The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-04-01

/ y baii ii GsanthaEi. fancy you must
have been dreaming, sir, for certainly
none of them got into your carriage,
though one did try; and ae to appari-
/ tions, WE'LL" Ee did not finish the
eentence, for just then we found an
empty compartment at the rear Of the
train, aH1 the engines whistle at the
safne moment announcingt tie line clear,
4 NTH but few moro wordsF was very
soon again locked in and lelt TO my
j;sele 81 f!i&gp4 o:a. a; - 5sE0
I MY first act, when the train was nee
more in motion, was TO examine care
| faliy the eafringso unaccountably found.
The shape struck me as curious.
Itfwas o wheel suspended from o birds
4 claw which turned when touched.
4 Surely, as I told the guard, this trinket
1 was O proof that had not been de-
ceived OF dreaming; at least. this was
not the apparitfon Of an earring, at any
rate. What. could it mean9 The moro
| I thought of It, the: more I; was peg
| plexed; and finally / put il away in
my poEtemonnaie, and, With o mind
,wearied with puzzlipg over the strange
occurrence, / at length fell asleep once
more-but not for long. Suddenly. I
was rudely awakened by terrific crash
and o shock which threw me violently
1 forward, while the carriage lurched oyer
and neatly capsized. - il. t8.Js.
| -, ]. knew ct once afs accident had hap.
| peBed-the accident half pyophesied by
tue guard. \ As gooL asr;I could collect
my scattered senses and found myself
| nphurt, ciambered out of The carriage
and ran down the line to the front Of
1 the train, TO ascertain the extent of the
catastrophe, It vas difficult to mako
6no's way in the. darkness and .eonfu-
sioni but what were my L, feelings of
horror and management, Joined to intense
thapkfulness, when discovered, after
some light had been. obtained from; o
hastily skiEdled bonfire, that the car
riage I previously occupied was, lying
3 complete wreck I knew it by ita
color and the number, which I had re-
marked, still visible on, the battered
IPauel. Then + learned that several
passengers in the other compartments
of il. had suffered faarGully, and ] was
80 overcome that I felt quite dizzy.
Here was o. wbnaeFfuF aud m.racu-
lous escape, indeed: All the eve,:t, yof
the last halfhour z;;iisshheedd through my
troubled brain. On that smashed and
splintered seetsI had sat; and, but for
the presence of my mysterious compan-
ion, there / ehould be IyiDg77crus1ed,
MANNED, perhaps dead HorTiblei The
beads broke out on my brow as I
thought of It.. When my nerves had
recovered q little, I sought out the guard,
who, pale and grave, was epdeavoring
to reassure the frightened passengers
assembled on the bnnk. He was com
forting them With the intelligence that
O special train would arrive shortly
from Grantham, and take them from
| the scene of that disaster. 8
"My goud fellow said /, "you must
explain 10 me what you meant respect
ing that young lady-the appariti5a,
| mean, as you .choee to call it. K You
said an accident "LoTd bless you
sir" he Interrupted sadly, "'twas only
my chafE never heard anything about
a young lady; but I thought, as you
seemed a bit scared, it would make
your mind easier like, and that's why
shifted you. can't give any reason
why such a fancy came into my head !;
but it's well it did, sir, for it just saved
your iife-saved itsby the ghost of a.
chance as one may, say;" and there
was faint return of the old humorous
twinkle in the mans eye,, as he thus
1psly1 made q play upon the words.
aIt.Mss the carriage you were in that
| 81, Tered most" "Well, there's many a
true word spoken in jest,n ssrcturned I.
| care there many hurtf" :. 'R' ie"-
/ about seven, fear, sir, and four or
mere killed. We don't know the cause
az present, sir; 'twasn't a collision, and
don't appear to have anything to do
/ with the stopping Of the train awhile
ago. These things do turn one up more
than bit, sir" added the man, ea he was
called away. The lamps of the special
train were now Highted, and we, the
nnscathed were speedily in our. places,
and arrived at our destination without
i further huIe Uf hinlIanuu. But what
perple$6d ideas sa9h;ried ia rapid, success
sion through my mind as we were hur-
ried along: Ii
Here wa IL, saved from dreadful
and untimely death hy-whatT Not q
dream, certainly but, whatever it was,
by most marvelor.s iuterposition. or,
perhaps, AZ the guard said, '!!bys the ghost
ola chance" How could call it q
dream or entertain the notion of ghostly
influence, when the earring picked up. by
| myoTn haudswa3 now hafe in my pocket?
| Was itsafe7 Hooked. Yes, ,sGfe enough,
| the wheel suspended from the birds claw.
A wheel Of fortune ii had, indeed, proved
1 to me. ~ St. ~
/ r""AHd do you mean to tell me this is
fact ~ I asked ironically, as finished
my friends manuscript. "Every word
of it, as I am living man." he answered
! "See, here Is the eafring.n and he handed
me the trinket. "Weii.nI T continued,
a0erS exaniinipgy. ibU 4What are you
| going TO do2 How are you going to finish
your story ?" es ''Oh don't know.
Can you give me Q notiop2n He knows
hove; hA eye for dramatic aifaations.
Mot q i4desd you .Nills haye to iuTenG
that sll,pect.n And we talked good
deal lncss, Of course. about the strange
affair before left him; and equally, of
course, at the eild of two years the story
was not finished. My friend is only q
dabbler, and seldom bfinga any of his
/ efforts III art or literature to fruitful is-
sue IittIe tnonghr that it would de-
volye on me TO take up the thread of
this one, and finish it for him.
Before parting, howevef: II asked: gDisi
i you see the girls face?" Not very clear
ly. The light WAS dim. could not dis
tinguish her features precisely, nor the
color OF her eyes, nor any details exactly.
you understand yet thege was q Iook'''--.
Il he went on after pnnne--"whieh ra-
Iminded me of somebody, or thought il
did, Icould not tell whom, thatI had seen
j before. Iswas q mers impression, auifa
nfatnned, vague 10 a degsaa had Ecs=
gotten, even, that anything of the kind
i ctossed my mind until You asked the
4 Question" "Wonld you know her
= p III