Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-04-20
Rives' Junction. and now # the

!, Rives' Junction, and now if tbe
mail train bothers US much, shal
lhave our journey for nothing, anc
1.-THE telegraph will laugh at. >ur de
feat. Click! click! gees the in
strument, and in half a minute
comes back the order: "Tel
Tom to come on with a rush. =
Will hold train for yon." Puff
puff, and we are off. They are
holding full train to let the Free
Press get the Governors message
Hang tighter now. Weran before
we are lying now. Tees go by
booking like lead pencils; those
black threads we run over are
cuIverts four or five feet wide
that roar that touched your ear
for the fourth of a second was "a
bridge; the fences look like a sin.
glera keeping pace with us
Bang, bump, rock / harg to the
seat, shut my eyes, and leave my
falling tile to the care of the men
who have ridden mile a minute
before. ~5 5.H -
7 We are beating the telegraph
we are running as fast as any en-.
gineer.ever dares push his iron
steed. d. e
! A mile a n inate. ,.-<.".l
. Around curves, on level stretch
es, over bridges, through the woods
and across the meadows. Only
the carrier pigeon can make this
time-only the lightning flash 90
faster Tom is in astudy. Bent
forward, his keen blue eyes fixed
on the rails ahead, his hand seek
ing guages, cocks, levels and throt-
tie by instinct, he looks like a
stone, bis face as unreadable as
marble. None Of usspeak a word; /;
all eyes are looking ahead, and
the bell is Changing away as if
chanting a requiem. The dial
shows one hundred and twenty
.pounds.of steam, just the figure it
has kept since we left Lansing.
Hank pulls open the door, looks
back at the wood, but Tom shakes
his head, and
+ VIII o.o-o-pi
That's Jackson! We have held
the mail train mnre than ten min
utes,, and we are going TO catch
the fast express. Here we are !
How the passengers shou'! /! They
have been told the cause of delay.
and have good naturedly endured
it. A hundred men and women
1lave cheerfully waited to let the
Northwest hurry a package
through to-the thousands of read
ers of the Free Press. Hip! ha !
hurrah ! they yell as We GO by.
and the sound has hardly died a
way before our painting steed
stopped at the depot. Ten min
utes to spare! said Tom, and he
wears as proud a smile as if he
owned the Northwest and had
made his fortune on a wager a
gainst time. A jump through the
wondering crowd and the head
light Of the locomotive drawing
the fast express is seen down the
track. Here she comes, and a
word With the baggageman sets
ever, thing right, and the Free
Press is to have the message at
holf-past seven, six hours before
the lightning can transmit the last
words from Lansing.
Fl Ten minutes for rest and lunch,
Iand we go back with rush, Tor
there are trains to avoid, and we
must reach Lansing before the
evening mail train starts south
wardl1 No moon, no stars; the
snow fakes flying. the red glare
of tbe fire lighting up woodland
glade, we make the return trip.
a haud shake with the good fell
lows who have accompanied me,
and | drop off at the starting point,
lame, sore, bruised, shaken, aud
glad to turn over my temporary
-proprietorship of the Northwest
to 1om and the boys. QUAD.