The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1893-10-05

0VSkSkS~A AA0OSSAoOs - -
shall have EN-, cap" he said, land
for nothin." F a2E.
It was = right jolly cheer that went
up. Bristow hardly bowed his thanks,
60 hurriedly did he get away from
the cabin and go below. m.
I Turn the boys loose, Jim" he
yelled to the engineer. and before his
words had died away across the water
the choicest of indammable materials
was being rammed into the yawning
furnaces, The hand on the steam
gauge crawled up slowly, and as it
advanced the engineer opened the
valves wider. The increased speed
was noted at once. So close together
did the throbs of the engine come
that they appeared like a steady
vibration. In 20 minutes the A1,;l
was SO close that her every outline
was clearly visible in the brilliant
moonlight. Her captain saw that the
tombstone was gaining rapidly, and
the great volume of sparks that
poured from her stacks in a roll Of
inky smoke told that Sorgensen
meant to keep ahead if the lavish
expenditure of fuel would do it. y
The tombstone gained steadily, In
two hours the boats were abreast, &c
yards apart. The Swedish captain
of the Aull could be heard shouting
his orders to the men. He was ev-
erywhere. One moment he would
be telling the engineer what to do,
the next would find him directing
the placing of fuel; at another he
would have his hand on the wheel in
the pilothouse in an endeavor to
make short cut in the river.
The lights from the furnaces OF
both boats cleaned on the surface of
the water. rivaling the moons bril-
liant rays. The passengers on each
of the boats could hear the others as
they talked excitedly of the race
The noses of the boats were exactly
together as they entered the long
and beautiful stretch of river just be-
low Rochefort. On the right, a
rocky wall, covered with clingins
ivy, rose to a height OF 100 feet.
Over it the full moon beamed, but
the shadow Of the great bluff ex.
tended across to the other side of the
stream. Into this narrow, deep,
black river the boats plunged like
things of life. The tombstone had a
little advantage, and not g side Of
meat had been used
pile On the bacon, boys" Bristow
shouted, and with a yell the grease
was hurried into the furnaces. The
Aull's captain felt that lie was beat
en-. He had used the best Of his fuel
early in the race.
Pile her on, boys!" shouted Bris
tow. Keep her hot!"
Inch by inch the tombstone moved
ahead.
There's butter on boardr' cried
Miss Bernard. Burn it. and I'll pay
The Aull must VIM
So butter in casks and baskets was
smeared over sticks of wood and fed
to the greedy flames to the boats
furnaces. Her engines responded,
too, for the slight gain that John
stone had accomplished was soon
overcome. and the Aull passed the
other boat Bristow shouted orders,
and the measured "choo, choo" of
the exhaust pipes became hoarse1
than ever 1t was neck and neck.
Then the tombstone began to gain
again.
There was a bend ahead, where the
bluff broke for a few feet, only to rise
higher than even dozen yards be.
yond. For this bend the boats work.
ed. The thing was to reach it first.
Bristow, with his own hands, piled
the meat into his furnaces until the
tombstone again passed the Aull. It
was something akin to curse that
Sorgenson uttered when he found the
last Of his choice fuel spent.
On. on sped the tombstone. It was
10 yards ahead and gainingl More
food for the damesl Twenty yards
and at the bend firstl
A mighty shout went up from the
Johnstone's decks when the boat
rounded, so that the Aull could not
be seen. It was soon visible again,
however, but the tombstone was gain
ing each minute of the time. In half
an hour it was 50 yards ahead. In
another hour it had rounded another
bend, and the race was won. It had
a start that the Aull could not over.
come. az
Just after midnight the lights at
Rocheport landing were sighted. The
passengers were still on deck talking
of the race. A pail of black smoke
hung half a mile back from the john
stones stacks, and only by bending
the ear could one catch theafaipf,
measured thrum, thrum, thi1lnzg II
the Aull's engines fa1 back on Che
moonlit river.-DetroH Free Press
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