The Penn's Grove record., 1893-06-16
NUMBER At

aAAe W. W. SAS ~
the brakes and found everything in
good order. By-and-by the little
gong above my head changed sharply,
and with a puff and hiss OF escaping
steam we were of into the night and
storm. rattling vel switches, past
siRnal light and between long lines Of
cars, till with a roar and rumble, We
rushed over the long iron bridge and
away through the hills, waking their
slumbering echoes with u shrill
whistle. Then / pulled the throttle
wide open. and the clank and roar
soon settled into a hum, for old 449
was doing her best, and we were
making fifty miles an hour. The
darkness was intense, save where the
headlight, an electric device, cast lite
funnel Of light into the gloom. Jim
had a big fire and kept steam up to a
high pressure, so that we fairly flew
past sleeping hamlets and still farm
houses. At our first watering sta.
tion / made sure that all was work.
ing smoothly, while Jim inspected
the headlight. The operator handed
out the orders, which showed that
the road was clear as far as our next
stopping place. On we went The
darkness grew more intense, il posi-
Bile, while the wind shrteked by. Tho
rain became more binding, till moth
Ing could be distinguished around us.
Suddenly through the mist and
rain ] saw looming right before US a
gigantic figure of q woman wrapped
In a long black mantle, which seemed
to flutter In the wind. She waved
great spectral arms about in fswift
twisting movements As l stood.
looking in horror, the figure vanished
with a final wave Of her arms !
was too much astonished and stupe,
fed even to make a move Of my hand
toward the throttle. At that mt,
ment Jim had been bending oyer the
Gre, As he looked up he exclaimed:
.Helloa, Frank, what's up? You
look as If you had seen a ghost" 1
did not answer. My mind was too
full OF that strange figure / had
We were now nearing Rock Creek,
where there Is a trestle over a deep
stream. l felt more nervous than
v We dashed around the curve
and whizzed BY Rock Creek station,
which is only a mile from tho
trestle. AS we passed l glanced at
the steam gauge for an instant A
Try from Jim caused me to turn
quickly toward him. He sat rigid,
his eyes large and staring, his jaw
dropped, the very picture Of terror.
He pointed with a shaking finger out
tnto the darkness. 1 turned and
looked, and then 1 began to shake
myself. There on the track was the
yarne hideous figure of . woman, out.
lined on the background Of light
from the engine. now motionless,
now whirling In a witch dance, but
all the time m%otioning US back.
".Frank,' gaspsd Jim, but scarcely
above a whisper, don't 40 over that
trestlei Don't 60, for heavens sake!
Don't 60 till you're sure it's safel' l
suppose l was pretty badly scared.
At any rate, l put on the air brake
for. all l was worth. / couldn't have
resisted the impulse to stop the train.
AS we came to a stop I could hear
the oar of the water in Rock Creek
right ahead. I stepped out OF the
cab and met the conductor coming
up What's the matter? What's
the natter he asked impatiently.
1 felt decidedly foolish. There was
no gigantic woman to be seen now.
Nothing could be made out more
than a few feet away in the blinging
storm. Well said l, we've seen
something. l don't know what 1t is
seemed like 1t was a great black
ghost that was waving Its arms and
warning US not to 20 forward The
conductor looked at me curiously.
Are you crazy, Frankp' he said. j
should think you were. But we're so
near the trestle we'll take q look at
it, We took our lanterns and went
ahead. leaving Jim with the engine;
he looked scared all over. But we
hadn't gone five rods before we
stopped In horror
There at our feet lay a blacl
| chasm, flied with the roar Of the
river, as, swollen with the spring
rains, 1t dashed down toward the
lake The bridge was washed away!
Only a few splinters Of wood and
twisted iron chung to the abutment
while now, far out over the black.
ness, that awful black figure Of q
woman danced again on the thin air,
relieved against the shaft Of light
that the headlight threw. IL was
finging its arms about as II in wild
glee. The conductor stared at the
chasm and then at me. WAS that
the thing you saw when you stopped
the tramp he asked. Yes'-'Well,
It's something more than luck that
saved US tonight, Frank'-'We went
back slowly to the train, feeling very
queer and thankful, too, l a as.
sure you, Several of the passengers
had come running forward by this
time. Among them was a young
fellow from Chicago, about eighteen
years old, who was smarter than the
whole of us, as it turned out When
this boy saw the woman In black he
turned and looked at the locomotive
headlight Then he ran up towards
It. l looked at it as he did so, and ]
saw a peculiar spot on the glass.
There's your woman In hlackp said
the Chicago boy. And there it was,
sure enough-that am moth milleI
that you see there in that frame. He
vas clinging to the inside of the
glass AS l tapped the glass 1t flew
back and lighted on the reflector.
That's the whole story, sir. The
moth by f~luttering on the glass just IN
front OF the electric illumination, haC
produced a great black shadow, like
that of a cloaked woman, on the
darkness In front of US, and when he
topped his wing IN his vain attempt
to sail out through the glass, be gave
his mysterious shadow the look Of
waving the arms wildly. Then when
he feN back out Of the direct shine
of the light the fgurs disappeared, oil
course We never knew just how he
got 10 there, but no doubt 1t happened
when Jim went to fix the light al
the pumping station Anyhow, ht
- 49, ---. -. -.NNN