Ladoga High School - Canner Review Yearbook (Ladoga, IN)

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lifeless body of Dennis. Pale as death, with a deep gash on his temple, he lay breathing in hoarse gasps. Whenever they could, the baggage master and the mail clerk came and watched over him. Two hours trip and Foley's Junction would be reached. It seemed ages to the frightened trainmen. At la.st the wheels click-clacked over the switch frogs in the yards and in a few moments Dennis was being lifted tenderly into a waiting ambulance. At nine o'clock Brancroft and Vinson came to the hotel and were forced to wait in the waiting room to their growing impatience. A young doctor came into the room from the bedside of Johnnie Stanford. He had been found after the safe was blown and was brought in by the crew of a freight. f'How is he F asked Vinson, eagerly. . Doing nicely, answered the doctor. He wasn't any more than badly stunned. Stanford be hanged: said the dispatcher. I mean Dennis, the boy the train hit, the bravest lad in the state. ' Oh, excuse meg that chap hasn't one chance in a thousand to live, said the doctor. ' i i After being ushered into Dennis' room they saw him almost encased in court-plaster bandages. T T Q He recognized them at once and the old happy look came into his dull eyes. ' It's a mistake about your being fired at Hartwood. We intended to make you a dispatcher one of these days. You are to come there as soon as you are well, said Brancroft. Then Dennis fell into a faint, weary sleep with a smile of satisfaction upon him face. VVhen he awoke the men were gone. For several weeks he lay bandaged in court-plaster in his clean warm bed. Three months later a pale looking youth came into the chief dis- patcher's office and hung up his hat. You told me to come to work when I got well, he simply announced to the chief. Then he added, Looks like Fifty-three knocked all the deafness out of me that night. By the Lord, yes, Dennis, shouted Brancroft, as he grasped his hand. Noticing that Dennis wa's reaching for his hat, Brancroft asked, 'fVVhere are you going now P The boy blushed and hesitated. I'l1 be back in a minute, he stam- mered. I got to go and t-tell Letty. GAYLE PICKLE, ,I7. Eff e .E .1 ll

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The next Morning Casey, the foreman of the workmen, saw an over- grown youth wearing a felt hat come down the car steps with a new va- lise. I'm the new operator here, said Dennis, as he followed Casey, who showed him where he was to bunk. Dennis' hours were from 7:00 a. ni. to 8:00 p. m. on regular duty, but he was required to be up on call at any minute during the night. He arranged his office that day and re- ceived his first train orders. Very tired he went to bed that night with orders to awake him whenever he was needed. NVeeks went by and trafiic grew heavier. The Block Signal System was installed to make safe thc single stretches of track. Dennis had trouble in understanding what was said to him over the wires., He readjusted the batteries and put some bluestone in themg but it did not help. The sounders no longer gave a clear sharp note. Trying every- thing he knew to remedy the trouble, he then blamed it to the cool weather which prevailed during those clear November days. A few days later Casey came to the station for some shovels and found Dennis sitting outside the little station wearing a long face. I-luh! what's the matter, asked Casey, as he came up. Looking up into his face Dennis sadly rejoined, I've lost my job, Casey. I am deaf. Somebody told it up to headquarters and I'm fired. It wasn't Brancroft that done it, I'm sure. He ain't that kind of a man. He's square, he is. Why, once when I was sick and off all day, he didn't take off a cent. I don't know what I'll do. I ain't got no education and it'll be kind of hard fer me to make a livin' for myself. A That night about one o'clock Johnnie Stanford, operator at Rapid Fork, lay upon his telegraph table bound hand and foot, while one masked man watched outside the office the other worked at the safe. Orders for Fifty-four, the St. Louis Flyer, to meet Hardwood, her mate, number Fifty-three, which was running twenty minutes late, were on the table beside him. Unless he was able to send them, the trains were in serious danger of colliding. W'hen he pleaded with them they gagged him, saying that it would not do for a train to stop there now. One of the bandits threw the board clear,', regardless of consequences. While the robbers were soaping the crevices of the safe with nitro-glycerine, Johnnie found that by lifting himself painfully up toward the key that he could open it with his hands. He clicked off slowly with his benumber fingers, HH-E-L-P R-P-F- Then the bandit saw him and quickly pressed a revolver to his temple. just then far up the track was heard the long-drawn blast of Ffty-four's big engine. A minute passed and the little station trembled under the shock of the train's tremendous fiight. Langdon at Foley's junction caught ,the warning from Rapid Fork and sent it on to Hardwood. Dennis awoke with a start, for Vinson was yelling at him, Flag Fifty-four, quick ! he snapped. Get a lantern and don't lose a second going south to stop Fifty-three. Come back and ask for orders. There's trouble up at Rapid Fork. HURRYV' There was no time for shoes. The cinders cut his feet as he rushed down the track. He ran until he was dazed, then began to crawl. I can't go so fast, he shuddered. Seems like that switch is miles away yet. On he crawled toward the signal lamp. Behind him glimmered a faint light. Glancing back he saw Fifty-four stop in front of the office. VVith a supreme effort Dennis pulled himself up to throw the switch. Setting the lantern down he pulled at the lever. It stuck, at first, only to yield with a sudden jerk, shattering the lanern globe. Oh! Mercy! he groaned, Fifty-four will not stand there long and my lantern's gone. Fifty-three 'll be along any minute. He tore the target light from the switch and began crawling back along the passing track with it. Be- numbed with cold he kept repeating his orders, as if they could sustain him from dropping between the rails. Stumbling onward he repeated the above sentence in a half daze. He was too far gone to hear the swiftly approaching Fifty-three swerve into the switch and come rumbling onto him. The train was almost upon him before the engineer realized that the headlight of Fifty-four, shining down the track, and the wavering, swaving red light between the rails meant something was wrong. The pilot struck a white object that sailed through the air, rolled along the ties and lay still. Among the clerks was a telegrapher and in a few minutes he and Vinson had the orders straightened out and 'the trains roared onward again. On a bed of coats in one of Ffty-three's coaches lay the apparently

