New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-09

whose line as everyone Knows runs ~, 80, II
Rel Tunnel which is nearly two mics IonS'
is norbans Tho darkest tunnel in England, the
line making n curve sharp that udy'It". -
lost sight Of Immediately lhere aic w. 49,
lines Of metals, and the place, uespi.e -, ~; ,ho
ness should be as safe as any TWO H'.,E III eo
railway SYSTEM Nevertheless, IL was the soehe
Of a bad accident. An up tram s'oppii's, ~ nca
tunnel at no great distance from t'e CIV"
was RIM into by another. Chandos was IN 'he
second train and at the time OF the catastrophe
was absorbed in his newspaper n secon" o. -.
he shock he seated upon the Hooi PNni"h
n splinter Of glass out Of his head ana snii'ih6
cortontedIv The lights had been extingulshed.
but upon the papable darkness Chandos couid
read the words. the obvious. almost az p'aifis
as If they had been thrown ny nhelEn' WIN up,
a sheet I'VE are none Of us really inJuIeu'
suppose a voice had said and half-a dozen peo-
pie some of them little obviously, had pro-
nounced themselves unhurt They were getting
ont these people. to walk back to dayleht'
which they said was fortunately not iar.
Chandos though with different purpose pre-
pared to follow them. As he LETT the conpart-
ment, a piece of glass from broken Wlhuo"
fell upon the sill and broke into fragments anu
i'm the further corner there began a SLOW, rrgu-
lar dripping. The noise was very laint-so sl.sht
that il escaped the ears Of Chandos altogether,
but il continued after he had gone Tor quite d
while, with horrid persistence.
Once upon the lines. Chandos set himself 10
stem the current that had already SET TOWARD
the nearer exit. The plan he was carrying ou'
had come 20 him he sat upon the carriage
floor Starting with the assumption that in
every crisis there is manifest duty which no
| orc sees. and whose neglect has dire conse-
quences, he had arrived. by a process of reason
ing that seemed nawless. at the conclusion that
! he must traverse the tunnels length, and stop
| the oncomng down train, which. should 1t
| plunge into the debris OF the collision. would
| certainly be thrown off the line There was an
up train nearly due, but this presumably, would
! have the signal against it. There vas nothing
startling about the scheme. but, to Chandos,
this its great charm. He would act in an
| everyday way. and show that by catastrOphcs
| he could be neither stimulated nor depressed.
| In all that vast throng he was possibly the
only whose equable pulses allowed him to
be- quite ordinary. the only man with faculties
so normal that he could discern the obvious.
| The execution OF the plan. however. presented
difficulties. Tho human river with which Chan
dos like a stout swimmer contcnded was mo-
mentarily being augmented by tributary riS.
| These were composed Of persons whose first
| thought had been that nothing very particular
had happened, and that their release could wait
until il was effected in some regular and official
way. 1t noticed that these people became.
when their first irrational calm was broken the
fiercest Of strugglers Chandos found himself
tossed about like Il cork, swept from one side
| 10 the other and had il not been for his almost
physical grasp Of his object he would have been
! carried back altogether. on a sudden the river
ceased to flow. 4 high moaning that quickly
deepencd announced that another train had on
| tered the tunnel Neither exit being in
| sight the ear. and the ear alone. had to
| locate the danger and the ear The least
Trustworthy Of our intellgencers. I'M
| able TO perform the task. The sound
| came from everywhere. 1t cnveoped the dis
tractcd multitude like an atmosphere. They felt
il in their faces at the backs of their necks.
| while the weight Of il seemed 10 be nattening
| them on to the line For shelter men began to
| rush 10 the tunnel wall or 10 the otbOdrd Of
| the wrecked train. few ran helplcssly from
side 10 side. Chandos kept straight on, the com
paratiVc cearncss Of the course now enabling
him to make good progress. though his sensa-
ton was that OF being swept round and round
IN a whirlpool Of sound Suddenly the ClattcT
rushed I'd INTO u shrek. The noise became