Hardly a pound of the steam less! David Shaw straightened back,
Hand like steel on the lever, face like flint to the track.
God!--look there! Down the mountain, right ahead of the train,
Acres of sand and forest sliding down to the plain!
What to do? Why, jump, Dave! Take the chance, while you can.
The train is doomed--save your own life! Think of the children, man!
Well, what did he, this hero, face to face with grim death?
Grasped the throttle--reversed it--shrieked "_Down brakes!_" in a
breath.
Stood to his post, without flinching, clear-headed, open-eyed,
Till the train stood still with a shudder, and he--went down with the
slide!
Saved?--yes, saved! Ninety people snatched from an awful grave.
One life under the sand, there. All that he had, he gave,
Man to the last inch! Hero?--noblest of heroes, yea;
Worthy the shaft and the tablet, worthy the song and the bay!
BROTHERHOOD.
BY ALFRED H. MILES.
I am my brother's keeper,
And I the duty own;
For no man liveth to himself
Or to himself alone;
And we must bear together
A common weal and woe,
In all we are, in all we have,
In all we feel and know.
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