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Show TEXAS GIRL S WILD RIDE TO ESCAPE FROM DEATH Along, the Ties, la Front of Rapidly Moving Loconw . . . Jive, Gertrude Castle Dashes ' on Back of Pet Steer -:, Noble Brute Rises Heroically to His Task- Gertrude Castle, - a venturesome Texas girl, will hereafter have a story to tell that will not fail to arouse breathless interest.- That she survives sur-vives to tell it excites the wonder of those who witnessed her peril. The young woman lives with her parents on a ranch near the new line of railroad rail-road that has just been constructed between Brownwood and Brady. A few days ago a young man, who was working for Mr. Castle, was thrown from a wild mustang and so badly hurt that it was deemed necessary neces-sary to summon a physician as hurriedly hur-riedly as possible. Mr. Castle was confined to his bed with fever, and there was no one about the premises to attend to the urgent matter but his daughter. When Miss Gertrude came to look around for a horse she was chagrined to discover that the animals were all loose in a pasture a long distance dis-tance from the house. In this emergency her eyes happened hap-pened to fall upon a pet steer that was standing in one of the corrals. This peculiar animal Is as gentle as a lamb and usually as easily managed der the wheels lay in her ability to force the flying beast across the track ahead of the engine; ... .- But a second was left to the girl to decide whether to try to guide the steer or give him the lash. The locomotive loco-motive was behind, and the turn in the road , was under the steer's nose. The girl felt' that he would stick to the trail in spite of her puny arms and she struck him,, with . all her strength, shouting, "Go, go, Comanche!"'. Coman-che!"'. As he sprung over the first rail she was about -to shriek "Saved!" But, horror of horrors! The excited beast caught a glimpse of the locomotive, and, snorting with terror, he turned his head from it and bounded away . along the track with the engine at his heels. She heard the furious whistling of the engine and she wondered if Its speed had slackened. She did not dare to turn her head. Horrors and misfortunes appear to hunt in droves. There were new dangers before and behind the imperiled girl. The fates were enjoying a spite to repletion. The air brakes refused to perform their under the saddle as a trained mustang. mus-tang. He was raised a pet and, being finely formed, pretty and remarkably docile, he is a great favorite with everybody on the ranch. Children play with him as they would with a harmless, harm-less, friendly dog, and boys and girls have ridden him without fear since he was a yearling. Milk white, swift, and of proud bearing, he makes his part of an interesting picture as he gallops along the road with a pretty girl on his back. The fearless Texas girl did not glance a second time at Comanche. Calling the pet steer she ran to the barn to procure a halter and saddle. A few moments afterwards she was galloping along the road towards Brownwood. "People will laugh at me," she whispered whis-pered to herself, "but Comanche can travel like a racehorse and he is as pretty as a picture." For the first four miles nothing occurred oc-curred to mar the pleasure of the ride, for the healthy girl enjoyed the excitement ex-citement and the puzzled look on the faces of the people she met and passed. Then she heard a rumbling noise behind her, and upon turning her head she saw a locomotive and a train of cars coming towards her at a' high rate of speed. The wagon road that Comanche was following ran parallel par-allel with the railroad track and close to it. The girl cast her eyes towards Brownwood, and it looked as if the two roads ran side by side, clear into the town. To all appearances it was a level plain and perfectly straight tracks. "Now for a race!" she exclaimed, as she gave the steer a smart cut with her riding whip. The shr:;k of the locomotive sounded like a challenge, Death Close Behind. office, and as if that were not enough, a cattle guard connecting a line of wire fence suddenly appeared under the steer's nose. "When I saw that awful obstacle," says the young girl, "I closed my eyes, abandoning all hope." With a powerful power-ful leap worthy of an antelope the noble no-ble animal cleared the guard at a bound. The awful noise and the continued con-tinued whistling of the locomotive was still close behind her, but surely not so near. She dared to turn her head and a shout of joy burst from her lips. She was certainly widening the distance between Comanche's heels and that hideous cowcatcher. Slapping the noble animal with the palm of her hand, she screamed: "Oh, Comanche, save me!" He had already done that. A wild hurrah that made the earth tremble burst from the throats of the great crowd that had gathered at the depot as the white steer, covered with foam, shot by the platform into the street, where he fell to his knees utterly exhausted. The engine was none too far away. The pretty girl was well known In the town, and a multitude of friends nnicklv aswmliloH ohnnt v,o 0t, asking for information. They had seen the wild race, but they could not make out what it meant. To some persons it looked as if the engineer was trying to run over the steer. They had been unable to make out the object ob-ject on the animal's back until he was near the depot. The badly frightened engineer was quick to make an explanation. ex-planation. When Comanche regained his feet he put his nose against his mistress to be petted. The crowd cheered the faithful animal and everybody gave him a friendly pat and words of praise. "Come, my brave Comanche," said the happy girl, "you shall have clover and sugar plums all your life." iuu wilu uiuuu waimeu 10 exnnarauon 77 fevi'kf II fas by the exciting situation she turned her head and beckoned to the engineer engi-neer to come on. The locomotive was soon by her side and the passengers were cheering cheer-ing with wild enthusiasm. "They want me to beat!" she exclaimed, "and they will have my name in the papers." A sharp whistle from the locomotive attracted her attention, and when she looked she noticed that she was forging forg-ing ahead, actually beating an express. ex-press. Comanche is really a racer was the thought uppermost in hear mind, suddenly replaced by a chill of horror. In front of her and not many steps away she saw something that nearly congealed her blood. The road wade a sudden turn directly across the railroad rail-road track. A glance convinced her that it was too late to check the speed of the steer, and she knew that it would be impossible ' to turn him or force him to leave the road and go straight forward. She felt confident that Comanche would stick to the road, and in that emergency her only hope of escaping being mangled un- |