The tribune. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-01-06

stupefed with terror, you know, to bind
'em hand and foot, and then signal to
the approaching enginel"
Miss Fairbanks looked at the pistol
and at its young owner, and the combi-
nation of the two, with the terrified stu
pefaction that they were expected to
produce, was SO immensely lndicrous
that her sense of fun overcame her ter
ror and restored her self-possession.
wouldn't do that" she said, So
berly. You might be obliged to kill
one or two of them, and just think of
going through the world with the memo.
ry of a murder upon your soul"
cit wouldn't be MURDER" said Johnny,
"but justitiable homicide. / guess I'd
better 60"
"Stop," said Miss Fairbanks, in her
most authoritative fashion. "Stay here,
and let me think"
Johnny obeyed, but cooked the re-
doubtable' pistol, and stared intently up
the road. The men who were piling vari-
GUS Instructions upon the track evident
ly meant that their work should not be
done in vain, for although dozen rails
were already artistically flung together,
they had ascended the embankment and
"etS uJhS W Piy IL nuBe Ioch Irou us
bed to add to the pile. Johnny could
hear their voices as they spoke to each
other, and inwardly chafed at his en-
forced inaction, but consoled himself by
rejecting that, rs he was protecting q
lady, nobody could possibly call him
cowardly, no matter what happened.
"Johnny ~ said Miss Fairbanks, so
sharply and suddenly that he fairly
jumped, chow far off is the nearest sta
ton at which this express stopsI'
Yours, ma'am? -Four miles," said
Johnny
"We couldn't climb the embankment
and go round and come down on the
track again, and get to the station in
time to stop the train there, could we?"
Hardly" said Johnny.
''What shall we dol" asked Miss
Fairbanks again.
Johnny ardently urged the advantages
of his plan of intimidation, and Miss
Fairbanks was half inclined to allow him
to carry it out. Villains, she reflected,
drawing her knowledge from several
textbooks on moral philosophy,
especially adapted to young ladies'
seminaries," were always cowardly, and
when Johnny appeared to them these
particular wretches would, doubtless,
run away, and there would be no blood
shed. Just as she had decided to allow
the young man to enter upon his philan-
thropic and murderous enterprise, the
stone which the men had been endeavor-
ing to loosen yielded to their efforts and
came down, bringing with it great cloud
of dirt and several smaller rocks, and
extinguishing the light. The men burst
into profanity, audible even at the dis
k.,~ l. Ill N
seeming, to her, sufficiently fiery to re-
kindle the extinguished luminary, but
they consoled themselves with assuring
each other that the thing was safe any
way, and then came rapidly along the
opposite embankment towards the spot
where the Lady and boy were standing.
Oh" said she, there're coming
this way
they won't see us, and We'll go up
the road and stop the engine us soon rs
they pass.
On came the two men, swinging their
lanterns and talking with carelessness
which astonished Miss Fairbanks, who
had never before realized what utter
loneliness may prevail within few
miles of the city, and what deeds of
darkness may be done in safety almost
within sound of the church-bells of the
metropolis. With one impulse she and
Johnny shrank close to the embankment
and listened.
"Old president will wish he hadn't
discharged me SO sudden, 1 reckon, 5"
said one.
"You're sure he'll be on the train, -
asked the other.
"Oh, yes he is sure to go home ut
Christmas. They won't relish their din
ner in that stuck-up house, tomorrow, I
guess. Twill do that tall son of his
good, fancy, to have to earn his own
bread and butter, instead of keeping his
hands white at Harvard. They say that
nothing but the old mans pluck keeps
the road alive his whole fortune is in
ir, and if he should die the whole thing
will go up, and that conceited fop won't
have q cent"
These were the last words that the lis
teners heard, for the speakers took their
way along n lane that turned off at right
angles from the track, and their Ian
terms soon disappeared in the darkness
Miss Fairbanks and Johnny ran swift
ly up the road. There was no chance
that their feeble strength could remove
the huge mound of rails and earth and
rocks, and rapid cross examination re-
vealed the fact that Johnny's means of
signaling" were of the vaguest de-
scription and utterly impracticable with
out the aid of daylight.
Miss Fairbanks wrung her hands and
Johnny half whimpered. Suddenly
she started to her feet
"Didn't you tell me there was a
L Il