[Illustration: "An Avalanche!" declared Fogg. "Dodge--something's coming!"Page 254. Ralph on the Overland Express. ]

RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS

OR

THE TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF A YOUNG ENGINEER

BY

ALLEN CHAPMAN

AUTHOR OF "RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE, ""RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER, ""RALPH ON THE ENGINE, ""DAREWELL CHUMS SERIES, " ETC. 

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK

GROSSET & DUNLAP

PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America

THE RAILROAD SERIES

By Allen Chapman

12mo. Illustrated. Cloth

RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man

RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER Or, Clearing the Track

RALPH ON THE ENGINE Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail

RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer

(Other Volumes in Preparation. )

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York

Copyright, 1910, by

GROSSET & DUNLAP

Ralph on the Overland Express

CONTENTS

 CHAPTER PAGE I. No. 999 1 II. A Special Passenger 12 III. One of the Rules 22 IV. A Warning 35 V. At Bay 43 VI. Four Medals 51 VII. Dave Bissell, Train Boy 60 VIII. An Astonishing Discovery 68 IX. The Light of Home 76 X. Fire! 88 XI. The Master Mechanic 95 XII. A Good Friend 104 XIII. The "Black Hand" 114 XIV. A Serious Plot 123 XV. "The Silvandos" 129 XVI. Zeph Dallas and His "Mystery" 138 XVII. In Widener's Gap 145 XVIII. At the Semaphore 153 XIX. The Boy Who Was Hazed 160 XX. "Lord Lionel Montague" 171 XXI. Archie Graham's Invention 179 XXII. Ike Slump Again 188 XXIII. A Critical Moment 195 XXIV. The New Run 203 XXV. The Mountain Division 209 XXVI. Mystery 217 XXVII. The Railroad President 225 XXVIII. A Race Against Time 233 XXIX. Zeph Dallas Again 244 XXX. Snowbound 254 XXXI. Conclusion 264

RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS

CHAPTER I

NO. 999

"All aboard. "

Ralph Fairbanks swung into the cab of No. 999 with the lever hooked upfor forward motion, and placed a firm hand on the throttle. 

It looked as though half the working force of the railroad, and everyjuvenile friend he had ever known in Stanley Junction, had come downto the little old depot that beautiful summer afternoon to especiallycelebrate the greatest event in his active railroad career. 

Ralph was the youngest engineer in the service of the Great Northern, and there was full reason why he should center attention and intereston this the proudest moment of his life. No. 999 was the cracklocomotive of the system, brand new and resplendent. Its headlight wasa great glow of crystal, its metal bands and trimmings shone likeburnished gold, and its cab was as spick and span and neat as theprivate office of the division superintendent himself. 

No. 999 was out for a trial run--a record run, Ralph hoped to make it. One particular car attached to the rear of the long train was the mainobject of interest. It was a new car to the road, and its blazonedname suggested an importance out of the ordinary--"China & JapanMail. "

This car had just come in over a branch section by a short cut fromthe north. If No. 999 could beat timetable routine half an hour anddeliver the mail to the Overland Express at Bridgeport, two hundredmiles distant, on time, it would create a new schedule, and meant agood contract for the Great Northern, besides a saving of three hours'time over the former roundabout trip of the China & Japan Mail. 

Ralph had exchanged jolly greetings with his friends up to now. In aninstant, however, the sonorous, echoing "All aboard" from theconductor way down the train was a signal for duty, prompt andimperative. The pleasant depot scene faded from the sight and mind ofthe ambitious young railroader. He turned his strict attention now tothe cab interior, as though the locomotive was a thing of life andintelligence. 

"Let 'er go, Ralph!"

John Griscom, the oldest engineer on the road, off duty, but aprivileged character on all occasions, stepped from the gossipingcrowd of loungers at a little distance. He swung up into the cab withthe expert airiness of long usage. His bluff, hearty face expressedadmiration and satisfaction, as his rapid eye took in the cab layout. 

"I'll hold up the tender rail till we get to crossing, " announcedGriscom. "Lad, this is front rank service all right, and I'm happy tosay that you deserve it. "

"Thank you, Mr. Griscom, " answered Ralph, his face beaming at thehandsome compliment. "I don't forget, though, that you helped some. "

"Oh, so, so, " declared Griscom. "I say, Fogg, you're named right. "

It was to Lemuel Fogg that Griscom spoke. Fogg was Ralph's fireman onthe present trip. He presented a decided contrast to the brisk, brightengineer of No. 999. He shoveled in the coal with a grim mutter, andslammed the fire door shut with a vicious and unnecessary bang. 

"What you getting at?" he growled, with a surly eye on Griscom. 

"Fogg--fog, see? foggy, that's you--and groggy, eh? Sun's shining--whydon't you take it in? No slouch privilege firing this magnificentking of the road, I'm thinking, and you ought to think so, too. "

"Huh!" snapped Fogg, "it'll be kid luck, if we get through. "

"Oho! there's where the shoe pinches, is it?" bantered the oldrailroad veteran. "Come, be fair, Fogg. You was glad to win your ownspurs when you were young. "

"All right, mind the try-out, you hear me!" snorted Fogg ungraciously. "You mind your own business. "

"Say, " shot out Griscom quickly, as he caught a whiff from Fogg'slips, "you be sure you mind yours--and the rules, " he added, quitesternly, "I advise you not to get too near the furnace. "

"Eh, why not?"

"Your breath might catch fire, that's why, " announced Griscom bluntly, and turned his back on the disgruntled fireman. 

Ralph had not caught this sharp cross-fire of repartee. His mind hadbeen intently fixed on his task. He had started up the locomotiveslowly, but now, clearing the depot switches, he pulled the lever anotch or two, watching carefully ahead. As the train rounded a curveto an air line, a series of brave hurrahs along the side of the tracksent a thrill of pleasure through Ralph's frame. 

The young engineer had only a fleeting second or two to bestow on alittle group, standing at the rear fence of a yard backing down to thetracks. His mother was there, gaily waving a handkerchief. A neighborjoined in the welcome, and half-a-dozen boys and small children withwhom Ralph was a rare favorite made the air ring with enthusiasticcheers. 

"Friends everywhere, lad, " spoke Griscom in a kindly tone, and then, edging nearer to his prime young favorite, he half-whispered: "Keepyour eye on this grouch of a Fogg. "

"Why, you don't mean anything serious, Mr. Griscom?" inquired Ralph, with a quick glance at the fireman. 

"Yes, I do, " proclaimed the old railroader plainly. "He's got it infor you--it's the talk of the yards, and he's in just the right frameof mind to bite off his own nose to spite his face. So long. "

The locomotive had slowed up for crossing signals, and Griscom got tothe ground with a careless sail through the air, waved his hand, andRalph buckled down to real work on No. 999. 

He glanced at the schedule sheet and the clock. The gauges were infine working order. There was not a full head of steam on as yet andthe fire box was somewhat over full, but there was a strong draft anda twenty-mile straight run before them, and Ralph felt they could makeit easily. 

"Don't choke her too full, Mr. Fogg, " he remarked to the fireman. 

"Teach me!" snorted Fogg, and threw another shovelful into the boxalready crowded, and backed against the tender bar with a surly, defiant face. 

Ralph made no retort. Fogg did, indeed, know his business, if he wasonly minded to attend to it. He was somewhat set and old-fashioned inhis ways, and he had grown up in the service from wiper. 

Ralph recalled Griscom's warning. It was not pleasant to run twohundred miles with a grumpy cab comrade. Ralph wished they had givenhim some other helper. However, he reasoned that even a crack firemanmight be proud of a regular run on No. 999, and he did not believethat Fogg would hurt his own chances by any tactics that might delaythem. 

The landscape drifted by swiftly and more swiftly, as Ralph gave thelocomotive full head. A rare enthusiasm and buoyancy came into thesituation. There was something fascinating in the breathless rush, thesuperb power and steadiness of the crack machine, so easy of controlthat she was a marvel of mechanical genius and perfection. 

Like a panorama the scenery flashed by, and in rapid mental panoramaRalph reviewed the glowing and stirring events of his young life, which in a few brief months had carried him from his menial task as anengine wiper up to the present position which he cherished soproudly. 

Ralph was a railroader by inheritance as well as predilection. Hisfather had been a pioneer in the beginning of the Great Northern. After he died, through the manipulations of an unworthy villagemagnate named Gasper Farrington, his widow and son found themselves atthe mercy of that heartless schemer, who held a mortgage on theirlittle home. 

In the first volume of the present series, entitled "Ralph of theRoundhouse, " it was told how Ralph left school to earn a living andhelp his self-sacrificing mother in her poverty. 

Ralph got a job in the roundhouse, and held it, too, despite themalicious efforts of Ike Slump, a ne'er-do-well who tried to underminehim. Ralph became a favorite with the master mechanic of the roadthrough some remarkable railroad service in which he saved therailroad shops from destruction by fire. 

Step by step Ralph advanced, and the second volume of this series, called "Ralph in the Switch Tower, " showed how manly resolve, andbeing right and doing right, enabled him to overcome his enemies andcompel old Farrington to release the fraudulent mortgage. Incidentally, Ralph made many friends. He assisted a poor waif namedVan Sherwin to reach a position of comfort and honor, and wasinstrumental in aiding a former business partner of his father, oneFarwell Gibson, to complete a short line railroad through the woodsnear Dover. 

In the third volume of the present series, entitled "Ralph on theEngine, " was related how our young railroad friend became an activeemployee of the Great Northern as a fireman. He made some record runswith old John Griscom, the veteran of the road. In that volume wasalso depicted the ambitious but blundering efforts of Zeph Dallas, afarmer boy who was determined to break into railroading, and there wastold as well the grand success of little Limpy Joe, a railroadcripple, who ran a restaurant in an old, dismantled box car. 

These and other staunch, loyal friends had rallied around Ralph withall the influence they could exert, when after a creditableexamination Ralph was placed on the extra list as an engineer. 

Van and Zeph had been among the first to congratulate the friend towhom they owed so much, when, after a few months' service onaccomodation runs, it was made known that Ralph had been appointed asengineer of No. 999. 

It was Limpy Joe, spending a happy vacation week with motherly, kind-hearted Mrs. Fairbanks, who led the cheering coterie whom Ralphhad passed near his home as he left the Junction on his present run. 

Of his old-time enemies, Ike Slump and Mort Bemis were in jail, thelast Ralph had heard of them. There was a gang in his home town, however, whom Ralph had reason to fear. It was made up of men who hadtried to cripple the Great Northern through an unjust strike. A mannamed Jim Evans had been one of the leaders. Fogg had sympathized withthe strikers. Griscom and Ralph had routed the malcontents in a fair, open-handed battle of arguments and blows. Fogg had been reinstated bythe road, but he had to go back on the promotion list, and his rancorwas intense when he learned that Ralph had been chosen to a positionsuperior to his own. 

"They want young blood, the railroad nobs tell it, " the disgruntledfireman had been heard to remark in his favorite tippling place onRailroad Street. "Humph! They'll have blood, and lots of it, if theytrust the lives of passengers and crew to a lot of kindergartengraduates. "

Of all this Ralph was thinking as they covered a clear dash of twentymiles over the best stretch of grading on the road, and withsatisfaction he noted that they had gained three minutes on theschedule time. He whistled for a station at which they did not stop, set full speed again as they left the little village behind them, andglanced sharply at Fogg. 

The latter had not spoken a word for over half-an-hour. He had goneabout his duties in a dogged, sullen fashion that showed thepermanency of the grouch with which old John Griscom had charged him. Ralph had made up his mind to leave his cab companion severely aloneuntil he became more reasonable. However, there were some things aboutFogg of which the young engineer was bound to take notice, and a newenlightenment came to Ralph's mind as he now glanced at his helper. 

Fogg had slipped clumsily on the tender plate in using the coal rake, and Ralph had marveled at this unusual lack of steadiness of footing. Then, twice he had gone out on the running board on some uselesserrand, fumbling about in an inexplicable way. His hot, fetid breathcrossed Ralph's face, and the latter arrived at a definiteconclusion, and he was sorry for it. Fogg had been "firing up" from asecret bottle ever since they had left the Junction, and his conditionwas momentarily becoming more serious and alarming. 

They were slowing down to a stop at a water tank as Ralph saw Foggdraw back, and under cover of the tender lift a flask to his lips. Then Fogg slipped it under the cushion of his seat as he turned to getsome coal. 

He dropped the shovel, coal and all, with a wild snort of rage, asturning towards the fire box door he saw Ralph reach over swiftly, grab the half empty bottle from under the cushion, and give it a flingto the road bed, where it was dashed into a thousand pieces. 

Blood in his eye, uncontrollable fury in his heart, the irrationalfireman, both fists uplifted, made a wild onslaught upon the youngengineer. 

"You impudent meddler!" he raved. "I'll smash you!"

CHAPTER II

A SPECIAL PASSENGER

"Behave yourself, " said Ralph Fairbanks quietly. 

The young engineer simply gave his furious antagonist a push with hisfree hand. The other hand was on duty, and Ralph's eyes as well. Hesucceeded in bringing the locomotive to a stop before Fogg needed anyfurther attention. 

The fireman had toppled off his balance and went flat among the coalof the tender. Ralph did not feel at all important over so easilyrepelling his assailant. Fogg was in practically a helpless condition, and a child could have disturbed his unsteady footing. 

