Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1898-11-24

cnaHCe OF ADeS making SOmetnlnS
in the morning. but faint many as
likes to go by the railway. on count Of
the narrer tunnel though it's Il deal
nearer"
here and go straight ahead shall come
out ut the village ut the end of about
four miles?"
a nod was his answer. followed as he
turned away by the words:
-Four an half. I said"
So Duke started to walk the four and
a half miles. concluding he must take
the shortest way he could. as he had not
a superabundance of time; there might
be some little delay even after he arriv
ed at the village. So he began his jour
ney at once, without even stopping for
dinner.
He had passed the third-mile post
when he reached the tunnel.
"Ah!' he said aloud. Here Is the
tunnel of which she warned me. l Won
der how long it is? What a Ounce | was
not to ask. 1t does look like ticklish
place, that's fact-small. one track
affair. don't half like the idea of 60
ing through it. Wonder If I'd have
made it II I'd taken the road? Well, it's
too late nOw-I'm in for it,!
He had CROPPED along for about a
quarter of a mile. feeling his way care
fully by the wall. Not Il thought of any
actual danger had entered his head
so full of his fair bride-to- be-until sud-
denly dull rumble struck his ears,
and caused him to wonder whence the
sound proceeded. Another instant and
there flashed across his brain the horr-
bic reality. A train was coming. from
which direction he could not tell, but
certainly coming. and if the tunnel
proved much longer the fact was I'M
deniable that he should be crushed be-
meath the iron monster there alone in
the darkness, and no one would know
his fate. He listened, laying his ear to
the rail; it was coming in the rear. He
quickened his steps-he ran-ran as
rapidly as he dared for fear of mis-
step which would hinder instead of ad
vance his ends.
Now the roar comes nearer; he car
imagine the train as 1t Is tearing along
carrying death to him. He thinks each
individual hair Is standing on end. The
sweat pours down his face, and still
this darkness. still this louder roar of
the engine as it comes steadily nearer
and nearer, and his strength Is nearly
exhausted.
At last CLEAN of light greets him
at the farther end of the tunnel. O.,
what hope it inspires. He thinks of
the races he has won at college, and
determines to take a fresh start. Yes,
he will run as ii running race, and
forget the huge monster behind him
which seems to paralyze his limbs and
prevent all motion; he will run. run
he must window terrible the result If
he does not. He thinks of Lula, his
sweetheart, his wife that was to have
been. Shall he ever see her again?
The light ahead grows more and
more distinct, but his strength IS going,
and the train behind Is rushing on fast;
1t seems quite close now; he can almost
feel It's breath upon him; still he runs.
Another moment and he will have
gained or lost which? He must make
that short space. What thing 1t Is,
this being face to face with death. He
cannot hold out much longer; he feels
he must lose-and what then? But no
he Will make one more effort. He
clears the tunnel, leaps from the track,
and falls hcadlong down the bank on
the side, saved-but unconscious, while
the heavily loaded freight train passes
by.
But the engineer had seen him jump
and not being able to ascertain wheth-
er he had been struck by the cow
catcher or not, stopped the train and
went back in search of him; and when
Duke Carlton regained consciousness
he was lying on seat in the depot in
the village for which he had started
some hours before.
He was not seriously injured. His
fall had but stunned him, and in an
hour he was quite ready to proceed on
his journey, little pale, 1t is true, and
shaky in the lower eXtremities, but
otherwise rejoicing that he had sue
ceeded in his quest, and would be in
time for his wedding, with thirty min
utes to spare.
Duke Carlton does not believe In the
theory that a PERSONS hair turns white
in a night from sudden fright or sor-
row, for his own raven locks show not
a trace of silver; and surely no one ever
had more terrible fright or a narrow
err escape than did he on his wedding
day, when he ran race for his BRIDE
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