Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-04-10

me of my sonses True opened my eyes
once moro and fanciod | saw indstinctly,
as II in a dream, one of the escaped crimi-
mails bending over me; then darkness
shrouded my mind.
"It must have been late at night when
consciousness returned. l opened my eyes
and saw above me in the drnp blue sky
radiant full moon. A dull heavy sensa-
ton in the back of my head nado me try
to put my hand on the aching spot, but |
discovered that | was bound hand and
foot. Gradually collected my thoughts
remembered the attack by hghwaymen,
and terrible forebodng, which made my
heart stop beating darted through my
brain. felt that was laid across two
sharp parallel projections, which pressed
against mo most painfully, and, listening
intently, l heard, far below me- Il faint
FLASHING noise. There was no doubt. |
was lying across the rails of the Cayuga
bridge, bound, unable to move, with tho
terribly certain prospect of being cut into
three pieces by the next train.
IL almost lost consciousness again But
1 soon recovered my composure Then l
tugged desperately at my bonds till they
almost cut my muscles, shrieked and at
last wept like II child. l tried to roll my
self into different position and remem.
bercd that an incautiOus movement would
hurl me into the silent waves of the Cayu-
ga-bound hand and foot, motionless as
stone
Il shuddcrcd and lay still but not
long. The light of the largo, to me fear
fully brilliant moon, the splashing of the
water below, the wind blowing softly, then
the dcathlikc silence again, rarely inter
rupted even by the distant note of bird
all became uncomfortable and inspired me
with unspeakabic terror. And the rails
The rails, My SENSES tort urcd mp. could
not escape them. The wooden beams Of
the bridge trcmhlcd almost impprccptihlv
from the washing of the water mag
ined ! felt the apl ach of the train. and
my hail bristled The wind sighed little
louder, | fancied heard the dull painting
of the engine, and my heart stood still,
only TO throb the next instant with such
dreadful speed that the pulsatiuns were al
most audible
"Thcre are some things. gentlemen.
which are totally incomprehensble to me.
One of them is how l survived that night
One thought stood distinctly before my
mind | must endcavor to work myself
into another position-if possible, get into
the space between the rails-if l 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 J writhed. | twisted, | painted, my
head seemed bursting, and, after trcmen-
dous eXertiun, which appeared to me to
last an eternity, though perhaps it was
only moments, | found myself in the hol-
low between the rails.
"Was ! sufc> ! had not time to consider
or rriuict i'm my new hope for all my vital
powers were concentrated in the single
SENSE of hearing. In the far distance |
distinguished, at first vaguely, then more
and more distinctly, the regular, monoto-
nous, duh noise which is produced by the
engine of moving locomotive The aw-
full silence Of the night merged minute by
minute into the still more awful, confused
jarring sounds, the rafting and grooming.
rumbling and painting of the locomotive,
which was rushing forward at the mad
speed of American trains A thousand
feet moro, 100--all the terrors of the in
fernal regions assaulted me, but not "a mus
Gle moved. lay aS if turned to stone.
tried to shrek, but did not even hear my
own voice How should 1t reach those ON
the trainy
Now, for an infinitely brief space of
tnI" laIcle" 'I"v saw "rlghu ii9h''
pi"a' VI I'o' AR i'''i''" me, 'n'i, suuuehly
u"rh'''S9 S"r""uo" me He'ru mum
uorlHS ruar' "' '""uSh 'no very heaNehs
"oIV ,"l'iIlS'
=, NI'''' yer? Ui"s'' "ar'iF "ii men ApoIe'
thu ni"nS''r ""Snou over "''' was Sale'
Gun nan UNCONSCIOUS h'hru "u'hiehliE
running az" '''In- an" "a" s"t""NH
pf luDpt.t Il dread. Tho bpnl pf t,Itnit Nk-lish
HuHS '""'' '''Il ,"e resi- c""Ent me- uras
Gun ''' "i""E l'W Irc'' anu ni'I'y Tore
i''-' pI''' from 'n' breast UI my coat,
reio'9lhg me 'Hoh every "nJ'c' uau'cu
around me- 'hr moon lhe nriugo anu lhe
an" no''" ii''' an" my SoiI''9 I"i''"'
fo,,nI ,',so1f in INV bod ,ri,h r',,,iIi,r
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