With maudlin energy, however, he began to scramble to his feet. Allthe time he glowered at Ralph, and made dreadful threats of what hewas going to do to the youth for "knocking him down. " Fogg managed topull himself erect, but swayed about a good deal, and then observingthat Ralph had the free use of both hands now and was posed on guardto meet any attack he might meditate, the irate fireman stooped andseized a big lump of coal. Ralph could hardly hope to dodge themissile, hemmed in as he was. It was poised for a vicious fling. Justas Fogg's hand went backwards to aim the projectile, it was seized, the missile was wrested from his grasp, and a strange voice drawledout the words:

"I wouldn't waste the company's coal that way, if I were you. "

Ralph with some surprise and considerable interest noted the intruder, who had mounted the tender step just in time to thwart the quarrelsomedesigns of Lemuel Fogg. As to the fireman, he wheeled about, lookedugly, and then as the newcomer laughed squarely in his face, mumbledsome incoherent remark about "two against one, " and "fixing both ofthem. " Then he climbed up on the tender to direct the water tank spoutinto place. 

"What's the row here, anyhow?" inquired the intruder, with a pleasantglance at Ralph, and leaning bodily against the fireman's seat. 

Ralph looked him over as a cool specimen, although there was nothing"cheeky" about the intruder. He showed neither the sneakiness nor theeffrontery of the professional railroad beat or ride stealer, nothwithstanding the easy, natural way in which he made himself athome in the cab as though he belonged there. 

"Glad you happened along, " chirped the newcomer airily. "I'll keep youcompany as far as Bridgeport, I guess. "

"Will you, now?" questioned Ralph, with a dubious smile. 

The lad he addressed was an open-faced, smart-looking boy. He was welldressed and intelligent, and suggested to Ralph the average college orhome boy. Certainly there was nothing about him that indicated that hehad to work for a living. 

"My name is Clark--Marvin Clark, " continued the intruder. 

Ralph nodded and awaited further disclosures. 

"My father is President of the Middletown & Western Railroad, "proceeded the stranger. 

Ralph did not speak. He smiled slightly, and the keen-eyed intrudernoticed this and gave him a sharp look. 

"Old racket, eh? Too flimsy?" he propounded with a quizzical butperfectly good-natured grin. "I suppose they play all kinds ofofficial relationships and all that on you fellows, eh?"

"Yes, " said Ralph, "we do hear some pretty extravagant stories. "

"I suppose so, " assented the youth calling himself Marvin Clark. "Well, I don't want to intrude, but if there's room for myself and mycredentials, I'd rather keep you company than free pass it in theparlor coach. There you are. "

As the boy spoke of "credentials, " he drew an unsealed envelope fromhis pocket and handed it to Ralph. The latter received it, noting thatit bore in one corner the monogram of the Great Northern, with"President's office--official business" printed under it. He withdrewthe enclosure and perused it. 

The sheet was a letter head of the Middletown & Western Railroad. Itbore on one line in one handwriting the name "Marvin Clark, " andbeneath it the words: "For identification, " in another handwriting, and the flourishing signature below "Nathaniel Clark, President. "

In typewriting beneath all this were the words: "Pass on all trains, Marvin Clark, " and below that a date and the name in writing of Mr. Robert Grant, the President of the Great Northern, unmistakablygenuine. There were few employees on the road who were not familiarwith that signature. 

"All right, " said Ralph, refolding the sheet, re-inclosing it in theenvelope, and handing it back to the stranger. "I guess that passesyou anywhere on the line. "

"You see, I've got a sort of roaming commission, " explained youngClark buoyantly, as he got comfortably seated on the fireman'scushion. "No particular use at school, and father wants me to learnrailroading. The first step was to run down all the lines and pick upall the information I could. I've just got to put in two months atthat, and then report to family headquarters my store of practicalknowledge. See here. "

Marvin Clark drew a blank from his pocket. Some thirty of its pages heshowed to Ralph were filled with memoranda. Thus: "Aug. 22, cattlefreight, Upton to Dover. O. K. Simpson, Conductor. " There followedlike items, all signed, forming a link of evidence that the boy hadbeen a passenger on all kinds of rolling stock, had visited railroadshops, switch towers, water stations, in fact had inspected aboutevery active department of several railroad lines that connected withthe Middletown & Western Railroad. 

"That is a pretty pleasant layout, I should say, " remarked Ralph. 

"Oh, so, so, " replied Clark indifferently. "Athletics is mystronghold. If I ever get money enough--I mean if I had my ownway--I'd train for expert on everything from golf to football. "

"I'm pretty strong in that direction myself, " said Ralph, "but afellow has to hustle for something to eat. "

"I know what that means, " declared Clark. "Had to help the family bypeddling papers--. "

Clark paused and flushed. Ralph wondered at the singular break hisvisitor had made. A diversion covered the embarassment of the youngstranger and caused Ralph to momentarily forget the incident. Fogg hadswung back the water spout, set the tender cover, and climbed downinto the cab. Then he took the side light signals and went around tothe pilot. No. 999 carried two flags there, now to be replaced bylanterns. Fogg came back to the cab rolling up the flags. 

"All right, " he announced ungraciously, and hustled Clark to one sidewithout ceremony as the latter abandoned his seat. Ralph gave thestarting signal and Clark edged back in the tender out of the way. 

The young engineer took a good look at his fireman. The latter wasmuddled, it was plain to see that, but he went about his duties with amechanical routine born from long experience. Only once did he lurchtowards Ralph and speak to him, or rather hiss out the words. 

"You'll settle with me for your impudence yet, young fellow. You're ahigh and mighty, you are, breaking the rules giving your friends afree ride. "

Ralph did not reply. One anxiety kept him devoted to his work--to loseno time. A glance at the clock and schedule showed a ten minutes'loss, but defective or experimental firing on a new locomotive hadbeen responsible for that, and he counted on making a spurt, oncebeyond Plympton. 

Marvin Clark knew his place, and Ralph liked him for keeping it. Theyoung fellow watched everything going on in the cab in a shrewd, interested fashion, but he neither got in the way of the cross-grainedFogg, nor pestered Ralph with questions. 

Plympton was less than five miles ahead just as dusk began to fall. Ralph noticed that his fireman rustled about with a good deal ofunnecessary activity. He would fire up to the limit, as if working offsome of his vengefulness and malice. Then he went out on the runningboard, for no earthly reason that Ralph could see, and he made himselfgenerally so conspicuous that young Clark leaned over and said toRalph. 

"What's the matter with your fireman, anyhow--that is, besides thatload he's got aboard?"

"Oh, he has his cross moods, like all of us, I suppose, " explainedRalph, with affected indifference. 

"I wouldn't take him for a very pleasant comrade at any time, "observed Clark. "It's a wonder he don't take a tumble. There he is, hitching around to the pilot. What for, I wonder?"

Ralph was not paying much attention to what the cab passenger wassaying. He had made up five minutes, and his quick mind was nowplanning how he would gain five more, and then double that, toPlympton and beyond it. 

He gave the whistle for Plympton, as, shooting a curve, No. 999 drovea clattering pace down the grade with the lights of the station not aquarter-of-a-mile away. They were set for clear tracks, as they shouldbe. Ralph gave the lever a hitch for a rattling dash on ten miles ofclear running. Then fairly up to the first station semaphore, he brokeout with a cry so sharp and dismayed that young Clark echoed it inquestioning excitement. 

"The siding!" cried Ralph, with a jerk of the lever--"what's themeaning of this?"

"Say!" echoed Clark, in a startled tone, "that's quick and queer!"

What had happened was this: No. 999 going at full speed on clearsignals had been sent to a siding and the signals cancelled without amoment's warning. Under ordinary circumstances, a train thussidetracked would be under notified control and run down the sidingonly a short distance. Going at high speed, however, and with a fullhead of steam on, Ralph realized that, long as the siding was, hewould have to work quick and hard to check down the big locomotivebefore she slid the limit, and stuck her nose deep into the sand hillthat blocked the terminus of the rails. 

It was quite dark now. The lights of the station flashed by. Bothhands in use to check the locomotive and set the air brakes, Ralphleaned slightly from the cab window and peered ahead. 

"Shoot the sand!" he cried, almost mechanically. 

It was a good thing that the cab passenger was aboard and knewsomething about the cab equipment. Young Clark reached the side of theengineer's seat in a nimble spring. His hand located the sand valvewithout hesitancy. 

Ralph uttered a short, sharp gasp. That look ahead had scared him. Hewas doing all he could to slow down, and was doing magnificently, forthe reverse action moved to a charm. Still, he saw that after dashingfully two hundred yards down the siding, the natural momentum wouldcarry the train fully one-third that distance further. 

"Any obstruction?" shot out his agile companion, springing to thefireman's seat, sticking his head out of the window and staring ahead. "Whew! we're going to hit. "

The speaker saw what Ralph also beheld. Dimly outlined directly intheir path was a flat car, and above it, skeletonized against thefading sunset sky, was the framework of a derrick. A repair orconstruction gondola car was straight ahead of No. 999. 

They seemed to be approaching it swiftly and irresistibly. The wheelsslid now, fairly locked, there was a marked ease-down, but Ralph sawplainly that, great or small, a collision was inevitable. 

"Say, that fireman of yours!" shouted young Clark--"there he goes. "

The locomotive was fairly upon the obstruction now. Ralph stuck to thelever, setting his lips firmly, a little pale, his muscles twitchingslightly under the stress of excitement and suspense. 

"Zing!" remarked the cool comrade of the young engineer--"we'rethere!"

At that moment a flying form shot from the running board of thelocomotive. Lemuel Fogg had jumped. 

CHAPTER III

ONE OF THE RULES

Locomotive No. 999 landed against the bumper of the gondola car with asharp shock. However, there was no crash of consequence. The headlightradiance now flooded fully the obstruction. Young Clark suddenlyshouted:

"Look out!"

The quick-witted, keen-eyed special passenger was certainly gettingrailroad training so coveted by his magnate father. He saw the firemanshoot through the air in his frightened jump for safety. Lemuel Fogglanded in a muddy ditch at the side of the tracks, up to his knees inwater. 

The sharp, warning cry of Marvin Clark was not needed to appraiseRalph of the danger that threatened. The jar of the collision haddisplaced and upset the derrick. Ralph saw it falling slantinglytowards them. He pulled the reverse lever, but could not get actionquick enough to entirely evade the falling derrick. It grazed theheadlight, chopping off one of its metal wings, and striking thepilot crushed in one side of the front fender rails. 

The young engineer gave the signal for backing the train, and kept inmotion. His purpose was to allay any panic on the part of thepassengers, whom he knew must be alarmed by the erratic tactics of thepast few moments. Then after thus traversing about half the distanceback to the main line, he shut off steam and whistled forinstructions. 

"Another notch in my education, " observed young Clark with achuckle--"been waiting to pass examination on a smash up. "

"Oh, this isn't one, " replied Ralph. His tone was tense, and he showedthat he was disturbed. He was too quick a thinker not to at oncecomprehend the vital issue of the present incident. With Fogg headeddown the track towards him from the ditch, trying to overtake thetrain, and the conductor, lantern in hand, running to learn what hadhappened, Ralph sized up the situation with decided annoyance. 

The action of the station man in giving the free track signal and thenat a critical moment shooting the special onto the siding, hadsomething mysterious about it that Ralph could not readily solve. Theslight mishap to the locomotive and the smashing of the derrick wasnot particularly serious, but there would be a report, aninvestigation, and somebody would be blamed and punished. Ralph wantedto keep a clear slate, and here was a bad break, right at thethreshold of his new railroad career. 

All he thought of, however, were the delays, all he cared for at thisparticular moment was to get back to the main tracks on his way forBridgeport, with a chance to make up lost time. A sudden vaguesuspicion flashing through his mind added to his mental disquietude:was there a plot to purposely cripple or delay his train, so that hewould be defeated in his efforts to make a record run?

"What's this tangle, Fairbanks?" shouted out the conductor sharply, ashe arrived breathless and excited at the side of the cab. 

His name was Danforth, and he was a model employee of long experience, always very neat and dressy in appearance and exact and systematic inhis work. Any break in routine nettled him, and he spoke quitecensuringly to the young engineer, whom, however, he liked greatly. 

"I'm all at sea, Mr. Danforth, " confessed Ralph bluntly. 

"Any damage?--I see, " muttered the conductor, going forward a fewsteps and surveying the scratched, bruised face of the locomotive. 

"There's a gondola derailed and a derrick smashed where we struck, "reported Ralph. "I acted on my duplicate orders, Mr. Danforth, " headded earnestly, "and had the clear signal almost until I passed itand shot the siding. "

"I don't understand it at all, " remarked the conductor in a troubledand irritated way. "You had the clear signal, you say?"

"Positively, " answered Ralph. 

"Any serious damage ahead?"

"Nothing of consequence. "

"Back slowly, we'll see the station man about this. "

The conductor mounted to the cab step, and No. 999 backed slowly. Asthey neared the end of the siding the train was again halted. All downits length heads were thrust from coach windows. There was someexcitement and alarm, but the discipline of the train hands and theyoung engineer's provision had prevented any semblance of panic. 

The conductor, lantern in hand, ran across the tracks to the station. Ralph saw him engaged in vigorous conversation with the man on dutythere. The conductor had taken out a memorandum book and was jottingdown something. The station man with excited gestures ran inside thedepot, and the signal turned to clear tracks. Ralph switched to themain. Then the conductor gave the go ahead signal. 

"That's cool, " observed young Clark. "I should think the conductorwould give us an inkling of how all this came about. "

"Oh, we'll learn soon enough, " said Ralph. "There will have to be anofficial report on this. "

"I'm curious. Guess I'll go back and worm out an explanation, " spokeClark. "I'll see you with news later. "

As Clark left the cab on one side Fogg came up on the other. He hadbeen looking over the front of the locomotive. Ralph noticed that hedid not seem to have suffered any damage from his wild jump beyond aslight shaking up. He was wet and spattered to the waist, however, andhad lost his cap. 

Lemuel Fogg's eyes wore a frightened, shifty expression as he steppedto the tender. His face was wretchedly pale, his hands trembled as heproceeded to pile in the coal. Every vestige of unsteadiness andmaudlin bravado was gone. He resembled a man who had gazed upon someunexpected danger, and there was a half guiltiness in his manner as ifhe was responsible for the impending mishap. 

