Middletown transcript., 1882-02-03

lamp. 1t was pale and anxious as
never saw it before.
What's the matter, Dave p 1
said.
"He turned and looked at me like a
man in dream.
"' 1t is fearful night, he answered,
after while. Hear the old machine
groan and complain like a sick woman.
She knows she's in danger, verify
believe. 1 wish the trip was over,
Jim =
Why, 50 do III said, for to tell
the truth, was unaccountably de-
pressed myself. But so far, everything
is all right
"' Yes, he answered, so far. But
I have a kind of presentiment that we
are going to have trouble before we are
done with it. have been thinking of
Mary, too, for the past half-hour.'
"' A very good subject to think of,
1 said, laughing.
"' Don't joke, Jim, he replied, sol
emnly. It's a serious thing to think
that with the fulfllment of mans
hopes Of happiness only two days off,
he is liable to behurled into eternity any
minute
E" It's a reaction 1 said. You
have been too happy and excited with
thinking of your wedding and all that,
and now, what with the cold and the
rain, you are looking at the darker side
Of the matter
GO May be, he said, then he uttered
aloud cry. Great God Look look =
He was pointing out of the window
with a trembling finger, his face as
white as death. [ followed the direc-
tion in which he pointed, and-how
shall 1 describe what 1 saw?
81 was well acquainted with Mary
Warren, the girl Dave was going to
marry in two days. She and were old
friends, and if it had not been for Dawes
better education and fine figure, we
might-but that is nothing to the point.
As surely as I see you before me now,
I saw Mary Warren then.
The steam was pouring in thick |
white cloud out Of the stack, sometimes
shutting out our view Of the track
ahead. The headlight made sort of
reflection upon it like the sun in fog,
and there, right in the centre of the
misty glow, I saw the figure of Mary
Warren.
"We were going at top speed, but
the shape glided along like shadow,
always hanging in the midst of the
steam.
The strangest part of it was that,
while she looked like a real living wo-
man, suspended in the steam, I could
plainly see the glow Of the headlight
through her figure.
"She appeared to be looking ixedly
at Dave, with a wild expression of ter
ror, and kept wringing her hands and
waving them towards US, as if she
wanted us to stop.
"For the space of half 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 stereoptican views of
men and animals which they show you
reflected on smoke, and it disappeared
exactly the same.
"When it was gone, Dave slowly
turned and looked at me with a terrible
expression in his face.
"'Mary is dead, he muttered
that was her spirit come to bid me
farewell
"'No,' 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 Ler
body to save you. Cheer up, old boy,
and keep bright lookout.
Whether Dave took my view of the
mystery OF 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
shape appear again. Just before reach
ing Elkhorn Bridge there is a nasty
curve in the road, and you are almost
on the bridge before you can see it. 1t
was here 1 expected trouble, if any
were to come. Evidently Dave was of I
my mind, for, as we turned the curve
and 1 leaned out to catch sight Of the
bridge light, he said, in low tone
GO What is it, Jim p
"' White, said 1. !
Even as I said the words we both !
uttered cry. Driving right before US,
like cloud of steam, we again saw the :
figure of Mary Warren. This time she !
seemed to move raridly ahead of us and :
disappear near the bridge light, which !
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 sig :
nal, 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 re-
versed the drivers, the train seemed to a
move on almost as rapidly as before. d
Dave and exchanged looks. S
"'It's all over, said he. Well /
stick by her, Jim p 4
"sOf course, said |. b
81 take this much credit to myself. i
| could have jumped, and felt pretty h
sure of saving myself, but I did not