Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-12-27

1 The two. who liked him, pulled the boy
toward the tender. lie shook loose.
stay and be--hanged," shouted the
conductor. with a fiery expletive. Let
him alone" he cried. angrily. Hes
dippy. Gomez And with his companions
hustling close after he started over the
coal on the tender.
The train had attained a frightful pace.
Already glimpses OF its long, curving
roll on the distant hill might be seen
from the window OF Signal station. where
the disturbed operator had taken the
message OF the runaway from Cedar
Grove and was reading II to Helen
Holmes, breathless besides his table:
Air brakes broken down. Running
away sldetrack No. 2O.-No. 1A5."
II was the import of the last sentence
which for an instant froze her senses,
Her fatherl The passenger train facing
that runaway on the single track be-
low Signal More than once she had
heard her father declare that the stretch
between Signal and the next station.
Beaman. must be double-tracked-only.
money was so hard to get. II the lack
of II should now cost him his life. the
lives of perhaps half hundred othersI
While she was thinking, the operator
was working furiously at his key with
a message for Beaman station. His one
hope OF avoiding the head-on collision
was to catch the passenger train at
Bearnan.
stop No 20. Runaway on main line
| He told Helen. closely watching his
nervous fingers. what he had sent. II
should have an answer In a minute"
| II came at once. The signal station
operator first tried TO write II, then
threw down. his pen and repeated it's
words unsteadily to the frightened giri.
mo 20 left ON time. Between here and
the river"
with wide-open eyes she looked la
tently toward the mountains. At the
moment the rolling hills now hid the
runaway. but the situation was charting
itself like lightning. In her mind. Be
tween where she stood and where the
passenger train was coming the line
crossed San Pablo river, a navigable
tidewater stream and waterway that
fed a considerable traffic to the railroad.
Her father had put across the San Pablo
huge jacklSnlfe drawbridge-the best an
honest engineer and an honest railroad
directorate could build. Just over the
river from signal station ne had already
put In. as a start toward double-tracking
long sidetrack. At Signal there was
no siding. nothing. in fact, but the sta
ton building.
With everything OF this speeding like
film through her head. Helen was
dashing out OF the office when the scream
OF whistle signal bore down on her
ears. Confused as she was. II meant
nothing 20 her. A chance. a hope, had
flashed across her mind and her resolv,
had been Saken-to reach the sidine
switch and sidetrack the fatal runaway
before II should strike and scatter 70 de-
struction the helpless passenger train.
Rocket, without a thought other thar
OF alfalfa and undisturbed repose ia his
dropping head. stood at hand in the sun
shine. To his amusement his mistress
running to him. headlong. vaulted upon
his back. In her fear she cried TO him
The horse heard--it seemed as IL he un-
derstood. He woke. quivering. at the I'm
pact OF her body. Whirling with his
charge. at the touch OF the bride rein
50 quick that he almost bolted from un-
! der his mistress. who was trying to seal
herself. the brute galloped with Heller
down the main track toward the river
bridge.
She painted at great drafts OF SUNNY
mountain air as Rockets wiry legs
stretched and bounded under her witt
/ every stride her mind cleared. With thi,
her courage mounted. II was. after all
no more than a smart dash for her e
attain for everyone safety. The bridE'