The sea coast echo., 1900-02-10
Netting a Wild ENGINE.
By James Buckham.
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1t was lonely enough at the little
Pineville railroad station, set down as
It was like box-trap in the heart of
.he woods. "Pineville was a good
name for it." thought Arthur Sever
son, the young station master and
telegraph operator. Great pinetrees
owored all about, their thick tops and
spreading branches casting a solemn
shade all day long over the two or
.hree small buildings that repres
he railroad centre" Of this back
wood settlement. Yet considerable
.raffic cameto the railroad company
at that out-of-the-w way station. During
the fishing and hunting seasons il was
fayorlte point of departure for city
sportsmen coming into the Maine
woods. During the winter large
quantities Of hemlock bark, for tan
ming purposes, were shipped from
PineviIe; and there were always piles
If furs and Felts on the platform,
awaiting the next train out. " Never
theless, for the greater part of the
lay, Pineville was silent and deserted
save for the young telegraph opera
tor, Arthur Seyerson, who had recent
ty been sent there from Portland. 1t
vas the loneliness of the place that
distressed him most His work was
light, as there were only four trains,
freight and passenger, each day; and,
aside from tle train -despat atcher's mes
sages, he had very few kilograms to
handle. But Arthur had been used
to plenty Of company, active employ
ment, and wholesome excitement; and
he utter quiet and lack of compan-
on8hip 1T PineviLle made him feel
blue and homesick. He had not been
at PineyilIe long, however, before m
event occurred that gave him more e.
element in half an hour than he had
known in ali his previous experience
in "railroading.
1t was a hot summer afternoon; and
Arthur was sitting in his shirtsleeyes
Oh the station platform, about as lone
some and depressed boy as could be
found anywhere in the State Of Maine,
when suddenly he was brought TO his
eet by the sharp, distinct call of the
despatcher over the wire. lie
sprang to his instrument in the little
office, aud promptly answered the
.all. Then came this startling mes
sage:
Wild engine on line between Racquette
and Pinev,iic. Side-track NJ. 40 if possible.
before collision. Repeat.
y. J. CoLL1soN, Dispatcher
Trembling with excitement, Arthur
repeated the dispatcher message, and
2dded-he could scarcely tell why,
for there was no distinct plan of action
in his mind -'WiIl try to stop wild
engine"
Then lie spranG ont on the platform
and aazed up and down the long,
straight stretch of track that cut the
forests in two like the blade Of knife,
No. 40 was the down passenger train,
and she was due at PineyiIle III 10
Minutes; but as yet there was no sign
of her approach, not even the sound
Of her powerful cbime-whistIe in the
distance Neither was there any sign,
in the other direction, Of the coming
3l the dreaded Wild engine ter
rur OF every railroad mans life. The
woods were as still as death, save for
ereakiug OF a few locusts about
the buildings and the ''a-ronk" Of
big bulIfrog in a ditch back of the sta
lion.
Yet, peaceful and reassuring as the
silence was, Arthur Severson knew
that, somewhere down the track be-
tween PineyilI and Racquette-a dis
tance of Is miles-that engine was
rushing toward him with the speed of
5he wind.
His first impulse was to run and
throw over the switch at the lower
end of the siding, and deraiI the wild
engine, If possible. Then he remem-
bered his orders-to sidetrack the pas
senger train, and let the wild engine
90 by. There could be no excuse for
him if he disobeyed these instruc-
tious upon his own responsibility. and
the collision should take place after all,
as it might if the passenger train
should fail to pass the upper end OF
the siding in time. ''Obey orders
tirstw thought Arthur, as he ran at
lhe top Of his speed to the upper end
Of the siding, and threw the switch
over 10" the passenger train.
The sile-track ROW belonged to No.
10, aad was out OF the problem as a
factor in stopping the wild engine.
Whatever tine young telegraph opera
tor might DO TO redeem his promise to
the train-desl atcher must be done
without its aid. This he thoroughly
realizrd, as he dashed back to the
station.
In circumstances Of extreme exi-
gencv and peril the mind sometimes
works as If inspired, suggestions COM
ing to it with lightning rapidity from
every ob. ect thai catches the attention
Of the senses As young Severson
rushe back to his post of duty, his
his eyes fell upon a great heap of two
inch rope, coil upon coil, piled on the
station platform-a consignment just
received by the Moses Valley Lumber
company, Instantly plan for stop
ping the wild engine formed itself in
Arthur's mind, if he could only ac-
cozaplish it in time He would string
those coils OF tough rope across the
} track, from tree 10 tree, making n
web OF network OF them, one behind
anoshe", and thus, perhaps, snare the
! plauginB monster as spider snares
and bin s a great green bottle-fy.
/ Oh for Just ten minutes Of precious
time. Could he hope for them? Eager
/ ly he sprans to the coils of rope, slash
/ ing OF their fastenings with his knife,
ill every separate coil was loose.
Then he ran breathlessly down the
track, dragging the end Of the top
most coil, as a fireman drags his hose.
! When The -hundred-foot rore lay
free behind him, he whipped the end
in his hand about monster pine. tied
it firmly with halter hitch, and then
began weaving the rope from pine to
pine across. the track, encircling each
tree with double loop. so that the
strands of his web woald not draw
Back and forth he toiled with fererisb
haste, hope springing higher in his
! heart with every new mash a1IoJ %