The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1894-10-06


down the siding, on to the trucks OF
goods that were already standing
there.
"What are you about?" / cried.
struggling wildly to tree myself.
Matthew Holt, for Gods sake, think
what you are doingr'
He made no answer, but, leaving the
points as he had placed them, resumed
his seat, looking down at me with a
leer of triumph, that made me see more
clearly the pitiless nature with which
/ had to deal. The whole scene waa
SO horrible, that felt as if 1 were in
the grasp of nightmare. So this was
his revenge! TO ruin me he was pre-
pared to commit crime so dastardly
that the very thought of it made my
blood run cold. God knows that at
that moment no thought of my own
responsibility. or the blame that would
be attached to me, was in my mind,
everything was swallowed up in the
knowledge of the terrible fate that
awaited the evening express. l could
think of nothing but those unhappy
men and women that each moment
brought nearer to their doom.
From where / lay, 1 could see the
clock and watch the signals, and l
knew that the train was even then
due. No words can describe the
agony of that moment. My heart beat
so that could scarcely breathe, and
every nerve in my body seemed to
have a seperate pulse of its own. /
could only feel and Think was pow
erless to move.
listened, half mechanically, to the
moaning of the wind and the beating
of the rain upon the windows, for the
storm had sprung up again with re-
doubled fury. Then, with one last ef-
| fort. | broke into torrent of eager
words, imploring Holt by all he held
sacred-by the God above us-by the
memory of old times-of the girl he
had once loved, to pause before it was
too late, and think what he was doing.
l pictured the horrors of a railway
collision, and babe him remember that
the blood of all those Inflated
creatures would be upon his head. But
he only laughed at my rawlings, telling
me calmly that he had counted the
cost. and that ''the game was worth
the candle"
1t was just then that there was a
movement among the signals, and the
electric bell rang out heralding the
approach of the express. Almost at
the same instant / could hear in the
distance the sharp, wild scream of its
escaping steam, and 1 knew it was
actually at hand. For an instant my
reason seemed to desert me. I can re-
member rolling over upon the floor,
struggling madly, passionately, to be
free. But all in vain, for as lay
there, painting and writhing. the train
swept past. And then / remembered
no more.
How long / lay there senseless l car
not tell; it must ave been hours, but il
might have been days or months, from
my dazed sensations as l struggled
back to life once more. As lifted my
head and looked about me. my Devil
derment increased, for my room seemed
full of people. Strange faces benz
over me in anxious solicitude. Igazec
at them blankly for moment, then
with rush. it all came back to me-
the events of that terrible night!
sprang up, crying out wildly to know
what had become of the express.
An old guard whom knew, and wht
was, in fact, the guard of the express
stepped forward and laid his hand OF
my arm. ''She is SAFE" he said, i'm
pressively-'' saved by your presence o
mind. 1t was a dangerous game. n,
lad, but our only chance; and God b.
praised, it worked splendidly."
I could not understand him, ant
turned to the others for an explana
ton of the riddle. And bit by bit i
was all made clear. 1t seemed tina
the old bridge, which had long beel
looked upon with suspicion by the en-
gineers. had not been able to stan,
against the storm, but had collapsed
and only few seconds before the ex
press should have passed over it! i
was believed that / had become awar
of the perilous state of the bridge to
late to stop the train, and had there
fore resorted to the only other alter
native-that of sending the expires
into the siding, after the goods-trair
This in itself was emirently risky
but, thanks TO the severity of tn
storm. the express was going at re
duced speed, and the engine-drivel
finding himself upon strange metals
had applied his brakes and brough
her up when within a few yards G
the wagons, and thus great catastre
phe had been averted. Everyone wa
loud in my praise, declaring that ha
it not been for my presence of min
and the promptitude of my action hur
dreds of lives would have been lost
/ denied this, and tried to explai
/ what had really occurred. But it wa