The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-01-24

TINE PASSING
OF MIR. and MRS.
JOSEPH BRUDER |

By Henry Irving Dodge.
Copyright, 1901,
BY Henry Irving Dodge.

and Joseph Bruder and his wife got
down from the passenger coach that
was trailing behind six flats" OF rails.
Bruder was six feet four and broad,
and his wife was five feet and narrow.
Bruder carried a huge valise that cost
/ dollar and had done service, also an
x. Mrs. Bruder wore mitts and
plaintive, piquant smile. In her eyes
there was a standing apology for the
disparity in their sizes. This seemed
to be a sore point with the little wo-
man, for she was ever on the alert for
the quizzing glances of strangers. and
If one should stand apart and glance
at the Cdd couple he was sure to have
his gaze arrested by a plaintive glance
from the woman which said as plainly
as speech, "Please don't make fun OF
u.s."
But the man never bothered his head
about what other folks thought. He
was a woodchopper. and that's all he
knew or cared. Next to his wife he
loved his ak, and it used to be his
pride that he could put keen enough
edge on it to shave with. He used to
lay his cheek fondly against the purple
blade and pat it and call it his darling.
And the ak seemed to understand him,
for 1t would bark with quick delight
when his giant arms swung 1t aloft and
bite the maple and bury its nose to the
point where the tempered steel Joined
the softer stuff.
When Bruder got of the train, he
N Mt
defiant way and put his hand clumsiiy
around his wife and drew her shoulder
over against his thigh. There was no
one at the depot hut the agent. a vet
eran in the business, the tenure OF
whose position was due TO five toes
that he had years before contributed
to the annual list of accidents on the
road. Smith had heard that Bruder
was coming to take the place of one OF
the striking woodchoppers, and 1t filled
him with grave concern. Almost all or
his relatives belonged to the strikers,
and his sympathies were deeply with
them. On the other hand, 1t fell to bis
lot to show osteptatious loyalty to the
company. Beaver Meadows was the
chief "woodin' up point Of the road.
For miles the contiguous country yield
ed nothing from its stubborn soil save
stunted beech and knotted maple.
The president of the company that
supplied the railroad with wood was
Smiths backer. A nod from him would
have dislodged that worthy from the
comfortable niche that afforded him q
comfortable living. So Smith was be-
tween the devil and the deep sea. His
heart was with the strikers, his inter-
est with the company. That's why his
usually placid mind was filled with
perturbation when he beheld the lum-
bering form of Joseph Bruder and the
diminutiye wife alight from the ca
boose of Big Four.
Bruder had an arm as long as his
wife's tongue and could fell at blow
either kind of jackass, human or
brute. Mrs. Bruder was the brains OF
the outfit. She took charge OF the
money, when there was any, allowing
Joseph only enough for tobacco. 9th
erwise he was a teetotaler. On the
whole, this strange couple was deemed
a combination to be avoided. No one
ever knew where they came from. On
that score Bruder himself was silent,
with a persistency that defed all the
subtle influences of bucolic diplomacy.
Surmise said he was an ex-conyict,
and as chapter and verse Of bis past
were not forthcoming this comfortable
theory crystallized into very good
counterfeit of fact.
When the woodchoppers learned that
Joe Bruder was coming to take Cy Sei-
den's Job, they knew there would be
trouble. for they were a determined
lot. There was an understanding, now
ever, a sort of feeling. although nc
words had been spoken, that somehow
Smith would settle matters. and SO
it was determined that no one from
among the strikers should meet Brudei
at the depot and attempt by moral OF
muscular force to turn him back.
Smith knew what was expected ol
him by his friends and relatives; be
also knew that the suspicious eyes ol
the president were upon him, and hence
the delicacy of his position. He hated
| being double faced" but he had
| very comfortable niche indeed. ant
| times were exceedingly hard in thost
| parts. He reflected with considerable
/ disgust that 1t was quite unjust tina
be, who had no personal interest In th'
matter. should be the one upon who's
shoulders the task of adjusting the at
fair should be thrust
That explains why Smith was per
turbed upon the arrival OF Mr.. ant
Mrs. Joseph Bruder. 1t also explain
why he alone was at the depot to NEE
the distinguished pair. 1t is an axiom
| that good luck always comes to tn
lazy. Smith was lazy man, whicI
accounts for the piece of good iucl
which came to him on the morning o
the arrival of Mr. and Mrs Bruder.
Bah Armstrong; two-year-oid BAD
/ boy had died of cholera morbus q feI
days before. and the sorrowiHg pal
ents. who were farmers, had put tn
little creature ib simple pine box an
were sending him down the road to
buried in the Armstrong family burr
ing ground at West Camden. The tin
morseI of humanity was at that mi
ment resting In the freightroom OF tn
Beaver Meadows depot.
As Smith limped down the piatfcrl
toward Mr. and Mrs Joseph Bruder b
a