The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1910-04-14

lung, uIy ROAD. down. towards a
small crek, which the road crossed
by ford, travelled man. His old
frayed clothes were covered with the
yellow dust, and so were his grayish,
unkept beard and hair. His breath
was fast and jerky, an hectic hue
were his cheeks, and he coughed a
dry, rasping cough. Incidentally, he
carried a staff. 1t was not a very
dandyish staff. 1t was merely the
limb Of tree picked up by the road
side, and it was gnarly and crooked
and owe large. But it served him,
and he leaned heavily upon it as he
walked. In sooth, he had the mien
OF very old man, yet he had, round
ed the cycle of the seasons but five
and forty times.
When he was come to the creek
he squatted by the margin of the
cool, clear water and bathed his
hands and face. And then, when he
had frightened the strings in his old
rundown, toeless shoes, he feebly
arose an d gazed blankly up the road
in front of him. Atop of a hill a
mile or more this way he could see
a small settlement 1t was his desti-
nation. But his dull gray eyes
showed no manner of emotion at that
fact.
A short way below the county
road the very wide and deep gu1ch
Of the creek was spanned by a mas
sive iron bridge, over which a rail
road passed. To this structure the
traveller turned his vision, pushed
the battered derby back from his
high, full forehead, and began pull
ing his long straight nose medita-
lively. There was a peculiar charm
about it to him-about the bridge.
He had been viewing it for some lit
tie time when a heavy freight train
approached. And, as the train en-
tered upon the bridge he gave vio-
lent start. His stopped shoulders
became erect and his dull gray eyes
blazed with strange fire. Intent1y,
strainedlsS he looked and listened at
the bridge. When the train had
crossed and gone on it's way he went
over to one Of the abutments and
climbed up to the roadbed. Cough
ing and painting, he picked up an
iron bolt and stadted along the
bridge, hating every few steps and,
placing one end of his staff against
his front teeth, set the other on a
girder or beam, which he tapped
with the bolt.
The bridge-warden was cycling him
askance. The warden had seen
many of his kind pass the bridge
daily during the past ten years; but
he ha d never seen one act as this
one.
Directly the strange inspector
stopped, got down and took look
at the underWorks of the bridge and
when he arose he called the warden
and told him that the builders of the
bridge failed to allow sufficient space
for expansion in times of such severe
heat as then prevailed; that one of
the main girders had wrung loose
from it's fellows and lacked but an
inch of being off the head of the pier,
and that the next train to start over
it would go down.
The warden, now that the danger
was shown him, could appreciate it
we'll enough; minding that the next
train was the limited, that it was
nearly due, he struck of hurriedly to
meet, and stop it.
He with the bolt and staff made
his way slowly back towards the end
Of the bridge, his critical eyes close
ly scrutinizing each and every part
of it as he came along, condemning
here, commenting there the work
of IFS huildArc Whom hp wac oOmn