Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-04-22

Closer"
"a Yankee officer certainly" laughed
Lambert. I've never met Capt. Close"
The effect of this announcements on
Mr.. Potts was surprising. II well-nigh
sobered him. He slowly drew back un-
Ill he sat erect, his head wobbling a bit
in spite of his efforts Mt self-control.
Presently he began 10 speak, slowly and
impressively at first, then winding up In
a verbal ENHANCEMENT:
"AEssur Lam-p-bert, didn't know
was tall1in' to-Yankee officer-but-
I'm n genTm'n, sub, an l stan by
wh-whn-I say. I mean TO stan your
frien', sub; but as TO- that oth-felluh
-Close-Ill seem in ell first
II.
twas sun-up end swapping cold when
the brakeman shouted 'Tugaloo," and
gratefully Lambert stepped from the
:rain and felt free air. Mr.. Potts was
sleeping soundly, doubled up in one of
the seats. The only wakeful bipeds in
sight were the conductor and his train
man. Unseen hands forward had
showed the trunk out upon the frosty
boards. The sun was just peeping over
low wooded ridge before them. Tho
track wound away among some desolate
fields where tiny fakes Of cotton still
clung to the browu and withered stalks.
In cloud ofsteam the train pulled away,
leaving Lambert and his trunk to look
after each other as best they might, and
as the cloud lifted the young officer
looked curiously around him.
He was standing on u rude wooden
platform whose shrunken planks left
black, gaping seams between their up
per faces, no, at least, beautiful in
their thick coat of sparkling white. Ex-
cept where the footmarl1s of the train
men marrsd the smooth expanse, and
where in two or three places the planks
were gone entirely, this cleaning sheet
stretched the length Of the platform TO
where the white bulk Of his trunk stood
on end at the eastern edge, The charred
and blackened relic of flight OF stairs
led from the platform 20 the sloping
t~-v~d some five feet below, but not
H-ad-rail warned the urwary
against q breakneck plunge into space,
Part of the platform itself had been
burned away, aud some charred and
olackened posts, sticking bolt upright
from the ground in the shape of mar
row rectangle, showed that wooden
building of some kind bnd formerly
stood along the rear of the rickety
staging. Midway along its length, on
the southern side, shed with sloping
roof had been loosely thrown together,
and the ends nearest him, boarded in
and pierced for q door and couple of
windows, bore over the threshold in
black stencil the legend "Ticket Office"
Under the shed were a couple of
plows and some boxes. Out on the
bare slope, midway between the track
and "snake" fence that paralleled it
some twenty yards to the south, a dozen
bales of cotton were huddled, three of
them partially covered by old war-worn
| 'paulins and ponchos, the others en-
tirely exposed to the rain of sparks to
be expected from any passing engine
when the wind happened to blow from
the track; and all of them, evidently,
| defenseless against the predatory
| hands Of pilferers, for jagged rents were
| torn in the coarse sacking of each, and
huge fstfuls of the white staple had
been dragged from n dozen gaping
wounds in every bale.
The red soil, showing here and there
| through the scant and withered herb
age, was scanned with mule and wheel
| tracks, and q few rods away broken
| down farm wagon lay with spoke
| bristling hub close by it's shattered axle,
while the tire, rolling away from the
general wreck, seemed to have crawled
| off to die by itself, and leaned rusting
| against one of the charred timbers.
| The southwark view was limited to q
long, low ridge Of ugly, white-flecked
| cotton stalks. Eastward the sun was
| breaking n pathway through the fringe
| of trees along another ridge, and faint
line of mist, rising sluggishly in the in
tervening low ground, with the hollow
rumble of the train crossing an invisible
| bridge, told Of the presence of some
| slowmoving stream. Westward the
| track came into view around thinly-
| wooded hillside, with clearing here
| and there, In which some low cabins
| were scattered.
With this cheerful outlook to greet
him Mt three points Of the compass,
| Lambert turned him to the north. There
was n siding with switch at each end,
| but, as three or four rails were missing
opposite the west end of the platform,
| Il stood TO reason that the railway COM
| pany found the other all that was neces-
sary to the traffic of SO bustling place
rs Tugaloo. A brown freight car stood
on the siding with wide-opened doors,
and some household goods loomed in
| plain sight. There Is more honesty
| in this community than the United
| States marshal would give us to believe"
| thought Lambert, as he recalled the ex-
| tract from n recent report which was
shown him atdepartment headquarters.
| He laid his satchel and sword upon the
platform, and. wrapping his blue cir
tular about his shoulders, took few
steps forward and q peep into the in
terror of the Cur. From the midst of
bedsteads, bureaus and cheap old-fash-
| Ioned furniture, n quantity of bedding
had been hauled out upon the floor, and
from the midst of the bedding woolly
| head protruded-that Of negro fnst
| asleep
Beyond the car stood n dusty open
| squire lordered on three sides by dingy
| wooden structures, some Of two stories,
| but most of them only one In height. A
wooden sidewalk framed the square In
some places, and In others only indica-
| tons of It's former presence were to be
| seen The sidewalk was bordered by
rude railing, to which, it was evident,
| horses nnd mules were tethered during
business hours, for at one of the rails,
tven now, sprawled upon the soft, hoof-
rawed dust, n long-eared quadruped
was half hanging by the bride rein.
while the dilapidated saddle had worked
Ground during the night until 1t set
tied upon the animals side.
Judging from such signs or legends
ns were visible over the doorways of
Tugaloo, Lambert's impressions were
that the vending of Intoxicating drinks
was the principal industry, as there
were three saloons to one store devoted
20 general merchandise which estnb-
Eshment, painted white and with an air
Of prosperity and n flock Of cotton bales
around IL, bore the sign of l. Cohen, and
told pnthetically that the pioneers OF n
relentless and onc-sided trade had al
ready made their lodgment in the midst
OF helpless community.
1t was sunrise, and not n soul was APP
rarently astir street led away north