VOL. "XI.
THE TIMES.
An Independent Family Newspaper,
IB FDDLI8UBD EVEUI TUESDAY BY
F. MORTIMER & CO.
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Within the County, II 25
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cation. gelcft Toctify.
A BUTTERCUP.
A llttlo yellow buttercup
Blood laughing In the sun i
Tlio grass nil green around It, '
Tlio summer Just begun
lis saucy little bead nbrlm
AVlth happiness and fun .
Near by grown old, and goue to peed,
A dandelion grew
To right and left with every breeze
Ills snowy tresses ilew,
llo shook bis homy bead and said
"I've some advice for you.
" Don't think, because you're yellow now,
That golden days will last t
I was ai gay as you are, once,
But now my youth Is past,
This day will be my last to bloom )
Tho hours are going fast.
" IYrbaps your fun may last a week,
But then you'll have to die."
The dandelion ceased to speak, . .
A breeze that capered by ,
Snatched all the white hair from' his head,
And wafted It on high.
His yellow neighbor first looked sad,
Then cheering up, he said i
" If ono's to live in Tear of death,
Cue might as well be dead."
The little buttercup laughed on,
And waved his golden bead.
SAVED BY TWO MINUTES.
JOE was not half as gooU-looklng, but
Jennie liked him a great deal bet
ter ; and, indeed, it wa9 only sometimes
that, in a caprice, she fancied she liked
Mark Maldon at all.
Joe Thurston was the driver and
Mark Maldon the fireman of freight
train No. 99, which stopped regularly
all the year round at Redwood Station
to let lightning express No. 70 pass.
: No. 09 whistled at 10:55 P. M., Invari
ably; at 11 Joe had Jennie in his arms,
kissing her almost to death. This was,
of course, after they were married.
Jennie lived in the only house, and
kept the only store, there was at Red
wood, and all the company she had
after dark Was her old grandfather and
the little dog at least, till the train ar
rived, and then Joe and Mark made their
appearance. j.
Thus the courting was done. Some
how, although each of Jennie's lovers
kept a sharp eye on the other, yet both
found opportunities to propose. She ac
cepted, Joe, and when she informed
Mark next uight what she had done he
turned pale, and then congratulated her,
and when he got aboard his engine he
was un sober.
It was the beginning of his ruin ; and
on the night Jennie and Joe were mar
riedwhich was but a brief ceremony,
as Joe was pressed for time Mark Mal
don was not in a condition to take his
place on the train, and on the day fol
lowing the company dispensed with his
future services. "
From that time Mark, as the expres
sion is, went to the bad. His little
savings he proceeded rapidly to drink
up, and this dissipation made the usual
changes, and soon, in appearance, man
ners and speech, and the rest, he was a
different man.
Sometimes he dropped into the little
ehop, and more than once Jennie spoke
to him in reproof, but with gentleness ;
and it was only when she perceived that
those well-meant reproaches made him
a great deal worse that she ceased to
offer them.
It is a terrible eight to see a human
fcelng sinking in the dark and dreadful
pool in this way ; but' down, down he
went, and no mortal hand could save
Lim. '
NEW BLOOMFIELD, IJiV., TUESDAY,
I don't know when or how it wns, but
by imperceptible degrees Jcinilo grew
afraid of Mark Maldon. He had never
uttered one word of love to her after her
marriage, nor had he seemed to like her
husband the less i but somehow M'hen
ever she saw Mark's white and swollen
face coming in at the door, oi beheld in
the distant woods his bent nnd furtive
figure gliding softly over the broken
twigs and dry grass like a ghost, her
heart felt a nervous pang,aiidflhcAylHhed
he would go away to live somewhere
else, or was it wicked V that he might
even die nnd be at rest.
Mutters went on mueh as usual till
one evening in October, when, about 10
o'clock, looking up from her sewing,
Jennie beheld a pallid face at the win
dow staring in at her intently. ,
Something jumped into her throat,
and she could not stir or speak. Rut
then the face went away, and presently
the door opened and Mark came into
the shop.
" Didn't know me," ho said, ad
vancing and leaning ucross the counter.
" I hope you are not frightened, Jennie.
It wub thoughtless of me; but I just
wanted a peep at fireside-comfort, a hap.
piness I fear I have missed, eh V You
did look so cozy and content sitting
there, and I'd give something handsome
to have a pretty wife Molting at the
hearth for me ; and really you mustn't
mind my eavesdropping, Jennie, will
youV"
There was something mournful in his
looks, voice and words that touched her
deeply; and this was the more notice
able from the fact that for once he was
entirely sober.
