The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-11-23
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president of a railroad | don't care
so much about merely seeing him as
l do about conversing with him.
should be satisfied with saying n
few things to him over the telephone
II | couldn't do any better!
1T isn't that l want to rage at him.
want merely to assure him that
am hlled with the deepest admiration
lor any human being with a nerve as
colossal and contempt for his fellow
man as sublime as are his!
He runs the railroad which is the
only means of getting out of my sum-
mer resort. All during the season
heard vague rumors and rumblings
of discomfort from the floating popu-
lation at the inn, who, of course, were
obliged to escape by rail. In an in
dolent fashion l learned that nothing
ever occurred on that road in the
way that it should. People rather
inferred that the train crews sat up
nights planning new and ingenious
ways to upset the schedule and keep
people waiting.
To be sure, 1t was annoying to
nave to take a train at IL o'clock at
night, but we got to the village by
dark and had our dinner The bus
left at s for the station a mile away,
so we went in it. Three of us could
kill time easily, we said We sur
vived the blighting depression of the
village station for half an hour and
then we took walk. 1t began to
rain.
"On going back we heard the bag
gageman saying that the train was
forty minutes late. but that sleeper
would run down from somewhere else
earlier and We could get aboard that
and be picked up later by the train.
In half an hour the report was that
the sleeper was delayed by a sand
slide on the track. We had talked all
we knew and were getting to the
point where we eyed each other with
growing dislike.
"a woman with five small children
added to the joys of the evening be-
cause If one child cried all the rest
piped up, and if they all stopped I
think she must have pinched them to
start them up again.
"Then Harry Gilfist burst in upon
his wife and me to report lunch
room a block away. We fed to it,
and started in on ham sandwiches to
kill time. We ate sandwiches with
deadly seriousness, ard then we be-
gan on the Gagged apple pie and the
petrified doughnuts. Harry reported
that the main train was two hours
late now, because of a washout
1.-The rain poured down. The sta
tion agent slept on the table. The
baggageman said terrible things out
loud to himself and demanded to
know how any man COED live on four
hours sleep day and why was
railroad anyhow? Mrs Gilfist and
sat hunched up in dry corner and
yawned and Strengthened our hair
irritably 'Whadyu say?'
Down the track two men were
carrying lanterns close to the ground
in a wavering way 'Wha-they doing
Mrs Gilfst demanded, Grossly
They're searching for the train. my
dear told her soothingly. They
think maybe they'll find it slipped
down crack where the rails join.
Don't be silly!' she snapped I shall
die if | can't go to sleep.' And the
rain poured down in the miserable
black silence We could hear the
agent snore
There isn't any train. there never
was a train and there never will be 6
train on this line Harry Cliffs
chanted mournfully. They put VI
this station just as an ornament ans
added the ticket agent for touch o
realism If he had a Gothic nose
now
1.-The sleeper'll get here at. /!
o'clock, they report said the desper
ate baggageman. I'll resign tomor
row.
"'And we have to get up at 6!' said
Mrs. Gilfist, holloway. oh, how those
ham sandwiches made me feel!
"At 10 minutes after 2 train am.
bled in from somewhere. and, Keeling
from WEAKNESS, we dashed to the
sleeper end of it. I wish | owned
this road!' l confded to the Pull
man conductor. I'd like to hack it
ND with little Ratchet and use it for
kindling.' HUH! he retorted. IF I
owned it | wouldn't take so much
trouble with it! I'd just step on il
and exterminate it,
"After hurting umbrellas and suit
cases into sur section and finding
without doubt that it wasn't out sec
ton at all, because there was man
in the lower berth, who was annoyed
because the corner of suitcase land
ed against his stomach, we finally got
adjusted and snatched about two min
utes of sleep, think, in the midst oil
the switching and humping and back
ing up.
when. woke up In the morning
at daylight looked at the scenery
long time before addressed Louise
Gilfist in shrill whisper. She looked
out and said we weren't in Chicago
where we were supposed to be, bu
at the junction twenty-five miles from.
where we had started There was
wreck ahead of US, the porter told III