t the device. This was
railroading! Talk about your primitive Western railroading--and just
then the tender filled up, and it hadn't reached the end of the
trough. A tidal wave of water poured over the back of the tender and
down upon me. I was soaked to the skin, as wet as if I had fallen
overboard.

The train pulled into Baltimore. As is the custom in the great Eastern
cities, the railroad ran beneath the level of the streets on the
bottom of a big "cut." As the train pulled into the lighted depot, I
made myself as small as possible on the blind. But a railroad bull saw
me, and gave chase. Two more joined him. I was past the depot, and I
ran straight on down the track. I was in a sort of trap. On each side
of me rose the steep walls of the cut, and if I ever essayed them and
failed, I knew that I'd slide back into the clutches of the bulls. I
ran on and on, studying the walls of the cut for a favorable place to
climb up. At last I saw such a place. It came just after I had passed
under a bridge that carried a level street across the cut. Up the
steep slope I went, clawing hand and foot. The three railroad bulls
were clawing up right after me.

At the top, I found myself in a vacant lot. On one side was a low wall
that separated it from the street. There was no time for minute
investigation. They were at my heels. I headed for the wall and
vaulted it. And right there was where I got the surprise of my life.
One is used to thinking that one side of a wall is just as high as the
other side. But that wall was different. You see, the vacant lot was
much higher than the level of the street. On my side the wall was low,
but on the other side--well, as I came soaring over the top, all holds
free, it seemed to me that I was falling feet-first, plump into an
abyss. There beneath me, on the sidewalk, under the light of a
street-lamp was a bull. I guess it was nine or ten feet down to the
sidewalk; but in the shock of surprise in mid-air it seemed twice that
distance.

I straightened out in the air and came down. At first I thought I was
going to land on the bull. My clothes did brush him as my feet struck
the sidewalk with explosive impact. It was a wonder he didn't drop
dead, for he hadn't heard me coming. It was the man-from-Mars stunt
over again. The bull did jump. He shied away from me like a horse from
an auto; and then he reached for me. I didn't stop to explain. I left
that to my pursuers, who were dropping over the w