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A railroad train is thundering through the night, between Boone, la., and Council Bluffs. The engineer is sick, fainting. The fireman drunk, at his post, does not know. On the block of track a mile ahead, a wheezy freight grumbles up a grade, behind schedule and on the flier's rails. Disaster whines through the cab window, for the prostrate engineer has not seen the block signal, his throttle yawns unheeded.

What are those blue sparks under the engine's front truck? What whistle is this that hoots in...

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