The Topeka state journal., 1903-05-06
THE MAD ENGINEER.


what is the matter with you, Kirk
Tomehow you have looked and acted
strangely to me today?'
I said this to the engineer Of my
train as we stood on the platform Of
the station at W. about ready to
start Mine was a late train. We left
w at $3.50 2. m. for a run of three
hours and a half to the junction at
x River. 1t was in November ana
the days We're so short that II vas a.
ready dark. 1t would be black night
FOR the sky was overcast and lhete was
no moon
MY engineer stood on the platform a
little ahead Of his engine, so tnat the
glow from the headlight revealed MN
Diainfv 10 me without the aid of the
lantern which 1 held in my hanu- ne @he
stood notionless looking away down
the track as though ne We're ea1it.,ls
upon the rails stretching outward IN m
two bars of cleaning hgnt olllli.s
less and less brilliant until tney were
ryva1lowed up in the darkness Deyoho.
That afternoon, whenever nd9 q
rhanced to see him. Kirk had appeared
strange to me. He seemed eNcllsu'
ana there was q wild look ABOUT MS
s1-as s4ci, as / had never noticed before
He did not look or act Ike man VIZ VIZ
had been drinking, and / had no rea-
son to think that he had, lot 20 my
knowledge he had never taken glass
Of liquor in his Ire ...,,~1,,
AS i spoke to him he turned qulchls
and / saw again the look / have men
toned It was only for a monen'' az az.
then it was gone, and ne seemed NiiiA
self again. ia ..r-bera
Is nothing the matter win lil7'
s.i3ecause YOU have hardly seemed
yourself today. You doh loeh 49,
still there seems to be sonethlhs ~ wy
matter. There has nolhlhs soHs
aSJofbing,e he answered. Il never
was in better spirits. 1t is almost uIne
to 90. Is 1t notT ,. a,
took out my watch ana glahcSu "a a,
the time He did the same, ana w
0ouonared our timepieces- 1t stln lack
cd three minutes of the time OF star l [
ing There was hardly second uil
ference in our watches. ~
turned and walked back to the othel
end of the platform. The passenger
were pouring into the cars, and saw
that I was to have large train. AS
watched them passing in, was opplS793 -
ed BY a feeling such as 1 ndu never ~
before 1t seemed that they were IN
Trusting their lives to my Keeping aI'
that IL any accident happened / Woul'
be guilty of their death.
I shouted "All aboard. gave me slg
nal to start and we were or lntO th'
Gloom and the darkness of the nlght.
we were TO make but three stops De
tween our starting point ana n
River junction. The first one was tWen
tv miles away. and therefore there wa.
no necessity of haste in going througi
the train. For several minutes L re
mained IN the baggage car, and thei
commenced my work of examining I'M
tickets Of the passengers had goh'
through the smoking car, and was pass
ing between that and the first passenge
coach. when it occurred to me that w
were going at a higher rate of spee'
than was necessary for us to reach tn
first stopping place on time. Still ! dlt
rot know but that I might be mistaken
Kirk had always been a careful driver
and took up all his time between sta
tions. so that our pauses might De al
short as possible.
The thought regarding our speed wa
uppermost in my mind as ] slowly mad
my way through the next car, Whlci
was a crowded one and it took me som'
time to get through One woman haS
lost her Ticket and after looking every
where except in the right place, it wa'
found at last in her satchel
Before this was ACCOMPLISHED tn
certainty was forced upon me that w
We're going at "a terrible rate of speed
The car swayed from side to side will
motion peculiar to rapid travelling
and ! lznew that we were shooting on
ward at the rate Of fully a mile
minute.