Mexico weekly ledger., 1876-12-07
An Old RaiIroader's Thrilling Story.

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An Old RaiIrOader's Thrilling Story.
AURORA, Ind, Nov. 23.-Yesterday
morning, while two men, employees of
the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Com
pany, were on their way to their work
in the car-shops of the company,
mile west of this place, their attention
was attracted by a boot-heel, freshly
torn off, sticking in the "frog" of the
railroad track, a short distance from
the shops. They stopped a moment to
examine it, and found that the heel was
so securely fastened in the iron "frog''
that it required a smart blow with q
crutch Zone of the men had lost q. leg)
to remove it. Long nails protruded
from the heel, and all the evidence went
to show that it had taken a considera-
BILE effort to tear it from the boot.
"It appears to me,'' said one the men,
"that some fellow has had a narrow
escape from being run down by q train
last night, or else he has been badly
frightened and wrenched his boot-heel
Off when their vas no occasion for it,"
SIT reminds me-" replied his compan-
ion in a low tone, " of a little adventure
that happened to me several years ago
up on the Pan Handle road. l was
then a young man, but it isn't likely
that I'll forget it," and he cast a rueful
glance at the empty leg of his pants.
"The story is soon told" he went
on, turning the boot-heel over in
his hand as If to find inscribed upon it a
story similar to his own. 81 was walk
ing on the track near Cadiz junction,
in Ohio. 1t was one dark and blustery
night in February, and a heavy snow
storm was prevailing at the time. The
snow and wind beating into my face
was almost sufficient to have blinded
n had it been broad daylight. L was
walking briskly along, not dreaming of
any harm-in fact, sir, | was then re-
turning from a visit to my sweetheart,
who had that evening promised to be
my wife-when suddenly l found my
boot-heel fastened between two rails
where a side track joined the main
track, just as this heel was fastened in
the frog here at our feet. At that mo-
ment l heard the shrill whistle of To-
conceive, and looking up the track I
saw, through the binding snow, a light
bearing down upon me. I had passed
the depot a few minutes previous and
had noticed several persons standing
on the platform. The persons were
waiting for a train and here was one
coming! 1t was an unusual hour for
q tram, and the idea of meet
ing one had not occurred to me before,
but now the awful truth flashed upon
me. / made a desperate effort to re-
lease my foot and the horror of my
situation was increased 8 hundred fold
when | found that it was securely fast
eIed between the rails. The light was
SO close that it's reflection upon the new
fallen snow blinded me. AS a man will
in a like situation, l thought of a
thousand things in an instant. Thought
of my aged parents, of events of my
past life, OF my promised bride; and the
thought that | should be orr from her,
or what was worse, be MANNED for life,
was infinitely more dreadful than the
thought of death. But I'll not trouble
you with these painful details. What /
supposed to be the headlight of a loco
motive was blazing, like the fires of
-, right in my face. 1t was this leg
that was fastened" he said, swinging
his stump back and forth, "and l just
threw myself" eyes, yes" inter
rupted his companion, with blanched
cheeks, "you threw yourself to one side
and the engine severed your leg from
your body!"
"Not exactly" returned the story
teller, smiling blandly upon his victim.
1.-The truth is, sir, l am almost ashamed
to say that the light did % proceed
from a locomotive, but from the lantern
of a Waterman who happened to be
coming down the track"
"And the shrill whistle that you
heard?"
"That, l presume, came from a one
horse saw-mill not far off,"
"But your leg-how did you lose
thatp"
"As many another brave man has
lost his" came the answer, accompa-
MED by a heavy sigh, and a far-away
look as if to recall the scenes of some
field of battle; 81 fell under a moving
machine and had it chopped off,"
"Well, all l have to say" replied his
companion, somewhat disguised at the
turn the romance had taken against
him, call | have to say is that / hope
your girl went back on you and mar
ried an ax-handle-maker or some one
who could make her happy"
"She stuck to me-" said the ro-
mancer, ''stuck to me through good
and evil report, and married me-mar-
ried me one rapturous evening in the
merry month of May, and now," and
his voice grew husky with emotion,
sand now I'd give the top of this bald
and beetling pate if she hadn't"
He turned his face away to hide his
tears, and the two walked slowly into
the nearest saloon.-Chtcago Times.