The Red Cloud chief., 1883-11-30
THE ENGINEER'S STORY.
"A Midnight Experience In the Whit.
Mountains.

III a been showing steadily ali day
, long, not in a boisterous. temnestpo,i.
way, but quietly and persistently. as II
the feathery flakes which were randi,
piling themselves one upon the other
on the frozen ground had come for q
long stay. Towards night the wind
began TO rise, and when the darkness
settled down a moderate winters storm
was raging. We were waiting in tbc
little station nj = for the down
> train, photographed an hour and a hall
behind time, and were cndcavorinV IA
Keep warm around the small air-tichi
stove which served as the only heating
medium in the ~low-studdcd apartment.
u is a place Of little importance ex-
cept as a railroad center. for here two
trunk llLes each other, and il is also
the point where locomotives were
changed on the different trains. With
the exception of the hustle and excite.
Ofncnt incident to a junction station.
there was but little T. attract n tourist.
and the few natural charms the place
possessed ut this time were hidden be-
meath the soft covering of snow. So
the weary walters were forced by dcarth
of amusement, rs well As the storm. 10
while away the time as best they could
IN the dingy depot. The different time
, tables were perused, the flaming advcr-
tisemcnts scrutinized, all to no purpose,
for the hands of the monotonous-tick-
ing clock crcpt around the dial with
that tardy pace peculiar to railroad
time-pieccs when one is waiting for a be-
lated train.
Tho naI. Il
charge of the express came i'm TO warm
his hands 10y the little stove. and soon
the party was increased by the caci-
Sheer. whose machine could be dnnly
seen far down the track ready for its
expected charge.
Bad night. Bob" said the conduct
or. Better come in and warm up. She
won't be here for an hour yet"
The engineer made some reply. and
joined the circle around the stove. He
WAS a nan of slight build, dropping
shoulders, and perhaps not up to the
average height. Rather eflcminate at
first sight, until one noticed the square
firm chin, the quick. steady eyes, and
the lines about the mouth, which
showed that beneath that calm face and
quiet manner Law the will both to do
and dare. He had been selected cs-
pccially 10 run this night express on ac-
count of the danger of the position, for
the down train was fire Iuently late, and
the lost time must be made up before
reaching the end Of the road in order to
meet connections. Time and again
nothing but the GOODNESS and Judgment
of the engineer had brought this train
10 lis destination in safety, and Bob
Jennings. rs he was called, had been
remarkably fortunate. and had never
met with Il serious accident. The run
ming of the two trains up TO L and
back To the city constituted his days
work. The position was a responsible
n the remuneration good. and the
Job As the BOYS termed il, was
looked UPON with envy by Bob's fellow
engineers.
After some minutes passed in con-
versation between the engineer and
conductor, the latter suddenly re-
marked:
How was it. Bob. you happened to
get this express? The Superintendent
If the Portland & Ogdensburg helped
YOU e it, didn't he, on account of that
affair up i'm the mountains? Tell us
about it?"
'.Ycs. yes" spoke up several who
had overheard the conversation. LET
lis near the story, by all Means
We'll, boys" said Bob. rs he bit of
a generous chew, and deposited the
quid lovingly in his cheek, cit amt
much of yarn. and it'll make you laugh,
for you'll think me spooky like. How
somcver, it's as true rs Gospel, and if
Dan was here he'd say so, too.
Twas when | was running 40 on
the L. * q. Road which hadn't been
agoin' more'n a couple of years. You
NAV perhaps be acquainted with the
line. She runs through the White
Mountain Notch. and is built right on
the SIDE of the hills. How they ever
had the spunk To start such a road beats
M. for at first sight it seems next to
hopeless to get around some of them
short curves, to say nothing OF the big
up-rrades. Near Crawford's is that
spidcr-like Frankcnstein srestle, you've
heard so much about. where the track
spans a chasm eighty feet wide. one
hundred feet deep. Strong enough. L
suppose, but it makes a man feel sklttlsh
10 60 over it for the first time. Well.
my good luck is all owing to that trestle.
We lived i'm Portland then, Nell and L.
She is my wife. and we was as happy As
could be. The only drawback was
that every other night l had to take the
late express up TO Fabyan's and come
back next day on the accommodation.
Nell used to be afraid to have me 60.
particularly rs the ROAD was new and
accidents would happen spite of all we
could do. 1 kept telling her it was safe
enough. and the pay was, good, so I'd
better stick TO my place for awhile any
way, though, to tell the truth, l didn' {
like the route, twas SO awful gloomy
like. No big towns to go through. only
now and then a little village, aud they
would be as dark and quiet as 9 grave
yard. when We struck EN- at NIGHT.
Summers il wasn't SO bad, but Winters
was awful. Well, one night in Jaa,ary.
when il was my turn to stay in Portland.
the Superintendent sent for me and
said:
bob. there's a party of directors a.
wants to get through the mountains y
night, and they're going to start aboe
e O'Clock. I'll have to SEM q special
but / haven't an engineer that l CA
trust. Now, it's your night Oh, l know
but if you'll pull the throttle 70
SIM fellows. I'll make it all right witt
but IT'S goio salA I'll go. Of course
mountains. hed night on tn
Ihafs 20. Bob.' saw 0-
,Dat L Know fcaH reTy III ~.
directors say they must 60 thf6ssSS