Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/133

Rh what was up, but he didn't say, and we kept the barn in sight night and day.

"Nothing happened that night nor the next, but the night following it was kind of foggy, and in the fog one of the pickets saw three rebels sneaking along back of the barn and making for the railroad bridge at a point where there was a trestle over a little creek. The fellows were carrying something between them that looked like a milk can.

"The picket didn't give the alarm at once, but called some of the other boys, and together they sneaked after the rebels. The Johnnies were making for a handcar, and just as they got to it, our fellows called on them to halt. They didn't stop, but ran for dear life, and we opened fire—I came up after the first volley. One of the rebels was hit, for he gave a yell of pain, but he kept on, and soon the darkness swallowed them up, so they got away.

"The can the rebels had been carrying was overturned on the handcar, and when we got there we found that it had been filled with turpentine. On the handcar was a bag of cotton. The rebels had probably