Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-11

links, the straining of timbers, all united ir
a clamor that filled his head.
THEN something out of the jangling din
caught his ear with special note and he
recognized a thin, shrill shred of sound weav
ing in and out through the clamor He
raised his head to listen. The blast of sand
motion had steadied, for the moment at
least. Straight ahead, somewhere far down
what looked now like a straight slope, was a
little glow of light, and against it he caught
in momentary black silhouette the square
forward end of the train he was on and the
figure of a man standing on his feet and
clinging to the brake wheel there.
That was Reach, alert, not inundated in
the slightest, sticking by. ready to do his
part. Buckler CROPPED for his pick in the cor
ner of the car, realizing that the time had
come to act. He must loose the patent
coupler and then set the brakes. He struck
the head of his pick on the coupler bar and
next moment heard the pin jangle against
the drawbar and knew that his first stroke
had told He scrambled back to the brake
with new eagerness and swung his long body
upon the wheel.
1t was at that instant that the first light
flashed past him, and the knowledge that
they had actually reached the town struck
upon him with the force of the unbelievable
come true. Another light whisked past, then
another, then a sudden flood of street open
ing, and hollow rumble coming for an in.
slant from the wheels told of crossing.
He must dump the car now, he remembered,
and he climbed down over the car front, and
a moment afterward was aiming clumsy
blows at the ratchets, while he held the
brake rod with the other hand.
The car dumped with a rush. He felt the
release of its load in the Undesirable light
ness of its spring. But at the same instant
the brakes seemed to take hold and drag with
new power on the wheels. For the first time
gap opened between the running cars.
Then there was sudden check, more de-
cided than the first, and presently another
and an uncertain movement of the car. All
at once the great gondola seemed to be
rearing heavily into the air like tired but
obstinate horse, and to dodge toward the
side with a staggering, blind, dragging leap,
and next instant it had sunk its trucks deep
into the sod and loan of the ungraded right
of way and stopped. and Buckler was sitting
in the wet of a muddy gutter. dizzily con-
scious that the race was over and that he
was still alive.
A TALL young man with very white
face, with hands torn and bleeding,
with clothing a mass of muddy rags, but
with eyes afire with triumph, told an almost
incredible story to the gathering crowd at
Hart station. Another man in similar con-
dition and lirnping painfully, but also tri-
umphant, came in out of the darkness.
And half an hour later motorcar coming
in from the mountain road was met by
posse before it could turn into the dark back
streets leading to the depot; and one of three
passengers, a small man with shaved head
covered by cap, with scared face that was
not covered at all, was taken over to the
county jail, to be held safely against to-
morrow's opening of court.
The gravel train was pretty well wrecked
on the hillside opposite the mountain, and
the people went out en- maSSe to view its re-
mains. 1t had come eighteen miles in a trifle
less than twenty-five minutes.
RUT meanwhile three persons sat in John
- Rector's library and listened while the
fourth told the tale all over again, with de-
tails. Buckler gave Reach the credit, which
Reach disclaimed, and the Sheriff silenced
the lawyers insistence by laying all the
laurels most gracefully. and to Vance's con-
fusion, at Comics feet. And old John Rec
tor smiled and his eyes cleaned as he listened
in a manner that his daughter argued meant
well.
l.