The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1877-06-16
THE oBsrRUCTED TRACK.
BY CAPT. CHARLES HOWARD.

II WAS Cfisp HlSnt III OCtOOcT, anu TIE
winds rustled the leaves in the woods that
surrounded Ytol Nathek's house Above
the fair girl who looked out of small
dornItory window, shone countless stars
she might have seen Bootes and Orion had
she looked up, but that night the worlds
Of Heaven had no attraction for her.
She was listening to a strange sound
borne from the west by the nocturnal
breeze that chilled her cheek | might
have said with prupriety succession Of
sounds, for 1t seemed that some persons
were cording wood or moving heavy tim
bers not far away Save this noise, the
night was quiet, and she heard without
interruption from the window Of her sim
pie boudoir.
''l believe it is in Gwynne's Gut" she
said at last to herself Perhaps some
villain is obstructing the track for devIlish
purposes. The Red Bird will soon be due,
and this is Eds trip down"
Her face grew trifle paler as she spoke,
and a moment later she stood before the
| ancient wall sweeper in one Of the lower
rooms.
J The moonbeams stealing in az the win
| dow fell upon the face Of the dial, and told
| ltl llldL IL Was Twelve q CltCh.
Twelve her lips murmured. "Whal
twelve O'Clock, and he whistles to me at
half past My heavens what If the track
is obstructed IN the cut i'
With the last word on her lips she turn
ed and soon left the house.
| At the gate she paused moment and
listened. The sounds were still to be
| heard, and she believed that they emana-
ted from a spot IN the cut near the cattle
| guard Then she started forward again,
and crossed the meadow that lay between
her home and her destination
The stars looked down upon little OBJ
| ject that glttured like silver IN ltol
Nathek's nand. II was revolver, and
! her fingers held 1t firmly. Once or twice
she glanced at it As If to satisfy herself
! that 1t Vas there. Then looked up again
| with All AR ot determination.
She was the belle Of ,he county she in
| habIted. Her father vas dead, and with a
widowed mother and little brother of
| twelve, she dwclt III the humble house aun
/ by the sweat If that fathers brow A rail-
Way station called Beaumont was the only
settlement near, and it Vas SIX miles from
her home She seldom went thither, for
there vas no society there, and she could
enjoy herself better at home.
The track NJ iron was the making, Of
Beaumont, for the road was new, and
towns we're sprluglng up all along the line
\ tol could see the cars from her Sindow,
and often had she sat there until the fam
ing he d-hght Of the midnight express had
appeared and disappeared. An opening
ia the woods enable her to see the hight
for a moment, and then the lighted win
dows Of the coaches.
Did the engineer know that she was
watching that his engine gave two shrill
shrieks as It reached the opening two
shrleks that seemed t. say, ''ltUl ltoi'
She always smiled when she heard the
sounds, and with the smiles lingering on
her face, or a blush, she would listen till
the rumblLg Of the train died away be-
yond the cramped boundaries Of uucum-
mercial Beaumont.
That brace If shrleks, loud and shrill,
told her who drove the engine toward the
great city on the Misslssippls 4 hank 4. They
recalled the day, one year since, when the
first engine she mad ever seen stopped at
Beaumont, scarcely a station then. The
engineer was young and handsome, aud
when he saw her examining the great drive
wheels, and looking with wonderment up
on the mighty beauties Of MS iron pet, he
leaped to the ground.
"A pretty piece Of machinery" he said
to her; "and she goes like bird -
She blushed when she caught his eye,
and the sound Of his voice thrilled her
Overcoming her tImidIty, he helped her
into his coy apartment ON the engine, and
explained to her the wondrOus mechanism
uf the beautiful monster. Then he said
gOod-by, and she saw the train move off,
ana his hat waving from the engine was
the last thing she saw AS it darted round
the curve.
A week later she found herself at the
station, talking TO him again. Their meet
ing seemed purely accidental, and no doubt
it was such but | am sure the meetings
that followed it were not. By and by,
Ed. Gordon, the engineer, carried PIC
ture over his heart, and on Itors bureau
lay the photographer semblance Of his
face
Thus the acquaintance at the station
during the Red Birds trial trip over the
new road had ripened into love, and the
two midnight shrleks told her that he Was
safe and driving his engine toward the
river metropolis. She sat at her window
oft times, with the lamp On the sill, and
often fancied that she could see him lean
ing from his engine with eyes fixed to catch
a glimpse of her before the train would be
swallowed up by the woods again.
This life was excitement and Joy to ltol,
but it was passing away. The time was
coming when Ed. Gordon would leave the
road, and accept the superintendency Of
the companys car-shops IN iiOurishing
city.
But let me return to the October night
when YJol left her home to investigat.
the sounds that seemed to come from
Gwynns Cut.
She felt that distractions we're being
placed upon the track In the dismal places.
OF late the company had incurred the
hatred of certain persons residing
III the vicinity Of the station, and ones
or twice the track had been tampered with,
but, fortunately, to no serious extent.
The night express generally went through
the cut with undiminished speed, for no
obstructions had been encountered there,
though the cattle guard in the c.nter
NpuAu assist the eNllly ulspOseu.
1tol at last reached the cut into which
the mellow moonbeams fell, and paused
Something high and dark obstructsd the
track before her, at the very spot where
the cattle-guard seemed to be, and she
held her breath. 1t was twelve O'Clock
when she left the house, and her walk had
occupied number of precious minutes
The shrieks Of the Red Bird would soon
be heard, and moment thereafter its
headlight would flash into the cut Of the
gorge.
She saw more than pile Of strong ties
on the track. She saw the dark figure or
man moving about the pyrimid, as if
contemplating his nights work and specu-
lating upon the ruin and death it would
cause. She watched until she believed
that no one man had ACCOMPLISHED the