Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-14
ND THE HOME-NEW SUMMER SUGGESTION
The Daily Story
Another Girl in the Case

men who we're examining with amuse
interest the small drivers and cylinder
Of his engine
mot a Pegasus. evidently" remarke
one.
mo. nor yet Hebe," laughed tn
other
III you two NUTS are kicking agains
Old IS, you'd better cut It out" inter
posed the fireman, angrily
I'VE meant no disrespect," answered
the older Of the two. courteously, "oui
attention was attracted because wed
never seen one like It before"
THE old girl is no beaut." continued
the fireman, softening somewhat "but
she Jumped from here to Boston at q
mile-n-mlnute clip one day last month"
That's a mighty good record-we felt
there must be something remarkable
| about her" returned one, appeasingly.
IF you've got a story-and I'm sure
| you have-come down and give II to u.s.
| urged the other, smiling wlnningly.
"She was a warm baby in her day.
| began the Modified fireman, but she's
shed her cow-knocker and for a good
| many years she's been doing nothing bet
/ leT ludu pOklnE DONCdTH ana mats AROUND
here in the yard But she got her dander
up that day. and yanSed us over the rails
| in great shape"
Something special, suppose" encour-
aged the older man, passing his cigar
case.
Something special!' Well, I should
say" emphasized the fireman, I'VE were
the special Three of us-and Old 49,"
He rounded his lips, and allowed the
cigar smoke to escape In a long, vapor-
Gus cylinder.
1T was Sunday afternoon" remins-
Gently, "and about o'clock, when a
young feller jumped off the trolley up
there" indicating the street where the
trolley cars ran to Andover, land came
slamming down into the station, as red
In the face as II he had buttoned a nest
Of hornets I'm with his vest. He bumped
into old Buster-that's the station agent,
and howed for a special
"Bustor told him he want running
specials as side line, and there want
nothing about the yard anyway but Old
is, and an old shfter like that was hardly
the thing for n special
We'll, the young feller talked all kinds
OF languages, and showed all kinds OF
money. He wanted to go to New Haven
He'd got telegram, but It didn't reach
him until after 2 o'clock, and he'd got
to he in Boston in time to catch the 4
p. m. shortline express from the South
Station There was no connections, any
way, from here, and the special he must
have. 1t seems he was a student at the
Phillips Academy in Andover-and a rat
Ting good feller, he was, too"
The fireman, artful stOry-teller, paused
to whet the interest of his listeners, and
puffed his cigar enjoyably
III bet there's girl at the other
end of the line!' cried the man who
was looking for stories.
"Or fortune" hazarded the other.
The fireman grinned at both Impair
TALLY.
The young feller's name was Hart,
and nc had a might convincin' tongue in
him, and the way he slung his arguments
at old Buster showed he knew the way
to mans inside heart. He roped in
Engineer Dan Duffy too; and Dan said
Old Is would do the trick If he could
have the road
"Old Buster kept the key tapping. and
Conductor Tom Collins picked out the
short end for the train. Then Buster
got the word back from Boston-'Au
right Give you the road, and in just %
minutes from the time young Hart had
blew in with his roll and his convincin'
eloquence, Duffy throwed the throttle
wide open, and the old hooker dashed
down the lire as If she'd been on her
trial trip. I jammed her with pine
knots soaked in kerosene, and Duffy
lAtNtI NObh MS eyes OIL llle TallS.
"Old IS soon showed her mettle. and
no big engine passed us that Duffy
didn't get a hand from the cab. Hart
was game-we couldn't go too fast for
him, and at easy stretches we must have
struck a mile a minute II was Just
245 to 2 dot when we plunged into the
long train house at the North Station, old
IS snorting and humping like she un-
derstood she was a special.
"All the way from Reading to Bog-
ton in Just 10 minutes and 30 seconds,
and we reckon the run at Just about
10 miles! I could almost see old is
winsing her weather eye at some of
them blk siX-wheelers; and the kind of
a you'Ve-dld-well-S Sissy air that they
seemed to have as they looked down
at her was enough to make man
laugh-a man who can see them things
you know"
The fireman paused and anxlously
regarded his dead cigar.
Young Hart made his train, of
course?"
"oh, yes; he had plenty of time. He
jumped over to the other station on the
L. and we let Old IS cool off little
and then she hitched back to Reading.
But I've kinder noticed a new pitch to
her whistle ever since and / reckon the |
old girl knows she done big thing that
day"
Light up again" urged the seeker
after stories, handing the cigar case,
that isn't all?" suggestively.
mo; about two weeks after that, young
Hart run over from Andover one day
and give one Of these ere things to old
Buster one to Tom Collins, one TO Dan
Duffy, and one to me; and mine" tri-
'is as big Jim Dandy as the
others-they're all just alike"
He took a small velvet case from his |
pocket. hendling it gingery with his !
grimy fingers.
One of his companions took Il and
pressed the spring. disclosing a small |
searfpin-a knot of gold with tiny dia-
mond point
That ere little stones a real diamond"
said the fireman, proudly mo ground |
glass about that! wear it when dress
uD and go some places"
TITS all right-a fne thing" admired |
bis new friends.
We'll. good-by-them's good cigars-see
you again some time, maybe" dropping
the velvet case into his pocket and turn
ing toward his cab.
Hold on" cried the story gatherer,
catching him by the arm that isn't All
what about the girl IN New Haven?"
THE fireman grinned tantalizingly;
then his face sobered.
"I'm afraid you two gents Is going TO
be disappointed; there amt no girl IN this
story-only the woman that every man
owes his best to. A man may have half a
dozen sweethearts, If he's lucky, but ne
never can have but one mother" raising
was dying. they thought that day when
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