Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-03

The Sunrise Limited swept past the lowe,
pasture Of Mrs. O'Hearn's Nebraska farm
every afternoon at 3 O'Clock and Mrs.
O'Hearn's dog, Nicodemus. sailed down to
the fence and barked at It. He was an
u~nlovely animal Of no breeding whatever.
\ canine outcast deserted by an emlgrant,
and HIS hostility 10 all railway movements
was pronounced and even excessive. al
though his best effort and longest run were
reserved for the flying vestibuled train that
came so 1eetingly out OF the east and shot
by him with contemptuous roar and shrek.
leaving a black cloud to hover over the
landscape long after the cause Of 81 had
disappeared from sight and hearing. The
seeming ambition Of Nicodemus was to some
day oyertake this dlsturber at a moment
OF dowpspeed when, he no doubt calculated.
he might scale the fence and cripple It by
an attack in some vulnerable spot among
the little revolving things that sped It along
the rails. In this hope the dog had made
his energetic, II resultless, race every day
for three months, and that he was encour-
aged. II not abetted, by Mrs. o'Hearn her
self was county gossip.
A year after Mrs. O'Hearn's husband had
been snatched from the field Of toll she
lost the compantonship and nourishing daily
gift OF her only COW. That the double
calamity distressed her vas not phenom-
email, but the departure OF Michael O'Hearn
was within the number Of things recon
cilable since the movements OF Providence
are to be accepted without question and
Gre, indeed, but instances Of the expected.
Mrs. O'Hearn. a faithfully and VIGOROUSLY
religious person. resigned herself TO the
simple hope that Michael was to be met
in another country. The taking of Of the
COW left no such solace, since, its spiritual
future did not concern her.
From the day the engine Of the Sunrise
Limited swept the animal in all literalness
from the face Of the earth-it had been
rather foolishly investigating the nutritious
qualities Of the cinders-Mrs. o'Hearn faced
a world that appeared to be sihgularly un-
sympathetic. Where 1t had condoled with
her In her first bereavement II merely
smiled over her second. Obviously, IN the
eyes OF the community. the least fitting
place for a COW to browse was In the line
Of q lightning express. The station agent
at Exeter intimated as much when Mrs.
O'Hearn called upon him and depleted, Wit
admirable detail. the circumstances of her
mlsfor'rne. He would, he declared, lay the
matter before the proper officials, but this
concession came only after her angry in
sistence had shown him the folly OF at
tempting to pass lightly over her loss and
after she had somewhat freely given voice
to her opinions OF himself and the company
he so modestly represented. When the
conversation prolonged to the point Of
tedium to the station agent he closed the
ticket window and retreated to the baggage
room; she withdrew. reiterating her sentl-
'ments throughout the town.
A week later she came again and her
visit left memories Of life, color and action.
CAA AASaaaAA 80 L~auv nwhANhaE NhA aaNalr0-
lent had been sent. The equivalent, she
had somewhat exactly figured. was sSs.l5-
this termination included 500 for COW and
16 cents for the purchase Of milk thrice
weekly from a nelghbor. Her following
visit disclosed fully as close calculation,
for the equivalent had mounted to $50. 80 and
1t was plain to the agent that her arlth-
metic carried with 1t rules OF interest and
equity that would never be accepted by the
company, even II II deigned to recognize
her claim for the COW itself. A]0n this oeea-
sion, and on many occasions thereafter.
he, mentally convinced that his prevarics-
ton would net outlive his tenure OF ONCE,
asserted that only the president OF the road
had authority in the matter Of destroyed
cows. and. having made II clear to her
that her claim had been duly forwarded,
kbesought her to follow methods less spec
NhIulaI II " tAClNlbO Oll QhNltuCGs ~
the same time he expressed his grief that
she should select a mere minion Of the
great eorporation-who had in himself no
power Of restitution-to make the object Of
her expressions OF disapproval. For by
this time the agent was annoyed over
,sundry saIlies Of village wit that expended
itself In solieitous inquiries regarding the
visits OF Mrs. O'Hearn.
Having so frankly thrown himself on her
mercy, he made a personal truce with the
lady, but each week a new bill was pre-
,sented with its accumulation Of figures,
together with verbal expressions Of disre-
gard for the president Of the company and
his lax methods OF business. During the
INTERIM and while on her own acres Mrs.
O'Hearn had melted her watchdog to mani
festations OF violence as. in dumb show, she
shook one very red fist In the direction
of each passing train. Quick to observe
and with the rare wisdom OF the dog, Nico-
demus conceived that loyalty to his mis-
tress demanded some outward expression
on his own part and that these noisy and
disturbing monsters, hitherto rnnoticed,
were by some process OF reasoning con-
lsidered enemies TO the house. And he, too,
missed the COW, for her absence left moth
ing in particular to be barked at.
At FIRST the efforts of Nicodemus amused
,the freight crews, VINO threw Jumps or coal
at him. This was to the advantage of Mrs.
-o'Hearn, since coal was a luxury. and the
daily performance resulted in a small meas
ure Of the precious fuel to add to her
store Of wood. She began to wish, indeed,
that the attention OF the passenger en-,
gineers might be equally attracted and that
their resentment might take the same
form. After a time. however, and from
long familiarity, the sport ceased to in
terest the passing trainmen, and but for
an occasional missile the dog barked with