Gunnison news-champion., 1919-11-28
Moving
the Mowers
iasfafss
80
NILJAlam
49,


WAS sitting ln the stufky little depot
Of prairie town. A '-nnsther- vas
prowlins around OUTSIDE. and vhistlins
mournfully about the caves A lone
drummer. two - thres farmees, and
myself. were waiting for the local go
ing west. a swaying combinatioo Of one
rickety passenger coach. any number Of
freight cars. and sputtering little hog
bnck engine.
The train made daily trips. but On
Its return each afternoon. or midnight.
becameNo. Instead Of No. Its west
bound cognomen.
The road ipoasted of another train.
subject. also. to daily change Of num-
bers-No. 2 and No. 4-a real paasen.
ger train, due late In the afternoon.
and likely to arrive at any time there
after.
On this particular morning. No. I.
known by the boys as THE Great On
limited" was also late. No one was
surprised. The drummer. who had
worked the whole town since break
fast. and had then defeated all the local
checker champions. was trying to kill
time by dozing In q corner, or slapping
NJ some stray fly.
had kept awake watching his an
tics for while. then discovered dirt
dnuber's nest on horseshoe over n
door. and for an hour or 80 divided
time between wondering how that intil-
vidual discovered that a horseshoe
brought good luck. and listening tn the
progress Of domino game in the Office.
between the agent and the only drly-
man In town.
Suddenly the outer door opened with
q crash. A man. u woman. and several
children entered, showing by NIL signs
In sight or hearing that they were emf
grants. or. as locally termed, mowers"
The woman was carrying. In one
hnnd. an old umbrella. n frying-pan.
md bird cage with half grown rnb-
bit In II. Ip the other hand she had
hntbox. Under one arm was square.
boxlike old clock, and from her wrist
hung bag that bulged with conglom-
Grafton Of articles.
Behind the woman came a girl OF.
perhaps, eight years, carrying another
clock Of different shape. and an ailx.
ious-looking gray cnt that seemed to
have Its attention divided between fear
of falling and the desire to eat the rab-
bit.
The man carried nothing but 4 big
fat. bawling baby OF two years.
wrapped up In red and green
blanket. Other children followed. some
carrying various articles, some crying.
others eating peanuts.
The children all came into the depot
readily enough. but seemed to have no
further idea what was expected Of
them. and stood gazing at the lurid
posters. maps and excursion notices, or
stumbled over seats and suitcases.
snow. set down!" commanded the
mother. "and don't stand around gapln'
like lot o eegiots!"
The youthful mowers" broke ranks.
some to Chamber into seats, others to
go on tour Of inspection Of every.
thing within range. The mother pushed
one clock under seat. found lamp
bracket for the bird cage. and sat down
with the baby and the other clock in
her lap. having deposited the bag on
tho seat beside her.
Then the clock under the seat began
to strike Justify. AZ It finished the
thirty-seventh stroke. the alarm In the
clock In her lap went of with such
bang that the bAby took fright, and fell
on Its mothers lap onto the door with
fresh yells Of terror.
I stole look over the top Of my
magazine, behind which had been try
ing 10 screen myself, and vainly tried
to catch the drummer's eye. but he was
gazing ont Of the window pinching him
self to keep from disturbing the peace.
The baby. 10 falling. landed some
where near the middle Of the catch-all
bag. and the mother made q plunge for
It as n the child were on flre. Then
the clock In her lap began striking
some unknown hour.
"Now, Elviry.' she shrieked. 'there
+ q
you've went and done iti ! bet you
broke yo' paws mushtash-cup."
The. guardian Of the household ef-
fects had just rearranged the baby. the
bag. and the clock. when her wander
ing gnxe missed her nrst-born, shock
Ileaded boy who had not remained in
the waiting room long after the arrival
of the family.
The baby was at once deposited
upon the door, where It beloved
wrathfully. The ,panic-stricken wom-
an sped for the door. jerked 1t open
and set up a shrill:
'Bus-s-ter! You B-u-s-t-e-rl Bus
ter-r-r-r!" winding up with an ear
splitting whoop.
The wind made straight in at the
a. -