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Show IlTHE fatal request I OR FOUND OUT 1 Py A. L,. llrvrrls Author of "Mine Own Frvmlllur Friend," etc. 1 Copyright, tsl, by Vat i til 1'utlliilng Company. I Copyright, I 0 , byBtrttt it Smith. CHAPTER VI. Continued. "A dreadful rallnny nccldeut has takon placo on tho Southeastern railway. rail-way. A goods train from Inclon to Maldstonn. which contained two wagons wag-ons loaded with petroleum barrels, through Home mistake In tho signals, ran Into tho 4 30 up train from Dover, Do-ver, at tho point whero tho lines cross. Tho engine, tender, nnd three first-class first-class carriages have been smashed up and burnt by tho petroleum. Twen-ty-thrco passengers are cither dead or dying." Tho perspiration stood upon his brow ns ho read this this grim nnd ghastly parugrnph over nnd over again. "How could I possibly let thorn sco thls7" ho groaned to himself. "Thoy would go out of their minds with the horror of It. And yet," tho thought struck him, "wlint Is to prevent them from reading It all, nnd moro besldo. In tho morning papers? Though, of courso, there Is hope thero must bo a gleam of hopot Somo must havo escaped! How slow this train Is. And yet, why Blioulil I want to trnvel faster? fast-er? How do I know what awaits mo it my Journey's end?" When the train reached London tlrldgc, a llttlo beforo ten, ho found nil wns bustlo and confusion. Tho nows of tho accident had spread Ilka wildfire, nnd a momentarily Increasing Increas-ing throng of agonized friends nnd rolatlves besieged tho officials, attacked at-tacked tho telegraph ofllco nnd hurried hither and thither, backwards and forwards, In search of something dofi-tnlto dofi-tnlto In tho shnpo of Information. Ted Hurrltt forced himself through tho crowd which was ge'hcred round somo person In authority, and put tho snmo questions which burst from so many lips at onco. "Was anything moro known about tho accident? When would tho lino bo elenr, and when would a trnln ho allowed to run to tho sccno of tho disaster?" And tho answers, repeated over and over again, and passed from mouth to mouth, wero: "No further detnlls of tho accident bad been ascertained, nnd no names of tho victims had yot been published, as tho telegraph lines had been broken. brok-en. Tho first train to Dannock Drldgo, tho scono ot tho disaster, would bo run as soon as tho lino wns clear, and that could not bo for somo hours longer. long-er. Tho unfortunato people who craved to know what might bo tho fato ot somo'of their nearest and dearest, dear-est, could do nothing but wait, hour after hour, overy mlnuto of which scorned an ago, and each coparato hour an eternity. And bo, at last, tho hours woro away, nnd very oarly In tho morning a train started, bearing Its weary, haggard hag-gard load of men and women, each hoping that God had at least boen merciful to him, or her, whoever else Ho might havo boreavod. Tod Hurrltt sat In his corner of tho carriage, and let his thoughts wander whero thoy would. All at onco tho thought occurred to him, Whnt had becomo of tho friend? Tho friend whom his father wont to moot, nnd who was to return with him? Hut what did It mntter nbout him? Why. but for him, though tho accident would havo taken placo all tho samo, It would havo had nothing to do with that pleasant, peaceful homo at Dul-wlchl Dul-wlchl Ily tho tlmo ho had recovered him-self him-self a llttlo ho saw that tho day was beginning to dawn. Surely thoy must bo vory near tho sceno ot tho disaster.. disas-ter.. Kvcn In tho faint early light, which wan nil they hail to lllumlno tho o, signs ot tho recent cutnstropho b'gan to appear. Hy tho rldo ot tho lino thoy saw drawn up somo ot tho ruined carriages. Another moment, nnd tho train drow up nt tho plctur-osquo plctur-osquo llttlo country station, which had now boon converted Into a temporary tem-porary doad-hou80, Tho mournful, wlld-oyed cavnlcado, which nllghted at tho platform, were mot by tho stn-tlontnnster. stn-tlontnnster. who merely motioned with his nrm, nnd said, "In there." Tho whole crowd, with ono accord, poured In tho dliectlon Indicated. A dreadful sight mot their oyos. In tho waiting room and booking ofllco n. dozen charred remnants of human beings wcro laid out on tarpaulins each ono ot which had lost all tern-bianco tern-bianco tc humanity, Thero was no clue, no possibility of recognizing or Identifying any. Ted Hurrltt approached and looked down upon ono; then staggered nnd nearly foil. "Aro theso all?" ho asked. In a dreadful whisper. The man who was In chargo of this ghastly detachment nnswered, briefly, "Thero bo a heap more on 'em In tho church yonder!" CHAPTER VII. In the Vestry. Thero was very llttlo sleep for nny-ono nny-ono nt Magnolia Lodgo that night. Mrs. Hurrltt was nt last persuaded to go and lie down upon her bed, whero sho wns ministered to by her daughter daugh-ter nnd tho cook. So In lamentations and torturing suspense, together with brief Intervals of broken rest, tho night woro away. Tho servants, with scared faces, crept about tho houso and prepared the breakfast, which nobody touched. May Hurrjtt camo down stnlrs nbout eight o'clock, and tho first thing that sho saw was tho dally paper lying In Its accustomed placo beside tho urn. "Ah!" sho gasped, "now to know tho worst!" Tho nccount sho sought wns assigned as-signed tho most prominent position, and wns headed In largo capitals, "Terrlblo Hallway Accident! Thirty-two Thirty-two llcs lost! Numbers roasted to death!" Sho read the brief paragraph, Into which so much horror was condensed, nnd Rtood as though turned to stone Then coming back to herself, she murmured: