Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-02-07


a minute or two the terrible speed
slackened a little. Then some part
of the disused hand-gear gave way I'M
der the three-man strain and that
hope was gone.
There's one thing left" said the
superintendent, indomitable to the
last. well uncouple and let him
drop us behind"
The space in the forward vestibule
was narrow and cramped, and with the
strain of the dragging car to make the
pin stick, it took two of them lying
flat, waiting for the back-surging mo-
ment and wiggling it for slack, to pull
it. The coupling dropped out of the
hook and the engine shot ahead to
the length of the safety chains; thus
far. but no farther.
Halkett stood up.
cts up to you, Danforth," he said,
raising his voice to be heard above
the pounding roar Of the wheels.
you're the youngest and highest: get
down on the 1,010's brake-beam and
unlock those chains"
The secretary looked once into the
trap with the lodging jaws and the
hackward-f1ying bottom and declined
the honor
81 can't get down there he cried.
'And I shouldn't know what to do
if 1 could"
Once more the superintendent ex-
hibited his nerve. He had nothing at
stake save a desire to defeat Callahan;
but he had the persistent courage OF
the bull-terrier. With Bucks and the
secretary to steady him he lowered
himself in the gap till he could stand
upon the brake-beam of the 1,O10's
tender and grope with one free hand
for the hook Of the nearest safety
,chain. Death nipped at him every
time the engine gave or took up the
slack of the loose coupling, but he
lodged and hung on until he had sat-
is1ed himself.
Its no good" he announced, when
they had dragged him by main
strength back to footing in the mar
row vestibule. "The hooks are bent
into the links. We're due to go
wherever that damned Irishman is talk
ing u.s."
Shovel was firing and the trailing
smoke and cinders quickly made the
forward vestibule untenable When
they were driven in, Bucks and the re-
ceiver went through to the rear plat
form, where they were presently
Joined by Halkett and Danforth.
"I've been trying the air again."
said the superintendent, "but it's no
go. What's next"
The governor gave the word.
wait" he said; and the four OF
them chung to the hand-rails, swaying
and bending to the bounding lurches
of the flying car.
Mile after mile reels from beneath
the relentless wheels, and still the
speed increases. Station Donerail is
passed, and now the pace is so furious
that the watchers on the rallied plat
form cannot make out the signals in
the vOlleying wake of dust. Station
Schofield is passed, and again the sig
nails, II any there be, are swiftly
drowned in the gray dust-smother.
From SchOfield to Aqua Caliente is but
a scant ten miles; and as the flying
train rushes on toward the state
boundary, two faces in the quartet Of
watchers show tense and drawn I'M
der the yellow light of the Pintsch
platform lamp.
The governor swings himslf I'M
steadily to the right-hand railing and
the long look ahead brings the
twinkling arc-star of the tower light
on Breezeland Inn into view. He turns
to Guilford, who has fallen limp into
one of the platform chairs.
In five minutes more we shall pass
Aqua Caliente," he says. Twill you
kill the Irishman.. or shall II" Gull
ford's lips move, but there is no audi
bic reply; and Bucks takes Danforth's
weapon and passes quickly and alone
to the forward vestibule.
The station of Aqua Caliente
swings into the field of 1,010's electric
headlight. Callahan's tank has been
bone dry for 20 minutes, and he is
watching the glass water-gauge where,
the water shows now only when the
engine lurches heavily to the left.
He knows that the crown-sheet of the
fire-box is bare, and that any moment
it may give down and the end will
come. Yet his gauntleted hand never
falls from the throttle-bar to the air.
cock, and his eyes never leave the bub.
BILE appearing at long intervals in the
heel of the water-glass.
Shovel has stopped firing, and is
hanging out of his window for the
straining look ahead. Suddenly he
drops to the footplate to grip Gala
hans arm.
"See!" he says. 'They have set the
switch to throw us in on the siding!"
In one motion the futter of the ex-
haust ceases, and the huge ten-wheeler
buckles to the sudden setting of the
brakes. The man standing In the
forward vestibule of the Naught-seven
lowers his weapon. Apparently it is
not going to be necessary to kill the
engineer after all.
But Callahan's nerve has failed him
only for the moment. There is one
chance in ten thousand that the cir
cumambulating side track is empty;
one and one only, and no way to make
sure of it. Beyond the station, as CAL
lahan well knows, the siding comes
again into the main line, and the
switch is straight-rail safety" Once
again the thought of his motherless