Last week, South Dakotans suffered from an ugly reminder of child cruelty. Next Monday people will gather around a little grave six miles east of Clark in an annual reminder of humanity at its kindest.

The story begins in 1888 when a tough-as-nails railroad brakeman known as Big Bill Chambers came to Clark County to do some repair work. He befriended a sickly little boy who loved trains. His parents ran the kitchen for the construction crew. Big Bill told the boy about America's big cities and his adventures as a railroader.

Sadly, the boy died. The devastated parents had to move onto the next town and leave the boy in a lonely grave on the wild prairie. Big Bill promised them that he would always keep an eye on the grave in his travels. He did better than that. As he advanced in his career -- first as freight conductor and then as passenger conductor -- he enlisted section crews to keep the grass and weeds away from the grave. Someone put up a permanent boulder. Even after Big Bill retired, he still visited the grave on Memorial Day until his death in 1939. For years after that, his son-in-law, conductor Vince Ford, took on the responsibility. For more than six decades, the Chicago & Northwestern Train 106 stopped on the prairie at the gravesite. Passengers waited and wondered as the train crew stepped out onto the grass and said a silent prayer.

For many years now, the Clark Rotary Club has arranged a Memorial Day visit to Little Fellow's Grave. I'm sure you'd be welcome.

Clark is a half-hour's drive west of Watertown on Highway 212. Our thanks to Warren Rockenbach of Center, N.D., who just mailed us a faded yellow 1947 newspaper clipping about the grave. It had information we hadn't seen before.