The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-10-02

berth had been let down.
There is nobody in It," he sput-
tered, and it is all foolishness to make
it up. 1t just makes mine as hot as a
bake oven"
/ explained to him that the rules
required all disengaged berths to be
made up to accommodate possible To-
cal travel.
But nobody's going to get o n in
this DESERT" he insisted. testify. why
can't you just push that one up3"
81 can't do it'll replied a little
nettled, ''unless you pay for it,
He abused the road. myself and
every body else "incoherently for
awhile, but the upshot of the matter
was he paid for the upper berth, and
asked in a surly voice that it be put up
at once. By that time | was pretty
mad, and. hurrying back into the car,
| parted the curtains. unlocked the
two wires that hold the upper berth
down, seized it by the edge, and with
one violent push swung it up in place.
| heard the spring locks click, threw
the curtains together and returned to
the smoking-r1om. Meantime Bliss
and one of the cattlemen had got into
a political discussion, and it was near
eleven o'clock before the old fellow
became too indignant over some state
ment as to the civil service to continue
the argument and went staggering
and putting out. He returned almost
Immediately.
'Conduct,r," he wheezed, with a
sort of forced calmness, 81 thought
bought that upper berth in my sec
tion?"
80 you did l replied.
, And you told me you put it upP"
Eyes, sir"
0 "You did no such thing!' he ex
claimed, suddenly bursting into
rage, the Internal thing has beef
r down all night, and is down now, an'
my berth steaming like a sweat box
: Give me my money back!'
d You looked into the wrong berth,
I replied. Il put that upper back my
L self and nobody touched it since
- looked into section ~seven,' b
said, ~furiously; Il don't believe yo'
ever touched it.
- Just want to show you that vo'
, don't know what you're talking
= about" | answered, leading the wa
back into the car. Here is your sec
ton. See" At this | threw back tn
&c curtains and stopped d~um-founded
r. The upper berth was down, and wha
was more, the wires did not appear t
ct have been touched. Bliss started t
s. say something in reply, when | felt O
d., a sudden as though a bullet had gon
W through my heart. A horrible though
a had flashed across my mind, too quick
II ly to be shaped in words. The BLOOD
l. came throbbing through my neck il
slow. bursting waves, and more like
d machine than a man. | stretched on
d nv arm and opened the curtains Of
1t section five. The upper berth was
# shut.
n had made a mistake. In a hideous,
moving tomb. swung like Mahomct $
n coffin between Heaven and earth, ]
d had buried the girl alive! For a mo-
IS ment it seemed as though the arterie,
i Of my throat would burst; my hear
beat with quick, sharp pangs; my skin
n had ali the icy contraction of a suddrl
: plunge into cold water. 1t was thel
that a sort OF secondary intelligence
e seemed to work within me. and. Will
J. my senses reeled with fear and horror
n impeIIed me to push up the berth il
IS the old mans section and get away.
scarcely knew what | was dong
but Bliss noticed nothing, an.
s. grumblingly crawled into his bert
Ie while | hurried out to the plat
,r form. Why did l not open upper
a five? Because | realized instantly tina
IL the victim was long before dead. In
sleeping car space is economical t.
" the utmost extent. The swingin!
n berth fits into space like a ball in
socket. The elasticity Of the mattres
and the slight figure of the girl alon
d made it possible for me to close it witt
her inside. gave M haggard lool
# at my watch. An hour and a half hat
elapsed. She must have died in thu
first three or four minutes.
| stood on the steps and tried Il
G think, but l could not control my mind
r In swift detile it pictured to me thu
p discovery, the blackened corpse tumbl
y ing from the blankets, the stiff finger:
: clutching at nothingness, the mother
. shrek, the CONSERVATION of the pas
9 cngers. the excited theories, the quick
\ conception of the truth, the search, the
! pronunciation the awful machinery OF
e of the courts, the prison! By a violent
: effort l surveyed the situation from
a several standpoints. They all led tc
2 one conclusion-tlight. There was but
: one time when | could have taken the
. benefit of the accident-that was a
once, when | made the discovery-ant
I realized the impossibility of explain
, ing my hesitation. These things passed
, through my mind like flashes of light
. ming. There was not an instant tc