Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-13
struck the rail Joints. I knew BY the

NAAO
SOUND that the engine was pushing the
train ahead of it, for the sonnd Of the
exhaust was much further back than
the sound Of the wheels. Thinks I,
tllat must be the reserve train of about
ten ears which was standing on the
track in front of the station, and which
they are now pushing over to the
freight depot. All this passed through
my mind dimly, Just as q man always
thinks mechanically of his work. even
When his head and heart are full
OF other things. l said to
mysef, it is nothing to me anyway,
1or the train must pass by me on
the left-hand track. But as the ping,
pang OF the wheels on the hard frozen
track had come close to me and I
could hear the rafting of the safety
chain on the front baggage-car, and
saw how the light Of the signal lamp
slipped toward me on the snow, /
turned my head to call out Happy
New Year' to the boys on the engine.
"But there was no train on the track
on that side, and at that very mo-
ment l felt a mighty push against my
pack. My eyes saw stars; I lay flat
on my face or the track, and-ping-
pang-the car began to go over me-"
Here the old engineer paused again.
1t was still as death in the engineers
room; with eyes wide open, bent for
ward, pale, the strong faces of the
young enginemen surrounded the
table. Again he filled the glasses,
pushed down the tobacco in his pipe,
and continued:
"You sec, boys, when we are sitting
around the table here, or standing on
the engine, Or even when we are going
through an examination, as poo Hen
mig did to-day, then the thoughts come
out OF our thick skulls one after an
other, slowly, in order, and according
to the regulations;' we can observe
and greet every one of them; indeed,
the master mechanics often say that we
enginemen think. slower than other
people, because all the quickness in
us has gons into our engines. But,
boys, in that mament which happened
between my push and my falling fiat
on my face l did nor thinking than 1
ever did at any other time between
Easter and Whit Sunday.
"First thought of home, the warm
room and everything in it. and the New
Years bell-ringing, and the New Years
church in the mnorning-well, we won't
speak about that; then ON the Drill
masters helper, who was lying under a
cloak on the snow, and then l calcu-
lated concerning the train that was
running owe me as clearly as if l had
it to make up. Why was 1T coming up
the wrong track, in which 1 had walked
the down track? And Immediately |
understood what l had forgotten in my
reverie while walking home. At noon
] had seen the up track covered deep in
snow, and that was why the train went
out on the in track. Then I plainly saw
the train standing; there could not be
more than ten or eleven freight cars in
it, all our company's cars; they were all
high above the rails; they would do me
no harm-I was lying fiat enough be-
tween the rails. But the engine, the
ash-pan of the engine? The three en-
gincs that still had steam up at the sta
ton l knew as well as my tobacco box,
the 'Wittekind' would pass over me
harmless even if I had been larger than
I was then; the Hermann also, per-
haps, might be merciful to NE, if it
didn't carry too much coal and water,
and if the gravel ballast on which /
was lying were not too thick; but under
the Sirius one of the new, low-built
elephants, I would be a dead man
worse than q dead man, a man slowly
torn to pieces and crushed. Now,
which engine was it that was coming?
Cali this, yousee, boys, Ihad thought
out between the push and the fall, but
when once 1 was lying down all calcu-
lating ceased, and l only stretched my
self out inAinctively, and drew in my
breath and made myself as thin as a
board, and counted the axles that
passed over my head. Every ping and
pang spoke out plain syllables which
sounded like: "A wretched death-a
wretch-ed DEATH And now some
thing heavy catches me; no, it is moth
ing yet; it only slips and slides rattling
over me l%engthwise, feeling cold on my
neck; it is a coupling chain hanging
begins to tremble under me, first gent
ly, then more and more violently; very
slowly it comes: then I saw on n side,
though I had my head pressed down in
q hollow, that the rail and the snow
and the rolling wheels passing me were
lighted with a red light that kept get
ting brighter and brighter; that was
the engine fire shining through the ash
pan. Now 1 felt it getting hot on my
bare head and neck. The ties sunk
down; the rails cracked and bent; the
ground shook violently under me; there,
there it is! And Immediately it caught
me heavily on the back, pressed for
ward--God have mercy! then rip, tear.
something on me tore in two-and puff,
puff, rolling, laundering and stamping,
the engine had passed owe me. The
ground was still trembling behind it.
From the sky above the snow again was
falling on me.
GLOW l ever got on my feet again I
can not say. There Istood and trembled
and saw the red lights Of the engine
disappear in the curve, looking to me
lille the eyes of Death himself.
"Then 1 felt myself all over to find
what the engine had torn off from my
body, and found that the two regula-
ton buttons were missing from the
back OF my uniform overcoat. l went
to the nearest switchman and borrowed
a lantern, and looked up the buttons
-, ~ y R,t uhon xun 1~a,.o Of