ing emotions. The feeling that the train should
not be allowed to proceed burned in me more fiercely than ever.

"'Here, there!' yelled Rawlings, 'hurry up and trot out that clearance
order.' If I had been chained to the chair I could not have been more
unable to move. Getting no answer from me, Rawlings walked quickly
into the telegraph office, and catching me unceremoniously by the arm,
said impatiently, 'Come, now, wake up and give me that order; what do
you mean by keeping me like this?'

"With a dazed feeling I staggered to my feet and took up a pad of
orders. If I signed and gave him one of them, I was responsible for
the safety of the train until it reached the next station. The orders
read that the track was clear of all trains, and that no instructions
had been received by the operator to detain trains for crossings. The
forms were printed. All the operators had to do was to sign them. With
averted face I seized the pen and tried to sign my name to one of the
slips, but so fearfully were my nerves unstrung that the pen fell
twice from my hand to the floor. The next thing I knew, Rawlings had
turned me round and was letting the glare of the lantern fall full on
my face.

"'I will report you for this detention. What is the matter with you?
You look wild enough to be put in an asylum.'

"Mechanically I completed the signature and handed him the order. Just
as he was about to step from the station to the platform, he suddenly
turned round, and said somewhat apprehensively, 'Of course you have
received no orders to detain me?' 'No,' I replied, in a voice that did
not sound like my own.

"As the train began to move slowly out of the station I sprang to my
feet, ran to the window, and gazed in terror at it.

"Just as Rawlings was about to jump on one of the cars, some impulse
made him pause and glance at the window where I was standing.
Something in my face must have strangely affected him, as he allowed
the car on which he was about to jump to go by, and without apparently
seeming to know what he was doing, swung his lantern from right to
left. If the engineer had seen this signal he would have stopped the
train. With an impatient shake of his head Rawlings jumped on to the
step of the next car. He stood on the step as he passed, and with
contracted brow again fixed his eyes on mine. The moment I lost sight
of the train the spell that bound me to the window was broken. An
involuntary cry came from my dry lips,