Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1897-09-09

about 4 quarter or mile up the road,
before the storm broke. l was lean
ing back in my chair musing over the
events that had brought me west,
| when suddenly voice broke upon my
ears:
Hold up Your hands, Quick,'
CHANGING up, saw revolver
pointed through the little window in
the wall through which l sold tickets,
and behind it weird mask with ter
rible, shining eyes, In endeavoriug
&c comply with the command, especial
~ the latter injunction, my chair
swung around, my head struck on the
edge Of the table. and. unconscious,
rolled to the door.
When regained my wits found
myself lying on the floor of the outer
waiting room, bound hand and foot.
with a tall notwithstanding fellow
standing guard over me with Win
chester. The storm had broken over
us and the wind rain, lightning and
thunder were something terrific,
"All at once my trained ear caught
the sound of the telegraph sounder,
ard turning my head perceived a man
1t my desk working away at the key.
He wore mask but this did not
| disguise the fact that he was a young
men. AS the characters were licked
the sound came to my ears | knew
he was feeling his way as to the loCa
| sc 81, Al, I 81,
noticed that he frequently arose and
made use of the ground wire from the
switchboard, which cut off the main
office. in which was located the train
runner of the division. At frequent
! intervals sharp cracks of lightning
would re-echo through the room. as
the bolts struck the arrester on the
switch. But the man worked on, total
! ly oblivious Of his surroundings.
! suddenly | caught the drift OF what
he was sending out over the wire. and
was Mortified to learn that he was try
/ ing to duplicate and manipulate the
train orders so as to cause wreck.
Trains AZ and As passed each other
about five miles up the road from my
station, and he was sending out orders
with cool, steady hand to train No
4 to take a siding about 10 miles east
of Medicine Hat, and to train No. As
to pass No. Al at the regular place
These orders would have thrown
the two trains, which were heavily
laden with passengers and express
matter, together near my station.
Il could easily hear the sounder, and
from the masked mans orders knew
the would-be wrecker was an expert
telegrapher and thoroughly familiar
with train running. Every now and
then the man would raise his hand
from the key as a more severe stroke
OF lightning would come in over the
wire, but he was too intent upon his
deadly work to desSt The tramp of
heavy boots on the platform outside
told me that the contemplated wreck
was an organized scheme for robbing
the express company and passengers.
Muttered curses frequently came from
the man at the key as his plans for
obstacles in the shape of pertinent
questions from operators up the line.
OF things without fully understanding
their import.
My mind was in a horrible whirl.
and | frequently strained at my bind
ings to get my hands loose, but n
savage curse from my guard warned
me to be careful or my life would not
be worth much. On account of the
trains being behind time | knew they
would be pushed to their utmost speed
by the engineers, and if they came
together the wreck would be a fright
full one.
The storm continued to increase in
force, and peal after peal of thunder
echoed over the little station. Still the
man at the key kept steadily at work
weaving his web of destruction. Sud-
denly he called out in a voice mingled
with satisfaction and devlish gee:
'Afs that fixes the matter all right.
! Forty-seven has signed the orders at
. NV NNAlSi ltiihj anu III ~
they'll so together. Tell the men to
spread out up"
He never finished the sentence A
binding flash at the switchboard, a
shrek from the man, and the office
appeared to be one mass of flame. My
guard rushed from the building and in
a mighty effort | wrenched my hands
free and pulled myself through the
door out upon the platform. The little
station building was as dry as a finder,
! the oil from the trainmen's lamps
added to the combustible nature of its
makeup, and in moment flames were
breaking out in every part
! With loud cries several OF the
! wrecker's oCnfederates dashed into
! the little room to pull their leader out,
! but the heat drove them back, and as
voices were heard up the country road
/ coming toward the station, they all
! disappeared up the line in the dark
ness.
! "A man named 'humpy' Logan I'M
c 7 - -.