The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1904-11-19
Jim Moore's
Dinner
By WILL J. HAMPTON

No. At was due at Bridgeport at II
o'clock noon. 1t was Thanksgiving day
and Jim Moore, the engineer, was
booked to dine at home on turkey with
cranberry sauce on the side, not to men
ton a few oysters, with a wind-up Oh
mince pie that was warranted to make
a man throw in a whole carload OF
thanks, extra. Bridgeport was the END
Of his division, and as it happened his
of day occurred on Thursday, his wife
and all the kin on both sides were to
have dinner that day at Jim's. 1t was
to be the dinner of their lives, too, for
Jim had not been at home on Thanks
giving day since his marriage five years
before the date of this chronicle.
The weather had been very bad for
several days before Thanksgiving, ana
every day of that week it had ra1neo
as II there had been an encore for
Noah's food. and the elements were
doing their best to respond to 1t. the
road ran through 20 miles of river bot
tom ands so low that IN places long
t~restles supported the tracks, and it was
{ times a section that engineers were
kad to get through without some kind
an accident. On this trip Moore a
An eight hour run and he had accom-
plished but half of 1t when he reached
the low grounds. AS the engine swung
round the last curve out OF the nils
and the first view of the valley pre-
scented itself, through the pouring rain,
Dick Long, the fireman, burst forth.
Look at that sea, jim" he shouted
above the roar of the engine. W amt
made Of foatin' stuff, and do you reckon
we can swim?"
Moore swept the watery waste with
his trained eyes. There was indeed a
wilderness of water spread before them,
but the railway tracks were plainly Wis
ible, winding through it like a great
sea serpent with the ribs sticking out
of its sides, and with innumerable feet
extending into the water at intervals
and long reaches of dark body that had
no feet. 1t was thus the t~restles and the
solid portions of the road presented
themselves to him.
At the last station before passing out
into the low lands and over the bridge
which spanned the river proper, the
train was tagged and the engineer was
informed that he must wait for orders
before proceeding further. For four
long and soaking hours the engine stood
on the track %throbbing restlessly and
taking the pelting rain as if it realized
that it wa being imposed upon.
81 don't care a cuss about the wet"
said Moore to his fireman, "for this
cab keeps us dry enough and warm,
but what hurts my feelings is that ]
am going to miss the finest Thanks
giving dinner on the road between
Millopolis and Bridgeport. I've got a
bill of fare here in my wife's handwrit-
ing and it reads like a fairy tale"
He took it out of his pocket and be-
gan reading it aloud.
'Iet up on that" protested Long
Don't you suppose a fireman has go1
as fine feelin's as an engineer has, OF
do you? If I listen to that a minute
longer Pll have a stomach strike"
Jim would have read further, ever
under protest, but he was interrupted
by the conductor, who came up to the
engine on a trot.
'By gum, JIM" he exclaimed, 9TH
water has broken through the fill be
tween us and the hills and we arr
marooned unless we go ahead and taxi
n on getting out"
"How about orders?" inquired the en-
gineer.
"The wires went down in the rush ant
the operator has lost his connection
at both ends"
whats the matter with waitinl
here and taking it easy till the dry spell
sets in?" inquired the fireman jokingly
"See that water coming up there?