Chasing an Iron Horse; Or, A Boy's Adventures in the Civil WarRobins, Edward
History
Chasing an Iron Horse; Or, A Boy's Adventures in the Civil War
Robins, Edward
Railroad stories; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction
"That's better," cried the engineer. "We need wood more than we need a
kingdom!"
"Throw out some of those cross-ties," thundered the leader. The men
dropped a tie here and there on the track, so that a temporary obstruction
might be presented to the pursuing locomotive.
"That's some help," said Andrews, as he craned his neck out of the cab
window and looked back along the line. "Those ties will make them stop a
while, any way." In fact the enemy had already stopped upon encountering
the first log; two men from the tender were moving it from the track.
"We've a good fighting chance yet," cried Andrews, whose enthusiasm had
suddenly returned. "If we can burn another bridge, and block these
fellows, the day is ours!"
"The water in the boiler is almost gone!" announced the engineer.
George's heart sank. What meant all the wood in the world without a good
supply of water? But Andrews was equal to the emergency. "Can you hold out
for another mile or so?" he asked.
"Just about that, and no more," came the answer.
"All right. We are about to run by Tilton station. A little beyond that,
if I remember rightly, is a water tank." Andrews, in his capacity as a spy
within the Southern lines, knew Georgia well, and had frequently traveled
over this particular railroad. It was his acquaintance with the line,
indeed, that had enabled him to get through thus far without failure.
Past Tilton ran "The General," as it nearly swept two frightened rustics
from the platform. Then the engine began to slow up, until it finally
rested at the water tank.
"I was right," said Andrews. He leaped from the cab, and gazed down the
line. "The enemy is not in sight now," he cried. "Those ties are giving
them trouble. Put some more on the track, boys. George, try some more
wire-cutting. Brown, get your boiler filled."
In an incredibly short space of time the telegraph wire had been cut, the
engine was provided with water, and some more ties had been placed upon
the track in the rear. What a curious scene the party presented; how
tired, and dirty, yet how courageous they all looked.
"Shall we take up a rail?" demanded Macgreggor. Scarcely had the words
left his lips before the whistle of the enemy was again heard.
"No time," shouted the leader. "Let's be off!"
Off went the train--the grimy, panting engine, the tender, and the one
baggage car, which was now literally torn to pieces in the frantic
endeavor to provide kindling-wood.
"We want more wood," George shouted back to the men after they had
proceeded a couple of miles. Some wood was thrown into the tender from the
baggage car, with the gloomy news: "This is all we have left!"
"No more wood after this," explained George.
"All right," answered Andrews, very cheerfully. "Tell them to throw out a
few more ties on the track--as long as they're too big to burn in our
furnace."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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