Year: 1877

lhrouxn thick bone with his ax?-
and then a dull cry, and then. again,
only the cling and clang of the buffers
ciashing together. A cold shudder ran
over me; then l got the signal to go
ahead-there was no stopping. "For-
ward, forward" " In 4 moment / was
far away at the other end of the yard,
where no one could know what had
happened.


But did my duty still, only as if /
was dreaming, and when, half hour
later, we had got through and entered
the engine house again, the boss said to
me: "Have you heard, Zimmerman,
Assistant Station Master Porges has
been killed on the spot, crushed 20 death
between the buffers?'


didn't ask many questions; my very
heart shuddered, and don't know how
l took care of my engine and got ON the
way home. As I passed by the stairs !
saw a group with lanterns standing
there, and something covered with a
cloak lying on the snow. didn't stop !;
l shivered all over; and can tell you.
boys, I'd have given Heaven knows
what IL hadn't wished him to the de-
vii half an hour before. / tried hard
TO get that out of my head. l meant
nothing particular by it; twas way
of talking common enough with US.
Among you young chaps it's worse yet.
and 1t would cure you if you once felt
the crawling inside Of you that have.
Well, at last made out to get thinking
of the warm room at home, where with
the felt slippers all ready, and Louise
and the youngster, and the sugar and
the lemons on the table, and the cat and
the tea-kettle singing, and by degrees
begun 10 feel little lighter.


Now, with all this thinking of this
and that, you'll readily believe hadn't
paid much heed to wind and weather,
road or pathway; and all L knew was,
1t was whirliDg and bowling yet in the
air as entered the cut by the old oil
mill, through which 1 might have seen
the windows of my house, if one could
have seen anything at ten PAGES of. !
went ahead on the right hand track of
the two in the cut, because that was the
freer from snow, and from that side l
could see my house sooner.


And, in truth, / went along quite
carelessly, for 1 was going from the
yard, and that was the In track, so no
train could come on me from behind,
and at that hour none were TO be ex-
pected in front. Besides, must have
heard ii coming.


just as l was in the middle of the cut,
which lies, you know, in the curve. and
where that night one could not see a
car-length off, heard whistle behind
me, and right after it the clip and clap
of the approaching train. 1 noticed,
too, that the engine was pushing the
train before 1t, because the stroke of the
engine was much further behind than
the rolling of the wheels. 1 thought:
"Ah. that is the reserve train of some
twenty pair of wheels that stood yonder
ahead on the track, and that they are
shunting over TO the freight house."
But all this passed only vaguely through
my mind, as one always thinks mechan-
ically of his work even when his head
and heart are full of other things. say
vaguely; in reality l didn't feel the
slightest interest in it, for the train
must directly pass me on the other
track. But when the ping and pang of
the wheels on the hard frozen track had
got quite close up, and l already heard
the coupling chain on the foremost car
clinking back and forth. and saw the
light of its signal lantern begin to glide
by me on the snow, partly turned my
head to call out "Happy New Yearr'
to the fellows upon the train.


But there was no train on the track;
and at the same instant L got violent
blow In the back. The sparks danced
before my eyes-slap!- Ill lay fiat on my
face on the track, and pung! pung. the
cars began to pass on over me.


Here the old engineer made another
pause. 1t was still as death in the room,
1 anu ldCCr tdiliiCs- iiftNtu
forward round the table.


You see, boys, when we sit this way
round the table. or stand on the engine,
our ideas come along one after the
other, slowly and in some sort of order,
so that one can take good look at 'em.
They even say that we engineers are
slower than other men, because all the
quickness is gone out of us into our en-
gines. But, boys, In the second or so
between the blow and my lying on the
ground, / did more thinking than ever
| did before or since from Easter to
Whitsuntide.


First about home, the warm room and
everything in it, and the New Years
chimes and the going to church In the
morning; then the assistant station
master as he lay there under the cloak
on the snow; and then begun reckon
ing as distinctly as if L was giving the
orders for making up all the trains,
about the train that was passing over
me. How was it it was on the wrong
track, the one I'd been on, coming out
on the in track? And then all at once
l thought, what before in the midst of
my cogitating l had forgotten-the
outward track i had seen as early as
noon already deep buried in snow, and
that was why they were coming out on
the in track. Then saw plain enough
the train as it stood; there couldn't be
more than ten or eleven freight cars, all
ourown cars, they all wenthigh above the
rails-they would do me no harm. lay
fiat enough between the rails. But the
engines-the ashboxes of the engines! !!
knew all three engines that still stood
fired up at the station as well as my to-
bacco pouch. The "wittekind'' would
go harmless enough over me, even
though had been stouter than was !;
the "Herman," too, might be merciful