The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-02-21
On
Their Way

hoping to meet some day" unused
the girl who likes to talk. Hes the
president of a railroad. l don't care
SO much about merely seeing him as
| do about conversing with him.
should be satisfied with saying a
few things to him over the telephone
Ii I couldn't do any better!
1T isn't that want to rage at him
/ want merely to assure him that l
am filed 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 ALI 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 1t 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, it was annoying to
have to take train at IL O'Clock at
night, but we got to the village by
dark and had our dinner. The bus
left at 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 a walk It 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
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, and 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 washout.
1.-THE rain poured down. The sta
| ton agent slept on the table. The
| baggageman said terrible things out
loud to himself and demanded tc
know how any man could live on -four
hours sleep a day and why was q
railroad anyhow? Mrs. Gilfst and
sat hunched up in a dry corner and
yawned and Strengthened our hail
! irritably, 'Whadyu say?'
| Down the track two men were
| carrying lanterns close to the ground
| in a wavering way. 'Wha-they doing
| Mrs. Gilfist demanded, GROSSLY
They're searching for the train, my
| DEAR l told her soothingly. They
think maybe they'll find 1t slipped
| down a crack where the rails join.
/ Don't be silly!' she snapped. 7 shall
die If l can't go to sleep!' And the
/ rain poured down in the miserable
/ black silence We could hear the
i agent snore.
i ""There isn't any train, there never
i was a train and there never will be s
train on this line,' Harry Cliffs
/ chanted mournfully. They put III
i this station just as an ornament ana
i added the ticket agent for touch o
realism. If he had a Gothic nose
II now
H 1.-The sleeper'll get here at
4 o'clock, they report said the desper
L ate baggageman. '1'll resign tomor
Il row.
"'An0 we have to get up at g. sait
Mrs Gilfist, holloway. oh. how thos'
Il ham sandwiches made me feel!'