The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1893-04-19

even fofgot the time WREN 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 accumulating
the SIC, 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 stl uggle.
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 $40, 200. Then when prosper.
ity smiled upoa the senator's new
found son-in-iaw, little Ben's wealth
was to be returned to him. The two
plotters placed great faith in this plan,
chimerical as 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 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 message went choking
Dy, 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 IL :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 station just beyond, where the rail-
road bridge spauned blackberry Creek.
"What is the condition of bridge
3S1" the message ran.
The operator at Giddings presently
clicked back the answer:
"Bridge 381 is o. K. 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 aud anathematze the Of
Tending molar.
"If it don't ease up soon," he said,
presently, "I'll 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
away in the darkness and storm.
With his violin for company little Ben
scarcely felt lonely. He wondered pres
emily if it were not time for Keauley's
return. Suddenly the sender began to
click furiously: "H. II. H."-the
Hamilton call.
Then came the message:
"Bridge 3S1 is down. For Gods
sake, hold the specialr'
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 flashed through his mind
how useless the effort 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 aud that the train would rush
on to destruction at the wrecked bridge
at blackberry Creek. The headlight
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.
Thsre was no use or time to signal, and
there seemed nothing to do but to let
the train rush on to wreck. Then, like
a flash, the little cripple raised his right
crutch, and, with the rapidity almost of
lightning, hnrled it, lance-fashion, at
the window of the engine cab, just as it
flashed past him. Then he slipped aud
fell headlong on the wet platform.
Passing just above the back of the DIRE
man, as he bent to open the furnace
door, the crutch struck the engineers
with force that made him cry
out. His quick perception took in the
situation, and he knew that something
serious had caused the train to be sig
nailed in that manner. Soon the train
came to a standstill. Then it backed up
to the little depot, and the engineer,
crotch in hand, descended 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 ashamed of myself to have my life
saved by such weak, pale little ieller,
an cripple at that" Though not
numerous, the passengers in the parlor
car were generous, aud the sum OF
money that they dropped into the hat,
passed by a white e-bearded man whom
theV called 0Senator - was a ooOdly one