The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-05-06


Thompson uneonsciously held up his
hand like witness to the word as he
read out the words:
Engineer Wilson of No. killed in
his cab by some mysterious agency at
$40 this morning. Train ditched,
several killed and wounded. Engineer
evidently strangled. Further particu-
lars later on!"
There we're already whispers circu-
lating among the men that they would
not work any longer for haunted
road, and they suddenly began to leave
the place, while Thompson and Joyce
went back to the shanty
"BiIl," said Joyce as they entered
| the place, 81 was the man that they
suspected, and l will be the one to
clear up this thing, if l die in the at
tempt"
Lord, Pete, don't do it," replied the
other in a panic. Man alive, don't
do it; Think of yourself, my lad!"
Thompson, tonight | shall go out
alone to meet this terror! | don't want
any help; for like as not we would be
firing into one another during the
night watch. This-this thing only
follows up one man at time, it
seems, and l shall 60"
And so all day long the two men
wrestled with each other upon the mat
ter, but the more Thompson pleaded
the more resolute became the young
man at his side.
All day there was a strange quiet
prevailing about the yards, and at
half-past five Joyce crept out of the
watchman's place and started off down
| the tracks alone.
There was not a sound to be heard
except the putting of the switching en-
| gines working more than mile away,
and soon these became silent.
| Whenever Joyce came to break in
! the lines of freight he would creep
| through the opening inch by inch, his
arms extended. At midnight he went
into a deserted flagman's house. He
unlocked the door, went in and
warmed himself over the still glowing
Goals which had been left in the stove,
|
looking out of the little window, until
the increasing chill inside led him to
rise to his feet, examine his arms and
! then
What was that which passed in front
| of the place? Surely that was not a
Whit of smoke column of soot
travelling across the rails!
In an instant he was in the open
air. running swiftly alongside the
course which the uneXplainable terror
was taking, with only single line OF
fiat cars between them.
Not a sound reached him, while his
heart beat almost to suffocation. Step
by step he advanced, now stopping to
look beneath the cars, now standing
and listening at their sides.
At last he came to an opening in a
long line of freights, and there, not
so feet distant and made visible in the
dim light which came from the lower
shops, he saw the dreadful form, its
eyes like Goals of fire, standing upon
the ground on the other side of the
train, it's great shaggy arm reaching
across the intervening space as IL
searching for his throat.
The sound of his revolver seemed to
wake all the echoes of the surrounding
hills, and with a shrill scream, roar
of fury, the horror leaped into the
air, over the top of the fiat car directly
at his head
He ran through the opening between
the cars, turned about and faced it
again, as it raised itself for second
clutch at his throat. Again and again
he fired directly into it's eyes, and still
it screamed with an early voice as 1t
tried with desperate energy to reach
him.
Even when he saw it at last begin to
stagger and reel back against the side
of the flat-cars, he drew the hatch&t
hanging in his belt and struck at II
repeatedly, until it lay at last sha.se-
less bulk at his feet.
In the morning light it was dragged
back to the company's Offices and ex-
amined by the railway surgeon and
other officials with utmost astonish-
ment it being pronounced to be some
form of great ape, neither a chimpan-
zee nor gorilla, which had doubtless
escaped from distant travelling show
possibly breaking out from boXcar
in which it had been transported dur
ing a night ride.
But the memory of it's presence In
the switching yards of the G. L. w
Railway Company lasted for many g
month and for long time afterward
it was difficult to find men who were