The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1893-04-20
POPLARvILLE, MISS, THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1898.

He ldu latner uau planneu 10 40
justice to his talent by having him taught
by master of the violin. Now, Kean-
ley and little Ben planned in a happy,
visionary way. They were to save what
money they could, and thus little Ben
was to have the coveted musical instruc-
ton. But, at best, the accumulation OF
funds went on slowly.
The plans of the two went further than
this. Keanley had, s'once upon time"
been foolish enough to fall in love with
old Senator Hicks's daughter, and she
returned his love. The old senator,
| when he found how matters stood, pro-
ceeded to squelch the whole affair. He
even forgot the time when he had been
as much of pauper as the young fellow
he sent packing from his presence.
The girl, with her tear wet face up
turned to his, promised Keanley to wait
| for him till he succeeded in accommodating
| the $40, 900 that the old senator named
as the amount of wealth Keanley must
possess before he could aspire to winning
her. Then, when orders had sent Kean-
ley to the west, he had gone with the
determination strong within him to very
soon gain the money and the girl.
But he speedily grew despondent.
The fates seemed against him. He struck
no bonanza or highway to speedy wealth,
and finally half gave up the struggle.
The money that would flow to little Ben
as the substantial reward of his genius
was to be invested by Keanley, who, in
this manner, would soon obtain the
coveted $4,000. Then when prosper
ity smiled upon the senator's new
found son-in-law, little Ben's wealth
was to be returned to him. The two
plotters placed great faith in this plan,
chimerica az it was.
Then, came the great storms, and,
with them, one that the "oldest inhabi
tant," popularity supposed to know every
thing, declared was the largest and
heaviest rainfall since '31. 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 message went clicking
by, and Keanley, who had been nursing
an aching tooth all day, remarked to
Ben, who was playing the violin loudly,
to shut out the sound of the rushing rain :
"Dispatcher is telling them to look out
for an east bound special that leaves
Hamilton al 10:40. That means 11:26
when it passes here"
Ben nodded and went on with his
tune. Presently the train dispatcher was
heard calling &C." That was Giddings,
the sta lion just beyond, where the rail-
road bridge spanned blackberry Creek.
"What is the condition OF bridge
3S1?" the message ran.
The operator at Giddings presently
clicked back the answer:
"Bridge 3S1 is o. X. Water high but
not dangerous"
The cloud burst had not yet oc.
Cured.
Meanwhile Keanley's tooth grew more
painful, till its victim did little but
walk the floor and anathematize the Of
Tending molar.
''If it don't ease up soon," he said,
presently, "Pll tramp over to the settle
ment and have it out, storm or no
storm"
Soon, the pain not abating, he donned
his rubber coat and boots and started
awav in the darkness and storm.
With his violin Tor company little Ben
scarcely felt lonely. He wondered pres
emily if it were not time for Keanley's
return. Suddenly the sender began to
click furiously: oh. Il. H."-the
Hamilton call.
Then came the message:
"Bridge 3S1 is down. For Gods
sake, hold the special"
The cloud burst had done its work.
Ben glanced quickly at the clock. The
hands indicated fraction of minute
less than 1926. The special was on
time, and, even as Ben turned, there
came the flash of the headlight through
the storm that drowned the noise of the
engines approach. No time even to take
the red lantern from the cuddy and
light it.
Little Ben remembered afterward how,
even in the intense excitement OF the
moment, it had dashed through his mind
how useless the etfcrt of the frightened
operator at Giddings had been iu tele-
graphing 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 blackberry Creek. Tne headlight
seemed abreast of him as he flung
open the door, and, with 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 wreck. Then, like
flash, the little cripple raised his right
crutch, and, with the rapldity almost OF
lightning, hnrled it, lancc-fashion, at
the window of the engine cab, just as It
flashed past him. Then he slipped and
fell headlong on the wet platform.
Passing lust above the back of the dre-