The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-11-03
VOL. X-XX.--NO. 1.

attached 10 me. was in my mind; every
thing wa> swallowed ~. in the knowledge
Of the terrible fate that awaited the even
ing express ,-,uld think Of nothing but
those unhappy neu and women thai. each
nioment brau9ht nearer 10 their doom.
From where lay. could see the clock
and watch the signals and knew that the
train was even then due M words can
describe The aeny of thar moment. Ny
hear heal 80 that could s,sn.cly breathe.
and ever nerve IN my body seemed 10
have separate pal5e Of It's oyn. / could
only feel and think--l was powerless to
nore
| listened. half mechanically. 10 the
meaning Of the wind and the heating Of
the rain upon the windows, ior the storm
had sprung up again with re,loabled fury.
Then with eie las. eiEnrt. broke into Il
:c1ent If eager wdrls iinploiing FIolt by
al he held slere;l-by the tod above us
by the memory Of Old times-of The girl
he had once lnve,l- 10 pause before it was
too late. and think what he was doing
pictured the horrors Of railway collision.
and l,tde liim remember that the blood nl
all these ill-fated creatures would be upon
lis head But he mly laughed al my
rtsings telling me calmly that he had
eoanteI the cast and that The game was
wnr,h the candle
Ii was just then that there was move
ment among the signals and the electric
bell rang ont 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 knew
il was actually at hand For an instant
my reason seemed to desert me. can
remember rolling over upon the Aoor.
struggling nadly. passionately 10 be free
But all in vain. for as lay there, painting
and writhing, the train swept past. Aid
then | remembered no more
How long | lay there senseless | can
not tell; ii must have been hours. but it
nigh, have been days or months. from my
dazed sensations as struggled back to life
once more. As lifted my head and
lDoked about me my bewidermcnt in
creased. for my room seemed full Of people
Strange faces bent over me in anxious So
licitutie gazed at them bl;mkly for
moment then with rush il all came
back 10 lne-the events of that terrible
night sprang up, crying out wildly to
know what had become of the express.
I'm old guard whom | knew. and who
was, i'll fact the quart ef the express.
stepped forward and laid his hands ON my
arm She Is safe, he said. impressive
ly--,- saved by Your presence Of mind 1t
WIS dangerous game. my lad but our
only chance; and God he praised. it worked
splendidiy
! could not understand him. aud turned
to the other. for an explanation Of the rid
die And bit BY bit ii was all made clear.
[, seemed that the old bridge which had
long been looked upon with suspicion by
the engineers had not been able to stand
against the storm but had collapsed and
only few seconds before the express should
have lql,sscd over it Ii was believed that
| had become aware of the perilous state
of the bridge too late to stop the train and
had therefore resorfed to the only other
;llteratiyc-thal Of sending the express
into the siding. after the gnods-train,
This in itself wa, eminently risky. hut
thanks to the severity of the Storm the
express was going at Il reduced speed and
the eaeinc-driver. finding himself upon
strange metals, had applied his brakes aud
brought her up when within !; few yards
OF the Wagons aud thus Il great catastro-
phe had been aycrted Everyone was loud
in my praise. declaring that had it not been
for my presence of mind aud the prompii-
tuele ii my aclinn hundreds Of lives wm,ld
have been lost I denied this. and tried
to explain what had really occurred. But
i, was an inrohcren; story, and in the ex-
element Of the mumcnt few paid attention
to it,
l!uli had evidently carried out his plan
Of revenge IL the letter, for had been left
unbound. and he had allowed no one To
sec him near my quarters.
The next day in the river among the
debris Of the fallen bridge the dead body
Of IA man wits found. He was a stranger
in thai part Of the country. and was the
only one who was able 10 identify him.
But said .ls little a. ! could respecting
him. as had M wish +" brand his name
with shame
Ny nerves were 50 tried BY the strain
they had gone through. that never again
undertook the ,alie> Of lointsnan and the
nigh: Of the great Storm was the las; that
! ever spen; III signal box.