The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-08-06
AS these thoughts rushed with ligh,


| ii is little wonder that Mike shouted:
Drop it, boys, and run for your
| !ileS!"
| But not SO with Teddy; for, swift rs
the train was coming. his mind was
swiftcr, and when he saw the men were
g1ing to drop the rail. he cried out. in
as firm a tone us he could command:
Throw it on he ties. men-throw i,
on the ties!"
And almos. unconsciously they
obeyed him. dropping the rail within
| few inches Of where it belonged when
IN position.
The construction of rail is such { ha {
| it is heaviest on the bottom; and as it
fell right side up, it did not turn over,
out lay there ready to be placed in
position.
AS the men ran down the embank-
rl~nt. on the inside of the curve, Teddy
picked up pinch bar and pried one
end of the rail into place, then ran
quickly to the other end and pried it
over. Running now to the middle of
the rail, he drove one end of the bar
down in between the ties and then,
grasping the other end in both hands.
he threw all his weight against the rail.
thus holding it in position.
And now his object was made clear.
He was taking the one chance in a
thousand-the only one that could be
taken, in fact, and he was risking his
life to do it.
AS was noticed when the men took
up the old rail. they did not pull the out
side spikes, and as train always
crowds over against the outside rail
on a curve, he figured that if he could
only hold the rail in place until the
weight of the train was upon it, the in
side flange on the wheels would then
keep the rail in position until the train
passed overit. The rail was 30 feet long.
and he knew that if the train once got
on it there would be little possibility
of it slipping, because it is only about
Ii feet between the trucks on Il car.
and before one truck would be off at
one end. another would be on at the
other, thus keeping a continuous pres
sure on the rail until the train passed
over it.
As he stood there holding the bar.
with the train laundering along with
in few feet of him, thousand differ
ent thoughts seemed to pass through
his mind, but never once did he seem
to think of the danger he was in.
He thought of the consequences of
wreck, of Jim, who had gone back TO
flag; but chief among his thoughts was
the one that his father was responsible
for this piece of track, aud he would
be held to account for anything that
occurred. He must do as he knew his
father would have done had he been in
his place.
The train by this time had almost
terror on the face of the engineer as he
leaned from the cab; for he. too, had
seen and realized what was about to
happen. and was taking the only chance
open to him.
Instead of attempting to stop or to
slow down at all, he had simply "hooked
her up" a notch and pulled the throttle
open to it's farthest limit, and was in
creasng his speed at every revolution of
the wheels.
In another instant they were upon
him. A rush, roar, mighty kissing
OF escaping steam. He felt the ground
rock and tremble beneath his feet, a
sudden shock as the bar was torn vio-
lcntly from his grasp and he was hurled
with terrific force to the ground.
When he regained consciousness, he
was lying on the grass, piIlowed by the
coats of the men he had last seen run
ming away from him, with Mike bend
ing over him, bathing his face with
water from the pail. and there was
faint suspicion of a sob in his voice as
he exclaimed, fervently:
"Thank God, my lad. you are not
dead!"
But Teddy was far from being dead.
and, although bruised and scratched
up to quite an extent, he was soon able
to sit up and watch the men. as they
finished spiking down the rail that had
been the cause of all the trouble, aud
by the time they were through he was
on his feet, insisting that he be al
lowed to help load the tools on the
hand car.
But he was not permitted to do any
thing of the kind, and. after the men
had hurriedly loaded the hand ear (for
40 was almost due and they wanted
to get to town ahead OF it), they COM
PEELED him to take seat, not allowing
him even to stand and hold on to the
handles.
When they We're about halfway to
town. they met Hogan coming down
the track on the run, for the crew on the
freight had reported the incident the
moment they reached town, and he was
anxious to find out what had really
happened.
The expression on his face when he
saw his son safe and sound can be bet
ter imagined than described, and his
words of thankfulness us he clasped
him in his arms we will leave unsaid.
The occurrence was reported official
ly to the road master and superintend-
Cnt of the division, and the result was
that Jim was Immediately discharged,
and special rules and notices were sent
to every section foreman on the division
to pay more attention in the future to
what kind of men they employed, es-
pecially when they sent them out to do
any tagging.
After a long consultation between
Hogan, the road master and the super
inteudent. it was decided to send Ted
dy to school at the company's expense,
and there is where he is to-day, fitting