if Providence made old Bob start the rabbit, merely to guide us to the gravel pit?’ said I.
“‘No doubt of it,’ was his reply.
“‘I didn’t know before now that you were so full of superstition.’
“‘If it is superstition to believe that Providence prompted me to ride on the engine that day, then I am overflowed with it.’
“The brave old engineer stood with his hand on the lever, his sleeves rolled above his elbows, his face blackened with smut and smoke, his gray locks pushed back and streaming in the wind. Undaunted courage was stamped on every feature; his lips were firmly closed, and the picture he presented reminded me of the description of Vulcan which I had read in Homer.
“‘Will she make it, Dan?’ inquired the conductor.
“‘Yes, I think so,’ replied the engineer; ‘but it will be a close race—two miles to run; two minutes and a quarter to make it in.’
“‘We’re safe then,’ said the conductor. ‘They can hear us coming and will wait for us.’
“Within one mile of the station there was a sharp curve in the track where it swung round the base of a tall ridge, then lay out on the top of a very high embankment, thence across a bridge, with a straight run from there to the station. The train was coming round the curve with unusual speed, as it was running down grade. Harry sat on the pilot with his eyes fixed in front, and just as the train came round the last spur of the ridge, he saw a little girl sitting on the gravel in the center of the track, with her apron filled with wild flowers, which she was busily weaving into festoons. The train was within one hundred yards of her before she was discovered. She was on the part of the track that lay on the top of the high embankment, the sides of which were very steep, and it was full thirty feet to the ground from where the little girl sat. The engineer immediately blew the signal for down brakes, then reversed his engine (a very dangerous operation to perform while running rapidly down grade); all the brakes were put on, and the brakeman seemed to strain every nerve to hold them as much down as possible. The engineer kept his whistle shrieking and screaming in order to warn the child of her danger. She rose and started to run toward the bridge, then hesitated a moment, and made a move as if she were going to jump over the embankment. An Irish woman who was the child’s nurse had imprudently left her on the track while she was gathering the flowers some distance from it. When the nurse discovered the danger to which the little girl was exposed she hallooed to the child, telling her to leap down the side of the embankment. She made a movement as if she were going to do it, then evidently became frightened at the great distance to the ground. Meantime the train was rapidly approaching the spot where the child was, notwithstanding the fact that all the brakes were down and the engine reversed. The momentum was so great, and the grade being downward, the train continued to move forward. The noise made by the whistle, added to the thundering sounds made by the approaching train, only served to increase the child’s confusion. The second time she started to run across the bridge, and again she ran back a few paces; then became so paralyzed with fright that she stopped, unable to move. The train was within a few feet of the little girl, and it now became certain that the engine could not be stopped before it reached the bridge, although it was running quite slowly, not faster than a man could run; but what did that signify? Wouldn’t the child be crushed to death unless the engine could be stopped before she was reached? It was plain to be seen that the little girl had lost her self-possession, and she stood gazing at the approaching train in despair. She had very long hair, which floated loose down her back, while the flowers lay scattered on the ground where she stood. The picture she presented then was pretty, ’tis true, but the situation was awful. My heart grew sick at the sight. I noticed Harry getting down on the very front of the iron frame commonly called the cow-catcher; but what good could he do by that? The engine was within ten feet of the little girl when I saw the old engineer turn his face away and throw both hands to his eyes, as if he were trying to shut out the shocking scene that was about to be witnessed.
“‘Oh! great God have mercy on us,’ he exclaimed, as he turned away.
“Harry placed his foot on the outer end of the longest bar of iron, then made a desperate leap forward, seized the child by the arm, and both went rolling down the steep side of the embankment. He made the leap when the engine was only about six feet from the child, and he must have made his calculations very accurately, for he only let one foot strike the ground between the rails, while the other struck the ground outside of the rails. The slightest miscalculation or the least mistake, would have been fatal to him as well as her for whom he made the gallant leap. At the base of the embankment there was a pond of muddy water, bordered with briars and broken rocks. Harry and the little girl landed in the middle of the pond, bruised and bleeding from many wounds. The engine came to a halt as soon as it struck the bridge, and the engineer leaped down to where Harry lay in the water and lifted him up in his arms. It was an affecting sight to see the man of iron nerve weeping like a child.
“‘My brave little hero,’ he exclaimed, as he pressed Harry’s brow to his lips, ‘are you hurt?’
“‘Not much sir, I believe, though my leg is broken,’ said Harry.
“Poor fellow! he fainted in the arms of the strong man who carried him up the embankment and placed him on the train. The little girl had a severe contusion on her temple, caused by falling against a sharp-cornered rock at the base of the embankment. She was also placed on the train, and then it was put in motion, and soon was at the station, and a surgeon sent for, while the wounded children were removed to a hotel near the depot. The mother of the little girl (a pale-faced, delicate little woman of great beauty) swooned and fell to the ground when she saw the bleeding child in my arms. The father of the child took her from me.
“‘In Heaven’s name pray tell me what has happened!’ said he, as he took his daughter from me.
“‘She is not seriously hurt, sir,’ said I, and then I told him what had occurred.
“Harry had regained consciousness before we reached the station, and when he saw how Lottie was weeping as she held his head in her lap, he smiled pleasantly. ‘Don’t be alarmed, Lottie dear, I am not seriously hurt—just one leg broken, that’s all. Wasn’t it lucky that I happened to be on the front of that engine? Is the little girl much hurt?’
“‘No, I think not,’ said the conductor, ‘she got a slight cut on the temple.’
“‘Wasn’t she a pretty little darling?’ continued Harry; ‘I fell in love with her as we rolled down the embankment together; and when I get to be a man, if she is willing, we’ll go down the path of life together.’
“‘His mind is wandering,’ whispered the conductor.
“Harry overheard him.
“‘Perhaps it is,’ said he, ‘but let it wander as much as it likes, so long as it happens to stray in that direction. Hush crying, Lottie dear, I tell you I am not much hurt; I shall be well again in three weeks.’
“The old surgeon arrived, threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and went to work like a man who knew what he was about; and I was struck with admiration for the man when I saw the skill with which he reset the broken bones and placed the splints.
“‘There now, we’re all right, my brave little hero,’ he said, smiling as he finished pinning the bandage. ‘Keep it moist with cold water to prevent inflammation, and in three weeks this leg will be as good as the other one. By the by, what’s your name, little man?’
“‘Harry Wallingford, sir.’
“‘Ah,
