Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1918-06-21

-
TO another of them where they lay on
the ground. all the living and some Of
the dead, / guess, telling them over
and over again that it wasn't my fault,
that the semaphore was clear-clear
as a crystall | made them look to
where both its useless arms, the red
and white, hung limp in the sunlight
One man laughed when / told him,
then he cursed me, and died with the
curse upon his lips. And 1t was his
little girl that looked like minel"
Mile after mile sped away and the
two travellers sat silently looking out
of the window and thinking grayely.
There was q long stop by and by, and
the stranger spoke Of It.
Yes" agreed the ex-engineer, I'VE
ought to be out of here This is Cor
don Junction, and the st. Louis train
Is In ahead of U.S."
The conductor presently came
hustling into the car.
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-
pected. Instead, the ex-engineer sat
silent for some time, moistening his
lips alternately with a curious, slow
elaboration.
You know where we are, don't you,
Murphy" he finally returned, and
the conductor gave smile of under
standing indulgence. Cant Jimmie
last until we pass the Edgarville
curve? / won't mind running her in
from there"
Last" repeated Murphy. He's in
the baggage car on a cot now, with a
doctor that we got out Of the Cincin-
natl sleeper. Acute gastritis, he calls
it. Nothing to it, Billy-you1l have to
forget that old affair and take the
throttle"
Without a word the ex.engineer
arose, and, COMPRISING his lips,
walked out of the car and toward the
engine. The stranger noticed that as
he went he was swapping the fingers
of each hand alternately.
1t was an engine of a new type, but
the man who climbed into it 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 the
steam way, slowly the ponderous
wheels began to revolye. 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 1t
gathered speed, he was part and par
eel Of his engine; the breeze that
across his face and ruiiled his griz-
zled hair; the rock and the sway OF
the big machine struck him with a
keen sensation as Of one homesick
but returned home.
Little by little he 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 sluggist
river. There came upon him an ex-
hilaration as II he had tasted OF new
wine. Even at the head OF the grade
leading down to the Edgarville curve
he seemed to be half drunk with the
Joy Of 1t all, and blithely he called
across the cab to the green fireman
We're all right this morning. my
boy; the semaphore is clear-clear as
crystal"
They we're just nearing the signal
tower when suddenly he gave a
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, fol
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 it came TO q
standstill at the field Just beyond the
curve.
The conductor and the stranger
were the first to come running OF
ahead, to find the engineer in the
empty field, limping painfully with hi!
hand upon his back and bending over
first to one side and then to the other
talking; and each time he stretched
a trembling hand to where both arm;
OF the semaphore, the red and this
white. hung straight down In the sun
light.
Il can't find the little girl that looks
like my Elsie!" he complained, al
they approached him. Then he slow
ly raised his head and met theil
glance; his eyes were wide set, anC
there was in them the wild light which
no man. having once seen. can evel
forget.
1T wasn't my fault" he exclaimed
piteously, pointing his trembling hanC
toward the signal tower. The soma
phore was clear-clear as a crystal
Look"
Copyright. by the Frank A. Munsey Co.
Llse the Martinez.