, 1883-12-22

after the pin had been drawn, what
was my horror to see that the burn
ing cars were following me at a
speed that was rapidly increasing.
The men had not succeeded in put
ting on the brakes. l saw that the
only thing to be done was to run for
it to BTOcktOn, and the chances were
that we would never reach there at
the speed which we would be OBJ
liged to make around those sharp
curves, where we had never run
over twenty miles an hour.
"When l saw the flaming cars
for the whole six were on fire by this
tinyeA-plunging after me, and only a
few feet away, pulled the throttle
open. The oil cars caught me,
though, before l got away. They
came with full force against the rear
Of the box car, smashing in one end
and knocking the horses and their
keepers fiat on the floor. The heat
was almost unbearable, and, do my
best, l couldn't place more than
thirty feet between the pursuing
column of fire and ourselves. BY
the light from the furnace, as my
fireman opened the door to pile in
the coal | caught sight of the face of
one Of the hOrsemen in the box car,
he having climbed up to the grated
opening in the end. 1t was as pale
as death, and he begged me for Gods
sake to give her more steam. l was
giving her then all the steam she
could carry, and the grade itself was
enough to carry us down at the rate
of fifty miles an hour. We went so
fast that the engine couldn't pump.
Every time we struck one of those
curves the old girl would almost run
on one set Of wheels, and why in the
world we didn't tOpple over is some
thing | could never understand.
She seemed to know that it was a
race of life and death, and worked
as il she were alive.
"The night was dark, and the road
ran through woods, deep rock cuts,
and along high embankments. There
we were, laundering along at light
ming speed, and, only a few PAGES
behind us, that fiery demon in full
pursuit. There were $4,000 gallons
of oil in those tanks at least, and it
was all in flames, making a flying
avalanche of 500 feet long. The
flames leaped into the air nearly a
hundred feet The roar was like
that of some great cataract. Now
and then tank would explode with
noise like cannon, when a col
umn Of flame and pitchy smoke
would mount high above the body
of the flames, and showers of burn
ing oil would be scattered about the
woods. The whole country, was
lighted up for miles around.
"Well, it wasn't long, going at the
rate we made, before the lights of
BrocktOn came in sight down in the
valley. The relief felt when these
came in view was short lived, for l
remembered that train No, 0, on the
Lake Shore, would be due at the
junction just about the time we
would reach it. No. 8 was the Gin
Cinnati express, Our only hope, all
along during the race, had been that
the switchman at the junction
would think far enough to open the
switch there, connecting the cross
cut track with the Lake Shore track,
and let us run in on the latter, where
the grade would be against us, if
anything, and where we would soon
be out of the way Of the oil cars.
The switch, of course, would be now
closed for the express, and our last
hope was gone, unless the express
was late, or somebody had sense
enough to flag it. While we were
thinking of this we saw the express
tearing along toward the Junction.
Could we reach the Junction, get the
switch, and the switch be set back
for the express before the latter got
there? /? If not, there would be an
inevitable crash, in which not only
we but probably scores Of others
would I've crushed to death. All this
conjecturing did not occupy two sec
onds, but in that two seconds l lived
years.
"Good Godp l said to my fire.
man, what are we to do now?'
"The fireman promptly replied
and he was a brave little fellow
that should whistle for the switch
and take the chances. l did so.
That whistle was one prolonged yell
of agony. 1t was shrek that seemed
to tell Us. that our brave old engine
knew our danger and had her fears.
Neither the fireman nor myself
spoke another word.
"Thanks be to God The engi-
neer on the express train, seeing us
tearing down that mountain with an
eighth of mile of solid fire in close
pursuit of us, knew in a moment that
only one thing could save us. He
whistled for brakes, and got his train
to stand not ten feet away from
the switch. The switchman now
answered our signal, and we shot in
on the Shore track and whizzed on
up by the depot and through the
place like a rocket. The burning
cars followed us in, Of course, but
their race was run. They had
no propelling power now, and after
chasing for mile they gave up the