Then he felt the engine give a mighty3 lurch4, which almost tore it from the rails; a roar sounded in his ears, there was another lurch, and opening his eyes, at last, he saw only the straight track ahead of him, and felt the engine gradually gaining speed as Michaels released the brakes and slowly opened the throttle5.
He sat erect6 with a gasp7 of amazement8, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with shaking hand. He looked down at the fireman, who had phlegmatically9 resumed his duties; then over at the engineer, who was gazing straight ahead of him, his face set and gray.
“What happened?” he shouted, as the fireman closed the fire-box and stood resting for a moment.
“Blamed if I know,” the latter answered. “I was shovellin’ in coal, when Bill clapped on the brakes and purty nigh throwed me into the fire-box. Then we passed a freight an’ Bill let her out again. He must ’a’ thought she was on the same track.”
“She was on the same track,” said Allan.
“Well, we passed her, anyway,” retorted the fireman, philosophically10, and returned to his duties.
Then Allan remembered the switch and understood dimly what had happened. But it was not until the investigation11 was held that he knew all the details.
The crew of the freight were, of course, hauled up “on the carpet.” The two brakemen who had opened the switches at the proper instant and shunted the special past were commended for their prompt action, and exonerated12 from blame, as the train was, of course, in charge of the conductor and engineer. The two latter worthies13 were suspended indefinitely without pay.
It was by no means the first time in the history of the road that a freight crew had gone to sleep on a siding and waked up to find that they no longer knew what their rights were. The proper thing to have done, of course, was either to have flagged in to the next station, or to have hunted up the nearest telephone and found out from the dispatchers’ office just what their rights were.
“That front brakeman will make a good railroad man,” remarked Mr. Plumfield, when the inquiry14 into the incident was over, taking a little red, leather-bound book from a drawer of his desk. “He’s quick-witted—no man ever lasted very long with a railroad who wasn’t.”
He ran down the index at the front of the book, turned to the names of the four men who had just been on the carpet, and wrote a short sentence after each of them. That record would stand to commend or condemn15 them so long as they were connected with the road. The record of every man was there, with all his merits and demerits. Train masters might forget—might be promoted or discharged—but that record always remained.
“Yes,” went on the train master, restoring the book to its drawer, “if a railroad man’s wits aren’t hung on hair-triggers and quicker than greased lightning in action, he’s usually knocked into Kingdom Come before he has a chance to realize he never was cut out for the work.”
And Mr. Plumfield was right. A railroad man must learn to act without stopping to think—he seldom has time to think. Perhaps if he had, he wouldn’t be so ready to risk his life as he is—for he risks his life a thousand times to a soldier’s once—but he always does it in a hurry. There is no long waiting under fire until the welcome order comes to charge—if there were, the railroad man would probably run away, and so would the soldier, but for the iron discipline that binds16 him. That’s what discipline is for—to hold men firm in the face of realized and long-continued danger—for there is nothing on earth more difficult than to make men stand still and be shot at. The railroad man never has to stand still—he has to jump, and jump quick. All men aren’t heroes, but their first impulse is usually to do the brave and necessary thing. Railroad men always act on that first impulse—and think about it and shiver over it and wonder at themselves afterwards.
Despite the misadventure, the special swept into Wadsworth on time, having covered ninety miles in ninety minutes—a record which has never been equalled, or even, for that matter, very nearly approached. For never since has a train been sent over the road under such orders.
A crowd had gathered at the Wadsworth station to receive the great man, confident that he would, at least, favour them with one of those scintillating17 three-minute talks for which he was so famous. So they gathered about the rear platform of his car yelling “Speech! speech!” For a time there was no response, then, finally, the door opened, but it was not the great man who appeared. It was his secretary, looking very white and shaky. He apologized for the great man in a thin and tremulous voice; the trip had been a very trying one, and the great man was suffering from the strain incident to the vigorous campaign he had been waging. He was lying down, endeavouring to get some much-needed rest, recognizing the necessity of saving himself for the final struggle which was to bring New York safe into line and assure an administration whose first effort it would be, etc., etc.
