The Florence daily tribune., 1899-02-25
THE TRAMP.

able tutt, while the toes or tine other
protrultd through a very ragged shoe
ana bic hat would never have been rec
ugui.-d tor ihut article of headg,ar if it
bad NOT been upon his head. Altogether
he might have been the original Of the
funny papers latest edition Of Weary
Willie
Atlrsent ne was resting. This was
the chief occupation of his life. his pro
Itssin. as il were, and after many
years of experience he hud succeeded in
bringing it down 60 a very fine point
being able to pursue 10 under the most
uniavmullc conditions and in circum-
stances tflt would have dauuted au or
diuaiy mortal Such is the result Of
WHctic-l
just now thr conditions were ev-
tremely favorable, the day being warm
aud tho fence corner grass grown aud
hgdy, 80 the tramp lay upon his back.
with one lrg thrown over the other and
hi- h8t pulled down over his forehead
Over iu the field opposite a farmer
WINS p'uwing up strbble, pausing now
and thyn to wire his perspiring face.
while lg blue shirt clung in damp
,trtakl t. his skin
The tramp watched him mediiativoly.
'Ivp d why people like 70 work g.
he -uiioquzsd Queer They re al
ways u-0ein samethin. Now, | ain {
ucvCr done auythin and | git along
just the sU. g. het that chap owns
thi. whole place all round here, but he
1
and | ain got red cent l wonder
whut people want to be always wCrl,iu
FOR when they might be nlin it easy
It's funny world Wisht | had
chnw Of terflccer
by and bv the tramp climbed the
fence and began to investigate a hay
stack standing a short distance from
the road,
Nights well fix my bed for to.
night he said and gquirmel into the
heart of the stack Presently he heard
the sound of voices. 1t was probably
the farmer ind he lay still in his hid
ing place
"Of course $3.50 is little early for
our biz but that is through train and
bound to he worth more than either of
the other two.
But there viii be more people ON it. %
"What' the odds? A dozen mere or
less, They won sit heavy ON our con
sciences.
"lt'sa dead easy thing too. All it
takes is grit Won he pretty sure to
strike gold lined pocket or two before
they can make ont whats 5 happened
And if amy Cne turns mp beforehand T.
"ShOut him dead. We don stand no
tri1ng You stand at the bottom of
the gully ain I likely to be a soul walk
thnt track, bnt if there is crack him
dead without word III take care of
my part, / tell you, | m desperate, and
if Look there's a man over in that
Held Get around ON the other side. lie
uidm I see us, Make bee line for that
hedge. We can
The voices died away The tramp
turned over ON his side.
Train wrcckcrsl Well. il amt no
husinees OF mine. he grunted
Nevertheless the vision of wrecked
train disturbed his nap, and he crawled
ont of his hole He sat ON the fence and
nursed his ragged foot. watching the
sunset
ITS pity for so many people.
guess some Of EN- would be young too;
maybe some little babies; maybe Il
foiler auout my age, They re all look
in at the sun for the last time if they
only knew it.
What kind of Il queer feeling was
thisY He tried to whistle it off, but it
only came hack the stronger The
frogs singing had never disturbed him
hofora, hut tonight it sounded weird
and snd, and after awhile the very stars
came ont and looked at him as if they
knew. something about it.
"What strange thing it must be to
die Maybe somebody Il be waitin and
waitin for some of those people to come
home
Not in bis romotest past could he re-
member any love. but somehow he un-
derstood this waiting.
The frogs sung on, the young moon
sailed slowly down the heavens, and
10y and by the tramp climbed off the
fence and slouched away down the
road. hanging beside Il stable door he
bad seen a lantern when he passed that
afternoon. and he erept up, hooked it
off the nail and went on his way He
had no definite purpose in view except
that he was going toward the gully,
and it might he useful II never did
10 anything. and always got along.
But it's pity TO let them all die, Bet
ter to have one old feller go. l wonder
how it feels to dier'
He shuddered little and seemed to
hear the voice again, ''Shoot him
dead"
He sat down by the roadside aud said
suilenly 1t amt none of my bust
ness. ain got nothin to do with it
1t don't concern me any.
But af.er awhile he went ON again.
"It must be 8 O'Clock now, he said,
The night had grown dark and