The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-11-02
"Curse you, let go!" he cried.
mot l." ] shouted back.
ssThen take thati" he reD1ied.

raised his right hand aloft and struck
at my breast. But was too quick for
him. Half-turning the blow aside, i
caught it on the left forearm. / felt
the knife slip under my sleeve, and
the sharp point as it entered my flesh.
That only gave me redoubled fury. Re-
leasing my. grip on, his collar, 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 o feint of rushing past him,
and had tripped him up with a heavy
back-throw with my right arm and leg
Ia dodge which had picked up during
a. 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!
| 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. l wanted light
on the scene. Hastily I 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. were 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
4 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.
was turning my attention to the
other two sleepers, when an, ominous
roar. in the distance. in the. direction
of London, startled me. "A train was
coming! with a<yeH of despair, I set
/ to work at these ropes. 1t was NO
use. I could not undo them in time.
1 I felt in my pockets I lad left
my khife:at home. All! there was the
train-wrecker's weapon! Where was
/ it? AlasEit would have taken me too
@fauch time to find it in the long grass
of the e1ffbankment., With horror
glanced ahead. There, in the dis
lance, were two cleaning lights of
the approaching train How could l
stop,it? $3.50. ,.:s' = aa.. .r-~f-f
AS. 7 asked myself this question I
fo1 4,,io III,
my left arm. I turned my lantern on
it, .Blood-dripping red blood from
the knife-wound, which 1 had forgot
ten: r" 81. '"t .fs,..s' s.,'.f a.sa. a,H..s
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, I
quickly applied it to my arm. In
three or four seconds it was saturated
with blood. .s' .ss.st @ a
I glanced ahead again. Oh! those
lights! They were only about half a
mile from me now.
. Hastily I folded the dripping hand
Rerchief twice or thrice, and stretched
it across the face of my bicycle lamp.
Eureka! held in my hand red
light! ~.s... ~
Stumbling, running, leaping, I
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!f A whistle. A shrek
in the night as of a startled wild ami
NAL. And then a rasping and a graf
ing of blocks, stream of flying
sparks from the rails as the wheels
dragged along them, a glare of light
in my very face, and a hoarse voice
from the foot-plate.
whats up there? Dye know you're
stopping the Sill>minster express?"
''Thank God [ have!" I answered.
And then for a few minutes all was
black-the excitement and the loss
of blood were too much for me. When
I came to there was q crowd of pas
sengers around me, and they gave me
some stimulant.
"Have they got him?" I asked.
'Got him? Aye, we've got him, -
said the guard, land we won't let him
go in hurry. y ...- ..-... =
They got my machine from the road,
and I travelled in a irst-class car
rage back to Silkminster. The kind
ly guard, who had q 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
I 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 I ask
for it at once-that Is, within this
fortnight? The truth Is that the
money is a godsend to Inc It will
save me from RUM
And it did. A week afterward I was
able to walk into the partners' office
with my books properly balanced. Mr.
Marsh shook me by the hand.
''We will not ask he said, 'for any
explanation of the mistake or how it
has been rectifed. We only trust that