United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile fiction
"Throw that on the track," ordered Fuller. The four men, puffing from their
long run, took the corners of the little car and dragged it to the tracks.
Fuller started them with a shove, then scrambled aboard.
"I sent the agent riding back to Marietta," panted Murphy.
"At Etowah," replied Fuller, "they have an engine--the _Yonah_. It belongs
to the iron works. If it isn't up at the mills we'll take it."
"Has it steam up?" asked Murphy.
"I don't know. If it hasn't, we're done."
The hand-car was coasting easily down the grade; it rounded a sharp bend.
"Jump!" yelled the engineer.
His warning came too late. The car reached the spot where Andrews' men had
torn up the rail; its wheels left the track and it spun about, scattering
the men over the ground.
"Anybody hurt?" demanded Fuller, scrambling to his feet.
"No," they answered. All of them were bruised and the fireman's cheek was
cut. "It's nothing," he said. They righted the car and dragged it to the
track.
"Look at that!" called Fuller, pointing to the broken telegraph wires.
"This isn't a conscript's job."
"What do you think?" asked Murphy. "The Yanks?"
"Probably. Get that car back on the tracks, anyway. Grab some of those
fence rails. We've about reached the bottom of the grade, and we can pole
the car faster than we can walk. I can't run another inch."
They found two light rails, boarded the car and coasted to the bottom of
the grade. Then began the tedious work of poling. It was, as Fuller had
said, faster than walking. On level track they could go five or six miles
an hour; on the upgrades, two of them walked while the other two poled.
At the top of the last grade before they came to Etowah, they looked down
and saw the _Yonah_ a mile away, upon the turn-table. The locomotive was
being turned for its trip up the branch to the iron works!
"Give a push!" yelled Fuller. "In another minute we're lost."
The four men ran beside the hand car and started down the grade, jumping
aboard when they could run no faster. The car slipped to and fro on the
tracks, yanked them about the curves.
"Keep a sharp lookout ahead on the tracks," ordered Fuller. But the way was
clear. If Andrews had stopped at this point to obstruct the track, the
pursuit which followed would have been impossible. The _Yonah_ would have
been on its way up the branch before the hand car arrived.
As it was, the engineer of the _Yonah_ was climbing aboard when his
attention was attracted by the yells of the men on the approaching car,
flying down the track as fast as a hand car ever traveled. He waited,
wondering what was wrong.
Fuller ran to the _Yonah_, while his men pushed the hand car from the
track. "We'll have to take this engine," he said. "The Yanks have stolen my
train!" The three men joined him, and before the engineer could protest,
they were pushing at the bar of the turn-table, swinging the locomotive
around.
"I haven't much fuel," said the engineer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account