The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-03-21


me goodnight and took her depar-
ture. presently made all fast. and
seated myself for quiet evening with
my pipe and books. By-and-by I be-
gan to hear the mirth at Pete's shanty.
away at the other end of the street,
waxing fast and furious. ] heard the
noise until near ten o'clock, when I
turned In and was soon asleep.
The nextsound | heard was stun
ming blow on my door and confused
mnrmur of voices outside. To seize
my revolver and jump into my trous-
ers was the work of an instant, and
on the repetition of the blow, called
out, Stand clear outsidel I'm
going to fire through the door The
second blow had nearly dashed in the
frail pine boards, and as spoke, the
third shattered the door, and / could
see by the dim starlight dozen heads
and sticks pressing through the door
way. Aiming at the leader, i pulled
trigger, and heard the click of the
hammer on the capless cone. Quick
as thought [ tried two more barrels,
hurled the useless revolver at the
nearest head, and Selling chair
smashed it to pieces on the next.
Then came sharp crack or two over
my own head, and the stars faded
away. the dim room vanished in great
er darkness, and [ was senseless How
long / remained unconscious cannot
tell, but it could not have been long.
fer when i felt the damp, cool air
blowing over my face [ could hear the
retreating steps and drunken laughter
of party of men who / con-
Guided were my late assailants.
Gradually my senses grew clearer. l
found, first, that | was bound tightly
hand and foot. Presently I opened
my eyes. | lay on my right side, my
head resting on a cold, hard sub
stance. Then l distinguished the
rush of water afar off, against the
piers of the bridge. As my eyes be-
came steadier saw that the cold SUBJ
stance on which my cheek rested was
a railroad track / could see few
yards of it, with its companion rail.
on which my feet rested. Beyond and
around was a dark prairie, and a
quarter of mile away twinkled a
solitary light in one of the cabins.
All this / stupidity realized as my
stunned faculties returned, when sud-
denly the frightful question flashed
upon my mind Has the night-ex-
press passed 2 In an instant every
sense was acutely awake. / was lying
bound to a cross-tie; my head, slight
'ly raised, rested on a rail. | was not
very near the head of the bridge, but
far enough up the grade to look over
the prairie.
Evidently, Pete had planned a
vengeance terrible, indeed. Yet how
did / know but that the train had
passed? ] twisted my neck till the
cords cracked, and made out to see
the all right signal twinkling at the
bridge. / shouted and yelled for
help, but the more earnest | became,
the more every one within hearing
would think my shouts only the
maudlin cries of some drunken
Irishman. The signal man at the
bridge could not leave his station for
any ordinary cause, and certainly the
cries of a drunken man, on a Satur-
day night, were not extraordinary.
All this passed through my mind as I
shouted, until my strength was gone.
Then | lay, and silently thought.
My servant must have removed the
caps from my pistol. Why should
she? What cause for such treason
had ever given her? Why had |
located the cabins so far from the
track? Think as [ would, the stern
fact of my situation remained, and
| could only hope that one o'clock
and the train, too, had passed.
" But now, low down, on the very
edge of the black horizon, my eye
caught faint red CLEAN. Too Of
ten had | watched the trains
to doubt for moment. / knew
the very spot at which that dreaded
light would appear. So then twenty
minutes, at the very longest, provided
no accident happened, was the life
time remaining for me. | strained
every fibre to break my bonds, or
twist my neck clear of the track, but
the rope was too strong, and couple
of stakes driven, one on each side of
my neck, forbade any motion except
slight lateral one. In the, intensity of
my muscular strain I had shut my
eyes. As opened them / saw before
me, nearer, brighter, steadie-, the
shining reflection of the advancing
train. Again 1 shouted, again [
strained, but to no purpose. Then I
lay and watched the light, as, I had
often done in happier times, until it
seemed to, me that my brain must give
way. I @sed my eyes and tried to
pray, but that fearful light shone
through my eyelids and banished
every other thought And now
a faint yet terribly distinct
rumble began to fill the air;
it seemed as though my Utmost
s0nl felt that snnnd Ynt I rnrnnnn