Chasing an Iron Horse

  CHAPTER IV

  PLOT AND PLOTTERS

  In after years George could never quite understand how he and hiscompanions reached the Chattanooga shore. He retained a vivid recollectionof tempestuous waves, of a boat buffeted here and there, and of NedJackson muttering all manner of unkind things at his passengers and theturbulent stream. They did at last reach their destination, and badefarewell to the ferryman, whom they loaded down with Confederate notes.

  No sooner was the latter embarked on the return voyage than Watson said:"That was a clever ruse of yours, George. That Jackson was a brave man atheart, and you put him on his mettle. He wanted to show us that he wasn'tafraid of the water--and he succeeded."

  George laughed. He explained that it was a remark of his father's whichhad put the idea into his own head, and then he wondered where that samefather could be. Was he dead or was he still living, perhaps in someprison?

  It was not long before the party reached the railroad station atChattanooga. Here they purchased their tickets for Marietta, and were soonin the train bound southward for the latter place. The sun had nearly setas the engine pulled slowly out of the depot. The car in which they satwas filled with men on their way down South, some of them being soldiersin uniform and the rest civilians. Macgreggor, Watson and Jenks were atthe rear end of the car, while George had to find a seat at the other end,next to a very thin man who wore the uniform of a Confederate captain.

  "Isn't it strange?" thought the boy. "To-morrow morning we will bereversing our journey on this railroad, and burning bridges on our wayback to Chattanooga. But how are we to steal a train? I wonder if Andrewsand the rest of the party will be on hand to-night at Marietta." Then, ashe realized that he was in a car filled with men who would treat him as aspy, if they knew the nature of his errand to the South, there came overhim a great wave of homesickness. He had lived all his life among friends;it was for him a new sensation to feel that he was secretly opposed to hisfellow-travelers.

  The thin Captain who sat next to him turned and curiously regarded Waggie,who was lying on his master's lap. He had shrewd gray eyes, had thisCaptain, and there was a week's growth of beard upon his weazened face.

  "Where did you get your dog from, lad?" he asked, giving Waggie a pat withone of his skeleton-like hands. It was a pat to which the little animalpaid no attention.

  "From home--Cincinnati."

  George had answered on the spur of the moment, thoughtlessly, carelessly,before he had a chance to detect what a blunder he was making. The nextsecond he could have bitten out his tongue in very vexation; he felt thathis face was burning a bright red; he had a choking sensation at thethroat.

  The emaciated Captain was staring at him in a curiously surprised fashion."From Cincinnati? Cincinnati, Ohio?" he asked, fixing his lynx-like eyesattentively upon his companion.

  Poor George! Every idea seemed to have left him in his sudden confusion;he was only conscious that the Confederate officer continued to regard himin the same intent manner. "I say," repeated the latter, "is your home inOhio?"

  "Yes, Cincinnati, Ohio," said the boy boldly. "After all," as he thought,"I had better put a frank face on this stupidity of mine; a stammeringanswer will only make this fellow the more suspicious."

  "So then you're a Northerner, are you, my son?" observed the Captain. "Ithought you spoke with a bit of a Yankee accent!"

  "Yes, I'm a Northerner," answered George. As he felt himself plungingdeeper and deeper into hot water he was trying to devise some plausiblestory to tell the officer. But how to invent one while he was beingsubjected to that close scrutiny. One thing, at least, was certain. Oncehe had admitted that his home was in Ohio he could not make any use of theoft repeated Kentucky yarn.

  "And what are you doing down here?" asked the Captain. He spoke veryquietly, but there was an inflection in his voice which seemed to say:"Give a good account of yourself--for your presence in this part of thecountry is curious, if nothing more."

  George understood that he must think quickly, and decide on some plan ofaction to cover up, if he could, any bad results from his blunder. He wasonce more cool, and he returned the piercing look of the officer withsteadfast eyes. His mind was clear as to one thing. There was no need ofhis trying to invent a story, on the spur of the moment, with a man likethe Captain quite ready to pick it to pieces. For it was plain that thisConfederate was shrewd--and a trifle suspicious. The boy must pursue adifferent course.

  "My being down South is my own concern," he said, pretending to bevirtuously offended at the curiosity of his inquisitor.

  The Captain drew himself up with an injured air. "Heigh ho!" he muttered;"my young infant wants me to mind my own business, eh?"

  George flushed; he considered himself very much of a man, and he did notrelish being called an "infant." But he kept his temper; he foresaw thateverything depended upon his remaining cool. He treated the remark withcontemptuous silence.

