The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1910-06-10

with him, and Kirk had thrown him
from the cab.
did not wish to alarm the pas
sengers, so l passed quietly back
through the car; but 1 had no sooner
smut the door behind me, than l
grasped the cord overhead for the
purpose of giving the signal to stop.
But no response was given. There
was no signal for down brakes, and
we went whirling on through the
darkness at a rate such as we had
never run before.
Surely Kirk was mad, and all our
lives hung by thread.
! from the objects on the roadway
! knew that we were close to our
: hrst stopping place. If all was not
right there, a hundred souls were
doomed to instant destruction.
There was but one thing for me to
90, and that was to make my way to
the engine as soon as possible. 1 hur-
RED into the baggage car and there
found one of my brakemen talking
with the baggage master, with a face
as white as sheet.
FOLLOW me" | said to the latter.
There's some trouble on the engine.
hurry! stand by the brakes ready to
put them on the moment you get the
signal to do so"
threw open the door at the fore.
most end of the baggage car, and
clambered up on the wood which was
heaped high upon the tender. Once
there 1 saw sight such as I never
hope to see again.
The furnace door was open, and
the great glow which sprang out re-
vealed everything to me as plainly as
though it were broad daylight.
The fireman lay on the floor of the
cab apparently devoid of life The
engineer, with face like that of a
demon, was hurting the wood into the
| glowing furnace. The throttle was
out to its utmost extent, and the en-
CINE rocked and sprang onward as
though it was as mad as the insane
men who had it in charge. AL our
lives were in peril.
For a moment the sight paralyzed
us both. The baggage master had
climbed on to the wood with me, and
his face / knew was but a reflection
of my own.
Come on" I cried, breaking the
spell at last. eve must secure him,
or we are all dead men,
We sprang forward toward the
mailman. He saw us coming, and
seemed to divine in an instant what
our errand was. Grasping a huge bill
let of wood he sent it whirling at
my head. BY good fortune it went
past me, leaving me untouched. The
next moment, and before he could
grasp another missile, threw myself
upon him, and we went down to-
gether.
By good fortune 1 came uppermost,
and then came a terrific struggle.
The mailman seemed possessed of the
strength of a Samson. Had I been
underneath, he would have choked
my life out of me in less than a min
ute's time.
The baggage master sprang over us,
and the next instant came the signal
for down brakes. The he reversed
the engine, and our terrible speed
was lessened.
The mailman was doing his best to
throw us both from the cab, and in
spite of all my strength it seemed
that he would do it. The baggage
master saw that there was only one
way to save my life. Grasping heavy
piece of wood he watched his chance,
and, when it came, he dealt him
blow on the head, which ended his
struggles at once.
Three minutes later we glided into
the station, and not one of the pas
sengers on the train knew of the ter
rible danger which they had escaped.
The mailman was lifted from the cab
and placed in the hands of the proper
authorities; and to-day he is an in
mate of madhouse, with little hope
that reason will ever dawn aga"
New York Weekly.