The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-06-14
A Rot CHASE.

A HOT CHASE.
b A locomotive engineer and a civil en-
gineer are two very different persons.
for one has charge of locomotive en-
CINE, and the other has charge of, and
controls, variety of Instruments First
is the transit, then the level, the level
ing-rod. the flags, chain. axes and
stakes. all in the charge of competent
men. An engineering party. to do
good work quickly, should consist of at
least ten persons. The chief of the
party usually goes ahead and picks out
the route the others are to follow, and
often takes fag-pole along with him.
Sticking this into the ground, he waves
his hand Tor the others to come ahead, ;"
and the transtman sets his instrument
In that direction, and causes the vertical
cross-hair in the telescope to cut the
pole, OFFICIALLY, in two But am afraid
some readers may not know what cross
hairs are. Most of you know the prin-
ciple OF the telescope; an obiect-glass
collects large number of rays of light
and concentrates them, and a lens, or
a series of lenses, magniiies them. That
Is the simple principle, and in transit,
or level, just where the obiect-glass
forms the image and the eye-piece mag
nitles it, there are two eobwebs, SO fine
that the unaided eye can hardly see
them, stretched across round brass
ring, at right angles with each other,
one perfectly vertical and one horizontal.
The point where they cross each other
is the exact center of the lens These
are the crosS-hdirs, and they are on the
optical axis of the instrument. With
their aid straight line can be pro-
longed any distance, or in a level, the
difference in elevation between two
points can be determined to the thou
santh part of a foot, provided the
operator and instrument be in good
order, and if the rodman, who holds a
joined pole graduated to one one-thou-
santh of afoot, understands his business.
To explain the working of an en-
cheering party would be tedious and
uninteresting to many, and as that has
nothing to do with my story, | will not
do SO. Instead of that, imagine me and
my rodman running line of levels
from a stream of water to a new rail
road, to see whether there was elevation
enough to force it into the tank, and
the rest of the party miles away,
busy at something. That was the very
thing | was doing one day on the North
ern Pacific Railroad it was not that
railroad, but it is handy road 10 use
on this occasion) The stream of water
was two miles away from the new
track, and that morning we had ridden
from our boarding place, ten miles east,
on little hand-car. The grade there
was descending one, westward, for n
long distance, and all we had to do.
when going in that direction, was to sit
still and fly along over the new rails
About five miles further west a large
gang of men were working, laying
track; and the smoke OF the engine of
the ''constructson train was plainly
visible ACROSS the undulating prairies.
George and /, therefore, did not feel
lost or alone, and we worked hard all
the morning and ate our lunch in the
cool shade of the tank-house Just I'm
ished. As We had nothing more to do
that day | determined to put the truck
on the track after We were done eating,
ride down to the track-layers, and return
with them ON the fiat-cars that evening
But | was hungry and ate a great deal,
and then began to feel strangely drowsy
the last thing remember before fell
asleep was George standing by the level
in the hot sun, and looking through 1t at
the hills east of US. | cannot say how
long / dozed, for I was startled SO sud
denly as to Jog my memory to an
alarming extent
''Indians!'' l heard some one cry; and
1 began to rub my eyes sleepily. But l
did not rub them long, for saw George
throwing the truck on the track in a
state of great excitement. Twas at his
side in an instant, and a quick glance
around showed me the true state OF
| things. Eastward about a mile distant,
were five mounted Indians, riding to-
ward us at full speed. As the camp had
several times been raided during the
mems absence, | had no doubt that they
were hostile. [ was not as excited as
George was, however, for l put my level
and leveling-rod and two spruce ties on
the car before | showed off. The rails
were new and rough, and the hand-car
was not worn much yet, but as jumped
on | felt it gaining speed down the
straight track, and l arranged the two
| ties in the form of a barricade Then
| looked back.
The five Indians evidently meant bust
ness; for they were coming as fast as
they could toward us, and were gaining
upon us; and when / heard George
moaning as he crouched behind the ties,
| did not feel very cheerful or hopeful.
I reached for my revolver in my hip
pocket, and examined its charges as
coolly as ] could, There were seven
large-sized cartridges in it, and the KIP
of bullet by my ears at that moment
showed me / might have to use them.
also crouched behind the ties after this
warning, and looked cautiously over
| the top at our pursuers. They gained
nearly half the distance during the first
five minutes, but the increasing quick
ness of the click of the wheels at the
joints of the rails gave me little hope
as watched them. As to George, bt
was SO terrified as to be unconscious
but long life of engineering upon thu
plains had hardened me little; neither
was this my first adventure. The SUI
poured down upon US, and but for on
motion it would have Frustrated
Us; the wind was blowing th'
same way we were going, bu
we were moving faster than it, ant
this gave us faint breath of air.
took offmy light coat and formed a shad'
over George. who was helpless, ana
looked ahead. Far away, through tn
moving waves of heat. l could see tn
smoke rising lazily from the engine, ant