The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-06
THE COUGH in LOWER SEVEN

section to me all this time; you claimed
you'd hunted through the car for it,
The darby shuffied darky fashion
Deed I did hunt. hunted right smart,
but this gen'man wouldn't Ie' me look under
his berth. He said the baggage in there
was all his'n and tole me to keep my hands
off,
81 never saw a fellow get firing mad so
quick in my life as Z did. He went for
Bull-neck like a hornet. You great big
bully. you loud-mouthed. beef-eating brute.
you; you're the cause Of this whole trouble
yourself
SCI might as we'll stop repeating what he
said right there, for l never heard one man
swear so at another I'm my life, and for
three years I lived in Chicago on the West
Side. He cursed him from Arizona to
Underwater before I could jump and halt
him; there were half a dozen women in
the bind end of the car. / had hardly said
the word women when he stopped short.
He was the worst cut up you ever saw.
Didn't say another word, just put both
hands TO his face and kind of let the cur
tains fall together in front of him. But I
want to tell you, while that scoring lasted
Bull-neck sat as If he'd been burnt clean
into the cushion. 1 guess the way things
Stood, even then, the women thought he
had a good deal the worst of it. There was
a sour-mouthed old maid in the far end
that sputtered about the way the sick fell
low talked, but none of the rest said a
word about it.
mo. z didn't get into the dining car in
time for breakfast. When the excitement
was over the porter brought him back a
little toast and coffee, but 1 noticed when
the tray went out there was just as much
OH it as when it came in. He didn't turn
out of his section till long in the after
noon. 1 didn't know then why, but thinking
since / guess he felt mortified over the way
he had talked. Another thing, too, he
couldn't hold his head up five minutes at a
time, and when the porter did get the sec
ton made up he had to fix a bed of pillows
and the fellow lay on that all the afternoon
looking out of the window.
Most of the time when I happened to
glance over. his eyes were closed. 1t didn't
take a very old traveller to see he was a
pretty sick man. Toward evening, when
he appeared to brace up a little. 1 dropped
down in his section and asked him If he
was famiiar with the route. telling him 1
A01 oNNA w. W &c. t hhO
every section stone to albuquerque. After I
had got to talking i could see his heart
was pretty full and he started in again
TO speak about the chap that had roasted
him in the morning.
"tIt wouldn't have been so bad said he.
If I could have found my medicines last
night when l ought to've had them. l
haven't had any strength since 1 got out
- 49, &-vo xroAlr0 400 o~I s4,C I00p rrottv
hard for me keeping track of things my
self; my head goes so weak. Then my
wife came down last night to the train
with me. OF course, we had to say good
bye; you know how women get broke up
WIN didn't she come with you?' 1
asked. for 1 didn't mind letting him see
that in my judgment he was In a bad way.
HE looked at me with something as close
to tears as I ever saw in a mans eyes.
There wasn't any chance. She would have
come, but the baby-is almost-as sick as
1 am. She couldn't bring him; we didn't
have anybody to leave him with. The doc
ter said I'd have to come-right off. She
had to choose and 1 told her to stay with
the kid. If she'd been along it wouldn't
have happened; she's got some way of fix
ing the pillows for me so L don't cough
hardly any at night. / fused with them
all night myself, but 1 couldn't get a
blamed one fixed TO do any good. Then I
wouldn't have minded the coughing so
much, nor even keeping everybody awake,
IL L hadn't made such a break right before
the ladies' in the car when 1 ripped into
that fellow this morning
"'Oh, that's all right 1 said. No one
would lay that up against you
"FNo, it wasn't all right he insisted,
with as much strength as he had. 1T cut
me to death to have the women think for
a moment I'd have used such language
If I'd been in my right senses, or TO think
1 don't know what is due to a woman. I'm
not able to say much the way l feel to-day;
I'D be ashamed to speak to any one now,
anyway. If you get the chance to drop
a word of apology for me, and will do it,
I'll owe you a good deal
'But | knew pretty well how the women
felt about it and where their sympathies
were. After supper one OF them at the
hind end of the car-she was a sumner.
too: a young widow with two children, the
p~rettiest boy and girl / ever saw-when she
came back from the dining car after SUD-
per she saw No. Z propped up trying to
nibble a piece of chocolate. She had a big
orange in her hand. AS she came along
she held it out to him and said as sweet
as you ever heard, 4 brought this back
for you because 1 thought may be it would
taste good after such a dusty day. / see
you don't eatsmuch.'
The man flushed up and his eyes fell:
he started 10 rise. sit STILL she said; I
don't want TO disturb you
1T is very kind of you to think of this
for me- he replied. sitting down again.