Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1912-07-17
On
Their Way
On

There's a man on earth WnOm L III
hoping to meet some day. unused
the girl who likes to talk. Hes the
president of a railroad. 1 don't care
so much about merely seeing him as
I do about conversing with him. L
should be satisfied with saying a
few things to him over the telephone
If 1 couldn't do any better!
at isn't that l want to rage at him.
I want merely to assure him that l
am filled with the deepest admiration
for any human being with nerve as
colossal and a 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 I
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.
ITO be sure, it was annoying to
have to take a 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 a mile away,
so we went in it. Three of us could
kill time easily, we said. We sur
vived the blightihg depression Of the
village station for half an hour and
then we took walk. 1t began to
rain.
con going back we heard the bag
gageman saying that the train was
forty minutes late, but that a sleeper
would run down from somewhere else
earlier and we cou& get aboard that
anc 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 tC
start them up again.
"Then Harry Gilfist burst in upon
his wife and me to report lunch
room a block away. We fled to it
and started in on ham sandwiches tC
kill time. We ate sandwiches with
deadly seriousness, and then we be
gan on the Gagged apple pie and the
petrifed doughnuts. Harry reported
that the main train was two hour:
late now, because of a washGut.
"The rain poured down. The sta
ton agent slept on the table. The
baggageman said terrible things gu
loud to himself and demanded tt
know how any man could live on fou1
hours sleep a day and why was ;
railroad anyhow? Mrs. Gilfist and
sat hunched up in dry corner anC
yawned and Strengthened our hal
irritably, 'Whadyu say?'
Down the track two men were
carrying lanterns close to the grount
in a wavering way 'Wha-they doing
Mrs. Gilfst demanded, GROSSLY
They're searching for the train. m.
dear I told her soothingIy. The,
think maybe they'll find it slippet
down a crack where the rails join
Don't be silly she snapped. I shall
die if I can't 90 to sleepr And tn
rain poured down in the miserabl
black silence. We could hear tn
agent snOre.
"There isn't any train. there neve
was train and there never will be
train on this line,' Harry Cliffs
chanted mournfully. They put u
this station just as an ornament an
ADDED the ticket agent For touch {
realism. If he had a Gothic nos,
now
"The sleeDerH get here at
o'clock. they report said the despe
ate baggageman. 'Tll resign tomo
row"
And we have to get UP at g. sal
Mrs Gnfst. holloway. oh, how thos
ham sandwiches made NE feel!'
at 10 minutes after a train ar
bled in from somewhere. and, reelir
from WEAKNESS, We dashed to Il
sleeper end Of it. Z wish I owne
this road!' I confided to the Pu
man conductor. I'd like to hack
UP with a little Ratchet and use it f
kindling' Huh!' he retorted. If
owned it I wouldn't take so muc
trouble with it! I'd just step on
and exterminate it,
after hurting umbrellas and SUI
cases into our section and findil
without doubt that it wasn't out sc
ton at all, because there was a MI
in the lower berth, who was annoy
because the corner Of suitcase lar
ed against his stomach, we finally g
adjusted and snatched about two m
utes Of sleep I think, in the midst
the switching and humping and BAG
ing up.
'"NVben I woke I'D in the mCrni