hallenged her small antagonist. The
Monitor did not accept the challenge. If any accident had
happened to her the rest of the fleet would have been lost,
and it was deemed wisest to hold her back for emergencies.

On the 10th of May the Confederates marched out of Norfolk.
On the 11th the Merrimac was blown up, and only her disabled
hull remained as a trophy to the victors. As to her
condition and fighting powers, one of the engineers who had
charge of the repairs upon her said,--

"A shot from the Monitor entered one of her ports, lodged in
the backing of the other side, and so shivered her timbers
that she never afterwards could be made seaworthy. She could
not have been kept afloat for twelve hours, and her officers
knew it when they went out and dared the Monitor to fight
her. It was a case of pure bluff; we didn't hold a single
pair."

The combat we have recorded was perhaps the most important
in the history of naval warfare. It marked a turning-point
in the construction of the monarchs of the deep, by proving
that the future battles of the sea must be fought behind
iron walls.

STEALING A LOCOMOTIVE.

On a fine day in April, 1862, a passenger-train drew out
from Marietta, Georgia, bound north. Those were not days of
abundant passenger travel in the South, except for those who
wore the butternut uniform and carried muskets, but this
train was well filled, and at Marietta a score of men in
civilian dress had boarded the cars. Soldierly-looking
fellows these were too, not the kind that were likely to
escape long the clutch of the Confederate conscription.

Eight miles north of Marietta the train stopped at the
station of Big Shanty, with the welcome announcement of "Ten
minutes for breakfast." Out from the train, like bees from
the hive, swarmed the hungry passengers, and made their way
with all speed to the lunch-counter, followed more
deliberately by conductor, engineer, and brakesmen. The
demands of the lunch-counter are of universal potency; few
have the hardihood to resist them; that particular train was
emptied in the first of its ten minutes of grace.

Yet breakfast did not seem to appeal to all upon the train.
The Marietta group of civilians left the train with the
others, but instead of seeking the refreshment-room, turned
their steps towards the locomotive. No one noticed them,
though there was a Confederate camp hard by the station,
well filled with raw recruits, and hardly a dozen st