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The Story of a Pioneer-Part28_Anna Howard Shaw(1847-1919)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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situated high and dry on a steep bank; but the river

which rolled between us and that town was a roaring,



boiling stream, and the only possible way to cross

it, I found, was to walk over a railroad trestle, already



trembling under the force of the water.

There were hundreds of men on the river-bank



watching the flood, and when they saw me start

out on the empty trestle they set up a cheer that



nearly threw me off. The river was wide and the

ties far apart, and the roar of the stream below was



far from reassuring; but in some way I reached the

other side, and was there helped off the trestle by



what the newspapers called ``strong and willing

hands.''



Another time, in a desperateresolve to meet a

lecture engagement, I walked across the railroad



trestle at Elmira, New York, and when I was half-

way over I heard shouts of warning to turn back, as



a train was coming. The trestle was very high at

that point, and I realized that if I turned and faced



an oncoming train I would undoubtedly lose my

nerve and fall. So I kept on, as rapidly as I could,



accompanied by the shrieks of those who objected

to witnessing a violent death, and I reached the end



of the trestle just as an express-train thundered on

the beginning of it. The next instant a policeman



had me by the shoulders and was shaking me as if

I had been a bad child.



``If you ever do such a thing again,'' he thundered,

``I'll lock you up!''



As soon as I could speak I assured him fervently

that I never would; one such experience was all I



desired.

Occasionally a flash of humor, conscious or un-



conscious, lit up the gloom of a trying situation.

Thus, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the train I



was on ran into a coal-car. I was sitting in a sleep-

er, leaning back comfortably with my feet on the



seat in front of me, and the force of the collision lifted

me up, turned me completely over, and deposited



me, head first, two seats beyond. On every side I

heard cries and the crash of human bodies against



unyielding substances as my fellow-passengers flew

through the air, while high and clear above the



tumult rang the voice of the conductor:

``Keep your seats!'' he yelled. ``KEEP YOUR SEATS!''



Nobody in our car was seriously hurt; but, so

great is the power of vested authority, no one smiled



over that order but me.

Many times my medical experience was useful.



Once I was on a train which ran into a buggy and

killed the woman in it. Her little daughter, who



was with her, was badly hurt, and when the train

had stopped the crew lifted the dead woman and



the injured child on board, to take them to the next

station. As I was the only doctor among the pas-



sengers, the child was turned over to me. I made up

a bed on the seats and put the little patient there,



but no woman in the car was able to assist me. The

tragedy had made them hysterical, and on every



side they were weeping and nerveless. The men were

willing but inefficient, with the exception of one un-



couth woodsman whose trousers were tucked into

his boots and whose hands were phenomenally big



and awkward. But they were also very gentle, as

I realized when he began to help me. I knew at



once that he was the man I needed, notwithstanding

his unkempt hair, his general ungainliness, the



hat he wore on the back of his head, and the pink

carnation in his buttonhole, which, by its very in-



congruity, added the final accent to his unprepossess-

ing appearance. Together we worked over the child,



making it as comfortable as we could. It was hard-

ly necessary to tell my aide what I wanted done;



he seemed to know and even to anticipate my efforts.




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