Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-01-17

on the Holmesdale Branch stop the traffic
and save the passengers. God bless You
and bark ye, ride for your life. will fire
the signal as "a warning Good by"
WILD RIDE
Mechanically l gathered up the rcins. nod
ded to MCausland, for was too stuptficd to
| reply in words, and started upon my wild
! ride. Three hours hence and the water would
be pouring down the valley through which
my course lay. No woud,r | had to ride for
life, and perhaps the lives Of hundr, lis of my
fellow creatures drpend,d on mine Am
merlng junction was some mil, away. My
route lay through an unknown country,
across moorand iutersccted by flooded
streams, and swept by the fierce wind and
rain.
must do it, thought Ms my horse picked
his cautious way amid the loose stones down
the steep by-road We had ascendtd the preyi-
Gus day. | should need all my strength
though, to x,cute my task; SO | pressed on
A valuable slice out of my'mind had been tx
pended wh,n | reached the broad highway
| and urged my horse to speed. lad to turn
of again, | knew, but fancicd should "a
silly find the path. Besides, was there not a
sign posty Therefore, urged by dreadful
tdings and With the fierce wind and bitter
rain 10y turns aud all together assaling me.
urged my horse onward. reached the turn
ing aud halted to read the direction | should
take. nearly tainted with horror as read
The fatal finger pointed up the cross-rond |
was pursuing. ITO Holmesdale and Sea
ham. The opposite index pointed, TO
Ruddal and Ammeriug.' | could scarcely
credit my SENSES. Surely was right We
had come up the previous day, and up the
hill to the reservoirs | had merely to re-
verse the route we had travelled. At that
moment, if you will believe m,, the true state
of the case and my own stupidity flashed up
on me. We had come from Holmesdale
was now bound for Ammering, which now
lay nt the opposite side.
This was terrible mistake 1t was now
past six o'clock. One Of the three precious
hours had elapsed aud was further from
Ammering than when started | was seized
with despair; whatever could | do now
Two hours remained, and | had three up
hill miles to ride, aud then about seven more.
before | could reach the junction, and before
that the trains might have started, and then
burst out into cold Precipitation at the
thought and then, desperate aud only half
conscious, rode madly back to the Ammtr-
ing road and up the hill again. Bat the
storm iieud was abroad, and had arrayed all
his forces against me
As We gained the more open ground, the
blast came down with such violence as TO |
stagger us. 1t tore across the hillside. and
whizzcd and Missed among the gorse and
swaying grass. The rain came down more
determlnedly than ever. At length | reached |
IA small cluster of stone cottages and halted |
under the lee of the last one to take breath
for fresh struggle over the moor which lay
before me. straight road lay over t-a |
good road, but crossed at intervals by rapid |
streams which had overtlowed their usual linn |
its, and swelled over their boundaries in all |
the pride of spate" across the flinty stones
which had dehed them all the summer long. |
The submits of the neighboring hills were
shrouded in veil of mist. but far in ad- |
vance, on the level, | could trace the railroad |
line. From the elevation at which | stood | |
could trace the channel of the Apps river
down the valley, and could guess the spot at
which the flood would strike the railroad and |
the branch line over the spur of the hill l |
could just distinguish the junction in the |
middle distance. A dark smoke seemed to |
be rising from it an engine, perhaps, wait
ing to start with II train, and | was lingering |
on the hill All this and more | could per-
ceiye, as ] rested on the summit. Somewhat |
refreshed, l rode manfully forward into the |
storm.
How my horse kept his feet | do not to |
this day understand. The wind, which had |
been high before, appeared to have gathered |
new force while we had halted and it rushed |
across the track tcrrfcally. Pebbles were |
frequently blown across the road, and every |
pool had its waves like a miniature sea Some |
helpless crows were blown over my heRd and |
a sinister looking raven skinned the moor |
near by, utterng Il wierd croak which fell upon |
my ears like a knell and chilled my blood. l |
was quite alone, not u human being in sight, |
but suddenly the whistle of locomotive was |
carried to my ears. An engine moved out of |
the station. Another whistle shortly after
ward. The train WAS safe. watched it
glide away over the viaduct Five minutes
later | rode into the station and called for the |
station master As | dismounted the clock
struck eight. The time was up and no sig |
nal from MCausaud. Telegaphing would
now be easy. porter came out in response
to my summons
'Im sorry ye lost the express" he began
Il don't want the train" | replied II
must telegraph at once, though Where is
the station master :"
Hell be here in minute But We cant
telegraph, The wire is blown down. We
had to send pilot with the express to clear
the line up to Handlegh,"
mo telegraph | tell you man, | must
stop the traffic The South Holmesdale res
eryoir will burst this very hour"
Can that be truey" inquired a cool, gen
tlemanly man at my elbow. 1t was the sta
tion master himself.
''rrue,' l echoed "Its only too true. l |
have ridden to tell you. We must stop the
trains"
The excursion leaves Handleigh at So"
mused the station master. There may be
time; come with me-" He crossed the line
and entered the shed opposite. followed.
just then a loud booming rent the air. The
sound came back from the hills like thunder
''It is the sipnal exclaimed ',Tha xvo
ter is out. Heaven help us now"
The station master called out. A cleaner
appeared, "Is that engine ready?"
"Yes, sir; waiting for the excursion"
Run and open the points Now, sir, get
up"
l obeyed mechanically, and before quite
realized the situation we had crossed to the
up line. The station master stopped to get
red flag and give few instructions to his sub