St. Landry democrat., 1883-03-17

yle-
one. and, after one brief moment of
hesitation, sad: Fl
Very well, yea can but try, and if
you fail -
II did not finish the sentence, for, at
the thought OF failure. the terrible pict-
ure OF mangled, Bleeding bodies,
crushed out of all semblanee Of human
ity. rose before me. and turned away
with groan. A slight shudder passed
over the girl, and she seemed to grow
paler, but, without word, she took
her place, throwing on the wood as /
directed. and doing SO well. that, spite
of my anxiety,I could not but notice
the dexterity with which she handled
heavy sticks. The strength OF q haIf-a-
dozen men seemed concentrated in her
slender arms. but. spite of her efforts,
we hardly seemed to gain ground.
| II looked at my watch, and fairly
groaned aloud as saw that it wanted
ten minutes OF six, and at six we were
expected to pass the extra at N.
There was no time to put back. and no
chance to stop till we reached N.
There was nothing for us to do but
| to 90 straight on, though felt that we
were going to destruction. AS the hands
| of the watch crept round, telling off the
minutes. | watched them. with . sort of
fascination. feeling as though were
turning to stone. Well, il YOU IL believe
me. that girl. instead of making row,
|tas most women would have done, never
said single word, though she seemed
to know just how things were, going.
ibut. after one look at my face-and /
suppose must have looked pretty bad
! - almost by inspiration it seemed to me,
| she did one of those things man would
never have thought Of Right beh nd,
her was the sofl-can Jim had got at
/ D.. With steady hand she lifted
| the heavy can. and poured hall its cor
tents on the wood, then she threw the
wood upon the fire, and it blazed up
with quick, fierce heat, that sent tn .
engine flying over the rails at rate
/ that fairly made one dizzy. Still she
piled ont tn oiled wood, and still we went
on faster, and faster. The train rocked
from side to side, and the engine
seemed hardly to touch The rails. /
1 looked at my watch, and then an ionslv
4 in the direction of N. 1t wanted
| three minutes of six. Oh, il there
might be some delay, something tomake
the other train G en- one minute late.
But no, away in the distance Icould see
a ia mt line of smoke coming nearer and
nearer. The girl saw e too, and
reached for the oil-can.
.. It's of no use, said. We can't
get there, and we've ali the steam we
can safely carry now
| f. '..Are you sure it won't bear any
| more? she asked. anxiously.
Il shook my head.
ess.I'm afraid not. / said.
:. But it is possible that it may?' she
| asked again a
Yes, possible, but not probable ]
! answered
h .She asked the questions in a calm.
even voice, and think answered in
much the same tone. for, now that the
I dangerI had feared was really upon us,
1 seemed to have lost all. tear, and |
watched the line of smoke nearing us
SO fast with a sort OF vagtW wonder as
to what the engineer of the other train
| would do when he saw us coming, too
late to save his train. [ was reused
| from this sort of stupor into which l
seemed in danger of falling, by seeing
the G RI again reach for the, oil-can. |
shook my head. - s. 81
".It won't do said. ..It may be
death 5ss.e ..ss J. ssa,
8 But, she said, it istdeath if /
don't ' -. So. II
II nodded, and, without a
word, she poured the remainder
of the oil upon the wood, and threw
| it into the fire. We were
close to the station now. and could see
people running across the p atform, and
hear the women scream as they saw our
danger; ior right in front oil. us was the,
extra, sosnear thai siit see,ned ASH moth 4
ling but "a miracle coul1ls say Ell us
looked at Hiss Lord Nth that last eff
and she sank upon the seat. covering
her face with he's hands, waiting for the
death that seemed SO near n Ma
There. was q moment Of yaWfu s,ls 1
pense, and then we were safe upon the
side track, just as the ira train went
laundering BY, SO near thatssearce an
inch separated he engine from the
'hindmost car The braces were put
on and the long line of ears cane to a
stand-stili just beyond the station, and
then slowly ran back to where the
crowd of alarmed and curious men
stood watching us. Attic shrill sound
of the escaping steam. Miss Lord raised
her head, and looked anxiously around,
then, seeming to realize that we were;
safe, she tried to say something. but
the words died away in q murmnr, and
the next moment she fell on the floor
of the cab like q dead woman. But be-
fore Icou' d call any one to help her, for
4 was pretty well shasea myself. pne
OF the directors. who was on the train,
came along ina fearful passion. He
wanted to know what I meant by run
ming the risk that / had done. Sass ii a
- Haven't you any brains2 and don't