The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-10-19

| Dub budb OUo Was Inc WOESG L ever re-
member. The storm tonight is hard
enough, but it don't begin to blow as it
did then. Why, every now and then
we would get blast that would make
the whole machine tremble, and as the
country round Portland is pretty level,
we took the full force of the wind. As
we got further inland, it WASH SO bad,
and by the time we were forty miles
out, it had turned to summers gale
and was pouring torrents.
:" And now comes the singular part
of the story. We had the right of
way, and our dispatcher was to keep
the whole up to Fabyan's open for us,
my instructions being to stop only at
North Conway for water. So [ gave
her the throttle, and we bowled along
at a good rate of speed, making, per-
haps, thirty or thirty-fve miles an
hour. AS we went whistling through
Sebago Lake station | had a kind of
feeling come over me that there was
something wrong. didn't notice it at
| first, but every now and then it would
come back to me that all was not as it
should be, yet [ couldn't think of any
thing that wasn't right. / alters ex-
anime my machine before I start, give
her good oilin', look well to the bolts
and parallel rods, try the levers and
such, and so knew when we left Port
land old '49 was in perfect workin'
trim. Yet the feelin' grew on me un-
til it was a steady thing. l tried to
shake it off, but twan't no use. 1 felt
it in nay bones that somethin' was up.
'tNow you gentlemen will laugh at
me for being q fool, and don't blame
yer, for we was a-goin along all right,
everything from the water gauge to the
cylinders was workin' in good time,
and knew that it was only my imagin-
alton, but, to tell the truth, began to
fell uneasy. / had been an engineer
for ten years, and had been through
some pretty tough scrapes without
BLOWN for grapes, and the boys all
said as how had good deal of pluck.
Now began to lose all confidence. ~.
g Bob, said to myself, 'this won't
do. You're gettin' nervous, and all for
nothin'! You've no business to be su-
perstitious at your time of life. Brace
upp
''Twan't no use, however. l could
hev' stood up in court and sworn that
there was q kink somewhere. Well,
meanwhile we was sliding along, and
pretty soon reached North Conway,
where we was to give the machine
drink. DAM says | to my fire.
man, there's somethin' out of the
way with this machine, and don't
know what it is
"'What makes you think SOP said
Dan.
I" 4 can't tell, / replied, she works
all right; butt feel it in my bones.'
Guess your thinkin' of your wife,
returned Dan, with laugh.
''But while we were gettin' in the
water | took a lantern and went round
the engine. Looked at every part of
her, raped the bars, knocked the
wheels, tried her at every point, and
couldn't find nothin'.
Sand / tried to think no more about
it, but the feeling was there all the
same, and do the best [ could I WASH t
able to throw it off. "Well, we had got
pretty good distance in the mountains,
and with that light load 49, didn't
make nothin' of the up grades.
Perhaps, gentlemen, you have never
been through the hills in winter. It's
some different from summer, I can tell
yer. The mountains loom up dark and
solemn, and with their snow-covered
sides they seem kinder like big, ghostly
giants that have been turned to stone
standing guard over the valley. The
silence and desolation sorter awes one,
and it don't seem right to go shrieking
and screaming along their sides in the
dead O. night. This time it was worse
than ever. The storm had let loose all
the evil spirits in the air. The wind
swept down the valley with roar that
could be heard above the rush of the
train. 1t whistled and yelled at the
cab windows, and blew the rain and
sleet so hard agin the winder frame I
could scarcely see the short distance lit
by the headlight. The great trees
rocked to and fro and seemed to hold
out their arms in warning. 1t was a
solemn place for any one, and / felt it
particularly as / had this awful weight
of anxiety on my mind that had been
agrowin' stronger and stronger each
minute.
"Well, we had passed Bartlett's,
goin' through there at a pretty good
jog, when like flash of lightning the
parting words of my wife came back to
me: Be careful of that Frankenstein
trestlen
g That set me to thinkin'. Could this
be q presentment of some disaster?
Was there anything the matter with the
bridget
Nonsense, says /, I'm natural
born fool. If anything was wrong the
train two hours ahead would have found
it out and signaled me at Bartlett's. I'll
think of it no more, but tend to bust
ness.
''But in spite of me, be careful of the
Frankenstine trestle,' kept comm into
my head; even the wind seemed to
shrek it. pictured to myself broken
rail and the yawning gulf on each side.
What a terrible accident it would make;
what frightful chasm in which to
plunge. Then remembered Nell, and
the queer look that came over her face
when she gave me that singular eau
ton: BE careful of the Frankenstine
trestle. We was nearin' the bridge,
sure enough. On the up. grade 49, was
making about twenty miles an hour,
and in less than ten minutes he would
be over the bridge, or l caught my
breath, for at that mon emit those warn
ing words flashed into my mind once
more.
self I'm ever to be cured of such
stuff, says l to myself, 'now's my
chance. What could Nell know about
the bridge? I'll put her across at full
speed.
"a tall white birch that stood on
spur of the mountain was the landmark
which showed me that we was acomin'
to the straight piece which led across
the bridge. ! put my hand on the
throttle TO open the valve, when
"Well, gentlemen, I don't suppose
5eu'll believe me, bat as true ID I'm
g.