The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-03-08

anu lOOhtu At lllt IL uthS lIll SliNlNANN
away to the vanishing point before
and behind me. There was only one
explanation possible. / had had some
terrible dream, and under its spell l
had in some miraculous manner got
off the moving train. The group that
l had seen hurrying through the car
and down the steps had been only the
shadows of a dream.
Gradually the difficulties Of my po-
stion forced themselves upon me.
What was l to do? Here l was, alone
upon the great prairie, with no habita-
ton within miles. My clothing, my
ticket and my money were all on the
train that was fast making its way to
The East There was only one thing
could do In some way l must stop
the next train.
"In the meantime I continued my
walk The morning light was now
sufficient TO give me n clear view, and
after a little. as l looked far ahead
down the narrow, glistening tracks, my
heart gave a great leap. Surely there
in the distance was building near
the tracks.
"It was still early morning when,
footsore and exhausted, | reached lit
tie telegraph station, where | found
n sleepy night operator. He opened
his eyes wide when a young woman,
attired in a dressing robe, young
woman whose hair was disheveled and
shoes scratched, appeared before him.
1 told my story as coherently as possi-
bic, and was relieved to find that he
agreed with my explanation.
yes he said, when l had finished,
you must have had the nightmare, and
had it bad. But how you ever got
off that express train without breaking
your neck is more than l can see"
'T never think of that night operator
without a feeling of gratitude. He
was a man of resource. In a few mo-
ments he had made and placed before
me 4 cup of steaming coffee, clear and
strong.
Now he said, we must plan
what's to be done. In about an hour
your train will reach Hamlin, where it
makes a stop of twenty minutes. l
will telegraph there to have your things
removed from the car and held for you.
Then / will get orders to have the next
express stop here and take you aboard.
1t will not delay you many hours
He seated himself at the instru-
ment, and then began the click! click!
that seemed to me TO continue many
weary minutes. At last he turned TO
me with a smile.
cts all right he said. They will
take your things from the train, and
the next express, that goes through
in about two hours, will stop for you.
Doubtless your disappearance has not
vet been discovered, and won't be un-
til the train reaches Hamlin.'
another weary wait began, broken
at last by the insistent click of the
telegraph. AS word after word of the
message was spelled out by the instru-
ment, a look of surprise and keen in
terest came into the face cf the opera
tor. At last he turned and looked at
me curiously.
"Then he told me that message that
had Just come over the wires. My
train had reached Hamlin, and my
absence had not been discovered until
then. So far, nothing very startling
but listen to this When the train
from which had made such mys
terious exit reached Hamlin it had a
strange tale to tell. The night before
on the open prairie, it had been board
ed by q large band Of train robbers
There had been brief struggle, II
which the robbers had been success
fully repulsed, and the train had gone
on its way.
"a few weeks before there had beer
daring and successful robbery on one
of the roads in the Southwest. A large
sum of money had been taken from
the express car and the mails rifled
The detectives who worked on the cast
believed this robbery was one OF
series that had been carefully planned
and had warned all the Western roads
to be on the alert. When the train ol
which had taken passage started fol
the East, it had on board, all unknown
to the passengers, strong guard.
I'm the struggle that followed TIT
attempt to hold up the train, the rob
bers soon saw they would be over
powered, and sought to make their es
| cape. To create confusion and to maxi
it more difficult for the guard in tn
express car to shoot, they had plunged
through one or two of the other cars
and so off the train. My car had beel
one through which they had rushed
and it was this band of desperate mel
that l had followed in the alright o
my awakening.
'The train had been brought nearl,
to a standstill, and that is why ha'
no great difficulty in getting off. o
course when the robbers reached tn
ground they scattered in all directions
and hence l saw no one beside tn
tracks when the train had passed.
"You can imagine the feelings wit
which / heard the operators story.
was a relief to know that I had nc