The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-12-01
7 '' On ''
Way

the girl who likes to talk He's the
president Of railroad. | don't care
so much about merely seeing him as
| do about conversng with him.
should be satisfied with saying a I
few things to him over the telephone |
If i couldn't do any better,
1T isn't that | want TO rage at him. |
/ want merely to assure him that ]
am filled with the deepest admiration
for any human being with 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 | 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 aud keep
people waiting,
ITO be sure, it was annoying to
have to take train at II o'clock at
, night, but we got to the village by
| dark and had our dinner. The bus
| left at for the station 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.
| con goir.g 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 II they all stopped |
think she must have pinched them to
start them up again.
"Then Harry Gilfst burst in upon
his wife and me to report lunch
room block away. We fed to it,
and started in on ham sandwiches to
kill time. We ate sandwiches with
deadly seriousness, and then we be-
gan on the Gagged apple pie and the
petrifed doughnuts. iIarry reported
that the main train was two hours
late now, because Of a washout.
"The rain poured down. The sta
ton agent slept on the table. The
baggageman said terrible things out
loud to himself and demanded to
know how any man could live on -four
hours sleep a day and why was a
railroad anyhow? Mrs. Gilflst and
sat hunched up in a dry corner and
yawned and Strengthened our hall
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 1t slipped
! down a crack where the rails join.
! Don't be silly!' she snapped, I shall
! die IL I can't go to sleep! And thu
: rain poured down In the miserable
: black silence. We could hear thu
, agent snore.
"There isn't any train, there neveI
was a train and there never will be ,
| train on this line Harry Gifts
chanted mournfully. They put III
, this station Just as an ornament ant
: added the ticket agent for a touch o
) realism. II he had a Gothic nose
) now
/ "The sleeper'll get here at
3 o'clock, they report, said the desper
ate baggageman, 'T'll resign tomol
! row.
"And we have to get up at g. sal
> Mrs. Gilfst, hollowly. ooh, how thos
. nam sandwiches made me feel!'
v "At 10 minutes after 2 train an
:. bled in from somewhere, and, reelin
Q from WEAKNESS, we dashed to tn
o sleeper end OF n. I wish l owne
v this roadv tonfded to the Pull
9 man conductor. I'd like to hack
up with little Ratchet and use 1t fo
8 kindling.' HUH he retorted. IF
y owned 1t I wouldn't take 80 muc
g trouble with It! I'd just step on
d and exterminate TT
t. "After hurting umbrellas and sui
Q cases into our section and findin
x without doubt that It wasn't out sc,
o ton at all, because there was ma
II in the lower berth, who was annoye
u because the corner Of suitcase Liant
ed against his stomach, we finally &c
r adjusted and snatched about two mil
n utes of sleep, / think, in the midst {
the switching and humping and baol
ing up.
"When I woke up In the mornin
70 at daylight looked at the scenery
long time before / addressed Louis
10 GIlfist in a shrill whisper. She locke