Under Fire: A Tale of the Shenandoah Valley — page 46: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

TRAFTON ELUDES HIS NEMESIS. 39 and twisted iron, wrenched into every conceivable shape. . Many of the slightly injured were pinned in the derailed cars unable to move, while others were pain- fully crawling out of the windows or through jagged openings in the wood-work—all more or less dazed by the catastrophe. ‘This is awful!’ exclaimed Royal, as he and Mose threw off their coats and started in to assist in the task of removing the injured and dead. ‘““Awful is no name for it,’’ replied his companion: ‘Look at that poor fellow there. Think what he is suffering. We must get him out.”’ But it was no light job to move the wedged-in frag- ments of wood, and though volunteers were hurrying up from all directions, the task of getting at all the unfortunates seemed almost hopeless. | Royal and Moses succeeded in pulling out the man in question, but he was so desperately injured that he expired as they laid him upon the turf beside the track. Their next essay was to tear open a hole in the roof of one of the cars to admit of the escape of several jinprisoned passengers. ‘There was one, however, who could not get out, as he was held beneath a canopy of disjointed car- seats. So Royal and Mose had to drop down into the car, and essayed to lift the obstruction so as to get at him. It was evident he was alive, though they could not see the upper half of his body, or heara single groan. It seemed an age to Royal and his companion ere they pried the wood-work sufficiently apart fo enable them to pull the body out. To their great astonishment, the man sat up un-— aided, brushed the splinters from his bleeding coun- tenance, and coolly remarked: “Faith, upon my word as an officer and a gentle- Col comicbooks