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 



