The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-03-15

"'tlOd bless YOU, MT. marcn.
"And then went off to look for Jim,
who was late.
81 found him the other-side of the
depot, with n two-gallon can of kerosene
in his hand.
you see,' he said, as asked rath-
err sharply where he'd been. Il en- git
this good deal cheaper here than at
Fairtown. an my wife thinks it's sight
better, too
Jewell, come along 1 said, for
we're two minutes behind time now.
"When we got back to the engine
March had gone, and Miss Lord sat there
alone.
Jim stared, but said:
"'This young woman's going to ride
on the engine TO Fairtown. She is a
friend of Mr.. March So he put down
his kerosene, and took his place on the
cab.
IL heard the conductor All aboard,
and then we were off.
81 was busy with levers and valves,
for a man who drives train holds the
lives OF hundreds in his hand, and one
careless motion may send them all into
eternity. So you see l hadn't much
time to think of anything but my ma
chine, but | noticed that Jim was
pretty laxative. At first | thought
it was because we had a woman
aboard, but by and by [ began
to suspect it was something worse
than that. His voice grew thick
and his movements uncertain, and at
last could no longer hide from myself
the fact that he had been drinking.
Still | anticipated no trouble. We
were al eady more than half way to
Fairtown, and thought he would keep
up till we got there.
AT A = the station master handed
the conductor telegram. He read it,
and then handed it to lie. 1t ordered
us to go on to N--to meet the special.
had expected to stop at the next sta
ton, and N was ten miles beyond,
but orders are orders and must
10 obeyel So 1 told Jim to pile
on the wood, and put on all the steam
| dared, and we went spinning over the
road at a rate that must have astonished
the passengers.
ave had gone little more than half
way. and was beginning to think we
mi hit ma e the distance without much
trouble. when Jim sat right down on
the floor of the cab, and began to
whmper.
"Get up, you fool, and 60 to work.
| cried
~ can't he whimpered. I'm
tired, an mus 90 err sleep
"'Get up, you rascal! l shouted.
. Don't you know we've got to get to
N in ten minutes, or meet the
special train?
80 can't help it, let Their Of train
come. tell We Pm tired. Now. look
here, Seaforth, nodding his head with
drunken gravity. You're workin'
too hard. Why, man. you won't
live out half your days, if you don't
take some rest. tell we what It is you d
better take things easy. I'm goin' to,
"And he laid down on the floor of the
cab, and shut his eyes. mutter ng:
Take it easy, easy, Jim II take it easy
81 suppose ! must have acted like
wild man, for knew that before could
let the conductor know the fix that we
were in, and get help, it would be too
idtC W saw viz u tbliS anu l. III OIL olo
used some pretty strong words, as
man is apt to when he gets in a tight
place. Not that the words help him out
OF it. suppose they only let of some
of the extra steam, and make him think
Quicker. So stormed away there, all
the time trying to do my work and
Jim's, and knowing ever moment that
we were losing ground. The steam was
going down, and the engine slowing up,
spite of all | could do.
- tell YOU" and he passed his hand
o er his forehead, " it makes the sweat
start on me now. when l think of that
run. 1t seems to me that lived life
time in those few minut IS. It's an
awful thing to have so many lives de-
pending on you. In the cars behind me
we're hundreds of human beings, and
the other train had hundreds more, and
only step between them and eternity.
All this time, the girl March had put on
the engine had been sitting perfectly
still, watching everything that went on,
and now, when everything seemed lost.
she threw of her shawl, and stepped in-
to jim place, say. quietly:
"Tll take that mans place, Mr..
Seaforth.'
".Youp' and l looked at the slight,
almost girlish, figure in establishment
Yes she said. i am stronger
than | look, and I've been watching the
man, so [ know | can do his work
1T was forlorn hope, but our only
one. and, after one brief moment of
hesitation, | said:
livery well, you 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 semblance of human
ity. rose before me, and l turned away
with a groan. A slight shudder passed
over the girl, and she seemed to grow
paler, but, without a word, she took
her place, throwing on the wood as l
directed, and doing so well. that spite
of my anxiety, could not but notice
the dexterity with which she handled
heavy sticks. The strength of half-a-
dozen men seemed concentrated in her
slender arms. but, spite of her efforts,
we hardly seemed to gain ground.
Il 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 go 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 l were
turning to stone. We'll. ii Yon' Ii helieYe