Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1891-07-09

ward the rails, when suddenly it was
arrested by dark object lying on the
other line.
"That's surely man lying on the up
line, Tom," he remarked to his fireman.
"Good God, so it isl" cried Tom in
great excitement.
Without another word the steam was
shut off, the lever reversed, and the brake
applied, for the two men knew that the
up express was due in three minutes,
and that if the man who was living on the
line-who might be unconscious through
drink or through having fallen over
was left there, he must Inevitably meet
with horrible death.
As the train stopped with shock and
humping of buffers and a claaking of
coupling chains along its whole length,
Duffy jumped into the six foot way with
the engine lamp in his hand. Bending
over the huddled up form, he held the
light above the blood covered face and
peered into it. A few seconds elapsed
before Duffy moved and Tom, wonder
ing why he knelt so long looking into the
unconscious mans face, jumped down
beside them and asked: as he dead,
Duffy?'
"Yes," answered Duffy, raising his
head as if he had just awakened out of a
dream.
"Who is he?' continued Tom.
"Armstrong, the smith,
At this moment the brakeman of the
train came along to see what was wrong !;
and after Tom had explained the matter
to him, they lifted the dead man and car
ried him to the van. Duffy and Tom
then returned to the engine, and were
just about to start the train to advance
to the station and see what could be done
with Armstrong, when Tom caught sight
of someone running along the line with
lamp in his hand.
"What's up?" cried Duffy.
" Who can this be, and what can he be
wanting?' asked Tom.
At this point the man with the lamp
approached the engine; and when he had
come within the light of the furnace,
the two men recognized him as the signal
man.
"It's blessing you noticed it," he
cried, painting with the exertion of run
ming so fast. .#.-
"Noticed what?" both men on the en-
CINE exclaimed simultaneously.
','Something's wrong with the signal.
It's standing at clear just now, and yet
the levers right for danger. heard you
passing it without slowing up, and then
| noticed the signal was wrong. I'm
glad you saw the train in time to pull
up"
lis there a train in 'front.'" Duffy
asked.
'sThere is. The 1927 passengers
blocked there by truck that went off
the rails"
All at once the whole matter became
clear to Duffy. Armstrong had been try
ing to wreck the train, and had apparent
ly fallen down into the cutting when put
ting the finishing touches to this trap for
his enemy. Although Duffy thought
this perfectly plain, he did not breathe a
word of his thoughts to those around
him. Was not his enemy lying dead ?
He would let by-gones be by-gones.
mo, we didn't notice that he said
to the signal man. 'sWe stopped be-
cause we saw man lying on the up
line.''
Here the signal man climbed on the
engine, and the up express went thunder
past, creating miniature and momentary
hurricane as it went.
cts Armstrong the smith," added
Duffy. "He's dead.''
SIS that sop the signal man exclaimed,
and then lapsed into silence, feeling una
BILE to say anything appropriate to the
circumstances.
"I'll 60 up with you and see what's
wrong with the signal,' Duffy said Go the
switchman after pause.
Reaching the signal, they found the
cord, loosened it from the trellis work of
the signal post and let the counter
weight fall again. 1t had not suggested
itself to the signal man that any connec-
ton existed between the dead man on the
line and the mysteriously lowered signal /;
but in spite of Duffy's reticence, the
cause of the accident became perfectly
apparent to him when he saw the cord
attached to the signal counter-weight,
and he put that fact and the fact of Arm
strong's being found dead on the line to-
gether.
"If ever anything was providen tial,' .
said the signal-man, as he and Duffy re-
turned to resume their respective duties,
'this is. Here's man that intends to
wreck your train; he falls over the en-
bankment just when he gets the thing
arranged; then you come on seemingly
to certain smash. when you happen to
see his body on the line, pull up just in
the nick of time, and are saved"
The signal-man had not probed the
matter to the bottom; for the exact pur-
pose of the cord had not occurred to him
any more than it had to Duffy. Duffy
was panied at the signalman'.s discovery
of the crime, and said nothing.
| When they had reached the train ano
the signal-man had told his version OF
the story to Tom and the brakeman
Duffy, who had stood aside while the
story was being narrated, approached
the men and said snow, lads, you know
what Armstrong was trying to do, and
why he did it; but that's no reason why
anybody else should know. Well moi
say word about the signal; but when
we take back the corpse, we'll say that
we found him dead on the line, and that
he had seemingly fallen over the en-
bankment down into the deep rock cut
ting, and been killed."
The three men solemnly promised tC
do this, and in spite of the post m orten
examination, in the report on which con
siderable stress was laid upon the pc
culiar nature of the wound upon The
scalp, and the procurator- fiscal's inquiry
no one ever ELECTED more from these mel
than Duffy that night allowed them tt
tell.
G.. IL