The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1874-10-30

preached it, and from the wide open
easements she could hear the uproar
ious chorus of drinking song, the
clink of glasses, and that harsh sound
of besotted laughter. And httlng a |
trail of scarlet-Ieaved woodbines which
formed a natural curtain to one OF the |
windows, Hero Lewis peeped IN.
With sinking heart and chill sensa- |
ton of despair she saw Harry Rivers |
rise staggering to his feet with a brlm- |
ming glass in his hand, and propose |
some hiccougha1 toast, which was re-
ceived with noisy applause by the
riotous assemblage. Hero did not wait
to hear more. Dropping the woodblnes
once more, she hurried away with a
white, set face.
mer' she murmured. '' For the idol
whom worshipped has fallen to the
ground y
just at that moment the far-off whistle
of a train smote through the silence of
the night-a sudden, CHASTITY possibility
took possession of Hero's heart.
stThe midnight express - she NUT
tered to herself. ''And he dead drunk
in that bar room.
Hurrying down the steep ravine, heed
less of scratching briers and cruelty
piercing thorns that rent her dress and
drew blood from her tender skin, she
sprang ike wild deer down the de-
clivity, scarcely ever pausing for breath
until she had reached the iron track in
the valley below, where a side-rail
marked the intersecting course of lit
tie freight road that led away toward
the north. At six every morning and
evening the freight train passed over
the road-bed, and it was among Harry
Rivers most important duties to turn
the switch that connected this branch
road with the main track, after the
freight train had gone by.
Had he remembered to do SO tonight?
Or was the long and heavily laden ex-
| press from the West even now sweeping
| onward to its certain doom of death and
| destruction?
Hero knelt to feel of the track. Her
deadly doubt had too much foundation
| in fact-the switch had not been altered
since the freight train came up at six
| o'clock.
A chill dew beaded over her forehead,
a sinking sensation struck to her
heart. What was she to do :? Were
she gifted with the flying footsteps of
Mercury's self, she could not get to
the Miners Arms in time to avert the
| posing that she could, was Harry
| Rivers in condition to comprehend
what was said to him? And with a
bitter groan, rising up from the depths
of her heart, she realized all the hor-
rors which have their beginning and
end in the wine cup.
Suddenly a gleam of hope shot
athwart her brain. She knew where
the switch key was kept-she remem-
bered having once seen Harry slip it
under projecting ledge of rock upon
| 0rA Of 81,
dew, rain or tempest, just beyond where
she stood. What if she herself should
attempt to save the lives of the doomed
passengers every instant coming nearer
to their fate The idea and to act upon
it were telegraphed almost simultane-
ously from brain to hand. Snatchine
the key from it's resting place, she
stopped in the faint starlight now be
ginning to glimmer through the break
| ing clouds, and strove with every force
of her weak woman's strength, to move
the iron rails.
| God be thanked They stirred
they grated in their sockets-and, ever
at the moment in which the fiery rec
eye of the approaching express train
blazed in the foggy distance, Hert
, dragged the switch into its proper place
Yet even then she could scarcely be
: ieve that 1t was right, as with the ke,
dangling by her side she leaned pant
a ing against the rocks until. with
shrek like that of some fire-throatet
, demon of Avernus, the train swept by
q diZzying succession of lighted win
+ dows, and darkness and silence agai
settled down over all.
Hero Lewis neither tainted nor wepi
She was not of the material that shriel
e ers and swooners are made of. ST.
|. knew that she lad saved all the live
I upon that express train !; she knew thf
s she had averted a great crime frol
O Harry Rivers soul, and that was enoug
q for her.
It AS she climbed the hillside fe
d minutes later, she met Harry Rive
e staggering down the road. She stoppe
r him peremptorily.
a " Harry, where are you going ?"
Don't get in my way, lass, f
le Heavens sake he cried. in a thic
uncertain voice. 'sIt's the midnigl
d express. II amt quite certain abo7
e. the switch p"
II ''The midnight express passed by
teen or twenty minutes ago" said Her
0, firmly. 81 heard the whistle -
le " Are you sure ?"
p "Quite sure"
l. "Then God have mercy on my soul
SiH4Cu AstWSESs 4AlF1J SODer0o at 4aSG
the shock.
- You need have no fears sa
~ Hero, coldly. :" Z was there. YSurnt
y the SWITCH"
a s'You?"
:, eyes, I. had seen you do it.
y knew where the key was kept
IA "Hero p" cried Rivers, with strol
= sob in his throat, "you are my guard
=, angel Hero, you are woman amol
VI VI thousand. Kiss me, my dar4ing!''
20 "Never again, Harry Rivers % s
~ ~ answered, shrinking from him 'sTl
10 night has opened my eyes. Hereaft
we are the merest strangers to one q
other"
I'll So she left him, scarcely believi
the evidence of his own senses.
y The next day his formal dismiss
w from the service of the railroad CO
:" pany came, and he accepted it witho
' protest. He knew how dark reco
A. would have lain against his name h
Hero chosen to speak, and he dared r
at hazard remOnstrance.
OF OF AS for Hero herself, she never q
~ ~ him again.
or "My girl, said Uncle Royal, s'y
are worthy of your name. And belle
ne me, you never could have respect
q, Harry Rivers as q wife should respe