" They flung me upon the table,
face downwards, so that the relay was just under my stomach, and of
course my weight against the armature of the relay stopped the clicking
of the sounder. As luck would have it, my left hand was in such a
position that it just touched the key, and I found I could move the hand
slightly. So I opened the key and pretended to be struggling quite a
little. The leader came over and giving me a good stiff punch in the
ribs, said with an oath, "You keep quiet or we'll find a way to make
you." I became passive again, and then when the men were engaged in
earnest conversation, I began to telegraph softly to the despatcher. The
relay being shut off by my weight, there was no noise from the sounder,
and I sent so slowly that the key was noiseless. Of course I did not
know on whom I was breaking in, but I kept on. I told the exact state of
affairs, and asked him to either tell the Flyer not to heed my red-light
and go through, or, better still, to send an armed posse from Kingsbury,
twelve miles up the road. I repeated the message twice, so that he would
be sure to hear it, and then trusted to luck.

The cords and gags were beginning to hurt, and my anxiety was very
great. The minutes dragged slowly by, and I thought that hour would
never end; but it did end at last, and all of a sudden I heard the long
calliope whistle of the engine on the Flyer as she came down the grade.
This was followed by two short blasts, that showed she had seen my
red-light and was going to stop. "My God!" I thought. "Has she been
warned?" So soon as the train whistled the men went out leaving me
helpless on the table. I heard the whistle of the air brakes and knew
the train must be slowing up. My anxiety was intense. Presently I heard
her stop at the tank, and then, in about a second, I listened to the
liveliest fusillade that I had ever heard in my life. It was sweet music
to my ears I can tell you, for it indicated to me, what proved to be a
fact, that a posse were on board and that the robbers were foiled. One
of them was shot, and two were captured, but "Bill," the leader,
escaped. They had their horses hitched to the telegraph poles, and as
"Bill" went running by the office I heard him say, "I'll fix that d--d
operator, anyhow." Then, BANG! crash, went the glass in the window, and
a bullet buried itself in the table, not two inches from my head. I was
not exactly killed, but I was frightened so badly, and the strain ha