The fireman did not speak a word, and Ralph considered that it was notime for discussion or explanations. The injury to the locomotive wascomparatively slight, and with a somewhat worried glance at the clockand schedule card the young railroader focussed all his ability andattention upon making up for lost time. 

Soon Ralph was so engrossed in his work that he forgot the fireman, young Clark, the accident, everything except that he was driving amighty steel steed in a race against time, with either the winningpost or defeat in view. There was a rare pride in the thought thatupon him depended a new railway record. There was a fascinatingexhilaration in observing the new king of the road gain steadily halfa mile, one mile, two miles, overlapping lost time. 

A smile of joy crossed the face of the young engineer, a greataspiration of relief and triumph escaped his lips as No. 999 pulledinto Derby two hours later. They were twenty-one minutes ahead oftime. 

"Mr. Fogg, " shouted Ralph across to the fireman's seat, "you're abrick!"

It was the first word that had passed between them since the mishap atthe siding, but many a grateful glance had the young engineer cast athis helper. It seemed as if the shake-up at Plympton had shaken allthe nonsense out of Lemuel Fogg. Before that it had been evident toRalph that the fireman was doing all he could to queer the run. Hehad been slow in firing and then had choked the furnace. His movementshad been suspicious and then alarming to Ralph, but since leavingPlympton he had acted like a different person. Ralph knew frompractical experience what good firing was, and he had to admit thatFogg had outdone himself in the splendid run of the last one hundredmiles. He was therefore fully in earnest when he enthusiasticallydesignated his erratic helper as a "brick. "

It was hard for Fogg to come out from his grumpiness and cross-grainedmalice quickly. Half resentful, half shamed, he cast a furtive, sullenlook at Ralph. 

"Humph!" he muttered, "it isn't any brick that did it--it was thebriquettes. "

"The what, Mr. Fogg?" inquired Ralph. 

"Them, " and with contemptuous indifference Fogg pointed to a coarsesack lying among the coal. "New-fangled fuel. Master mechanic wantedto make a test. "

"Why, yes, I heard about that, " said Ralph quickly. "Look likebaseballs. Full of pitch, oil and sulphur, I understand. They say theyurge up the fire. "

"They do, they burn like powder. They are great steam makers, and noquestion, " observed Fogg. "Won't do for a regular thing, though. "

"No?" insinuated Ralph attentively, glad to rouse his grouchy helperfrom his morose mood. 

"Not a bit of it. "

"Why not?"

"Used right along, they'd burn out any crown sheet. What's more, waittill you come to clean up--the whole furnace will be choked withcinders. "

"I see, " nodded Ralph, and just then they rounded near Macon for afifteen minutes wait. 

As Fogg went outside with oil can and waste roll, Mervin Clark cameinto the cab. 

"Glad to get back where it's home like, " he sang out in his chirp, brisk way. "Say, Engineer Fairbanks, that monument of brass buttonsand gold cap braid is the limit. Discipline? why, he works on springsand you have to touch a button to make him act. I had to chum with thebrakeman to find out what's up. "

"Something is up, then?" inquired Ralph a trifle uneasily. 

"Oh, quite. The conductor has been writing a ten-page report on thecollision. It's funny, but the station man at Plympton----"

"New man, isn't he?" inquired Ralph. 

"Just transferred to Plympton yesterday mornin', " explained Clark. "Well, he swears that your front signals were special at the curvesand flashed green just as you neared the semaphore. "

"Absurd!" exclaimed Ralph. 

"That's what the conductor says, too, " said Clark. "He told thestation agent so. They nearly had a fight. 'Color blind!' he told thestation agent and challenged him to find green lights on No. 999 if hecould. The station man was awfully rattled and worried. He says heknew a special was on the list, but being new to this part of the roadhe acted on Rule 23 when he saw the green lights. He sticks to that, says that he will positively swear to it. He says he knows some onewill be slated, but it won't be him. "

"What does the conductor say?" inquired Ralph. 

"He says Rule 23 doesn't apply, as the white lights prove. If therewas any trickery or any mistake, then it's up to the fireman, not tothe engineer. "

At that moment, happening to glance past Clark, the young engineercaught sight of Lemuel Fogg. The latter, half crouching near a drivewheel, was listening intently. The torch he carried illuminated apale, twitching face. His eyes were filled with a craven fear, andRalph tried to imagine what was passing through his mind. 

There was something mysterious about Fogg's actions, yet Ralphaccepted the theory of the conductor that the station man had made acareless blunder or was color blind. 

"You see, it isn't that the smash up amounts to much, " explainedClark, "but it might have, see?"

"Yes, I see, " replied Ralph thoughtfully. 

"Then again, " continued Clark, "the conductor says that it delayed atest run, and there's a scratched locomotive and a busted constructioncar. "

"I'm thankful that no one was hurt, " said Ralph earnestly. 

When the next start was made, Fogg was taciturn and gloomy-looking, but attended strictly to his duty. Ralph voted him to be a capitalfireman when he wanted to be. As an hour after midnight they spurtedpast Hopeville forty minutes to the good, he could not help shoutingover a delighted word of commendation to Fogg. 

"I said you were a brick, Mr. Fogg, " he observed. "You're more thanthat--you're a wonder. "

Fogg's face momentarily lighted up. It looked as if he was half mindedto come out of his shell and give some gracious response, butinstantly the old sullenness settled down over his face, accompaniedby a gloomy manner that Ralph could not analyze. He half believed, however, that Fogg was a pretty good fellow at heart, had started outto queer the run, and was now sorry and ashamed that he had betrayedhis weakness for drink. 

"Maybe he is genuinely sorry for his tantrums, " reflected Ralph, "andmaybe our narrow escape at the siding has sobered him into commonsense. "

What the glum and gruff fireman lacked of comradeship, the youngpassenger made up in jolly good cheer. He was interested in everythinggoing on. He found opportunity to tell Ralph several rattling goodstories, full of incident and humor, of his amateur railroadexperiences, and the time was whiled away pleasantly for these twoacquaintances. 

Ralph could not repress a grand, satisfied expression of exultation asNo. 999 glided gracefully into the depot at Bridgeport, overforty-seven minutes ahead of time. 

The station master and the assistant superintendent of the divisioncame up to the cab instantly, the latter with his watch in his hand. 

"Worth waiting for, this, Fairbanks, " he called out cheerily--he waswell acquainted with the young railroader, for Ralph had firedfreights to this point over the Great Northern once regularly forseveral weeks. "I'll send in a bouncing good report with lots ofpleasure. "

"Thank you, " said Ralph. "We've demonstrated, anyhow. "

"You have, Fairbanks, " returned the official commendingly. 

"Only, don't lay any stress on my part of it, " said Ralph. "Anyengineer could run such a superb monarch of the rail as No. 999. Ifyou don't tell them how much the experiment depended on our goodfriend, Fogg, here, I will have to, that's all. "

The fireman flushed. His eyes had a momentary pleased expression, andhe glanced at Ralph, really grateful. He almost made a move as if toheartily shake the hand of his unselfish champion. 

"You're too modest, Fairbanks, " laughed the assistant superintendent, "but we'll boost Fogg, just as he deserves. It's been a hard, anxiousrun, I'll warrant. We've got a relief crew coming, so you can get tobed just as soon as you like. "

The passenger coaches were soon emptied of the through passengers. Alocal engineer, fireman and brakeman took charge of the train toswitch the China & Japan Mail car over to another track, ready tohitch on to the Overland express, soon to arrive, sidetrack the othercoaches, and take No. 999 to the roundhouse. 

CHAPTER IV

A WARNING

Ralph doffed his working clothes, washed up at the tender spigot, andjoined Clark, who stood waiting for him on the platform. Fogg, withouttidying up, in a sort of tired, indifferent way was already somedistance down the platform. Ralph hurried after him. 

"Six-fifteen to-night, Mr. Fogg, isn't it?" spoke Ralph, more to saysomething than anything else. 

"That's right, " returned Fogg curtly. 

"Griscom directed me to a neat, quiet lodging house, " added Ralph. "Won't you join me?"

"Can't--got some friends waiting for me, " responded the fireman. 

Ralph followed him seriously and sadly with his eyes. Fogg was makingfor Railroad Row, with its red saloon signs, and Ralph felt sorry forhim. 

"See here, " spoke Clark, as they walked along together, "headed for abunk, I suppose?"

"Yes, " answered Ralph. "John Griscom, that's our veteran engineer, and a rare good friend of mine, told me about a cheap, comfortablelodging house to put up at. It's some distance from the depot, but Ibelieve I shall go there. "

"Good idea, " approved Clark. "I've been in some of those railroadmen's hotels yonder, and they're not very high toned--nor clean. "

"What's your program?" inquired Ralph. 

"Got to sleep, I suppose, so, if I'm not too much of a bore and it'spleasing to you, I'll try the place your friend recommends. "

"I shall be delighted, " answered Ralph. 

Within half-an-hour both tired lads tumbled into their beds in roomsadjoining in a private house about half a mile from the depot. Ralphstretched himself luxuriously, as he rested after the turmoil andlabor of what he considered the most arduous day in his railroadcareer. 

The young engineer awoke with the bright sun shining in his face andwas out of bed in a jiffy. These lay-over days had always been prizedby the young railroader, and he planned to put the present one to gooduse. He went to the closed door communicating with the next room andtapped on it. 

"Hey, there!" he hailed briskly, "time to get up, " then, no responsecoming, he opened the door to find the apartment deserted. 

"An early bird, it seems, " observed Ralph. "Probably gone forbreakfast. "

John Griscom had told Ralph all about the house he was in, and theyoung engineer soon located the bathroom and took a vigorous coldplunge that made him feel equal to the task of running a double-headerspecial. Ralph had just dressed when Marvin Clark came bustling intothe room. 

"Twenty minutes for breakfast!" hailed the volatile lad. "I've been upan hour. "

"You didn't take a two hundred mile run, or you wouldn't be up forfour, " challenged Ralph. 

"Guess that's so, " admitted Clark. "Well, here we are. I've been outprospecting. "

"What for?" inquired Ralph. 

"A good restaurant. "

"Found one?"

"A dandy--wheat cakes with honey, prime country sausages and Mocha, all for twenty cents. "

"Good, " commended Ralph. "We'll take air line for that right away. "

Clark chattered like a magpie as they proceeded to the street. It wasevident that he had taken a great fancy to Ralph. The latter liked himin return. For the son of a wealthy railroad magnate, Clark wasdecidedly democratic. The one subject he seemed glad to avoid was anyreference to his direct family and friends. 

He was full of life, and Ralph found him very entertaining. Some badbreaks in grammar showed, indeed, that he had not amounted to much atschool. Some of his adventures also suggested that the presence andpower of money had not always been at his command. Ralph noticed someinconsistencies in his stories here and there, but Clark rattled on sofast and jumped so briskly from one subject to another, that it washard work to check him up. 

As they reached the porch of the house Clark gave Ralph a deterringtouch with his hand. 

"Just wait a minute, will you?" he spoke. 

"Why what for?" inquired Ralph in some surprise. 

"I want to find out something before we go out into the street, " andthe speaker glided down the walk to the gate, peered down the street, and then beckoned to his companion. 

"Come on, " he hailed. "They're still there, though, " he added, histones quite impressive. 

"Who is there?" asked Ralph. 

"Just dally at the gate here and take a look past the next streetcorner--near where there's an alley, see?"

"That crowd of boys?" questioned Ralph, following his companion'sdirection. 

"Yes, that gang of hoodlums, " responded Clark bluntly, "for that iswhat they are. "

"And how are we interested in them?" inquired Ralph. 

"We're not, but they may become interested in us. "

"Indeed?"

"Mightily, if I don't mistake my cue, " asserted Clark. 

"You are pretty mysterious, " hinted Ralph, half-smiling. 

"Well, I'll explain. Those fellows are laying for you. "

"Laying for me?" repeated Ralph vaguely. 

"That's it. "

"Why? They don't know me, and I don't know them. "

"Not much acquainted at Bridgeport, eh?"

"Only casually. I've laid over here several times when I was firing onthe fast freight. I know a few railroad men, that's all. "

"Ever hear of Billy Bouncer?"

"I never did. "

"Then I'm the first one to enlighten you. When I went out to find arestaurant I passed that crowd you see. I noticed that they drewtogether and scanned me pretty closely. Then I heard one of them say, 'That's not Fairbanks. ' 'Yes, it is, didn't he come out of the placewe're watching?' said another. 'Aw, let up, ' spoke a third voice. 'Billy Bouncer will know, and we don't want to spoil his game. He'llbe here soon. '"

"That's strange, " said Ralph musingly. 

"What are you going to do about it?" inquired Clark. 

"Oh, I'm not at all alarmed, " replied Ralph, "barely interested, that's all. We'll walk by the crowd and see if they won't throw somefurther light on the subject. "

"Tell you, Fairbanks, " said Clark quite seriously, "I'm putting twoand two together. "

"Well, " laughed Ralph, "that makes four--go ahead. "

"More than four--a regular mob. That crowd, as I said, for some reasonis laying for you. What's the answer? They have been put up to it bysome one. You know, you told me incidentally that you had some enemieson account of the big boost you've got in the service. You said, too, that your friend, Engineer Griscom, warned you on just that point. Ihaven't said much so far, but the actions of that grouch fireman ofyours, Fogg, looked decidedly queer and suspicious to me. "

Ralph made no comment on this. He had his own ideas on the subject, but did not feel warranted in fully expressing them. 

"I believe that Fogg started out on your run yesterday to queer it. Why he changed tactics later, I can't tell. Maybe he was scared by thesmash-up on the siding. Anyhow, I never saw such mortal malice in theface of any man as that I saw in his when I came aboard No. 999. Thiscrowd down the street is evidently after you. Some one has put them upto it. "

"Oh, you can't mean Fogg!" exclaimed Ralph. 

