The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-07-07

The SPECIALS UNEXPECTED STOP.

/ The step from the heights OF bliss I
the depths of misery is not slight, bu
1t doesn't take long for the descent
especially If one 10 in love Joh
Hartman the moment before readir
that note from Sadie Morton. wa
about as near heaven as n man ccul
be, When he finished the brief epistl
his thoughts were by no means celes
tial
He and Sadie had been in love for
long time. and only the decided oppo
sition of the young woman's parent
had prevented their marriage.
/ Dad has decided there is DANCE
in delay the girl wrote. "and mothe
and are to start for Europe tonight
| She and will leave over the Y. & O
| at II O'Clock on a special train. Their,
viii be no chance for me to escape a
| the depot but perhaps II you can NEE
us at some station down the road
| but YOU can't DO that for | don't sup,
pose our train will stop anywhere
i
Having read the note through fou,
times, as though unable to grasp its
meaning, Hartman folded 1t carefully
and placed it in his pocket, Then he
went 10 his room and began to think,
for he knew Mathew Morton would
Nt be nalked easily, and il was
known to be his greatest desire to
hive his daughter marry a man of
rank.
If was nearly 10 o'clock that night
when Hartman left his room. carving
mysterious bundle which he had
purchased earlier in the evening. At
a livery barn he secured buggy and
team and drove rapidly ont OF the
city. taking a road which paralleled
the railway along which the special
bearing the woman ne loved was to
go.
Not far from the city limits was
heavy grade, and 1t was on Lonesome
Ridge. as the crest of the grade was
known, that the man stopped and tied
his team. Leaving the buggy, he took
his bundle and approached the rail
road track. At the upper end of the
grade he opened his package which
contained a large brush and several
boxes of axle grease. Immediately he
set to work, and 1t was not long until
both rails, for a considerable distance.
We're so slick that there was little pos
sibility of any engine pulling even
light special train over the ridge in
less than three or four attempts.
No sooner was his work completed
than whistle sounded down the
track toward the station. and. look |
ing at his watch, Hartman knew IL |
was the special. Concealing himself |
in some underbrush near the foot OF |
the strip Of track he had creased, he
waited.
Soon he could see the headlight OF |
the engine as it swung around the
curve, and with wildly beating heart
no watched the train approach. When
the engine struck the slippery rails its
speed slackenef greatly, and before
going many feet further the forward
progress stopped altogether and the
rain began to roll back down the
grade. until brought to a sudden stop
~ the air brakes.
Rushing from his hiding place
Hartman hurried along the one Pull.
nan until he saw a curtain raised.
n the window appeared the face of
he woman he loved, and boldly he
tepped into the broad beam OF light
nd beckoned 10 her to leave the train.
The curtain was drawn down again
nd a minute later as the engine be-
an its second effort to climb the
rade. Sadie Morton stepped from the
ear platform of the Pullman into the
'aiting arms of her lover
Quickly they ran to the buggy tied
t the roadside, and drove rapidly
way They were nearly back TO the
ItE, whore a minister was waiting.
hen the engine. amid a shower Of
parks, pulled across the crest of the
rade. and Mrs. Morton ignorant of
or daughters departure, dreamed of
re European trip abroad.-Vance ,
Kiss.