Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-09-09
A Remarkable Escape and Thrilling
Incident.

a CORRESPONDENT of the Boston AdUer-
t'se7, travelling in Germany, narrates this
thrilling incident:
1t was third-class carriage. She was
a pleasant-faced young woman, going, l
think, for the first time after her marriage,
10 visit her parents at her old home, to
snow them their two fine grandchildren.
AT least, this was the little history built
up Tor her in my own brain from word
or two that l heard between her and her
young husband at the station as he put her
into the carriage with an affectionate fare
well. l always watch with great interest
the tarewells and greetings of my fellow
travellers, and have fashion of thinking
out Tor myself the whole story of their
previous lives from the little hints that /
get In this way. 1t is to me as if I were
permitted to open the second volume of an
interesting romance and allowed to read
only one short scene in this, and asked to
guess as nearly as possible from this one
scene the previous course of the story and
the characters of the actors in it
The youngest child was an infant of
about three or four months old-very quiet
and good; the other was pretty, restless
little girl of three, who could not be still
single moment and kept the careful
mother busy by her questions and wants
and childish prattle. She was not at all
bashful, and soon talked to us also in such
natural, coquettish, condescending way
that we were quite in love with the
charming little lassie, and begged her
mother not tocheck her innocent advances
to us.
When we had been travelling together
for two or three hours, and began to feel
quite like old acquaintance, while the
train was going at full speed, the mother
half rose from her seat to place the little
girl, who had left her place, again on the
opposite seat. How it happened | never
understood; it was one of those accidents
which seem impossible, and, in fact, only
happens once in a hundred thousand
times; but, just as she stood half-erect,
holding her sleeping babe upon one arm
and her little, frolicsome maiden some
what awkwardly on the other, the little
girl made one of her sudden, quick move
ments, and in an instant she was gone
from our eyes.
What a moment! The poor mother
stood fixed and rigid in exactly the same
attitude, her arm still bent as though
around her child, gazing with wide-open,
fixed eyes at the place whence she van
ished. She seemed literally suddenly
turned to stone; with the rest of us the
case was almost the same. How long this
lasted | do not know; doubtless it seemed
to us much longer than it really was.
Then the young mother seemed to come
to herself, and made sudden movement
as if she would spring through the
window after her vanished darling, now
far away. [ caught her quickly fast and
held her while the kind young lady who
sat opposite to me took the baby from her
arms, and we all began to talk together,
no one listening to the other about what
Was to be done for her. Somehow we
managed, in our excitement, to do all
that was possible; the guard came, the
train was stopped, and the mother, with
out speaking to one of us, or even look
ing at us, left the train, supporting herself
on one arm Of the sympathizing guard,
while he held the still sleeping baby fast
in the other.
Of course the train must go with in
creased speed to make up for the moment
of oh for to
see more of the poor bereaved mother.
"Telegraph to us at the next station"
said one of the railroad functionaries to
the guard. eyes, yes, be sure to do it
immediately" cried dozen voices; for in
some mysterious way the news of the ac-
cident had run through the train as if by
electricity, ana long row of sympathiz-
ing faces watched from the carriage the
disappearing forms Of the mother and the
guard.
Now, at last we are there; the train
halts and one of the guards runs quickly
into the little office over which "Tele-
graph is painted. Everybody who can
possibly get his or her head out of the
window, on that side, thrusts it out There
is moment Of intense suspense; here
comes the guard again, with dispatch in
his hand; he stands about midway be-
tween the ends of the train and begins to
read it out in his clear, loud, official tones:
"Child perfectly sound; alighted on a
pile of straw in a field, not two feet from
a stone wallr'
Then what scene! Every man at the
train windows has his hat off in mo-
ment and is waving it and cheering as if
he would split his throat; every woman is
buried in her pocket-handkerchief, crying
and laughing together. The stout old
egotist and the vain young dandy
have thrown their arms around each
other, and are embracing with that hearth
ness that belongs to the sons of the Water
land, although they never met before this
morning. The stiff old maid in the corner
has shaken my hands in both hers sol
many times that feel they are quite sore.
All the inhabitants of the little village
come running around the train: "What
is it? Where is he? Is it the Kaiser him.
self, or is it the KrOn PrinZ?" they ask IN |