" Yes, Mark, you frightened me ter
ribly ; but it's gone now! "Why don't
you do better you know what I mean
and I am sure you will not find It hard
to get the pretty wife and the domestic
happiness both."
He shook Ids head..
"Too late I I've missed my tip. I
don't blame anybody, though only my
luck, you know. Joe is due pretty soon
now, Isn't he " He glanced at the
clock and nodded, and then said : " I've
felt awfully tired and cold all the eve
ning, and and lonesome. I don't be
lieve I ever knew myself to be so lonely
before," and he laughed in a melan
choly way, fiddling at the same time
with the scales on the counter. "And
I declare," he went on, glancing around
oddly, " this is such a pretty scene that
it it makes my heart ache, Jennie, to
think I have no share in it. The
pleasant glow of the chimney corner for
Joe, and the cold snow for Mark ! Such
is fate, and a fellow oughtn't complain,
ought he V
Jennie never felt so uncomfortable in
her life. She was not afraid of him any
longer; but she wished he would go.
Still he stood there, talking in the same
melancholy strain, and at length came
the shrill scream of the engine's whistle
outside, and then, very soon after, en
tered Joe, smoky and begrlmmed, but
all smiles and good humor.
"Four minutes late," said Mark,
glancing at the clock.
".Yes ; my fireman was taken sick at
the Cut above," said Joe, after kissing
his wife as usual, " and I made the run
from the last station alone. I don't
know what I'm to do unless By
Jove! I just thought of it I can get
you to go on with me, Mark."
" The company mightn't like it, Joe,"
said Mark, with the same strange, de
pressed smile.
" In a case like this there's no choice.
I cannot keep my train here all night,
and I can't go on without a fireman.
Come, I'll take the responsibility and
make it worth your while."
Jennie looked uneasy. Mark Maldon
rubbed his hands together in a feeble,
imbecile sort of way, hesitating
" The company didn't treat me right,"
he replied ; " but that wasn't your fault,
Joe. Well, I'll help you out. I always
do a friendly turn when I can."
" Good I There's the express now,"
added Joe, as the whistle of No. 70
sounded, and the train-went thundering
by. " Let's get aboard at once. I must
make up for lost time." .
" Very-well ; I'll just get my coat and
be on the engine in two minutes." And
Mark Maldon hurried out. . ,
"Good-by, Jennie;" said Joe. "I
must be off."
"Joe," she hesitated, "I half wish
you were not going to take that nian I"
Joe stared.
" Why V"
" I don't know. -J don't feel sat
isfied." " Pshaw, Jennie! Mark never harmed
any one but himself, and he couldn't
harm me if ho wanted to. I gfiess I
run the engine, don't I, little girl V"
" Please don't take him?"
" And keep my truin standing here
all night nnd bo discharged to-morrow
morning y Nonsense! I must clear
the track, darling. You forget that there
Is another express yet. You don't want
a collision, do you Y Good-by, Jennie."
" Take core of yourself, Joe," she
said, pale anil troubled, and almost try
ing to detain him. "'Don't leave your
engine a minute."
He laughed. ,
" I never do. Against the rules."
A few minutes later freight No. 99 was
on its way. Joe at his accustomed post
and Murk in his old olllee of fireman.
" Now, what's the instructions, Joey"
said Mark, much more cheerfully, his
spirits rising with the speed they M ere
making as they tore along through the
dismal night.
M Well M'e go on hard ns M-e can till
we reach . Clear Spring, and there we
pull over to the south siding and let No.
SO express pass, and then we have the
right of M-qy all the rest of the route."
" After Clear Spring thqre is no siding
till we reach Apsley Junction, seven
miles beyond ?"
" None. We watt sixteen minutes, if
necessary, at Clear Spring," replied Joe,
decisively.
" All right.' By-the-way, I haven't
had a drink to-dny. I brought a flask
along," said Mark, producing the arti
cle and unscrewing the top, which form
ed a cup. "Take a nip cold night
won't hurt you."
Joe shook Ills head.
"I never touch it when I'm on
duty."
" Once and away won't hurt you,
Joe. It's good stuff, and can't do you
no harm."
" Well, perhaps one drink woi't hurt.
Your health I"
He drank.
Three minutes afterM'ard he was as in
capable of exercising his faculties as If
he had swallowed a quart. His brain
reeled, his sight became dim, his limbs
relaxed, and he fell helpless upon the
bench built against the' side of the little
cab.