"I don't know, " replied Clark. 

"I can't believe that he would plot against me that far, " declaredRalph. 

"A malicious enemy will do anything to reach his ends, " said Clark. "Doesn't he want you knocked out? Doesn't he want your place? Whatwould suit his plans better than to have you so mauled and battered, that you couldn't show up for the return trip to Stanley Junction thisafternoon? Are you going past that crowd?"

"I certainly shall not show the white feather by going out of my way, "replied Ralph. 

"Well, if that's your disposition, I'm at your call if they tackleus, " announced Clark. 

They proceeded down the street, and Ralph as they advanced had a goodview of the crowd, which, according to the views of his companion, was laying in wait for him. There were about fifteen of them, rangingfrom selfish-faced lads of ten or so up to big, hulking fellows oftwenty. They represented the average city gang of idlers and hoodlums. They were hanging around the entrance to the alley as if waiting forsome mischief to turn up. Ralph noticed a rustling among them as hewas observed. They grouped together. He fancied one or two of thempointed at him, but there was no further indication of belligerentattention as he and Clark approached nearer to the crowd. 

"I fancy Billy Bouncer, whoever he is, hasn't arrived yet, " observedClark. 

Just then one of the mob set up a shout. 

"Hi there, Wheels!" he hailed, and some additional jeers went up fromhis fellows. Their attention seemed directed across the street, andRalph and Clark glanced thither. 

CHAPTER V

AT BAY

A queer-looking boy about eighteen years of age was proceeding slowlydown the pavement. He was stockily built, and had an unusually massivehead and great broad shoulders. He was a boy who would be remarkedabout almost anywhere. His hair was long, and this gave him a somewhatleonine aspect. 

The hat of this boy was pushed far back on his head, and his eyes werefixed and his attention apparently deeply absorbed upon an object heheld in his hand. This was a thin wooden rod with two cardboard wheelsattached to it. These he would blow, causing them to revolve rapidly. Then he would study their gyrations critically, wait till they had rundown, and then repeat the maneuver. 

His side coat pockets were bulging, one with a lot of papers. From theother protruded what seemed to be a part of a toy, or some realmechanical device having also wheels in its construction. 

"Well, there's a queer make-up!" observed Clark in profound surprise. 

"He is certainly eccentric in his appearance, " said Ralph. "I wonderwho he can be. "

"No, what he can be, " corrected Clark, "for he's an odd genius of somekind, I'll wager. "

The object of their interest and curiosity had heard the derisive hailfrom across the street. He halted dead short, stared around him like aperson abruptly aroused from a dream, traced the call to its source, thrust the device with which he had been experimenting into hispocket, and fixing his eyes on his mockers, started across the street. The hoodlum crowd nudged one another, blinked, winked, and looked asif expecting developments of some fun. The object of their derisionlooked them over in a calculating fashion. 

"Did any one here speak to me?" he asked. 

"No, Wheels--it was the birdies calling you!" hooted a jocose voice. 

"You sort of suggest something, somehow, " drawled the lad in anabstracted, groping way. "Yes, certainly, let me see. What is it? Ah, perhaps I've made a memorandum of it. "

The lad poked into several vest pockets. Finally he unearthed a cardwhich seemed to be all written over, and he ran his eye down this. Thecrowd chuckled at the profound solemnity of his manner. 

"H'm, " observed the boy designated as "Wheels. " "Let me see. 'Getshoes mended. ' No, that isn't it. I have such a bad memory. 'Ordersome insulated wire. ' No, that's for an uptown call. 'Buy Drummond onSuperheated Steam. ' That's for the bookstore. Ah, here we have it. 'Kick Jim Scroggins. ' Who's Jim? Aha! you young villain, I rememberyou well enough now, " and with an activity which could scarcely beanticipated from so easy-going an individual, Wheels made a dive for abig hulking fellow on the edge of the crowd. He chased him a few feet, and planted a kick that lifted the yelling hoodlum a foot from theground. Then, calmly taking out a pencil, he crossed off thememorandum--"Kick Jim Scroggins"--gave the crowd a warning glance, andproceeded coolly down the sidewalk, resuming his occupation with thecontrivance he had placed in his pocket. 

The gang of loafers had drawn back. A sight of the massive arms andsledge hammer fists of the young giant they had derided, and hisprompt measures with one of their cronies, dissuaded them from anywarlike move. 

"Whoop!" commented Clark in an exultant undertone, and he fairlyleaned against his companion in a paroxysm of uncontrollable laughter. "Quick, nifty and entertaining, that! Say Engineer Fairbanks, I don'tknow who that fellow Wheels is, but I'd be interested and proud tomake his acquaintance. Now steam up and air brake ready, while we passthe crossing!"

"Passing the crossing, " as Clark designated it, proved, however, to beno difficult proceeding. The crowd of hoodlums had got a set-back fromthe boy with the piston-rod arm, it seemed. They scanned Ralph andClark keenly as they passed by, but made no attempt to either hail orhalt them. 

"We've run the gauntlet this time, " remarked Clark. "Hello--fourtimes!"

The vigilant companion of the young engineer was glancing over hisshoulder as he made this sudden and forcible remark. 

"Four times what?" inquired Ralph. 

"That fireman of yours. "

"Mr. Fogg?"

"Yes. "

"What about him?"

"Say, " replied Clark, edging close to Ralph, "just take a carelessbackward look, will you? About half the square down on the oppositeside of the street you'll see Fogg. "

"Why such caution and mystery?" propounded Ralph. 

"I'll tell you later. See him?" inquired Clark, as Ralph followed outthe suggestion he had made. 

Ralph nodded assentingly. He had made out Fogg as Clark had described. The fireman was walking along in the direction they were proceeding. There was something stealthy and sinister in the way in which he keptclose to the buildings lining the sidewalk. 

"That's four times I've noticed Fogg in this vicinity this morning, "reported Clark. "I discovered him opposite the lodging house when Ifirst came out this morning. When I came back he was skulking in anopen entry, next door. When we left the house together I saw him ablock away, standing behind a tree. Now he bobs up again. "

"I can't understand his motive, " said Ralph thoughtfully. 

"I can, " declared Clark with emphasis. 

"What's your theory?"

"It's no theory at all, it's a dead certainty, " insisted Clark. "Yourfireman and that gang of hoodlums hitch together in some way, you markmy words. Well, let it slide for a bit. I'm hungry as a bear, andhere's the restaurant. "

It was a neat and inviting place, and with appetizing zeal the twoboys entered and seated themselves at a table and gave their order forwheat cakes with honey and prime country sausages. Just as the waiterbrought in the steaming meal, Clark, whose face was toward the street, said:

"Fogg just passed by, and there goes the crowd of boys. I'm thinkingthey'll give us a chance to settle our meal, Engineer Fairbanks!"

"All right, " responded Ralph quietly, "if that's the first task of theday, we'll be in trim to tackle it with this fine meal as afoundation. "

Their youthful, healthy appetites made a feast of the repast. Clarkdoubled his order, and Ralph did full credit to all the things setbefore him. 

"I was thinking, " he remarked, as they paid their checks at thecashier's counter, "that we might put in the day looking around thetown. "

"Why, yes, " assented his companion approvingly, "that is, if you'regoing to let me keep with you. "

"Why not?" smiled Ralph. "You seem to think I may need a guardian. "

"I've got nothing to do but put in the time, and get a signed voucherfrom you that I did so in actual railroad service and in goodcompany, " explained Clark. "I think I will go back to Stanley Junctionon your return run, if it can be arranged. "

"It is arranged already, if you say so, " said Ralph. "We seem to geton together pretty well, and I'm glad to have you with me. "

"Now, that's handsome, Engineer Fairbanks!" replied Clark. "There'ssome moving picture shows in town here, open after ten o'clock, andthere's a mechanics' library with quite a museum of railroadcontrivances. We've got time to take it all in. Come on. Unless thatcrowd stops us, we'll start the merry program rolling. No one insight, " the youth continued, as they stepped into the street and heglanced its length in both directions. "Have the enemy deserted thefield, or are they lying in ambush for us?"

They linked arms and sauntered down the pavement. They had proceedednearly two squares, when, passing an alley, both halted summarily. 

"Hello! here's business, I guess, " said Clark, and he and Ralphscanned closely the group they had passed just before the breakfastmeal. 

The hoodlum gang had suddenly appeared from the alleyway, and forminga circle, surrounded them. There was an addition to their ranks. Ralphnoted this instantly. He was a rowdy-looking chunk of a fellow, andthe swing of his body, the look on his face and the expression in hiseyes showed that he delighted in thinking himself a "tough customer. "Backed by his comrades, who looked vicious and expectant, he marchedstraight up to Ralph, who did not flinch a particle. 

"You look like Fairbanks to me--Fairbanks, the engineer, " he observed, fixing a glance upon Ralph meant to dismay. 

"Yes, that is my name, " said Ralph quietly. 

"Well, " asserted the big fellow, "I've been looking for you, and I'mgoing to whip the life out of you. "

CHAPTER VI

FOUR MEDALS

Marvin Clark stepped promptly forward at the announcement of theovergrown lout, who had signified his intention of whipping the youngengineer of No. 999. Clark had told Ralph that athletics was hisstrong forte. He looked it as he squared firmly before the bully. 

"Going to wallop somebody, are you?" spoke Clark cooly. "Watch thesystem-cylinder"--and the speaker gave to his arms a rotary motion sorapid that it was fairly dizzying, "or piston rods, " and one fist metthe bulging breast of the fellow with a force that sent him reelingbackwards several feet. 

"Hey, there! you keep out of this, if you don't want to bemassacreed!" spoke a voice at Clark's elbow, and he was seized byseveral of the rowdy crowd and forced back from the side of Ralph. 

"Hands off!" shouted Clark, and he cleared a circle about him with avigorous sweep of his arms. 

"Don't you mix in a fair fight, then, " warned a big fellow in thecrowd, threateningly. 

"Ah, it's going to be a fair fight, is it?" demanded Clark. 

"Yes, it is. "

"I'll see to it that it is, " remarked Clark briefly. 

The fellow he had dazed with his rapid-fire display of muscle hadregained his poise, and was now again facing the young engineer. 

"Understand?" he demanded, hunching up his shoulders and staringviciously at Ralph. "I'm Billy Bouncer. "

"Are you?" said Ralph simply. 

"I am, and don't you forget it. I happen to have got a tip from myuncle, John Evans, of Stanley Junction. I guess you know him. "

"I do, " announced Ralph bluntly, "and if you are as mean a specimen ofa boy as he is of a man, I'm sorry for you. "

"What?" roared the young ruffian, raising his fists. "Do you seethat?" and he put one out, doubled up. 

"I do, and it's mighty dirty, I can tell you. "

"Insult me, do you? I guess you don't know who I am. Champion, see?--light-weight champion of this burg, and I wear four medals, andhere they are, " and Bouncer threw back his coat and vauntinglydisplayed four gleaming silver discs pinned to his vest. 

"If you had four more, big as cartwheels, I don't see how I would beinterested, " observed Ralph. 

"You don't?" yelled Bouncer, hopping mad at failing to dazzle this newopponent with an acquisition that had awed his juvenile cohorts andadmirers. "Why, I'll grind you to powder! Strip. "

With this Bouncer threw off his coat, and there was a scuffle amonghis minions to secure the honor of holding it. 

"I don't intend to strip, " remarked Ralph, "and I don't want to strikeyou, but you've got to open a way for myself and my friend to go aboutour business, or I'll knock you down. "

"You'll----Fellows, hear him!" shrieked Bouncer, dancing from foot tofoot. "Oh, you mincemeat! up with your fists! It's business now. "

The young engineer saw that it was impossible to evade a fight. Theallusion of Bouncer to Jim Evans was enlightening. It explained theanimus of the present attack. 

If Lemuel Fogg had been bent on queering the special record run toBridgeport out of jealousy, Evans, a former boon companion of thefireman, had it in for Ralph on a more malicious basis. The youngrailroader knew that Evans was capable of any meanness or cruelty topay him back for causing his arrest as an incendiary during the recentrailroad strike on the Great Northern. 

There was no doubt but what Evans had advised his graceless nephew ofthe intended visit of Ralph to Bridgeport. During the strike Evans hadmaimed railroad men and had been guilty of many other cruel acts ofvandalism. Ralph doubted not that the plan was to have his preciousnephew "do" him in a way that he would not be able to make the returntrip with No. 999. 

The young engineer was no pugilist, but he knew how to defend himself, and he very quickly estimated the real fighting caliber of hisantagonist. He saw at a glance that Billy Bouncer was made up of bluffand bluster and show. The hoodlum made a great ado of posing andexercising his fists in a scientific way. He was so stuck up over somemedal awards at amateur boxing shows, that he was wasting time indisplaying his "style. "

"Are you ready?" demanded Bouncer, doing a quickstep and making apicturesque feint at his opponent. 

"Let me pass, " said Ralph. 

"Wow, when I've eaten you up, maybe!"

"Since you will have it, then, " observed Ralph quietly, "take that fora starter. "

The young engineer struck out once--only once, but he had calculatedthe delivery and effect of the blow to a nicety. There was a thud ashis fist landed under the jaw of the bully, so quickly and sounexpectedly that the latter did not have time to put up so much as apretense of a protection. 

Back went Billy Bouncer, his teeth rattling, and down went BillyBouncer on a backward slide. His head struck a loose paving brick. Hemoaned and closed his eyes. 

"Four--medals!" he voiced faintly. 

"Come on, Clark, " said Ralph. 

He snatched the arm of his new acquaintance and tried to force his wayto the alley opening. Thus they proceeded a few feet, but only a few. A hush had fallen over Bouncer's friends, at the amazing sight oftheir redoubtable champion gone down in inglorious defeat, but onlyfor a moment. One of the largest boys in the group rallied thedisorganized mob. 

