The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-08-22

rom his WORK. Or eve taken a!Sinpie
glimpse from the window directly In
. front of him.
Yet all the time his mind was busy,
He had set upon this wild race with the
single idea Of chasing the f~lat-car, and
in some way preventing the destruc-
ton it was sure to create if left to it
self.
But now the question was whether
the car could be ~oyertakeR, and, if it
could, what should then be done.
knowing how far the bridge was away
; from the station he mentally calculated
the probable speed of the fat-car and
the time it, would occupy in making
the distance. Then, between shovels-
full of coal, he fixed the pace necessary
to come up with the chase sufficiently
farfrom the bridge to allow opportunity
for securing, the runaway by a plan
which had Just occurred to him.
.'There it is" cried Roger, as they
swept around a long cur ':It's run
ming nearly as fast as we are"
For the first time Ben looked out at
the flying telegraph poles. while count
ing the jars of the wheels on the joints
of the rails. -
"Give her a little more, Roger said
be. rs
The engine seemed to drop from un-
der them with its increasing speed on
the down grade, rolling and pitching
like a ship at sea Ahead the fiat was
bounding along the rails, strewing the
track side as it ran with heavy ties, for
its load had'been shifted by the shock
rounding the curve. Several times the
pursuing engine struck and threw
aside some of the ties which had fallen
partly across the rails.
Fearful dangerous it was, but Roger
did not even think of slowing up. On
the contrary, he crowded his machine
a little harder. There was need of it,
for the bridge was less than o mile
away, and a mile at this speed was only
a few seconds over a minute.
Ben also knew that. He threw down
his shovel, caught up an iron pin, and
opened the doors leading out upon the
boiler. Roger looked at him anxious
ly, but never spoke.
The thing must be done if both his
brother and himself gave up their lives
in doing it, for there, down under the
bridge. were twenty men-husbands
and fathers, many Of. them-w orking
away, unconscious of the death that
was rushing upon them at fifty miles
an hour.
Clinging to the brass railing and al
most choked by the fierce rush of air
that the engine created as it tore along
Ben crawled slowly to the buffers, and
from there let himself down5till his feet
rested upon the frame of the pilot.
Half sitting, half standing, he held on
to a brace with n hand and with the
other raised the heavy coupling-rod,
which hung along the front angle Of
the pilot
1t was a terrible. place. Stunned by.
the furious noise, smothered in dust,
and bewildered by the dizzy sweeping
of the roadbed under him his head
swan, and for a moment he thought he
shohld fall. But the weakness passed
away before the thought of what de
pended upon him.
He mnst save those lives. That was
what hesWas there for. 2%g Il
The engine was gaining rapidly, but
still not rapidly enough Afew sec,
onds more would render all his strug-
giles useless,
He leaned out and waved his hand.
Instantly another Of those headlong
leaps told him that Roger had seen his
signal, and that all steam was on.
The distance decreased. A.hundred
yards-ffty twenty-five! Now the
rumblingg, swaying mass of timber was.
directly overhead, and Ben rose to hie
feet as cool as be had ever been in his
life. ,&.
With the pin and couE.:ag-rod in
hand he stood balancing himself on the
narrow frame that Jared and jumped
beneath. him, noticing even then the
steady skill with which his brother vas
reducing the engines. speed to CORES
pond with that of the car and prevent
a heavy shock. Another second and
he dropped the rod in place, passed the
pin through, and fell backward upon
the pilot.
The wheels screamed and grated. the.
steam roared, and the whole engine
gToaned under the racking strain of the
reverse, but the car was being check
ed, and slower and slower Invent, I'M
til its impetus was finally overcome
and destroyed BY the drag and pull be-
hind it. Right before, not fifty feet
off, was the bridge, but the car had.
stopped.
Well, you can imagine what ascene
there was the terrified Workmen5
sWarlnYng n1trsomI among the TIM
,bers down in the*ravine, learning what
they had escaped, who had saved them,
and how it had been done And YOU
can imagine another scene an hour
OF two later when the shouting process
sion of grateful men, and wives, and
mothers, and sisters; crying for joy
brought the two young heroes up to- the
station, where Engineer Moore was
waiting. But you AN not imagine
what the father feelingsW were on hear
ing the story moi how he was proud,
and glad, and frightened, a~nd5thankful
all at i Nobody could imagine
that.
Mike Murphy was simply uproarions
sHIueroo! Didn't Oh till q g. he
kept saying Didn't Oi 4 ye'dsee
what was an IN whin they had the
chanceP All, the'ye had the$chance,
an ye do see. @Hurrolo !ra--MosEey q.
Piika.SsiB Koastb's Companion, 5si
No Heal Gibson Girl II