Phoenix weekly herald., 1898-01-06
AN ARIZONA EPISODE.
BY O. Alexander.

L ~ yourself aIlZOud sui
set, or what is still better, perhaps you
have seen one-a cloudless sky, the
sun-a ball of gold sinking out of sight
and the shadows creeping along be-
low the foot hills.
At k, a division on the A. & 2.
railroad. a young girl stood with her
hand shading eyes, s..zing intently to-
ward the setting sun. For seven
straight miles the long line of tele-
graph poles marked the course of the
track until it sheered a trifle to the
right and disappeared into the mouth
of a canyon. Five-ten minutes pass
ed, when suddenly Il twinkling light
shot out from among the shadows and
a long freight train crept slowly in
sight.
Its Reddy,'" remarked the girl
half aloud as she turned and entered
the house.
Everybody at the railway boarding
house at k knew that 'Reddy'
and Liz. Atworth, the landlords
daughter, had quarreled and fell
out" Everybody also knew that
''Reddy,' who pulled the throttle on
engine 1901, was the jolliest, best
tempered. and had the reddest hair
of any mortal who ever hung out of a
cab window. His smile was prOverb-
ial. Even the section mans little tow
sert. expected it and would climb up
on the section yard fence and gaze adj
miringly at the engine as he oiled here
and there while 1901 drank in great
draughts of water from the tank near
by.
Everyone around the place was al
so aware of the fact that the cause of
the aforesaid quarrel was Sanders,
the new brakeman on No. Al, who
possessed remarkably curly hair and
a patch of remarkably curly hair on
his chin. Sanders upon becoming
domiciled at the hotel, had proceeded
at once to make himself popular with
every one in general and the landlord
and his pretty daughter in particular.
\ violin was produced. The old organ
in the parlor, with its several keys as
dumb as a candidate for office on any
leading question. and numerous 9th
erS INSTRUCTED by pins and buttons, as
demonStrative and tireless as the av-
erage pugilist for wordy combats-
was again brought into use. The new
brakeman, aside from his renditions
on the violin of Money Musk and
sweet Potato Vine proved himself
on the organ to be a veritable Pader-
ewski. His instrumental programme
was voted ''out of sight, and when
he cleared up his throat an, tSSayed
The Sword of Bunker HILL the
crowd at the saloon across the street
moved over in a body to listen and
the windows and doors of Chinatown
were full of inquisitive heather.
When it became known that Red
dy' and the landlords daughter had
not spoken to each other for a week
and it was observed that the stranger
put in most of his time in the parlor,
the brakenan.S popularity commenced
to wane.
Ma" said the girl one evening, af-
ter being admonished by her mother
about the matter. Red ought to
know that 1 like him better that any
one else. He has no business to make
a fool of himself like this. Now don't
worry. Ma, when he gets in tonight
I'll make up with him."
But she did not. she heard 1901
pull int the yards grooming under her
long tram of coal cars. She heard
Freddy" and another train man
laughing. Some one asked him why
he was late well. it was just like
this" he replied, 1.-The way car was too
far away from the engine" She
heard him go from the Mushroom to
the dining room, and might have gone
out and waited upon him, but she
knew her mother would if she did not,
sing. She retired that night with a
heavy heart, resolving that the next
"Trip matters would be set right.
Big Jim, one of the firemen on the
west end, dropped Il bomb in the en-
amys camp one morning at the break
fast table by eXclaming- after Sand |
ars had finished an exciting tale of a
.hold-up'' he had been i'll down in the |
ronto basin:
Say, Whiskers." "a title he had ac- |
Iuired before he had been in town five |
Il saw your wife at Ash Fork |
is we came through yesterday. She |
wanted to know if we had seen any |
hing of YOU A smothered laugh |
an around the table and pale girl |
packed out into the kitchen and was |
seen no more that morning
Sunday was an exciting day at X |
\ shooting affray in the forenoon, the |
'esult of which was a dead cowboy ~ |
ng in the little room back of the sa |
DON; and in the afternoon an officer |
lropped off the overland train, Sprang |
he handouts on Sanders and took him
o Albuquerque on charge of robbery |
AS the day closed the landlords |
laughter stood once more gazing at |
he sun as it slowly dropped into the
Western horizon. She breathed Il short |
prayer that the burden might that
light be lifted from herheart and with |
head throbing strained her eyes to
.atch the twinkle of the headlight of |
he coming train. The shadows deep |
ned and crept upward until nothing
.ould be distinguished below the silver |
lone notched here and there by the
)eakS of the western hills.
Readers. have you ever in matters |
hat touched your heart, aye the very !
ife, realized that the eve. of opportun
ty was upon you and that with the
Keeping up of the shadows, the day |
ime for duty neglected would soon be
zone forever?
Her mother a half hour later found
Ter on the doorstep in Il swoon.
She had watched in vain; for at that
moment engine 1901 lay at the bottom
If Il seventy foot gorge in Coldwater
,anyon Il battered, tangled mass of
ron. and beneath her with his life
rushed out was 'Reddy' the engineer.
L. A Capital.
NINE