The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-05-27
nd went cheerily down to join her

| Daddy Dinkle's mind seemed
+, failing him little that year. He
was not always SO cheerful and hope
full as formerly. He used to have
/ fits of deep gloom sometimes
! strange in this sunny hearted old
man One day he said to Theo:
| Il am cross and old, Theo and
| the promised time isn't half as near
| at hand as it used to be. / wish
Edward Wallace would come home :
| At length the gentle old man fell
| sick He seemed to be slowly de.
/ Ginning, and once when Theo. sat
| beside him he said: Isr
Theodore, daughter, think the
promised time isn't 80 far of, after
all think shall find it where I
am going. The friends Of my youth
| have all found it already. We love
the next world better than this when
1 our dear ones die, one by one, and
we have q hope of meeting them
| there. I wish Edward Wallace
would come home 57 frs.s. .s.s
| Theo. went to Norton one day in
1 the railway train AS she returned,
she observed a stranger sitting di
rectly opposite her He was look
ing at her with cleaning, intense
| look. That was how she happened
to see him. Ee was a large man,
| with heavy, dark beard. brcnzed
cheeks and eyes. All! Theodora's
face turned white. She set her
teeth together, drew deep, shud
dering breath, and looked out Of
the window. The man 8 face turned
pale, too; pale to his very brow, and
he leaned his head suddenly forward
as if dizzy. He tore the back of
An old letter, and scribbled q ques,
ton on it He touched Theodora
ON the shoulder, and gave it to her,
looking steadily at her with his
bright, intense eyes People thought
she had dropped a letter and he had
picked it up for her. She read the
question, looked full into the ex
pectant face with it's bright, intense
eyes and her face turned winter
than before. She looked full into
the bright eyes, and deliberately
shook her head. The stranger sat
quietly down. The letter did not
belong to her after all.
The train was crossing railway
bridge, stilted upon tresslework,
half disjointed, hastily thrown to
gether, and worm eaten in some
places. It was a fashionable Ameri
can railway bridge 1t seemed
fearfully slaky to the stranger with
the bright eyes and brown cheeks.
A moment later every soul on that
bridge would have thought the same
thing, if he had had any time for
thought, which he hadn't. There
was a sudden noise of splintering
timbers. The bridge was going
dowd beneath the weight of the
train. It WAS a very high bridge.
There was deep rsvine under it,
full of dry, jagged rocks and fallen
trees. The train was fitting over to
the side where Theo. sat. She had
time to see that much. It was a
nice situat ion. Theo. glanced
wildly around for moment, and
then closed her eyes. Something
caught her in grasp like steel. and
whirled her madly around. She
An awful crash, which will ring
forever in the ears of those like the
crack of doom. Wild shrieks of
agony, appalling, fearful, death
groans, insane screams of frenzy,
mingled with the kissing of steam
and the sound of women screeching
in that idiotic way which tries mems
souls. Five persons killed outright,
little child mangled out of shape
of humanity, three persons fatally
wounded, and ten more or less
injured. They were all ready for
the whitewashing committee. Oh,
yes, my friends! Grand work for
the whitewashing committee.
Edward Wallace had caught
Theo. in his arms just as the bridge
went down. It was his last act of
consciousness for days. He had
hurled her away from tho window,
and turned so that he was next the
side where she sat An old tree
stump came humping into the win
dow. 1t struck him on the shoul-
der. As Theo. had been, it would
have struck her head. She escaped
with some broken glass cuts and a
black and blue bruise on her arm
He had saved her life. His shoul
der was dislocated. rib or two
broken, and he was badly stunned
and bruised about the head That
was all.
We are nearing the end of our
story.
They took the poor, bruised
creature home to Daddy Dinkle's
own house. Theo. gave her school
in charge of some Of the older boys
She told Daddy Dinkle that a
stranger had saved her life at the
risk of his own; that he was sorely
wounded, perhaps unto death, and
she had brought him home to be
cared for
But one day Daddy Dinkle,
through the open door, heard a
voice family speaking in the next
room He had not walked without
help for a month. yet he sprang
upon his feet, quivering with ex-
cItement
"Theo-, you have lied to me; you,
who never told me q falsehood
before. It is no stranger hear IN