The best short stories of 1919, and the yearbook of the American short story
General
The best short stories of 1919, and the yearbook of the American short story
American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories -- 20th century -- Bibliography; Short stories -- 20th century -- Indexes; Short stories, American
Thus they meet and part, and the great man holds no more memory of the
vagabond than if he had never been; but in the bony little breast under
the rags the heart leaps high, and on the instant Tim takes up the trail
which Destiny, a far-sighted old creature, has long since blazed out for
him.
"He is the big boss," says the boy with awe, gazing after the spangle of
the flying train.
"I would not envy Regan if I were you," advises Craney. "See how he has
gone--with no friend to bid him godspeed because of the way he has kept
us all under."
But the boy still gazes after the spangle in the dust. "Divil a bit will
Regan care whether he be godspeeded or not," he says, so boldly that
Craney considers him with respect.
"I see that yourself has ambition along of the rags," he says with
meditation. "Then I know a job where you may use the ambition freely and
never a chance to part with the rags," he says. "A job which is the
equal of Regan's in every way, only on a smaller scale, you understand;
where you will be general manager of a railroad and all the other
officials to boot, including your own pay-master. Do I interest you?"
Tim nods in respect to the big words and Mr. Craney instructs him:
"Whist! Arrange your running time to meet me passing the yard-limit post
yonder at six one P.M."
And to make it official he scribbles a train order in his note-book for
Tim to sign with his mark, as his drunken grandfather has educated him
to do.
Then Mr. Craney strolls away to answer the signals of the engine that
there are cars to be weighed, and Tim prowling professionally past the
lunch counter in the waiting room, steals a banana and a sandwich, which
he has for breakfast in the shade of a pile of ties. There he watches
the making up of trains, the flying switches, the flatheads scuttling
along packing the journal boxes; and far beyond he can see the machine
shops with the forked tongues of blacksmiths' forges and the blink of
brasses in the roundhouse.
A great groan of iron and steam and toil swells in the smoky light, and
the bells call to him so that he begins prowling everywhere from end to
end of the yards. The noon comes with blowing of whistles; and hungry
again he goes back to the lunch counter while the waiter is busy and
sandwiches are easy prey. But instead of stealing them he comes out on
the platform with empty hands and stares back, not understanding why it
is so, till the groan of the work hour swelling again calls up the
memory of black-browed Regan who has been big boss of it all.
"'T is sure he would never run and hide from a policeman," says Tim, and
ponders how Regan would act in his place. "He would go hungry if he was
not strong enough to take what he wanted to their faces--that is what
Regan would do," he says; and despising sandwiches and sinkers which
have to be stolen in secret he struts proudly about with his rags and
hunger till the six o'clock whistle blows and Mr. Craney meets him at
the yard limit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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