  The officer turned away from him, to look out of the window of the car.Yet it was evident that he paid little or no attention to the rapidlymoving landscape. He was thinking hard. Not a word was spoken between thetwo for ten minutes. Most of the other passengers were talking excitedlyamong themselves. Occasionally a remark could be understood above therattle of the train. George heard enough to know they were discussing thebattle of Shiloh, which had been fought so recently.

  "I tell you," cried a soldier, "the battle was a great Confederatevictory."

  "That may be," answered some one, "but if we have many more such victorieswe Southerners will have a lost cause on our hands, and Abe Lincoln willbe eating his supper in Richmond before many months are gone."

  At this there was a chorus of angry dissent, and several cries of"Traitor!" George listened eagerly. He would dearly have liked to lookbehind him, to see what his three companions were doing, or hear what theywere saying, at the other end of the car. But he was not supposed to knowthem. He could only surmise (correctly enough, as it happened) that theywere acting their part of Southerners, although doing as little aspossible to attract attention. One thing worried the young adventurer. Hedistrusted the continued silence of the Captain.

  It was a silence that the officer finally broke, by looking squarely intoGeorge's face, and saying, in a low tone: "When a Northerner travels downSouth these times he must give an account of himself. If you won't tell mewho you are, my friend, I may find means of making you!"

  As he spoke the train was slowing up, and in another minute it had stoppedat a little station.

  "Now or never," thought George. He arose, stuffed Waggie into his pocket,and said to the Captain: "If you want to find out about me, write me. Thisis my station. Good-bye!"

  The next instant he had stepped out of the car, and was on the platform.He and an elderly lady were the only two passengers who alighted. Nosooner had they touched the platform than the train moved on its way,leaving the Captain in a state of angry surprise, as he wondered whetherhe should not have made some effort to detain the boy. It was too late todo anything now, and the officer, as he is carried away on the train, islikewise carried out of our story.

  What were the feelings of Watson, and Jenks, and Macgreggor as they sawGeorge leave the car, and the train rattled away? They were afraid to makeany sign; and even if they had thought it prudent to call out to the lad,or seek to detain him, they would not have found time to put their purposeinto execution, so quickly had the whole thing happened. Not daring toutter a sound, they could only look at one another in blank amazement."What was the boy up to," thought Watson, "and what's to become of him?"He was already devotedly attached to George, so that he felt sick at heartwhen he pictured him alone and unprotected at a little wayside village inthe heart of an enemy's country. Nor were the other two men lesssolicitous. Had George suddenly put on wings, and flown up through theroof of the car, they could not have been more horrified than they were atthis moment. Meanwhile the train went rumbling on, as it got farther andfarther away from the little station. It was
now almost dark; the brakemancame into the car and lighted two sickly lamps. Some of the passengersleaned back in their seats and prepared to doze, while others, in heated,angry tones, kept up the discussion as to the battle of Shiloh. Thecivilian who had hinted that the engagement was not a signal victory forthe Confederates got up and walked into a forward car, to rid himself ofthe abuse and arguments of several of his companions.

  Watson was sorely tempted to pull the check rope of the train, jump out,and walk back on the track until he found the missing boy; but when hereflected on the possible consequences of such a proceeding he unwillinglyadmitted to himself that to attempt it would be the part of madness. Hewould only bring the notice of every one in the train upon himself;suspicion would be aroused; he and his companions might be arrested; thewhole plot for burning the bridges might be upset.

  "What can have gotten into George's head?" he said to himself a hundredtimes. Jenks and Macgreggor were asking themselves the same question.Steadily the train went on, while the sky grew darker and darker. In timemost of the passengers fell asleep. Occasionally a stop would be made atsome station. Marietta, in Georgia, would not be reached until nearlymidnight.

  * * * * *

  "Where had George gone?" the reader will ask. The question is not so hardto answer as it may seem. The moment that the Captain had becomeinquisitive the boy had made up his mind that the sooner he could get awayfrom that gentleman the better it would be for the success of Andrews'expedition. He saw that the train stopped at different stations along theroad, and he began to map out a scheme for escape. Thus, when the carscame to the place already spoken of, he jumped out, as we have described,and stood on the platform with the elderly lady who had alighted almost atthe same instant. The latter passed on into the station, and left theplatform deserted, except for George. Hardly had she disappeared beforethe conductor pulled the check-rope, and the train began to move. As itslowly passed by him the boy quickly jumped upon the track, caught hold ofthe coupling of the last car, and hung there, with his knees lifted upalmost to his chin. In another second he had grasped the iron railingabove him; within a minute he had raised himself and clambered upon theplatform. The train was now speeding along at the customary rate. AsGeorge sat down on the platform, he gave a sigh of relief. No one had seenhim board the car. For all that the inquisitive Captain knew he mightstill be standing in front of the station. And what were Watson, Jenks andMacgreggor thinking about his sudden exit from the scene? George laughed,in spite of himself, as he pictured their amazement. He would give them apleasant surprise later on, when they reached Marietta. In the meantime hewould stay just where he was, if he were not disturbed, until they arrivedat that town. Then it would be late at night, when he could evade thelynx-eyed Confederate officer.

