MOBILE DIGITAL LIBRARY - SOCIETY OF YOUNG NIGERIAN ...

"And that," said First Sergeant Price, "means getting to the party about four hours late.Baby-talk and nonsense! By that time they might have burned the place and killed all thepeople in it. Let's see, now: there's a railroad bridge close along here, somewhere."They scouted till they found the bridge. But behold, its floor was of cross-ties only—ofsleepers to carry the rails, laid with wide breaks between, gaping down into deep, darkspace whose bed was the roaring river."Nevertheless," said First Sergeant Price, whose spirits ever soar at the foolish onslaughtsof trouble—"nevertheless, we're not going to ride twenty miles farther for nothing.There's a railroad yard on the other side. This bridge, here, runs straight into it. You twomen go over, get a couple of good planks, and find out when the next train is due."The two Troopers whom the Sergeant indicated gave their horses to a comrade andstarted away across the trestle.For a moment those who stayed behind could distinguish the rays of their pocketflash-lights as they picked out their slimy foothold. Then the whirling night engulfedthem, lights and all.The Sergeant led the remainder of the detail down into the lee of an abutment, to avoid