The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-01-12
A Mystery In
A Freight Car
By ADOLPH SNYDER
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.


walking alongside the train and saw
n thin smoke coming out from under
one Of the cars. Thinking 1t to come
from n hot box, l stopped to examine
the truck, but the running gear was
as cool as n cucumber. Then. looking
up. noticed a small tin pipe protrud-
ing from the bottom Of the car,
through which smoke was coming in
little puffs.
well, I'll be jinged"' l said to my
self. Here's a freight car, sealed with
lead, that hasn't been opened since 1t
started three days ago, and steam
engine in it. Am in my right mind.
or have tumbled off the brake wheel
where / was sitting spell ago"
l stopped q trifle lower and craned
my neck in little further in order
to get a better view. There was the
pipe, evidently part of leader from
n gutter belonging to the roof of
house. 1t extended a few inches
downward. then turned with an elbow,
the second part extending about n
foot rearward. As | looked the puffs
continued as regular as those coming
from a locomotive making a steady
gait.
What to do l didn't know. l was
afraid to notify the conductor for fear
I'd find out that I'd had a stroke and
saw things that didn't exist. Some
thing occurred just then that made
me think I'd surely gone daft. I heard
a girls giggle.
There wasn't any connection between
a steam engine and n girl shut up in
box car, especially a sealed box car,
but there was a good deal to excite
curiosity. l stopped worrying about
myself and began to wonder what
there was inside that carr l stood off,
looked at 1t and walked all around It,
A freight train is made up of differ
ent kinds Of cars, and this car was es
pecially different from the others. 1t
looked as though it might have been
caboose turned into a box. The thing
most noticeable about it was a door at
one end. Why l hadn't noticed this
before | don't know unless it was be-
cause the end was only about two feet
from the end of another car.
saw that there was or had been a
lock on the door. There wasn't any
knob, but nail had been put through
the screw hole Of the steel piece on
which the knob had been fixed I
climbed up on the coupling and tried
to turn the nail to open the door. l
didn't succeed I listened, but every
thing was still But didn't forget that
giggle, and pretty soon l knocked. In
a few moments | heard whispers with
in. Then all of a sudden the door was
pulled open, and there stood boy and
a girl
Besides these, | got a view of the
car. There was a carpet on it, the
worse for wear; in one corner was a
mattress with bedclothing; in the cen
ter was a pine table, and at one side
was a cook stove. And / noticed that
the stovepipe was run down instead Of
up or horizontal and passed through
hole in the floor"
please don't give us away" said
the girl, going for me with a pair Of
You'd better let me come in," l an
swered. "If the conductor or any of
the train hands should come along
there'd be no need Of giving you away"
I went inside and shut the door after
me. Then | asked, "Will you be good
enough to tell me what this meansT
Were a bride and groom" said the
young feller who couldn't have been
over seventeen years old.
ION our wedding trip" the girl
added.
"A bride and groom on your wedding
trip 1 exclaimed. How did you git
In here?"
"Ill tell you all about it," said the
boy. Were not only on our wedding
trip, but we're a runaway couple"
Are you sure you're not a pair of
escaped lunaticsW
The girl laughed; the fellow looked
kind Of queer and talked on.
1--WE were engaged, but neither her
dad nor mine would let us git mar
ried till we were older. had a clerk
ship in a railroad freight house, aud
| managed to git hold OF this car, and
one night when you men were making
up this train l give the engineer n
signal to hook up against it, and the
next time he backed up against a car
this was in the train. I'd fixed the
door and put in the bridal furniture"
"The bridal furniturew l said, look
ing around. 80 this is a bridal cham
Der, is it?"
"Well, it's all we got" he answered.
what have you had to eatT |
asked.
Bread, bacon, eggs and a few other
things. There's our stove. We get
good enough draft when the trains
moving"
"And when it isn't moving you fan
the fire"
"Just So"
Hearing some one coming, I put my