Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 272 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

a ied 7 Seth Slocum, Railroad Surveyor. ‘Tl remember you, my boy,” he said as he rearranged bis tripod. ‘‘ Did you ever take a sight, yourself?’ Slocum colored slightly. ‘‘Yes sir, at college.” The engineer favored him with a rapid, scru- tinizing glance, as he settled the pluinb-bob to swing clear of the ground. ‘College? Hem! What ccllege?” “Columbia,” was the answer with a still deeper flush, as the young man turned to go to his horse and ride on, The old engineer laid his hand on the boy’s arm, as he was mounting. ‘ Stop a moment,” he said. ‘Did you gradu- ate in mathematics or not?’ 7 Slocum bent his head and said, almost inaudi- ly: ‘* ‘Yes, sir.” Old Graves pursed up his lips, but only said: ‘*‘ Hem! bem! ahead, Don’t be rash now, Keep insides the skirmish line. Don’t want to los» you, just yet.” Slocum mounted and galloped away with the staff, which he planted just as the cavalrymen again came to a halt, e kept his back reso- lutely turned to the fray, though he heard a tremendous noise behind him, and attended strictly to his business, till Graves waved his hend. Then, he hardly knew what impulse made him plant tbe pole deep in the ground, and begin to gather stones himself to form a monument, instead of waiting inactive till Graves’s party came up. Whatever the cause of the impulse, he obeyed it, though the noise round him grew louder than ever, and not til he bad formed quite a notice- able little heap of stones did he look up to find what was going on, Then he saw that the cavalrymen were on their knees or lying down, firiag with the ut- most rapidi y; that quite a number of horses lay dead on the line, and that the Indians, ina dense boty, were galloping along the frunt o€ the solviers, full speed, firing as fast as they knew how, and coming closer every moment, He lnoked for Graves, and saw the indomita- ble engineer just coming up, no longer at a canter, but wslking bis borse and all alone, without the tripod, around which the men were still gathered, making the monument to mark the place. A; he came up, Graves said erst ‘You ¢id qui.e right to mark the last station. I don’t think we can do any more work to-day but I've got it all down, and the company can’t corr plain,” He was looking at the Sioux as he spoke, not eppearirg to be in the least concerned about their vicirity, and young Slocum felt a thrill of admiration he could not conceal as he an- swere’;: ‘*T hope I’ve done nny day, sir. lonly wish you do,” Graves nodded, ‘‘ Av. ay, you’ve done well, Slocum. Let me see. How ceme you out, here? I didn’t know we hada college graduate among our axmen, I must s°e you’re promoted,” Slocum colored bigh with pleasure, ‘*Tbank you, sir. I came here because my professor told me that if I wanted to be a good engineer [ must begin at the bottom. So I have,” The old engineer seemed pleased with the an- swer; for he replied, ‘He told you right. You'll make a very good band at the bu ness, Wewant cool men for this sort of work among the Indians. Look here. I’m going tosend you back to the chain- ing party.” Biocum cast a glance at the contest that was raging so Close to him, and his voice had a tinge of regret as he said: “ Very good, sir, if you wish, but—” ‘But you'd rather s ay here and join in this fight, I suppose,” said the engineer, grimly, “Well, young man, when I was your age, I might have fe)t the same perhaps, but business is work, and fighting’s not business, except for those else. Wecame out bere to run this survey ag far as we could make it go, and for no other purpose. Go you back to the chaining-party, and hurry itup. Keep two sets of men on if you like, to measure from monument to monu- ment, s0 as to bring up the work to this last station. I’m afraid we shal! get no further this summer, and I want to get the work complete, as far as it goes. off, sir.” Slocum touched his bat and was wheeling his horse, when Graves added: “Stop a minute. You say you’ve done this work before. How much of it?” Slocum answered him modestly. oe smotied at it for two yeste before ‘ fai college, sir, to get money to pay my tuition fees. I've leveled. surveyed, plotted and done all sorts of railroad work, but only in the east.” - Graves had been scribbling in a note-book while be talked, and now he tore out a leaf and handed it to the young mar. “They may object to obeying you, he said, “If they do, show them that. I want the ehain line run up to this very