Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-09-02
The Daily Short Story
A CLOSE GALL.

II
perience which is to say 1.-THE least har-
rowing.
The conversation Of my friend con-
verted the tediousness of the journey
into enjoyment, and before we had sup
posed ourselves at Peekskill we were
surprised at the shout ofNthe brakeman
announcing the station, Garrison
do you not stop here for West
Point?" l inquired.
NO" replied the captain. 81 am go
ing TO Hudson to dine"
Immediately after passing Garrison
the train steamed through the long tun-
| mel which takes its name from the sta
ton. My friend was silent for several
| minutes after. when, turning to me, he
said. AZ always feel chilly when 1 go
| through that tunnel"
"For what reason:" 1 asked.
81 was caught in 1t one night" said
the captain, land 1 think 1 never so
narrowly escaped death as on that &C.
casion."
begged him to relate the particulars,
and ne obligingly described the occur
renee as follows:
"You have lived long enough In Cold
| Spring" said the captain, Ito know
that the Saturday dinners of Mr.. -
are exceedingly delightful. Well, on
one occasion L was present at one of
these Saturday evening reunions, and
there was such an unusual amount of
enjoyment that time few by with dou-
BILE its ordinary rapidity. General
Scott had taken his seat at the whist
table. and. having been beaten. he
could not bear to abandon the game
until he had had his revenge
"A group of West Point professors
watched the players with deep interest,
and 1 myself became so absorbed in
watching the game that when 1 at last
remembered that 1 had agreed to meet
Livingston at the depot and go with
him to Garrison 1 found, on looking at
my watch, that 1 had but seven min
utes to get to the train. l made my
adieu hastily and walked rapidly TO
the station, but arrived too late. The
train had gone.
The night was delightful. The stars
were brilliant, and the moon was near
" full. 1 felt unusually we'll, and be-
ing an excellent walker l at once re-
solved to walk to Garrison, for the dis
lance was about three miles only and
/ had on several occasions walked
over that portion of the railroad. ex-
amined my time table and saw there
were no trains due for some hours. 1
did not at that time know IL had been
that day changed.
After picking my way over the long
bridges on piles and testing my pow
ers of walking n rail over the draw
bridge reached the mouth OF the tun-
mel. 1t looked darker and more for
bidding than 1 expected, and paused
few moments before 1 resolved to go
through it. 1 had not gone far when
1 was In perfect darkness. Knowing
that the trains run on the right hand
track, 1 took the one on the left, in
order that / might not be overtaken in
the rear and could see the engine light
II approaching me in front as soon as
possible. had reached about the mid
die of the tunnel when 1 heard the dis
tant rumbling OF a train. 1 listened
attentively and felt satisfied that the
cars were coming from the direction of
Cold Spring.
II therefore continued on the track
l had taken. Presently the sound of
the engine whistle reverberated ia the
dismal passage. and L was startled
with the singular effect, for at one in
slant L was sure il came from the
north, while n second sound seemed
to come from the opposite direction.
In fact, / soon became so uncertain
as to the way the train would approach
that 1 stood still and watched both en-
frances. In very few moments 1
saw the bright light OF the locomotive
sweeping around the curve near the
northerly mouth, and / felt relieved,
for the train was ON the other track.
But the unearthly noise of the rapidly
moving cars was enough to terrify
even q stout heart
while watching the passing train 1
suddenly became aware of another
train entering the tunnel from the OPP
pOsite direction. Escape seemed i'm
possible. Both tracks were occupied,
and L knew if 1 lay down upon the
middle Of the track the cowcatcher
would inevitably tear me TO atoms.
Il thought of the trench outside of
the track and sprang across the rail to
throw myself down on it, but as the
beam of the engine light came rushing
toward me found that there was not
room. Why my wits did not desert
me has always been a wonder, for 1
felt that had but a second or two TO
live and would be killed in a most hor-
rible manner, but a merciful Provi-
dence directed my eyes to an unusual
ly large cavity in the wall, caused by a
blast near a seam. and with the rapid
~ Of thought 1 sprang into it and press
pd my hack aOainSt fha rocks
The cars rushed by and so close that
the wind caused by their motion blew
of my hat, and a few that were an
inch or two wider than the rest rubbed
my clothing, as / afterward saw by
the marks. oh, my friend" said the
captain. placing his hand. which was