1.My train left Dantzic in the morning generally about eight o'clock;but once a week we had twait for the arrival of the steamer from Stockholm. It was the morning of the steamer's arrival that I came down from the hotel,and found that my engineer had been sseriously injured that he could not perform his work. I went immediately tthe engine house tprocure another engineer,for I supposed there were three or four in reserve there,but I was disappointed.
2.I heard the puffing of the steamer,and the passengers would be on hand in fifteen minutes. I ran tthe guards and asked them if they knew where there was an engineer,but they did not. I then went tthe firemen and asked them if anyone of them felt competent1 trun the engine tBromberg. None dared tattempt it. The distance was nearly one hundred miles. What was tbe done?
3.The steamer stopped at the wharf,and those whwere going on by rail came flocking tthe station. They had eaten breakfast on board the boat,and were all ready for a fresh start. The train was in readiness in the long station house,and the engine was steaming and puffing away impatiently in the distant firing house.
4.It was past nine o'clock. "Come,why don't we start?" growled an old,fat Swede,whhad been watching me narrowly for the last fifteen minutes. And upon this there was a general chorus of anxious inquiry,which soon settled tdownright murmuring. At this1Competent,fit,qualified.
juncture1 some one touched me on the elbow. I turned,and saw a stranger by my side. I thought that he was going tremonstrate2 with me for my backwardness. In fact,I began thave strong temptations tpull off my uniform,for every anxious eye was fixed upon the glaring badges which marked me as the chief officer of the train.
5.However,this stranger was a middle-aged man,tall and stout,with a face of great energy and intelligence. His eye was black and brilliant,-sbrilliant that I could not gaze steadily intit,though I tried;and his lips,which were very thin,seemed more like polished marble than human flesh. His dress was black throughout,and not only set with exact nicety,but was scrupulously clean and neat.
6."You want an engineer,I understand," he said in a low,cautious tone,at the same time gazing quietly about him,as though he wanted none thear what he said.
"I do," I replied. "My train is all ready,and we have nengineer within twenty miles of this place."
"Well,sir,I am going tBromberg;I must go,and I will run the engine for you."
"Ha!" I uttered,"are you an engineer?"
"I am,sir-one of the oldest in the country-and am now on my way tmake arrangements for a great improvement I have invented for the application of steam ta locomotive. My name is Martin Kroller. If you wish,I will run as far as Bromberg;and I will show you running that is running."
1Juncture,point of time,crisis.
2Remonstrate,tpresent strong reasons against any course of proceedings.
7.Was I not fortunate? I determined taccept the man's offer at once,and sI told him. He received my answer with a nod and a smile. I went with him tthe house,where we found the engine in charge of the fireman,and all ready for a start. Kroller got upon the platform,and I followed him. I had never seen a man betray such a peculiar aptness1 amid machinery as he did. He let on the steam in an instant,but yet with care and judgment,and he backed up tthe baggage carriage with the most exact nicety.
8.I had seen enough tassure me that he was thoroughly acquainted with the business,and I felt composed2 once more. I gave my engine up tthe new man,and then hastened away tthe office. Word was passed for all the passengers ttake their seats,and soon afterward I waved my hand tthe engineer. There was a puff,a groaning of the heavy axletrees,a trembling of the building,and the train was in motion. I leaped upon the platform of the guard carriage,and in a few minutes more the station house was far behind us.
1Aptness,fitness,suitableness. 2 Composed,calm.
9.In less than an hour we reached Dirschau,where we took up the passengers,that had come on the Konigsberg railway. Here I went forward and asked Kroller how he liked the engine. He replied that he liked it very much.
"But," he added,with a strange sparkling of the eye,"wait until I get my improvement,and then you will see traveling. Why,I could run an engine of my construction tthe moon in four and twenty hours?"
10.I smiled at what I thought his enthusiasm,and then went back tmy station. As soon as the Konigsberg passengers were all on board,and their baggage carriage attached,we started on again. Soon after,I went intthe guard carriage and sat down. An early train from Konigsberg had been through twhours before,and was awaiting us at Little Oscue,where we took on board the Western mail.
11."How we go," uttered one of the guards,some fifteen minutes after we had left Dirschau.
"The new engineer is trying the speed," I replied,not yet having any fear. But ere long I began tapprehend1 he was running a little tofast. The carriages began tsway tand fro,and I could hear exclamations of fright from the passengers.
"Good heavens!" cried one of the guards,coming in at that moment,"what is that fellow doing? Look,sir,and see how we are going."
12.I looked at the window,and found that we were dashing along at a speed never before traveled on that road. Posts,fences,rocks,and trees flew by in one undistinguished mass,and the carriages now swayed fearfully. I started tmy feet,and met a passenger on the platform. He was one of the chief owners of our road,and was just on his way tBerlin. He was pale and excited.
13."Sir," he gasped,"is Martin Kroller on the engine?" "Yes," I told him.
"What! didn't you know him?"
