The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1898-07-08

" 1SACl' Cee lHet muse over yOnuer :!
le mus go thar an git us sunthin
ter eat. It's a good place, an they
won't hurt We; [ seen the marks onto
the gate Yesterday. Begin? Now don
ye be no fool, Polly. I'm holy terror,
l am, when wunst l gifts ugly. You go
long an git the grub, an ole Rustvll
dc the rest
They were real nice to me, Sam
my, at the house; only they kept ask
ing questions, and I'm afraid toll
some more stories. Do you know, Sam
my, Ii ever | should lie again I'd feel
just like a tramp? The folks fed me
all | could eat-oh! but it was good
and they let me have some more to
eat on the road. When I showed it to
Rusty and told him I'd had mine he
gobbled up every bit of it.
Purity fair fer q kid he said. as he
finished the pie in about two bites.
You'll do, Polly. l knowed We could
work it. Now I'm goin' ter use We fair
an give ye jest leetle of this. Most
iellers wouldn't diyvy, bein' as We
didn't turn in no money, but 1 amt
mean, an it'll do ye good
He had got some beer in an old tin
can. / took just one smell; I guess it
was mostly the can | smelt. 1t was a
salmon can-one. thought he'd BE-
mad. but he didn't seem 10 mind.
"'Haf ter git over that sorter fool
ishness, Polly was all he said, and he
10 +rr4f
Then he fixed himself up q kind of
coat out Of some burlaps he found tied
round a peach tree. He cut holes for
his arms. and fastened the thing on
with pieces OF string. After awhile we
went back near the depot, and. waited
behi?y2 the fence till freight train
came along. He'd got a board that
was a little longer than / am. Il amt
III nc shape ter go long with We list
yit,' he said, but bein' ye're in sich a
KILN resh, I'll git We started right.
So we crawled under car. and he laid
the board lengthwise on one of thr
trucks. I was awfully scared. but he
said it was easy as sliding down hill
"'Jist hump up yer back agin the
bottom CT the car. ef she goes ter wob-
bin, he said. 'an' We bettew keep yer
eyes SHIT, mostly. Ar don't We try ter
git out til she's dead sure stopped
SO | squeezed in, and lay along the
board, fat on my stomach. Pretty
soon the engine started. and for about
a minute | thought twas going to BE-
picnic. The tics Just under me looked
like q smooth plank walk, and when
looked out sideways the fields and
fences and houses slid by like regular
| panorama. Then we got to going faster
and the dust began to blow up in my
face, and I couldn't see a thing;I shut
my eyes tirht. but itdrove into my nose
! till / couldn't breath. and when /
opened my mouth I thought I'd be
choked anyhow. 1t wasn't all just dust,
either. When we got to roaring along
at full speed. and the wheels were hum
ming close by my ears, and the iron
things were rafting all round me, the
gravel began TO fly up. too, and it pound
ed me. like big hailstones. You haven't
! the least idea, Sammy, how fast a
freight train really goes. And it
doesn't run steady; it swings ahead,
and slacks, and starts up again with a
| y3nk that almost sends YOU off back
wards. Then you strike a curve, and
your board slides round under you till
You just grit your teeth and say your
| prayers. When I tried to brace by
hunching up the way Rusty told me, it
| seened as if the whole car was iounc-
ing up ard down on my back. thought
was a dead boy 20 times that day,
! Sammy.
Il must have been a sight when l did
crawl out, but it was night by that
time. I could hardly see or hear or
taste or smell, | was so full of dirt, and
| ached all over. 1t seemed as if the
grit had worked into my joints till l
could hardly move, and filled up my
head till it felt as big as a pumpkin
and about as much good. I don't see
what any tramp is thinking of when he
steals rides under the cars. He'd bet
! ter feed a thrashing machine and done
with it.
'How did l get the rest of the way
to New York? 1t would take too long
to tell ali that tonight. promised I'd
come home early, Sammy-and I'm not
! playing any low-down tramp tricks
now, you better believe. But part of
the way | got a ride on a canal boat
and part of the way / walked. I got
things to cat easy enough, and once
or twice I got bed: but l was just a
miserable little beg9ar, and / felt like
ayellow dog all the time. And the real
yellow dogs-tbey chase me, Sammy.
When l. got to the city it wasn't 81
| easy. / sneaked up and down the
streets ever SO long, and pretty near
| starved to death before ! could find out
where those Cuban folks were. And
when l did find them they wouldn't
even listen to me.
"'What you want here, boy?' little
black-looking man said to me. When
I told him he got mad right away
More as 100 fool boys do come here
each day. he growled. What we want
of fool boys? You get out, quick
''Then [ went down to the dock and
hid Oh ship that was going to Key
West, but they caught me just as she
was starting; and after they'd hall
killed me they turned me over to pc
liceman, and he dragged me off to the
station house. | was sore and dirty
and hungry and ashamed, and | guess
/ cried pretty much all the way. They
were going to commit me to some KIND
Of society, when all at once tall man
stepped up and showed them photo
graph. That's the boy he said. I've