Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1902-01-08
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES,
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
By Esnry Irving beige.


ows on the Rome ateFfown division
and Joseph Bruder and his wife soi
down frola the passenger coach that
was trailing behind six 'fats" OF rails
Bruder was six feet four and broad
and his wife was five feet and narrow
Bruder carried a huge yalise that coSl
dollar and had done service, also an
ak Mrs. Bruder wore mitts and d
/ pIaintive. piauant smile. In her eyes
there was a standing apology for the
disparity in their sizes. This seemed
/ TO be n sore point with the little wo-
man. for she was ever on the alert for
! the quizzing glances of strangers. and
if one shoald stand apart and glance
at the odd couple he was sure to have
his gaze arrested by a piaintive 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 wooGchopper, and that's all he
knew or cared. Next to his wife he
loved his tx, and it used to be his
| pride that ne could put a keen enough
! edge on il 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 it aloft and
bite the maple and bury its nose to the
point where the tempered steel joined
the softer stuff.
When Rruder got off the train, he
looked around in a sort of inquisitive,
defiant way and put his hand clumsily
around his wife and drew her shoulds.
over against his thigh. There was iio
enc at the depot but the agent, a yet
eran in the business, the tenure OF
whose position was due TO i've tees
that he had years before contribUt fd
TO the annual list of accidents The
road Smith had heard that Bruder
was coming TO take the place of one Of
the striking woodehoppers. and il filed
him with grave concern Almost all or
his relatives belonged to the strikers,
and his sympathies We're deeply with
them On the other hand. it fell to his
lot to Show ostentatious loyalty to the
company Beaver Meadows was the
chief ''woodin' up point of the read.
For miles tie contiguous coulstry yield
ed nothing from It's stubborn soil save
The president Of the. consfanNEhat
supplied the railroad with wood was
Smiths hacker. y nod from him would
have disiod-ed 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
Ily nj mi.
perturbation when he beheld the lum-
bering form of Joseph Bruder and the
diminutive 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 teetotaier. On the T
whole. ths strange couple was deemed
a combination to be avoided. No one /
ever knew where they came from. On /
that score Bruder himself was silent, I
with persistency that detied all the /
subtle influences of bucolic diplomacy /
Surmise said he was an ex-convict. i
and as chapter and verse of his past
were not forthcoming this comforta BILE
theory crystallized into very goo
counterfeit of fact.
When the woodchoppers learned that
Joe Bruder was coming to take Cy Sci
denis job. they knew there would be
trouble. for they We're a determined
lot There was an understanding how
ever. a sort of feeling. although no
words had been spoken. that somehow
Smith would settle matters. and SO
il was determined that no one from
among the strikers should meet Bruder
at the depot and attempt by moral or
muscular force to turn him back.
Smith knew what was expected of
him by his friends and relatives; he
also knew that the suspicious eyes of
the president were upon him. and hence
the delicacy of his position. He hated
being double faced" but he had
very comfortable niche indeed, and
times were exceedingly hard in those
parts He reflected with considerable
disgust that it was quite unjust that
be. who had 10 personal interest in the
matter. should be the one upon whose
shoulders the task of adjusting the af-
fair should lie thrust
That explains why Smith was per-
turbed upon the arrival Of Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph Bruder. 1t also explains
why be alone was at the depot to meet &
the distinguished pair. 1t is an axiom ,
that good luck always comes to the
lazy Smith was a lazy man. which
accounts for the piece of good luck
which came to him on the morning OF 8
the arrival of Mr. and Mrs Bruder.
Bah Armstrong; fwo-year-oId baby
boy had died of cholera nlorbus few
days before. and the sorrowing par
ents- who were farmers. had put the :
little creature in a simple pine box and T
we're sending him down the road to be I
buried in the Armstrong family bury 7
ng ground at West Camden The tiny