Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-05-22

unmarried, and kept his belongings in
a boarding house at one of the termi-
mails Of the railroad for which he
worked Since his was day run be
usually slept in his room nights.
Life was beginning to get tiresome
for Jim-thGt is, when he was not run
ming his engine. He had lost young
mans taste for amusement. but, not
being an educated person, did not care
for books When on time he got in
from his days run out and return at 4
o'clock and was ready to leave the
roundhouse at from 3 to 6. His even
ing meal was finished by Z, and he read
a newspaper till s. The rest Of the
evening was very lonesome for him.
He would sit in his room wishing for
home, nice little cottage not far from
the roundhouse, where he might be
comfortable between the hour Of his
coming in the evening and his depar-
ture in the morning. He would pic
ture a tidy woman standing in the
doorway waiting for him and several
"wee things .toddlin' down the walk
with outstretched arms on the way TO
meet him. Then he would sigh, read
the advertisements in the newspaper
and go to bed.
Not far from the terminal which
Jim considered his abiding place, about
200 yards from the track. was a small
house that looked as if 1t might have
been built by the white settlers of the
country. II stood in the center Of
four acre lot, on part of which were
forest trees. When Jim had COM
menced his runs on the road the place
was uninhabited, and, although he had
passed it twice day for six years, he
had never seen a person on the prem
Uses. Notwithstanding its dilapidated
| appearance, it required little stretch of
! the Imagination to picture it pleasant
home. A porch. an arbor, small barn,
all in a state of decay. remained, and
Jim as he drove by it loved to fancy
| the persons who had used them.
! One Sunday he walked out to the de-
! serted house-it was but mile from
| the roundhouse-and went over it.
Through open spaces where a weather
board had rotted away he could see
| that the framework was of the stoutest
oak. 1t had already lasted probably
one or two hundred years and would
| likely last as much longer. Indeed, two
thirds of the building was like iron; the
rest needed renewing. If Jim only had
a wife he would buy the place and fix
it up.
But he hadn't the wife. And this
matter of getting a wife is a very IN
certain matter 1t is not necessarily a
matter OF means. Many man worth
millions has lived to be very old and
never been blessed with home. Jim
was getting good pay and had money
laid up, but he was as far from pos
sessing a wife as if he had neither pay
nor nest egg. So he went back to his
lonely room, spent lonely evening
and went to his lonely bed.
One morning when he pulled by the
deserted place he was surprised to see
little pile of new lumber in the
grounds. A few days later a man was
saving a board. When Jim returned
in the afternoon the man was putting
in new posts where there was most de-
cay. Jim took notice of the man al
work when he passed for a couple OF
weeks, at the end of which time the
buildings had been restored to their
primitive condition. A painter took
the place of a carpenter. and when the
painter left the place was again de-
serted.
But few days later as Jim sped by
on his iron horse he saw woman busy
ing herself about the house. Ii was
spring, and the windows and doors were
open. The woman was gathering the
small pieces Of wood and piling them
in the wood house. Jim was not neal
enough to her to see what. she looked
like, but he could see that she was nei
Their old nor slatternly. When he re
turned in the afternoon the refuse hat
been got rid of and the house looked
habitable. Every morning and every
afternoon the engineer took note of The
cottage and its gradual Improvement
Then he saw curtains in the windows
and it was evident that the new ten
ants had moved in.
Jim was curious to know of what
persons the family would consist. bur
weeks passed. and not person did ht
ever see about the place except The
woman. One afternoon as he wa.
driving by she was coming down the
walk that led to the road beside thu
rails, dressed evidently to go into tIt
city. She reached the road Just 8.
Jim's locomotive clattered by. and HI
saw her plainly. She appeared TO bt
between twenty-five and thirty year.
old, neatly clad and not bad looking
She caught Jim's eye fixed intently
upon her, but it was only for a mo
ment, and her own eyes were turneC
away Immediately.
The house having been put in order
the grounds next received attention
But for this the woman was not 81
fitted on account OF lack of physica
strength. Her efforts consisted chiefly
in setting plants about the house anC
trimming. some small towering trees
How Jim wished he could use a spad,
there in the evening. after coming II
from his days run. and keep the grass
from growing rank.
One reason Why he had never mas
rled was that ne had very little plucI
in addressing a woman Vet the mos