"Out with your smashers!" he shouted. "Don't let them get away!"

Ralph pulled, or rather forced his companion back against two stepswith an iron railing, leading to the little platform of the alleydoor of a building fronting on the street. 

"No show making a break, " he continued in rapid tones. "Look at thecowards!"

At the call of their new leader, the crowd to its last member whippedout their weapons. They were made of some hard substance like lead, and incased in leather. They were attached to the wrist by a longloop, which enabled their possessors to strike a person at long range, the object of the attack having no chance to resist or defendhimself. 

"Grab the railing, " ordered Clark, whom Ralph was beginning torecognize as a quick-witted fellow in an emergency. "Now then, keepside by side--any tactics to hold them at bay or drive them off. "

The two friends had secured quite a tactical position, and theyproceeded to make the most of it. The mob with angry yells made forthem direct. They jostled one another in their eager malice to strikea blow. They crowded close to the steps, and their ugly weapons shotout from all directions. 

One of the weapons landed on Ralph's hand grasping the iron railing, and quite numbed and almost crippled it. A fellow used his weapon as amissile, on purpose or by mistake. At all events, it whirled from hishand through the air, and striking Clark's cheek, laid it open withquite a ghastly wound. Clark reached over and snatched a slungshotfrom the grasp of another of the assaulting party. He handed itquickly to his companion. 

"Use it for all it's worth, " he suggested rapidly. "Don't let themdown us, or we're goners. "

As he spoke, Clark, nettled with pain, balanced himself on the railingand sent both feet flying into the faces of the onpressing mob. Thesetactics were wholly unexpected by the enemy. One of their number wentreeling back, his nose nearly flattened to his face. 

"Rush 'em!" shouted the fellow frantically. 

Half-a-dozen of his cohorts sprang up the steps. They managed to grabRalph's feet. Now it was a pull and a clutch. Ralph realized that ifhe ever got down into the midst of that surging mob, or under theirfeet, it would be all over with him. 

"It's all up with us!" gasped Clark with a startled stare down thealley. "Fogg, Lemuel Fogg!"

The heart of the young engineer sank somewhat as he followed thedirection of his companion's glance. Sure enough, the fireman ofNo. 999 had put in an appearance on the scene. 

"He's coming like a cyclone!" said Clark. 

Fogg was a rushing whirlwind of motion. He was bareheaded, and helooked wild and uncanny. Somewhere he had picked up a long roundclothes pole or the handle to some street worker's outfit. With thishe was making direct for the crowd surrounding Ralph and Clark. Justthen a slungshot blow drove the latter to his knees. Two of the crowdtried to kick at his face. Ralph was nerved up to desperate actionnow. He caught the uplifted foot of one of the vandals and sent himtoppling. The other he knocked flat with his fist, but overpoweringnumbers massed for a headlong rush on the beleaguered refugees. 

"Swish--thud! swish!" Half blinded by a blow dealt between the eyes bya hurling slungshot, the young engineer could discern a break in theprogram, the appearance of a new element that startled and astonishedhim. He had expected to see the furious Fogg join the mob and aid themin finishing up their dastardly work. Instead, like some madman, Fogghad waded into the ranks of the group, swinging his formidable weaponlike a flail. It rose, it fell, it swayed from side to side, and itsexecution was terrific. 

The fireman mowed down the amazed and scattering forces of BillyBouncer as if they were rows of tenpins. He knocked them flat, andthen he kicked them. It was a marvel that he did not cripple some ofthem, for, his eyes glaring, his muscles bulging to the work, he actedlike some fairly irresponsible being. 

Within two minutes' time the last one of the mob had vanished into thestreet. Flinging the pole away from him, Fogg began looking for hiscap, which had blown off his head as he came rushing down the alley atcyclone speed. 

Clark stared at the fireman in petrified wonder. Ralph stoodoverwhelmed with uncertainty and amazement. 

"Mr. Fogg, I say, Mr. Fogg!" he cried, running after the fireman andcatching at his sleeve, "How--why----"

"Boy, " choked out Lemuel Fogg, turning a pale, twitching face uponRalph, "don't say a word to me!"

And then with a queer, clicking sob in his throat, the fireman ofNo. 999 hastened down the alley looking for his cap. 

CHAPTER VII

DAVE BISSELL, TRAIN BOY

"I don't understand it at all, " exclaimed Ralph. 

"Mad--decidedly mad, " declared young Clark. "Whew! that was a livelytussle. All the buttons are gone off my vest and one sleeve is tornopen clear to the shoulder, and I guess there were only bastingthreads in that coat of yours, for it's ripped clear up the back. "

Clark began to pick up some scattered buttons from the ground. Hiscompanion, however, was looking down the alley, and he followed Foggwith his eyes until the fireman had disappeared into the street. 

"You're wondering about things, " spoke Clark. "So am I. "

"I'm trying to figure out the puzzle, yes, " admitted the youngengineer. "You see, we were both of us wrong, and we have misjudgedMr. Fogg. "

"I don't know about that, " dissented Ralph's companion. 

"Why, he has helped us, instead of hurt us. "

"Yes, " said Clark, "but why? It's nonsense to say that he didn't startout on your trip fixed up to put you out of business if he could doit. It is folly, too, to think that he didn't know that this BillyBouncer, relative of that old-time enemy of yours back at StanleyJunction, Jim Evans, had put this gang up to beat you. If that wasn'tso, why has he been hanging around here all the morning in asuspicious, mysterious way, and how does he come to swoop down on themob just in the nick of time. "

"Perhaps he was planning to head off the crowd all the time, "suggested Ralph. 

"Not from the very start, " declared Clark positively. "No, sir--Ithink he has had a fit of remorse, and thought better of having youbanged up or crippled. "

"At all events, Fogg has proven a good friend in need, and I shall notforget it soon, " observed Ralph. 

When they came out into the street the hoodlum crowd had dispersed. They entered the first tailor shop they came to and soon had theirclothing mended up. 

"There's a moving picture show open, " said Clark, after they had againproceeded on their way. "Let's put in a half-hour or so watching theslides. "

This they did. Then they strolled down to the shops, took in theroundhouse, got an early dinner, and went to visit the museum at theMechanics' Exchange. This was quite an institution of Bridgeport, andgenerally interested railroad men. Clark was very agreeable to theproposition made by his companion to look over the place. They found afine library and a variety of drawings and models, all along railroadlines. 

"This suits me exactly, " declared Clark. "I am not and never will be apractical railroader, but I like its variety just the same. Anotherthing, a fellow learns something. Say, look there. "

The speaker halted his companion by catching his arm abruptly, as theyturned into a small reading room after admiring a miniaturereproduction in brass of a standard European locomotive. 

"Yes, I see, " nodded Ralph, with a slight smile on his face, "ourfriend, Wheels. "

Both boys studied the eccentric youth they had seen for the first timea few hours previous. He occupied a seat at a desk in a remote cornerof the room. Propped up before him was a big volume full of cuts ofmachinery, and he was taking notes from it. A dozen or more smallerbooks were piled up on a chair beside him. 

Young as he was, there was a profound solemnity and preoccupation inhis methods that suggested that he had a very old head on a juvenilepair of shoulders. As Ralph and his companion stood regarding thequeer genius, an attendant came up to Wheels. He touched him politelyon the shoulder, and as the lad looked up in a dazed, absorbed way, pointed to the clock in the room. 

"You told me to inform you when it was two o'clock, " spoke theattendant. 

"Did I, now?" said Wheels in a lost, distressed sort of a way. "Dearme, what for, I wonder?" and he passed his hand abstractedly over hisforehead. "Ah, I'll find out. "

He proceeded to draw from his pocket the selfsame memorandum he hadconsulted in the case of Jim Scroggins. He mumbled over a number ofitems, and evidently struck the right one at last, for he murmuredsomething about "catch the noon mail with a letter to the patentoffice, " arose, put on his cap, and hurriedly left the place, blissfully wool-gathering as the fact that noon had come and goneseveral hours since. 

"I'm curious, " observed Clark, and as Wheels left the place hefollowed the attendant to the library office, and left Ralph to strollabout alone, while he engaged the former in conversation. In aboutfive minutes Clark came back to Ralph with a curious but satisfiedsmile on his face. 

"Well, I've got his biography, " he announced. 

"Whose--Wheels?"

"Yes. "

"Who is he, anyway?" inquired Ralph. 

"He thinks he is a young inventor. "

"And is he?"

"That's an open question. They call him Young Edison around here, andhis right name is Archie Graham. His father was an aeronaut who was anexpert on airships, got killed in an accident to an aeroplane lastyear, and left his son some little money. Young Graham has beendabbling in inventions since he was quite young. "

"Did he really ever invent anything of consequence?" asked Ralph. 

"The attendant here says that he did. About two years ago he got up acar window catch that made quite a flurry at the shops. It was usedwith good results, and the Great Northern was about to pay Grahamsomething for the device, when it was learned that while he wasbringing it to perfection some one else had run across pretty nearlythe same idea. "

"And patented it first?"

"Both abroad and in this country. That of course shut Graham out. Allthe same, the attendant declares that Graham must have got the ideafully a year before the foreign fellow did. "

The boys left the place in a little while and proceeded towards therailroad depot. Ralph had conceived quite a liking for his volatilenew acquaintance. Clark had shown himself to be a loyal, resourcefulfriend, and the young engineer felt that he would miss his genialcompany if the other did not take the return trip to Stanley Junction. He told Clark this as they reached the depot. 

"That so?" smiled the latter. "Well, I'll go sure if you're agreeable. I've got no particular program to follow out, and I'd like to take inthe Junction. Another thing, I'm curious to see how you come out withyour friends. There's that smash-up on the siding at Plympton, too. Something may come up on that where I may be of service to you. "

They found the locomotive, steam up, on one of the depot switches incharge of a special engineer. It lacked over half an hour of leavingtime. While Clark hustled about the tender, Ralph donned his workingclothes and chattered with the relief engineer. The latter was to runthe locomotive to the train, and Ralph walked down the platform to puton the time. 

"I've stowed my vest in a bunker in the cab, " said Clark, by hisside. 

"That's all right, " nodded Ralph. 

"And I'm going to get some sandwiches and a few bottles of pop for alittle midnight lunch. "

"All right, " agreed the young engineer, as his companion started overtowards Railroad Row. 

Lemuel Fogg had not put in an appearance up to this time, but a fewminutes later Ralph saw him in the cab of No. 999, which he had gainedby a short cut from the street. As Ralph was looking in the directionof the locomotive, some one came briskly up behind him and gave him asharp, friendly slap on the shoulder. 

"Hello, Ralph Fairbanks!" he hailed. 

"Why, Dave Bissell!" said the young railroader, turning to face andshake hands with an old acquaintance. Dave had been a train boy on anaccommodation run at Stanley Junction about a year previous, and hadgraduated into the same line of service on the Overland Limited. 

"I'm very glad to see you, " said Ralph; "I hear you've got a greatrun. "

"Famous, Fairbanks!" declared Dave. "I'm hearing some big things aboutyou. "

"You call them big because you remember the Junction and exaggeratehome news, " insisted Ralph. 

"Maybe so, but I always said you'd be president of the road sometime, " began Dave, and then with a start stared hard at young Clark, who appeared at that moment crossing the platform of a stationarycoach from the direction of Railroad Row. "Why!" exclaimed Dave, "hey!hi! this way. "

Clark had halted abruptly. His expressive features were a study. As heevidently recognized Dave, his face fell, his eyes betokened a certainconsternation, and dropping a package he carried he turned swiftlyabout, jumped from the platform and disappeared. 

"Why" spoke Ralph, considerably surprised, "do you know MarvinClark?"

"Who?" bolted out Dave bluntly. 

"That boy--Marvin Clark. "

"Marvin Clark nothing!" shouted the train boy volubly. "That's mycousin, Fred Porter, of Earlville. "

CHAPTER VIII

AN ASTONISHING DISCOVERY

The young engineer of No. 999 faced a new mystery, a sharp suspiciondarted through his mind. He recalled instantly several queer breaksthat the special passenger had made in his conversation. 

"Your cousin, is he?" observed Ralph thoughtfully. 

"That's what he is, " affirmed Dave Bissell. 

"And his name is Fred Porter?"

"Always has been, " declared Dave. "Why, something up? Humph! I canguess. Bet he's been up to some of his old tricks. He always was ajoker and full of mischief. "

"Tell me more about him, " suggested Ralph. 

"Why, there isn't much to tell, " said Dave. "He and I were raised atEarlville. His parents both died several years ago, and he wanderedaround a good deal. This is the first I've seen of him for over twoyears. "

"Might you not be mistaken--facial resemblance?"

"Not much, " observed Dave staunchly. "Think I don't recognize my ownrelatives? Why, didn't you notice how he acted?"

"Yes, surprised. "

"No, scared, " corrected Dave, "and ran away. "

"Why?" demanded Ralph. 

"Well, from your seeming to know him under another name, I should saybecause he is found out. What game has he been playing on you, Fairbanks?"

"He has done me more good than harm, " evaded Ralph. "I've only knownhim since yesterday. "

"Well, he has run away, that's certain. That bothers me. Fred Porterwas never a sneak or a coward. He was full of jolly mischief and fun, but a better friend no fellow ever had. "

"He struck me that way, " said Ralph. "I hope he'll come back. There'smy engine coming, and I'll have to go on duty. Try and find him, Dave, will you?"

"If I can. "

"And if you find him, tell him I must see him before we leaveBridgeport. "

"All right. "

Ralph picked up the lunch package that his odd acquaintance haddropped and moved along the platform to where No. 999 had run. Thelocomotive was backed to the coaches and the relief engineer steppedto the platform. 

"I say, " he projected in an undertone to Ralph, "what's up withFogg?"

