The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-02-21

/ better c0ucdtlOn anu iiHt HguIE. VIZ
might-but that is nothing to the point
| AS surely as see you before me now,
| saw Mary Warren then.
| 1.-The steam was pouring In thick
| white cloud out of the stack, sometimes
shutting ont our view of the track ahead
| The headlight made sort of reflection
upon it ike the sun in fog, and there,
| right in the center of the misty glow,
| saw the figure of Mary Warren.
.sWe were going at top speed, but the
shape glided along like a shadow, al
ways hanging in the midst of the steam.
.sThe strangest part of it was that.
| while she looked like real living wo-
man, suspended in the steam, I could
plainly see the glow of the headlight
| through her figure.
ssShe appeared to be looking fixedly
at Dave, with a wild expression of ter
ror, and kept wringing her hands and
waving them towards us, as if she want
ed us to stop.
.'For the space of half a minute we
both stared at the shape, dumb and
breathless; then the steam dispersed and
the figure was gone. The whole thing
was like the stereopticon views of men
and animals which they show you re-
fected on smoke, and it disappeared ex-
aetly the same.
when it was gone Dave slowly turn
ed and looked at me with terrible ex-
preston in his face
s.Mary is dead" he muttered; ..that
was her spirit come to bid me farewell. -
mo- cried I-no, Dave. If it was
Mary at all. she came to warn you of
danger ahead. She loves you well
enough to be able to come out of her
body to save you. Cheer up, old boy,
and keep bright lookout
whether Dave took my view of the
mystery or not, he kept very quiet. with
his hand upon the bar and his eye on
the track ahead.
Nothing happened for the next hour
to alarm US; nor did the spectral shade
appear again. just before reaching
Elkhorn Bridge there is nasty curve
in the road, and you are almost on the
bridge before you can see it. 1t was
here | expected trouble, if any were to
come. Evidently Dave was of my mind,
for, as we turned the curve and leaned
out to catch sight of the bridge light, he
said, in low.tone:
what is it, Jim?''
White" said 1.
Even as I said the words we both ut
tered cry. Driving right before us,
ike cloud of steam, we again saw the
figure of Mary Warren. This time she
seemed to move rapidly ahead of us and
disappear near the bridge light, which
suddenly turned red.
Engineers are like the engine they
manage; pull certain bars and they start,
shut certain valves and they stop. When
we saw that danger signal, terrified and
unnerved as we were, we did our duty
as naturally as if wholly at our ease.
''When we first saw the red light we
were within two hundred yards of the
bridge. If the road had been dry we
could have stopped in that distance.
But though we blew brakes and revers-
ed the drivers, the train seemed to move
on almost as rapidly as before Dave
and | exchanged looks
Its all over said he. s'We'l stick
by her, Jim!''
F'Of course" said /.
81 take this much credit to myself. /
could have jumped, and felt pretty sure
of saving myself, but did not once
think of it. Nor did Dave. He reached
over, with one hand on the bar, and
grasped mine with the other.
Good by, old mant''
GOOD by, Dave. God bless your
The seconds that followed seemed
like hours. We could feel the engine
jump and shake as the reversed wheels
reTolved fnriously under her. Still we
slide on, though more slowly now. I
could see where the bridge had been,
the broken beams, and the dark water
rolling between.
Nearer, nearer to that horrible gulf
which seemed to yawn for us and our
living freight. could see the bridge
light glazing down at-us with its bloody
eye and not a soul near it.
The wheels turned faster, the jar
was heavier. We staggered like drunk
en- men with the shock. Every now and
then the drivers seemed to catch hold of
the track and the engine would bound
like spurred horse. We were going so
slowly now that we could almost have
stepped off; yet we slid on, and now
there was not fifty feet between us and
death.
Slower and slower we moved, and
then, just as our forward trucks touched
the broken beams of the bridge, we stop
ped. / looked up and saw that the
signal light was white again, but was
SO grateful, nervous and altogether so
shaken, that / thought nothing of it.
1--WE could gather nothing from Mary
Warren herself. except that she had an
indistinct recollection of dream in
which Dave seemed to be in great dan
GER, which she was trying to avert. This
IS the story, sir. 1 offer no explanation
of it. 1t may BIS that our souls can
leave our bodies TO watch over those we
love. / believe it. And believe, too,
that owe my life to Mary Warren's
love for Dave Garnet. ''-FronE Leslie
That Second Hand Book.