The Washington times., 1901-07-14

nail and hurried after the startled and
bewildered beasts.
Where air you going. cyrus7' de-
manded his wife. following the distracted
old man. as he led the oxen over the crest
of the hill to the orchard bars Cyrus
made no reply, and his wife followed him.
Then she saw the bristIing stump fence
across the railroad, and the whole dread
full truth flashed upon her. Cyrus had
built a fence to stop oR wreck the next
train. and that was the very train that
Frank had written he should take from
Wilmington
The village station was a mile beyond
the Stackpole farm. The train would not
have even begun to slow down when IT
passed through the orchard. IL was al
ready getting dusk. 1t would be pitch
dark by the time the train came along
in Just an hour
Cyrus Stackpole never looked at his
wife. but worked with feverish haste; and
she did not interrupt him. for she knew
that every moment was precious The
oxen strained nightly at the great
stumps, but they were so crowded togeth-
er and interlocked that It was hard to
get them or the track. Cyrus had per-
formed his defiant task unfortunately
we'll
Light the lantcTT, cried the painting
old man. at last. His wife took the
match he flung her and kindied the slight
flame in the dusty globe. Cyrus bent and
adjusted the chain anew by the candies
feeble light Then the oxen strained to-
gether once more. but the biggest stump
of ali would not move. The long. tough
roots were wedged between anG under the
rails
''Godr' groaned the old man II was
the shortest of prayers. but il was a
prayer and not an impreeation-
"Harklr cried the trembling old wife.
From far of through the darkness came
a faint rumbIing sound 1t was the even
ing train from Wilmington
"Cyrusr' exclaimed the woman. Red
light II stop 'en-Fve heard so. Hain't
we got anything g make a red light
with? Quickr,.
Cyrus disgorged the contents of all his
pockets at enc sweep. Among them was
an old-fashioned red bandanna haudker-
chief. His wife seized it with a cry OF
joy, and catching up the lantern. hasten
ed down the track toward the approach
ing train. She turned up the wick of the
lantern until it smoked furiously. Then
she wrapped-the red handkerchief around
the globe, held the lantern UP in both
hands, and slowly swayed il to and fro.
The train was almost upon her before
the engineer saw the faint red signal But
the air-brakes did their magic work, and
the engine stopped within twenty feet OF
the last huge. bristIing stump Of Cyrus
staekpoles fence across the railroad.
Frank Staekpole was one of the first pas
sengers to leap from the intercepted
train
What IN thunder-whyi fathers old
orchardi-' he exclaimed. ."And here's
motherl'' He caught a tnttering, grey
haired figure in his strong arms Mrs.
Stackpele. like all heroines. had first ac-
complished her deed and then tainted
away.
The railroad company did not enter a
complaint against Cyrus Staekpole. His
big. blaek-bearded. healthy son may have
had something to do with that. and he
may not Very likely. the unrestricted
and undisputed right of way through the
old mans orchard was an inducement.
At any rate, the matter was dropped;
and Cyrus Staekpole proved TO be so sub
dued in spirit that only two days after
his stump fence disappeared from tke
track ne rode through his own orchard on
e-e of the detested trains, on his way to
Wilmington. with his son. 70 buy a brand
new suit Of clothes and "see the sights"
-James Buclkham in the New York Even~
ing Post