Amador ledger., 1903-12-11
The Man
Who Looced
Hic Hold
By WIN. H. OSBORNE
Copyright. 1908, by T. C. Mcclure

One of the distinguished features o.
the little village of Far Hills was th'
deep gully that lay upon one side of it
| This gully was never ending sourc'
of fear to the inhabitants. Mothers o.
bad children threatened them with it
Mothers of good children warned then
against it. Its sides were deep and al
most perpendicular. The bottom was
so covered with dense growth of un
derbrush that it looked as though there
were no end to its depth.
Young Perry Haskins, known as Pig
| gy by his friends, was q very youthful
specimen of humanity in the village OF
| Far Hills. At times he was bad boy
at other times, few and far between
he was exceptionally good. He was a
| pusher at any rate, and in enterprise
| of all kinds he generally was the leader
| of the gang. His daring knew nc
bounds, and when the G. L. and P de-
cided to take in Far Hills on its main
branch young Haskins was the first
that had been built to span the gully
And this he did even before it had been
completed After that the boys called
it Piggy's bridge. Piggy would crawl
out to the middle and with the eyes
of all Far Hills upon him would lie
upon his stomach and gaze with inter-
est into the black depths of the gully
down below.
After it was finished young Haskins'
day was never complete one unless
he had walked across the trestle and
then back again. Even this was a
ticklish proceeding, for there was moth
ing but the ties upon which to step,
and misstep might prove fatal And
then, besides, there were the trains.
One night in spring young Haskins
started upon his constitutional across
the trestle. He whistled as he went.
But he was not the only thing that
whistled on that warm night He had
barely reached the middle of the bridge
when before his startled eyes he be-
held the glarfng headlight of a loco
motive. 1t was coming his way and
with internal speed He stopped and
stood as though turned to a pillar of
salt The bridge held but one track.
There was no place to seek for safety,
for the trestle was no wider than an
ordinary train. And the train came
whirling down. 1t was not hundred
yards away when Piggy Haskins did
the only thing there was left to do.
With the deftness of an agile monkey
hQ lpt himsalf aa rofI,lIx, Ioxxr,, lDo4r,oo,,
the ties. Underneath him there was
naught but space and the bottom of
the gully. Over him there was nothing
but the rushing, roaring. train. The
train did not take much time in get
ting over; but, according to Piggy Has
kins' calculation, it was a couple of
months at least. When at last he drew
himself up upon place of safety he
felt that he had been through the ex-
perience of his life. His limbs culver
ed, and he felt obliged to crawl the
length of the trestle upon his hands
and knees. He ran home, entered the
window of his room by way of the grape
arbor. and, lighting candle, hastily
regarded his appearance in a mirror.
He was sure that his hair had turned
white during the occurrence But it
had not. 1t still was delightful shade
of red.
Years passed. Haskins grew to be
almost man. One eyentful morning
he shook hands with all his family and
friends and stepped forth from the vii
lage of Far Hills to make his living.
He went into a far country and made
it. He became prosperous. 1t was just
ten years after he had left that he de-
termined to return. In the meantime
he had not been back His parents one
spring morning received letter from
him which in its contents was some
what out of the usual run of his epis-
ties. 1t ended with this pleasing state
ment:
1 am coming home for short vacation.
And what do you good people think? 1
shall not come alone. 1t is my purpose to
bring with me one of the most charming
girls in this wide world, a young person
who tomorrow will become my bride. My
trip to Far Hills will be a wedding trip.
Expect us in the evening of the Sd.
Haskins and his bride started from
the far country where they belonged
and purchased tickets for his native
place. All along the way young Has
kins regaled his bride with stories of
his youth. She listened with delight,
for at that early stage in the game
anything that Haskins said went.
Haskins and his bride were due at
the old home somewhat early in the
evening. They would arrive at just
about dusk. Haslins, suddenly aroused
by some of his CID recoIlections, sug-
gested a romantic scheme. He pro-
posed that they should alight from the
train at the little station shed at East
Far Hills on this side of the gully and
should walk across the trestle. There
was but one thing that made Haskins'
young bride consent, and that was that
a lonely walk at that hour of the night
with Haskins would not be amiss. She
suggested thS question of danger, as in
duty bound to do, but the suggestion
only made Haskins all the more deter
mined. And, above all, he wanted to
show his bride just where he hung on
that eventful night SO very long ago.
1t happened therefore that at East
Ear Hills they alghted. And then,
Stepping out upon the track in the wake
of the receding train, they walked
along the trestle. In the near distance
the lights Of Far Hills cleaned. To
the right the moon, large red ball of
fire, was just beginning to rise. Final
U 4ha of