  Having settled his plans comfortably in his mind George was about to puthis hand in his coat pocket to give a reassuring pat to Waggie (who hadbeen sadly shaken up by his master's scramble) when the door of the caropened. A man put out his head, and stared at the boy.

  "What are you doing here, youngster?" asked the man. George recognized himas the conductor of the train.

  "Only trying to get a breath of fresh air," replied the lad, at the sametime producing his railroad ticket and showing it in the dusk. Theconductor flashed the lantern he was holding in George's face, and thenglanced at the ticket.

  "Well, don't fall off," he observed, evidently satisfied by the scrutiny."You were in one of the forward cars, weren't you? Where's your dog? Inyour pocket, eh?" He turned around, shut the door, and went back into thecar without waiting for an answer.

  "One danger is over," whispered George to himself. Then he began to patWaggie. "You and I are having an exciting time of it, aren't we?" helaughed. "Well, there's one consolation; they can't hang you for a spy,anyway, even if they should hang me!"

  So the night passed on, as George clung to the railing of the platform,while the train rumbled along in the darkness to the Southward. Theconductor did not appear again; he had evidently forgotten all about theboy. At last, when Waggie and his master were both feeling cold, andhungry, and forlorn, there came a welcome cry from the brakeman:"Marietta! All out for Marietta!"

  In a short time the passengers for Marietta had left the train. Watson,Jenks and Macgreggor were soon in a little hotel near the station, whichwas to be the rendezvous for Andrews and his party. As they entered theoffice of the hostelry all their enthusiasm for the coming escapade seemedto have vanished. The mysterious disappearance of George had dampenedtheir ardor; they feared to think where he could be, or what might havebecome of him.

  The office was brilliantly lighted in spite of the lateness of the hour.In it were lounging eight or nine men. The pulses of the three newcomersbeat the quicker as they recognized in them members of the proposedbridge-burning expedition. Among them was Andrews.

  "Yes," he was saying, in a perfectly natural manner, to the hotel clerk,who stood behind a desk; "we Kentuckians must push on early tomorrowmorning. The South has need of all the men she can muster."

  "That's true," answered the clerk; "Abe Lincoln and Jefferson Davis haveboth found out by this time that this war won't be any child's play. It'lllast a couple of years yet, or my name's not Dan Sanderson."

  Macgreggor and Jenks walked up to the register on the desk, withoutshowing any sign of recognition, and put down their names respectively as"Henry Fielding, Memphis, Tennessee," and "Major Thomas Brown,Chattanooga." The latter, it will be remembered, wore a Confederateuniform. Watson wrote his real name, in a bold, round hand, and added:"Fleming County, Kentucky." Then he turned towards Andrews. "Well,stranger," he said, "did I hear you say you were from Kentucky? I'm aKentuckian myself. What's your county?"

  He extended his right hand and greeted Andrews with the air of a man whowould like to cultivate a new acquaintance. Andrews rose, of course, tothe occasion, by answering: "I'm always glad to meet a man from my ownstate. I'm from Fleming County."

  "Well, I'll be struck!" cried Watson. "That's my county, too! What part ofit do you live in?"

  After a little more of this conversation, which was given in loud tones,the two men withdrew to a corner and sat down. "We are all here now excepttwo of our men," said Andrews, in a low voice. "Half of the fellows havegone to bed, thoroughly tired out. But where's George? Isn't he withyou?"

  "It makes me sick to think where he is," whispered Watson, "for----"

  Before he could finish his sentence George entered the office, followed byWaggie. He had lingered about the Marietta Station, after leaving theplatform of the car, until he was safe from meeting the Captain, in casethat gentleman should have alighted at this place. Then he had cautiouslymade his way to the hotel.

  Watson rose as quietly as if the appearance of George was just what he hadbeen expecting. "What did you lag behind at the station for, George?" heasked. Then, turning to Andrews, he said: "Here's another Kentuckian,sir--a nephew of mine. He wants to join the Confederate army, too."

  George, as he shook hands with Andrews quite as if they had never met eachother before, could not help admiring the presence of mind of Watson.

  "You young rascal," whispered the latter, "you have given me somemiserable minutes."

