The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1910-12-16
A YOUNG
HEROINE
By F. A. mitchell
Copyright. 1910, by American Press
Association.
By F. A. mitchell

Jenny" said John Hughes to his
daughter, a girl of fourteen, Il must
have a doctor. You are the only per-
son to so for him, your mother being
half sick herself 1t is a wild night,
know. for little maid to go out and
/; walk two miles to the doctors; only
the fear of my dying and leaving your
mother and yourself in our present des-
titute condition for want of Il doctors
skill makes me willing to let you 60"
There is no reason why shouldn't
go, father" said Jenny, getting down
little ragged coat from peg.
eyes, there is" said the father, with
the peevishness of a sick man. You'll
have to cross the railroad bridge, and
| I'm afraid the wind will blow you off,
Take the lantern, and be sure to take
| box of matches in case you need to
relight it, There is no train down for
more than an hour. but the up passen-
ger express is due in thirty-fye min
| utes. 1t will take you five minutes to
reach the bridge and five more to cross
| t. That will give you plenty OF time.
But don't attempt to cross in case you
are delayed.
| Jenny lighted the lantern from
wisp Of burning paper and. taking a
| box of matches from a shelf. sailed
| forth into the darkness 1t was hut
hundred yards to the track. and she
knew every step OF the way SO we'll
| that she could have gone over 1t with
out the lantern Once on the track. 1t
was but short walk to the bridge
She dreaded to cross il for the cause
her father had mentioned-tha the
bowling wind might blow her off and
down hundred feet into the torrent.
| Besides, she knew what her father
| had known but had not spoken-that
an engine or a train not laid down on
the schedule might cross the bridge
while she was on It,
/ But there was no stOuter hearted
| maid in that region than Jenny
Hughes. though she had never given
evidence. of it,, She boldly set foot on
| to the bridge. stepping from tie to tie,
never faltering till she reached point
! over the torrent. Then, obliged to
brace herself against the wind. hear
ing the roaring waters below, though
she could not see them. she faltered.
But not for long. The possible loss Of
her father, whom she dearly loved.
gave her courage, and she pushed on.
She had crossed the center Of the
bridge and was entering upon part
under which was stone support when
she saw that one side Of the track
was considerably lower than the 9th
er. She knew that the abutment was
giving way, and any train crossing
the bridge would go down to its ruin
and the death Of those on 1T. To cross
this part. distance of some fifty.
feet, was fraught with an additional
danger. The sloping Of the ties to one
side alone would force her to crawl
over them. and the bridge might go
down at any moment. But she thought
with horror of the train of which her
father had spoken and the people on
it, who would be hurled down into
the abyss if she could not warn them,
and, forgetting the danger, crawled
on to the slanting ties.
She was obliged to go very slowly,
but by dint of clutching rail with
one hand while she held the lantern
with the other she passed the injured
part and in few minutes more reach
ed the land ON the other side Of the
stream She knew that she had been
at least twice as long as her father
had calculated she would be and not
fifteen. would elapse before the ar
rival of the up train. The thought OF
what she must do to warn the engi-
neer made her incautiOus. Intending
to take position as far as possible
from the bridge, she hurried on. Sud
denly she tumbled into cattle guard.
She was stunned and. worse than
that, the light in her lantern was ex-
tinguished But she pulled herself to-
gether, hunted for its two parts that
had become. separated, till she found
them and taking her box of matches
from her pocket lit one of them
Though the wind blew it out at once
she had time to see that there were
not half q dozen matches in the box.
She scratched another match and it.
too. was extinguished by the wind. An
other and another attempt was made
till all her matches save one were
gone For moment she gave way to
despair then concentrated her little
brain on the great problem Of saving
scores of lives. Tearing the skirt Of
her cotton dress to shreds, she made
miniature tent Of her coat, scratched
her last match under it, touched the
flame to one of the shreds, placed 9th
ers over it, and in moment her Ian
| tern was relighted
! This done. she crawled out from the
cattle guard and ran along the track,
| but now more cautiously. Within
| few minutes she heard the rumbling OF