TURTLE EGGS FOR AGASSIZ 49 



fireman's side of the cab I could catch a glimpse 

 of the track just ahead of the engine, where the 

 ties seemed to leap into the throat of the mile- 

 devouring monster. The joy of it ! of seeing space 

 swallowed by the mile ! 



"I shifted the eggs from hand to hand and 

 thought of my horse, of Agassiz, of the great 

 book, of my great luck, luck, luck, until 

 the multitudinous tongues of the thundering train 

 were all chiming ' luck ! luck ! luck ! ' They 

 knew ! they understood ! This beast of fire and 

 tireless wheels was doing its best to get the eggs 

 to Agassiz ! 



" We swung out past the Blue Hills, and yon- 

 der flashed the morning sun from the towering 

 dome of the State House. I might have leaped 

 from the cab and run the rest of the way on foot* 

 had I not caught the eye of the engineer watch- 

 ing me narrowly. I was not in Boston yet, nor in 

 Cambridge either. I was an escaped lunatic, who 

 had held up a train, and forced it to carry me to 

 Boston. 



" Perhaps I had overdone the lunacy business. 

 Suppose these two men should take it into their 

 heads to turn me over to the police, whether I 



