Show THE FATAL REQUESTOR REQUEST-OR FOUND OUT > Py A L Harrl Author of Mlno Own Familiar FrloI etc UopyrfgAt iatlt 6y Uaiitll Ju fliAfnp Oomjtanv pAt 1903 ay 8tree t A Smith CHAPTER VIContlnued A dreadful railway accident has taken place on tho Southeastern railway rail-way A goods train from London to daldstonc which contained two wagons wag-ons loaded with petroleum barrels through some mistake In the signals ran Into the 130 up train from Dover Do-ver at the point where tho lines cross Tho engine tender and three first class carriages have been smashed up and burnt by tho petroleum Twen tythree passengers are either dead or dying Tho nersplratlon stood upon his I brow ns lio read tills this grim and I ghastly oaragraph over and over again againHow How could I possIbly let them BOO this he groaned to himself They would go out of their minds with the horror of It And yet tho thought struck him what Is to prevent them from reading It all and moro beside In tho morning papers Though of course there Is hope there must boa bo-a gleam of hope Some must have escaped I How slow this train Is And yet why should I want to travel faster fast-er How do I know what awaits moat mo-at mv ioiirni > vR end When the train reached London I Bridge n little before ten ho found all was hustle and confusion Tho news of tho accident had spread like wildfire and a momentarily Increasing Increas-ing throng of agonized friends and relatives besieged the officials attacked at-tacked the telegraph oftlco and hurried hither and thither backwards and forwards In search of something definite defi-nite In the shape of Information Ted Burrltt forced himself through tho crowd which was g I1 + hered round some person In authority and put tho same questions which burst from so many lips at onco Was anything moro known about the accident When would tho lino be clear and when would a train bo allowed to run to tho scene of tho disaster And tho answers repeated over and over again and passed from mouth to mouth were No further details of the accident had been ascertained and no names of the victims had yet been published as the telegraph lines had been broken brok-en The first train to Bannock Bridge tho scene of the disaster would bo run as soon as tho line was clear and that could not bo for some hours longer long-er The unfortunate people who craved to know what might bo the fate of some of their nearest and dearest dear-est could do nothing but wait hour after hour every minute of which seemed an age and each separate hour an eternity And so at last tho hours wore away and very early in the morning a train started bearing Its weary haggard hag-gard load of men and women each hoping that God had at least been merciful to him or her whoever else Ho might have bereaved Ted Burrltt sat In his corner of tho carriage and let his thoughts wander whero they would All at once tho thought occurred to him What had become of the friend Tho friend whom his father went to meet and who was to return with him But what did It matter about him Why but for him though the accident would have taken place all tho same It would have had nothing to do with that pleasant peaceful homo at Dul wick By the tlmo ho had recovered himself him-self a little he saw that the day was beginning to dawn Surely they must bo very near the scene of tho disaster disas-ter terEven Even In the faint early light which was all they had to illumine tho scene signs of the recent catastrophe began to appear By tho side of the line they saw drawn up some of tho ruined carriages Another moment and the train drew up at the picturesque pictur-esque little country station which had now been converted Into a temporary tem-porary deadhouse The mournful wildeyed cavalcade which alighted at the platform wero met by tho stationmaster sta-tionmaster who merely motioned wljh his arm and said In there Tho whole crowd with ono accord poured In tho direction Indicated A dreadful sight met their eyes In the waiting room and booking office n dozen charred remnants of human beings wore laid out on tarpaulins cfcch one of which had lost all semI sem-I blanco to humanity Thero 1s no clue no possibility of recognizing or Identifying anTed an-Ted Burrltt approached and looked down upon one then staggered and i nearly fell I Arc these aK ho naked In a dreadful whisper Time man who was In charge of this ghastly detachment answered briefly There bo a heap more on em In tho church yonder CHAPTER VII In the Vestry Thero was very little sleep for anyone any-one at Magnolia Lodge that night Mrs Burrltt was at last persuaded togo to-go and Ho down upon her bed whoro sho was ministered to by her daughter daugh-ter and the cook So In lamentations and torturing suspense together with brief Intervals of broken rest the night wore away rite servants with scared faces crept about the house and prepared the breakfast which nobody touched May Burrltt tame down stairs about eight oclock and tho first thing that sho snw was tho dally paper lying In Its accustomed plnco beside tho urn All she gasped now to know tho worst Tho account sho sought was assigned as-signed the most prominent position and was headed fn largo capitals Terrible Hallway Accident Thirty two lives lost Numbers roasted to death Sho read tho brief paragraph Into which so much horror was condensed and stood as though turned to stone Then coming back to herself sho murmured mur-mured Mother must never see this it would kill her And she left tho room taking the paper