Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-04-22

ought, to be out Of here, This is Cor.
don Junction. and the st. Louis train
10 in ahead Of u.s. & 4
The conductor presently came
hustling into the car. s5sS !, ".
Lucky you're aboard Billy" he
said. hopping his brow. Jimmie Dale
has just taken sick In the cab, and
you'll have to pull US In to the end
of the division. I'll report to head
quarters that you're In charge"
There was no vehement outburst OF
refusal, such as the stranger had ex. e..
spected. Instead, the ex-eng ineer sat
silent for some time, moistening his
lips alternately with : curious. slow
deliberation. I. # Il \. ,53j53s
You know where We are. don't you.
Murphy? 2" he finally returned, ana and
the conductor gave q smile OF under
standing Indulgence. Cant Jimmie
last until we pass the Edgarvills
curve? / won't mind running her "
from there 4 l.s is.d5 81 n
Last" repeated Murphy. "He's in:
the baggage car on q cot now, with :
doctor that we got ont Of the Cincin-
natl sleeper. Acute gastritis. he calls
1t. Nothing to it, Billy--you'll have to
forget that old affair and take the
throttle. MA <sj;5
Without word tho ex-engineer
arose, and, COMPRISING his lips,
walked out OF the car and toward the
engine The stranger noticed that e
/ he went he was swapping the fingers
Of each hand alternately. ~ ss35
It was an engine OF . new type, but
the man who climbed into 1t had been;
for nearly ten years In the shops OF
the road. and he knew every lever,
every cock. every device that con-
fronted him. Slowly he opened tho
steam way. slowly the ponderous
wheels began to revolve. and all at
once the. old tingle came back into
his finger tips, into his hand. into his
arm, into the muscles OF his back, into
his entire body. Once more, as It
gathered speed. he was part and par
eel Of his engine; the breeze that
came In at the cab windowss swept
across his face and rufled his griz-
lied hair; the rock and the sway OF
the big machine struck him with 2
keen sensation as Of one homestck
but returned home. a .s,s. ss ..$.s
Little by little he t''let her out" and
they spun past farmhouse and fields
and hills. past woods and marsh and
sandy waste, through rocky cut and
across bridge and trestle and culvert.
over brook and creek and slugg1st
river. There came upon him an ex-;
hilaration as If he had tasted Of new
wine. h Even at the head Gof the grade
leading down to the Edgarville curve
he seemed TO be half drunk with the
Joy OF It all, and blithely he called
across the cab TO the green fireman.
Were all right this morning, my
boy; the semaphore 10 clear-clear a.
crystal" ~
They we're Just nearing the signal
tower when suddenly he gave q.
scream that set his fireman aquiver.
and, throwing himself upon his lever.
he reversed. With all his might he
gripped the steel handle, staring
straight ahead with horror-widened
eyes and tightly clenched jaws, for
HIS face gone as white as his hair.
The momentum was too great to al
low the train to be stopped at the
tower, but with a jerk 1t came to q
standstill at the field just beyond the
curve. s1 y s ;5ss
The conductor and the stranger,
were the first to come running on
ahead. to find the engineer in the
empty field, limping painfully with his
hand upon his back and bending over,
first to one side and then to the other
talking and each time he stretched
! trembling hand to where both arms
Of the semaDhore, the red and the
white, hung straight down in the sun s
light. Y VA III ~ 7.
81 can't find the little girl that looks
like my Elsie!' he complained, -
they approached him. Then he slow
II raised his head and met their
glance: his eyes were wide set. and
there was in them the Wild light which
no man. having once seen. can ever.
forget. :;ss y Ii
ut wasn't my fault! ;" he exclaimed
,piteously, pointing his trembling hand
toward the signal tower. The sema-=
phore was clearclear q . crystal!
Look .Sss;
Copyright. BY the Frank a. .Munsey Cob
" S5@l }fe' !6r'