"Once it whirled me right over, and I thought my wrists would break before I could get another grip. They were trying to pull me aboard, but every time they came to help me the raft tilted so that they had to crawl back."
"And finally," said Wilson, "I got down on my stomach and held to his wrists, while Shadrack sat on the other side and balanced us."
"I came mighty near going overboard myself, then," added Shadrack.
It was a good yarn, and they enlarged upon it.
"And so you're going to enlist, eh?" asked the Judge finally.
"Yes," answered Wilson. "We thought that Chattanooga would be a good place for us. It's near Beauregard and we'll probably get into action pretty soon."
"It's not so near to Beauregard as you think," the Judge answered. "The
Yanks have taken a bite out of the railroad between there and Corinth."
"They have?" asked Tom. "Is that what this man Alf was so excited about!"
"No—not exactly," replied the Judge. "Some Yanks stole a train on the
Georgia State Railroad yesterday and burned a bridge."
"Stole a train!"