The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-12

IidlH Snetl
"o!" he cried: 20. my God. ! have
crossed EN-"
What" roared wilkins; and with
two strides he was at Charley's table.
where? What have you done?" he
demanded.
i've given the oil-wild orders to
meet Drant at Fruitlane, and Drant's
order is to meet them at Treetor! They
viii m6et two miles this side of Tree
tor! It's Treetor's hour at dinner.
can't raise him! o, my Cod" He
clutched the edge of the table, tremb-
ling with terror and weakness.
looked at him in horror.
wilkins smote the circuit breaker
open and called Treetor for a moment,
then rushed to the window and
shouted hoarsely:
Bring your engine on to the main
track, Stevensi Go after the Chicago
special-a cross order! Be quick"
The "10S' stood on the siding across
from the station, exhausting slowly as
she worked her injector pumps. She
was ready to be coupled to train from
the West.
Take line relay and go with him"
Wilkins cried to me. IF they come to-
gether cut the wire and report to me. "
[ caught a relay instrument from the
shelf of the supply case, threw a coil
of insulated wire over my shoulder,
snatched climbers and pliers, and
rushed out. AS l turned for the door
/ glanced back. Sanline was hanging
white and wavering across his table,
one hand on the key and calling Tree
tor like mad, the other wiping the
trickling perspiration from his face.
Poor boy, what frightful thing
has fallen upon him" l thought as
7 fafr H.
vision of Sanline hanging over the
keys haunted me through every phase
of the terrible scene that followed
With a few bounds / cleared the plat
form and track, and tumbled into the
gangway of the "103." / was still on
my knees when Stevens pulled her
throttle open.
Throw that switch open! Let us
out!" I heard him yelling to someone
| could not see.
With succession of thunderous
blows on the frogs, the '103" tore out
through the yards and started along
the valley like wild thing. The fire.
man began shoveling coal into the fire.
box with might and main. The heat
from the boiler-head, combined with
the hot sultriness of the day, was
something maddening. I clutched my
fingers in the engineers smutted
clothes and clung to him, trying 70
tell him the situation of the imperiled
trains as the roll of the engine banged
me back and forth.
There's no operator at Fruitlane.
you know" I shouted near his ear,
and the man at Treetor is at dinner.
The oil-wild will come through Treetor
without stopping, making for Fruit
lane, and the special will pass Fruit
lane without stopping, making to meet
the oil-wild at Treetor. They will col
lide about two miles this side of Tree
tor, Charley said"
did he give the cross ?"
1 nodded, choking lump arising into
my throat.
Stevens kicked his feet against the
footboard and ground his teeth. He had
the throttle lever back in the last
notch land we were going like the
wind. The roar of the giant machine
was a kind of continuous thunder.
"Drant will drive the go like Satan"
he shouted. "He is probably making
over fifty miles an hour, and then we
will probably not catch him. I hate
this-if they should happen to stop and
we struck 'em in the rear! Say, get
up in the window on the other side
and yell to me if you see 'em. This is
crazy idea, sending us after 'em in
this way. Burns"-to the fireman.
pound the stuff under her! Keep hel
hoti"
Sweat was dripping from the fire.
mans chin. He rocked back and forth
like a machine. Stevens held his watch
in his right hand. his left on the throt-
lie. Now and then he glanced at the
timepiece, then strained his eyes ahead
In seven minutes we rushed through
Fruitlane like a meteor. l saw a glim-
mer of a small house, a man falling
back with his uplifted hands against
the side of the little depot and then
as with breath, we were in the open
again.
From Trayor to Fruitlane we had
come in almost a straight line, but here
we struck the thanking hills of the
broad valley. and from thence east
ward the track flowed forward in long
curves following in some degree the
fiexures of a small river. Here the
drawn, intent look on Stevents' fea-
lures deepened and his hand on the
throttle worked nervously. as if he
would gladly close the valves. but he
pluckily held her throat wide open and
we few onward. To one not strung tC
the keenest pitch OF excitement oui
speed would have been terrifying; but
personally ] was not strongly i'm,
pressed by this, for the transcendant
danger of crashing into the passengel
train, somewhere before us, the fact
that in five or ten minutes the splendid
special and the oil-wild might rush
together, eclipsed all else save f1eetins
bits of thought that raced through my
mind like sparks: How was Charley
bearing this? Would the Treetor oper-
ator return to his Office before the oil
wild passed his station? How should
we stop the special if we overlook it?
Then. somehow. I became aware that
the hot, still atmosphere had turned a
brown green hue, and as we whirled
round long bend suddenly miles and
miles Of level valley lay open before us
To the northeast of it, indescribably
majestic and awful. hung a leaning
mountain of cloud. black green at the
base and smoky through all its foamy
crags. 1t seemed pitching forward as
II TO fall upon and overwhelm the
world. Halfway down the boiling
mountain an immense island of brassy
vapor was plunging into it like a NOV
ing contingent ] saw the two twist
ing together like mighty serpents, and
knew that death was abroad in the
sky.
Stevens did not seem to notice it.
His eyes were feeding on the reaches
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