The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-12-08


were at could not make out. for we
passed them like flash OF lightning.
AT this moment, too, the batteries.
which had probably received tele.
graphic notice of our approach, OPEN
ed fire upon us. and for moment the
air seemed to be alive with shrieking
iron.
More fire, john cried the engi.
neer; ram her full to the door. or it's
all up with u.s.
1.-The fireman stopped to obey. but
at that moment shell struck upon
the caboose and burst within three
feet of us. 1t was a ten-inch monster.
and how any of us escaped alive / fail
to see. As it was, when the dust and
smoke cleared away, I found the top
OF the cab gone, a portion Of the
caboose torn off, and the fireman lying
in heap on the floor, with his arm
broken.
Ppm knocked out, William he
groaned and now who's to fire her
for the rest of the trip? ?"
"'1 will, l said. L think l can
manage it,
AFTER placing the poor fellow in as
comfortable position as possible, /
seized the shovel and began my new
duties.
by this time we had passed out of
range of the batteries, which now and
then, however, sent a sullen shot in
our direction, as parting evidence of
their good will.
"'We are safep I said, with a sigh
of relief; that was their last line of
works. The road is clear before u.s.
~ hope so, SIR responded the en-
gineer. How is your arm, John p
Every bad, William groaned the
fireman but that amt the worst of
it. We amt through with the trouble
yet
"'What do you mean p | asked.
THE scouts say there are no troops
beyond us, except our own at Kama
kia station
"'But they are following u.s. re-
piled the poor fireman. They are
after us hot and heayy,'
81 looked at the engineer under the
impression that the fireman was in a
delirium With his injury.
lilies right, Captain said the en-
glneer, listening intently. Sure as
fate they have pulled out that engine
we saw at the junction, and are chas.
ing u.s.
but there's no possibility OF
their overtaking u.s. l replied.
"'I don't know about that he said.
grayely. THAT engines heavy one.
and | have seen her make good fifty
miles with train behind her. This
one is light machine, and / can't
promise more than forty at the most.
Besides they have the advantage of
us in the fact that they have car
attached, and we are running alone
"'I should suppose that our light
ness would be rather in our favor than
otherwise | responded.
"'GOt something to balance her,
grunted the fireman sententiously.
"'John is right explained the en-.
gineer. You see, Sir, ifan engine has
no weight behind her, she is apt to
jump and pound the rails, and, ifyou
put her at her full speed, to get off the
track altogether. So, while that en-
gine behind us can do her level best,
we can't even let out to forty miles,
without danger of a smash-up.'
81 now comprehended the extent of
our peril. We had only to run the
gauntlet of Scylla to be more effectu-
ally destroyed by Charybdis. To
have been killed by round shot from
the fort, would haye been, at least, a
soldiers death. To be run down and
picked off coolly like ducks on pud-
die, was, TO put it mildly, decidedly
undignified way of settling accounts
with the world. As for surrender, |
am certain that neither of my com.
rades thought of it as a way of escape,
any more than did. A sacred trust,
involving the fate of an army, per
haps OF a nation, had been placed with
us. To yield it to any but the skele-
ton hand of death itself was a notion
which never entered our heads. 1t
was then life, and more than life that
hung upon the issue, and it was with
such sensations as come to few mems
experience that we listened to the
dull roar of the approaching engine.
meanwhile our own little ma
chine was not idle. l had kept the
furnace at white heat. The steam,
Dent up in the boiler, groaned and
wheezed ike the breathing of an i'm.
prisoned giant. The wheels spun
around upon the track. crashing from