mur-mured: "Mother must nover see this, It would kill her!" And sho left tho loom, taking tho paper with her. "After nil, though," sho ventured to hope, "thero havo bcon somo saved. Why may not ho bo nmong them? Surely Ted will send a telegram soon. Poor boy! 1 wonder whnt ho Is doing?" do-ing?" A llttlo Inter In tho morning, when "What's that? Run, May, and seel" Mrs. Hurrltt was Just being coaxed to tako a llttlo beet tea, the fateful doublo knock onco moro re-echoed through tho houso. "What's that?" cried Mrs. Hurrltt, sitting bolt upright. "Perhaps ho's como back Bafo nftor all! nun, May, and se Tho house-nald mot her on tho stairs, bearing a yellow cnvelopo. "Tho boy Is waiting to know If thero Is any answer, miss," sho said, and lingered In tho expectation of hearing something ot tho contents. Tho girl seized It and toro It open! To return to hor brother, who had been told that there wero yet many moro bodies In tho church, for which room could not bo found olsewhero, and who, accompanied by a detachment detach-ment ot other seekors, thereupon left tho station for tho sacred edifice. It was a relief to And thomselvcs again In tho open air, after the ghastly sight that had just mot their eyes. Tint thero was horror In the thought that thoy wcro only exchanging ono such bcone for another. "Could ho havo boen one of thoso?" was tho awful thought which pursued tho young man "ono of thoso fcarfnl, Indoscrlbnblo objects! And was It audi a thing as that that ho must tako homo with htm, If It should prove by any means posstblo to soparnto tho Identity of tho ono from tho other?" Ho camo In sight of tho church, which was not fnr from tho station. Arriving at tho porch, tho foromost ot tho party discovered that tho door was locked. Hero was a sudden check and thoy begnn to consult together as to whero tho key might bo found. Ah thoy did bo, a window ot ono ot tho llttlo cottages opposlto tho church was thrown up, and nn old man, In a quaint, old fashioned nightcap, Btuck his head out. "I bo n-comln'," ho cried; "yo must jest bldo a bit, nnd I'll bo with 'ee" This was ovldontly tho clerk or sox-ton; sox-ton; at any rnto, ho was tho Individual required, and tlnro was nothing to do but to "bldo," as ho had desired thorn. At laBt tho churchyard goto clicked, and n shriveled, bent flguro mndo Its appearance, dangling a bunch of great keys In ono hand. Ho throw thn great door open with a clang, and tho peoplo entered tho church. It was vory dark Inside Tho windows,' wcro most of them ot colored glass and high up, and the old fashioned pows and the thick squat columns which supported tho (Ail rremed to swallow ry what llttlo llf.Ui thero was. '"Miey'vo put 'em all Insldo tho chancel chan-cel rails," said tho old man, who had constituted himself n sort of ghoulish mnstcr of tho ceremonies. No ono seemed to euro to bo th first to approach that part of the holt cdlflco. At lost Ted Hurrltt, with a giiw determination, npproached tho railing. Inside, tho bodies, or what had onco been bodies, wero disposed In two rows. Thow on the right hand lay In coffins cof-fins which had been hastily gathered from all parts of tho neighborhood; thoso on tho left wero mere groups of ashes collected together on pieces of tarpaulin. Ted Hurrltt began nt tho right-hand side. Tho other peoplo followed his oxnmplo. nnd tho old clerk nctoU ns cicerone "This "tin," he said, Indicating tho terrlblo contents of ono coffin, "Is sup- , posed to n-bln a young female, as they found a thlmblo and a bit of a dress nmong tho nshes. Thlmblo 'ad tho nnme o' 'Lizzie' scratched on It." A man who woh craning his neck over Ted Uurrltt's shoulder gave a sharp cry: "That's my girl! That's my Lizzie! And her mother waiting for her at home, nnd won't bcllovo as anything can havo happened to her Oh, I-ord!" nnd he broko out Into wild outcries. Somo of the others, forgetful of thnlr own concerns for n moment, gathered round him and mado an attempt at-tempt nt consolation. "At least you know which she Is that ought to bo n llttlo comfort to you." "Hut I thought Bho might havo been saved. Sho was such n gool girl ' and look nt her there!" and ho gesticulated gestic-ulated towards the open coffin. "I can't stand murh moro of this," murmured Ted nurritt, nil ho wiped the great drops of perspiration from his forehead. They left tho bereaved parent moaning moan-ing over his child's rcmnlns nnd ngnln paned on. Tho next threo coffins wero examined, shuddered nt nnd left. Tho mutilated corpses which they con- ; tnlned possessed neither head, feet nor hnuds. They could nover havo been tnken for nnythlng human had not tho fnct been established beyond nil doubt. Was either of thoso his father?" Thero only remained ono or two moro belonging to that row, nnd thoy, too, wcro unrecognizable. After that nothing wns left but tho poor heaps ot ashes on the other Bide. "This Is nil, ladles nnd gentlemen," said tho old man, with a sort of charnel-house cheerfulness, " 'sides ono moro in thn vestry, ns was put thero In consequents of boln' .ycry llttlo damaged, 'cent nbout tho legs; and passon did say ns I wns to Bhow 'Ira fust, though beln' easy recognized. Hut my poro old 'cd's bin nil of a Jumblo slnco th' accident, and I clean forgot '1m. Hut anybody as likes can Jest step Into tho vestry nnd sco 'Ira for thelrselves. They've laid '1m out on tho table, through belli' of n hcxtry hIz3, nnd runnln' short o' coffins. 'K was found burlod under a lot o' rub-bldge, rub-bldge, and they 'ad a deal o' troublo to git 'lm out." There was a general rush In that direction on tho part of all thoso who i had a malo relative missing. I (To bo continued.) I |
