It happened the other day on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The train had just left Easton and the conductor was making his first round, when he observed a small white dog with a bushy tail and bright black eyes sitting cozily on the seat beside a young lady so handsome that it made his head roll over like a lop sided pumpkin. But duty was duty, and he remarked, in his most deprecatory manner:
"I'm sorry, madam, but its against the rules to have dogs in the passenger cars."
"O! my, is that so?" and she turned two lovely brown eyes at him beseechingly. "What in the world will I do? I can't throw him away. He's a Christmas present from my aunt."
` "By no means, miss. We'll put him in the baggage car, and he'll be just as happy as a robin in spring."
"What! put my nice white dog in a nasty, stuffy, dusty baggage car?"
"I'm awfully sorry, miss, I do assure you, but the rules of the company re as inflexible as the lass of the Medes and them other fellows, you know. He shall have my overcoat to lie on, and the brakeman shall give him grub and water every time he opens his mouth."
"I just think that's awful mean, so I do; and I know somebody will steal it, so they will," and she showed a half notion to cry that nearly broke the conductor's heart; but he was firm, and sang out to the brakeman:"Here, Andy, take this dog over into the baggage car, and tell 'em to take just the best kind of care of him."
The young lady pouted, but the brakeman reached over and picked it up as tenderly as though it was a two-weeks'-old baby, but as he did so a strange expression came over his face like a wave of cramp-colic, and he said hastily to the conductor: "Here, you just hold him a minute till I put this poker away," and he trotted out the car door and held on to the brake wheel, shaking like a man with gas.
The conductor no sooner had his hands on the dog than he looked around for a hole to fall through.
"Wh-wh-why, this is a worsted dog."
"Yes, sir," said the little miss, demurely. - Didn't you know that?"
"No, I'm most awful sorry to say I didn't know that," and he laid the
Christmas dog down on the owner's lap, and walked out on the platform, where he
stood half an hour in the cold, trying to think of a hymn tune to suit the worst
old man on the Lehigh Valley road. - Easton Press.