The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1857-01-21

|. ou LOOK run. Interrupted the lndu 0oou
Heavens sir, he is as crazy as a man can be
He turned his brain over a new plan for apply
ing steam power I saw him at the station
but | did not then recognise him, as Twas in
hurry. Just now one of the passengers told
me that all yourengineers were gone this morn
ing, and thatyou found one that was a stranger
to you. Then 1 knew that the man whom [ had
seen was Martin Kroller! He escaped from the
hospital at Stettn. You must get him off some
how"
The whole fearful truth was open to me-
The speed of the trainwas increasing every mo-
ment, and knew that a few miles more per
hour weuld launch us all into destruction.
called to the guard, and then made my way
forward as quick as possible. reached the at.
ter platform Of the after tender, and there stood
Kroller upon the engine board; his hat and coat
off; hisYlong black hair floating wildly in the
wind; his shirt unbuttoncd at the throat; his
sleeves rolled up; with Il pistol in his teeth, and
thus glaring upon the fireman, who lay motion
less upon the fuel The furnace was stuffed
and the whole engine was quivering and sway
ingsas though it would shiver in pieces.
rKroller! Kroller!'' I cried at the top of my
voice. n. '.'~''s*. 7'.''.~'.~
The crazy engineer started and caught the
pistol in his hand. Oh! how those great black
eyes glared, and how ghastiy and frshtful the
face looked! fa......s,.. ,...,r.f
'Ha! ha! hal" he yelled Economically, slar-
ing upon me like routed lion.
.'They swore [ could not make it! But see
see! See my new power! See my new engine!
| made it! | made it!-and they were jealous
of me. l made it, and when t was done they
stole it from me! But have found it. For
years lrave been wandering in search of my
great engine-and they swore it was not made
But I've found it! knew it when [ saw it this
morning at Danzig-and [ was determined to
have it. And I've got it! Ho! ho! ho!-we' re
off to the moon, say! BY tie Virgin Mother!
we'll be in the moon in four and twenty hours!
Down, down, villain! If you move I'll shoot
you!'' '... ..
The last was spoken to the poor fireman, who
at that moment attempted to rise; and the frig ght-
ened man sank back again.
"Here's Klein Oskau right at hand!' cried
one of the guard.
But even as he spoke the buildings were at
hand. A sickening sensation settled upon my
heart, for supposed we were gone now. The
houses flew by like lightning. l knew if the
officers here had turned the switch as usual,
we should be hurled into eternity in the fearful
crash. | saw a f1asll--it was another engine
I closed my eyes-but still we thundered on.
The officers had seen our speed, ans knowing
that we could not haul up in that distance, they
had changed the switch, so that we went on.
But there was sure death ahead if we did not
stay. Only fifteen miles ahead was the town of
Schwertz, on the Vistula, and at the rate we
were going we should be there in a few min
utes, for each minute carried us over mile!
The shrieks of the passengers now rose above
the crash Of the rails, and more tarrifc than all
else arose the demoniao ~ of the mad en-
glneer. :
''Merciful Heavens" gaped the guardsman,
'tthere's not a moment of time to lose Schwertz
is close BY! But holdn' lie added, s'let's shoot
him!''
At that mopent tall, stout German student
came over to the platform where we ssood, and
we saw That the madman had his heavy pistol
aimed atus. He egrasped heavy stick of wood
from the tender, and with a steadness ofnerve
which | could not have commanded, he hurled
it with such force and precision, that he knock
cd the pistol from the manlac's grasp. saw
the movement, and on the instant that the pis-
tol fell, sprang forward, and the German fol-
lowed me. | grasped the man by the arm. but
| should have been mere infant in his mad
power had been alone. He would have ht1
ed me from the platform, had not the student
at that moment struck him upon the head with
a stick of wood which he caught as he came
over the tender.
Krocr settled down like dead man, and
on the next instant shut off the steam and
opened the valve. As the freed steam shrek
ed and howled in its escape, the speed began to
decrease, and in few minutes more the danger
was passed. As | settled back entirely over
come at the wild emotions that had ragged with
in me, we began to turn the river, and before |
was fairly recovered, the fireman had stopped
the train in the station house at Schwertz.
Martin kroler, still insensiblewas taken from
the platform, and as we carried him the guard
room, one of the guard recognised him, and told
us that he had been there about two weeks be-
fore.
He came" said the guard 'and swore that
an engine which stood near here was his. He
said it was one. he had made to 60 to tie moon
in, and that it had been stolen from him. We
SEW ioi more help 10 arrest ilHl, ana ne 1ltu,
well, | replied with shudder, 81 wish
he had reproached me the same way. But he
was more coutious at Danziy."
At Shwertz we found an engineer to run the
engine to Bromberg, and having taken out the
western mail for the next northern train to take
along, we saw that Kroller would be properly
attended to, and then started. on.
The rest of the trip we run in safety, though
/ could see that the passengers were not wholly
at ease and would not be until they were en-
tirely clean. of the railway. A heavy purse was
made up by them for the German student, and
he accepted it with much gratitude, and was
glad oft; for the current of their gratitude to
him may have prevented a far different current
which might have poured upon my head for
having engaged madman to run railway train.
But this is not the end Martin KrolIer re-
mained insensible from the effects of that blow
upon the head nearly TWO weeks, and when he
recovered from that he was sound again. His
insanity was all gone. l saw him about three
weeks afterwards, but be had no recollection Of
me. He remembered nothing of the past year,
not even his mad freak on my engine
But | remembered it, and remember it still: