Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1879-03-21

girl vi Uue CIStCk GOlu ulu tu8t SIG WUulU
surely kill him if he did not do her
biddlng.sla 1a a
Once she said to him, a. he paused for
breath before attacking the ties which he
had driven into, the cattle guard:
II never, thought this of you, Morgan
Duke. When 1 rejected you. 1 thought
you would bear it likes man."
He replied mott but glanced at his
watch 3,ri eig s5
"Half past 1871 he said.
ITO worksn was the stern command,
and Viola stepped forward and brought
the revolver nearer his head. :
He ,tuggedr at the, ties with great
strengths and large drops Of perspiration
stood out on his forehead,
II can It get them out, y he, said.
"You must, y was the reply.
81 drove them in with sledge."
81 did not hear the sound"
ut was deadened with my coat"
The girls face grew paler than ever,
and she glanced fearfully up the cut.
"Take them out!'' she said, suddenly;
''the train IS coming. hear it."
The villainous station master heard the
rumbling. and again turned to the ties.
"You have your choice,'' Viola said to
him. "A bullet or an unobstructed
track
She watched him as woman never
watched man before. She knew that he
was doing all that could be done to undo
his wicked work, and while she watched.
her heart grew still beneath the rumble of
the express.
"He'n soon call me-" she said to herself.
''There!" there!"
The familiar shrieks cleft the cool Octo-
Der air, but they brought no joy to her
heart. She was not at the old window be-
side the light he loved to hail from his en-
gine.s Perhaps she would be the first to
kiss his cold brow beneath the stars at
Gwynne's Cut. She almost shouted for
joy when she saw the first tie drawn from
the guard by the desperate man.
"Quick! the sledge! break the guard!'
she cried.
''God, I never thought of that" he said,
and the next moment he was SCATTERING
the long guard with the heavy sledge.
At that the tie was broken, and he
thrust the other ties down into the long
opening he had made.
At that moment the train, rounding the
curve dashed into the cut, and the flashing
head light not twenty feet away, almost
h1ypdnd tho ovoc Oft b> fra
Morgan Duke stepped from the track
and threw himself upon the heap of ties,
utterly exhausted. He saw triumph in the
girls eyes, and watched her as. the train
came on.
Oh! for strength to hurl her upon the
track and beneath the wheels of the thun-
dering train. Her revolver had ceased to
cover him, but he could not have lifted
even child.
The train dashed by. Viola saw her
lovers face for moment, and an excla-
nation of thankfulness welled from her
heart. He was safe, and the precious lives
that he carried westward had escaped
Morgan Durke's Vaccinations.
YOU'RE worker, Morgan Duke" she
said to him, smiling. eve will separate
here"
He looked at her moment In silence.
"Are you going to tell?' he asked.
"Such men as you are dangerous" she
replied.
"Then your are going to expose me7"
II am"
He did not reply.
They parted forever there. Morgan
Duke was never caught by the officers Of
the law, but justice afterwarS overlook
him. The iron wheels of railway train
caught him on the track.
The company presented Viola with a
beautiful house. when her husband took
charge of the car shops. I know she will
never regret her night in Gwynne's Cut
with her rejected lover.