Chapter 7
A street
fight in San-Francisco….…From the
Pacific to the
Atlantic
…….The Indians attack…………………Across the
ice fields……
Fog and Auda went
to see the
beautiful city of
Paspartu heard
that there is a danger
that Indians will
attack the train
to New-York. He
asked Fog for
some money and
went to buy
some guns.
Soon, Fog,
Auda and Fix
found themselves in
the middle of
some demonstration. Many people
were pushing, shouting,
some were fighting
with others. It was
a real mess………
"It is something
about the elections," explained
Fix. "These Americans have
bad temper. Let's get
away from here !"
But it was too
late. Everybody was
hitting everybody. One
big man tried
to hit Fog,
but Fix pushed
Fog aside and
got the blow
instead.
"Shame on you
YANKEE*** !" Said Fog.
"ENGLISHMAM" said the
American, "I will get
you latter !"
|
***YANKEE and
ENGLISHMAN are insulting
names Americans and
British called each
other. The Americans
and British people
were not great
friends at that time (1872). America belonged
first to England,
and became free
country only after
the War of In 1812 there was another
war between Today, |
They went back to
their hotel. There
they met Paspartu
who had got
already six guns
and few knives
for the trip.
Paspartu was
glad to learn that
in the fight
in the street Fix
protected Fog. Fix fulfilled his
promise !
________________________________________________________
The PACIFIC
RAILROAD crosses the
United-States from San-Francisco
in the west,
to New-York in
the east.
The trip takes
about a week.
There were
restaurants and bathrooms
on the train,
and in the
evening the seats
were opened into
beds.
The train crossed the
state of
Than the train stopped.
A large herd
of BUFFALOS, few
hundreds of them,
blocked the road.
There was nothing they
could do, just
to wait 3
hours until the
big animals went
on their way.
They entered the state
of
Great-Salt-Lake.***
|
***The Great-Salt-Lake is
similar to the
Dead-Sea in Because they
contain so much
salt there are
not any fish
in them. In Israel
the Dead-Sea (éí-äîìç) contains
so much salt
that people can
float on it,
and that’s really
a great fun……………. |
Snow started to fall.
They were already
in the Rocky
mountains, in the
state of Colorado.
And than the
train stopped again.
This time it was
not buffalos. Now the
problem was a bridge
over one of
the rivers. Before
the bridge stood
a rail-guard who
told them that
they cannot pass.
The bridge is
in very bad
condition, it is
not strong enough
to carry the
weight of the
train.
They have
to cross the river by
foot, to walk
12 miles in
the snow to the other side,
and to get
there on another
train !
Nobody was happy with
this. Than the
train driver had
an idea :
"Let's me
take the train
some distance back,
and than I
will drive as
fast as I
can and we
will pass the
bridge at great
speed before it
collapses !"
Some people were afraid.
Paspartu wanted to
suggest the passengers
will cross first
the bridge by
foot, but nobody
listened.
The Americans
were very excited
about this dangerous
idea, they wanted
to try this
crazy train-jump right
away !
Than the
train moved back,
stopped, and started
forward at full
speed. It went
over the bridge
like lightening, and
landed safely on
the other side !
One second latter the
bridge collapsed into the
deep river.
___________________________________________________________
|
|
"One second
later, the
bridge collapsed into
the river" |
You may
still remember that
in San-Francisco an
American man had
quarrel with Fog.
You can imagine
how Auda, Paspartu
and Fix felt
when they saw the
same man on
the train. They
wanted to keep
Fog out of
trouble, and did
all they could
so that the
two will not see
each other.
One day,
when they were
passing the state
of Nebraska, all
four of them
were playing cards.
Suddenly they heard
a voice :
"this is not
a good card
to play !"
Next to
them was the
man from San-Francisco, Colonel
Proctor.
"I will play
as I want"
answered Fog.
"You don't know
how to play"
Said the American.
"I will
not let
you to insult me
again," said Fog,
and stood up.
"I invite you
for a fight !" Said Proctor.
Nobody could stop them.
They went
to the last
car of the
train, asked the
passengers to go
out, and were
ready to start
the fight right
there.
At these days such
fights were common.
The train conductor
helped them and
asked the passengers
to leave their
cabins.
Paspartu, Auda and
Fix were worried
about Fog.
All
other passengers were
just happy to
have some entertainment !
The sign
for starting the
fight was agreed -- The
whistle of the
locomotive ! All were
waiting for the
sign, but then
they heard something
unexpected.
Wild screams, cries for
help, gun-shots, horses………
Indians*** were attacking the
train!
|
***Please don’t get
confused ! The word INDIANS
has 2 meanings : 1-----People living in
the country 2-----The people
who lived in came there. |
Fog and Proctor, guns
in their hands
forgot about their
fight.
The Indians jumped from
their fast horses
into the train.
Passengers who had guns
were fighting with
them. Fog and
Proctor fought side
by side. Fix and
Paspartu did the
same.
Even Auda got a gun and
was shooting through the
window.
The Indians wounded the
train driver. Now
the train was
going faster and
faster, nobody to
stop it !
"Soon we
will pass an American
army camp" said
the conductor.
"we must stop
there, and the
soldiers will save us. If we pass it,
the Indians will kill
us all ! We must
separate the train
from the locomotive !"
When Paspartu heard it,
he knew what
he must do.
He went
out from the window
of the front
car, crawled toward
the connection, and
opened it !
The locomotive
jumped forward, and
the train came
slowly to a
stop. The Indians ran
away. Only then
they noticed that
three passengers are
missing, and one
of them is Paspartu
! The Indians captured
him !
"I am going
to bring him
back said Fog".
Fog knew
that it may
take lot of
time, and he may miss
the next train,
and loose his
money. But he was sure
that saving Paspartu is
much more important.
__________________________________________________________
A group of soldiers
came with Fog.
Fix wanted to
go too, but
Fog asked him
to stay with
Auda. And Auda
wished Fog success,
her eyes full
of tears….
Few hours
later they came
with Paspartu and
the other prisoners.
They released them from
the Indians after
a short fight.
But during
that time the
locomotive came back,
and the train
already left !
The next train will
come only in
the evening. Fog was
20 hours late.
He was going
to miss the
ship from New-York
to England.
|
|
Paspartu opens
the chains of the locomotive. |
Fix wanted now to
help Fog. He admired him
for being so
brave.
Fix told
Fog that there
is a way
to get to
New-York on time.
A person
offered him to
take them to
the next train
station on his
SLEDGE. There,
they will catch a
train to Chicago,
and than to
New-York.
"on a sledge ?" Asked Fog,
"How fast it
can go ?"
"Very fast" answered
Fix. "People use it
a lot here
in
Fog, Auda,
Paspartu and Fix
took their thing
and mounted the
sledge.
It was very cold on
the ice, the
wind blowing strong.
All around it was
white and frozen.
Bands of wild
wolves ran after
them from time
to time.
They reached
the train station,
went to Chicago,
and reached New-harbor
late at night.
There they
found that the
ship for Liverpool,
England, left already just
45 minutes before !
|
|
"It is
a sledge with
sails" |
