The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-01-10

wind made the girl rssli She stopped,
and while ~endeayoring to recover her
balance, saw the dark rock below, and
thrilled with terror.
Over = over ~ over - farther and
farther; she pressed her lips tightly to-
gether-she made one last superhuman
effort, still endeavoring to recover her
balance. An inch farther and that bal.
ance were lost and she precipitated
upon those jagged rock 200 feet be-
meath. Now, however, she raised her
left arm, and that saved her. She
slowly regained her upright position,
and the two continued their course,
Harry unable, without certain d~estruc-
ton, to turn his head, ignorant of his
companions late narrow escape.
They had only accomplished half
their p%erilous walk when the night
gloom gathered around them. They
must traverse the rest Of the way in
darkness!
Steadily" whispered Harry, C
agingly; "for Gods sake don't falter
now!!p
She answered him firmly, II will
not" and she frightened her hold Of his
jacket.
At that moment they felt the rail
quiver beneath them - strange,
humming noise was heard. It grew
louder every moment - louder and
louder = until suddenly the CLEAN
like that of a bloodshot eye was seer
bursting through the darkness far ahead.
"The locomotives" gasped Mary. "My
God! What can we do now?"
She was right. It was the train
bound to Paris, sweeping along at full
speed, breathing thunder, steam, and
fire. Nearer and nearer it came, roar.
ing and rattling, with its whistle scream.
ing. The rail now shook 80 that the
travellers could scarcely keep their bal.
ance.
. What matter whether they did or not?
What power could save them now?
They were apparently doomed to Ger.
tain destruction with that fearful train
sweeping toward them!
On, on-nesrer, nearer, nearer. 1t
was soo less than three miles distant!
The young couple stood still; each
could hear the beating of the Others
heart, for Mary's arms now were a.. and
Harry's waist.
Ahead of them an approaching loco
motive-on each side of them a yawn-
ing a%byss-their only support a slender
rail. All hope died from their hearts !
eve must prepared" gasped the girl.
"We must die! God help us!"
ooh" murmured Harry suddenly,
IF I only had rope I might possibly
do something to help us"
"a rope-thank Heaven! There is
one in my carpet-bag. A line upon
which my cousin used to hang her ho-
siery"
As quickly as the situation would per-
NIT, Harry unslung from his neck the
carpet-bag, and, opening it, took out the
rope, which was quite long and about
as thick Us q ~clothes-line. One end of
this he fastened around Mary's breast
just beneath the armpits; the other
end, by carefully stopping upon his
knees, he contrived to reeve through and
fasten in one of the holes between the
timber and the rail.
The train was now less than a mile
distant-in one minute it would reach
the spot occupied by the imperiled tray
elers. On it came booming along, while
the rail shook as if going to
pieces. Steam, thunder, fire, and
smoke!
"God help us!' screamed Mary.
The next moment she felt a sudden
jerk, and became aware that she was
dangling in mid-air beneath the rail.
Her heart almost leaped to her
throat. A long, dark object swept
above her, crashing, ~rattling, thunder
ing-it was the train!
"All right" said the encouraging
voice, as the cars disappeared in the
darkness. "Thank God!w
She looked up and saw Harry cling
ing to the upper part of the rope. He
swung himself quickly to the rail, and
carefully drew her up. Then, with the
help Of the rope, the two were enabled,
to walk the rest of the rail with more
ease than before.
Soon they we're out of danger, when,
with streaming eyes, Mary sank on her
knees and thanked God for her and her
companions preservation. They reached
the Dion train in good time, and SUBJ
sequently arrived at Mary's place Of
destination in safety.
The girl found her father dying, but
he lived long enough to give her his
parting blessing. Harry, now feeling
that she needed a protector more than
ever, proposed, after remaining six
weeks at Dion, to make her his wife.
She consented-they were married.
he brought his bride to the United
States-and they are now living happily
and contented in a pleasant home, near
Harlem, New York, within hearing Of
the steam trains. NeedI add that they
never hear the thunder noise of the ap-
preaching cars without thinking of that
night Of peril on the rail.
an AMERICAN PATRIOT ABROAD.
The sleeping "a porter of America
is a national emblem. He will live
here, but when he attempts to cut a