Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-10-23
and she was gentle, aGectionatc and

confided all troubles and triumphs and
To him she went for aid and assistance in
mastering hard sums, and so we called
her Fred's protegc.
When she first went TO school Fred
gave her the name of Orphnnia, and the
/ children called her "Orphic," but she
retained her habit of asking questions
about everything, and so. partly for fun
and partly because the name suited her,
we continued To call her Quiz, and thus
things went on until she was twelve
years old and Fred was twenty.
One day Fred went To the city on bust
ness for papa. and We did not expect
him home until the eight o'clock express
came in the evening. Toward night,
there came up n furious storm; IL
| thundcred and lightened, the wind blew
and ratified the window easements, while
| ut times the rain fell in torrents. As we
| were all seated around the evening lamp
with our work and studies, mamma
| slivcred and wondered If Fred had an
| ovcrcoat with him. and il papa, who
had not come up from the Office. would
! think To take one over to the station.
| A few minutes aftcrward Quiz arose
and slipped quietly out of the room, but
we thought nothing of 1t. for she was
! in the habit of slipping away without
s;4ing anything, and we concluded that
! she had either gone To the kitchen To
| Biddy. or else had gone To her own room.
| She had done neither. however. Step
| ping quietly into the hall, she had first
! put on her thick water proof and rub
| bers, then lighted Frcd's lantern. taking
| his ovcrcoat from the nail, went softly
out of the front door into the driving
storm.
The wind almost blew her over. and
| the rain beat hard on her face; but she
only tossed her head dciiantly. and
whispered.
The elements cannot beat me;
know them; they obeyed my voice
once" just then the wind caught up
her cape and blew it over her head in
such manner that she could not see
where to step, and stumbled against the
fence and almost fell down.
The saucy wind twisted and pulled at
her clothing, the rain beat into her face,
and the thunder rumhled and roared on
every hand.
But Quiz didn't care; she struggled
| bravcly on until she reached an old dis
used shed near the bridge which she
would have to cTosc on hrsway to the
depot. Here she paused moment. par
italy shelter d from the storm. To re-
gain her breath before attempting the
highly-cxposcd bridge.
The village streets were deserted. for
no one would venture out in such u
storm unless urgent business called
them, yet Quiz heard voices quite near
her.
She was frightened at first. hut listen
Ing a moment and finding that they
came from the shed against which she
was leaning, she was about To hurry on
when u sentence attracted her attention
and she stood still and listened.
But. Jim, the hull train'll 20 TO
smash"
Don't kerc! guess it'll teach 'cm not
IN discharge feller like me fur nothin'.
Ye see Johnson, the cnjincer. and IIink-
ley, the conductor. are the ones thet re-
ported me. The bridge is turned now
anyhow. Corey an Kemph. the bridge
tenders. are dead drunk. and thcr' moth
in fur you an but tn skulk, and see 'om
all go to Satan
The bridge turned, Quiz's heart gave
n great jump. and then sank like lead
her head grew dizzy. ard she was Obliged
TO lean hard.against the shed to keep from
falling.
Then She stepped cautiously around
the corner ofthc shed, and. with heating
heart. looked down the river 4 flash
Of lightning showed her the railroad
bridge turned. and the dark river rolling
between it and thebank where the express
train would soon appear. In imagina-
tion she saw the locomotive plunge
down the bank. followed one after
another by the cars loaded with passen-
gers unaware of approaching death.
She heard the shrieks of the poor
victims as they were buried in the
crash. and the groans Of the diving IA
they struggled with the waves. or lay
gasping meath the ruins.
Then she covered her face with her
hand to shut out the vision and thought
could she save them? But how2 What
should she do' Go back home7 There
were none but helpless women there.
Hurry on to tell papa? II would then
be too late.
must save them myself" she whis-
pered, and shutting her lips tight. grasp
ing her lantern firmly she dashed down
n cross street in the direction of the rail-
road track.
Then she remembered that Fred. one
day in explaining to her about momen-
tum, had told her that the engine could
not easily stop on the down grade on this
side Of the river, but that it was neces-
sary, in order To do so. to go back from
the river about mile and half 10
where the descent first began. near the
curve
To save time she decided to go cross
lots. The storm increased, but Quiz
never paused moment; over fences
through briars, across bitches. into mud
and mire ankle deep. she staggered along,
holding close TO the lantern upon which
her hopes depended.
Once she fell down and hurt her side.
but she scrambled up and hurried on.
never needing the pain. At last she
neared the track and saw the headlight
of the locomotive just rounding the
curve.
She tossed off her cloak. which i'm
pedcd her progress. and with rcdoubled
energy pushed on. Nearer and nearer
came the locomotive-fainter and fainter
| came her brcaih-she was growing weak
she stumbled over stonc-when she
arose the locomotive was almost opposite
| 10 hpr--sho gathered all her siren 9Th and