The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-25

f1tful light I saw the fateful piece Of
paper hutter from the detectives hand.
The officials would understand the
| significance of that scrubbed message
and unless Providence miraculously
inteiposed the man was doomed. To
| leave the train as it flew through the
night at the rate of fifty miles an
hour was impossible. One man had
zone so once, but his body was found
manSled beyond recognition on the
track in the morning. There was no
esca pc, and with such passing thoughts
l DISMISSED the matter and. concen-
tfated my attention on the work in
hand -
Suddenly I was startled by an ejac-
ulatlon or horror from my mate.
Look, Benz he shouted, his ewes
starting out from his head as he gazea
INTO the dim light which surrounded
the train like a haze, 1.-THE fool will
XIII himselfr'
l turned, and though I prided myself
! On my steely nerves, the sight that
| met my eyes sent a cold thrill down
| my back and made me lean against
| the brake for support.
Inc man had swung himself out of
| Inc end or the carriage and was en-
| deaVorlng to work his way, in face Of
Inc terrific back draught toward MS
] every moment [ expected to see him
tern from his precarious hold and
uaSned TO pieces on the lines, but with
the tenacity Of a leech he chung to the
handies Of the door while he leaned for
ward to grasp some new support. Sud
| denly a distant roar burst on our ter
flfed ears. My mate returned, his face
as white as milk, and the perspiration
standing on his forehead
| Merciful powersr' he screamed in q
/ ndrSh QlScOrOanf UOioa bo s,,,o, 40 II
heaven have mercy on himr' and he
| MD his face in his hands. as with q
| deafening Shrek we flew toward each
other and crashed past in the darkness,
! but above the din I fancied I heard the
WIG scream of terror as the wretched
man realized his horrible peril. It was
a full minute before I could turn my
| throbbing head behind.
| With a feeling of sickness that was
new to me peered through the glass
Thank God!' I CALCULATED fervently,
as the blood rushed through the veins
once more. There. with his body
pressed fiat against the oscillating sur
face, still stood the man who had been
so near to an awful death Slowly he
moved his head in our direction and
with an expression of grim resolution
he pulled himself together. With
bated breath we wondered what he
would do next. AS far as we could see
W.
he steadied himself and, reaching for
ward, felt around the corner of the
coach.
Unexpectedly his hand encountered
one Of the steps by which the men
mount to the roof, and though we could
not see his face distinctly, we fancied
he set his lips in a terrible smile of ac-
complished purpose, as he clutched 1t
and with q desperate effort pulled him
self to the end of the footboard and
round into comparative safety on to
the couplings between the tender and
the coach.
"By Jove" Bill exclaimed, when at
last, the tension removed from his
nerves, he could speak. Hes good
plucked 'un, an no mistake. But
what's his game, I wonder?"
The madman is coming on the en-
gine," I burst out excitedly, divining
his intention as l saw his head appear
for brief instant above the coal.
Anyhow, we cans see him commit
suicide without raising a hand to stop
him" re returned, and began to scram-
bic over the coal, where / saw him
stoop down and grasp the man, drag
sing him with an almost superhuman
effort on to the tender, where he sank
down utterly exhausted.
Coming forward my mate threw open
the stoke hole with the intention of
replenishing the fire and the ruddy
glow from the raging furnace within
lit up the tender from end to end.
Good heavens!' 1 calculated, as my
eyes met the haggard face of the res
cued delinquent. Ernest Deva1!' and
my nerveless hand fell from the pol
ished lever
Ben" he gasped, wonderingly, his
wild eyeC encountering mine, as he
staggeref. .oward us.
My lips refused to frame the ques-
tons that unanimously arose to them
and my mate silently handed me his
can.
take a drink" he said, CURLY, land
pull yourself together"
complied readily. The cool draught
brought me round somewhat and 1 re-
surned control of the engine.
Now, Mr.. Deval," I shouted holly,
perhaps you will be good enough to
explain the meaning of the little game
you've been playing tonight, but let
me tell you, if you think you've fur
thered your chances of escape you're
wrong"
Eyes, mate" Bill sternly remarked,
you haven't done a lot for yourself
by coming here"
'Ren!' he at last ierked out gasn-
ing for breath, his bloodshot eyes wan
de1ing round the cab and into the
darkness as we flew along. tBen,
I've been fool-you saw the detective
on my track-he's in the train now
I've been betting-and you know-the
books at the office-found out this
molLlng-Ive fled for my life-bur
you'll help me to give them the slip,
Benz" and the shivering wretch fell
down helpless and clasped nav knees.
Don't talk nonsense, man." 1 an
swered roughly; what you ask is an
lmpossibility. My duty as a servant Of
the company is to hand you over to the
authorities who will be waiting for Won
at CreWe; beside, your own sense should
tell you there is no place to hide a child
here
on, yes, added my mate, grimIy.
you're every bit as bad off as if Won
We're sitting on them comfortable cush-
ions in the carriage there l wouldn't
give much for your chance
But you can help me if you like,"
ne screamed, his eager face upturned
and the hunted expression of a wild
animal at bay in his eyes. SLOW IN
the train a. littfe+syou can do it. I'VE
money! will ASgiYes You f5O-elOo--
anything you Ike5' and he pulled out
a handfu! of glittering gold
aIt can't be done I tell you" re-
pied. shaking myself free from his
grasp. Get up and be a man. You've
made your bed and you will have to
lie In It. No man on this earth could
get out Of this scrape, so make tfa
best of it,
Seeing that ] was imnaoyable. he
turned his attention to Bill. and / saw
| MIN proffer a handful of gold. NV
ifeman turned his back and busted
himself with his duties. IT'S no use
matey," L heard him say. eff Ben saws
1t can't be done it can't, and that's the
end of it. I'm sorry for yer. for yo11,re
rafting good-plucled 'un.''
The despairfng creature detected the