The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1898-09-14
,.a ra nps,nallx Polly ef I don,t take

WON'T nuTt We, seei inc ihaihS oh'o
the gate Yesterday. Begin? Now don
ye be no fool, Polly. I'm holy terror,
! am, when wunst gifts ugly. You go
long an git the grub, an ole Rusty'll
do the rest
"They were real nice TO me, Sam
my, at the house; only they kept ask
ing questions, and I'm afraid l told
some more stories. Do sou know, Sam
my, if ever l should lie again I'd feel
just like 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 l showed IL TO
Rusty and told him I'd had mine he
gobbled up every bit of il,
"Purty fair fer kid he said, as he
finished the pie in about two bites.
You'll do, Polly. I knowed We could
work it. Now I'm goin' ter use We fair |
an give we jest leetle of this. Most |
fellers wouldn't divvy, bein' as We
didn't turn in no money, but | amt
mean, an it'll do We good
He had got some beer in an old tin
can took just one SMELL l guess ii
was mostly the can l smelt. 1t was a
salmon can--one. / thought he'd be
mad, but he didn't seem TO mind.
"'Haf ter git over that sorter fool
ishness, Polly was all he said, and he
gulped the stuff down at one swallow.
Then he fixed himself up a kind of
coat out of some burlaps he found tied
round 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
behind the fence till freight train
came along He'd got board that
was a little longer than l am. Il amt
In no shape ter 60 long with We jist
yit,' he said, but bein' ye're in SIGH a
KILN resh, I'll git we started right
So we crawled under a car, and he laid
the board lengthwise on one of the
trucks. / was awfully scared, but he
said il was easy as sliding down hill.
"'Jist hump up yer back agin the
bottom of the car, eff she goes ter wob-
bln', he said, AN We bettew keep yer
eyes shet, mostly An don't We try ter
git out tin she's dead sure stopped
$50 I 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
, a picnic. The ties just under me looked
like smooth plank walk. and when
! looked out sideways the fields anc
fences and houses slid by like a regular
! panorama. Then we got togoing faster
. end the dust began TO blow up in my
face. and I couldn't see a thing;I shu
nv eyes tight. but il drove into my nose
till I couldn't breath, and when
" opened nv mouth I thought I'd b.
y, choked ANYHOW. II wasn't all Just dust
either. When we got 10 roaring alon;
at full speed, and the wheels were hum
= ming close by my ears, and the irol
! things were rafting all round me, tn
gravel began 70 fly mp. too, and ii pound
:. ed me, like big hailstones. You haven
=, the least idea. Sammy, how fast
freight train really goes. And
:, doesn't run steady; IL swings ahead
y, and Stacks. and starts up again with
yank that almost sends you off back
wards. Then you strike curve, an
'e YOUR board slides round under You Il
- YOU Just grit your teeth and say you
~ launching up the way Rusty told me,
ii seemed as if the whole car was joun
ing up and down on my back. though
OF ! was dead boy 20 times that da.
&c Sammy.
~ "I must have been a sight when | di
ru crawl out, but il was night by tia
re time. | could hardly see or hear {
III taste or smell, was so full of dirt. an
a' | ached all over. It seemed as If II
Il grit had worked into my joints till
," could hardly move, and filled up m
head till it felt as big as a pumpki
he and about as much good. | don't 81
al what any tramp is thinking of when
~ steals rides under the cars. He'd be
IL ter feed a thrashing machine and dol
with it.
re How did l get the rest of the w;
III, TO New York? 1t would take too lor
u TO tell all that tonight ! promised
a' come home early, Sammy-and I'm n
playing any low-down tramp trio
ed now. YOU better believe. But part
'ut the way | got ride on canal DO
I'LL and part of the way l walked. l z
re- things TO eat easy enough, and on
LII or twice / got a bed; but l was just
us miserable little beggar, and l felt Ii
us yellow dog all the time. And the re
ch yellow dogs-they chase me, Sammy
when l got to the city 1t wasn't
'e,', easy. l sneaked up and down t
u streets ever so long, and pretty ne
hg starved to death before l could find o
hu where those Cuban folks were. "A
c!' when l did find them they wouldl
"i even listen To me.
"'What you want here, boy| lit
Jus black-looking man said TO me. Wh
'u. | told him he got mad right avn
seu More as 100 fool boys do come he
we each day. he growled What we wa
ouV of fool boys? You get out, quick.
20 Then I went down to the dock
> hid on ship that was going to
West. but they caught me just as s