with her After all though she ventured to hope thero have been some saved Why may not he bo among them Surely Tcd will send n telegram soon Poor boy I wonder what ho Is doing do-Ing A little later In the morning when I w4T 4N9 r t ja II IT fW7t5 dUh1WtL t i7AVI I lb Lm 4jf 1 Whats that Run May and seel Mrs Burrltt was just being coaxed to take a little beef tea the fateful double knock once more reechoed through the house Whats that cried Mrs Burrltt sitting bolt upright Perhaps hes como back safe after all Run May and seeThe see-The housemaid met her on the stairs bearing a yellow envelope Tho boy Is waiting to know If thero Is any answer miss silo said and lingered In tho expectation of hearing something of the contents The girl seized It and tore It open To return to her brother who had been told that thero wero yet many moro bodies In tho church for which room could not bo found elsewhere and who accompanied by a detachment detach-ment of other seekers thereupon left tho station for tho sacred edifice It was a relief to find themselves again In the open air after the ghastly sight that had just met their eyes out there was horror In tho thought that they wero only exchanging ono such scene for another Could ho havo been ono of those was the awful thought which pursued the young munono of those fearful Indescribable objects I And was it such a thing as that that ho must take home with him If It should prove by any means possible to separate tho Identity of the one from tho other Ho came In sight of tho church which was not far from the station Arriving at the porch the foremost of time party discovered that tho door was locked Hero was a sudden check and thoy began to consult together as to where tho key might bo found As thoy did so a window of ono of the little cottages opposite tho church was thrown up and an old man In a quaint old fashioned nightcap stuck his head out I be ncomln ho cried ye must jest hide a bit and Ill bo with Ve This was evidently tho clerk or sexton sex-ton j at any rato he was the Individual required and tlnro was nothing to do hut to bide as he had desired them At last the churchyard gate clicked and a shriveled bent figure mado Its appearance dangling a bunch of great keys In ono hand Ho throw tho great door open with n clang and the people entered tho church It was very dark Inside Tho windows were most of I them of colored glass and high up and tho old fashioned pews and the thick i squat columns which supported the r I ntof scorned to swallow up what llltli light there was of Thoyvo put om nilinside tho chancel chan-cel rails snltl the old man who had f constituted himself a sort of ghoulish master of tho ceremonies No one scorned to caro to bo tho first to approach that part of tho holy I edifice eAt e-At last Ted Burritt with a grim determination approached tho railing x Inside tho bodies or what had onco been bodies wero disposed In two rows Those on tho right hand lay In coffins cof-fins which had boon hastily gathered from all parts of the neighborhood those on tho left were mere groups of ashes collected together on pieces of tarpaulin Ted Hurrltt began at tho righthand ale Tho other pcopla followed his 1 + 1 i example and tho old clerk acted as t cicerone This un ho said Indicating tho terrible contents of one coffin Is supposed sup-posed to a bin a young female as they found a thlmblo and a bit of a dress among the antics Thimble ad i the name o1 Lizzie scratched on It A man who was craning his neck J over Ted Hurrltts shoulder gavo a sharp cry Thats my gltl Thats my Lizzie And her mother waiting for her at homo and wont believe as i anything cnn have happened to her Oh Lord I and he broke out Into wild outcries Some of tho others forgetful of tholr own concerns for a moment gathered round him and mado an attempt at-tempt at consolation At least you know which sho Is that ought to bo a little comfort to + r you youBut But 1 thought sho might have boon saved She was such a good girl and look at her there and ho gesticulated gestic-ulated towards the open collin I cant stand much more of this murmured Ted Burrltt as ho wiped tho great drops of perspiration from his forehead They left tho bereaved parent moaning moan-Ing over his childs remains and again passed on Tho next throe coffins wero examined shuddered at and loft The mutilated corpses which they contained con-tained possessed neither head feet nor hands Thoy could novor have been taken for anything human had not tho fact been established boyond all doubt Was either of those his father There only remained one or two y more belonging to that row and they too wore unrecognizable After that nothing was loft but tho poor heaps of i ashes on the other sldo This Is all ladles and gentlemen said tho old man with a sort of char t nel house cheerfulness sides one j moro In tho vestry as was put thereIn there-In consequents of beln very little damnged cept about tho logs and prison did say as I was to show Iro I fust though beln easy recognized But my pore old ells bin airbtif jumble since th accident and I clean forgot 1m But anybody as likes can jest step Into the vestry and BOO 1m for tholrselves Theyve laid 1m oat on tho table through helm of n hoxtrj size and runnln short o coffins n i was found burled under a lot o rub bldgo and thoy ad a deal o trouble to sit 1m out I There was a general rush In that direction on tho part of all those who had a malo relative missing To bo 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