The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-01-06

and published BY arrangement with them.l
CHAPTER K.
IN SIGHT
Before they reached Calhoun, however,
Andrews was released from his perilous
position. After he had chatted with the
conductor and engineer Of the down
| freight for some time and found them In
disposed to go on their way, he said in the
most matter Of fact and positive manner:
81 must press on without more delay.
Pull your engine ahead and let me out"
When the order was given In this direct
form they were obliged to obey or give
| good reason for refusing; and it may be
| considered certain that II they had de-
| layed, though Andrews did not threaten
violence, yet our engineers would at once
! have taken control and executed the
order, probably not without bloodshed.
At last we are on the main track, with
no train between US and Chattanooga
and if the reports from Huntsville are
| true there is no obstruction west of that
| town, as all travel is cut off by Mitchell.
There Is reason for exultation on our part.
An open road ahead and scores of miles of
| INSTRUCTED and broken track behind us
For the whole morning we have been
running with train right in front of us,
or waiting for belated one. We had
passed five trains, all but one either eX-
tras or behind time-a wonderful achieve
mentl now the way is clear to our own
lines; and the "Y" at Chattanooga is no
more difficult Of passage than any of the
many side tracks we have already success
| fully encountered. No small amount of
the eXultation we felt on first taking the
train was again ours, as we rushed rap
| idly on for q mile or more, and then
| stopped TO cut the wire, and to take up
rail las we hoped for the last time. The
| Oostenaula bridge was just ahead, and
when that was burned, we would simply
run from bridge to bridge, firing them
as we passed; and no more of
this hard drudgery of track rails
ing and still more terrible work
of sitting silent and housed in a dark car
waiting for trains to arrive! We had
heard the whistle of a following train a
dozen miles back, but it probably was one
from Kingston, and if not wrecked by the
broken rail, would return there for tools.
We knew nothing of Fuller's and Muir
PHYS pursuit, and if we had been told the
full story, as already narrated, we would
have thought it too wild and improbable
even for good fiction.
But it was eXpedient to take up this
one rail more before we finally changed
our mode of operations. A piece of torn
track had been put before or after every
train that we had met. 1t was well to
put broken read behind this passenger
train also, that it might not turn back
after us on any sudden suspicious freak
and come upon us while working at the
Resaca (Oostenaula) bridge. The crisis
of our fate approached, and we believed it
would be triumphantly passed. Nothing
had as yet been lost but time, and if we
were fairly prosperous for fifteen minutes
more, all would be regained; and the full
fillment of all our hopes, as far as human
prospects could reach, be in our own
hands.
No wonder that we worked gladly and
cheerfully. Scott climbed the pole with
even more than usual agility. Some
worked at the taking in of all kinds of
combustibles, for we wished to be well
provided for the bridge. Every stick and
piece of wood we could get hold of was
soaking wet, but by breaking and whiting
they could be made to add to flame, and
from the engine, which was kept full of
wood for the purpose, we could give
good start to a fire. We had only one
iron bar to drive out our spikes; a bent
''crow's foot" would have been worth
more than its weight in gold; but we
hammered away with what we had, and
spike after spike was drawn. Here saw
Andrews show real impatience for the
first am not sure but may say the
only-time. He had altered his dress,
throwing off the cape and high hat that
he wore while at stations, and had q
mail cap o., which greatly changed his
appearance. The nearing of the time
when his plans would all eliminate in
success seemed to thrill and inspire him.
He snatched the iron bar out of the hands
of the man who was welding it, and
though we had strong and practiced
workmen in our party-I had not
before seen the blows rained down
with such precision and force. Some
say that he uttered an oath on this occa-
sion, but though standing by did not
hear him, the only words 1 did hear be-
ing directions about the work, given in
his mild tones, but with quite an en-
phatic ring of triumph in them. He
wanted that rail up in the fewest number
of seconds and then-the bridget There
were several using lever of green wood,
and trying to tear up the end of a rail
from which the spikes had not yet been
drawn; but the lever bent too much, and
fence rail was added and we lifted again.
At that instant, loud and clear from the
south, came the whistle of the engine in
pursuit! 1t was near by and running at
lightning speed. The roll of a thousand
thunders could not have startled us more.
What could we do? At the end where
we had been prying the rail it was bent,
but it was still too firmly fixed for us to
hope to lift it or break 1t like the last.
But we did the best in our power; we
| ck;I &C.,.
the fence rail carefully under it, with the
hope that it would compel the pursuers
either to stop and adjust it or throw them
from the track, and then piled into the
car and engine with a celebrity born of
long practice, and with one of it's old
bounds that jerked US from our feet-for
Brown and Knight threw the valve wide
open-the General bore us rapidly on.
The impotence of Andrews to reach the
bridge had not been diminished by the
appearance of this new element in the
situation.
Here our pursuers were greatly startled.
Their story had been swiftly told when
they reached Calhoun, and the engine and
tender of the passenger car, with re-en-
forcement of armed men, followed them
up the road. Fuller stood on the tender
OF his own train, which was in front, gaZ-
ing intently forward to see If there was
any dangerous obstacle or break in the
track, such as they had already many
times encountered. Soon he beheld us at
work with feelings which cannot be de-
scribed. Before getting near enough to
see our number, we had mounted and
sped away, and he saw with exultation
that we had not broken the track, and
that there seemed to be no obstruction
With full speed he ran on till too close to
stop, and then beheld what he believed, at
first, to be broken rail and gave himself
up for lost; but it was on the inside of a
curve, and as an engine running rapidly
throws most of its weight on the outside,
when he ran on it the bent rail was only
straitened down, and they were safely
on the other side of this danger The
next train, which followed almost imme-
diately after, did not notice the obstruc-
ton at all. There is scarcely doubt
that two minutes more, enabling us to
finish getting a rail up at this point, would
have given the control of the day into our
hands, for there were no more trains on
the road either to delay us or to be turned
back after us. But as it was, the Texas
pressed on after us without the slightest
loss of Roadway.
The coming of this train before the
track was torn up was by far the most Sc
rious misfortune that we had yet encoun-
tered. But might it not still be overcomep
The plan which first presented itself to the
undismayed spirit Of Andrews was to use
two OF our cars as projectiles and hurl
| them back at the enemy This was mora