The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-05-21

Sammy; III take you home;" and while
speaking Tom had unfastened one of the
teams. .'Good-bye, and God bless you
Florence. Meet me at the station with the
carriage when the down express comes in
tomorrow. l wouldn't go a step now I'M
less knew it ought to be done for father
Miss Van Amden's hand was still ting
ling with Toms fervent grasp when Ton
himself and his small companion had clat'
tered out of sight along the road toward
the station.
The evening at Squire Porter's mansion
was dull one for this young lady, and she
arose the next morning under the posses
sion of that indefinable uupleasantness o
general sensation which we know by the
name of a presentiment. Not even the mem
Dry of that scene in the woods tire day be-
fore offset the disag reeable and persistent
impression that something was about tt
happen. She had Dorothy, the girls quie
horse, harnessed up more than two hour!
before the express was due, and drove or
to make the circuit of the Blue Hill be-
fore meeting Tom at the station.
Down by the railroad it was seasonably
hot. The reflection from the long line o
rails stretching into the distance quiverec
in the heated air that rose from the yellow
sand entertainments. The vast stores o
pine-wood piled beside the track sent on
balsamic odors as it baked under the ray:
the locomotives from the tank at the end o
the freight-house stood erect and parchec
as the throat of Tantalus. Lefty piled hel
palm-leaf fan, and sighed for the thunder
showers which the Geographic friend a
her elbow-only a hundred and fifty mile:
distant-had just announced as clearing
the air in that more favored locality.
The accommodation had passed. The W
express had stopped for water and gone it;
wav Two fret oh trains IN ad I'm M nrn1 nv
The afternoon was we'll advanced, wher
'thunder-caps" began to pile up from be
hind the hills, and Lefty imagined that she
smiled moisture and freshness in the air.
It'll be ripper when we do get it" re-
marked the station master, looking in at
Letty's window. There's a tremendous
black streak round at the west"
From that quarter there was rising q
dark screen with ragged edges, pushed up
from below, and steadily cutting away the
bright sky. The spruceS on the high hill
sides caught the voice of the messenger
winds sent in advance of the tempest, and
whispered it to the valleys below. A Whit
Of the breeze reached the station just as the
edge of the storm cloud gashed the disk OF
the sun. 1t was followed by another,
whirling little eddies of dust from the re.
pose in which they had been left beside the
track by the last passing train. Then the
wind began to blow more steadily, and Let
ty shut down her window with prudent
precaution, calling to Sammy as she dlo so.
Sammy did not respond; but at the mo-
ment of closing the window the sound OF a
carriage rapidly driven and drawing up
hastily at the station fell upon her ear. No
train was due at this hour, and it must be
some one seeking shelter under the carriage
shed from the approaching storm.
Suddenly the door of her little Office was
swung violently open, and on the threshold
stood the young lady whose arrival she
had watched from behind her curtain little
more than two weeks before. She was
pale now and agitated.
"Where is the mantle station-master
the one IN charge here?" asked Miss Van
Amden, hurriedIy, breaking in before
Lefty had time to formulate the naughty
little salutation that was rising to her
lips.
.'He has gone home for a few minutes,
but will return before the express arrives.
Do YOU wish ticket"
mo! no! nor' cried Florence, with as
near an approach to wringing her hands
as women of this day know. 81 want to
save lives! There is a great landslide on
the track. l saw it as l came around Blue
Hill, and drove on as fast as could to get
help. What must we do? Quick! quick!
and the excited girl grasped Letty's arm
and almost shook her.
Letty's experience in the business of
running a railroad by telegraph stood her
in good stead at this crisis, and her sense
of superiority to the situation was evident
in the calmly frigid air which she opposed
to her companions eager anxiety. She
even INDUCED in sort of self-complacent
contempt for the frightened helplessness
of Miss Van Amden, while conscious of her
own power to stay all disaster with a
single movement of her hand.
oh, fAI !,
such dignity as her little figure and bird
like voice were canable of expressing.
''The express is not duo ut Marlborough for
fifteen minutes yet, AMI | shall telegraph
to hold it there until the track Is cleared.
There is no other train on this section
except the up accommodation, which stops
here. If you exp" Any friends on either,
you needn't be ala''nsl."
She seated hers ! as the table, and
touched the telegraph key with that grace
ful motion which displays shapely hand
more effectively than any other employ
ment except violin-playing. She "called"
the station at Marlborough. But as her
fingers ratified off the familiar dofs and
dasheS her practiced ear detected the fact
that no message followed along the wire
in consequence. She examined the switch,
and quickly frightened a screw. Again no
life came at her manipulation. The spirit
of the telegraph had fled.
Quickly rising, Lefty went to the closet
i'm which the local battery was kept, and if
the empty cells had not been enough to eX-
plain the situation, the appearance of
Sammy at the door, with an approbative
expression on his face and two neatly
cleansed copper cups in his hand, would
have left no Doubt as to the cause of the
impotence of her instrument. Jealous to
atone for his shortcomings of the day be-
fore, the useful boy had taken this occasion
to perform for his sister the somewhat
dirty service of securing out the battery.
so, Sammy, what have You done?''
cried Lefty, now as pale as Miss Van
Am1en.
Cleaned 'em up" answered the boy;
80 dear, oh dear! you meddlesome,
wicked child. put the last drop of acid
in this morning, and now you have poured
it all away
"Get some more" suggested Sammy.
"Don't talk to me, " retorted Lefty. "They
were to send me some by the express this
afternoon, and until get it the wires are
useless"
"Wait till it comes, then" was Sammy's
You don't know what you are talking
about. Run just as fast as you can to Mr..
Jones', and tell him there's an accident on
the road, and he must hurry here. Run
alongn and she pushed him out at the
door.
The station-master cams in haste
heralded by clap of thunder and accom-
panied by the loud pattering of thu first
rain drops.
What is it, Miss Brooks?" he asked, as
he burst into the room.
This lady has just come around the Blue
Hill. and says there is a land slide across
the track. The wires won't work, and the
down express is due at half past"
"There is the slider"
Jus heyon1 the covered bridge, an
sws r.1 Miss Van Am1an.
-Four miles off, and in a bad place" The
station-master looked at his watch. The
express is due at Peterborough in Ave min
utss Snd here IN twenty five. We CAM