The Redwood gazette., 1901-11-20
elle their dlfTering theories. and out of
their many contrasts to evolve a permanent
Z harmony.
IA DELAY ON. TIL E r AL

| IA|DELA.Y Z ON THE RAIL.
[Copyrighted by Daily Story Pub. Col
! No. 6 was late. That was an unusual hap
pening on the d. & H. r. r., and the divi-
sion superint ntendent, standing on the. little
platform at Hoopeston waiting to take No.
back to headquarters, was plainly am
noyed 1t is a serious thing for trainmen
to vex a division superintendent, and when
they go so far as to cause him to postpone
his dinner hour far beyond its accustomed
moment they may expect to hear some
thing uncomf fortable and official through the
| medium Of the envelopes marked Railroad
| Business which are dropped from the ex-
press cars Of through trains.
Superintendent Wheeler was not asQuick-
tempered man, but as he walked ups and
down the Hoopeston platform, glanclng at
| his watch from time to time, anyone with
half an eye could have seen that he was
not in an angelic frame of mind. inside
| the office the telegraph was ticking merrIy
| with more railroad business, and at length
ISuperint tendent Wheeler thrust his head IN
the door for the tenth time and asked:
Anything new from No. 8 S,
ssShe's 35 minutes late at Albion, sir, Z, re-
piled Operator Ryan, briskly. They We
made up eight minutes time. sir.
Have you yet heard what's the mat
ter asked the division superintendent,
| brusquely.
Don know for sure, sir, !" but I guess
it's a hot box, said Ryan, and the super
intendent continued his nervous walk up
| and down the platform.
/ Twenty three miles away No 6 was
| whooping over the shining rails like yes
tibule limited, although it was only a COM
bination freight, lately invested with the
| dignity of a badly frayed passenger coach
tagging on behind the heavy box cars Tor
the few passengers who desired the accom-
modation of way" train. But tonight
No. 6 was not running on freight schedule.
She was more than 40 minutes late, and as
Joe Kelly looked from his perch beside the
lever and saw his companion shovel1ng coal
into the .capacious NAV Of the engine ne
encouraged him to redoubled efforts,
That's the stuff, Jack he said; toss
her in and we'll make up bunch Of it
anyhow. We're hitting her up for "a miles
| an hour right now, and that's pretty good
for old 348, that S been on freight runs for
five years. / bet those jays back there were
/! surprised when we cut through there like
mail train,' he went on, keeping a sharp
| lookout ahead, Abut we can't letsa hot box
| put us in the hole half an hour, or We'll III
| be laid off, from the conductor down to the
| wiper that forgot to oil the journal.
! He had got thus far inNhis chat and Jack
was grunting assent from his dusty place
among the Jumps Of coal when the engi-
neer suddenly stood upright and leaned halt
/ way out of the cab window. Then with
| a convulsive movement he threw the lever
clear over and shut off the steam. An in
slant later the sharp bark Of the whistle
calling for ssbrakes" awoke the echoes.
| What's the matter?" demanded the FIRE
man, springing up to his side Of the cab,
| half ready to jump.
'I don't know" said Kelly, peering into
!, the half gloom ahead Of the train, "but if
some one isn't swinging red light across
the track down there, I'm a goat. See it
off to the left of the track, and he placed
his hand on the throttle, for the heavy train
was still bounding at a fearful rate.
Right you are, !" said the fireman; that's
/ red one all right Will we make ii? ~
ssOh, yes, well stop before we get there Z
| is-rail broken or hold-up?" and he
/
| who had been alarmed by the whistle fol-
brakes and the grinding Of the iron shoes
! against the heels, came running over the
/ top of the freight cars and clambered over
/ the coal into the cab with the two men.
ttWhat is it," he demanded
Don't Rnow," said Kelly, take a peek
yourself. Red light ahead z
The train had begun to slacken speed By
| Az; 4
slowly swinging lantern. At last it thun
1 conductor sprang off and ran ahead. There
stood a youth not more than 90 years old
! doggedly swinging a lantern, while fright
ened girl of II clung to his arm and looked
4 with wide eyes on every thing.
4 Whats the matter here?" demanded the
!. conductor; !; what are you tagging this traiir
4 for?''
We want to get aboard, z said the young
man, stoutly.
tsWhat@' shrieked the conductor do yoi
mean to say you've stopped way freigh
]. that's 40 minutes late just because you cam
J. at ten o'clock?''
ssThat's just it, said the young man
4 with much dignity; eve can t wait for tn,
passenger. We want to go on this train
You see, the fact is he went on, growing
confidential and taking a tighter hold OF
the little arm hanging in his, we're going
to town to get married. We've been going
to get married for a year now, but Mabel
that is, the young lady parents object
! and we want to get to Dayton on this train
If we wait for the late train, it-why, dom
j you sect don't get to Dayton until aftel
j m1dnig,a att =
"Oh, ho!' interrupted the conductor, al
elopement, eh? Well, I'm darned if 7 dom
Il like your nerve. Come on, get aboard, then
Don't delay us any more than you have. '
Five minutes later No. s was tearing owe,
the rails toward Hoopeston with a pair o
turtle doves nesting in double seat in tht
passenger coach. Superintendent Wheeler
had his speech all ready when, the trail