"Is there anything?" questioned Ralph evasively. 

"Dizzy in the headlight and wobbly in the drivers, that's all, " camethe response, with a wink. 

Ralph's heart sank as he entered the cab. Its atmosphere was freightedwith the fumes of liquor, and a single glance at the fireman convincedhim that Fogg was very far over the line of sobriety. Ralph hardlyknew how to take Fogg. The latter nodded briefly and turned away, pretending to occupy himself looking from the cab window. Ralph couldnot resist the impulse to try and break down the wall of reservebetween them. He stepped over to the fireman's side and placed agentle hand on his shoulder. 

"See here, Fogg, " he said in a friendly tone, "I've got to saysomething or do something to square accounts for your help in routingthat crowd this morning. "

"Don't you speak of it!" shot out the fireman fiercely. "It's over anddone, isn't it? Let it drop. "

"All right, " laughed Ralph genially. "Say, I saw a dispatch in theBridgeport paper to-day from Stanley Junction that ought to make youfeel pretty good. "

"Did?" snapped Fogg, determinedly antagonistic and stubbornly keepinghis face turned away. 

"Yes. It gave the list of names of those in our district who passed anexamination as school teachers. "

Ralph observed that a tremor ran through the fireman's frame at thisintelligence. 

"Who--who was in it?" he questioned, his voice hoarse and tense. 

"Two from the Junction. "

"Two?"

"Yes, and the one who led with the highest average was your daughter, Nellie. "

"I--I don't deserve it!" fairly sobbed the fireman, getting upsuddenly and striving to hide his emotion. "Boy!" and he trembled allover as he now faced Ralph, "I'm steamed up again, as you can plainlysee. I won't deny it, but I had to, I couldn't fire a mile unless Isteamed up, but I'll say one thing with truth--I've got no bottle inthe cab. "

"That's good, Mr. Fogg, " said Ralph. 

"And never will have again, and you've seen the last signs of thedirty stuff on me. I'm going home to make a new start. "

"Heaven bless you in your new resolution, Mr. Fogg!" cried Ralph, hisown tones none too steady. 

"I'll--I'll have something to say to you after we get home, " continuedFogg. "Just leave me alone till then. "

Something was working on the mind of the fireman, this was veryplain--something for good, Ralph fervently hoped. The young engineertook his cue promptly. During all the trip to Stanley Junction heavoided all conversation except commonplace routine remarks. Up to thetime of leaving Bridgeport Ralph had waited expectantly for some signof the youth he had known as Marvin Clark. Clark or Porter, his newacquaintance did not put in an appearance, nor did Dave Bissellreturn. 

"Dave did not succeed in finding him, " decided Ralph, as No. 999started up. "I'm sorry. " Dave had been pretty positive as to theidentity of his cousin, and the elusive actions of his relative seemedto verify his recognition. 

"Traveling under false colors, I fear, " reflected the young engineer. "A pretty bold and difficult imposture, I should think. Are hiscredentials false or stolen? But how to explain his motive? Hedoesn't like railroading, and the system and the vouchers he is at somuch trouble to get and preserve make this business decidedlymysterious. If it wasn't for those features, I would feel it my dutyto report the affair and notify the real Marvin Clark, if there isone. "

Ralph had both mind and hands full during the trip. As to Fogg, hewent straight about his duties, grimly silent and mechanically. As thefire and vim of stimulation died down, Ralph could see that it waswith the most exhaustive effort that his fireman kept up his nerve andstrength. Fogg was weak and panting the last shovel full of coal hethrew into the furnace, as they sighted Stanley Junction. He was aslimp as a rag, and looked wretched as the train rolled into thedepot. 

They ran the locomotive to the roundhouse. Ralph went at once to theforeman's office, while Fogg attended to the stalling of No. 999. Hefound the night watchman asleep there and no orders on the blackboardfor Fogg or himself. This meant that they need not report beforenoon. 

Ralph looked around for the fireman when he came out of the office, but the latter had disappeared, probably headed for home. Ralph, half-across the turntable, halted and went over to No. 999. 

"The vest of that mysterious new acquaintance of mine, Clark--Porter, "said Ralph--"he said he left it in the locomotive. "

Ralph did not find the article in question in his own bunker. He threwback the cover of Fogg's box, to discover the vest neatly folded up atthe bottom of that receptacle. With some curiosity he looked over itspockets. 

"Whew!" whistled Ralph, as he removed and opened the only article itcontained--a check book. The checks were upon a bank at Newton. Abouthalf of what the book had originally contained had been removed. Examining the stubs, Ralph calculated that over $1, 000 had beendeposited at the bank in the name of Marvin Clark, and that fully halfthat amount had been checked out. 

"This is pretty serious, " commented the young engineer. "It looks asif the impostor has not only stolen Clark's name, but his passes andhis check book as well. I don't like the looks of this. There'ssomething here I can't figure out. "

Ralph placed the check book in his own pocket and returned the vest tothe box. As he did this, he disturbed a piece of cloth used by Fogg towipe grease from the cab valves. Something unfamiliar to the touch wasoutlined wrapped up in the rag, and Ralph explored. 

Two objects came into view as he opened the piece of cloth. With agreat gasp the young engineer stared at these. Then he rolled up therag and placed it and its contents in his pocket. 

His face grew grave, and Ralph uttered a deep sigh, startled andsorrowful. 

The young engineer of No. 999 had made a discovery so strange, sounexpected, that it fairly took his breath away. 

The mystery of the collision on the siding at Plympton was disclosed. 

CHAPTER IX

THE LIGHT OF HOME

Ralph walked home in the quiet night in a serious and thoughtful mood. His usually bright face was clouded and his head bent, as though hismind was greatly upset. As the light of home came into view, however, with a effort he cast aside all railroad and personal cares. 

"Always the same dear, faithful mother, " he murmured gratefully, as heapproached the cheerful looking cottage all alight down stairs, andhurried his steps to greet her waiting for him on the porch. 

"Ralph, " she spoke anxiously, "you are not hurt?"

"Hurt!" cried Ralph, "not a bit of it. Why, " as he noticed his mothertrembling all over, "what put that into your head?"

"The fear that what Zeph heard downtown at the roundhouse might betrue, " replied Mrs. Fairbanks. "There was a rumor that there had beena collision. Besides, I knew that some of your enemies were watchingyour movements. "

"You must stop worrying over these foolish notions, " said Ralphreassuringly. "We made a successful run, and as to the enemies, theygenerally get the worst of it. Men in the wrong always do. "

Ralph was glad to get back to his comfortable home. As he passedthrough the hallway he noticed Zeph Dallas, asleep on the couch. Ralphdid not hail or disturb him. Young Dallas had been at work for thefriends of Ralph who operated the Short Line Railroad up near Wilmer, but about two weeks previous to the present time had got tired of thedull route through the woods and had come to Stanley Junction. Theyoung engineer had gotten him a job "subbing" as a helper on a yardsswitch engine. Zeph had been made welcome at the Fairbanks home, aswere all friends of Ralph, by his devoted mother. 

"You are the best mother and the best cook in the world, " declaredRalph, as he sat down at the table in the cozy little dining room, before a warm meal quickly brought from the kitchen. "Really, mother, you are simply spoiling me, and as to your sitting up for me this wayand missing your sleep, it is a positive imposition on you. "

His mother only smiled sweetly and proudly upon him. Then she asked:

"Was it a hard trip, Ralph?"

"In a way, " responded Ralph. "But what made it harder was someunpleasant developments entirely outside of railroad routine. "

"That so? It never rains but it pours!" proclaimed an intruderabruptly, and, awakened from his sleep by the sound of voices, ZephDallas came into the dining room yawning and stretching himself. 

"Why!" exclaimed Ralph, giving the intruder a quick stare, "what haveyou ever been doing to yourself?"

"Me?" grinned Zeph--"you mean that black eye and that batteredcheek?"

"Yes--accident?"

"No--incident, " corrected Zeph, with a chuckle. "A lively one, too, Ican tell you. "

"Fell off the engine?"

"No, fell against a couple of good hard human fists. We had beensorting stray freights all the afternoon on old dinky 97, and hadsided to let a passenger go by, when I noticed a man with a bag and astick picking up coal along the tracks. Just then, a poor, raggedlittle fellow with a basket came around the end of the freight doingthe same. The man thought he had a monopoly in his line, because hewas big. He jumped on the little fellow, kicked him, hit him with hisstick, and--I was in the mix-up in just two seconds. "

"You should keep out of trouble, Zeph, " advised Mrs. Fairbanks, gently. 

"How could I, ma'am, when that little midget was getting the worst ofit?" demurred Zeph. "Well, I pitched into the big, overgrown bully, tooth and nail. I'm a sight, maybe. You ought to see him! He cut forit after a good sound drubbing, leaving his bag of coal behind him. Igave the little fellow all the loose change I had, filled his basketfrom the bag, and sent him home happy. When I got back to the engine, Griggs, the assistant master mechanic, was in the cab. He said a fewsharp words about discipline and the rules of the road, and told me toget off the engine. "

"Discharged, eh?"

"And to stay off. I'm slated, sure. Don't worry about it, Fairbanks;I'd got sick to death of the job, anyway. "

"But what are you going to do?" inquired Ralph gravely. 

"Get another one, of course. I'm going to try to get Bob Adair, theroad detective, to give me a show. That's the line of work I like. Ifhe won't, I'll try some other town. I'm sorry, Fairbanks, for mywages will only settle what board I owe you, and there's that lastsuit of clothes you got for me, not paid for yet----"

"Don't trouble yourself about that, Zeph, " interrupted Ralph kindly. "You're honest, and you'll pay when you can. You may keep what moneyyou have for a new start until you get to work again. "

Zeph looked grateful. Then Ralph gave some details of the record runto Bridgeport, there was some general conversation, and he went tobed. 

Ralph had asked his mother to call him at nine o'clock in the morning, but an hour before that time there was a tap at the door of thebedroom. 

"Ralph, dear, " spoke up his mother, "I dislike to disturb you, but amessenger boy has just brought a telegram, and I thought that maybe itwas something of importance and might need immediate attention. "

"That's right, mother. I will be down stairs in a minute, " answeredthe young railroader, and he dressed rapidly and hurried down to thesitting room, where his mother stood holding out to him a sealedyellow envelope. Ralph tore it open. He looked for a signature, butthere was none. It was a night message dated at Bridgeport, theevening previous, and it ran:

 "Clark--Porter--whatever you know don't speak of it, or great trouble may result. Will see you within two days. "

"I wonder what the next development will be?" murmured Ralph. "'Greattrouble may result. ' I don't understand it at all. 'Will see you intwo days'--then there is some explanation coming. Clark, or whateverhis real name is, must suspect or know that his cousin, Dave Bissell, has told me something. Well, I certainly won't make any move aboutthis strange affair until Clark has had an opportunity to straightenthings out. In the meantime, I've got a good deal of personal businesson my hands. "

Ralph was a good deal in doubt and anxious as to his railroad career, immediate and prospective. As has been told, his trip to Bridgeporthad been a record run. The fact that the China & Japan Mail could bedelivered on time, indicated a possibility that the Great Northernmight make a feature of new train service. It would not, however, bedone in a day. No. 999 might be put on the Dover branch of the GreatNorthern, or accomodation service to other points, and the OverlandExpress connection canceled. 

There had been all kinds of speculation and gossip at the dog house asto the new system of business expansion adopted by the GreatNorthern. That road had acquired new branches during the past year, and was becoming a big system of itself. There was talk about aconsolidation with another line, which might enable the road toarrange for traffic clear to the Pacific. New splendid train servicewas talked of everywhere, among the workmen, and every ambitiousrailroader was looking for a handsome and substantial promotion. 

Ralph could not tell until he reported at the roundhouse after twelveo'clock when and how he would start out again. On the Bridgeport runhe was not due until the next morning. All he was sure of was that heand Fogg were regulars for No. 999 wherever that locomotive wasassigned, until further orders interfered. Despite the successfulrecord run to Bridgeport, somebody was listed for at least a"call-down" on account of the accident on the siding at Plympton. Every time Ralph thought of that, he recollected his "find" in LemuelFogg's bunker, and his face became grave and distressed. 

"It's bound to come out, " he reflected, as he strolled into the neat, attractive garden after breakfast. "Why, Mr. Griscom--I'm glad to seeyou. "

His old railroad friend was passing the house on his way to theroundhouse to report for duty. His brisk step showed that he waslimited as to time, but he paused for a moment. 

"You got there, Fairbanks, didn't you?" he commented heartily. "Good. I knew you would, but say, what about this mix-up on the signals atPlympton?"

"Oh, that wasn't much, " declared Ralph. 

"Enough to put the master mechanic on his mettle, " objected theveteran engineer. "He's going to call all hands on the carpet. Had mein yesterday afternoon. He showed me your conductor's report wiredfrom Bridgeport. It throws all the blame on Adams, the new station manat Plympton. The conductor declares it was all his fault--'colorblind, ' see? Master mechanic had Adams down there yesterday. "

"Surely no action is taken yet?" inquired Ralph anxiously. 

"No, but I fancy Adams will go. It's a plain case, I think. Yoursignals were special and clear right of way, that's sure. Danforth isready to swear to that. Adams quite as positively swears that thegreen signals on the locomotive were set on a call for the siding. Hebroke down and cried like a child when it was hinted that a dischargefrom the service was likely. "

"Poor fellow, I must see the master mechanic at once, " said Ralph. 

"You'll have to, for your explanation goes with him and will settlethe affair. You see, it seems that Adams had broken up his old homeand gone to the trouble and expense of moving his family to Plympton. Now, to be let out would be a pretty hard blow to him. Of course, though, if he is color blind----"

"He is not color blind!" cried Ralph, with so much earnestness thatGriscom stared at him strangely. 

