Texas Surgeon: an Autobiography Page: 19
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suggested we stop by, and see if the choppers would give us
something to eat. He demurred. "No, no," he said. "You go
and see if you can bring me back a handout." Beside the tracks
lay a whisky bottle, which he retrieved and instructed me to
have it filled with coffee for him.
Up to the cookhouse I went and made known my wants. The
men were puzzled by the whisky bottle in my hand. They
asked why my friend himself had not come to get food. I ex-
plained that he was waiting for someone to come by and did not
wish the man to slip past. So, after eating my fill, I brought
food and coffee to my new-found friend, which he wolfed down.
Afterward his spirits rose and he began to talk freely as we
made off between the rails. He could use a strong young fellow
like myself, he said, in his business.
"What is your business?" I inquired.
"Oh, I work for myself," he said. "I'm not such a fool, you
see, as to work for others. I'll show you how it's done. We'll
work up a stake together. You'll have more money, boy, than
you ever saw."
I was not convinced, by any means, and assured him I was
still going to the mines. Before long we began to approach
Spring Hill Junction and signs of civilization. At this point, as if
by magic, three men in uniform appeared from the road running
parallel to us, scarcely fifty yards away. Could they be after us?
My companion did not debate this question. Off he dashed, back
up the tracks, with the three men in pursuit, one waving a
pistol and bidding the fugitive to halt. In no time he was in
their custody, while I stood by in great alarm.
It turned out that my traveling companion was an escaped
prisoner from the provincial prison at Dorchester, a New Bruns-
wick town near the Nova Scotia line. We were both taken back
to Maccan for interrogation. It was a solemn business and I had
a panicky feeling that somehow I, too, had committed a dreadful
breach. Sure enough, the sheriff in Maccan closely questioned
and searched me, too.
19
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Atkinson, Donald Taylor. Texas Surgeon: an Autobiography, book, 1958; New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143566/m1/31/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.