t -,24 WINTER 



f below him ; the moans of a hundred mangled beings 

 > he heard sounding in his ears ! 



On into the teeth of the blinding storm he raced, < 

 V\*,/ while he strained his eyes for a glimpse of the com- \ 

 s ; j '"^ ing train. 



The track seemed to lie straightaway in front of 

 him, and he bent his head for a moment before the ; , 

 _ wind, when, out of the smother of the snow, the\ 

 \ i flaring headlight leaped almost upon him. 

 r\ ,' He sprang aside, stumbled, and pitched headlong \ 

 ( -v ? down the bank, as the engine of a freight, with a , 

 V / roar that dazed him, swept past. 



V- ' *, But the engineer had seen him, and there was a } 

 > screaming of iron brakes, a crashing of cars together, < 

 ^ and a long-drawn shrieking of wheels, as the heavy ^ ..; 

 train slid along the slippery rails to a stop. 



As the engineer swung down from his cab, he was^ ] 

 met, to his great astonishment, by a dozen turkeys \ \ 

 clambering up the embankment toward him. He had I ^ 

 plowed his way well among the roosting flock and ? ( 

 brushed them unhurt from the rails as the engine 

 : .v '[ skidded along to its slow stop. 



f^ By this time the conductor and the train-hands V \ 

 had run forward to see what it all meant, and stood / f 

 looking at the strange obstruction on the track, when ^ . 

 Herbert came into the glare of the headlight and AA 

 joined them. Then George came panting up, and 