"Aha! so you say that, do you?" observed the old engineer, squintinghis eyes suspiciously. "Then--Fogg. Tricks, I'll bet!"

"I'll talk to you later, Mr. Griscom, " said Ralph. 

"Good, I want to know, and I see you have something to tell. "

The young engineer had, indeed, considerable to tell when the timecame to justify the disclosures. He was worried as to how he shouldtell it, and to whom. Ralph sat down in the little vine-emboweredsummer-house in the garden, and had a good hard spell of thought. Then, as his hand went into his pocket and rested on the piece ofcloth with its enclosure which he had found in Fogg's bunker onNo. 999, he started from his seat, a certain firm, purposefulexpression on his face. 

"I've got to do it, " he said to himself, as he went along in thedirection of the home of Lemuel Fogg. "Somebody has got to take theresponsibility of the collision. Adams, the new station man atPlympton, is innocent of any blame. It would be a terrible misfortunefor him to lose his job. Fogg has sickness in his family. The truthcoming out, might spoil all the future of that bright daughter of his. As to myself--why, if worse comes to worse, I can find a place with mygood friends on the Short Line Railway down near Dover. I'm young, I'mdoing right in making the sacrifice, and I'm not afraid of the future. Yes, it is a hard way for a fellow with all the bright dreams I'vehad, but--I'm going to do it!"

The young engineer had made a grand, a mighty resolve. It was a severestruggle, a hard, bitter sacrifice of self interest, but Ralph feltthat a great duty presented, and he faced its exactions manfully. 

The home of Lemuel Fogg the fireman was about four blocks distant. AsRalph reached it, he found a great roaring fire of brush and rubbishburning in the side yard. 

"A good sign, if that is a spurt of home industry with Fogg, " decidedthe young railroader. "He's tidying up the place. It needs it badenough, " and Ralph glanced critically at the disordered yard. 

Nobody was astir about the place. Ralph knew that Mrs. Fogg had beenvery ill of late, and that there was an infant in the house. Hedecided to wait until Fogg appeared, when he noticed the fireman waydown the rear alley. His back was to Ralph and he was carrying a rake. Fogg turned into a yard, and Ralph started after him calculating thatthe fireman was returning the implement to a neighbor. Just as Ralphcame to the yard, the fireman came out of it. 

At a glance the young engineer noted a change in the face of Fogg thatboth surprised and pleased him. The fireman looked fresh, bright andhappy. He was humming a little tune, and he swung along as if oncheerful business bent, and as if all things were coming swimminglywith him. 

"How are you, Mr. Fogg?" hailed Ralph. 

The fireman changed color, a half-shamed, half-defiant look came intohis face, but he clasped the extended hand of the young railroader andresponded heartily to its friendly pressure. 

"I've got something to tell you, Fairbanks, " he said, straighteningup as if under some striving sense of manliness. 

"That's all right, " nodded Ralph with a smile. "I'm going back to thehouse with you, and will be glad to have a chat with you. First, though, I want to say something to you, so we'll pause here for amoment. "

"I've--I've made a new start, " stammered Fogg. "I've buried thepast. "

"Good!" cried Ralph, giving his companion a hearty slap on theshoulder, "that's just what I was going to say to you. Bury thepast--yes, deep, fathoms deep, without another word, never to beresurrected. To prove it, let's first bury this. Kick it under thatash heap yonder, Mr. Fogg, and forget all about it. Here's somethingthat belongs to you. Put it out of sight, and never speak of it orthink of it again. "

And Ralph handed to the fireman the package done up in the oilingcloth that he had unearthed from Fogg's bunker in the cab of No. 999. 

CHAPTER X

FIRE!

Lemuel Fogg gave a violent start as he received the parcel fromRalph's hand. His face fell and the color deserted it. The packageunrolled in his grasp, and he let it drop to the ground. Two squaresheets of green colored mica rolled out from the bundle. 

"Fairbanks!" spoke the fireman hoarsely, his lips quivering--"youknow?"

"I surmise a great deal, " replied Ralph promptly, "and I want to saynothing more about it. "

"But--"

"I have figured it all out. Adams, the station man at Plympton, has afamily. You are going to turn over a leaf, I have decided to take allthe blame for the collision on the siding. I shall see the mastermechanic within an hour and settle everything. I am going to resign myposition with the Great Northern road. "

The fireman's jaws dropped at this amazing declaration of the youngrailroader. It seemed as if for a moment he was fairly petrified atthe unexpected disclosure of the noble self-sacrifice involved. He didnot have to explain what those two sheets of green micasignified--Ralph knew too well. Inspired by jealousy, Lemuel Fogg hadslipped them over the white signal lights of No. 999 as the locomotiveapproached Plympton, getting the siding semaphore, and removing thembefore the smash-up had come about. 

"Never!" shouted Fogg suddenly. "Let me tell you, Fairbanks--"

Before the speaker could finish the sentence Ralph seized his arm withthe startling words:

"Mr. Fogg, look--fire!"

Facing about, Lemuel Fogg uttered a frightful cry as he discerned whathad just attracted the notice of the young engineer. The Fogg housewas in flames. 

When Ralph had first noticed the fiercely-burning heap of rubbish onthe Fogg premises, he had observed that it was dangerously near to thehouse. It had ignited the dry light timber of the dwelling, the wholerear part of which was now a mass of smoke and flames. 

"My wife--my helpless wife and the little child!" burst from the lipsof the frantic fireman in a shrill, ringing scream. 

Ralph joined him as he ran down the alley on a mad run. The greatsweat stood out on the bloodless face of the agonized husband andfather in knobs, his eyes wore a frenzied expression of suspense andalarm. 

"Save them! save them!" he shouted, as Ralph kept pace with him. 

"Don't get excited, Mr. Fogg, " spoke Ralph reassuringly. "We shall bein time. "

"But she cannot move--she is in the bedroom directly over the kitchen. Oh, this is a judgment for all my wickedness!"

"Be a man, " encouraged Ralph. "Here we are--let me help you. "

"Up the back stairs!" cried Fogg. "They are nearest to her. "

"No, no--you can never get up them, " declared Ralph. 

The side door of the house was open, showing a pair of stairs, butthey were all ablaze. Smoke and sparks poured up this natural funnelfiercely. Ralph caught at the arm of his companion and tried to detainhim, but Fogg broke away from his grasp. 

Ralph saw him disappear beyond the blazing barrier. He was about torun around to the front of the house, when he heard a hoarse cry. Driven back by the overpowering smoke, Fogg had stumbled. He fellheadlong down a half a dozen steps, his head struck the lowerplatform, and he rolled out upon the gravel walk, stunned. 

Ralph quickly dragged the man out of the range of the fire and uponthe grass. He tried to arouse Fogg, but was unsuccessful. There was notime to lose. Seizing a half-filled bucket standing by the well nearby, Ralph deluged the head of the insensible fireman with itscontents. It did not revive him. Ralph sped to the front of the house, ran up on the stoop and jerked at the knob of the front screen door. 

It was locked, but Ralph tore it open in an instant. A woman's franticscreams echoed as the young railroader dashed into the house. He wasquickly up the front stairs. At the top landing he paused momentarily, unable to look about him clearly because of the dense smoke thatpermeated the place. 

Those frenzied screams again ringing out guided him down a narrowhallway to the rear upper bedroom. The furniture in it was justcommencing to take fire. On the floor was the fireman's wife, a tinybabe held in one arm, while with the other she was tryingunsuccessfully to pull herself out of range of the fire. 

"Save me! save me!" she shrieked, as Ralph's form was vaguely outlinedto her vision. 

"Do not be alarmed, Mrs. Fogg, " spoke Ralph quickly--"there's nodanger. "

He ran to the bed, speedily pulled off a blanket lying there, andwrapped it about the woman. 

"Hold the child closely, " he directed, and bodily lifted mother andbabe in his strong, sinewy arms. The young railroader staggered underhis great burden as he made for the hallway, but never was he so gladof his early athletic training as at this critical moment in hislife. 

It was a strenuous and perilous task getting down the front stairswith his load, but Ralph managed it. He carried mother and child clearout into the garden, placed them carefully on a rustic bench there, and then ran towards the well. 

By this time people had come to the scene of the fire. There were twobuckets at the well. A neighbor and the young railroader soon formed alimited bucket brigade, but it was slow work hauling up the water, andthe flames had soon gained a headway that made their efforts to quenchthem useless. 

Ralph organized the excited onlookers to some system in removing whatcould be saved from the burning house. In the meantime he had directeda boy to hasten to the nearest telephone and call out the firedepartment. Soon the clanging bell of the hose cart echoed in the neardistance. The rear part of the house had been pretty well burned downby this time, and the front of the building began to blaze. 

Ralph got a light wagon from the barn of a neighbor. A comfortablecouch was made of pillows and blankets, and Mrs. Fogg and her childwere placed on this. Ralph found no difficulty in enlisting volunteersto haul the wagon to his home, where his mother soon had the poor ladyand her babe in a condition of safety and comfort. As Ralph returnedto the dismantled and still smoking Fogg home he met a neighbor. 

"Oh, Fairbanks, " spoke this person, "you're in great demand up at theFoggs. "

"How is that?"

"Fogg has come to. They told him about your saving his wife and child. He cried like a baby at first. Then he insisted on finding you. He'sblessing you for your noble heroism, I tell you. "

"I don't know about the noble heroism, " returned Ralph with a smile. "Go back, will you, and tell him I'll see him in about an hour. Tellhim to come down to our house at once. It's all arranged there to makehim feel at home until he can make other arrangements. "

"You're a mighty good fellow, Fairbanks" declared the manenthusiastically, "and everybody knows it!"

"Thank you, " returned Ralph, and proceeded on his way. As he casuallylooked at his watch the young railroader quickened his steps with thehalf-murmured words:

"And now for a tussle with the master mechanic. "

CHAPTER XI

THE MASTER MECHANIC

"Want to resign, do you?"

"That is what I came here for, sir, " said the young engineer ofNo. 999. 

"Well, you're too late, " and the master mechanic of the Great Northernseemed to turn his back on Ralph, busying himself with some papers onhis desk. He was a great, gruff fellow with the heart of a child, buthe showed it rarely. A diamond in the rough, most of the employees ofthe road were afraid of him. Not so Ralph. The young railroader hadwon the respect and admiration of the official by his loyalty andclose attention to duty. In fact, Ralph felt that the influence of themaster mechanic had been considerable of an element in his promotionto No. 999. He stepped nearer to the desk, managing to face thewould-be tyro. 

"Too late, sir?" he repeated vaguely. 

"Didn't I say so? Get out!"

The master mechanic waved his hand, and Ralph was a trifle surprisedat what seemed a peremptory dismissal. The moving arm of the oldrailroader described a swoop, grasped the hand of Ralph in a ferventgrip, and pulling the young engineer to almost an embrace, he said:

"Fairbanks, we had in our family a little boy who died. It's a prettytender memory with us, but every time I look at you I think of thedear little fellow. He'd have been a railroader, too, if he had lived, and the fondest wish of my heart is that he might have been likeyou. "

"Why----" murmured the astonished Ralph. 

The master mechanic cleared his throat and his great hand swept themoisture from his eyes. Then in a more practical tone he resumed:

"I said you was too late. "

"Too late for what?"

"Resigning. You are too late, " observed the official, "because LemuelFogg has already been here. "

"Then----"

"To tender his resignation, to tell the whole truthful story of thecollision on the siding at Plympton. Fairbanks, " continued the mastermechanic very seriously, "you are a noble young fellow. I know yourdesign to bear the whole brunt of the smash-up, in order that youmight save your fireman and the station man down at Plympton. As Isaid, Fogg was here. I never saw a man so broken. He told meeverything. He told me of your patience, of your kindness, yourmanliness. Lad, your treatment of Fogg under those circumstances showsthe mettle in you that will make you a great man, and, what is betterstill, a good man. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Ralph in a subdued tone, deeply affecteddespite himself. 

"For the first time in twenty years' service, " continued the official, "I am going to take a serious responsibility on myself which should berightly shouldered by the company. The Plympton incident is dead andburied. The three of us must hold always the secret close. The blackmark is rubbed off the slate. "

"You have done right--oh, believe me, sir!" declared Ralph earnestly. "I feel sure that Mr. Fogg has learned a lesson that he will neverforget, and the blessings of his sick wife, of his ambitious youngdaughter, will be yours. "

"In my desk yonder, " continued the master mechanic, "I have hiswritten pledge that drink is a thing of the past with him. I told Foggthat if ever he disappointed me in my belief that he was a changedman, a reformed man, I would leave the service feeling that mymistaken judgment did not do justice to my position with the GreatNorthern. As to you, ready to sacrifice yourself for the sake ofothers--you are a young man among thousands. Drop it now--get out!"ordered the master mechanic, with a vast show of authority. "It's allunder seal of silence, and I expect to see you and Fogg make a greatteam. "

"Mr. Fogg's house has just burned down, " said Ralph. "It would havebroken him down completely, if his discharge had been added to thatmisfortune. "

"Burned down?" repeated the master mechanic, in surprise and withinterest. "How was that?" and Ralph had to recite the story of thefire. He added that he had heard Fogg had but little insurance. 

"Wait a minute, " directed the official, and he went into the nextoffice. Ralph heard him dictating something to his stenographer. Thenthe typewriter clicked, and shortly afterwards the master mechaniccame into the office with a sheet of foolscap, which he handed toRalph. A pleased flush came into the face of the young railroader ashe read the typewritten heading of the sheet--it was a subscriptionlist in behalf of Lemuel Fogg, and headed by the signature of themaster mechanic, with "$20" after it. 

