The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-07-29
CONTINUED from page 81
a HERO IN SPITE or HIMSELF.

AS he did SO ne H0dru roar De-
hind him, and crouched down as
train whirled by with a streak of
light on the UP line.
"Good!" he said, as he got up.
"That's the ten o'clock out of Dull
minister, and the coasts clear till the
down mail comes. I'll get to work."
And he took the spanner he had
brought with him, and felt along one
of the down rails till he came to
fishplate-the piece of iron which
bolts the rails together. It is fairly
straightforward work loosening the
nuts in daylight, but in the pitchdark-
ness, and amid the beating of the
tempest, the ex-platelayer found that
it took some time before the nuts
were finally off, the bolts removed,
and the fishplate thrown away on the
side of the line.
Fastening to the other side of the
rail, he repeated the process and de-
tached another fishplate. Then, TAX
ing his hammer, he commenced to
knock the keys out of the chairs be-
longing to the loosened rail.
Rails are about ninety pounds to
the yard on the Midwest Northern,
and it took the ex-platelayer all his
strength to twist and lift it out. But,
finally, it lay alongside the line
He had taken out a complete rail,
and the down express would miss it
| in half an hour.
1t had taken him, so he calculated,
quite an hour to do all this, and what
with the heaviness of his work and
the fury of the storm, the effects of
the drink were beginning to wear off.
Slowly he began to ascend the en-
bankment.
81 reckon that ought to pay EN- out
curse 'em-" he had begun to NUT
ter, when suddenly he paused, startled
and terror-stricken. A fearful crash
louder than anything the storm had
yet brought forth, was borne to his
ears from up the line.
"The bridget" he cried. "The water
must ha' swamped it!'
Regaining the bottom of the cut
ting, the instinct of curiosity CON
uuering over that of self-preservation
he fastened up the line to where the
bridge crossed the river.
Where the bridge had crossed it
rather for in it's place was a jagged
chasm swirling with white-cresteo
rapids. The stream, gathering ii
force with the storm, had swept away
the central pier, and the bridge had
fallen in.
The wind-swept clouds had cleared
for a minute, and by the dim light Of
half dozen shivering stars Jasper
Finch could make out what had hap
pened.
The bridge was gone!
There is sometimes that curious
psychological moment in a mans Life
when, after having labored for Ger
tain end, and attained the object fo'
which he strove SO zealously he woul'
give all the world to undo it all. Som
unforeseen event, some sudden trag
edy, maybe, discloses in an instan
what years, perhaps, have failed t
, reveal-the fact that the man ha
been laboring foolishly, blindly, an
in vain.
Certain it was that Jasper Finch
! the man who had just been exertin
; his best strength to remove RAJ
from the line, exclaimed, as he stoo
at the edge of the chasm and gazed a
the foaming torrent:
ooh, God, the down express will b
: wrecked"
A minute before he had wished
y wrecked. Now, thoroughly sobere
: first by work and fatigue, and then b
surprise and terror, he loathed Natur
: for coming to his assistance, an
thought only of the trains salvation
There was the terror of despair
his cry. All else was forgotten, tn
man-all that had been smothered
his nature by wrecks of debauch, a
that was there all the time-rose u
I permost in him and conquered h
vile passions.
Whats to be done? She'll be hel
in less than half an hour!"
II 1t was terrible situation. Thel
we're absolutely no means, so far {
he could see, for the moment, of pr
venting the train, being hurled in
the gap. It was no use rushing bat
to Dullminster and getting them
N wire up to Egton and stop the trail
a administers signal-box was thr'
miles off, and he could not get the
in the time. If he could cross I'll
1 riveri
l But no; the nearest bridge was
mile and a half upstream, and
the time he had worked his W.
round the train would be wrecke
| Besides, even if he did not get acros
how could he stop it? The night w
black He had no light to show 4
though he knew that matches cou
not live in such a storm, he felt b
pockets hastily to see If he had an
No-not box!
"HaIloi" he exclaimed. as his hal