The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1897-03-27
Close by was a metal lever of pecu

idly, without much heed to the mean
ing. | even caught myself reciting it
aloud in a sing-song tone. AS l dozed,
it sometimes seemed to leave its po-
sition and hover in the air near my
face. 1t was positively annoying.
shut my eyes to get rid of it, but saw
it just as plainly.
l was still in this unpleasant, dreamy
condition, when l felt a light touch on
my arm. 1t thrilled me like an cleo
trio shock. l sprang to my feet, and
without knowing why, without any
clear idea whatever, rushed forward
and showed up that lever.
The train came to a sudden stop
with a grinding jar. The startled pas
sengers leaped from their seats. A
brakeman caught me by the collar,
while the angry conductor pushed
through the aisle toward me.
Whats the meaning of this?" he
shouted.
I stood dazed; had not a word to
say.
Are you an IDIOT" he continued,
roughly. What do you mean? Don't
you know that it's a criminal offense
to stop a train in that way, you young
jack-a-napes?"
Still 1 was dumb. I felt like a
drunken man, who Unexpectedly finds
himself in the grip of justice charged
with a motiveless murder, remember
ing the act but wholly unable to COM
prehend it. Then something happened;
again l felt the light touch on my
shoulder.
AS that soft touch thrilled me, the
whole train, seemed to melt into mist.
l saw them in a shadowy outline, but
they did not impede my view. Beyond,
stretching on through the starlit snow
fields, lay the dark line of the track,
which, at the distance of about two
miles, swung out of sight behind a
rocky hill. Out of sight, but not out
of my sight; for as l gazed the hill
also seemed to resolve itself into haze,
and l looked right through it. And
there, swiftly rounding the curve-"An
engine is coming!" l shouted. 1T is
running wild. In half a minute it will
be in sight"
YOU'RE drunk" cried the brakeman.
cor crazy" and he shook me. The
girls hand slid from my shoulder;
the vision vanished.
But she caught the conductors arm.
strThn mon Sc rS~ht cho orio1
Don't you see? Be quick"
The conductor started as if stung,
and his face whitened.
my Cod" he calculated. In an.
other instant he was standing in the
snow. by the track straining his eyes
up the line. and we were beside him.
The conductor ran toward the en-
CINE.
"Unshackle her. Hank" he shouted.
Pull your throttle full open, Dave,
and let her drive"
Almost as he spoke the big loco
motive gave a titanic gasp and heave
of sudden effort; her mighty drivers
spun and slipped, then caught the rails,
and she started with a bound like a
race horse pricked by the spur.
Nov jump-for yer life, Dave
quick"
Dave swung himself off without
haste; a moment later he came toward
us, shaking the loose snow out of his
clothing.
tits ole Thirty-three, an she's
a-comin'," he remarked. "Ninety-nine
IL do the trick right enough, but it's
her last rum" He gazed sorrowfully
down the track, as if after a departing
friend. She'll be maxim nigh sixty
an hour afore they git together" he
added, re1ectively. She's about a
minute an a half left, and she's a
thurerbred."
The passengers were now streaming
out Of the cars and thronging around
us: We ran a little way out into the
field for a clearer view. The approach
ing engine was now plainly visible,
lighted by a trailing pennant of fire as
it Numbered on to meet it's foe, lurch-
ing and plunging in it's headlong
charge until it almost leaped from the
rails.
"Merciful heavens!" cried the girl
beside me. There's a man in the
cab"
Then he's a gone goose. lady," com.
mented the engineer.
1t was even so. The doomed wretch
leaned far out from the cab, waving
his arms in frenzy, uttering a shrek
of %exultation so keen and vibrant that
it cleft its way to our ears through
all the distance and the uproar that
lay betweea.
STARK mad" growled Dave, "and
the best machine on the line gone to
eternal smash to head him off. She
won't be with her weight in scrap
iron"
And while he spoke the %contending
engines. now speeding to the onset like
black armored knights, hurtled to-
gether with all the terrific momen-
tum Of their ons of rushing steel.
There was a thunderous crash as of a
distant avalanche. a hoarse roar of
escaping steam--and in an instant a
hilloWy cloud, tina. rose and spread
until 1t seemed a mountain Of gray
vapor. enveloped all.
She's done for" murmured the en-
gineer.
And the man." cried the girl.
The mailman had kept his appoint