The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-11-02
t1Curse you, let gol" he cried.
mot I'll. shouted back.
ssThen stake athat!" he replied.


F'Curse you, let go!" he cried.
mot lii shouted back.
s'Thens take lthat!" be replied.
There was a. glitter of steel as he
raised his right hand aloft and struck
at my bre asst But was too quick Tor
him. Half-turning the blow. aside, i
caught it onithe left forearm. I felt
the knife slip under my sleeve, and
tie sharp point as 1t entered my flesh.
That only gave me redoubled fury. Re-
leasing my. grip on, his collar, I gave
his right elbow an upward blow, that
sent the knife spinning away out.of his
hand right down the embankment, and
the next instant had lodged to- the
left, made . feint Of rushing past him,
and b lad tripped him up with a heavy
back-throw with my right arm and leg
Ia dodge which had picked up during
I al holiday at Cornwall. He fell, with
an oath, striking the back of his head
against the rail, and lay there, stunned,
like "a log. The. battle was mine! '1'
But there was more to be done, and
no time to be lost. had to remove
the distractions from the metals and
secure my prisoner. I wanted light
on the scene. Hastily dashed down
the embankment, took off my bicycle
lamp, and hurried back again. Then
saw the extent of his devilment.
He had managed to get three old
sleepers, which. We're probably lying
by the side of the track awaiting re
moval. Two of these he had dashed
firmly across the metals, with a space
of about a. couple of feet between
The third he had been in the act OF
securing between, them, pointing at
an angle toward the train, so that
it would catch. under the. .bed-plate
of the engine and wreck the. works.
The third sleeper, I removed. Then. ]
took the. piece of rope he had been
about to use, and tied the.wretch's
arms behind him, lashing his feet to-
gether also. : Having disposed, of him.
T. was turning my attention to the
other twe sleepers, when an, ominou s
roar.ih the Distance in the. direction
of london, startled me. "A train was
coniingt with asyen of despair,rI set
to work ut these ropes. 1T was nc
use. could not undo them in time.
I felt in my. pockets mo! had left
my khifesat home. Al! there was the
ain-wrecker's weapon! Where was
ill., Alase it would have taken, me toe
Sfaach time to find it in the. long grass
of the aeIffbankments With horror ]
glarced ahead There, in the dis
lance, were two cleaning lights 'ot
the approaching train How could
stop IT? 'iea.' trs 8. s.
As.I asked myself this question ]
felt Something warm trickling from
my left arm. I turned my lantern on
it, Blood dripping red blood from
the knife-wound, which I had forgot
ten:'s~ -{'isf sl.As' 5ifftt as3H, & atlts
All! An inspiration. And with a
prayer that it might not be too late,
I proceeded to put it into execution
Drawing out my handkerchief, ]
quickly applied it to my arm. In
three or four seconds it was saturated
with blood. tsszYt
81 I glanced ahead again Oh! those
lights! They were only about half a
mile from me now.
3 Hastily I folded the dripping hand
kerchief twice or thrice, and stretched
it across the face of my bicycle lamp.
Eureka! I held in my hand a red
light! oee m
4 Stumbling, running, leaping, ]
rushed toward the train, waving my
extemporized danger-slgnal fraRGcal-
ly as did so. The headlights cleaned
brighter and brighter, the. roar. be
came nearer and nearer. Would they
never stop? Ah!sA whistle. A shrek
in the night as of startled wild ami
NAL And then a rasping and a graf
ing of brake blocks, stream of flying
sparks from the rails as the wheels
dragged, along them, a glare. Of light
in my very face, and hoarse voice
from the foot-p1ate.
whats up there? Dye know you're
stopping the Silkminster express?"
"Thank God [ have!" I answered
And then for few minutes all was
blackLthe excitement and the loss
of blood were too much for me. Wher
I came to there was a crowd of pas
sengers around me, and they gave me-
some stimulant
slave they got him?" I asked.
''Got him? Aye we've got him,
said the guard, ."and we won't let him
go in hurry. y aGe i.v.s
They got my machine from the road
and I travelled in a frst-class car,
rage back to Silkminster. The kind
ly guard. who had knowledge of am
bulance work, had bound up my
wound, which was very slight one
One of my travelling companions, Gu
riously enough, was director of the
line, and to him !; told the story how
had captured the train wrecker. He
congratulated me heartily, and TOLD
me that the company would certainly
pay me the reward.
Excuse me-" said, "but may ash
for it at once-that Is, within this
fortnight? The truth Is that the
money is a godsend to me It viii
save me from ruin"
And it did. A week afterward I was
able to walk into the partners' Office