The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-03-06

Johnson had the air on the engine,
the sand-pipes spouting on the frost
and the drivers on the back turn, but
the mighty machine went downward
over the crystal grease like a mon.
ster toboggan.
Back in the "dinky" caboose at the
tail Of the string Of loads there was
panic. Sid Turner, conductor. and
his two brakemen we're shouting un.
recordable and half.heard things at
each other.
GO out ahead and set the hand
brakes!" commanded Turner
Looking down the line of swaying
iostling, plunging loads. the brakemen
fatty refused to peril their lives.
Banty Burns got up from a seat In,
his brown eyes burned a kind Of fire
I'm going over ahead & help John
SON." he said. '1'll twist up the brakes
as l go. II you fellers are scared, you
can pull the pin. and cut the caboose
loose But II was you, Sid, I'd stay
by my train"
That was all. He Jumped across
onto the first car, and began to clam
ber over the heaped.up logs, screwinp
up the brakes as he went: but the
wheels slipped on the icy rails like
sled-runners The loads swung and
dipped as they flew, the rocky slides
Of the cuts shot backward in glimmer
ing sheets, the pine trees whirled
rearward, the hills lying far below
seemed twisting like live things i'm the
lap of the unstable landscape. Banty
soon had to crawl along the logs or
his hands and knees, clutchng fast
like a shaken insect. Hearing 8
snarling rip of sound, he glanced back
and saw the caboose snap like a whip
cracker against a stony bank, an6
burst open. In an instant IL was lost
to view. And onward and downward
the train roared, scorning the brake
When Banty, hatless and with bleed
ing fingers, at last tumbled over the
tail-board into the shaking coal Of the
tender, he found the cab empty. John
son and the fireman had jumped The
plucky youth got to his feet and stag
gered to the engineers seat, and tried
the levers. Everything had been done
that man could do. He leaned out the
window, Should he, too, abandon
the runaway? The rocking of the
engine was terrifying.
If she stays on the rails, and has
two or three miles Of clear sailing or
the main line, I'll get her under con
troll" thought Banty.
His teeth were set hard, and his
face was drawn and strange. The log
ger seemed now within two or three
| miles of the switch, flying at dizzying
| speed along the groove that dropped
| downward around the northern front
| of Tortoise mountain. As the engine
| rushed into more open ground, Banty
swung over to the freman's window
and looked out. Away below him wa
vered the main track, stretching east
and west, and there was express
train No. coming eastward, Could
he get out on the main line ahead OF
her? As he gazed, a picture of the
| ground near the switch flashed into
view, the sharp curve of the branch
| track, as It met the main track, anC
the extension Of the branch track in 9
safety spur for nearly a quarter OF o
mile parallel with the main line
Should he go on the safety spur, OF
take the hazard Of getting on the main
line ahead of the express?
Just then he saw Shrader's engine
coming swiftly from the east, back
ing up. His face turned gray. That
i hn
| order or running away, for it would
meet and crash into the express seem
! ingly a half-mile west of the switch
Together the two trains and engine
| were hurling, and no one man knew
| but he! II he whistled to the An
| archist' to open the switch, then the
logger would go out on the main track
and strike the engine, or, if he did
not reach the switch first, the engine
would turn in upon the branch track
and plunge into the logger Should he
| whistle to the Anarchist" TO keep the
switch closed, and so let the express
and runaway engine collide? A vision
of havoc and loss Of life rose before
| him, awe.compelling, fearful. He
seized the whistle-grip and called foI
the switch to be thrown; he would
meet the great ram rushing from the
east himself. His was but a single
life; there were many on the ex
| press.
Like a thunderbolt the logger Went
down TO strike the runaway engine
| from Gooman. All the way Banty
clung among the levers, white,faced
and feeling every nerve drawn tense
but sounding the whistle for the
| switch to open. The Anarchist
could not see the runaway engine, ow.
ing to a curying cut, and the express
was still three,fourths of a mile away
With all her loads reeling in cloud
of dust, and her engine screaming for
the switch to be held open, the logger
plunged over the frogs onto the main
4 track Shrader's engine was then 200
feet away, and Banty, seeing the deed
was done, jumped into the gangway
and leaped feet foremost into the air
In an instant he was swallowed up
in Inconsistencies. A moment later
| thara was a thunder Of burstiny mat.