A lurid triumph filled the eyes of Mark
Maldon. He flung the bottle out of the
window And seized the handle that gov
erned the movement of the locomotive.
" I have owed you a long debt, Joe I"
he shouted above the roar of the wheels,
" and now I can pay it with compound
interest! You took everything from
me and made me what I am, and now
fate gives me my revenge I"
Joe Mas incapable of moving, but his
senses in some degree still remained.
" What are you going to do V" he
gasped.
" You shall see."
The wretch pulled the lever, and the
engine leaped suddenly as a horse bounds
when pricked with a. spur. Every
pound of steam she could bear with safe
ty from instantaneous explosion was
put on, and the train dashed forward at
lightning speed.
"Remember Clear Spring siding!"
gasped Joe, hardly conscious.
" I shall remember to pass it I" yelled
Mark, with demoniac joy, above the
clatter and crashing of such mighty
machinery. " I looked into your home
to-night, Joe Thurston, and saw your
happiness, and then I asked myself
where was my home arid where my hap
piness. I saw your wife the woman I
loved, and of M'honi you robbed me. It
was a comfortable reflection all that
love and peace for you, all the shame
and despair for me ! My chance to get
even came before I dreamed of it. You
are in my power now, and I'll use it.
We both die to-night!"
He stooped and seized Thurston's
watch.
" Every minute brings us nearer to
death. Ha, ha! We are at Clear Spring
already," he cried, glancing out ; " but
we don't stop. No, no I We go on till
we smash Into the express, and he'
ground to atoms !"
This horrible design seemed to sober
OCTOBER 1(3, 1877.
Joe somewhat ; he at last comprehended
it.
"MyUodl Mark, have mercy," ho
groaned; " think of my poor wife. Re
verse the engine or we are lost "'
"I do think of your wife, and that
nerves me to go to my death smiling
nnd Joyously, because you go along with
me," returned this fiend. " More
steam, more steam, if we do blow up.
What eare I y"
He turned to the coal-tender. There
M-ns a flush in his face, a report rnng out
nnd he tottered, and dropped down
nmoiig the wheels. Homcthing hot
spurted upward Wood and the train
jolted.
A woman clambered down from among
the coal. It was Jennie, pule as death,
revolver in hand.
"You, Jennie y" moaned poor Joe;
"or Is It fancy V"
" It Is I, Joe. I distrusted that man,
you remember, and before Ihe train left
I armed myself and sprang on to the
last car. You made sucli speed that I
have been all this time getting here; I
M'asn't used to running along the roofs,
you know, and leaping from one car to
another; but here I am, and Justin
time, Joe."
" Clod bless you, darling ! but I fear It
Is too lute. Where is my M atch V"
" That villain took It with him when
he dropped under the wheels. What is
to be done V"
" We must go on just the way we are
going now. If we can't reach Apsley
Junction before the express we are lost."
And so they still tore on through the
murky night, plunging deathward with
every Becond, Jennie looking steadily
ahead.
" I see a lantern, Joe."
" A lantern 1" he cried, trying to rise.
"It Is the switchman at Apsley Junc
tion!" At the same instant both heard the
M'eird and ominous scream of a whistle.
" It is the express approaching at the
other end !' shouted Joe, with the sud
den energy of despair. " If we have
two minutes in our favor we are saved !
What is the color of the lantern, Jenny,
darling y"
" Red, and ho waves it up and down'
He Is running across the track 1"
"Sound the whistle four times!"
screamed Joe. " It is the signal to
switch us off!"
She knew how. Three shrieking
blasts and a long concluded wall. The
watchman had set his lanturn down.
One minute I Over the rails they Jump
ed and were safe on the siding ! With a
rusty groan the watchman closed the
switch. A flash and a yell, and express
No. 80 had safely passed ! Both trains
were secure. Two minutes !
" Kiss me, Joe no danger now," she
whispered. ,
He caught her just in time, for she
had fainted. Already he had reversed
the engine, and the train was standing
still. The old switchman, with his
lantern, came hobbling over.
" You whistled in the nick of time,"
he croaked, tremulously. " There was
only two minutes between you and
eternity, my man."
" Two minutes," said Joe, " and a
woman 's loving heart ! " ,
And that was true.
Serenading a Dutchman.
