Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-12-25

after shrek. Would no one Gomez
Only the echoes answered. A terrible
calm came over me, and | burst into a
paroxysm of uncomfortable, mirthless
laughter.
! was again mad.
| lay PROSTATE and closed my eyes. A
mild and pleasant intoxication seemed to
take possession of me, much like that
produced by morphia. Pleasing fancies
| fitted before me, and | thought them real
In the midst of all was present to my dis
ordered brain an indescribable feeling Of
relief.-What an awful nightmare | hac
had. but it was all over now; fearfullJ
realistic dream, but only an illusion. AnC
| slept there as sweetIy as ever did on my
own bed 1t home.
| | slept thus, it seemed, long time,
when | was awakened by clear, long
drawn sound.
| | sat up, hardly realizing where I was;
and listened. 1t was the shrill warning
of a locomotive.
Then it all came back to me. Twas not
safe in bed at home, but was crouching on
a railway track, my foot held as in vice
waiting to be crushed by the train whose
whistle | now heard echoing and re-echo-
| luR Id away 6iLioAS chO hAii''
| tried once more to release myself, but
my foot was held fast as ever. was con-
WINGED that further effort was useless. So
having laid my body as far as possible
! from the rails, | abandoned my self to g
dogged despair.
Again the shrill whistle sounded out
upon the midnight air, this time nearer
and more distinct. They were whistline
| fo,, R1o cto+ian anI hJ1nHrpd yaonnHc
would be upon me.
| Nearer and nearer flew the train. | heard
the singing of the rails, and shuddered.
| The sound of the monsters approach was
swelling from growl to a mad roar. Had
been on a straight line of track, the pow
erful headlight might have revealed me to
| the engineer and been the instrument of
my rescue. But | was pinned to the track
! just around sharp curve, hill between he
and the train, and, If seen at all, it would
| be too late to stop.
The ground began to tremble. Then a
deafening, soul piercing shrek seemed to
freeze my very blood in its veins. | be-
came as one paralyzed. | tried to raise
my hand to my brow, but could not move
| it. The strain was terrible. 1t was agony.
| 1t seemed that must die even before the
express dashed upon me.
Just then, amid the changing of the bell
and the thunder of the train, the great,
| Cyclopean eye of the engine shot full upon
me, binding me with the glare. My head
swan and my senses left me. But | was
1imiy conscious in the awful din, of a
| hoarsc shout, succession of brilliantly
lighted windows, passing so rapidly as to
seem to blend into one sheet Of fame,
then-oblivion.
When | came to my senses | found my
self IN an express car, recovering myself
at the rate of fifty miles an hour. One Of
the train men, whom | at once recognized,
was sprinkling my face with water.
| Before speaking | looked down at my
feet. 10 my surprise they were both
there, though one was minus shoe, and
began to pain me. | was soon able to sit
up and give an account of myself, so fan
as | knew, concluding with an inquiry
as to how badly my foot Vas hurt by the
train.
At this there was a general smile
''Speak out, " said / "didn' the train run
over me?" 'I'll tell you all about it, >
said the conductor who had just come in
"When our engineer got little past l.
he saw man lying close to the crossing
and thir king he must be either killed ol
injured, we ran back the train to pick
him up. As to running over you, we
couldn't have done that without some
inconvenience. You were not on the mair
line at all, but ON side track close beside
it. We cut off one boot in a second or
two, took you along with US, ana here yor
| are"
| understood at once. | had had all my
excitement and mental suffering for moth
ing. There was nothing to do but to pu
a short face on the matter. and laugl
with the rest. | thanked them all warml,
you may be sure, for their kindness tc
ME.
Then followed many "reminiscences of ad
ventures on the rail, some similar to wha
had befallen ne.
And now when cross 8 railway track
| cannot help but recall with a shudde
that dark, storless night when reason tot
tered on its throne, when, vita the full
expectation of being crushed beneath tn
fast express, | lay PROSTATE and help
less. firmly held by the heel.