Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-03-22

p I OF bne iron r0d as II snapped.
, | bounded to the side of the track.
placed the the. croWbar as a lever un
J der the rail, aud was about to move
, the switch, with a laugh of relief, intC
: its place, when / felt both my arms
igrappled from behind with a hold as
firm as steel, and I was thrown vic
lently back, dropping the erowbar as
fell
"Not SO fast, Reuben Eyre, hissod
the hated voice of John Walker close
to my ear. Il will be revenged yet,
though pretty Barbara has played me
false
| I struggled, with strength that
| afterward seemed well nigh supernat-
ural, to free myself from bis clinging
grasp, bat in vain. He had drawn me,
L suppose unoOBscIOusly, on to the
/ track, and I could already feel beneath
my feet the thrill and tremble of the
firm earth-a sure token that the ap-
l proaching train was nearing US. /
thought Of the unsuspecting passen-
gers whose fate hung IN the balance
4 Were they to perish when help and
i rescue lay almost within a hand s
breadth of me They talk of the Bit
terness Of death-tb5s was the bitter
/ ness of life +; and in that moment of
l horrible suspense / drank the lOathed
| cup to the very dregs.
But helD-thanks to God S prOvi-
/ dence WAS nearer at hand than / had
/ dared to hope. While / strove with.
1 John Walkers herculeau strength
I Barbara Wycliffe had with surprising
u ICouFage and presence of mind. seized
the oroW-bar, and had forced the rails
! Into position. Brave girl It did not
require more than a woman 8 strength,
/ but she did need at that moment more
I than a man S courage. 1t WASH { nerve
and sinew she needed, but the heart to
do It. The train did not slaekeu its
/ speed. The engineer had failed to no.
tice the absence of the signal, aud
dashed wildly ahead 1t did not mat
ter now. The switch was all right
and the danger was past
The danger past Not so. Can you
believe that, while distinctly saw all
this, saw Barbara 5 act, saw the rails
move, saw them rightly adjusted, saw
the engineers ke-actually re
aected that his mistake resulted from
his firm confidence IN me-I had never
failed him before-can you eOmpre-
hend that all this time it was only an
instant, though was engaged IN a
BLEukZlE A0E lALb WlNA - Unu W uAhCA
Mind and matter was totally distinct,
Mentally, I was absorbed in Barbara's
work: physically, I grappled with John
Walker. Now, the danger to the
train past, mind returned to matter,
and Walker soon found I was more
than match for him. Ny first rehec-
ton was to drag him and myself from
the track, across which we we're stTug-
ling. It was the work of an instant. Then
with a superhuman effort, / endeaVor-
ed to free myself from his grasp, and
I threw him violently from me. He
staggered back a pace or two, vainly
endeavoring to recover his equilibrium
and then fell
Fell, great Heaven directly across
the iron track
I made an instructive step forward !
to save him, but Barbara Wycliffe's |
arms were elasped tightly around me, |
Barbara s voice was crying out wildly, /
Reuben ! Reuben ! for n5Y sake ~
And 10 the same breath the Light |
ming Express rushed over the track |
like a fiery serpent, and / knew that /
John Walkers accounts with Time /
were closed forever.
The engineer and fireman of the /
Accommodation train, which was |
standing on the branch road, had, in I
the glare of the locomotive, witnessed /
the struggle, aud had heard Barbara's s |
screams, and now came rushing for I
ward. In aWed silence they removed |
the body from the track where It lay, /
fearfully crushed and mangled, with |
glazed eyes upturned, and brow still /
contracted with the scoWl of mortal |
rage.
50 the man died, and there was no /
living soul to mourn his death.
As the engineer of the AccOmOda- /
tion eomD mDrehended the situation and /
explained it to the wondering passen- /
gers, he turned to me as / meehaically /
readiusted the switch to allow the /
Accommodation to pass, and said,
Lucky for you, old fellow, that the /
Lightning was five minutes behind |
time.
Five minutes behind time-and |
those five minutes had held the destiny /
Of life and death within their pulsing |
seconds
As the last crash and rattle Of the
vanishing train, which now sped on its I
way. smote upon my ear my duty for /
the night wholly done, all the fcti- |
cious strength that had lent vigor to 1
my arm, and nerve to my limbs, seem i
ed taken from me. My friend ly crow /
bar dropped with dull sound from my !
hands, the far-of cTests of the purple /
hills seemed to reel and tremble, and I
/ fell like log to the ground, weak /
aud fainting, with Barbara Wyclltte s /
sweet face bending over me, like the |
face of an angel
When thought aud sense returned /
to me once more, days after, I was in I
my little cabin, and the Wyclitfe's s |
father and daughter, were ministering /
to me. And the farmer told me how |
the people from all about the country /
had come to look at the dead man, and |
hear the verdict of the eOrOneT's jury, |
and to see how narrowly the passen- |
gers of the two trains had escaped the |
doom that had come down upon him
like an avepging spirit.
And I tell ye, it made their blood |
run cold, said the farmer. They /
called my little girl heroine, and I |
amt sure but that they re right y
Barbara" said /, when the old !
man had gone to the spring for water, |
aud we were left alone together, how
did it happen? How did you know
that he"
He told me himself. said Barbara
in a low, troubled voice.
When 2"
THAT evening, after had left you
at the bridge.
And you, Barbara, what did you
say2"
''At first I screamed with terror. !
Then he told me that he had done it |
for the love Of me that when he
got your place he would marry me.
What could / do / dared not turn
back to you, for there was murder in |
his eyes, and he would have stabbed
you-perhaps me, too, long before /
could have reached you; so I Jet him
fancy-God forgive me-that / would
be his accomplice in his wicked
schemes and his wife afteTward He
told me all he had done. So when he
left me I went straight to where had
seen my fathers croW-bar lying by the
track: and oh, Reuben it seemed as
if L never should be able to drag its
weary weight through the woods to
your post Every rush of the wind in
the tree-tops seemed like the train
coming, and every rustling leaf was