St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-10-16
VOL. XII.-NO. A..

the wind almost amounted to . huuu6
cane. and the rain poured down -
hard that Tom could hardly see out OF
the window. At last the fury a The
storm seemed to have spent iself.
and Tom breathed sigh of relief
as he heard the wind lessening, for
he always feared to have his
father cross the bridge over the gorge.
when the wind was blowing high, lest
the train should be blown, over. He
looked down at the bridge as it entered
his thoughts, and something that ho
saw there made his ruddy boylsh face
pale with terror. Dragging himself
across the room slowly and painfully,
he got his fathers glass down from the
shelf and looked through it. No. he
had not been mistaken. His eyes had
told HIM the truth. just al the begin-
nIng of the bridge, and par iy on it.
lay tall tree that had been blown
over by the gale. Unless the train
could be checked in time, it would be
derailed and hurled into that terrible
gorge.
| No wonder the boy felt himself grow
ing faint with terror at the thought Of
his fathers peril. as well as the dam
ger to all the Others that were on the
train. How could they be warn ed in
time? The twilight shadows were all
ready growing deeper, and it would
soon be dark. Tom looked at his
bandaged leg with . groan of
despair. If he. only had the
use of it, he could soon
have made his way down the mount
ain side, and built a fire beside the
track that would have warned them!
| There was no hope that he coald possi-
| bly, drag himself that distance; even if
he could have borne the torture Of
dragging his broken limb after him,
his strength would not have held out,
| and then, too, the time would have.
been too short. Tom groaned aloud.
| Must he sit there and see the train 90
crashing over the edge of the gorge
without saying word to stay it?
In less than an hour now the train
would come laundering along, his
father would exchange signals with
him for the last time. and then. But
the thought of the signals sent an idea
through Toms brain that took his
breath away. Perhaps he could signal
with the lamp, and make his father
understand the danger. He put the
lamp in the window and waited. 1t
was the only chance, and as the slow
minutes dragged themselves away.
and each one shortened the boys
agony of suspense, perhaps you gan
guess how his whole heart went up in
fervent PRAYER that his father would
understand.
At last the train rumbled through the
tunnel. and coming out into open air
swept around the curve, its headlight
cleaning like baleful eye. The en-
gineer was running fast now to make
up for delay at the station they had
just passed. He glanced up into tho
darkness that shrouded the mountain
to see his boys signal Presently il
flashed out, then instead of waving
backward and forward it was suddenly
obscured, then it gleamed out again.
Something. the father never knew
what, made him connect the sudden
flashes with the little electric instru-
ment. He watched eagerly. Yes, he
was right, the bog was trying to tell
him something. he slackened the speed
of the train, and spelled the letters one
after another.
.D-a-n-g-e-r-G-o-r-g
1Hdt w as dll, Qut uc uuutEslOOu, 6Hu
under the hand of its master the train
came to a sudden standstill. Not
moment too soon, for when the train
hands ran forward with lanterns they
found the fallen tree not six feet from
the engine.
1t would have been a terrible aoci-
dent beyond doubt, and as the pas
sengers learned the cause of the de-
tention while the men were clearing
the track, they shuddered at tho
thought of the terrible peril they had
escaped. A purse was made up for
Tom, when they learned how the en-
gineer had been warned by the boy in
that lonely cottage on the ledge.
When Tom saw the train stop and
knew that his father had understood,
he did something that, boylike. he was
very much ashamed of afterward He
tainted, '.just like silly girl" as he
expressed it. The
strain had been a terrible one, and tho
joy was too much for him, enfeebled
as he was by his confinement.
When Tom was well again he ap-
piled for the post of telegraph opera
tor, and to his great delight he was
pronounced competent for the position,
and now his father and himself live in
a pretty little cottage near the station.
which Tom purchased with the thank
offering of the passengers He never
sends message clicking over the
wires, without thinking of the night
when he saved the train Christi0H aS
Work.
A Remarkable Picnic.