Woodruff County news. [volume] (McCrory, Ark.) 1901-1910, 1906-08-23
WHEN BUD DID
DO HIS WORK

| Salu the 1aC engineer, DuC lne WoIh
germ didn't seem to get set right
in his breast and Bud was always
shirkin' little odd chores, which was
continually gettin' him in trouble.
Zone night when Charley's fast
freight was runnin' ahead of No IL
they had to stop up on the curve by
Joys woods to cool some hotboxes.
Accordin' to the rules n ethics OF the
railroad game it was up to Bud to take
his red lanterns, walk back 81 tele-
graph poles n protect his train
Il guess Bud thought they would
get goin' again in minute. AT any
rate, he didn't take the trouble to go
back, n with a rush m roar No.
IL came flynn along N made a noise
like bad accident against the rear
end of Corey's train
when they got things Strengthened
out a bit they found Bud Sammons
layin' in a heap under the platform
of the caboose, dead. His indifference
to a little bit of work had cost him
his life.
"a few nights after that l was
fast time for which l am noted, when
on the track ahead of me, up by Joys
woods, l saw a little yellow circle or
light, n in the center of this cir
Gle man was wavin' his arms over
his head, all possessed. Rememberln
the accident to No. ~, l Immediately
gave two answerin' toots on the whis-
hut off CT M C1OWA6
paratory to stoppin'.
Il declare to man, when we got
down near to the circle it faded n
disappeared. couldn't see any trace
of the man who was signalin' me to
stop. I felt as foolish as a hen when
she finds out she's been settin on
white doorknobS.
when l got 'em goin' again, Muir
ply stepped over to my elbow n
said, in an awed voice;
Did you see it?'
Sure, l says. What was it?'
Why he says, that's Bud Sam
mons sperrit as sure as l ever put
a scoopful of coal on a fire. l sup
pose Buds sperrit got to worryin' over
the accident caused by his careless
ness N just can't Keep away from
the railroad track
GA brace of poohs for yours says
l. Who ever heard tell of such
thing?'
The thing appeared to more than
one crew, nevertheless, n little knots
of the boys whenever they got togeth-
er in the bunkrooms n roundhouses
would get to discussin' it. One of em
would say:
Sure enough l saw it with my
two eyes n | just passed the color
blind examination, too
AN the word was passed aroun'
that strange noises could be heard
emanatin' from joys woods by any
one who had sand enough to stop n
listen.
We'll, sir, the boys were gettin' all
wrought up n it was sure up to
somebody to get adjacent to what was
goin' on there in the vicinity of joys
woods.
"On my next trip comm through on
No. - l was just hittin' up there
for all l was worth by joys woods,
but just as we came aroun' the curve
there was Buds shadow on the job
goin through his calisthenics. I
looked at my watch to see if my po-
sition as to the time card would adj
nit Of me stoppin' for a spiritual
seance n settle the thing then n
there
with a sigh, perhaps of regret, or
1 suppose some knockers would call
it a sigh of relief, l saw that we
were ten minutes late n couldn't
stand any tamperin with shades. 1
had just made this decision put on
more steam, not to hurry by the
haunted spot, oh, no, just merely to
make up time when Zip, the air
brakes were set from some cause n
we came to a stop in a circle of such
bright light that it blinded me.
When l got so l could see l burst
right out laughin'. The mystery of
Bud Sammon' ghost was solved.
What | saw in front of me through
an openin' in the trees was a negro
camp meetin' with the leader stand
in up on a platform in front of big
row of bright lights, the colored
brethren in the congregation a-groan-
in n goin' on accordin' to the ex-
tent they were moved by the spirit
When the wind was in the right direc-
ton it would blow the limbs of the
trees apart N the bright lights be-
hind the leader of the camp meetin'
threw his shadow out over the track
"Of course as he warmed up in the
workout he threw his arms up n
down over his head, maxim many
fancy shadows out on the railroad
track. When the wind died down m
the limbs stopped movin' the shadow
would be shut out. Altogether it had
a will-o' -the-wisp effect.
"An air brake hose had burst, caus-
in our train to stop, but we soon got
things Strengthened out n were away
from the camp meetin' grounds. The
ghost was settled, however, N / hope
it will be a spell before we have an
other scare, as it's rackin' on my