The sun., 1908-12-13
1T TURNED OUT ANOTHER WAY.
Unusual Finding to Story OF Boy VINO
Ran Away to He n Train Robber.

Nhubudt w StuEy VI - HbUs WIN
Ran Away to He Train Robber.
This boy decided that he would run
away from home.
He had a good home and all like that,
but he didn't care for home any more.
Anyhow, he figured it that his folks,
namely his father and mother, were
handing it out to him pretty hard. They
declined to permit him to play with the
gang. They interfered with him in lots
of ways. They were, for example, op-
posed to the idea Of his becoming victim
OF the cigarette habit. And 80 on and
so on. He found it unendurable.
Consequently after giving the matter
due and proper thought the boy decided
that there was but one thing for him to
do and that was to run away.
Away from home, he felt, he would be
able to indulge in, his natural propensities
without let or hindrance.
Now his most natural propensity. as 1t
seemed to him, was for the robbing Of
trains-Far Western trains. =
The boy had profound feeling that he
was modelled. cut out, fashioned, devised
and intended by nature to be the greatest
robber Of trains that ever crawled over
the tender of an engine and put the
engineer and fireman under a sawed OF
shotgun filed with sings. a
He felt too that his folks would be liable
to thwart such an ambition on his part
were he to mention IL to them,
He figured. therefore, that In view Of
these considerations the only proper
thing for him to do was to get his few
things together and beat it. He had read
many pieces Of fiction-all Of the fiction.
h owever. as he understood, founded
upon faot-which related how famous
train robbers had started of upon their
distinguished careers by running away
from home Just as he meant to do and how
something always turned up pretty soon
to put them in q way OF achieving mas
terry OF their chosen profession.
And so the boy, working very secretly
and deliberately gathered together all
Of his little possessions and wrapped them
up in big silk muffler belonging 10 his
father. There WASH much to be packed
in the muffler. but still he didn t elect
to leave his few little poaseesions behind.
since he was very certain that he would
not return TO his boyhood home for many.
many years. If ever.
1t. was a beautiful moonlit night when
he decided to make the jump. He went
to bed, or pretended TO 60 TO bed. and
waited for his parents and erownup
brotherga and sisters to turn in. Then with
his little bundle slung over his shoulder
at the end Of a stout stick he softly stole
down the stairs. opened the front door
noiselesslv. tiptoed out after closing the
door and reaching the front gate turned
to gaze. as he felt. upon the home Of his
youth for the last. last time.
He made directly for the freight depot
at'the other end Of the town. his idea being
that. as ne had often read in connection
with OF her runaway heroes. he might be
able to catch an outgoing freight train.
AS there wasn't any outgoing freight
train that night, daylight found him
still hanging around the freight yard.
BY this time he was pretty hungry and
he thought OF the usual ham and eggs and
hot mullins and things that he'd been ac-
customed to eat for breakfast. Somehow
in the clear. sunny light OF morning II
looked heap more difficult to get a start
as a train robber than it had seemed while
he was planning the great expedition He
stood and watched the freight hands
making themselves some fine fragrant
coffee on little stove In signalling shack
and his hunger became something fierce.
and he thought OF the nice clean table
However, just a minute. JUST ONE
MINUTE.
Here is the spot where it is customary
to get in swift climactic action.
II is the usual thing to narrate how the
hungry would-be runaway boy who
hankered to be train robber fizzled out
i'm his desire as he thought about the home
grub, and how he began to whimper
around the freight yard, and how two
or three kindly, griZZled freight yard
hands asked him what was ohewin' on
him. and how they finally got his story out
Of him, and how they sympathetlcally
advised him TO beat it for home and paw
and NAV just as fast as he could 60
and how he, of course. hated to 60 home.
because he didn't know how he was going
to SQUARE things for having remained
out all night; but how, eventually, he be-
came so dad blasted hungry that he had
10 Just nachully abandon all thought Of
bee Dming a train robber, and how he skunk
into the alley back Of his home after dark.
and how he got nailed by his dad as he
tried 10 nudge through the kitchen door,
and how his dad got out the old trunk
strap and whaled him good and plenty,
and how that eternally killed his ambition
TO become train robher. and
Well and all like that-a-way.R lot Of il.
always and infallibly just like that.
This boy caught freight right out Of
town on the morning following his run
ming away from home, and after some
he finally fell in with the
famous Bill Dalton gang and he became
a full hedged train robber and mighty
dangerous specimen. and after seven or
eight years Of robbng trains he was
finally 'corralled somewhere in the PAN
handle Of Texas and riddled with bull
lets by Sheriff's posse.