The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-05-03
WAS 1T ER?

been many Years In the
service and bore an excellent characte,
Tor steadinesS. but MAS considered
rather tacitnrn. he seemed to he al
ways IN the SulRS and WAS. suppose
of a surly temper. Before we started
one morning he hardly answered anv
remark | addressed TO him and seemed
more surly than usual. When the head
guard gave us the signal and Moran
turned the handle, we moved Slowly
and steadily out of the station. Whel.
we got we'll out into the country, Moi,
gan turned to me and said shortly.
More coalr,'
Now. in my opinion. no more GOA.
was wanted. as there was quite enough
! n the fire to keep up the usual speed.
However. as Il Stoker | was ONLY an
underlins and must obey reasonable
orders.
About an hour after leaving PAD
d1ngton Morgan stopped suddenly in
the middle of Il sentence and said.
We'll, | must get to work now Then
he opened the fire box door and called
out to me, More eoal".'
eNpostuiatel with him and pointed
out that we Scre going at a high rate
of speed and would not need more coal
before Bliliton. but this seemed to ex-
cite him terribly. Shovel 1T in.' he
roared, with an oath. I'm going to
make her travel"
10 satisfy him took up a shoveltul
and managed to upset a good deal OF
1t before | reached the fire box.
You clumsy fool!.' he called out.
Here, give it to met" And, snatching
the shovel out of my hands, he cram
med on as much coal as he could get
in.
1 was beginning to get alarmed and
looking out over the we'll known coun-
try--for | had Travelled that Journey
many a time before-saw that we were
much nearer to Blinton than we ought
to be at that hour.
In a few minutes our speed increased
enormously. and calculated we We're
travelling ut the rate Of seventy miles
an hour. ] thought it was time to re-
monstrate, and, turning to Morgan, I
noticed that the indicator showed full
speed. l called his attention to the
fact and begged him to reduce the
speed or we would run into Blinton
without being able to stop.
"Ha, ha" he cried in reply. Stop
I'm never going to stop again! told
you I'd make her travel. What do you
want to stop for? Get on, old wench,
get on" Then he burst into a hideous
peal of laughter. \ cold sweat of alb
solute terror broke out on me as re-
allied the state of things. Here was a
raving maniac. a far stronger man than
myself, in charge of a %trainful of pco-
pie. The train rushed on with incrcdi-
BILE speed. not steadily and evenly. but
with leaps and bounds that threatened
to cast the engine of the line at every
yard. There was no doubt the man
was as mad as a man could be and
was also nlaster of the situation.
made n effort to reach the handle by
which the steam is turned off. but the
mailman was too sharp for me. NO
you don't..' he shouted. He brought
his shovel down with a tremendous
blow on the rail at my side. just miss
ing my head. 1t was plain l COIL! do
nothing by force. Would stratasem be
of any use2
I looked out at the country. Time
was running short. We We're not more
than twenty miles from Blinton juno
ton. and if we did not stop there the
whole train must inevitably be ysetk
ed, and probably not one passenger
would escape uninjured and br, few
with their lives. 1 looked back to the
train. Outside the windows were hands
gesticulating and frightened, alarmed
faces. At the end of the train the
guard was waving a red flag. Some
thing must be done and by me or we
should all be inevitably lost. / made
up my mind. turned to Morgan. with
a smile on my face, and I said: old
boy, you're quite right. This is a fine
pace. but it, amt quite fast enough.
Look here".' And I caught him by tire
arm and led him to the side of the en-
CINE next to the double rail. "See,"
cried. there is another train coming
up faster than us. and she will pass us.
We must 60 faster. but let's see first
who is driving her. Lean forward and
look. Can YOU see?'
The poor maniac stepped outside the
rail and leaned forward to look for the
imaginary train when l gave him a
sudden push. and he fell in a heap on
the side rails and was killed on the
spot. With a gasp of relief ! sprang
back to the engine and turned off the
steam. 1t was not a moment too soon.
We were we'll in sight of Blinton juno
ton before l had the train properly
under control. l pulled up at the plat
form all right, aud then 1 tainted.
When l came to, l was lying on ii
bench in the waiting room, and the in
spector was standing over me, with his
notebook in his hand, prepared to take
down my statement. What I stated
was that the engine driver had gore