  "Hush!" commanded Andrews, in the same tone of voice. "We must not talktogether any more. As soon as you go up-stairs to bed you must come to myroom--number 10, on the second floor, and get your instructions forto-morrow. Everything has gone very smoothly so far, and we are all hereexcepting two of us, although some of us have had a pretty ticklish timein getting through to this town. Remember--Room Number 10."

  Andrews moved away. Soon all the members of the party assembled at thehotel were in their rooms up-stairs, presumably asleep, with the exceptionof George and his three companions. They were able, after considerablecoaxing, to get admittance into the dining-room. Thereby they secured anocturnal meal of tough ham, better eggs, and some muddy "coffee." Thelatter was in reality a concoction consist
ing of about seven-eights ofchickory, and the other eighth,--but what the remaining eighth was onlythe cook could have told. The meal tasted like a Delmonico feast to thefamished wanderers, nor was it the less acceptable because they saw itnearly consumed before their hungry eyes; for Waggie, who had a power ofobservation that would have done credit to a detective, and a scent ofwhich a hound might well have been proud, made his way into thedining-room in advance of the party, and jumped upon the table while thenegro waiter's back was turned. As George entered, the dog was about topounce upon the large plate of ham. Mr. Wag cast one sheepish look uponhis master, and then retired under the table, where he had his supperlater on.

  After they had finished their meal, the four conspirators were takenup-stairs by a sleepy bell-boy, and shown into a large room containing twodouble beds. The servant lighted a kerosene lamp that stood on a centretable, and then shuffled down to the office.

  Macgreggor lifted the lamp to take a survey of the room. "Take a good lookat those beds, fellows," he said, with a grim chuckle; "it may be a longtime before you sleep on such comfortable ones again. For if we come togrief in this expedition----"

  "Pshaw!" interrupted Jenks impatiently, but in subdued tones. "Don'tborrow trouble. We are bound to succeed."

  Macgreggor placed the lamp on the centre table, and began to take off hisshoes. "I'm just as ready as any of you for this scheme," he answered,"but I can't shut my eyes to the risks we are running. Did you notice onyour way down that the railroad sidings between Chattanooga and Mariettawere filled with freight cars? That means, to begin with, that we won'thave a clear track for our operations to the Northward."

  Watson smiled rather grimly. "The more we appreciate the breakers ahead ofus," he whispered, "the less likely are we to get stranded on the beach.But we really can't judge anything about the outlook for to-morrow untilwe get our detailed instructions from Andrews."

  As he spoke there was a very faint tap at the door. The next momentAndrews had cautiously entered the room. He was in stocking feet, and woreneither coat nor waistcoat.

  "I thought it better to hunt you fellows up," he explained, in a voicethat they could just hear, "instead of letting you try to find me. I waslistening when the boy showed you up to this room." He proceeded to situpon one of the beds, while his companions gathered silently around him."Listen," he continued, "and get your instructions for to-morrow--forafter we separate to-night there will be no time for plotting.

  "To-morrow we must reverse our journey and take the early morning train tothe northward, on this Georgia State Railroad. In order to avoidsuspicion, we must not all buy tickets for the same station. In point offact we are only to go as far as Big Shanty station, near the foot ofKenesaw Mountain, a distance of eight miles. Here passengers and railroademployees get off for breakfast, and this is why I have selected the placefor the seizure of the train. Furthermore, there is no telegraph stationthere from which our robbery could be reported. When we board the train atMarietta we must get in by different doors, but contrive to come togetherin one car--the passenger car nearest the engine. After all, or nearly allbut ourselves have left the cars at Big Shanty for breakfast, I will givethe signal, when the coast is clear, and we will begin the great work ofthe day--that of stealing the locomotive."

  Here Andrews went into a detailed description of what each man in theexpedition (he had now twenty-one men, including himself, and not countingGeorge) would do when the fateful moment arrived. George, who satlistening with open mouth, felt as if he were drinking in a romantic talefrom the "Arabian Nights," or, at least, from a modern version of the"Nights," where Federal soldiers and steam engines would not be out ofplace. He thrilled with admiration at the nicety with which Andrews hadmade all his arrangements. It was like a general entering into elaboratepreparations for a battle. The two soldiers who were to act as engineers,those who were to play brakemen, and the man who was to be fireman, hadtheir work carefully mapped out for them. The other men were to form aguard who would stand near the cars that were to be seized; they were tohave their revolvers ready and must shoot down any one who attempted tointerfere.

