us boys who used to go very frequently to a small village about a mile
from our homes. To reach this village it was necessary to cross a
narrow river, and there was a toll-bridge for that purpose. The toll
for every foot-passenger who went over this bridge was one cent. Now,
this does not seem like a very high charge, but, at that time, we very
often thought that we would much rather keep our pennies to spend in
the village than to pay them to the old man who took toll on the
bridge. But it was often necessary for us to cross the river, and to
do so, and save our money at the same time, we used to adopt a very
hazardous expedient.

At a short distance below the toll-bridge there was a railroad-bridge,
which you cannot see in the picture. This bridge was not intended for
anything but railroad trains; it was very high above the water, it
was very long, and it was not floored. When any one stood on the
cross-ties which supported the rails, he could look right down into
the water far below him. For the convenience of the railroad-men and
others who sometimes were obliged to go on the bridge, there was a
single line of boards placed over the ties at one side of the track,
and there was a slight hand-rail put up at that side of the bridge.

To save our pennies we used to cross this bridge, and every time we
did so we risked our lives.

We were careful, however, not to go on the bridge at times when a
train might be expected to cross it, for when the cars passed us, we
had much rather be on solid ground. But one day, when we had forgotten
the hour; or a train was behind, or ahead of time; or an extra train
was on the road--we were crossing this railroad bridge, and had just
about reached the middle of it, when we heard the whistle of a