Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1915-05-06

| " nat Hdu ne uOHS now lau knln
thing come between them?
He saddled hi8 horse and rode FIVE
miles 70 his nearest neighbor.
Keep charge OF my sheep q day or
two" he said I'm going to Butte"
Something wrong with the wife,"
asked the neighbor alphabetically.
Yes answered Larry. riding away.
| However. he had no intention OF &C.
| ing to Butte. He knew that the night
train from Butte stopped to take on
water at q siding a few miles down
the valley. He could catch her If he
| rode hard. And, once aboard--well.
Larry had a revolver In his coat
pocket
Yet his object was less TO be- re-
venged upon Collins than to preserve
Dorothy's good name, to save her from
| herself
He rode hard. The moon came up
and lit the mountain way. Tine and
| again he thought he heard the Butte
train snorting up the incline in the
distance, but always the sound proved
imaginary. And now he was nearing
| the railroad track, which ran. a mar
row, edged ribbon, beneath him. He
spurred his horse down the mountain
way.
AT last he dismounted and, turning
the beast adrift to Craze, waited be-
side the rails. Terrible thoughts as
sailed him as he waited there What
II. instead of killing Collins, he were
to place one OF the huge fallen frs
across the rails, dislodging the engine
from the metals as 1t came swinglns
round the curve? He could destroy
Collins and a hundred others, sending
them to their death among the bowl
ders far below the grade, and escape
unknown in the confusion.
Was Dorothy worth the sacrifice of
his own life In retribution?
The temptation grew stronger, until
the man shook with the agony that
assailed him At last he went toward
the tallest OF the frs, a giant tree az
hard as ebony, which lay with its
trunk projecting only q few inches
from the rails With the exercise of
all his strength he could shift it
few Inches down the incline He knew
that just where II lay the curve was
the most dangerous. He stopped.
Then, in the distance, he heard the
putting OF the engine as she forced
her way up TO the summit before de-
scending on the grade that led to the
siding There was just time
But the sight OF the fiery eyes OF
the monster above him paralyzed his
mind, and he could not turn his mus
cles to the accomplishment OF the
task. And now the engine was de-
scendtng the grade, numbering and
screaming as she made her way toward
the siding. Larry stood still II was
too late now But 1t was not too late
to carry out his original purpose
Suddenly the moving mass seemed
to stand still She swerved, reared,
and then, with a scream OF escaping
steam, tho engine left the metals and
toppled upon its side, followed by nalf
the cars, yet clinging almost miracu-
lousy to the mountain side
Flames burst out among the wreck
age The screams OF the injured
reached Larry's ears plainly Entire
ly iorgetful OF his purpose, the ran
ran at full speed toward the scere OF
the accident, Men and women lay
half buried beneath the wreckage. Lar.
~ ran along the side OF the over
turned cars, searching for Dorothy.
And he found her She was unin-
tured, and on her knees, she crouched
beside man with CHASTITY wound
across his breast. Larry knew Col
Inns, though the face had been bat
tered almost out OF recognition. He
must have been killed instantly.
He touched Dorothy upon the arm.
There is nothing to do" he said.
1T is too late"
Yes" she answered, rising to her
feet In mechanical manner and NOV
ing away. She seemed stunned by the
catastrophe. She hardly realized
where she was
Lerry devoted hour after hour to
aiding tne injured, until the hospital
| train that was rushed out from Butte
came up, Then he found Dorothy again.
She was standing near the body Of her
companion. looking uncertainty about
| her.
What are you going to do?" asked
/ Larry
Il don't know she answered calm
". She seemed 10 have lost all power
OF feeling GO on to California, sup
pose. You see. have my ticket"
But what will you do there?"
What does that matter to you?
Anything"
Dorothy, you said you did not love
that man. said Larry.
"Well?' she returned
Dorothy, in the old days used to
love a little girl in Wales. She was
highstrung and willful sometimes, but
she was never bad Nobody could
have said that OF her And one day.
after n quarrel-she didn't know l
took II, but took vow. 1t was that
l would always protect her. against
| herself even. And though that was
long ago, and she is married now, do
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