Evening star., 1899-08-12
A STUPID BOY.
But He Saved the Railroad Mans
Life With His Knife.

From thu Chicago Chronicle.
The bald-headed railroad man who fire.
quents the rotunda Of the Great Northern
Hotel these evenings is usually the center
Of quite a group of loungers, for he has
many interesting incidents of adventure
to relate.
when I was a section boss down in
Texas" he said the other evening, 'I had
the crookedest piece of track in the state
couldn't see two telegraph poles at one
time at any point on my section. Right
where the tool house was there was curve
and at one end of the curve there was a
switch for passing track l had my men
working one day around the curve, near the
tool house, and while they We're filling in a
piece of track I moseyed down to take a
look at the switch at the other end of the
curve. The men were about a quarter of
mile from the switch, but out of view
around the curve In those days we didn't
take the precaution to put blocks of wood
in the chinks of the frogs and at the end
of the guard rails they do now to keen
brakemen from getting their feet fast. If
we had would not have been telling this
story, because it wouldn't have happened
AS l was pokfng around the frog L got
one of my heels wedged in one of the nu-
merous openings and could not get myself
Tree L tugSed away and swOre a little
under my breath, but a machinists wise
could not have held that heel tighter than
the frog did. You can easily judge the ex-
tent of my alarm when l heard a train
whistle for a crossing which 1 knew to be
a mile and half from the point where l
was fastened. l looked at my watch; it
was the o'clock cannon BALI from the
west and l knew that 1t would bear down
Upon me in three minutes unless | sue
ceeded in wrenching the heel off my SHOE
which appeared a hopeless task. The train
would shoot around the curve, the engtn-
ecr would not have time to even slow
M
would be ground beneath the wheels. The
train was approaching from the direction
of my men and L shouted, hoping they
might hear me and flag it, but it was a
vain hope, and heard the train roar across
bridge less than mile away. l was
beginning to despair, but cast a glance
around to see if help was coming from any
other quarter, when l saw a small, tow
headed boy standing in the middle of the
track behind me.
run up there 1 yelled, pointing to-
ward the tool house, and flag the cannon
BALL
THE boy looked at me, but did not
bulge.
Run. rum whooped again, 'or I'll be
killed. Don't you see my foots fast and
l can't get off the track
1.-THE boy said nothing, but put his hand
in his pocket and pulled out his jackknife.
l thought he would look for a stick next
so he could whittle while he discussed my
proposition, as they do down in Texas. 1
could hear the engine bell ringing to warn
my men to clear the track, and I knew
that there remained but a few seconds
between myself and death, as the boy had
stood inactive too long to get any distance
away and signal the engineer.
But the boy was not as stupid as I had
thought him to be; indeed, he was not half
as stupid as myself. He didn't look for a
stick, but he stepped up beside me, stopped
down, ran the keen blade of his knife over
my shoe string, Strengthened up, grinned
and said:
"'Yank yer foot out, mister; here she
comes
81 rolled off the track and the train
swept past. and the boy sauntered away
down the track just as If nothing at all
had happened"