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Then, when the decreasing speed of the train gave his legs the advantage, Fuller was ahead, heaving ties from the road. Far to the northward, across the bend which hid the Reseca bridge from view, Fuller caught a glimpse of the General speeding on its way. He saw that the train had been shortened once more, that the engine was hauling only one box-car.
"Water there, too?" asked Brown. "At Tilton just a few miles farther on." Andrews waved to Knight to shut off the power. "If that car at Reseca bridge doesn't stop them, we're cornered," panted Andrews as he ran back. "Put an obstruction here! That bent rail!" The men ran back to the car and pulled out the rail. It was the one they had ripped from the ties north of Calhoun.
For a moment they did not know what it was; then Tom exclaimed, "Thunder! Look!" He pointed to the black sky. Already the rain was splashing down upon them, streaking the forward windows of the cab. "We're near the Reseca bridge now," said Andrews. Then he added: "If only the rain doesn't come down hard enough to put out our fires! It may take us longer.... Hey, Knight! Stop here!
"We'll have to break the wires above here," he said as the little station in Reseca flashed past them. "Stop about a mile up here, Knight. On a curve." "Wood!" yelled Brown. Tom took up the work of dragging logs from the tender and stuffing them in the fire-box. He stopped once, and pointed to the wood pile. Fuel was running low. "At Green's Station," said Andrews.
Tom climbed up over the end of the tender and reported to Andrews. "We tried to wreck it," he said, "but the tie bounced out of the way." Andrews nodded and leaned from the cab. "We're within a mile of Reseca bridge," he said slowly. "I don't dare to stop and build a fire. They're too close upon us." Now, for the first time, Tom realized that the raid might fail in its purpose.
TAYLOR, ZACHARY. Born in Orange County, Virginia, September 24, 1784; entered the army as first lieutenant, 1808; served in War of 1812, attaining rank of major; served in Black Hawk's war, 1832, with rank of colonel; defeated Seminole Indians, 1837; commander-in-chief of Florida, 1838; took command of the army in Texas, 1845; won battle of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, and that of Reseca de la Palma, May 9, 1846; captured Matamoras, May 18, and Monterey, September 24, 1846; defeated Santa Anna at Buena Vista, February 22-23, 1847; appointed major-general, June 29, 1846; elected President, 1848; inaugurated, March 4, 1849; died at Washington, July 9, 1850.
I'll slow down. Try to wreck it in the shed." Tom hurried back again over the wood pile. The Reseca bridge which ran over the Oostenaula River was covered by a long shed. And, as it was built upon a curve in the road, a box-car either wrecked or merely left standing could not be seen until the pursuing engine was almost upon it.
"Put up an obstacle at one of these curves, and attack them from ambush? We're all armed." "No," answered Andrews; "they'll be better armed." He still believed that the engine in their rear had come from Atlanta probably with a detachment of soldiers aboard, prepared for a battle. "There are bridges ahead the Chickamauga bridges. We'll drop another car on the Reseca bridge. Go back and tell them.
He dreaded that first sight of the Reseca bridge, for, if Andrews had left it in flames, the race was over for the Texas. Then they swept around the curve and the bridge lay before them, indistinct in the drizzle of rain. It appeared intact, but Fuller knew that long curving shed too well through his years of travel over the road not to be suspicious of what lurked inside.
The General was gaining a greater lead each time the Texas was checked. And seconds were counting. Fuller grabbed Murphy's arm, and said: "Look!" Far ahead they saw a black cloud of smoke. It was the General approaching the Reseca bridge. Tom slammed the door of the fire-box and climbed up on the seat beside Andrews, who was leaning half out of the window, absorbed in his own thoughts.
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