i8 9 7-]
“ I didn’t —” but a muffler of coarse cloth drawn tightly over
his mouth prevented his finishing the reply.
The night was dark and cold, and to add to the solemness
of the midnight hour came the roar of the river, a short dis
tance away, which drowned their racket. There was no hope
of rescue.
Only a few hundred yards of double track were visible in
each direction, for they were on a curve. The inner track was
a siding, and their plan was to tie Stanford on the spur and
leave him there to be nearly frightened to death by the express
when it came whizzing by on the main track, for in his position
it would seem to him to be on the spur.
Until now Stanford had kept cool. He had not resisted strongly
or cried out; but now, thoroughly frightened, he exerted all his
strength. Wheeling quickly about, he dealt the nearest man a
blow that sent him reeling to the ground, and then made a des
perate effort to escape, but was roughly overpowered and soon
found himself bound hand and foot. He was then laid upon the
track, his head resting upon one rail in such a position that he
could see the approaching train. Nearly every man took a turn
at tying the cords, until they had him bound so snugly that he
could scarcely move a muscle.
Oh, what wild thoughts surged through his brain! Could this
be true, or was it only another of those wild, unearthly dreams
which had lately haunted him so often ? No, it must be real, for
just theii the shriek of the locomotive came to his ears and
brought back his startled senses. In the distance he saw the
gleaming headlight growing brighter and brighter. The men
who, to his bewildered senses, seemed a pack of demons, danced
and leaped about him and sang weird death songs.
Nearer and nearer came that ball of fire; again the monster
shrieked exultingly and seemed to mock him in his agony. The
dull, deafening roar nearly burst his throbbing temples. On, on
came the monster, until he could almost feel its hot breath in his
face. He called loudly for. help and struggled fiercely to free
himself, but the cords only cut deeper into his flesh, while the
howling devils about him laughed and jeered at his terror. The
lights swam before his eyes, he felt his senses leaving him. Then
with one low cry of anguish he closed his eyes to meet the shock,
but was startled again by a sudden change.. Those demons who
had been dancing about him in ghoulish glee were now bending
The Gascon Prize.