The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker RacesMicheaux, Oscar
General
The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker Races
Micheaux, Oscar
African Americans -- Fiction
The murderer saw her, and it was only when she fell, that he appeared to
take any notice of the fact that he had committed murder. He now turned
and fled up the alley, while the Negroes about him fell back.
"There goes the beast!" cried Legs, pointing him out to Wyeth, and the
next moment they followed in close pursuit. A cry from the crowd went up
as they disappeared. It warned them that they would be dealt with
likewise, but they heeded it not.
They ran up the alley that opened ahead into a wide street. The murderer
led them at considerable distance, and, as they hurried after him, they
saw his head turning from left to right, evidently looking for some
opening in which to escape. But their pursuit was too close. Arriving at
the end of the alley, he halted one brief moment, and then turned south.
This street fell rapidly a block, and reached a level in a railroad
yard, where long trains of cars stood silently in the pale moonlight. To
these he now ran, not looking back at his pursuers. A few minutes later,
he had, for a time, disappeared from view behind a car. But determined,
with their blood now boiling, the two flew on after him. When they got
inside the yards, they caught a glimpse of him crawling along to the
other side of a line of cars, to which was hitched an engine.
A moment later, this began to move, and, suddenly, while they were yet
some distance away, he swung aboard one of the cars and stood on the
bumpers. They hurried forward, and caught a car each, a few cars to the
rear; while the speed of the train increased. In a few minutes it was
flying, and they were hanging dangerously to the side. With quick
intuition, Wyeth climbed to the top of the train, and called to Legs
when he stood over him, to do likewise. Hurriedly, Legs clambered to the
top. As he settled panting on top of the moving train, in the rear and
hurrying forward, the light of a brakeman approached. They darted
forward, looking carefully between the cars, to ascertain which
contained the fugitive. The train now hurried around a bend toward the
outskirts of the town, and, as it did so, they saw the creature drop
suddenly from between the cars and roll over the embankment, and down
the grade which was, perhaps, at this point twenty odd feet.
The train was tearing along now at a speed that made it positively
dangerous to alight. Still, the light of the brakeman was only a few
cars away, and, inasmuch as they would most likely be severely dealt
with if found, they were, for the moment, at a loss what to do. The
fugitive had now arisen, and was running again to safety. All they had
seen before the electric show now came back to them, and, without regard
for the risk they were taking, they quickly clambered to the bottom and
fell off the train, just as a curse greeted their ears from the
brakeman above.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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