Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-09-15

weird whisper in the trees (they had pre-
sentiment of its coming l know, or by the
hush which followed when nature seemed to
hold her breath in expectation Of the great
rush and rattle which was SO soon to jar up
on the stiffness of the night, that | was thus
fore warned. 1t might have been. But
why attempt to describe what is in itself in
describable?
And then it came-a fearful, fiery ava
lanche, sweeping through the silent night
irresistible, memorable, scattering great white
hot ashes in its path, an embodiment of ruth
less swiftness and strength Obedient to
the touch Of child, and rushing on its mid
night course with the strength of a thousand
giants divided from destruction by tiny
fange, and counting a fate too terrible to
think of in its terrific flight. Truly as poetic
an embodiment, gentle reader, as ne
"Highfyer" or the "True Briton )" surely
guided by a man a little more intelligent, and
quite as poetic as the coachman whose lead
ing characteristics have touched upon above.
Ny business in Hindlesham had long pre-
Guided me from midnight walks, when l was
unexpectedly brought back once more to my
old post at the Abbey Bridge in this wise. A
very dear friend who was passing through
Hindlesham by the night express, wrote to
ask me to meet her at the station Now, nv
| ticular train did not stop at Hindlesham, and
il WIS too late, on the very day of her pass
| ing when | received her letter, to rectify her
mistake For all that day, however, I could
not get the night express out of my head it
| haunted me the whole day long mixed itself
up in the most perplexing manner with the
very important case Of Regina and Higgn-
botham, upon which l was then engaged, and
| finally scattered all thoughts of work to the
winds. This being the case, it was not sur
prising that should find myself at about
eleven P. NJ, at the Abbey Bridge.
The night remember, was dark, though
not so dark but that | could distinguish the
outline of the trees and the tall, gaunt tele-
graph posts, filing singly like spectres through
the gloom. 1t was the darkness, in fact, OF a
summer night
Leaning upon the low stone wall which l
have spoken of as separating the path from
the railway, | had-in harmony with the
sweet tranquility of the night-tallen into a
very pleasant reVerie, in which the young la
dy then approaching in the night express was
not the least conspicuous feature, when was
| steps upon the bridge. This was, knew, an
unusual circumstance at that time of night,
| and | waited with some curiosity to see who
| the late traveller might be. As | turned my
head to listen, the footsteps ceased, but only
| for a moment. When they broke upon my
| ear again, however, | fancied that they were
| accompanied by sound as of something be-
| ing dragged over the loose cinders of the
| bridge. cit is some platelayer," l said to my
| self, returning late from work, or who pos
| sibly has been despatched to attend to some
| necessary repair upon the line" and fell
back again, not reluctantly, to the interrupt
ed reverie, with the thousand pleasant
thoughts which grouped themselves round
the central igure-the young passenger Of
the night express. A very pleasant dream it
| was, which, floating there as an indistinct
underlined melody in my young mind, has
| proved, thank Heaven, to have been the pre-
Jude to fuller harmony-the key note of
more perfect joy.
| cannot say how long had been thus
| pleasantly occupied; | suppose, from what af-
| forwards occurred, that it could not have
been for any length of time. All that | re-
member is, that in one instant, without war
Mig, without preparation of any sort, all
the blood in my body was turned to sudden
| ice.
Get over the wall, sir-get over the wall, "
said voice in my very ear, "and you II have
better view. BY the Lord Harry, sir, it'll
| be a sensation header. Real water, and, by
| lingo, real rocks. Ha, ha !! Come along,
come along, or we shall miss it. The Colleen
Barn is joke to it. Do you hear, sir? It'll
! beat the Esepo Day Boy to fts--ha, ha |!
! fits-titS."
! | was almost paralyzed with horror Hav-
ing heard no fOotstep, and wrapped in the
! dreamy cloudland of my speculation, the
! voice broke upon me as though the dead had
! spoken. The full horror of the situation,
!
once. A glance, indeed, was sufficient to
| show me that mailman was before me-a
| mailman who, as | gathered from his inco-
| herent words, had doomed the coming train
| with what intensity [ felt then that it was
freighted with all that l held dear on earth !
to a fate too horrible to think Of The
diabolcal ingenuity which he had employed
however, for his purpose, was happily then
unknown to me; had | seen that, | should
| have almost deSOalred.
For one moment doubted how to act; for
one moment my thoughts failed to suggest
any course of action, in the next | had form
ed an Indefinite plan.
"Well," said, turning so as to face him,
'but how are you going to do it ?"
"Ha, ha do it ~ he replied; "come and
see, come and see. But say" he went on,
a momentary flash of suspicion coming across
his mind, you won't-wont tell anybody,
will YOU" and he peered into my face with
a madmans cunning.
pooh tell anybody !" | said, endeavor-
ing to force laugh; who'd tell such joke
as that | wouldn't whisper it; that is, if
you'll let me see how the scenery is man
aged! where the trap is, you know, Ell?
"Oh, the trap" he replied, with a momen-
tary recurrence of suspicion; " it's behind
the scenes, you know" and he laughed again
| IA hollow maniac laugh, which made night
| hideous.
| was over the wall by this time, and we
were walking together towards the bridge
A very few yards brought us to the spot
where the wretched man had been at work.
| Ay there it was as l dreaded: heavy bald
of timber bound fast upon the rail with cord
bound with an intricacy and cunning which
a mailman only would have thought it neces-
sary to use. How my heart sank within me
as l saw it, forI knew the night express
might reach the spot at any moment 5
| l knew that it was at that instant hurrying
on its way to meet the hdeous fate which
this wretched man had prepared for it, and
the thought almost deprived me of the pow
er OF action. To use force, I had sense
enough to know, would be dangerous, for a
glance showed me that the mailman was a
strongly-built, powerful man, and was aware
thaI any mailman is terrible in his strength.
AT TINS moment an expedient occurred to me
which afforded some hope"
| 6ood heavens :" | said to the man. ''vou
have put the trap on the wrong line. You'll
spoil all. Quick off with tits all wrong"
| almost shouted in my anxiety
To my inexpressible relief, the mailman
seized the idea. Once possessed of it, he
was down upon his hands and knees in an in
slant, endeavoring to carry my suggestion in
Ii effect % ~ AZ