The Making of the American Essay by John D'Agata

Author:John D'Agata
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-55597-927-0
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Published: 2016-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

IX

Klein, a peddler of spectacles,

rode to the next station on the railroad:

the country was desert with houses few and far between.

There was a platform from the station to the section-house

and he went towards it to sell his spectacles

but before he reached it the section foreman,

calling him “a spotter” and spy for the railroad,

began to beat him with a shovel.

The foreman followed Klein

and gave him five minutes to get away

or he would “kill him”;

and Klein started to walk along the track.

Two men who had been “hanging around” the station

followed him

and a quarter of a mile away

took his satchel of spectacles and his pocketbook

and whatever money he had.

Klein went back to the railroad station

and the two men followed

but stopped near the pump-house.

He wanted the ticket-agent to send a telegram to Green River

telling of the holdup

but the section foreman told the ticket-agent not to,

and went across the track to where the two men were standing

and the three came into the waiting-room

and began beating up Klein.

He called for help

but none of the spectators helped him

and all the ticket agent did

was to order the four of them out of the waiting room.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.