  "We must get off as quickly as possible," went on the intrepid Andrews."From what I hear to-night it is evident that General Mitchell capturedHuntsville to-day, which is one day sooner than we expected him to do it.We must cut all telegraph wires and then run the train northward toChattanooga, and from there westward until we meet Mitchell advancingtowards Chattanooga on his way from Huntsville. I have obtained a copy ofthe time-table showing the movement of trains on the Georgia StateRailroad, and I find we have only two to meet on our race. These two won'ttrouble us, for I know just where to look for them. There is also a localfreight-train which can be passed if we are careful to run according tothe schedule of the captured train until we come up to it. Having gottenby this local freight we can put on full steam, and speed on to theOostenaula and Chickamauga bridges, burn them, and run on throughChattanooga to Mitchell. There's a glorious plan for you fellows. What doyou think of it?"

  There was a ring of pride in his lowered voice as he concluded.

  "Admirable!" whispered Walter Jenks, "It's a sure thing, and the man whoinvented the scheme has more brains than half the generals in the war!"

  As George pictured to himself the stolen train flying along the tracks, inthe very heart of the enemy's country, he could hardly restrain hisenthusiasm. "It's grand!" he murmured. Had he dared he would have given agreat cheer.

  The leader smiled as he saw, in the dim lamplight, the radiant face of theboy. "You have lots of grit, my lad," he said, in a kindly fashion, "andGod grant you may come out of this business in safety." Then, turning toWatson, he asked: "How does my plan, as now arranged, impress you,Watson?"

  After a minute's silence, during which the others in the room gazedintently at Watson, that soldier said: "I have as great an admiration forJames Andrews as any one of our party, and I am ready to follow whereverhe leads. Whatever my faults may be, I'm not a coward. But we should lookcarefully on each side of a question--and I can't help thinking that owingto circumstances which we have not taken into account our expeditionstands a very decided chance of failure."

  "What are those circumstances?" asked Andrews.

  "In the first place," was the reply, "I find that there is a largeencampment of Confederate troops at Big Shanty. Escape in a captured trainwould have been very easy while those soldiers were elsewhere; but, beingthere, do you suppose that the sentries of the camp will stand idly bywhen we seize cars and locomotive and attempt to steam away to thenorthward? In the second place--and this is no less important--therailroad seems to be obstructed by numerous freight trains, probably noton the schedule, and flying along the track towards Chattanooga will notbe as plain sailing as you believe. One unlooked-for delay might be fatal.We are in the midst of enemies, and should there be one hitch, one changein our program, the result will be failure, and perhaps death, for all ofus."

  There was a painful silence. At last Andrews said, very quietly, but withan air of strong conviction: "I think the very objections you urge, mydear Watson, are advantages in disguise. I know, as well as you, thatthere's a big encampment at Big Shanty, but what of it? No one dreams forone second that there is any plot to capture a train, and no one,therefore, will be on the lookout. The thing will be done so suddenly thatthere will be no chance for an alarm until we are steaming off from thestation--and then we can laugh. If we strike any unscheduled trains, theytoo will be to our advantage; for they will make such confusion on theroad that they will detract attention from the rather suspiciousappearance of our own train."

  "Perhaps you are right," answered Watson, rather dubiously.

  Andrews arose from the bed, and solemnly shook hands with each of his fourcompanions. Then he said, very impressively: "I am confident of thesuccess of our enterprise, and I will either go through with it or leavemy bones to bleach in 'Dixieland.' But I don't want to persuade any oneagainst his own judgment. If any one of you thinks the
scheme toodangerous--if you are convinced beforehand of its failure--you are atperfect liberty to take the train in any direction, and work your way hometo the Union camp as best you can. Nor shall I have one word of reproach,either in my mind or on my lips, for a man whose prudence, or whose wantof confidence in his leader, induces him to draw back."

  Andrews was an adroit student of men. No speech could have better servedhis purpose of inducing his followers to remain with him. It was as if hedeclared: "You may all desert me, but _I_ will remain true to my flag."

  "You can count on me to the very last," said Watson stoutly. He was alwaysready to face danger, but he liked to have the privilege of grumbling attimes. In his heart, too, was a conviction that his leader was about toplay a very desperate game. The chances were all against them.

  "Thank you, Watson," answered Andrews, gratefully. "I never could doubtyour bravery. And are the rest of you willing?"

  There were hearty murmurs of assent from Jenks, George and Macgreggor.Jenks and the boy were very sanguine; Macgreggor was rather skeptical asto future success, but he sternly resolved to banish all doubts from hismind.

  "Well, George," said Andrews, as he was about to leave the room, "if youget through this railroad ride in safety you will have somethinginteresting to remember all your life." In another moment he had gone. Thetime for action had almost arrived.