Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-11-02

car, and it'll fall right over upon them!
They'll all be killed. They'll all be
killedi'
Roger could not say a word. He
stood staring after the car, pale-faced
and breathing hard. Ben looked around
holplessly until his eyes fell upOn some
thing that made his heart leap with Joy.
1t was the change engine waiting to re-
lieve their fathers when his train came
in. 1t stood on the main track near the
two boys, but with no one aboard, for
the engineer and fireman were eating
their noon lunch at the roundhouse. as
they generally did.
Jump aboard, quick, quick!" criep
Ben, dragging Roger toward the loco
motive. I'VE can't stop to call the
crew-we must run her ourselves. Pm
the strongest I'll fire-and you-you
start her up! Hurryr
Roger instantly understood. He
sprang upon the foot-board after his
brother, and grasped the lever and
throttle. It was no time for careful
handling, and the great engine fairly
jumped on the rails as the abruptly
opened valves sent the steam rushing
through it. Ben seized the whistle
lever, and a long scream of warning
sounded in the ears Of the astonished
men who were watching the runaway
car, while, almost at the same moment
with the sound, the roaring locomotive
leaped by them over the rattling
switches and shot down the line like a
meteor.
Both boys, now that they were actu-
ally at work to avert disaster, the
very thought OF which had unnerved
them minute before, were cool and
steady. Roger, with hands occupied
and feet braced firmly against the
heavy shocks and lurches Of the flying
engine, moved his eyes from the track
ahead only for a swift glance at the
gauges. Ben fed the fire-box with all
the skill he knew, recalling Mike
Murphy's instructions and doing his
best to keep steady, hot fire without
smothering it by putting on too much
coal, the common mistake OF inexperi-
enced firemen. Never once since start
ing had he looked away from his work,
or even taken single glimpse from
the window directly in front of him.
Yet all the time his mind was busy.
He had set out upon this wild race with
the single idea OF chasing the fiat car,
and in some way preventing the de-
struction it was sure to create If left to
ITSELF
But now the question was whether
the car could be overtaken, and, If it
could, what should then be done.
Knowing how far away the bridge was
from the station, he mentally calculated
the probable speed of the fat and the
time it would occupy in making the
distance. Then, between shovelfuls OF
coal, he fixed the pace necessary to
come up with the chase sufficiently far
from the bridge to allow opportunity
for securing the runaway by a plan
which had just occurred to him.
"There it isr' cried Roger, as they
swept around long curve. '1t's run
ming nearly as fast as we are.
For the first time Ben looked out at
the flying telegraph poles, while count
ing the jars Of the wheels on the joints
of theTails.
"Give her little more, Roger" said
he.
The engine seemed to drop from un-
der them with its increased speed on
the down grade, rolling and pitching
like ship at sea. Ahead the fiat was
bounding along the rails, strewing the
track-side as it ran with heavy ties. for
its load had been shifted by the shock
of rounding the curve Several times
the pursuing engine struck and threw
aside some of the ties which had
fallen partly across the rails. Fear
fully dangerous 1t was, but Roger did
not even think of slowing up. On the
contrary, he crowded his machine a
little harder. There was need of it, for
the bridge was less than mile away,
and mile at this speed was only a few
seconds over a minute. Ben also knew
that. He threw down his shovel, caught
up an iron pin, and opened the doors
leading out upon. the boiler. Roger
looked at him anxiously, but never
spoke. The thing must be done, if both
his brother and himself gave up their
lives in doing it, for there, down under
the bridge, were twenty men-hus-
bands and fathers, many Of them
working away, unconscious of the
death that was rushing upon them at
fifty miles an hour.
Clinging to the brass railing, and al
most choked by the fierce rush OF air
that the engine created as ittore along,
Ben crawled slowly to the buffers, and,
from there let himself down till his
feet rested upon the frame of the pilot.
Half sitting, half standing. he held on
to brace with one hand, and with the
other raised the heavy coupling-rod
which hung along the the front angle
Of the pilot.
1t was terrible place. Stunned by
the furious noise, smothered in dust
and bewildered by the dizzy sweeping
of the roadbed under him. his head
swan, and for moment he thought he
should fall. But the weakness passed
away before the thought OF what de-
pended upon him.
He must save those lives, that was
whathe was there for.
The engine was gaining rapidly. but
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