The Bottineau courant., 1912-09-06

l RI
He brought up:with q sickening siam
across the seat into which Marjorie
had been jounced back with breath.
taking slam. And then Kathleen
came flying backwards and landed in
heap on both of. them. 7
Several Of the other passengers
We're just returning from breakfast
and they were shot and scattered all
!; over the car as II q great chain OF hui
man beads had burst.
Women screamed. men yelled. and
then while they were still struggling
against the seats and one another, the
train came to a halt. s'5,St
Thank God. we stopped in time!"
Mallory gasped, as he tried to disen-
gage himself and Marjorie from Kath-
leen
The passengers began to regain
their courage with their equilibrium.
Little Jimmie Wellington had flown
! the whole length of the car, clinging
to his wife as II she were Francesca
"a Rtmini, and he Paolo,. fitting
through Inferno. The flight ended at
the stateroom door with such a thump
that Mrs. Fosdick was sure q detec,
Z tive had come for her at last, and
! with battering ram. !
But when Jimmie got back breath
!; enough to talk, he remembered the
strain-stopping excitement OF the day
, before and called out: ,
Has Mrs. Mallory lost that pun
again?" I
Everybody laughed uproariously at
this. People will laugh at anything
/, or nothing when they have been
frightened almost to death and sud-
denly relieved of anxiety.
Everybody was cracking q Joke at
Marjories expense. Everybody felt a
good-natured grudge against her for
| Delng such a mystery. The car was
!, ringing with hilarity, when the por.
ter came stumbling in and paused at
{ the door, with eyes all white, hands
/ waving frantically, and lips flapping
!; like flannel, Id vain effort to speak.
The passengers stopped laughing at
!. Marjorie, to laugh at the porter. Ash.
]. ton sang out:
I What's the matter with you, por-
ter? Are you trying to crow"
Everybody roared at this, till the
porter finally managed to articulate:
i T-t-t-train rob-rob-robbers!"
!! Silence shut down as If the whole
crowd had been smitten with paraly.
sis. From somewhere outside and
ahead came a pop-popping as of fire.
crackers. Everybody thought, RE
! volvers!" The reports were mingled
with barbaric yells that turned the
marrow in every bone to snow.
! These regions are full of historic
terror. All along the Nevada route
3 the conductor, the brakemen and old
travellers had pointed out scene after
scene where the Indians had slaked
the thirst OF the arid land with white
mans blood. Ashton, who had tray.
eled this way many times, had made
himself fascinatingly horrirying the
evening before and ruined several
breakfasts that morning in the dining.
car, by regaling the passengers with
stories OF pioneer ordeals, men and
women massacred in burning wagons,
or dragged away to fiendish cruelty
and obscene torture, staked out supine
on burning wastes with eyelids cut
on. bound down within reach of rat
tlesnakes. subjected to every misery
that human deviltry could devise. /
Ashton had brought his fellow pas.
sengers to state of ecstatic excit.
ability. and, like many recounter OF
burglar stories at night, had tuned
his own nerves to high tension.
The violent stopping of the train,
the heart-shaking yells and shots out.
side, found the passengers already apt
to respond without delay to the an.
peals Of fright. After the first hush
OF dread, came the reaction to panic. ]
Each passenger showed his own
panic in his own way. Ashton whirIed
round and round, like horse with
the blind staggers, then bolted down
! the aisle, knocking aside men and
women. He climbed on seat, pulled
down an upper berth, and, scrambling
into it, tried to shut 1t on himself.
Mrs. Wh1tcomb was so frightened that
she assailed Ashton with fury and
selling his feet, dragged him back in
to the aisle, and beat him with her
fists, demanding that he protect her
and save her for Sammy's sake.
Mrs Fosdick, rushing out Of her
stateroom and not finding her lus-
/! cious-eyed husband. laid hold of Jim
mic Wellington and ordered him to
go to the rescue Of her spouse. Mrs.
| Wellington tore her hands loose, cry
ing: Let him go, madam. He has q
wife Of his own to defend"
Jimmie was trying to pour out dy.
ing messages. and only sputtering, for
getting that he had put his watch in
his mouth to hide 1t, though Its chain
| was still attached to his waistcoat.
Anne Cattle, who had read much
about Chinese atrocities to mission
aries, gave herself up to death, yet re-
joiced greatly that she had provided
timely man to lean on and should
not have to enter Paradise q spinster,
providing she could manage to con-