The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1859-10-26

which prevented my following his exam,
pie. no longer cared for the murderous
speed OF the locomotive; | no longer
thought OF my own danger. All misgiv.
ings, all fears for myself were swallowed
up and merged in vast, shudderiug, indie.
scriIable horror. For there, just before
me upon the boiler, with its lips parted
into hendsh grin, with its eyes wide
open, and staring upon me, and the glare
impar,ing hte.llke glow to its story fea
lures; there, within reach OF my paIsed
hand, even as shrunk back in craven
fear TO the tarthes; limits of my moving
prison sat pale, CORY, hideous, aud man.
gled Hum0n Heod! 4!
y ou smIe, gentlemen continued the
ugly man, with a melancholy air, 'aud i,
seems to me that il should hear the s,o
ry tod my another, as YOU are now do
ing, IN quiet room, with a firm floor
beneath my feet. cheerful ire before me
and friends around, should DO the sarue
thing; bat, heieve me, dropping BIS voice
so low Il At | could hardly hear him, 1T is
different thing IL = wild night alone.
and with sudden and awful death i'm.
pending over YOU
keep moving. stranger said the man
IN the red shirt, cracking hickory nut,
It's rs good a. sermon. Pass on to the
second head
1t could, OF course, pursued the ugly
man, without needing the untine'v irsi.
tie but few minutes, or perhaps seconds
before this terrible drama must conclude.
but no prisoner ever louged for freedom
as did for the final crash, which knew
would end my life and torment together.
| made no farther efforts 10 stop the loco
motive. WAS hardly aware that it was
still tearing madly on, AS though fright
ened, like myself at the ghaStlv burden.
The lightning still flashed at Intervals. and
Illuminated the caNey face; but | did
not need its CLEANS To see tie horrid
thing, for through the p,chy darkness and
The binding rain it glared upon me As |
had heheil it At first. Nor do consider
this imagination. think that terror had
so sharpcned my vision that, though all
else was wrapped in impenetrabe gloom,
| could see its CLASSY eye balls, its palid
cheeks, and its bloody, grinuing mouth
i have since iearned-I do not .hnk
that knew / at the lime-that all this
while, the iirewood in the tender behind
me was blazing furjous'y. II tsd caugh,
either 10y sp'rk from the engine or
which is more probable. from the BURNING
stick which had SO hastily tossed away
But, as said, do not know that was
aware Of il; il had been, it could not have
added another pang Of terror 10 my heart,
and only mention 1t now as an inciden
tai element IN the horror Of nv situation.
7 and also from the fact that the unusual
hight alarmed the watchers at the station
and putting them upon their guard, pre-,
! vented any destruction of life on my arri
. val.
i can never bring yself to believe tha,
so short "A time elapsed, AS know must
have passed, before this awful vision ceas
ed. IL seems to me now, ana always
| when | recall that dreadful night, rs
though ] must have spent hours braced
I back against the tender, not daring 10
, take my eyes from the spectral face, par.
: aiyzed and crazy with fright, my hair ike
. reeds, and the cold sweat bursting from
every pore During all this time; know
that | never regarded the incident as anv
other thar supernatural. II it had oc,
) Cured TO me that it was nothing but
what It seemed, dead head perhaps,
l possibly, | might have rallied. But here
was something so heIl,h in that stony
} gaze, alone visible though the murky
l night, that earth and earthly accidents
were alike forgotten by me Heavens
. thought |, is this To last forever! Am
, dead aud are these ;he rormcuts of the
damned! Will this torture never have
! an eud
! The end WAS even then at hand. !
shot past brilliantly lighted streets, whose
brightness made the corpse glare still
' more hideously upon me. beard shouts
I OF fear and warning, hut thev cou'd not
dislr"c! my attention. | caught glimses
"i the station OF groups Of agonized and
t horror stricken faces; what were they 10
r the distorted features Of the Head before
: mel \ crash, feeling of death ike
| sickness, aud when | awoke, my mid
! night ride had been the rounds OF all the
newspapers, and been forgotten.
The ug Y man arose and adjusted his
; crurch, rs If 10 leave.
8 Pray, Sir said little, silent man
from the corner, in an excited manner
aud speaking for the first time, was that
the engineers head Z
Oh no., answered the narrator, with
an air Of relief, as though he WAS glad his
, tale was ended. i learned, when 90,
: well enough to talk and ask questions
9 that the engineer crawled into the town
! about dawn Of the following day, weary
torn, anl bleeding but without any per
S manent injuries. The hesn belonged rc
' a poor maniac, Who had often attempted
l the strangest forms Of suicide. and that
: evening, escaping from his confinement
l had low cred himself down into cattl,
Il ditch, keeping his head some six inche,
4 above surface Of The road. The COW catch
. er, as lie probably intended it should do
had cut his head ceanly and smoothly
| off. and had thrown it so high that /