The Arizona sentinel., 1888-06-02


Dead men tell no tales, and he may
have seen our faces"
'Ho! no! ho! won'tlisten to such
plan" said one who seemed to ex-
ercise some influence over them. 1--WE
shall have enough to answer for before
this job is finished without killing him.
How this nail sticksr' he added, with
an oath. The man who drove these
spikes must have meant 'cm to stay.
Come, mates! He is safe enough, and
if we mean business. we must be live
ly. The train will be here in twenty
minutes. and we have no time to lose, :"
and at the rail they all sprang with a
will.
Twenty minutes! What could l
hope to do to save the train in my con-
dition. within so short time?
The thought of the terrible wreck
which must result if the derailed train
struck the bridge made mo desperate.
Straining at the cords which bound
my wrists. 1 fancied they gave way a
little. / Irememb red the trick of the
necromancers who free themselves
from their bonds by alternately con-
tracing and expanding their muscles.
and lay in silence. working in per-
feet frenzy of excitement until 1 was
able to free my hands. Il IN instant
my knife was out of my pocket, and
my feet free.
Without waiting to FREQ myself
from the gag, l sprang 10 my feet.
and, at the top of my speed. started
down the track in the direction of the
approaching train. With ayell which
told me l was discovered, the whole
gang started in pursuit; but l had
some little start of them, and bounded
along the ties, bent upon stopping the
train at any cost. In the inky black
ness of the night pursuit was difficult.
Soon pop! pop! pop! from the revolv-
ers of the gang. They were firing
down the track. in the hope of stop
ping me with bullet
AS the gag. which l had not re-
moved, hindered my breathing, was
forced to stop for moment to cut it
way. While so engaged. there came
4 second volley, this time more sue
cessfuL l was struck in the left arm
midway between wrist and elbow. 1
should have tainted from the shock.
together with the rough usage l had
previously undergone. but for my de-
termination to keep up.
Brace upr' called. as if address,
ing n companion. mo time for such
foolishness now, Tom. Remember the
trainr'
This 1 said aloul 10 myself, for the
solitary work of my nightly rounds
had given me the habit of talking 10
myself, for want of another compan-
ion. Setting my teeth hard, l over
came the faintness. staggered to my
feet and ran on. l soon noticed that
the pursuit had ceased. Either the
train robbers thought was done for,
or they had returned 10 their un fin
ished work, trusting l should be una
BILE to stop the train. And now it
flashed upon my mind for the first
time, How could l accomplish itP
Light l had none-my lantern was
with the wreckers.
While was thus celebrating, still
running on as fast as my condition
would permit instinctively 1 felt in
my pocket for matches. All. the oil!
Why had l not thought of that be-
fore? Of course!
"Of course the oil will stop them,
Tom. Spread it on the rails. Their
old seventy-ton locomotive can get no
grip on that iron. Smear it thick,
cover it we'll, rub it on with your
palm, so-both rails, don't neglect an
inch of either. For life. Tom, for life.
Think Of the men, women and little
children upon the trainT'
l worked with the desperation of a
drowning man. Upon my knees, the
bottle under my disabled arm. pour
ing the oil, by an inclination of my
body into my right hand, and spread
iu0 IL upon lue rails.
In ten minutes the quart of oil was
and as result l had both
rails for quite distance very we'll
covered with it.
had worked backward from the
approaching train, and now rose to
my feet at the end of my labor and at
the terminus of the creased rails.
The train was coming. Already the
rails were singing with vibration as
he heavy train approached. Here
they come How awful the sight of a
big locomotive, coming straight to-
ward one upon dark midnight! The
great round eye of the headlight
out into the darkness, the
oar of the exhaust the hiss of the
steam through the cylinders, together
with the rush and roar of the train,
make up terrifying, though magnifi-
cent sight.
stood upon the tracks, waving my
hands. far enough away to spring from
t before the train could reach me, but |
10 that the headlight would shine upon
ne and l could be seen by the engi- |
leer Now for it." 1 thought She |
trikes the oil-the big. seven-foot |
irving wheels spin round as though |
he engine had been lifted in the air.
Friction. the propeling influence, is
rome now. She slackens speed. Icould |
zee the engineer plainly.
In my excit ement / screamed as
oud as possible, in vain protest to the
,n glneer, who was milling the little |