The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-07-06

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m bende ~ p@ntln IN vuy excitsd
manner eomsWhAs.
WHATS up n0Wr Thought ~ Dut ! ],
osuldnt make hesd q Au O. his ecsticn-
nsip, % waited vi some mpotienee LOT
him 10 81 nearer, an then saw tnot it
was ons o the plate layers peiong'n 10 inc
gang thae was wofkiD near p.
Switch the express on 70 the loop, JIM
quickf ne gaspea. Ihe nr'oge mas ial'
en- In"
Before 70 any furtner iet mo explain
the position o Things Me
MY boz was Junction. as I've tolo you
10 the south wss the main hne nom LON
don, which there Split IN TWO, one COMM
through the station here an tne otnef Miss.
IN IL an goin round me "ioop, Ss We CAL
IL. On the station Iine, ABOUT ooo yarus
past the junction, round DIT OF curve
was large tressle bridge over the river.
1t was gsttin considerably old, an they mad
been talkin about renewin 'sior some sime
past, put somehow the montns mao orntea
by on no start had peen made On inc WORK
yet.
Instantly ] guessed what had happened.
The rains durin the last week OF two had
sequence Hooded an runnin very strong,
an the unusual weight an rush O water
had loosencd the old an rotten supports o
the bridge, which never Ought to have
been allowed TO get IN such conditon,
TILL 1t had suddenly come toppin over inoo
the seethin an Do'ln nood below.
FOR mon1ent was staggered ny ene
suodenness tne heWs, pun snen piaceo
myself togetner on saw that wnat tne nav
w had snoutea was tne Only tn'ng 70 ao.
1t was Impossible TO pull the express up
The driver mao seen tne signals OIL, an
KNOWN tnat ne was oenlno tlme was pe!s.
In along as iast as MS engine conia 81. ~
was alore these Gays o tralns ntteu lrom
END 70 emo WI oontinuous DfaKes tnasiI
BRING train 70 STAND ID on yafus' an
could see tnat unless sw'tcneo ~ On %
the loop itd go dasnln along an INTO ene
river on top o the III fated bridge
lev kihu o ui1AinesS coino ovor lug
% thought O. all them passengers a-sit-
TN IN inc cafiiages co"lortauty fe,,uin VI
iooKlh oo0 az inc green an yeiio" hcnus ~
they passed, bein sent wfout WORD o
warnin to oestruction, an sprahg aoross 70
pun the levers pacR. AS luld 30 ehousn1
O. little Nelly s-comin Gown tne ioop WI
my dinner an now SURPRISED sned De u
see the great express rushin toward ner'
an Involuntary cast glance OUT tne
window IN the dlrectlon KneW sne'a %
comm.
Aye, there was the little figure loved
80 we'll, sure enough. But what was that
that made my heart grow suddenly cold
win me an sent the blood snrgin up to
my temples till my brain felt on fire2
Passin my hand across my eyes, looked
again. Surely must be mistaken!
No; It was no delusion. There was my
little girl walkin In the four foot-a thing
she'd never done afore to my knowledge
right In the track o. the adyancin ex-
press. She had got the basket In one hand
an was holdin her little hat up IN tho air
wi the other, an almost fancied could
sec the laugh o. childish glee On her face
as she watched the bright ribbon futterin
in the breeze.
NELLY, NellyP' I shouted desperately,
but she evidently didn't hear, for she took
no notice.
A sickenin forebodin o. Ill came over
me, an I stood wi my hand on the lever
irresolute.
Has ii ever struck you, sir, what lot
o. things can pass through your brain in
the space o. half minute2 1t struck ME
for the first time then. A whole series O.
thoughts seemed to food over me In that
terrible few seconds.
II ! pulled the lever back 1t meant al
most certain death to Nelly-chubby, rosy
checked little Nelly the darlin O. her
mothers heart; the little, winsome child
I'd played wi on my knee ever since she
was a baby-an If didn' It it meant equal
ly certain destruction to the express, wi
its heavy freight O. human hein's, which
was by this time not more than couple
o. hundred yards away.
That terrible struggle between love an
duty which took place all inside o. half
minute will never be wiped off my memory.
"Switch her over, you fool" yelled the
plate layer, who had now got close up to
the box. But then he, too, caught sight o.
Nelly an was silent, for perhaps he, too,
had got a little girl at home.
His shout did not rouse me, however,
for wicked thoughts FLIED my brain. Who
could say wi any certainty what was the
reason II dldn't Turn tine course inc
ua.n y. t,. ~ 10y 49, A. "aa ~ sn ,.Iona,,
NAV , ,v sA nav ao.i, n n ~" as hod
NJ, ,,,a s" ~, nv 49,, r ,nn,, nsor, ,na
MI, sho,,,I,,,. ,ot tho cxrxas, sr, Nv, nm.
KY 49,, s ~, a,ro Na,,r9 w f'N'' 81
''' Tha, a" no 'a't tLoa .,o ho,,,h,o to,
.,.inm 49,. uT ton 81, tN uas nno hpt
." sn4 ma W. ,os 81, al ,ha rnst ' hnst
"n"S was sol.a "" h,n tu ,a' ~ Sa
m ~ o., ,S w. ,h H." n'sD imtn sor,o,,
Sne,s sn"t " ~ a , hanno,od w
AZ "n ."o a;'a , y w. ~, ur..,
tnnO ,iu'ns sio"ru -. u ,o osv than
Wiz. .iY '"A'0 'i~
IL uMeiiu >ou,n1 ,,,,,.oa +,r,,,,. .ho
,.,,s.' '' 80 LA =, ,W,. ,ar St 'hroat
minIaT ". 90 ,o .ni, 49, my H., p 49, -, 10y
Muu,. iTS ,n., M u M az u,om ri, nra
po,n'eu pe."Ion W.. ."..s. t.nr . M . u
DHi pay . .a' 49, ~ ' inna in' Iao,-
Soth ny nea,., Nune '''o n"i'A'o o"'A
oAI' !usS IL ~, ''i1 ou a.. .,n,
no"iu .h1 i' .na .oo NV. ~ AZ, 10 " hnt
aiinos0 s.iiAi uns' 90 10y Wv. wv ,so ~, Dus
!uso sw,i''n ~ '.,ilo ~ ~ W W. io'p, ~
n, the cabin in n deod swoon.
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