Part 21 (2/2)
Tom caught the words ”...some damage anyhow.”
”Yes,” replied the other man, ”but if Andrews had only....”
Tom did not wait any longer. ”Shadrack!” he called. The two men stopped as though they had been struck. ”Over here by the fence. It's Tom Burns.”
”You, Tom! You scared the life out of me.”
”Who's with you?”
”Wilson.”
”h.e.l.lo, there. Crawl through. I'm waiting for it to get dark enough so that I can make the barn.” They shook hands. ”I recognized your voice, Shadrack.
How are you, Wilson?”
”All right enough. Have you seen any of the others!”
”Not a soul. Wonder what happened to them?”
”Scattered all over two miles by the locomotive,” answered Shadrack.
”Probably some of them went on the other side of the tracks, making for Mitchel's lines. We decided to go straight north and get across the Tennessee just as fast as we can.”
”So did I,” answered Tom. ”Let's get over to the barn now. It's dark enough.”
They hurried across the short open s.p.a.ce. A farm wagon standing at the end of the barn formed a step to the hay mow. By standing on the edge of the wagon box, Tom could reach the floor. He pulled himself up and struggled inside. Then he helped Shadrack and Wilson to come after him.
”Whew!” breathed Shadrack. ”Just like home.” He chuckled.
”It does me good to hear that laugh again,” said Tom. He gave Shadrack a dig in the ribs. ”I don't suppose you're hungry, are you?”
”Don't talk to me until I get through eating this hay.”
”Leave enough for us to sleep on,” protested Wilson.
”Smell this,” said Tom. He opened the package of ham and bread. Shadrack moaned. Tom took out his knife and divided the food; then they had supper.
”We ought to be out of this before daybreak,” said Tom, throwing himself back on the hay. ”I hope one of us wakes up. I feel as though I could sleep forever.”
It was just dawn when Tom awoke. From his head to his feet, he was sore and stiff. He sat up, rubbing his legs and stretching painfully. ”Hey, Wilson! Shadrack! Come on. It's getting light.” He went to the door and looked out. ”If we drop straight down between the barn and the wagon, they can't see us from the house.” He slid over the edge, hung by his fingers and dropped to the ground. The others followed, silently. A minute later they were on the road again.
”Do you know exactly where this road is taking us?” asked Wilson presently.
”No,” answered Tom, ”but so long as it doesn't take us into Chattanooga, I'm satisfied. We're going north and the river is about twenty miles ahead of us.”
”And we're going about one mile an hour,” replied Shadrack, slipping in the mud.
It was nearly noon when they heard the sound of horses galloping along the road toward them. They jumped into the bushes and waited breathlessly. A few seconds later, four hors.e.m.e.n, each of them carrying a rifle over his arm, went riding past.
”They're after us,” said Wilson.
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