"Know?" I repeated,somewhat puzzled;"what dyou mean? He told me his name was Kroller,and that he was an engineer. We had1Apprehend,tentertain suspicion or fear of.none trun the engine,and-""You took him!" interrupted the man. "Good heavens,sir,he is as crazy as a man can be! He turned his brain over a new plan for applying steam power. I saw him at the station,but did not fully recognize him,as I was in a hurry. Just now one of your passengers told me that your engineers were all gone this morning,and that you found one that was a stranger tyou. Then I knew the man whom I had seen was Martin Kroller. He had escaped from the hospital at Stettin. You must get him off somehow."
14.The whole fearful truth was now open tme. The speed of the train was increasing every moment,and I knew that a few more miles per hour would launch us all intdestruction. I called tthe guard and then made my way forward as quickly as possible. I reached the back platform of the tender1,and there stood Kroller upon the engine board,his hat and coat off,his long black hair floating wildly in the wind,his shirt unbuttoned at the front,his sleeves rolled up,with a pistol in his teeth,and thus glaring upon the fireman,whlay motionless upon the fuel. The furnace was stuffed till the very latch of the door was red-hot,and the whole engine was quivering and swaying as though it would shiver tpieces.
15."Kroller! Kroller!" I cried,at the top of my voice. The crazy engineer started,and caught the pistol in his hand. Oh,how those great black eyes glared,and how ghastly and frightful the face looked!
"Ha! ha! ha!" he yelled demoniacally,glaring upon me like a roused lion.
"They said that I could not make it! But see! see! See my new power! See my new engine! I made it,and they are jealous of me! I made it,and when it was done,they stole it from me. But I have found it! For years I have been wandering in search of my great engine,and they said it was not made. But I have found it! I knew it this morning when I saw it at Dantzic,and I was determined thave1Tender,a car attached ta locomotive tsupply it with fuel and water.
it. And I've got it! Ho! ho! ho! we're on the way tthe moon,I say! We'll be in the moon in four and twenty hours. Down,down,villain! If you move,I'll shoot you."
This was spoken tthe poor fireman,what that moment attempted trise,and the frightened man sank back again.
16."Here's Little Oscue just before us," cried out one of the guard. But even as he spoke,the buildings were at hand. A sickening sensation settled upon my heart,for I supposed that we were now gone. The houses flew by like lightning. I knew if the officers here had turned the switch as usual,we should be hurled inteternity in one fearful crash. I saw a flash,-it was another engine,-I closed my eyes;but still we thundered on! The officers had seen our speed,and knowing that we would not be able tstop,in that distance,they had changed the switch,sthat we went forward.
17.But there was sure death ahead,if we did not stop. Only fifteen miles from us was the town of Schwetz,on the Vistula;and at the rate we were going we should be there in a few minutes,for each minute carried us over a mile. The shrieks of the passengers now rose above the crash of the rails,and more terrific than all else arose the demoniac yells of the mad engineer.
"Merciful heavens!" gasped the guardsman,"there's not a moment tlose;Schwetz is close. But hold," he added;"let's shoot him."
18.At that moment a tall,stout German student came over the platform where we stood,and saw that the madman had his heavy pistol aimed at us. He grasped a huge stick of wood,and,with a steadiness of nerve which I could not have commanded,he hurled it with such force and precision1 that he knocked the pistol from the maniac's hand. I saw the movement,and on the instant that the pistol fell,I sprang forward,and the German followed me. I grasped the man by the arm;but I should have been nothing in his mad power,had I been alone. He would have hurled me from the platform,had not the student at that moment struck him upon the head with a1 Precision,accuracy,exactness.stick of wood,which he caught as he came over the tender.
19.Kroller settled down like a dead man,and on the next instant I shut off the steam and opened the valve. As the free steam shrieked and howled in its escape,the speed began tdecrease,and in a few minutes more the danger was passed. As I settled back,entirely overcome by the wild emotions that had raged within me,we began tturn the river;and before I was fairly recovered,the fireman had stopped the train in the station house at Schwetz.
20.Martin Kroller,still insensible,was taken from the platform;and,as we carried him tthe guard room,one of the guard recognized him,and told us that he had been there about twweeks before.
"He came," said the guard,"and swore that an engine which stood near by was his. He said it was one he had made tgtthe moon in,and that it had been stolen from him. We sent for more help tarrest him,and he fled."
"Well," I replied,with a shudder,"I wish he had approached me in the same way;but he was more cautious at Dantzic."
At Schwartz we found an engineer trun the engine tBromberg;and having taken out the western mail for the next northern mail tcarry along,we saw that Kroller would be properly attended to,and then started on.
21.The rest of the trip we ran in safety,though I could see the passengers were not wholly at ease,and would not be until they were entirely clear of the railway. Martin Kroller remained insensible from the effects of the blow nearly twweeks;and when he recovered from that,he was sound again;his insanity was all gone. I saw him about three weeks afterward,but he had nrecollection of me. He remembered nothing of the past year,not even his mad freak on my engine. But I remembered it,and I remember it still;and the people need never fear that I shall be imposed upon again by a crazy engineer.