The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-24

carried the man out half a mile, gave him a
bucket ~ FIRE, and told him 10 burn fence rails or
| anything he could yet hold of to keep himself
warm, but under no circumstances desert his post
After a 10, more vhis,ling tuning and fussing
] got tho train backed over We closed the cab
tight and ate our lunches While Rnawing at
the ,kiln-dricd boarding house sandwiches and
laughing at HaIry's nonsense about white or
dark meat" IL came putting along. almost noise
lessly. like polar bear towing string Of ice
ihad los, nearly gauge Of water through the
leaky fues while laying there 4 broomstick in
spection showed loss than six inches in the tank.
Again worked the whistle cord After a while
Davis came ahead. lie was mufiled up In all the
old rags the caboose lockers could furnish. and
was n FORMULATING mountain Of snow and ice
lie was mad. at last az mad as had been all
Gosh almighty" he roared, so loud that
heard him above the noice Of the gale; couldn't
calm a man all the way UP from the hind end
Mebbe you think it's fun TO waller round In this
snow"
told him to cut the engine off and hold every
thing on the eastbound track I'LL got hack from
Selden water plug. Aswo pulled over the switch
Harry shouted:
Hey, Davis"
Davis looked Tip. squirting comicaly into tho
teeth OF t nr, storm Harry threw him kiss and
The conductors reply was inaudble. hut we
know whit II was--the most common express.
When we got back from tho water plug. 81
1.-THE maid was waiting. We followed her getting
the snow driftcd in behind hcr again. We loaded
the tender at Bolton coal platform. piling big Jumps
that couldn't blow awey on top; My watch
threw II into tho tender. and Harry tossed heavy
lump on top OF H. After we had found Il and
stepped back on the engine. he asked. looking
at the clock:
"is tho, all It's. 1919"
| looked at my watch-11:3z We had left
less than two feet above the boiler. had frozrn
UP and stopped
RaHf the pf1 hour ". 1snIg stalled II big
10. she must bc nearly due | looked at my
watch 1897 4 hadn't turned a wheel since
that lump Of coal hit II. and now I had no time
Seeing me looking at my watch. Harry sslcd
Nothing sSiI Re SOS III" record % I,1icd 10 gIr
but Just then she pumped into cut at the foot
OF slight grade, that was filled twenty feet deep
worry about following trains ] was anchored
good and solid. had full tank Of coal wo
wouldn't freeze. and there was water en- ugh
for along siege only for those lenky flueS.
Engineers, when suowbound must keep their
engines alive, that trains may proceed immedi.
9icly the road is opened, otherwise expensive
and firing up dead engines in most inconvenient
places Ny great problem was, how To get water
the engine ram s%va pSS her Steam Il the w heels
would slip on the rails and turn. l could pump
that way She n, might have been solid, Joint
SomcIhing had TO be done and quickly. for
the water was leaking out ~ her every minute
and had only two gauges in her when stopped
through the snow on the lee side Of her Then
We cleared the snow away from under her and oil
a natural arch over her by this time. so that il
was quite warm down there Harry brought
down the hammer, some wrenches and the torch
and reported barely one gauge 81 water In the
boiler. !, was time indeed tO hurry.
It. was an awkward place 70 work, and the
fitness, took down the side rods that might
have hut one pair Of wheels TO turn; thereby
by the Use Of steam. which was water the article
was Interested in economizing.
| pounded my thumb, and cut of a Joint Of my
side rod unexpectedly slipped clear VI" Harry nS;
chcwed me stobacco poulticr, and tied II on with
rods in the snow. gave the rails and tires a good
oiling. and hurried up into the cab. There was q
clipped and pumped her until She threw water
out Of the stack
The waucr was squirting out Of four lenky nues
in way that would soon set us to shoyclling
its clumsy dressing and dull tools. I made i've
iaper anc plugs -. on, Of piece Of coal board.
gas. threw the coal boards in on the banked
l had forgotten tina, it was Rot anywhere, but
the experience went through in that hot hrebox,
by boiling water, and in spite Of the blower,
inheling smok e and sulphurous fumes would
have been invaluable 10 Dante when seeking local
color Idrovc the dry plugs tightly; they absorbed
moisture and swellcd until they were the highest
lines in her Twas a good lob and well done.
! stuck Il out the frrboN door, and. before my
feet were out, there were iciclcs on my whskers
never snF IN Ss clf snS aS
S is Told 1P Sm Sd "ss Rsddnb in Rc
cabonse. or some Of them would have come ahead
long ago to see II VIC had any. He volunteered
70 go bark II was a risky Job, climbing over
happ"ncd he would BE- agoncr, with nobody near
20 help and q temperature that meant almost
instant death to the partially disabled.
sat and dozrd mserably, in the corner Of the
would slip on the b. or butt, the heel Of tho left.
coming down with painful bang upon the instcp
like pile driving firing of the monotony, |
sought TO change my, position, and became aware
sumo cnily thswed he reported The cSboosc Cd" de-
H. had seem n nothing fon 10 and Ss sss y
all the engines on the road coupled together
would not be able % collide with our hind end.
This merry Christmas to which I had so long
looked forward WAS about over, II soon became
dark We shovcllcd coal ag anst the curtain.
To keep tho cold air out caulked our window sash
with waste, pumped her full again and we shiv-
cred and dozcd and starved through the longest
night ever knew.
Tho temperance Of the cab windows notified
me 81 tho approaching dawn. What dismal
sight Our usually neat cab wns ,thickly bcgrim,d
in thc cab itself, M well IA the windows, was dis
Puscd by the delicate uaccry Of that master Of
silycrsmithS Jack Frost. To the artistic sense Of
the well-tcd and comfnrtabl" clad. il would have
been brautiinl to my dullcd mind, II was emblem
attic only II the biting cold that ragged without
Harry, tied In n hard knot. ives snoring, suundiy
In his corner i had him spread the fire, and I
pumped her full again
We must have food at any cost. knew of
but one house in that locnlity-an ordinary story.
and q half farmhouse on II cross road. about half
mile from where we lay. 1t was Invisible
he M Wa knaxx Ito INA,
direction. We left everything in the best order
possible. and started; the wind at our backs,
Harry in the lead
shall never forget that trip, Laundering aim
lessly through the drifts like par Of blind mice
II | live 10 DO n hundred. Three minutes after
leaving the engine we could not have found our
way back TO II, no matter what the necessity
Harry being younger and lighter than l. / had
all could do to keep him in sight. We fell into
an abandoned we'll Fortunately Il was already
nearly full Of snow, so. barring a few bruises,
We received no injuries We would surely have
died here for the well smoothly lined with
brick, and we were too deep in IL TO Eet out had
not the ovcrhanging crest II the drl, fallen from
tnphcAyineSs, buTying us, at the same time that |
II raised our level sufficiently enable US 70 crawl
OUT.
Shortly after this, that Providence which so |