New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-11-08
THE FLYING SCUD.


him to Journey away from the quiet little town OF
Blandcombe in which he lived.
In this preference he was not alone, for the
Flying Scud was perhaps moro used by frst-cass
passengers" express fares nOtw thstanding- than
any other train that ne in fact, there we've not
a few residents in every county through which she
ran who would almost as soon have thought of
posting to London by road as of travelling in any
other train than the Send. There was no other
train like it either that line any other--at
least such was the popular belief. Naturally tho
officials were very proud of this their premier
tram, and made no small fuss over It and all con-
nected with it, Indeed. il seemed to he rellglOusly
felt by every ono. high and low. that, although
the carriages might be exactly similar to those or
every other express, and the engine IN no respect
different vet for the fastest train the world could
show it was only proper to display more zeal than
usual in performing oven the commonest OF their
duties
WINFIELD. where she had arrived some twenty
minutes latc-ATthur Granurd was sitting lazily
back in a hrst-claSS compartment, drcaniy com
pairing his fellow passengers with others OF pleasant
memory, not much to the advantage oil those
present for on this occasion tho other occupants OIL
the carriage seemed to HIM oppressvely dull and
commonplace. . .
Young man of detected appearance and fast
asleep was huddlcd mp IN the corner on the opposite
seat his back to the engine Il schoOlboy sat on
GIanard's right grccdIly devOuring MIdshipman
Easy y: and a snoring Frcnchman was slulnbcring
Justify his left; while the remaining places on
the Opposltc seat were occupied by u newly married
cOuple-.he most hopeless OF companions. At least
Granard concluded that such WAS their condition,
for they both looked tagged and bored, and seldom
exchanged remarks yet bOtn seemed ready to
attend lovingly to anything tho other might say ;
but the impetuous light of woOing and being wOocd
was no Longer in their eyes, so what could they he
but couple who had Just passed through the
porilOuS DAYS OF lntcrdcpendenco peculiar to Il
honeymoon $50
The man was n tame looking creature without
single strong feature IN his face, unless a thin
sprinkling of light whiSkrrS-Of the hue yuBarly
dubbed ginger could bc 40 described
The wife was better. She was pretty little
W. of "A nOmply
which seemed a little too smart though her general
appearance was not altogether unploaSing.
But conversation was clearly out OF the question
with any one of them, and uranard soon lad back
in his seat with yawn, and presently gave himself
up To enjoying to thc fun what seemed to hum the
best pace lac had ever known the train travel at
He was inst about 20 set himself TO asceI tain the
speed bv counting the quartcrmilc posts when the
glare ot the midday sun was suddenly exchanged
for darkness tho Flying Scud dashed into
DOrtOn tunnel
:" Dorton already! Didn't think we'd got so far, :"
he said to himself haven't noticed the down
fast pass us yet. She must he pretty late. too"
Ii was usual for tho Scud to pass an express, rs
speedy rs herself before reaching Dorton and
Granard never failed to notice with interest the
rapid ishng sound produced rs they flashed past
When the daylight burst in on him again as the
train rushed madly out INTO open ground, he
gathered III his newspaper. aud was sci ting down
IL its contents when suddenly violent shock, n
crashing grinding shlverlng shock sharply reused
him from lIstlo5SncSs To painful lntrnturss. lie
sudden conclusion and the continued violent
motion set him literally dancing on his seat
lie knew well enough what the cause was. lie
Wa a railway engineer 10y profession and dcrail-
ment4 on the temporary tramwavs used IN railway
making wcrr sufficiently frequent to have made HIM
thotoughly familiar with the Kind Of shock caused
an engine or truck leaving the track. In an instant
he grasped the fact that some part oil tho Train Id
lett the rails and conscious of the speed at whio
they were II owing, he knew that tcIupIc crash
was imminent and inevitable.
