The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1880-04-28

Jacl 1 shouted, and take care of her, III
be bk soon.' and jumping off the rapidly
movg engine | started over the ground
towd the burning edifce L could hear
the Ills of the poor unfortunates as they saw
the orrible death coming nearer. Two
thir. of the building was in flames, people
werrunning about with two miserable hand
eng.es. and the many who were able
wer trying to rescue the unfor-
tune. 1t was terrible to see the
halhude maniacs singing, bowling, run
ingbout beyond all control. l saw all this
andmuch more. / found the dead and
wooded lying in CHASTITY row on the
grond, and there were some there from
whse eyes the light of insanity had gone in
| thew moments that lay between them and
deal. We reporters work with our memories
as nlch as with notebook, and after a few
| facthad been ascertained and jotted down,
l 1t the nearly consumed building and
stard for my engine
's.found it, but the Firhy had gone sOne
minte and over the the start of us, sir said
Jacl and bitterly disappointed swung on
andve were off. Two miles and no sign of
the renv. went into the cab. 60 out
andre, Jack / said; let me run a few
mile. ! know how / took hold of the
thrdle and stood there, thinking and hoping
thatuck would favor mo- Suddenly heard
chckle followed by lot of gibberish that
mad my blood turn cold and surge into my
hear My hand fell from the throttle, and
turning about, there, sitting astride block
of cal in the tender, was a half-naked man
grining in a CHASTITY way, his face
distrted, eyes glaring, hair singed, and
bod, black with smoke and SCOT. l
kne7 what the thing was, and where
fron-the asylum had many such. Jack
hadlisappeared, and as l looked at the mon
ster saw he had an old ak blade in one
hanG l suddenly threw open the furnace
door and as the glare of light fell over the
manRc he made a quick bound toward me.
Almost paralyzed, 1 reached my hand out
for aweapon, and it fell on heavy wrench.
/ raied it in time to save my life, for | got
a stunning blow on the forehead, and the
blool poured down into my eyes, almost
blinling me, but not until l had struck one
blow for Thornton, and as the thing twined
its AIMS around me L used the heavy wrench
in n effective manner, crushing his skull,
and then put six blocks of coal on the sense
less body of the poor wretch. All this hap
pend in few seconds, and We were bound
ing ever the rails. | had lost so much blood
| was very weak, and l tried to stop its flow
by using packing found in the lireman's
box, but couldn't. had sense enough left
to hang on to the throttle, and had dim
consciousness that l was nearing the city,
and n another moment, which seemed like
an eternity to me, passed the mile post and
noticed an inert mass standing deserted and
alone on the p. and w. track by my side,
but gave it no thought; 1 felt my senses
going, but with remaining strength shut off
steam and knew nothing more until l heard
Macs CHEEKY voice saying All right, old
fellow, it's lucky we went out for you, for
you stopped near the signal house, and we
found you covered with blood and SCOT, lying
on the cab floor, with the dead body of an
old man lying under ton or two of coal in
the tender, and that cowardly Jack hanging
on the truck underneath frightened to
dnath'
81 listened moment, felt of my bandaged
head and whispered, Get a carriage and take
me to the Office quick Mac got station
truck, supported me to it, and half an hour
later 1 was on a sofa in the managers room,
while stenographer took down my some
what rambling and disconnected notes and a
surgeon dressed my wound. We had three
columns in that morning, and the Meteor a
few lines. knew nothing more for some
weeks, as lay sick with brain fever, but
when crawled down to the Office one day
the boys told me how tMelton's' engine had
run out of fuel, and the party had to walk
nearly two miles into the city, and then re-
collected the dark mass passed on that aw-
full return ride, in my partial delirum. 1t
was the scoop of the year. The Meteor
people never forgot 1t, and our manager gave
me 800 and sent me away to recruit, which
l did, but don't you ever pity reporter again
on account of his monotonous existence.
Good night"