Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-08-27

received terrible blow, which deprived
me of my senses True opened my eyes
once more and fanciad | saw indistinctly,
as if in a dream, one of the escaped crimi-
nails bending over me; then darkness
shrouded my mind.
at must have been late at night when
consciousness returned opened my eyes
and saw above mo in the deep blue sky a
radiant full moon. A dull, heavy sensa-
ton in the back of my head made me try
to put my hand on the aching spot, but |
discovered that l was bound hand and
foot Gradually collsoted my thoughts,
remembered the attack by highwaymen,
md terrible foreboding, which made my
heart stop beating darted through my
brain felt that was laid across two
sharp parallel projections, which pressed
against me most painfully, and, listening
intently, heard, far below me, faint
FLASHING noise. There was no doubt. l
was lying across The rails of the Cayuga
bridge, bound, unable to move, with the
terribly certain prospect Of being cut into
three pieces by the next train.
II almost lost consciousness again. But
soon recovered my composure. Then l
tugged desperately at my bonds till they
almost cut my muscles, shrieked and at
last wept like child. tried to roll my
self into different position and remem-
bered that an incautious movement would,
hurl me into the silent waves of the Cayu-
ga-bound hand and foot, motionless as
q stone.
II shuddered and lay still, but not
long. The light Of the large to me fear
fully brilliant moon the splashing of the
water below, the wind blowing softly, then
the deathlike silence again, rarely inter
rupted even by the distant note of bird
all became uncomfortable and inspired me
with unspeakable terror. And the rails
The rails My senses tortured me. could
not escape them. The wooden beams OF
the bridge trembled almost imperceptibly
from the washing of the water imag.
ined / felt the approach of the train, and
my hair bristled The wind sighed little
louder, fancied l heard the dull painting
of tho engine, and my heart stood still,
only to throb the next instant with such
dreadful speed that the pulsations were al
most audible.
'There are some things, gentlem en-,
which are totally incomprehensible to me
One Of them is how survived that night.
One thought stood distinctly before my
mind. l must endeavor to work myself
into another position-if possible, get into
the space between the rails-if was not,
perhaps the next moment, to become the
victim of the most agonizing death.
and / succeeded strained every
muscle, every sinew to the point of break
ing. l writhed, twisted, painted, my
head seemed bursting, and, after tremen-
dous exertion, which appeared to me to
last an eternity, though perhaps it was
only moments, found myself in the hol-
low between the rails.
"Was l safe? had not time to consider
or rejoice in my new hope, for all my vital
powers were concentrated in the single
sense Of hearing. In the far distance l
distinguished, at first vaguely, then more
and more distinctly, the regular, monoto-
nous, dull noise which is produced by the
engine of a moving locomotive. The aw-
full silence of the night merged minute by
minute into the still more awful, confused
jarring sounds, the rafting and groaning,
rumbling and painting of the locomotive,
which was rushing forward at the mad
speed of American trains. A thousand
feet more, SOCIAL the terrors of the in
fernal regions assaulted me, but not mus.
clio moved. lay as If turned to stone. l
tried to shrek, but did not even hear my
own voice. How should it reach those on
the train?
Nov, for an infinitely brief space of
tilne fancied that saw bright light,
blast of hot air famed me, then suddenly
darkness shrouded me. / heard a thun-
dering roar, as though the very heavens
were falling.
"Close, very close, barely an inch above,
the monster dashed over me. was safe.
Still half unconscious, heard deafening
rumbling and Gathering and saw shadowy
masses fit by. There was another moment
of mortal dread; the hook of chain which
hung lower than the rest caught me- drag
ging me along few feet, and finally tore
large piece from the breast of my coat
releasing me-; then every object danced
around me, the moon, the bridge and tho
high bank whirled in a giddy maze above
and below me, and my senses failed.
"When regained my consciousness,
found myself in my bed, with familiar
faces around me. To make the story
buoIVj uau pcOu piokou uP uio LioIuiHS
after that terrible night by signalman,
recognized and taken to Auburn. A vio-
lent fever kept me for a fortnight within
the shadow of death, but my strong con-
stitution conquered. When, after my re-
covery, looked in the glass for the first
time, saw what traces those moments
had left upon me"
The physician paused. His pallid face
the expression of horror in his eyes, the
perspiration which stood in large drops
upon his brow, showed how vivid must be
his remembrances of the scene and how
greatly the narration had exhausted him.
Gradually the breathess anxiety with
which we had listened to the story related
with such graphic power passed away, and
cheerfulness returned.
Then we paced to and fro for a long
time in the moonlight, in the garden be-
hind the tavern, listening to the doctors
tales of less narrowing experiences in the
young land of liberty, wonders and ad-
venture. Translated From the French by
Max Nordau For New York Herald.
Raised an Interesting Technicality.