The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-09-26

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not open then, and now, as Polly ran
down the road, she thought she would
have time to gather some for her parents
before the train arrived
When Polly reached the station she
found no one there, and on looking at the
clock, she saw it was ten minutes past four
so she had twenty minutes to. wait. Then
she ran on quickly.
The flagman stood by the draw, and
Polly saw some distance down the river
a small vessel coming toward the bridge.
She ran along rapidly, and as she passed
the flagman he called out:
''Going for the lilesl The pond was
all white with them when went by this
morning"
ayes, sir; l want to pick some for
mamma and papa. They wrote me a
letter and said they were coming on the
next train"
"You don't say sol Well, guess
| you're glad. Look out for the locomo-
tive, and don't take too long picking
your flowers, and you'll have plenty of
time to get back before the train comes
in"
Polly thanked him and ran on. In
about five minutes she reached the
pond. How lovely the lilies looked
with their snowy cups resting upon the
dark waters. But their stems were long
and tough, and most of them grew be-
yond her reach. Polly was sorry to
leave so many behind, but was afraid if
she fingered too long she would miss the
train. So, gathering up the blossoms,
she pinned them into her belt, and
scampered back toward the bridge.
The boat had just sailed through the
draw, and the man stood ready to close
the, bridge when Polly came up. He
looked over at her from the center of the
bridge, and called out with a smile:
Couldn't you get any more flowers
than those2 If l had time to 90 to the
pond you should have as many as you
could carry"
Polly smiled back at him and then be-
| gan to watch him. as he made ready to
turn the great bridge back into place for
the train to pass over. His hand was on
the crank, when a rope dangling over
the railing of the bridge attracted his
attention. AS he tried to pull it in it
seemed to be caught underneath. Polly
watched him lean over to get better
hold, when to her great horror, the piece
of railing to which he held gave way.
There was a sudden scream and a
great splash in the water. But before
the waves of the swiftly flowing river
closed over him Polly heard the cry:
"The train-the fagw
Poor little Polly She was so alarmed
for the poor mans safety that for some
moments she could think of nothing
else, and ran backward and forward
ringing her hands in despair. AS he rose
to the surface she saw that he made
franctic gestures to her and pointed up
the road from which the train was TO
come. lie seemed to be able to keep him.
self above the water with very little eff
| fort, and 'oly saw with Joy that the
accident had been observed by the crew
of the vessel. The man in the water
struck out toward the boat, and Poly
could hear shouts and cheers from the
men on board.
All at once she was startled by the
far-otf whistle of the approaching loco
motive. In moment she understood
the meaning of the flagman's gestures.
She looked at the open space and then at
the bridge. In five minutes or less the
train wolld come rushing into that awful
chasm. Polly's hair almost rose on her
head with horror. 1t was as much as she
/ could do to keep her senses.
! There must be some way to avert the
awful calamity. She ran swiftly along
toward the rapidly approaching train.
Lying on the ground, Just by the small
wooden house where the fagman gener-
ally sat, Folly saw a red flag. She re-
membered having heard that this flag
was used in case of danger or when there
was any reason for stopping the cars. She
did not know whether there was vet
time, but she seized the flag and flew
wildlyup the track.
"Oh my papa Oh my mamma" she
cried. "They will fall into the river aud
be drowned. What shlll l do?" and
Polly waved the flag backward and for
ward as she ran.
Then came the train around the curve.
She could see the white steam pulling
from the pipe, and could hear the pant
ing of the engine.
Il know they'll run over me, but if
papa and mamma are killed don't care
TO live" she said to herself, as she APP
preached the great, black, noisy en-.
gine.
When it was about three hundred feet
away from her she saw head thrust out
of the little window by the locomotive,
and then, with a great putting, snorting
and whistling, it beg IN to move slower
and slower, until at last when it was
almost upon Poly, it stopped en-,
tirey.
All the windows were alive with
heads aud hands. The passengers
screamed and waved her off the track.
She stepped OF and ran close up to the
side of the engine and grasped out;
" he bridge is open aud the man has
fallen into The river. Please stop the
train or you'll be drowned.
The engineer stared in amazement, as
well he might, to see q small girl with a
flushed face, hair blown wildly about.
aud four lilies pinned to her belt, wav-
ing the red flag as though she had been
used to tagging the trains all her
life.
At that moment another remarkable
figure presented itself to the astonished
eyes of the passengers. A man dripping
wet, bruised and scrat he'd as though he
had been drawn through briers, came
tearing toward the cars, stumbling and
almost falling at every step. As he
reached little Polly he snatched her up
and covered her face with kisses.
"You little darling" " he cried do you
know what you've done2 You've saved
the life of more than hundred people"
Polly, nervous and excited, began to