Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-07-12

1 ICauePS " Wa uOt tuG yO0t80
for Us to take. crossing IN & 1osk by
the narrow plank; but Ne z - q the
moment think Of danger.
There had been heavy e : fDeent-
". and the river was full.
We could hear the water q 1ne and
gurgling by Is We stepped "a the
boards.
We advanced boldly en1 until
We came to the covered part. g mas
some forty feet long.
Then we hesitated. Patty III In
clined 10 turn back. - -. :
But Ia1ghed q her, and; ~ S;ns frm
hold of each others hands. We moved
on.
don't know how il was, exactly,
but Is We reached the very centre oil
this part which was rooted over, almost
creeping along in the darkness, shud.
der seemed to seize both Of us.
think we felt at that moment the
presence Of some person or yersops be-
sides ourselves beneath that covering.
We stood still for IN instant.
Then we hurried on more rapidly
and less carefully. towards the open
ing at the other end.
Just Is We were stepping out into
the starlight again. something occurred
that might well have paralyzed hearts
far stouter than ours.
1t was Pompey's voice that rang out
loud, clear, and distinct from the dark
ness behind US.
And bis words were 30 terrible, that,
for an instant, We sank down helpless.
fully catching their meaning, yet unable
to stir.
This was what he said
Run run for your lives! Git q
lantern and stop the train. These dirty
trampers has torn up the"
That was all that he said.
We heard low curse and q dull
sound, as il blow had been given. and
then the words seemed to iade and CUR
gle out in an awful groan.
/ think both Of US realized fully the
situation-our own danger, and that OF
the train even now due-from the very
first.
Only we were so frightened, that for
a moment We could not move.
What reused us was a shout and an
oath from one Of the tramps.
We must catch them," he cried,
cor they'll spoil everything"
We heard the sound Of heavy boots
on the planks, and then I gave a violent
jerk at Patty's arm, and away we went,
running as we never had run before.
E. ----.-t ar two expected. to
be shot at; but it was probabier snsI rssey
had no pistol, and really believe that,
after the first fright, the thought upper.
most in our minds was the train.
We knew that We must stop that at
all hazards; and We were praying in
our hearts that We might be in time.
We turned of at the meadow and
ran up through the orchard.
By special providence, as l cannot
but believe, father was engaged in the
barn with light.
We told him the whole story in half
a-dozen words, and then all three hur-
ried back to the railroad and down to
the line.
But the train wreckers were nowhere
to oe seen.
Probably, now that the alarm had
been given, they had thought it best to
hurry away.
The line was straight for mile or
two, and away down the bank there,
just how near we could not tell, was
the glitering headlight.
Father advanced towards it swinging
the lantern round and round.
1t did not seem half minute-it was
not much more than that, really-be.
fore the train was upon US.
The whistle shrieked.
Oh, would they never stopl
Father kept his place. still swinging
the lantern, until the engine was with
IN few feet of him.
But the brakes had been applied, and
presently it stopped, not haif-a-dozen
rods this side Of the river, and excited
men came running back.
1t did not take very long time to
repeat the story,
We went back and found Pompey
lying there, tied to a beam beside the
line, stone dead, with terrible wound
across his forehead.
His thick honest lips could not tell
Us the story.
They were white. and bloodless now,
and would never speak to US again.
But We understood it all without .
word from him.
He had discovered the wreckers at
their fendish work.
They had bound him there, and tied
handkerchief over his mouth, so that
he should not betray them.
But he had managed to fairly gnaw
the rag away; and when We came along,
recognizing us as we hesitated . mo-
ment in the middle Of the bridge, he
had " ai.ed until We were at . safe dis
tance, and yet within hearing. and then,
knowing that q man stood over him
with that terrible iron bar. which We
had found beside him-knowing that q
single word from him would end his
iife-knowing all this, and knowing it
well, he had deliberately calculated
everything. and fearlessly spoken the
warning that had Nst him his life, and
saved those OF hundreds.