The Kansas blackman., 1894-06-15
aOLD on THE RAIL.

hn
1. loose horrible, long, shrill Whis-
~ snd moved great steel bar at
W side that / watched with awful
II l.cions of oil and heartrending
w. w. regarding my new peacock blue
W Tbe grimy-faced fireman pulled
the door Of the furnace and
o sb much clatter poked at the fire
nishin. then shoveled in some coal,
s,.1 s,.sbe1 the door shut, and we were
IN ali this happened in a mere
IA Of the time that it has taken
10 tell IT,
Ilooked at my watch.
Fl was I O'Clock and broad daylight.
i, the time was summer.
seven O'Clock and the wedding was
Il a and we had fifty miles to go.
suppose my face had an anxious
NH when / turned it toward the en-
snper, meeting his full gaze
pOh, I'll get you there in tine,
na,am: I'm bound to. Well make
sbp Atty miles in fifty minutes, and
reddins mostly never are on time.
And the Superintendent telegraphed
mu'd be there"
uDid he. That was very good Of
corlsin John. / was SO furried that
IN never thought of that.
And felt relieved, as l judiciously
ave another tuck to my silken rob bes.
AsI did so, / received dreadful
Al. that caused me to drop them
srsin, and materially decreased my
mental temperature.
realization was forced upon me
Il the frightful way in which we
we're dqshing over the rails; while at
the same time. the atmosphere
within the engine Grew hotter and
hotter.
With desperate efforts, learned
tO mainta my center Of gravity,
though, as ] gathered together again
M breath and my robes, clasped
despairingly the window ledge beside
my high seat.
Presently as one will grow accus-
toned to any situation, l became
quite used to the frantic bounds OF
our madlY-speeding conveyance, and
even commenced to take some inter
est in my surroundings.
But to me. all unused to this nOVel
and frightful way Of travelling, the
0eeting landscapes and flying villages
we're only productive of decidedly
unpleasant, dizzy sensation.
I'VE are travelling at a terrible
rate said / TO the engineer.
He saw that I had spoken, but al
had not pitched nv voice nearly
loud enough Tor him to distinguish
the words he called OUT
"What is it, ma'am?"
nNe're travelling with terrible rd
pidity," | almost screamed. "Ar
nn sure there is no danger"
.Oh, no! none whatever, ma'am
this is perfect engin'. "
III suppose you are accustomed =
It'll yentured. "COusin John sal
YOU we're one Of the oldest engineer
on he road"
"Yes," he said, frightening uF
II was an engineer here when tn
n Superintendent was only little boy
the son Of conductor: but you Sc
We don't often have call to trave
like this, and I'm not likely to fol
get the first time did it 10
| saw by his looks that the remit
iscence was pleasant one, and,
encourage him to converse, asked
"Why? Did something happen?
saWell, / reckon something di
happen" he said, emphatically ge
ting as near to me as the consister
performance Of his duties would q
low
III would like to hear about it, !"
shouted, sympathetically.
SWELL ma'am, you see 1 was
young feIler then, only Just promote
to be. an engineer; an there came
awful storm that lasted about thr
days
s.Everything went right along Il
road until the third day, when La
IN the afternoon they commence
To get worried in the office, becau
something was the matter with Y
wires
nThey couldn't git no message
and an Eastern train that had pc
due for half an hour had not be
heard from along our part Of the III
.It stormed awful! just as il
never meant to stop!
The rain came down in buck
fuls. and the wind was BLOWN
roarin' hurricane, to say nothln
the thunder and lightnin' that GO
menced about dark.
swell, / didn't run no regu
train vet. j was kept about
yard shifting cars and the like
poin' out on specials; and as l
loaan, in nv engin', thinkin that
blessed my stars hadn't % be
the road such night who sho
inmn 10 in my box but the
d SUPERINTENDENT himself, and dre
ful grave face he had, toe
.s.aDe, says he, do you think
could take engin' number \,
Lightning, and carry me down
Coon's Creek faster than You e
went before in your life?'
n.I reckon could, sir, says i.
livery well; call Morris, Mo
sas the fireman and I'll be "
bu ia two minutes
well, sir,n said my compani
setting SO excited that he quite
lot his passenger was OF the fem
sex. ''ln five minutes we was
a.fying along that road like n
With the storm howlin' all around
md the rain fairly sizzlin' down
fhe engin'.
Morris and / kept a sharp lc
y out with our hearts lyin' pretty .
u our throats; for we wasn't very sal
a IS ID what minute we might come