Shouting 10 his fellow passengers, Hold on,
cycry one" he quickly grppcd the arm rest on ms
II !. !. If IL. Ia
nl2cc Iy placing lis icrt firmly against tho opposite
seat aud threw hs night arm across hts chest.
elbow outward TO protect his face -, FAR ns possible
from injury ia the coming smash. lie hdu not pre-
pared himself m instant too soon Vt that moment
a hinge pOr.mauttau came crashing against tho
doOr-frimr aud a splash OF otlrr luggage seemed
10 fly past the window, followed by cloud OF dust
and coal then . i"ICo gust OF hot steam burst
through the open window. covering them all iDr
InuucnI ~ II IN black rIE"d' mo ti1u'hihAh
iuu shrek, and the DchoOlbOy screamed and
frarticaily clutched Grauafd round the body.
Scarcely bad the steam covered them when the
carriage received a tIcmcud Dus blow tho right.
which turned II sharply over ou H. side. Adid OF
TWO further with the carriage bong dragged IN
,,llfurlV along iu tins position oil MAS over
the tram, IHcat momentum VAS Used up, and one
OF the world, most IImOus expresses winch not
ten second, before had been plunging along. iul Of
grace and power. al probably over rather than
under the fnyo'ito pace OF a mile "A minute lay
wrecked aud stalled centre Oi death. suffering
aud ruin.
seat th1t wien tho carriage va, overturned he WIS
not hi-pla cd but the sUmuOrut youth opposite
was thrown with great violence dlro'tIy upon
Arthur Granard's Tight elbow, thereby receiving
a most pointed rcbukc for his l-Judgcd movement
pnled with sleep and mad with fright. tins worthy
grabbed Granurd by the throat and shouted
F" Murder murderi' in the widest manner, at the
Sane time doing his utmo-t 10 strange his supposed
antagonist. Now GranHrd was not particularly
pugnIclous or prone 10 take offence. but just thon
he felt in no humor for beng throttlcd. and
accordingly resented tho liberty. Being OF con
Siderable strength and stature, anu ia ifs;-Tate
condition having tine day before won twO-mIlc
sculling race at B!audcomhc regatta, for which he
had been III training a,m" six weeks murri. hc
was soon able to free himself from his fellow
un.sruurIs too close embrace by gripping his arms
inst above the elbows and cGunching the muscles
there until the hands were pOwerlcss. Then, step
ming across the carriage and standing each foot on
an arm rest he thrust HIM bodily through the open
" iudoW now above them. ON being shown tho
door in this fashion now idea seemed 10 SO ne on
the elected one, for he scrambled out and Hung
himself down to the ground ~ II II [ housand mis-
chiefs were behind HIM Had hc broken limb in
his haste an enlightened jury would probably
have awarded hiia heavy damages Tor Injuries
received 10 the Long llouShtoh accident TN
looking down between his legS To sec how the
othcis weTo farng. Grauard noticed that the
Ercuch,uau had already wtigglel out while tho
Door little bride was huddlcd in the corner with
her lubbcry husband sprawlng hclplcSsly mon
her apparently too Huucrved 10 make any effort 10
get out. To sre hun 3d. Ill'd HlInard WIN
indignant disgust. In a moment ho reasoned to
himself that the principle OF condemnation need
not be confined in ITS application TO mustard
Minister toOthache tincturcs, and suchikc mute
agents but might well ho extended tor the cure of
mental paralysis and ucrvclcNsnrss; that II Ike
cur,cs Ike" a shock might undo mischief shock
had caused. Acting on this deduction, he CRASHED
the hat rails on either side To maintain his balance
and then administered 10 the wretch he'd husband
sharp decisive kick IN the back, shouting at the
Same time, " Hand mp that lady!
The effect WAS instantaneous. lie graspcd his
partner with sudden energy aud promptly passed
Ter mp to Granard, who had meanwhile forced open
the door 10 allow more room for her to get ont. A.
lie lifted her out and was the act OF passing her
down to "a pcntlciE n the ground II thought
came suddenly into his mind which brought hIs
heart into his thr0a. ana seemed 10 freeze his very
blood. lie remembered the dawn oYpTcSs. The
down fast had not passed them yet,
lie saw with horror that nearly all the passengers
were now standing on the down track lilo knew