“The Next Moment Was a Blank”

The locomotive chase in Georgia, which formswhat may be called the background of this story,was an actual occurrence of the great Civil War.But I wish to emphasize the fact that the followingpages belong to the realm of fiction. Someof the incidents, and the character of Andrews,are historic, whilst other incidents and charactersare imaginary. The reader who would like toprocure an account of the chase as it really happenedshould consult the narrative of the ReverendWilliam Pittenger. Mr. Pittenger took partin the expedition organized by Andrews, and hisrecord of it is a graphic contribution to the annalsof the conflict between North and South.