The Rutland County herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1852-1855, 1854-09-08

( ]. and viii give YOU twenty dollars.
Every minute is worth icriun,."
II must have been insaae. The
flush Of victory, after 50 many weeks OF
enthusiastic struggle. had almost, II no,
quito. turned nv brain. just ni this
moment ihr engineer discovervd thai
the lish, IN front Of the engine was
burning dimly, and threatening to cx-
pirc. With mn aRaihcma upon the neg
ligcni irrman, he lrsped doSn 70 cx-
anime H. The lamp had no, been iilled.
For Gods sake" shrickcd !. when
] learned the fact, " don't stop Cor that
trifc ! can travel ia the dark IL you
can. Yon arc not afraid r cuniin.
ued iaaniingly, as the engineer hesita-
ted still
II can ride 10 destruction rs coolly
as YOU can" he rvioinud, choerily. aud
resuming his post, started the machine.
"As We emerged IRON the station
house, ! remember thinking had new
er seen n blackcr night. The first mo-
ton of the engine had ex,inguishcd our
ligh, not a star was to be seen in the
heavens. and the few lighted windows
which dotted the landscape here aud
there only added 10 the general gloom
Of the scene. Flushed and wild ~
was. experienced II thrill of horror as
the engine dashed madly into The dark
ness. strained my eyes until they
ached held my breath and contract
cd my muscles. as if falling. SO fcarfully
rapid seemed the rate ai which We were
flying.
Bot n new and pleasanier sensation
soon took the place of this terror. None
but those who have actually experience
cd it eau imagine The maddening delight
which excessively rapid motion produ'
ces. We were under full Roadway,
and with no load TO retard his progress.
Now and then n lighted window by the
side Of the track flew past us like me.
tcor while, farther off in the gloom,
solitary taper would sometimes seem
mndly striving TO emulate our pace
soon dislanced, however, and soon lost.
In less time than | have been talking,
we had arrived at little village, where
the street lamps were burning, and
which knew was just ten miles from
W. stopped down aud examin-
ed my watch by the light OF the engine
fire. We had travelled the first ten
miles in less than ten minutes. =" Fast
er y shouted TO the engineer as
crainmcd another pine stick under The
boiler. But it was hardly possible TO
accelerate our speed. The wheels ac.
tually lcaped along the rails. The few
drops of rain which occasionally fell,
struck against my face like fine shot,
The steam whistle kept up an endless
shrek, as if the engine were some mon
strous goblin, tortured beyond endur-
ance by some inhuman ficnd, while the
deep base of the increasing thunder
mingled with the wild rattle of our
wheels, and formed chorus which the
Furirs might have envicd. A. my ears
were gradually stunned by these com
plicated noises. and my eyes wearicd by
their unnatural exeriion, ] iancied that
4 ~
sights, and which could only have been
the product of bewildcred brain. As
We dashed into some gloomy gorge,
seemed TO hear angry voices warning
and upbraiding me Us We flew over
some lofty embankmcni, saw dark
spirits in the air, who waved me on
with Wild gestures, or struck at me with
airy blades. The lightnings became
more vivid and frequent. Now they
showed Us the threatening crags that
ovrrhuns our path, and now they light
ed up II raging torrent far beneath u.s.
My companion Was us calm aud COM
posed rs though his cradle had been
rocked hy tempcsts. The flashes by
which | occasionally caught glimpse
Of him. gave, il is true, an unnatural
gha-tliness 10 his face, but his manner
was 1t. cool and collected as had al
ways known il. could feel him man
aging the engine rs quietly and cheer
fully as though it WAS summers day,
aud b. had the lives of hundred pas
sengers 10 answer for, beside his own.
=" a few minutes--ten or Twelve, per-
haps had elapsed since looked at my
watch. and lad begun To think HAT
our journeys end WAS near. We were
passing. a. near NJ could Judge by the
sound Of the wind. over u level, open
tract OF country, when iancied felt n
momenlary jar so slight, however. and
unimp9uanl. that IL would have passed
Tom my yecolieclion al once, had It no,
been for what followed. Juu NJ that
monrni, a longer and brighter fash Of
lightning ihan had before seen. alicn.
ded, nj followed, by an aWfli crash Of
thunder, III up again the surrounding
seeney, But high above the deafeniog
peal, above the lesser thunder Of lhe
wheels, above the raying oi ll,e wind, |
heard shrek, a shont of horror, 81
Wild, 70 awful, - Ike the uileranee d
lo,l soul, iha, II vo1cs iay dreams ic
this bouF u was sound which nC
physical pain could have elected from q
human being. which noihing bot %,
pema,urh fear could have rrodnrcd
and Hhieh no one nho once heard d
III - - l. L =