St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-03-23

The two plottcrs placed great faith
in this plan, chimerical as il was.
Then came the great storms, and.
with them, one that the Coolest in.
habitant," popularity supposed to
know everything, declared was the
largest and heaviest rainfall since
81. The creeks seemed to have
wholly forgotten their boundaries,
and, later, the work begun by the
rain was completed by the cloud.
burst, over in the next county. near
the head of blackberry Creek. 1t
was nearly 10 O'Clock when mes
sage went clicking by, and Keanley,
who had been nursing an aching
tooth all day, remarked to Ben
who was playing the woin loudly,
to shut out the sound Of the rushing
rain: "Dispa tcher is telling them to
look out for an east-bound special
that leaves Hamilton at 1910.
That means 11:26 when it passes
here"
Ben nodded and went on with his
tune. Presently the train dispatch
er was heard calling &C." That
was Giddings, the station lust be.
yond, where the railroad bridge
spanned blackberry Greek.
What is the condition of bridge
3S1 Z" the message ran.
The operator at Giddngs present.
ly clicked back the answer:
Bridge 3S1 is o. K. Water high
but not dangerous"
The cloudburst had not vet oc-
Cured.
Meanwhile Keanley's tooth grew
more painful, till its victim did little
but walk the floor and anathema
TIE the offending molar.
"lf it don't ease up soon" he said
presently, I'm tramp over to the
settlement and have it out, storm
or no storm"
Soon, the pain not abating, he
donned his rubber coat and boots
and started away in the darkness
and storm.
With the violin for company little
Ben scarcely felt lonely. He Won
dered presently il it were not time
for Keanley's return. Suddenly the
sender began to click furiously: al.
H. H. the Hamilton call.
Then came the message
Bridge 3S1 is down. For God's
sake hold the special"
The cloud burst had done its work.
Ben glanced quickly at the clock
The hands indicated a fraction of "A
minute less than II &c. The special
was on time, and, even as Ben turn
ed, there came the flash OF the head
light through the storm that drown
ed the noise of the engines approach
No time even to take the red lantern
from the cuddy and light it.
Little Ben remembered how, even
i'll the intense excitement of the mo-
menr, it had flashed through his
mind how useless the effort of the
frightened operator at Giddings had
been in telegraphing to Hamilton
when he might have known that
the special had passed there half an
hour before.
The engine gave no call for brakes
and Ben knew that no stop would
be made there, and that the train
would rush on TO destruction at the
wrecked bridge at Hack berry Greek
The engine seemed abreast OF him as
he flung open the door, and, with a
mighty spring on his crutches, threw
himself out on the platform of the
little depot. There was no use or
time to signal, and there seemed
nothing to do but to let the train
rush on to the wreck. Then, like a
flash, the little cripple raised his
right crutch, and with the rapidity
almost of lightning, hurled it, lance
fashion, at the window of the en-
CINE cab, just as it flashed past him,
Then he slipped and fell headlong on
the wet platform. Passing just
above the back of the fireman as he
bent to open the furnace door, the
crutch struck the engineers shoulder
with force that made him cry out.
His quick perception took in the sit
uation, and he knew that some
thing serious had caused the train
to be signaled in that manner. Soon
the train came to standstill. Then
it backed up to the little depot, and
the engineer, crutch in hand, descend
ed hurriedly from the cab. He found
the owner of the crutch crawling to
his feet with face much paler than
usual. The story was soon told,
and then it was retold in the parlor
car, where the conductor speedily
carried little Ben.
In the cab, The engineer said to the
grimy fireman;
"Bill, it almost makes me feel
ashamed of myself to have my life
saved by such weak, pale little fel-
Ter, an cripple at that" Though
not numerous, the passengers in the
parlor car were generous, and the
sum of money that they dropped in
to the hat, passed by white beard
ed man whom they called Senator, '
was a goodly one. Then when Ben
had bashfully expressed his graft
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