last station, un- daty aap msp eM to- could do itas coolly as ’ Tenement lazy soldiers, whoare paid to do nothing | - -—_ - =~ oe &> + al ae — rive. Good-by.” Slocum hesitated no more, ’ He took the paper and galloped away, read- ing as be rode: “Mr. Sera Siocum’s orders will be obeyed as As- sistant Advance Engineer by all parties, he having been appointed such by me to-day. ‘SAMUEL B. GRAVES, * Advance Hnginecer in Chief. It was a wonderful step for the young man, to be attained so soon, and bis heart beat high with hope as he rode back, thougb the firing in his rear was growing fiercer with every mo- ment, Ahead of him, several miles off see the wagons and pack-train, panies of infantry in the advance, Coming up at a slow run, and increasing their distance from the wagons every moment. The chaining-party, whose duty it was to measure the distance from station to station as Graves leveled, had long ago fallen behind the rapid advance of the engineer-in-chief, and was only a little ahead of the infantry soldiers, when Slocum dashed up. It was in charge of a thin, nervous-looking personage, Mr. Travers by name, who, as soon as Slocum rode up, called out: ‘*What’s going on in front,my man? We can’t goon any further, can we? It’s getting to be too dangerous. What are the orders?” ‘*The orders are,” replied Slocum, as he took out his paper, ‘ that Y take command of this arty and bring it on quicker—that’s all. ou've @ spare tape, haven’t you?” Mr. Travers s at him aghast. “You take charge of my party? Why, you're et, be could th two com- only an axman|” locum held the paper out to him. “ Read that! I'm Seth Slocum mentioned in it. Have you a spare tape?” Travers looked at the paper and muttered: ‘* Assistant advance engineer! Good Heav- Creal sus have J done to be snubbed like this?” He banded it back sullenly, and said aloud: ‘All rigbt, sir. Take charge. But I'll see if the company tolerates favoritism of this sort. No; I’ve no spare tape. There’s only one bere. The other’s my private property, and the company don’t need it.” Slocum nodded aid flushed slightly. He was a young man, and Travers was forty. He was fresh at his duties, and Travers an old hand, It was a delicate position for him to be placed in, to have ch of his senior; but bis pate had placed him there, and he saw that ravers looked frightened at the rapid rifle-fir- ing in the front. e got off bis borse and took from the saddle- bags his own steel tape, one of the few appli- ances he had been able to buy at the Kast fore coming out. Fons ‘* Let’s go ahead, sir,” he said to Travers. ‘I will lend the company my tape, and we can al- ternate so as to double the work.” Travers sneered: ‘Hum! how do I know whether your tape is to be depended on?’ “You're not required to know,” was the sharp retort, for Slocum’s young blood was u at the tone of bis jealous senior. “ I’m résponsi- ble for the work from this station. Give me your field-book, and sign it as far as you have gone.” Witbout a word, but scowling with hatred, Travers did as he was told, and the chaining- party set out, going just twice as fast as before, and straight toward the scene of the battle that still raged in the advance up the valley. The further they went, the paler got Travers. CHAPTER III. THE INDIANS’ CHARGE. OvT in the advance, meanwhile, the two com- panies of cavalry were having all they could do to keep off the Indians, who had gathered in front to fhe number of three or four bundred, and were a to and ‘fro, yelling and fir- ing in the usual style of Indian warfare. . locum kept steadily at his work till the’noise of bullets, singing in the air over his head, warned bim that be was getting near the skir- mish line, when Travers, whose turn it was to g0 ahead, broke out: ‘“Tt’s an outrage, sir—an out | We're not soldiers. It’s not our business to go into a danger of this sort. T’ll not stir another step. ve a wife and family to care for.” Slocum looked at him with some contempt. ‘Go back to the train, then, and Pl tell Mr. Graves you didn’t dare come on.” Travers burst out swearing angril y. “You! Yes, you think you're a hero, don’t: ouf You've nothing to lose. If these men oe, eaviok, they won’t go a step further.” At that very moment a bullet struck the earth and knocked a shower of dirt into Trav- ers’s face, nearly blinding him for a moment, so that he shouted: * Oh, my God, I’m bit!” And with that, he dropped the end of his SP — a ee Gee 3 ce mmm et cme less you find the Indians over it when you ar- | tape and fairly ran off, as