The crowd gave a few subdued18 cheers and melted away. Then the secretary leaped down the steps of the car and rushed up to Allan, who was watching the process of changing engines.
“Are you in charge here?” asked the secretary.
“I’m putting this special through, if that’s what you mean,” answered Allan.
“Well,” said the secretary, “you’re wanted in the private car at once.”
“Very well,” said Allan, and sprang up the steps behind him.
The great man was half-sitting, half-lying in a large chair. His face was gray and sunken and his eyes strangely bloodshot.
“This is the man in charge,” said the secretary, bringing Allan to a halt before the chair.
“I just want to tell you one thing,” said the great man, hoarsely19, lifting a trembling finger, “and that is that if you’re all crazy out here I’m not! The man who brought us over that last stretch of road ought to be in an asylum20.”
“We made the ninety miles in ninety minutes,” said Allan, with some pride.
“Well, I won’t stand for anything more of that sort. Give me your word not to exceed fifty miles an hour at any time, or I’ll get off the train.”
“Very well, sir,” answered Allan. “Will you put it in writing?”
“In writing? What for?”
“My orders are to push the engines for all they’re worth.”
The great man swore a mighty oath.
“Jim, give me a sheet of paper,” he said to his secretary. And a moment later the order was written, in a sprawly scribble21:
“October 15, 19—
“This special will hereafter at no time exceed a speed of fifty (50) miles per hour.
“Signed, ————”
He hurried away and modified the train-orders, so that Clem Johnson, the engineer who was to take the special from Wadsworth to Parkersburg, suddenly lost all interest in life and climbed into his cab in a towering rage.
“Lost his nerve,” he said to his fireman, with a jerk of his head toward the private car. “An’ I don’t suppose they’ll be any runnin’ on the same road with Michaels no more—he’ll have the swell-head so bad. It’s tough luck—that’s what I call it—mighty tough luck.”
“Them fellers never do have any sand,” observed the fireman, contemptuously. “We’d ’a’ beat Michaels’s time easy.”
“O’ course we would!” growled23 the engineer. “An’ now we’ve got t’ crawl along like a funeral percession. I’ll show him!” and he pulled the throttle open viciously, so that the train started with a jerk that caused the great man to jump with alarm.
The engineer observed his orders not to exceed fifty miles an hour, but the trip was not a pleasant one, for all that; for he took a savage24 delight in banging and jerking the train, so that even the great private car felt the uneven25 motion, and swayed and groaned26 and jumped in a manner which reduced its distinguished27 occupant to the verge28 of prostration29. Finally he called the conductor.
“What’s the matter with this track, anyway?” he demanded. “I feel like I was riding over a corduroy road. Has there been an earthquake, or what?”
“No, sir,” answered the conductor, who understood what the engineer was doing and was delighted thereat. “There ain’t been no earthquake. The track is perfectly30 smooth, sir. I don’t think the engine’s working just right—a little uneven.”
“Uneven!” repeated the great man. “Is that the best word you can find for it? It reminds me of a bucking31 broncho! Heavens!” and he buried his face in his hands again.
It was true. The great man had lost his nerve. Not for weeks did he regain33 his usual tone. The leaders in New York were greatly disappointed by his lack of “ginger;” his speeches did not have that telling quality they had possessed34 of old—in a word, he lost New York State and the Presidency—and all, perhaps, because a freight crew went to sleep on a siding out in Ohio. An incident, surely, to rank with the spider that saved Mahomet or the whinny which made Darius King of Persia.
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1
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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2
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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3
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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4
lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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5
throttle
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| n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压 | |
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6
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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7
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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8
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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9
phlegmatically
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10
philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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11
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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12
exonerated
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| v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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14
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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15
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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16
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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17
scintillating
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| adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的 | |
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18
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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19
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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20
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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21
scribble
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| v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文 | |
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22
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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23
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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24
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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25
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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26
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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27
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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28
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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29
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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30
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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31
bucking
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| v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的现在分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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32
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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33
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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34
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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