The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-02-22

% the ice made dense curtain over them
Q We had TO let il rain and blow in upo
~ us as it would for we had to keep
o bright eye upon the signal lights, mos
% of which looked like pale blots on TIN
n mist.
!" 1--WE went the first twenty miles with
o out speaking to each other An enti
neer may run an engine his lifetime, ant
yet he never opens his valves without {
feeling of anxiety. What with the storm
and the heavy train neither of us cared
= to think of much besides our own duties
. "But Dave was unnaturally solemn
0 even for such time. could see his
face in the light Of the steam-gauge
lamp, 1t was pale and anxious as
, never saw it before.
whats the matter, Davep" said.
"lle turned and looked at me like q
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 be-
Geve wish the trip was over, Jim!''
"Why, so do L. | said, for to tell the
truth, i was unaccountably depressed
myself. But so far, everything is all
right"
YES" he answered $50 far But
have 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" !
said, laughing.
Don't joke, jim" he replied, sol
EMMY. Its a serious thing TO think
that with the fulfllment of mans
hopes of happiness only two days off, he
is liabe to be hurled into eternity any
| minute"
"lt's reaction" said. "You have
been too happy and excited with think
ing 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"
MAY be-" he said, then he uttered a
loud cry "Great God! Lookl look"
"He was pointing out of the window
with trembling finger, his face as
white as death. / followed the direc-
ton in which he pointed, and-how
shall describe what | sawp
81 was well acquainted with Mary
Warren, the girl Dave was going to mar
~ 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 see you before me now, |
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 a sort of reflection
upon it like the sun in fog, and there,
right in the center of the misty glow, l |
saw the figure of Mary Warren.
1--WE were going at top speed, but the
shape glided along like shadow, al
ways hanging in the midst of the steam.
"Ihe strangest part of it was that,
while she looked like a real living wo-
man, suspended in the steam, | could
plainly see the glow of the headlight
through her figure.
"She appeared to be looking fxedly
at Dave, with wild expression of ter
ror, and kept wringing her hands and
waving them towards us, as if she want
cd 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 stereoptcon views of men
and animals which they show you re-
Elected on smoke, and it disappeared ex-
actly the same.
when it was gone Dave slowly turn
ed and looked at me with terrible ex-
preston in his face"
"Mary is dead he muttered; "that
was her spirit come to bid me farewell"
"No," cried l-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 a 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 10
come. Evidently Dave was of INV 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, ,Iim?'
white said |.
Even as said the words we both ut
tered a 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
turned red.
Engineers are like the engine they
pull certain bars and they start,
shut certain valves and they stop. When
we saw that danger signal, terrified and
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 Ia nova