THE MAIN LINE.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 11, 28 January 1905, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE MAIN LINE.

A CHRISTMAS STORY

By Paul Leaek.

The city’s streets were thronged. Crowds of Christinas shoppers hurried to and fro. Electric lights from the big stores shone on their rosy and happy faces, and the younger ones laughingly shook the snow from their hair and capes. Charlie Wemper noted all this as with his hand on the controller he held the big suburban car in check. It was crowded to the doors as it started on its trip into the country with its human freight. The passengers we e in a merry mood. They had remained until the last car, the opera run. and were going to their homes on the line, with their arms full of bundles and their hearts filled with good cheer. All thin swept through the brain of the tired motonnan, and there was no answering smile as gay laughter reached him through the closed doors of the vestibule. He had had fairly steady runs up to the time the suminer business began to slack off, when the time tabic changed, and he went on the board as first extra. A wife and two little ones at home had to be fed and clothed, and his 20 cents an hour, with an average of six hours a day, had not placed him in a position of affluence, nor enabled him to look forward to the glad Christmas time with any degree of joy. 11c thought of the scant supply of coal in the shed, the almost depleted larder and empty purse with pay day still more than a week o*i, and sighed to himself. “Eight dollars and a half coming to me,” he said, as be almost savagely swung around six points. The car felt the current and sprang forward along the shining ribbons of steel which showed up in the glow of the headlight in the endless stretch of white ahead.

The city had been left behind and the farm houses quickly slid back into the shadows as the car sped by. The shining rails no longer showed up ahead. It was all a dead level of snow. The swiftly falling snow had cohered with its mantle the rails of the line, but the wheels still sank through it and clutching the rail drank in the electric livid. Tliorouglily acquainted with the road, and with the car under perfect control, Wcmper, one of the most careful, but also one of the newest men on the road, had no misgivings as he sped along the snow covered way. Suddenly ahead of him there was a bluish light that seemed to dance in the ir. “My God, what’s this?” he exclaimed as be sprang from his seat white as the driven snow which surrounded the car. He shut off the current and put on the air brake with such force as to bring the car almost to a standstill, and throw the passengers from their scats. Quickly the controller swung around and the car slowly started to move backward. To the man in the vestibule it seemed an age before the wheels began to revolve backwards. The car was on a long but abrupt cune. Wempcr know what the bluish light meant. It was an inbound coming towards him at full speed.

What had caused the mix-up Wemper did not know, but he did know that to be caught on that curve meant certain death to himself and the sixty odd passengers on the car. The headlight of the approaching car now loomed into view. It was coming at breakneck speed, but Wemper’s car, with its load of human bteings. was also speeding backwards. There had been no orders at the last telephone booth, and the out-bound car was supposed to have a clear track. Whatever the error, it was a palpable fact that the coming car was upon him. There’ seemed to be no effort on the part of the man in the other vestibule to check the speed, and the most Wemper could hope to do was to lessen the force of the collision. On came the opposite car until less than 100 feet away. It was one of the newest and most powerful on the road, and Wemper’s heart dropped as he realised that fact. The passengers by this time had ascertained that they, wore speeding backwards, and the conductor had his hands full striving to check the panic. Looking now right into the vestibule of the opposing car, Wemper saw a livid face with glaring eyes. One strong, bony hand clutched the controller, trying to force it still further around to get more speed. There was a terrible smile on the. white face. The man was mad. A cold sweat broke out on the forehead of Wemper. A cottage within which sat a woman smoothing her baby's hair while her body swayed gently to and fro as she lulled the baby to sleep, came before his vision. Who could till the empty larder now? Who would replenish the dwindling coal pile? A groan burst from him as’ they, pursuer and pursued, dashed by the power station and back over the switch. There was no danger from behind, and they dashed on back into the darkness, leaving the sub-station keeper rooted to the spot with astonishment. The fatal race was drawing to a close.* Not ten feet now intervened between the headlights of the two cars when suddenly there was pitch darkness. The speed t>f the cars slackened and the wild in-bound gently came upon the special. There was a crashing of glass as the two headlights, now dull and dark, came together; a slight jar, and the danger was passed. The sub-station tender, with a lieaven-born gleam of common sense, had turned off the machinery and stopped the power..

Springing from the vestibule as soon as he realised what had happened, Wemper climbed into the vestibule of the other car, livid with rage at the danger into which the other motorman had placed him. There was no need for his anger, for it was a dead hand that held the controller, and the stare I was one of combined madness and death. Not a living soul was on the inbound car. Turning off the current, W T emper took the controller from the stiffening fingers and ran back to the power station, about a quarter of a mile, and the power was once more turned on. During his absence the truth was discovered, and when he came back to the well lighted and comparatively uninjured ear. a cheer

went up. The men passengers grablieil him by the band, while the women shed tears of gratitude. HiY own eyes moistened and a lump came tu his throat as he thought of the cottage arid its occupants. Coupling the two cars the journey wm resumed, and the began to gat. off. As they did no etery one dropped something in a hat at the door. Wheft the end of the run was reached, the came forward. In his band he held hat which was stuffed full of ver. Taking a wlip of paper from his‘po>4j et the passenger 'folded it and' turned y f with the other cpfit'Cnts of the the cap of me astonished “Take this with a Merry. Christman and | a God bless you from the passengers you saved from death.*’ be said, and then left the car. His eyes glistening; Wemper counted the treasure. There was over a hundred dollars in money. Hie slip of paper was the check of A prominent banker uf the town at tin? end of the*linc for 100 dollars. “A Christmas for the wee ones, after all.” exclaimed Wemper, his face lighting up. “Here. Bill.’ lie said to the “wc go whacks on the cash.' Bill was loth to accepi; but finally consented, a,l( l there were two merry Christmases on the Main Line.