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'S Uhr lliuala ILHELMIN A fcommonly calR:d Minaj Morton lay on the bed and laughed. Her room-mate, Rose Farmington, proceeded to study, with only a scornful lift of her eyebrows, till Mina gasped, Oh, Rose, I never read anything so queer as your story. Why did you write about that P Wilhelmina Ccommonly called Minaj Morton lay on the bed and laughed. Her room-mate, Rose Farmington, proceeded to study, with only a scornful lift of her eyebrows, till Mina gasped, Oh, Rose, I never read anything so queer as your story. Why did you write about that P Indeed, NVilheln1ina, I don't think you have any right to make fun of my prize composition. Your own isn't fit for anything but kindlingf' Mina Morton, a fun-loving girl of seventeen, was quite a contrast to solemn, and precise, although very nervous, Rose Etta Farmington. As mere room-mates, however, they got on fairly well together. They, and also a Miss Peterson, noted for her fiery temper and like- wise fiery hair, were competing in a composition contest which was of- fered by the school paper. Really Mina and Rose were the only ones eligible, for Miss Peterson had failed repeatedly in the composition class. Mina often teased Rose about her composition, the subject of which was Bugs and Wormsf' Mina had a far more frivolous article, entitled Girls: Their Amusements and Accomplishments. No one knew Miss Peterson's subject, but it was generally supposed to be dull. One evening when Rose was diligently working at her f'Bugs and Worms, the door flew open, and the unsociable Miss Peterson came in. Mina gasped, and Rose almost fainted at the unexpected advent. Girls, girls, exclaimed the newcomer, I heard the editor-in-chief say the pa- pers must be in to-morrow at noon, and away she went, as abruptly as she had come. Mina took our her manuscript, made some hasty additions, and set- tled down to the business of recopying it. Rose looked up worriedly in a moment and said, Do you know the technical name for a caterpillar ? Oh, F1ddlesticks, said Mina absently. Rose said she didn't imagine it was fiddlesticks, and silence settled over them. , Next morning their compositions went in to the officers ofthe paper. Mina said, Well, Rose, if you get that prize I'll worship bugs and worms forever. They had ,to wait a week for their reports, and Rose and Mina were on the proverbial Needles and pins all the week. Finally the day came, and Mina was engaged in an impromptu battle with Rose for the paper, when a knock was heard at the door. Mina opened it, and picked a folded note from the Hoor. It was from the principal. Dear Young Ladies: Both of your stories were faulty and both were good. Miss Morton uses too much slang and is entirely too frivolous for a moral paper. Miss Farmington has a much better paper, so far as morals are concerned, but rather an unusual subject. Please prolit by these experiences, and remember to 'try, try againf Rivalry of this sort is good for the mind. Miss Rutherford, Prin. Mina settled into her chair with a gasp of dismay, forgetting all about the paper, which was lying in the middle of the floor. VVhat do you think of that, Rose ? she asked, glancing toward her friend's chair. Rose was crying, and Mina tried to comfort her. Did you really want the prize P Indeed, nog but- She didn't say who won it, comforted Mina. That makes no difference. .Of course Miss Peterson did. When Mina finally remembered to pick the paper from the floor, it contained a pleasant surprise. Rose Farmington's essay on Bugs and Worms adorned the front page. MARIE GOSHORN, '18, xxx