El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-12
! A TENACIOUS MAN
He Caught His Train Under Diff
ficuItieS.

tenacious character, tall and heavily
made beyond the average of men, pleas
ant faced and round eyed as kitten.
Gloating at the dinner table on those
rare occasions when it is given him to SIT
over full NEAL without call upon
his time, basking richly in the hour of
real leisure, which sometimes comes to
him at the beginning of the day, he
works, none the less, when things have
to be done, steady as an OK; and, amid
scenes of self pity and slushy sentiment
frequently encountered in his practice,
he moves like busy lion, imparting
merely by the absence of any feeling
whatsoever confidence to ALL
A kitten, an OK, a lion; there is still
another animal-a whole class, indeed, OF
animals-which in his most distinctive
trait he resembles; animals who clutch
or grip permanently to hold on-the bull
dog, of course, the turtle or the crab.
Let Wadman get his finger nails on the
very edge of what he wants, and that
thing ultimately is all his own. Right
here is found the principle of his success
in life-the first cause of that brisk office
of his, with its row of musing patients III
gilt chairs, the splendid darby and brass
sign. Consideration multiplies the feats
performed by this trait in Wadman's
character till they are numberless, all adj
L
dent stands apart. 1t nearly caused. i'll
an absurd fashion, Wadman's death.
The young doctor went with another
physician from New York to Willimantic
to perform an operation. At Middletown,
where the express stopped, Wadman
"knew a girl" By prearrangement
there she was on the platform when the
train rolled in, and Wadman and she had
two minutes valued intercourse. When
they parted, though he told her when hs
would come back, the doctor had not
actually suggested another meeting. He
thought it was understood. The work
was done at Willimantic, the doctors
took their seats in the smoking compart-
ment of a parlor car for New York, and
it was not long before Wadman stepped
cheerfully down ate Middletown to meet
the girl.
He did not see her on the platform. He
looked up and down, walked rapidly
through the station, glanclng right and
left, and paused a moment on the back
platform to stand gazing, an interesting OBJ
ject to four drivers and boy, at place
where the road turned and hid itself be-
hind trees. She must be coming up that
road, he reasoned, little late-only doc
tors are punctual-and the best thing to
do was to make a dash for that point on
the chance of seeing her, if only in the
distance. He hurried off.
He had gone hundred yards, more
than half the distance, when the engine
bell sounded a deliberate note. Two con-
flicting impulses instantly took posses
sion of his body-to go on to the turn in
the road and see the girl, who must be
just the other side of it, and to turn back
to his train. He had decided to go to
that turn Of the road, but he had also
decided to go to New York on that
train. The decisions were set and
made equally; there was for him no
choosing between them; he must do both.
So he went on.
Reaching the corner on the run, Wad-
man saw before him stretch of empty
shaded road, barren completely for him,
with hen pecking at a dust pile in the
narrowing distance. A born man of &C
ton, he withstood his misfortune on the
moment and squared away Immediately
In the direction of the tracks. g.
The bell tolled on Importantly; the loud
creaking of straining bolt and coupling,
the huge throated putting of the engine
betokened even more wildly than the
gliding of two, three, four of the
coaches away before his eyes that the
chase would be a hot one. Only the train
was very long; there was comforting
circumstance. 1t saved his self respect,
for he surely missed the first several cars
in the train to grab finally as it sped by
him the brass handrail beside the step
of the next to the last car. Just then
the negro porter slammed the glass door
of the vestibule in his face.
Wadmans feet were on the lowest
step, his hands gripped each of the side
ratings, his body was curved outward
by the projection of the vestlbule over
the steps He could not move. The train
was gathering speed. The porter was
gone. An ordinary man would have con
off
Wadman for full minutes time tried to
fix the porters features in his brain. His
hat flew off at the first of it, his coat flap
ped up and stuck as if pinned in a. double
fold against his back, his trousers wound
tightly round his legs, the cramped posi-
ton had already found out an aching
weakness in his spinal muscles; but he
held on; chad made his train Two lit
tie boys who came out to play in the
vestibule saw him through the glass and
stared, delighted. One of them made
faces at the face outside, the other shook
his fist.
How long man clinging in a half Cir
Gle to the surface of a flying train can
safely ride without being plucked off by
some stationary obstacle beside the track
is q matter of chance and railroad build
ing which need not be entered upon here.
Wadman did not consider it. How long
he could hold on-the run was above 80
miles to the next stop he knew-was the
question that alone interested him.
A young woman walked out on the
platform and spoke to one of the little
boys. AS she looked away she saw a
face, a round eyed, firm checked, red lip
ped face that smiled at her. A moments
hutter and she set tue boys to work TAX
ing down the bars of the door. They
opened it excitedly, and Wadman climb
ed in, murmuring thanks at the young
woman's back. He found his companion
studying the time table.
1--WE been back there" he explained
as the other began saying that he
couldn't ''imagine where in thunder