The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1905-10-05
PADDY
WHARTON'S
GAL By c. B.
LEWIS
Copyright, 1905, by E. S. Mcclure

b@~O~O~~~0%1~~~~
There was state of suspense In the
cabin of Paddy Wharton. The man
who had been station agent ut Sum
mitsyllle for three years had been
changed to another place down the
line and new man had arrived.
Properly speaking, Paddy Wharton's
domicile was not cabin, but shanty.
It was a combination of groggery and
boarding house and one finding no ia
yor In the eyes of the police. Paddy
himself was a man who was down on
almost everything, including law and
order and the railroads, and his wife
WAS a woman with tongue in her
head There was only one child in the
Wharton family, and she was a girl Of
thirteen WHO was generally referred to
as Paddy Whartons gal.
While her father dispensed grog and
sWore and her mother cooked fer the
boarders and seoldel. Rose Wharton'S
part in supporting the family consisted
in stealing coal from the freight cars
and Juggling it home on her back, a
bushel or SO ut a time. Neither the
Whartons nor their ilk called it steal
ing, but the railroad folks did. The
agent had threatened Paddys gal many
and many time. and Oh three or four
occasions his assistant had caught her
red handed and taken her plumber
away and cutfed her ears. She had
even been arrested, though the judge
let her go ON her promise 10 mend her
ways. Things We're getting hot when
the old agent left He had set out to
break up the differing, and Paddy
Whartons gal WAS returning home
with an empty sack rs often as with Il
full one.
The state of suspense was brought
about by the change It was hoped
that the new agent might be more
lenient man. Winter was coming on,
and Paddy had objections To buying
coal. 1t seemed Il reckless waste 10
pay s. ton when there We're carloads
in the yard to be stolen.
Two days after the new agents ar
rival Paddy's gal was sent over to the
depot to size him up. She WAS bare-
footed and bareheaded, her face WAS
covered with smut, and size had de-
faint gait. She WAS hanging about the
platform when the agent came out of
his office lie was hot over twenty
two, and Rose liked him ut once, When
he smiled at her she liked him better.
When he raised his hat TO her, half Sc
rious and half in fun, and saluted,
Good morning, Miss Wharton,' she
stood and stared open mouthed. Some
one must have told him that she WIS
Paddy Whartons gal and Il coal steal
err, and yet he treated her with polite
ness. She slowly closed her gaping
mouth, rubbed her eyes to make sure
that she was awake and turned and
fled splitting on her apron and wiping
her face as she went For the first
time In her life she had been addressed
by "a real gentleman" and for the first
time In her life she had been ashamed
of her bare feet and ankles and smut
ty face.
Before Paddy Whartons gal reached
home the new agent was a hero In her
eyes, and the first buds of romance
were swelling in her soul. She had de-
lighted In stealing coal under the eyes
of the other agent because he had
sworn at her and called her names and
threatened her with prison bars. In
this case 1t was so different that she
arrived home in n doubtful frame of
mind. Could she steal from man who
bud smiled at her, who had tipped his
hat, who had called her Miss Wharton?
We'll, what sort of a man Is hef'
asked the father as Rose entered with
her finger in her mouth
Dunno" she replied.
Didn't you see him?"
Yep"
did he yell out at you to take
skate?'
"Noap."
Then he may be all right. Your
mother wants your help today, but to-
morrow you'll be hustlng for coal II
just breaks my heart to see twelve or
fifteen cars standing on that side track
and know that I'm not two bushels
ahead for the winter coming on"
All that day Paddy Whartons gal
was so silent and so different from her
usual self that her mother could not
fail to notice 1t and wonder If she was
coming down with measles or chicken
pox. She went to bed to dream of her
hero and she woke in the middle of the
night to wish that her father bought
his coal in the regular way. She made
ready to start out next morning, but
with great reluctance. She didn't care
for the freightman nor the switchman
and If a brakeman gave her chin she
could chin bnck, but she felt different
toward the agent, If he should hap
pen to catch her in the act of plumber
ing car she would feel too ashamed
TO lift her eyes to his She took extra
precautions this day, but fate was
against her. She had bagged up a
bushel of stove coal, but had not yet
descended from the fiat car when the