The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-06-11

making tho discovery we had reached
the high embankment neal the river. A
moment moro and there was q Rur-r-r-r!
as we sped over the trestle. A brief in
terval. scarcely noticeable, and q shorter
Rur-r-r! sounded. The next instant Ste
venton station and shops We're before us,
and on the platform, with lantern held
above his head. stood the watchman.
We had thrown ourselves fat upon
the floor, forward, before crossing the
bridges. The car swung round the curve
in safety, gained the main line, and sped
on toward the next station of Hanfield,
a town of some importance twelve miles
below.
Willis had not spoken since u mis-
hap; he now asked, in d voice so changed
that Iwould never have known it, Don't
you think the Waterman will telegraph
them to sidetrack us at Hanfield or do
something for us."
HE can't" said Harry. even if he
could find our operator, the Hanfeld
office is closed. Don't worry, boys" he
added coolly; "we're all right if our en-
CINE only runs down before the special
meets us" VI
Oddly enough, / had forgotten the
special train which vas to bring twenty
two hundred recruits up to the camp at
Fairview, and as Harry spoke a chill
crept over me and a horrible buzzine
filed my ears, and then every sense was
strained to catch some sign of the dread.
ed train.
Still our speed was undiminished. We
sped through cuts and over bridges; past
barns and patches of woodland; through
fields and past quiet farm houses. On,
ON, on.
"Harkt' called Harry, involuntarily,
for we could not be more quiet or alert.
and then to our ears was borne the sound
Of a distant whistle.
The special was coming!
Agairrthe whistle sounded, nearerthan
before, and to me it seemed like a human
shrek.
In another moment we caught sight OF
a white light high above the track. The
Central road crossed us here at grade,
and this was the signal to the special
train that our line was open. And then
to the left of the track we discerned q
lantern borne by a man who seemed tc
be running toward us. But these sights
were forgotten in an instant as the glare
of a locomotive headlight burst full upon
us, lighting the rails ahead until they
seemed like bars of fire.
What my feelings were I cannot tell:
I only know that I was powerless tc
move hand or foot. / could only watch
the flaming meteor that neared Us SC
rapidly.
All at once I saw a lantern swung alofi
at our left, and the man who held IL
shouted something I could not make out.
Then, at the very moment that weseemed
about to crash into the kissing monster
before us, our a swerved violently tc
the left, while the two locomotives and
the long train Of cars Numbered by on
the other side.
A short distance we ran with rapidly
slackening speed, then left the rails, and.
plunging into the sand, stopped short. ]
rolled off under the railing, and knew
nothing more until a man raised me te
my feet and asked if ! was hurt.
I O recovered sufficiently to walk
to the station, whittier Harry had pre-
coded me, while poor Willis, who lay as
n dead, was carried to the house of g
physician near by.
There was not a little excitement ovel
our escapade, but it died away finally,
with no prosecutions.
1t came out that the Waterman al
Steventon had rightly guessed the trouble
when we sped by him, and had succeed.
ed in getting a telegram to Hanfield just
in time to save us. To stop the special
was of no use, even If they could do sc
in time, which was doubtful, as it was
in sight when the message was received.
So a man was sent to shift lis to a side
track if possible, and this he succeeded
in doing, running us upon an uphill spun
which led to a sand bank excavated by
the road.
1t was a long time before Willis could
be brought home, so great was the SHOCK
to his nervous system. He never fully
recovered, and died before he had reached
his twenty-third birthday. q
marry suffered III no way iFoH the
horrors of that night, and is now a well
known inventor and builder in the great
west.
AS for myself, it was long before ]
could hear a locomotive whistle without
a nervous tremor. And wen now, after
the lapse of a quarter of a century, ]
sometimes awaken at night with a start,
for in my dream / have seen a locomo-
tive head light glaring at me in menace
coming OH swiftly as if to crush me to
death. My nerves still cherish the mem
ory of that hideous adventure.
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