hard as he could, while the chainmen, old hands on the frontier, grinned to each otber, and Siccum said to one of them: “Take Mr, Travers’s place, and go on. Vil keep the field-book, while you ebain.” ‘* Better leave the bosses behind, hadn't we?” said an old plainsman, doubtfully. Slocum started and nodded. ‘*Why, yes, of course. I never thought of that. They belong to the company. You take them back, Bili Blunt,” Another man, Herndon by name, gave a short Some as he took up the end of the chain, ob- serving: | ‘* Yes, boys, send the hosses back. They costa money. en doesn’t. We ain’t worth as much as the beasts, but it’s all in a day’s work, ain’t it?” Slocum felt the implied reproach, the more. that the speaker was a brave man, who obeyed orders coolly. } oF He went to bim and took away the 7 ee ‘You can go back out of danger,” be quietly. a It's ** ] order no man on this service. a matter of volunteering. I'll carry this end . of the chain. "You can all afraid to go where I go.” go back, if you're | Herndon stared at him a moment in ‘sur-. prise, and then broke out with an oath of jolly profanity: fate ‘You're a cer a are, Go back on ye? Not by a jugful! 1 ain’t that kind. Come on, a and work lively.” | tvad) nd on they went, on foot, with a rapidity, — now that they were working on honor, and not by compulsion, that fairly amazed Slocum, who | eso absorbed in bis work that be cid not notice how close be was getting to the field of) battle, till be came to the station beyond the © dead body of the stsffman who had first been killed, when the Sioux fired from ambusb, and realized that bis task had been performed, The distances between the stations bad been | measured, and the field-book, in his’ breast pocket, joined to the other in Graves’s sion, gave the materials for a co sec- tion of the country throvgh which they bad passed, up the valley of the broad Yellowstone river. 4d As be jotted down bis last figure, he had time to look up and around bim., The scene bad changed since he was there before. Where the cavalrymen had been, was a line of dead horses, with quite a number of buman bodies and wounded men, but the In- dians had drawn off from the immediate front, . and the fire had slackened considerably. —_ Major Ireland, on foot, was walking up and down the line, encouraging his men, and Graves was seated, a little way back of the skirmisbers, behind a big bowlder, bis field-book on his kne figuring away ascalmly asifatbome. = = = Slocum turned tohis mentosay: = =. — ‘* Get under shelter; the work's done.” — Then he walked over to where»Graves was sitting, and, ab be looked toward the train, saw that the infantrymen had halted and thrown out a skirmish line on the flank away from the river, where the red war-bonnets of Indians, and the pied and spotted hides of their chargers, | nae | e103 Wea ves looked up absently from his book as Slocum m1 cg but nodded and smiled as he recognized the young man. perh. gabe ‘* Well?” he asked. ak! Slocum showed him his field-book. | ** The work’s done, sir. Do you wantit? — “No; keep it yourself. | hat did Travers say? f Well, sir, he looked an = . at first, but—” — “But gavein. I know what I’m about. He couldn’t bave chained up to that last spot for his life. Where is he now?” ‘*I let him go back, sir. He was hit by the dirt of a spent bullet, and half blinded, so he was no use at the front.” r Graves grinned in bisgrim way. - ‘*Never was much use, when there was hard work to be done. There; that finishes my fig- ures, till we go to plotting. I make the gradea pretty easy one for the last huodred— Hallo what's that?” bin~ oF Sai Their attention was attracted by a burst of firing toward the train, and, looking back, they saw that a heavy body of Indians had dashed - out of the woods ering the valley, and were. circling round the infantrymen, who, on their art, bad collected in a circle and were fighting or all they were worth, while beyond them again the wegon-train had been corraled, and more Indians were es the little cav-. alry escort in the advance being left entirely alone. pated | ' Old Graves, for the first time that day; looked uneasy, and said to Slocum: ‘‘Come to the line. This party out in five minutes if we don’t look out for selves,” | 2 * He went up to Major Ireland, and said in a hurried, anxious way: ‘** Major, we’re too far off, and the Indians between us and the command.” . Major Ireland looked gloomily over at the strife going on, and said: ‘‘I know that, sir. If you had stopped in the COMINCDOOKS a. CoO