The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-06-07
TOLD ON THE RAIL.
"Are you all right, ma'am:"
"All right, thank YOU"

tie, and moved a great steel bar at
my side that / watched with awful
suspicious Of oil and heartrending
fears regarding my new peacock-blue
silk dress.
The grimy faced fireman pulled
open the door of the furnace and
with much clatter poked at the fire
within. then shoveled in some coal,
claShel the door shut, and we were
Of.
And ali this happened in a mere
tritle of the time that it has taken
to tell it.
l looked at my watch.
1t was : o'clock and broad daylight
tor the time was summer.
Seven o'clock and the wedding was
at $ and we had fifty miles to so.
| suppose my face had an anxious
look when l turned it toward the en-
gineer, meeting his full gaze
''Oh, III get YOU there in time.
ma'am: I'm bound to. Well make
the fifty miles in fifty minutes. and
weddin's mostly never are on time.
And the superintendent telegraphed
you'd be there"
Ibid he. That was very good of
Cousin John. | was SO Hurried that
l never thought Of that"
And l felt relieved, as l judiciously
gave another tuck to my silken robes.
AS l did SO, ! received a dreadful
jar, that caused me to drop them
again, and materially decreased my
mental temperature.
A realization was forced upon me
Of the frightful way IN whlchi we
were dqshing over the rails: while at
the same time. the atmosphere
within the engine grew hotter and
hotter.
With desperate efforts, l learned
to malnta my center OF gravity,
though. as | gathered together again
my breath and my robes. l cla>ped
despairingly the window ledge beside
my high seat.
Presently, as n will grow accus.
toned to any situation, l became
quite used to the frantic bounds of
Our madly->peeding conveyance, and
even commenced to take some inter
est in my surroundings.
But TO me, all unused to this novel
and frightfuI way Of travelling, the
t%leeting landscapes and flying villages
were only productive Of a decidedly
unpleasant. dizzy sensation.
I'VE are travelling at a terrible
rate" said | 10 the engineer.
He saw that / had spoken, but as
1 had not pitched nv voice nearly
loud enough for him to distinguish
the words he called out:
What is it. ma'am:'
"We're travelling with terrible "a
pidity." | almost screamed. Are
you sure there is no danger"
oh, no. none whatever, ma'am:
this is a perfect engin'.
Il suppose you are accustomed to
it." | Nentured. "CouSin John sa d
you were one Of the Oldest engineers
on he road
"Ies." he said, Frightening up.
II was an engineer here when the
Superintendent was only a little boy.
the son OF a conductor: but you see
we don't often have a call to travel
like this, and I'm not likely to Tor
get the first time | did it.
| saw 10y his looks that the remin-
iScence was a pleasant one, and. to
encourage him to converse, asked:
why: Did something happen:"
well. l reckon something did
happen" he SAID, emphatically, get
ting As near to me as the consistent
performance OF his duties would al
low
IL Hp11A lil-a 70 tnnr hA,,, :. - L
shouted, svmpathetlcally.
Wei. ma'am, YOU see l was Il
young feIler then, only Just promoted
TO be an engineer: an there came an
awful storm that lasted about three
days.
''Everything went right along the
road until the third day, when late
in the Afternoon they commenced
to get worried in the ONCE, because
something was the matter with the
wires
They couldn't git no messages:
ana an Eastern train that had been
due for half an ho.r had not been
heard from along our part Of the line.
1T stormed awful. just as if it
never meant 10 stop.
The rain came down in bucket
fuls. and the wind was hlowin' Il
roarin' hurricane. 10 say nOthin' OF
the thunder and lightnin' that COM
menced about dark.
''WeIl. l didn't run no regular
train yet. l was kept about the
yard shifting cars and the like and
goin' out on specials: and as l was
loadn' in my engin'. thinkin' that l
blessed my stars l hadn't t. be on
the road such a night, who should