THE Orphans' Glee Club of our place
concluded to serenade Miss Peter
son upon a given evening. One or two
of the members were a little tender
about Miss Peterson, and they thought
that maybe they might make a favor
able Impression by giving her a little
midnight music. Unfortunately, upon
the very day of the serenade, old Peter
son moved his family about four blocks
down the street; and his house was
taken by an old German butcher named
Frick. The Glee Club hadn't heard the
news, and late in the evening went
round. Ranging themselvea upon the
pavement they tuned up and began.
They sang two songs without obtaining
any response from the fair Peterson, al
though one of the Infatuated members
was encouraged by the conviction that
he saw something white at one of the
upper windows. Finally, when they
were dashing through "Come where
my love lies dreaming," the sash in the
second story went up with a crash, and
a head was protruded. When the song
ended Peter Lamb had barely time to
NO. 11.
say, " There she Is!" when the voice of
Frick floated down to them.
" Say, poys, you havo one larch, big
stummleoge, hey y What vor den you
howl in dot manner, hey y I coom cIomu
and get you medicine ; I glfe you bara
gorlo to mnge that lightning, hey V
Wald a minnld. I coom right down." '
" You don't understand," said Mr.
Hoggs. " We were singing a serenade,
you know."
" Ah I hah ! you coom to serenade mey
You slug der music for me, hey hey y
Dot Is wat you call singing, dond it t
Veil boys, I tell you something. I haf
ono llddle sciiall tog oud in der gortcn
yonder, named Schack, und ven I trod
on his dall he sings potter as you."
" Shut up, you old fool, and go to bed.
We didn't come to serenade you." .
" No y Ish dot so y You come to
serenadd der tog deh. I call him up, so
ash he can hear you. Maybe von your
legs bide him In der mouth. He likes
dot. You serenade him oud git some
mead at all ad once."
" Where is Miss Peterson, you Dutch
idiot y
" Miss Henderson hafo mofed avay.
Somebody tolt her you poys vas com in '
and she clear right oud. You go town
and sing to Miss Uenderaon, and der olt
maft'll rush oud and blaze avay mid do
shod gun. I saw him loat it last night.
" Never you mind now ; where has
she moved 1 If you don't tell - us we
will stay here and sing all night."
" I'll see aboud dot. You valt till I
coom down a mlnnid."
About three minutes later a German
gentleman named Frick emerged from
the back of the house carrying a pistol
and accompanied by a dog the size of a
Bengal tiger. At soon as the club saw
the dog they scattered, and as the last
man turned to run, Mr. Frick called
after him :
" Poys, wend you stahy und sing all
nlde. to his schmall llddle dog y Ah I
hah I you go avay, don'd Jd ? Dunner
and blltson I if you could sing der vay
you run, you do good enough for
angels."
'Ihe club is studying up some fresh
music for Miss Peterson.
The Chancel of the Battlefield.
An exchange says : Battlefield sta
tistics show that it takes a man's weight
In bullets to kill him. This is a clumsy
statement of an interesting fact,and only .
the absolute absurdity of the idea that it
expresses so much more clearly than the
one Intended would prevent a general
misapprehension of the writer's mean
ing. The Chicago Tribune has published
statistics to show that the same fact ex
ists in regard to riots, and that for each
person killed in the late riot in that city,
bullots having an aggregate weight tqual
to that of an average man were dis
charged by the police. The total weight
of metal discharged was one thousand
pounds, and assuming the average
weight of the men to have been one
hundred and forty pounds, the weight
of metal divided by the assumed average
weight of- man, gives a result of seven
and one-seventh people injured. This
result of the Tribune's estimate tallies
with the number of casualties, which
consisted of seven men killed and one
boy M'ounded. The statistician who
made the calculation might have added
another to it, that the chances against a
a man being killed by a volley of mus
ketry in a battle or riot are nearly 500 to
1, supposing each bullet to weigh about
an ounce. For all that, the one chance
against a man isn't a pleasant one to
face.
CSTThey were telling yarns about
shooting, the other day. Said one of the
marksmen : " Some years ago I waa
out in New York State bunting grouse.
There was an old fellow along M ho Mas
nearsighted. We were just at the edge
of the farm, when suddenly one of my
favorite game cocks jumped up on the
fence and he drew a bead on it, mistak
ing it for a grouse. I didn't have a sec
ond to lose, and I just threw up my rifle
and quietly knocked off the left nipple
of his shot gun at fifty yards, so that
when the hammer fell the nipple and
cap wouldn't be there see V
" You saved the bird, then ?" chipped
in an attentive listener.
" No," said Austin, sadly ; " I picked
out the wrong nipple: and the fellow
fired the right barrel, and blew my $50
game cock all to blazes." The crowd
quietly dispersed.