nights, Wi
pothin' but the screech of locomo-
rive every now an again. or maybe an
occasional fog signal, To keep YOU COM
many during the long dark hours.
"Niornin'. joe" says l, when got to
the box. to my mate who'd been on
durin the night. Nice day, amt it?"
Aye, very nice" says Joe.
"Anythin' special in the night says
NO. nuthin' much. Down Scotch
man 10 minutes late through a block on
the line higher up, an two trucks o
cattle in the sidin' for the pickup =
that's a goods train calm at every sta
ton. 4 required, sir--''to take forward
this mornin That's about all,
think"
Wen. Joe STAYED in the box talliin'
an Cosspin' to uae in friendly sort o
way Tor about half an hour. as we usu-
ally did whichever of us happened TO
be Just gom' OFF duty, an then he slang
his bag over his shoulder an went off
home TO get his breakfast an bit o we'll
earned rest, leavin' me alone for an
other day in charge o the old cabin.
/, was a pretty busy box, an there
wasn't much time hangin' on your
hands so to speak, but what bit there
was | generally spent in polishin' up
the big levers o steel an brass ii was
always Joe's an my boast that you
couldn't find so much as spcck o dust
on any Of our handles--an' thinkin' o
the wife an child at home.
We'd been married about six years.
had Jenny an me, an happier couple
don't think you'd have found any
where. She was always cheerful an
smilin'. an as good an careful man
ager as YOU could set eyes on, an al
though my wages weren't very much
10 talk> about at the time, she made
them spin out an do things in a way
that fairly astonished me. The house
was always comfortable an nice, an
as clean as continual dustin an scrub
hin could make it.
Very proud was Jenny when ! got
put on at the junction. She sald NJ
showed they thought good deal o
me; an right enough, it was an impor-
tant post for n young man, rs was
then, who hadn't been signalman more
than n matter o some seven or eight
Years. We'd never had but one child,
little Nelly. She was just five, an II
would have done your heart good to
see her wi her winsome ways and her
prattlin' baby talk.
As for Jenny an me. we just idolized
her an nothin' less. Nothin' was too
good for her; an when she was dressed
up in her best little frock on Sun
day, we were that proud of her we
didn't think there was another girl IKE
our Nelly in the whole wide world
Many time have gone wi'out tobacco
for week in order that she might
have her new pair o. slippers or new
plnalore bit sooner.
We used to call her our little bit o
sunshine, an I'm sure better name
ii would have been hard to find, for she
seemed to light up the house, runnin
in an out in her play, just like CLEAN
o sun does. Every mornin' when
went off down to the box, after kissing
them both, she'd stand ut the door,
hodin' on to her mothers gown WI
one little hand, wavin' the other in the
air an calm out after me: "Dood-
by, dada DEAR" till was out o. hearin',
me turnin' round every few yards an
Wavin' my hand to her in return.
Well, on this particular mornin
things went on much the same ne
usual, an l was kept pretty hard at
IT till about 12 o'clock, pullin' back the
levers an enterin' up in my book the
times o. the trains as they passed
After that time 1 had bit o slack
till the one o'clock down express was
signaled, an then Nelly would bring
my dinner down an stay playin' about
In the box till I'd eaten il.
This was the one little bit o the day
that i alNnys looked forward to wi