The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-08-30

hiS seat, looking down AT me Win
leer Of triumph that made me see more
clearly the pitiless nature with which
l had to deal. The whole scene was
50 horrible, that l felt as If 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
sponsibility, 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. 1 could
think Of nothing but those unhappy
men and women that each moment
brought nearer to their doom.
From where I lay, l could see the
clock and watch the signals, and
knew that the train was even then
due. No words can describe the
agony of that moment. My heart beat
so that I could scarcely breathe, and
every nerve in my body seemed to
have a seperate pulse of its own.
could only feel and think-I 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.
/ pictured the horrors of railway
collision, and bade him remember that
the blood of all those ill-fated
creatures would be upon his head. But
he only laughed at my rawlings, telling
me calmly that he had counted the
cost, and that 1.-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 l could hear in the
distance the sharp wild scream of it's
escaping steam, and l knew it was
actually at hand. For an instant my
reason seemed to desert me. 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 l remembered
no more.
How long lay there senseless can
not tell; it must have been hours, but 1t
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 bewil-
derment increased, for my room seemed
full of people. Strange faces bent
over me in anxious solicitude. Igazed
at them blankly for a moment, then,
with rush. it all came back to me
the events of that terrible night l
sprang up, crying out wildly to know
what had become of the express.
An old guard whom KNEW, and who
was, in fact, the guard of the express,
stepped forward and laid his hand on
my arm. 'She is safe" he said, i'm
pressively-''saved by your presence of
mind. 1t was dangerous game, my
lad, but our only chance; and God be
praised, it worked splendidly."
could not understand him, and
turned to the others for an explana-
ton of the riddle. And bit by bit it
was all made clear. 1t seemed that
the old bridge, which had long been
looked upon with suspicion by the en-
gineers, had not been able to stand
against the storm, but had collapsed,
and only few seconds before the ex-
press should have passed over it! It
was believed that had become aware
of the perilous state Of the bridge too
late to stop the train, and had there
fore resorted to the only other alter.
native-that of sending the express
into the siding, after the goods-train.
This in itself was emirently risky;
but, thanks to the severity of the
storm. the express was going at re-
duced speed, and the engine-driver,
finding himself upon strange metals,
had applied his brakes and brought
her up when within few yards OF
the wagons, and thus great catastro-
phe had been averted. Everyone was
loud in my praise, declaring that had
it not been for my presence of mind
and the promptitude of my action hun.
dreds of lives would have been lost!
denied this, and tried to explain
what had really occurred. But it was
an incoherent story, and in the excite.
ment of the moment few paid atten.
tion to it.
Holt had evidently carried ont his
plan of revenge to the letter, for had
been left unbound, and he had allowed
NO one to see him near my quarters.
The next day, in the river, among
the debris of the fallen bridge, the
dead body of a man was found. He
was stranger in that part of the
country. and l was the only one who
was able to identify him. But l said
as little as could respecting him, as
had no wish to brand his name with
shame.
My nerves were SO tried by the strain
they had gone through, that / never
again undertook the duties of points.
man, and the night of the great storm
was the last that ever spent in sig.