"Here we
are," said he. "This black line is the Great
Alleghanian,--double track, seventy pounds to the yard;
no figuring off there, I tell you. This was a good
straight run, down grade a hundred and seventy-two feet
on the mile. There, where I make this X, we came on the
Chamoguin Valley, and turned short, nearly north.
So we ran wriggling about till Drums here, where we
stopped if they showed lanterns,--what we call a flag-
station. But there we got across the valley, and worked
south again to this other X, which was, as I say, not
five-eighths of a mile from this X above, though it had
taken us eleven miles to get there."
He had said it was not more than half a mile; but
this half-mile grew to five-eighths as he became more
accurate and serious.
"Well," said he, now resuming the thread of his
story, "it was Todhunter put it into my head. He owns he
did. Todhunter says, says he, `Joslyn, what's the use of
crooking round all these valleys, when it would be so
easy to go across?'
"Well, sir, I saw it then, as clear as I see it now.
When that trip was done, I had two days to myself,--one
was Sunday,--and Todhunter had the same; and he came
round to my house. His wife knew mine, and we liked
them. Well, we fell talking about it; and I got down the
Cyclopaedia, and we found out there about the speed of
cannon-balls, and the direction they had to give them.
Pages:
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252