hand. It seemed that nothing
short of a miracle could save me, and, to my thinking, it was a miracle
that happened.

Only a few yards from the engine and, as I struggled blindly on, a
strong hand seized me with a grasp of iron, and I was dragged on one
side. Even in my bewilderment I knew that I was not against the wall,
but in one of those very recesses I had searched for in vain. I sank
upon the ground, only half conscious, yet I saw the indistinct blur of
light as the trains swept by.

I am not given to swooning, so that, after the first moment, I was quite
alive to my exact situation. I knew that I was crouching on the ground,
and that that iron-like grasp was still on my collar. Presently the hand
relaxed its hold and a gruff, but not unkindly, voice said:--

"Well, mate, how are you?"

This inquiry unlocked my tongue, and I poured forth my gratitude. I
hardly know what I said; I only know I was very much in earnest. I told
him who I was and how I came to be there, and in return asked him his
name.

"That does not signify," was the answer; "you can think of me as a
friend."

"That I shall," I returned, gratefully; "for God knows you have been a
friend in need to me!"

"Ah!" he said, musingly, "your life must be very sweet, for you seemed
loath enough to part with it!"

I admitted the truth of this--indeed, I had felt it more than once
during the last hour. I had been one of those who, in fits of
depression, are wont to say that life is not worth living--that we shall
be well out of it, and the rest; yet, when it seemed really slipping
from my grasp, I had clung to it with a tenacity which surprised myself.
And now, with the future once more before me, in which so much seemed
possible, I was filled with gratitude to God and to my unknown friend,
by whose means I had been saved. There was a short silence; then I
asked, rather doubtfully, if there were not some way in which I could
prove my gratitude.

[Illustration: "A STRONG HAND SEIZED ME."]

"You speak as if you were sincere," my strange companion said, in his
gruff, downright way; "so I will tell you frankly that you can do me a
good turn if you have a mind to. I don't want your money, understand;
but I want you to do me a favour."

"What is it?" I asked, eagerly; "believe me, if it is in my power it
shall be done!"

"I would rather you passed your word before I explain more," he said
coolly. "Say my request shall be granted. I take it you are no