The Trail of the Tramp: By A-No. 1, the Famous Tramp, Written by Himself from Actual Experiences of His Own LifeA-No. 1
General
The Trail of the Tramp: By A-No. 1, the Famous Tramp, Written by Himself from Actual Experiences of His Own Life
A-No. 1
Tramps
The intelligent animal seemed to understand what was demanded of him,
for presently, whining as if to appeal to them to go with him, he rushed
forward, and as they followed he led them to the pond, then across the
tracks where he stopped by a small pile of clothes, which proved to be
every stitch of little Helen's garments--shoes, stockings and all, with
the sole exception of a tiny gold locket containing her parents'
pictures, which Mrs. McDonald had hung by its gold chain around the
baby's neck, and the red flannel garment that the dog had brought to
their attention, no doubt considering it a most welcome plaything.
Back to the section house she dragged herself carrying the tiny
garments. Arriving there, she carefully questioned the boys and brought
out only one more useless item, that a westbound immigrant train had
pulled into the siding to permit an eastbound passenger train to pass
them.
For four seemingly endless days the poor mother with her three small
boys helplessly waited for someone to assist her, her husband and all
the other men having gone to the wreck. Telephones were unknown in those
days, and with no strong hands to pump the heavy hand car through the
foot-high snow that now covered the track, there was nothing else to do
but to hope, as she did not dare send one of her sons to the nearest
village, not knowing at what moment a blizzard might add another
calamity to her burden of woe. In all those long days, until the
released passenger train flew past, not a single train passed up or down
the line, so all she and her children could do was to weep and wait for
her husband's return, to whom she then told all the circumstances of the
child's disappearance, which affected him far more than she thought it
would be possible.
After she had finished her sad story she asked us to give her our
opinion as to the cause of the baby's disappearance. One of our men had
the most likely solution of the riddle as he thought that the baby had
watched her brothers discard their overcoats, and later their coats, as
the exercise while skating warmed them, and Helen, childlike, thinking
this the proper thing, had in a playful mood discarded her clothes,
intending to skate barefooted upon the glistening ice, and finding that
the cold snow hurt her feet, and being unable to don her garments, had
wandered out upon the bleak prairie and had been frozen to death, the
fate that had overtaken Peoria Red and so many strong men.
Leaving one man to act as nurse to the foreman, we others returned to
the bunk house, as Mr. McDonald's heavy and regular breathing assured us
that he would at least rest peacefully until the following morning.
For several days, undaunted by constant failures to accomplish anything,
we carefully searched the right of way and the prairie for our pet, and
had Spot, the collie, assist us, but finally were forced to believe that
little Helen had departed for the land of the Angels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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