Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-09-17

sentiment of its coming 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
forewarned It might have been. But
whr attempt TO describe what is in itself in
describabley
And then il came-a fearful, hery ava
Ia che, sweeping through the silent night
irresistible, memorable, scattering great white
hot ashes in its path, an embodiment of ruth
less swiftuess and strength. Ohedient to
the touch of child, and rushing on its mid
night course with the strength of thousand
giants divided from destruction By tiny
fiange, and counting a fate too terrible to
think of in its terrific fight Truly as poetic
an embodiment, o gentle reader, as the
"HighHyer" or the " True Briton;" surely
guided by a man a little more intelligent, and
quite as poetic as the coachman whose lead
inc characteristics | have touched upon above.
NV business in Hindlesham had long pre-
cluded me from midnight walks, when was
Unexpectedly brought back once more to my
old post at the Abbey Bridge in this wise.
very dear friend who was passing through
Hindlesham by the night express, wrote TO
ask me to meet her at the station. Now, my
correspondent was not aware that that par
ticular train did not stop at Hindlesham, ana
il was too late, on the very day OF her pass
ing when received her letter, to rectify her
mistake. For all that day, however, l could
not get the night express out of my head; it
haunted me the whole day long mixed itself
up in the most perplex king manner with the
very important case of Regina and HiggIn-
botham, upon which 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, l 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
have spoken of as separating the path from
the railway, / had-in harmony with the
sweet tranquility of the night-fallen into a
very pleasant reverie, in which the young la
DIV then approaching in the night express was
not the least conspicuous feature, when was
somewhat astonished by the sound of foot
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 sthe loose cinders of the
bridge. ut is some platelayer," 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 L fell
back again, not reluctantly, to the interrupt
ed reverie, with the thousand pleasant
thoughts which grouped themselves round
the central fgure-she 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-
Iude to fuller harmony-the key note of a
more perfect joy.
| cannot say how long had been thus
pleasantly occupied; l 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
Ming, 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, y
| said a voice in my very ear, land youl have
! a 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 kePo' Day Boy to fits-ha, ha
I fits-fitsn
/ | 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,
| however, did not burst upon my mind at
once. A glance, indeed, was sufficient to
show me that a mailman was before me-a
mailman who, as l gathered from his inco
| herent words, mad doomed the coming train
with what intensity felt then that it was
freighted with all that held dear on earth
to a fate too horrible to think Of The
diabolical ingenuity which he had employed
however, for his purpose, was happily then
unknown to me; had seen that, | should
have almost despalred.
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 fash of suspicion coming across
his mind, "you won't-won't tell anybody,
will your" and he peered into my face with
| a madmans cunning.
pooh tell anybody" | said, endeayor.
ing to force laugh; who'd tell such joke
as that wouldn't whisper it; that is, il
you'll let me see how the scenery is man.
| aged where the trap is, you know, Ell?
"Oh, the trap" he replied, with momen-
tary recurrence of suspicion; " it's behind
the scenes, you know" and he laughed again
! "a 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.
Az there it was as | 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 | saw it, forI knew the night express
might reach the spot at any moment -
| knew that it was at that instant hurrying
| on its way TO meet the hideous fate which
this wretched man had prepared for it, and
| the thought almost deprived me of the pow
| er of action. To use force, / 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
that any mailman is terrible in his strength.
At this moment an expedient occurred to me
which afforded some hope"
"Good heavens !" said to the man, ''you
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
ha sd 80 - L.