Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1909-06-10
HE GOT THE SArCHEL

ssThs worst case Of fright and about
the best case of nerve I ever came
across" said the drummer, was
chap who was travelling through the
middle west for q Arm one spring.
met him on the train and found he
played a good game Of whist, SO with
two other men we made up q little
game He was my partner and was a
very silent fellow. He didn't even
mention what his line was. which Is
! unusual With him he had satchel
Of very superior make, and the way he
kept his eye on that all the time,
sneaking little nervous peeks at It
every two minutes. led me to suspect
that he was jewelry man and had a
big lot Of valuable stones in the grip,
though couldn't imagine why a man
| should take such chances carrying
such things In satchel.
"Well, the railroad smash came-it
was my latest one. by the way-just as
my partner was on his way back to
the game from having gone to get
some water. In all the excitement I
distinctly noted the yell he Let out 1t
was the finest piece Of vocal work Of
that kind l had ever heard. As the
car sort Of crumpled up he made a
dive toward US, and ! figured that he
was thinking OF his satchel.
my luck was with noe, and l found
q way out with nothing worse than a
scalp wound and collection Of
bumps. Pretty soon he came crawling
out after me. He wasn't hurt, 80 far
as could see, but he was whittier than
q sheet gave him a swis Of whisky
from my flask and told him to brace
up. He took an awful hooker and
then began to twist his fingers and
kind Of moan:
my satchel! Ny satchel! My
satchelv
"'Weh, what's the matter with your
satchelY said.
"1t's in there he said, and
thought by his tone he was going to
cry. It's In there where I can't get at
IT,
"'say, you make me tired / said.
You ought to be mighty thankful to
be out yourself without worrying
about any satehel.'
"TH have to 80 N after It, said he,
looking around kind Of Wild and prano-
ing like horse with sore feet.
"'Not on your life,' said L. Every.
things loose In there, and the whole
thing may collapse at any minute, and
then where'd you be? Besides, the
cars aflre down at the other end
my Godv he said 'Afre? That
settles 1t. I've got to get that satchel.
then, II I die for It, And he actually
tore his hair I'd never seen 1t done
before, except on the stage, but he
did 1t.
oh, take q BRACE said, getting
disgusted with the man. 4 guess the
fire won't do much damage. Ii It's
diamonds
'Diamondsr he said. Man, it's dy-
Mantle, enough Of 1t to blow US all
into the skyy
'Dynamitev yelled. What are
you-an anarchist?
"'No. I'm dynamite agent he
said. Don't keep me here talking.
I've got to 60 In. I've got to do it..
There's NO other way. There may be
people in the wreckage, and II that
stuff goes or
"'Never mind explaining It,. said.
Go in, and the Lord help your
9Th 70 ho cart af thfnn. xIok -
nerve. don't believe I could have
done 1t. He topped down and era wled
in there, and I watched and waited for
q week or so, as 1t seemed, and pretty
soon he came out looking like q dead
man and bringing that satchel be-
tween his teeth like a dog, because he
needed both hands to crawl with.
Well, we escorted that satchel across
two lots and buried 1t In a furrow and
put stone over 1t before we went
back to work at the train.
ut happened that the. fire was put
out before 1t reached the place where
the satchel had been Why on earth
the STUFF didn't explode and blow US all
to flinders when the. crash came Is
more than know or the agent either.
He said dynamite was always doing
things and failing to do things in the
most inexplicable way ana that was
what made the life Of dynamite
agent one long round Of excitement.
He never dared tell what It was he
had In the satchel, he said, because the
railroads wouldn't carry him II they
knew.
He went back and dug up his tray-
cling tnfernal machine and walked
with 1t to the nearest town, and that's
the last saw of him or want to see.
though he certainly did have good
nerve. Ever since then when I've seen
q man with satchel that he seemed
to think heap Of I've quietly moved
into the next car."-Milwaukee SENT
mel.
Library Advsrtlsins.
Once upon time q certain painter
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brandt, but just humble artist I'd