Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-04-02
mot at all.

OTdQuaIIy became part OF 6n6
scene. The throttle was wide open. the
indicator pointing to 24O! A cold chill
struck me when / saw that We were
rushing over the road at an absolutely
fearful rate of speed, the Nora strain
ing in every nerve, the quick exhaust
too rapid to be counted.
The wind, too. was in our favor, SO
far as that might influence US; and, al.
though the night air was cool, the cab
was very comfortable. Now on an open
meadow, anon in the midst OF dark
forest, through which the moonbeams
barely penetrated, now in a narrow,
rocky gorge, screaming, and crashing.
and roaring through, rumbling over
bridges, roads above and under US. anon
tearing past a cluster of dwellings,
shrieking like some enraged fend just
escaped from confinement. One mo-
ment cross-road is before US; a dash,
and we are leaving it far behind.
/ sat looking upon the track before
US, the locomotive swaying from side to
side, the headlight Illuminating our
path, the bright. red sparks issuing from
the stack.
All this time Ned was intent upon his
work, one hand upon the throttle, the
other upon the reversing-rod, his eye
never leaving the track, his face burn
ing.
We were nearing small village, and
he closed the throttle
Newton" he uttered, "stop here for
coal and water"
l nodded, drawing an easier breath.
''How do you fancy the ride?"
Very we'll, indeed" smiling.
I'VE have been just three-quarters of
an hour, and have made forty-two
miles" said Ned. This stoppage will
put us back five minutes. Between
Quincy and Rawdon, however. you will
see something more than you have yet
It's down-grade for ten miles"
This information did not affect me un-
pleasantly; don't think any announce
ment Of like nature would. We had
been travelling at the rate of a mile a
minute, and had done so with COM
parative safety, so ] was prepared for
almost any thing. How soon one be-
comes Injured to what at first might have
seemed fearful
Our stoppage at Newton was a short
one, and we once more moved away, the
incidents OF our second start being mere
ly repetition of the first. During the
process OF ''coaling up" Ned had held
some conversation with the conductor,
of the substance of which 1 was igno-
rant, but had remarked that he seemed
somewhat vehement in his expression,
both parting, however, apparently well
satisfied.
was left entirely to my own refiec-
tions, Ned giving himself up entirely to
the task before him.
l watched him fntentIy, the oil lamp
overhead giving his features a strange,
weird cast, full of lights and shadows.
The cab-seat was not very comforta BILE,
but gradually, with my eyes fixed upon
Ned, dropped into dose, and. strange
ly enough, my dreams reverted to the
very scene in which was an actor. I
fancied that we were rushing along the
track when suddenly we came to an
awful precipice where 1t ended and the
engine leaped into space.
closed my eyes. Down-down-down
/ was seized with a vertigo-I gasped
for breath.
Come, come, old fellow" said Ned,
cheerily; wake up. Why, bless me,
you've had quite nap. We're nearly
in Quincy"
was sitting up, rubbing my eyes, and
trying to compose myself.
We were soon again at stop, and Ned
noted the time.
''Fifty-three miles," he said, in forty-
eight minutes: that's better yet, but"
ominously.
The sentence was never finished. The
conductor came up and shook Ned by
the hand, looking very we'll pleased.
you've done we'll" he said. 81 think
we can reach Rawdon on time"
Ned assented, and we then repaired
to the telegraph Office, where message
was Immediately sont to the conductor
of the down train at Rawdon, in these
words:
up train just arrived; shall 1T waltz"
A minute passed before the answer
came, when the instrument clicked forth
the simple word. No"
The time allowed for stoppage had
elapsed, and the words once more sound
ed:
All aboardl"
AS we moved out of the station Ned
whispered in my ear:
You'll now see what l term fast
travelling We make Rawdon in twenty
minutes"
How far?" 1 asked.
Thirty miles"
''All right" said l. nonchalantly.
Ned had evidently expected his asser-
ton would have surprised me, but it
didn't; and he turned away. did start,
however, when l glanced at the in
dioator and saw the hand trembling at
$50!
Good heavens!" exclaimed to nv
self. THE boiler will burst and we
shall be blown to atoms, if nothing
worse should happen. Can the man be
sane?"
Yet had no doubt of his sanity when
/ gave him searching look Immediate
ly after. though did wish myself most
heartily out of my situation. tried to
make the best of it. however, and sat
down, not without many tremors, for 1
did not fancy this new phase. The fire.
man covered the bottom OF the cab with
coal in order that he might have it
ready at hand, and Ned again opened
wide the throttle.
/ shall never forget that ride. If the
rate of speed at which we had previous
ly travelled was great, that from Quincy
was appalling. l clung to the seat for
support, the engine swaying so much
that / otherwise could not have re-
tanned it.
The moon, unobscured, illumined the
country around Whole fields were
whirled past in an instant The rails of
the track leaping beneath us with light
ming rapidity, the poles of the telegraph
whirling by US as we went tearing, rag
ing. laundering along-shall ever for
get it? The sleepers of the track before
US flowing into one, the grinding of the
wheels, the shrieking as we passed
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