Richland beacon., 1881-04-09

here l. the lady herself coming
now 20 the engine. With her skirts and
things, she'll be surely blown across the
prairi"!'
sure enough, there she was, look
n'- aa If she Were the spirit OF the wind
II first she walked r,solutcly and ma
ic,':cally forward. the wind-stog1n seem
lnS to make no impression on her stout.
erect figure. Soon. however, the queen
| ~ form succunlcd TO the sweeping
Wind. and she began TO cling to the
sides of the cars.
"Aftrr We lad dragged her mp into
the cab and she was sheltered from the
| gusts, she stormcd about the delay
enough, 1t appeared to me, to subdue
| any or all Of the elements. She tried
nigh tragedy on mo and my good en-
| GInc. Hercules, until she saw it hadn't
| ;hc least effect.
"'R"st assured, madam, / said TO
| her, entirely unmovcd bv her excited
and ra'hcr-yehcment manner, that |
shall 10 everything that can lie done to
| get this Especial into Chicago at the
required time. After "Hercules +" has
mad time to breathe little. ] think he
will pull us along in good shape; but
imagine he will find working ahead Of
I'D BorcaS, III his present temper, 10
hc "A harder matter than any Of the i'm
mortal lahors his great namesako under
'nok.'
"The great actress, somewhat az
peased now, smiled graciously, doubt
.ess over the fact that man of nv call
ing should know anything at all of
mythology and its heroes. She how
hanged her tact and demeanor. The
lgrcoable beamed from her countenance.
ana the low. soft tones of the woman's
voice appealed to me in their honeyed.
moving pcrsuasiveness. 1 began ~ feel
the wonderful power Of her personal
magnetism Ny fireman gazed at her il
round-eycd amazement She had put
new life into NE, and 1t seemed as if the
Hercules drew strength from nv
touch, for the steam-gauge ran up to
almost blowing-of figures
81 told my distinguished passenger
that, if She would now return to her car,
| would try to see what progress | could
make. She begged me to permit her to
ride on the locomotive, at least a few
miles; but. as | was inexorable in my
refusal Gor / had become a li;,l.
nervous over the state of the crown
sheet of my engine, for some reason-
beside, one of the rules on the line was
that no woman should ride on our loco
motives, she had no other alternative
but to return.
"We helped her down the steps Of the
cab, and. rs she refused to let us accom-
Dany her to the rear of the train, she
started back alone. / thought the mer-
ciless wind would surely take the reso-
lute woman off her feet, and drive her
past tine train; but We soon saw her
grasping the step-guarls of her car with
will, and she was pulled upon the plat
form.
1--WE started. I Icapped on all steam.
The Hercules nobly answered to the
openeG throttle, and presently we were
making fair headway against the yet-re-
morseicss gale. As my engine was nov
regularly laboring along I glanced back
10 tie train, and saw Miss Cushman
Standing at the forward end Of the car
nearest III (Which was half baggage and
half smoking car, watching us intently
through the top window of the door.
"She nodded and smiled whenever ]
cooked that way, still remaining at her
post as we shot along with increasing
,pocl. Her great, speaking eyes were
CLEAN with excitement; and there Was
Z look of suppressed power in her face
hat never saw on any other human
.ountenance. / felt that she could. If
,hc ST. pleased, have carried us al. :
h" force of her own will.
We reached Chicago at 7:30 p. In.
After descending from her car, instead
i Immediately entering her carriage
'.lt stood waiting for her, she came,
rusfcrioed now into the gracious, Gle
ant lady, to the engine, thanked me
heartily for my efforts in her behalf,
told me she should expect me to attend
the theater that night to see how she
PLAYED after her adventure and, ask
ing me to give her the street and num-
ber of my boarding house (Which l no
ticed she made no written note Of,
shook nv grimy hand as cordially as if
it had been dressed in Immaculate kid,
and bade me good-by.
Half an hour afterward, while was
hurriedlv eating my supper, a messen-
ger from the theater called with note
for me. in Miss Cushman's own hand.
containing al order that I should there
after be admitted free to any theater
where she might be playing an engage