SHORT STORY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 746, 19 February 1910, Page 14

SHORT STORY.

A BLACK CAT. (Br Will Lmsas} V (FOB TH3 DOHEHI6IE3 Electrio car No., 13, had been skimming down tho easy grade, stopped abruptly, .with'a jar of brakes. From the war platform the.- conductor jumped down and ran to' the .front-, to see what emergency ..Had paused the stop; the'pas* ,6engers stared through the windows. ' " "What's matter,' Jimmy?" the conductor asked, 1 looking'along'a clear track with never a shadow to mar the shine of the rails . beneath .the . white arc-Jainps. The mo torn an was peering like & shortsighted man, . ' - \ .

"A cat," ho said," "a' black caV: right on the track." - •.

. 'What—you're 1 not, wearing out your 'emergenb/Vwith' stopping; n Tho oonductor swung on to .the front step/, and the car rolled forward again. «w°t f ? r ca^t Tomm r." Jimmy, replied, but I aint goin' to run over & black cat. not much."

Raff-was the smartest motorman °. n *Se .drove fast and .never had a inishap. And out on the suburban lines, where there were no lights on the save tho beam's of the low-set headlight, he drove with his head bent forward and down, scanning the road ahead, every sense alert, and whirling along on the .last notch. But of late when he saw any apparent danger, that he was not sure was a shadow,:he.brought his car up > all-standing" in the grip, of the powerful emergency brake. ' He was accounted a ■useful man on a fast time-feble or in picking up 'lost time, but he was hard on tho machine. It was but - the other day that the caTshed.overseer had said: .'rTou're-..getting . terribly.'; hard. on the gear, Saff. Can't you pull up easier sometimes?" .'

. And BafE. made answer : . . .''Look.- .here, -Noonan, when you see something on . the rpad, ten feet ahead of you, what can you do - but -brake her hard?" '

"What have, you been 6eeing.,on therails f' asked. ' "Cats,' .'said; the motorman.; ' . ' i ?", Noonan laughed.' ; "Cats. "Tes; and'l ask you,' ;would you -run down a black cat and never Taise' a hand?" ' ' \ . - "

. Noonan's laughter ceased. "Not black cats, Jimmy, Raff.-; But,' by the'hokey, there must be a terrible lot of black' cats out 'on- the ' roads at night now!" , : ;-, ' ," '' ?l've seen-'six ;this 'w<«fe," Baff;«aid, as lie prepared to ' take his car out' of; the sheds, .'loping .along: ahead-' of me, right between' the rails, - like, they %«t» too dazzled 7 bo ..the 'headlight : to. get off the track. And every' time Tve let her have it, ;every brake I've got,' for-mark ye, when a Raff kills a cat r.s it xuua from him, there's.bad Juck .comirig." j ' Car No. 13 rumbled'away into tho city, and the overseer went and talked to the traffio.- manager, about Raff , and tho cats he saw. , ' n - ■

' .'His eyesight or his nerves are going]" said, the super., and the end of it was ft notice stuck in the letter rack addressed. to Motonr.an RafT, which' instructed him to take seven days off and then Teport for medical; examination, Which ,-was the next-Lthing to dismissal; '' ' ; With i;foot .top-tapping ' on" .the gong, Raff was -running-on, his last, trip for'the night, down the easy grade which leads to-ths'whijrf- end -of "the: city:: There, was rise in': the'road, after';he .had swung i-'the wide: curve at; the bridgo and'at'the;top .of this rise, he pioked up a passenger—a black-bearded man, carrying, a,'basket. -i As he stepped into the empty car, the man sai'd tn Raff, ."let me down at: the.'wharf. >. Urgent, don't forget." Raff nodded, and rushed away through- the night again. With hea'd thrust forwards staring ahead, the motor.man, forgot, all abont .the man and'the wharf; and "tho man was dozing in the warm car. Down the hill'to the wharf they sped,, and along tho level track .that leads away -from ..the. wharf gates ■ again, .Raff was.Tiihning his" car, when, crash! the, wheels: were gripped in a magnetic vice, and the car-stopped as though it had run into a whole warehouseful: of corn/.6acks. The ''passenger, awakened from forty-winks, fell upon his feot, and staggered along the floor of the car. He peered out and saw the wharf lights. He got off at the forward end, and as he passed-RafT he 6aid:_ " ■."Thanks, for remembering," and slipped half-a-crown into the motorman's hand. - Then rushed away to catch' a ferry. Raff looked at- the- coin, and turned to the . conductor,-' who was still swearing softly and rubbing a, shoulder that.had been in collision with a sharp corner of the car. • "What? . ■ --i ■ ■ "I'd clean forgot that pirato and the wharf when that ghost of a cat jumped in front qf me again." ,: "Cats. pay," said the guard, 'Jbut when a chap like that gives you half-a-dollar to stop the car, I'd like'to know what he's got in that basket. Anyhow, leVs have a look at this cat of yours." '■Don't think you can see,:'it, it's. a ghost." . '. .• ■ .. . 1 ■ But, as Raff spoke, ft lithe, -1 black body sprang lightly upon his shoulder—a real, black cat. The conductor drew away 'as from Eome manifestation'of evil. Bnt :Raff laughed as ho stroked the glossy fur. . ■ . "Ifs good luck, good luck, Tom Burns, that: this, beast, brings me." ■ "Half-a-dollar's worth," suggested tho other.

■■"And: more' than that, for. the story has it 1 that when the black cat comes to ye, 'tis' well." ; Raff started . his car again. The cat sat on' his and peered" out : -into the nightof" gleaming rails and<shadows.'' At the-'end-of the run, the' cleaners in tho ' sheds' saw a sight to remember, for car No. 13' rolled heavily-inl and there, on the shoulder of >the motorman,.>sat :,the blackest cat they had ever seen.

"Where's Mister Noonanf" Raff said. When Noohan appeared, he called out; "See my cat, NoonanP" ■As they stood around,-looking at EaS's 'cat,- someone.:said: • - ■ >.. . ~.i •: ; i'TChere's a letter-for ;you, ;Raff.".'' V >- : But Noonan took it instead, and, -by the look In his- eves as he did so, Raif knew .what that letter.had. meant. Noonan and the traffic'manager talked it over,next..day.-;.-The; manager said* ' "Let us have a-look, at' Number Thirteen's. headlights". In one of thom they., found" a piece of - cotton waste, left there by a careless cleaner, and jammed in the glass; cover ;With,..tt . loose end- inside ..the glass.' i ;^They'' ; deci'ded : ',that,;..tho cats that-Raff: saw, were'.'.caused..by. this loose tend flying :.out in»front : of tie, elec; trie bulb 1 - when . tho. car- ywas.;travelling fast, .and' tho draught ,• of '/air ~ Jjlew through, theilamp.'. A> .Celtic ;imaginatibn did the : rest.:,-,Tho'!appearimce of-the' real cat was va. coincidence'beyond their comprehension;'' i:ii '. ;:' ■ " But Tom- Burns, tho conductor, when he was telling one of the dispatchers about the way Raff got of slamming on .'the emergency, said: "And ril take my oath ..that black , cat came out- of that black bag; got'out when tho; chap was dozing.". l . •_}' i - If the whiskered man,.who, lost a black cat that night had been there,, he would' 'have agreed-with Burns. ' -. f: ' WH£ LAWSON;