United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile fiction
The engine which Fuller now had was smaller and slower than the _Yonah_.
The engineer, upon entering Kingston, had allowed the steam pressure to
sink, and they crawled slowly from the station. Five minutes later they
came to the break in the telegraph lines, and Fuller knew that his message
to Chattanooga had not gone through. They worked feverishly at the engine,
but the steam pressure rose slowly. It was that fact which saved them from
a wreck when they came to the spot where Andrews' men had torn up the rail.
There was ample time to reverse the engine and bring it to a stop.
Without spikes and tools it was hopeless to think of bridging the gap. They
stood gazing ruefully at the break.
"We're done!" muttered Murphy.
"No, we're not," answered Fuller. "Come on!" And he started running up the
track. The others, nearly exhausted by the pace he had led them, followed
on their third foot race after the stolen train.
This broken rail, which so nearly blocked the course of his pursuers, was
Andrews' greatest mistake. If he had left the way clear for Fuller, sending
the southbound freight against him from Adairsville, a collision would have
been inevitable. As it was, Fuller and his men, running towards
Adairsville, heard the approaching train in plenty of time to stop it. Once
again, scarcely fifteen minutes after deserting one locomotive, they were
aboard another, the _Texas_.
It took but a minute to explain to the engineer what had happened. The
engine, thrown into reverse, pushed back to Adairsville, with Fuller,
mounted on the end box-car, controlling the train by signals. South of the
station they stopped, while Fuller jumped from the train and pulled open
the switch to the side-track. Murphy uncoupled the train at the engine.
Again they started back, this time shunting the train to the siding and
allowing it to run on its own momentum. When the wheels of the last car
passed, with a gap of a few yards between the car and the engine, Fuller
threw the switch and leaped for the cab. Murphy caught his arms and pulled
him aboard. The _Texas_ plunged backward down the track, racing the
cast-off train as it rolled upon the siding. For a moment it seemed that
they would collide at the north switch where the side-track re-entered the
main line. Fuller, leaning from the cab, glanced apprehensively at the
engineer. He had the throttle opened wide and the _Texas_ was gaining speed
at every turn of her wheels. The station agent was on the platform, waving
his arms and yelling. Ahead of them, the leading freight car lurched as it
struck the bend of the side-track; then the _Texas_ rattled over the switch
and out of danger--with two yards to spare.
Behind them, the freight car struck the closed switch, jumped it, ran off
the track and turned over. The force of the cars shoved it over the ground:
the second car crashed on its side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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