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Page 98
The old woman sitting beside the track seemed to realize what was
under way; for she rose and came over to where I stood.
"Contessa," she whispered, in those quaint, old world words, "do
not reveal, what I have tol'. I pray you!"
And she followed me across the few steps to where the others
stood.
I did not answer. I stood like one in some Hellenic drama,
between two tragic figures. The love of woman lay in the
solution of this problem - in the beginning and at the end of
life.
Marion and the big track boss continued with this woman looking
on.
I feared to speak or move; the thing was like a sort of trap, set
with ghastly cunning, by some evil Fate. The ruin of a woman it
would have. And perhaps on the vast level plain where it evilly
dwelt, through its hard all-seeing eyes, the ruin and the sorrow
either way would be precisely equal. How could I, then, lay a
finger on the scale.
"Now," said Marion, "when the engine reached this point on the
track, one of the rails gave way first."
The big workman looked steadily at her.
"How do you know that, Miss Warfield?" he said.
"Because," replied Marion, "the marks of the wheels of the
locomotive on the ties are found, in the beginning, only on one
side of the track, showing that the rail on that side gave way,
when the engine struck it, and the other rail for some distance
bore the weight of the train."
She illustrated with her hands.
"When the one rail was pushed out, the wheels on that side went
down and continued on the ties, while the wheels on the other
side went ahead on the firm rail."
The workman saw it.
"That's true, Miss Warfield," he said, "one rail sometimes
spreads and the other holds solid."
Marion was absorbed in the problem.
"But why should the one rail give way like this and its companion
hold?"
"One of the rails might not be as solid as the other," said the
man.
"But it should have been nearly as solid," replied Marion.
"This piece of track, you tell me, was examined to-day; the ties
are equally sound on both sides, the rail is the same weight. We
have the right to conclude then that each of these rails was
about in the same condition. I do not say precisely in the same
condition. Now, it is true that under these conditions one of
the rails might have been pushed out of alignment before the
other. We can grant a certain factor of difference, a certain
reasonable factor of difference. But not a great factor of
difference. We have a right to conclude that one rail would give
way before the other. But not that one would very readily give
way before the other. For some reason this particular rail did
give way, much more readily than it ought to have done."
The trackman was listening with the greatest interest.
"Just how do you know that, Miss Warfield?" he said.
"Why," replied Marion, "don't you see, from the mark on the ties,
that the engine wheels left the rail almost at the moment they
struck it. The marks of the wheels commence on the second tie
ahead of the beginning of the rail. Therefore, this rail, for
some reason, was more easily pushed out of alignment than it
should have been. What was the reason?"
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