"You are a noble man!" cried Ralph irresistibly. "No wonder it's a joyto work for you. "

"Down brakes there!" laughed the big-hearted fellow. "Don't draw ittoo strong, Fairbanks. Don't be more liberal than you can afford now, "he directed, as Ralph placed the paper on the desk, and added to ithis subscription for $10. "You can tell Fogg we're rising a fewpennies for him. I'll circulate the subscription among the officials, and if any plan to have the roundhouse crowd chip in a trifle comes toyour mind, why, start it down the rails. Get out. "

"All right, " cried Ralph. "You've said that twice, so I guess it'stime to go now. "

"One minute, though, " added the master mechanic. "You and Fogg willrun No. 999 on the Tipton accommodation to-morrow. It's a shift berth, though. I don't want you to go dreaming quite yet, Fairbanks, thatyou're president of the Great Northern, and all that, but, under thehat, I will say that you can expect a boost. We are figuring on somebig things, and I shouldn't wonder if a new train is soon to beannounced that will wake up some of our rivals. Get out now for good, for I'm swamped with work here. "

The young engineer left the office of the master mechanic with a veryhappy heart. Affairs had turned out to his entire satisfaction, and, too, for the benefit of those whose welfare he had considered beyondhis own. Ralph was full of the good news he had to impart to LemuelFogg. As he left the vicinity of the depot, he began to formulate aplan in his mind for securing a subscription from his fellow workersto aid Fogg. 

"I say, " suddenly remarked Ralph to himself with a queer smile, andhalting in his progress, "talk about coincidences, here is one forcertain. 'The Overland Limited, ' why, I've got an idea!"

The "Overland Limited" had been in Ralph's mind ever since leaving theoffice of the master mechanic. There could be only one solution to thehint that official had given of "new trains that would wake up some ofthe rivals of the Great Northern. " That road had recently bought uptwo connecting lines of railroad. The China & Japan Mailexperiment--could it be a test as to the possibility of establishingan "Overland Special?" At all events, there was a pertinent suggestionin the words that met the gaze of the young engineer and caused him tohalt calculatingly. 

A newly-painted store front with clouded windows had a placard outsidebearing the announcement: "Olympia Theatre, 10-cent show. Will opennext Saturday evening with the following special scenes: 1--The PoorArtist. 2--London by Gaslight. 3--A Day on the Overland Limited. " Atthe door of the store just being renovated for a picture show stood aman, tying some printed bills to an awning rod for passers by to take. Ralph approached this individual. 

"Going to open a moving picture show?" he inquired in a friendly way. 

"I am, " responded the show man. "Interested?"

"Yes, " answered Ralph. 

"I hope the public will be. It's a sort of experiment, with two othershows in town. There's none in this locality, and they tell me I'll dowell. "

"I should think so, " answered Ralph. "Bright, clean pictures will drawa good crowd. "

"I'd like to get the railroad men in touch with me. They and theirfamilies could give me lots of business. There's that prime 'Overland'scene. It's a new and fine film. "

"And it has suggested something to me that you may be glad to followout, " spoke Ralph. 

"And what's that, neighbor?" inquired the showman curiously. 

"I'll tell you, " responded Ralph. "There was a fire in townto-day--one of the best-known firemen on the road was burned out. It'sa big blow to him, for he's lost about all he had. There isn't arailroad man in Stanley Junction who would not be glad to help himget on his feet again. The big fellows of the road will subscribe in agood way, but the workers can't spare a great deal. "

"I see, " nodded the man. "What are you getting at, though?"

"Just this, " explained Ralph. "You get out some special dodgers andannounce your opening night as a benefit for Lemuel Fogg, fireman. Offer to donate fifty per cent. Of the proceeds to Fogg, and I'llguarantee to crowd your house to the doors. "

"Say!" enthused the man, slapping Ralph boisterously on the shoulder, "you're a natural showman. Write me the dodger, will you, and I'llhave it over the streets inside of twenty-four hours. "

"I'm better at filling in time schedules than composing show bills, "said Ralph, "but I'll have a try at this one for my friend's sake. "

Ralph went inside and was soon busy with blank paper and pencil, whichthe showman provided. His composition was a very creditable piece ofliterary work, and the showman chuckled immensely, and told Ralph thathe could consider himself on the free list--"with all his family. "

Ralph made a start for home again, but his fixed plans were scheduledfor frequent changes, it seemed. An engineer friend, on his way to theroundhouse, met him, and Ralph turned and walked that way with him. He broached the subject nearest to his heart, and soon had hiscompanion interested in the subscription for Lemuel Fogg. When heparted with the man at the end of the depot platform the latter hadpromised to be responsible for great results among hisfellow-workmen. 

The young engineer now proceeded in the direction of home. The whistleof the western accommodation, however, just arriving, held himstationary for a few moments, and he stood watching the train rollinto the depot with the interest ever present with a railroader. 

The last coach was a chair car. As the coaches jolted to a halt, therecrawled or rather rolled from under the chair car a forlorn figure, weakened, tattered, a stowaway delivered from a perilous stolen rideon the trucks. 

It was a boy; Ralph saw that at a glance. As the depot watchman ranforward to nab this juvenile offender against the law, the boy sat upon the board plankway where he had landed, and Ralph caught a sight ofhis face. 

In an instant the young railroader recognized this new arrival. It was"Wheels, " otherwise Archie Graham, the boy inventor. 

CHAPTER XII

A GOOD FRIEND

RALPH could not repress a smile at a sight of the erratic youth. Theyoung inventor, it seemed, was always coming to light in some originalway. His last sensational appearance fitted in naturally to his usualeccentric methods. 

"Hey, there! trying to beat the railroad, eh?" shouted the depotofficial officer, rushing forward to nab the culprit. 

"Don't arrest him, Mr. Brooks, " spoke Ralph quickly. "I know him; I'minterested in him. He is no professional ride-stealer, and I amperfectly satisfied that he never went to all that risk and discomfortbecause he didn't have the money to pay his fare. "

The watchman was an old-time friend of Ralph. He looked puzzled, buthe halted in his original intention of arresting the stowaway. YoungGraham paid no attention to anything going on about him. He seemedoccupied as usual with his own thoughts solely. First he dug cindersout of his blinking eyes. Then he rubbed the coating of grime and sootfrom his face, and began groping in his pockets. Very ruefully heturned out one particular inside coat pocket. He shook his head in adoleful way. 

"Gone!" he remarked. "Lost my pocket book. Friend--a pencil, quick. "

These words he spoke to Ralph, beckoning him earnestly to approachnearer. 

"And a card, a piece of paper, anything I can write on. Don'tdelay--hurry, before I forget it. "

Ralph found a stub of a pencil and some railroad blanks in his pocket, and gave them to the young inventor. Then the latter set at work, becoming utterly oblivious of his surroundings. For nearly two minuteshe was occupied in making memoranda and drawing small sections ofcurves and lines. 

"All right, got it, good!" he voiced exultantly, as he returned thepencil to Ralph and carefully stowed the slips of paper in his pocket. Then he arose to his feet. He smiled queerly as he gazed down at histattered garments and grimed and blistered hands. 

"Pretty looking sight, ain't I?" he propounded to the young engineer. "Had to do it, though. Glad I did it. Got the actual details, see?"

"What of, may I ask?" inquired Ralph. 

"New idea. Save fuel, make the engine go faster. Been figuring on itfor months, " explained the strange boy. "I live at Bridgeport. "

"Yes, I know, " nodded Ralph. "I saw you there. "

"Did? Glad of that, too. If you feel friendly enough, maybe you'lladvise me what to do in my distressing plight. Stranger here, and lostmy pocketbook. It fell out of my pocket while I was hanging on to thetrucks. Not a cent. "

"That can be fixed all right, I think, " said Ralph. 

"Clothes all riddled--need a bath. "

"You had better come with me to the hotel, Mr. Graham, " spoke Ralph. "I know enough about you to be interested in you. I will vouch for youto the hotel keeper, who will take care of you until you hear fromhome. "

"Yes. Got money in the bank at Bridgeport, " said Archie Graham. "As Iwas telling you, I've struck a new idea. You know I've been trying toinvent something for a number of years. "

"Yes, I've heard about that, and sincerely hope you will figure out asuccess. "

"Stick at it, anyway, " declared Archie. "Well, at Bridgeport they takeme as a joke, see? That's all right; I'll show them, some day. Theyvoted me a nuisance at the shops and shut me out. Wouldn't let mecome near their engines. I had to find out some things necessary to myinventions, so I came on to Stanley Junction. Rode in a coach like anyother civilized being until I got about ten miles from here--laststop. "

"Yes, " nodded Ralph. 

"Well, there I stepped out of the coach and under it. Whew! but it wasan experience I'll never try again. All the same, I got what I wasafter. I wanted to learn how many revolutions an axle made in so manyminutes. I wanted to know, too, how a belt could be attached under acoach. I've got the outlines of the facts, how to work out myinvention: 'Graham's Automatic Bellows Gearing. '"

Ralph did not ask for further details as to the device his companionhad in mind. He led a pleasant conversation the way from the depot, and when they reached the hotel introduced Archie to its proprietor. 

"This friend of mine will be all right for what he orders, Mr. Lane, "said Ralph. 

"Yes, I'm going to stay here some days, perhaps a week or two, "explained the young inventor, "so, if you'll give me a blank checkI'll fill it for what cash I may need. You put it through your bankand the funds will be here to-morrow. "

Everything was arranged in a satisfactory way, even to Archie orderinga new suit of clothes. The youth came out temporarily from his usualprofundity, and had a real, natural boyish talk with Ralph. The latterrecited the incident of the adventure with Billy Bouncer's crowd atBridgeport. 

"Oh, that Jim Scroggins fellow, " said Archie, with a smile. "Yes, Iremember--'kick him Scroggins. ' You see, he had broken into myworkshop, destroyed some devices I was working on and stole a lot ofmy tools. So you're Mr. Fairbanks? I've heard of you. "

"Ralph, you mean, Mr. Graham, " observed the young railroaderpleasantly. 

"Then Archie, you mean, " added his eccentric companion. "I'd like tobe friends with you, for I can see you are the right sort. You've donea good deal for me. "

"Oh, don't notice that. "

"And you can do a good deal more. "

"Indeed? How?"

"By getting me free range of your roundhouse here. Can you?"

"I will be glad to do it, " answered Ralph. 

"I hope you will, " said Archie gratefully. "They don't know me here, and they won't poke fun at me or hinder me. I'm not going to stealany of their locomotives. I just want to study them. "

"That's all right, " said Ralph, "I'll see you to-morrow and fix thingsfor you, so you will be welcome among my railroad friends. "

"You're a royal good fellow, Mr. Ralph, " declared the young inventorwith enthusiasm, "and I don't know how to thank you enough. "

"Well, I've tried to do something for humanity to-day, " reflected theyoung engineer brightly, as he wended his way homewards. "It comeseasy and natural, too, when a fellow's trying to do his level best. "

Ralph found his mother bustling about at a great rate when he reachedhome. The excitement over the fire had died down. Fogg was up at theruins getting his rescued household belongings to a neighborlyshelter. The string of excited friends to condole with Mrs. Fogg haddwindled away, and the poor lady lay in comfort and peace in the bestbedroom of the house. 

"She seems so grateful to you for having saved her life, " Mrs. Fairbanks told Ralph, "and so glad, she told me, that her husband hadsigned the pledge, that she takes the fire quite reasonably. "

"Yes, " remarked Ralph, "I heard about the pledge, and it is a blessedthing. I have other grand news, too. There's a lot of good fellows inStanley Junction, and the Foggs won't be long without a shelter overtheir heads, " and Ralph told his mother all about the subscriptionlist and the moving picture show benefit. 

"You are a grand manager, Ralph, " said the fond mother. "I am only tooglad to do my share in making these people welcome and comfortable. "

"You know how to do it, mother, " declared Ralph, "that's sure. "

"It seems as if things came about just right to take in the Foggs, "spoke Mrs. Fairbanks. "Limpy Joe went back to his restaurant on theShort Line yesterday, and Zeph Dallas has left, looking for a new job, he says, so we have plenty of spare rooms for our guests. "

Ralph started for the ruined Fogg homestead to see if he could be ofany use there. He came upon Fogg moving some furniture to the barn ofa neighbor on a hand-cart. The fireman dropped the handles as he sawRalph. His face worked with vivid emotion as he grasped the hand ofthe young railroader. 

"Fairbanks, " he said, "what can I say to you except that you have beenthe best friend I have ever known!"

"Nothing, except to make up your mind that the friendship will last ifyou want to suit me. "

"Honest--honest?" urged Fogg, the tears in his eyes, earnestlyregarding Ralph's face. "You don't despise me?"

"Oh, yes, we all dislike you, Mr. Fogg!" railed Ralph, with a heartylaugh. "The master mechanic has such bitter animosity for you, thathe's taking his revenge by circulating a subscription list to helpbuild you a new home. "

"Never!" gasped Fogg, overcome. 

"What's more, " proceeded Ralph, in the same ironical tone, "the mendown at the roundhouse have such a deep grudge against you, that theyare following his example. "

"I don't deserve it--I don't deserve it!" murmured the fireman. 

"Why, even the new moving picture showman is so anxious to throw youdown, that he's going to give you a benefit Saturday evening. "

"I guess I'm the wickedest and happiest man in the world, " said Fogg, in a subdued tone. 

"You ought to be the happiest, after that little memoranda you gave tothe master mechanic, " suggested Ralph. 

"The pledge? Yes!" cried the fireman, "and I mean to keep it, too. Hetold you about it?"

"And everything else necessary to tell, " replied Ralph. "It's allsettled. He says you and I ought to make a strong team. Let's try, hard, Mr. Fogg. "

"Lad, I'll show you!" declared Fogg solemnly. 

"All right, then say no more about it, and let us get these trapsunder cover, and get home to enjoy a famous meal my mother ispreparing for all hands. "

Activity and excitement around the Fairbanks home did not die downuntil long after dark. All the afternoon and evening people came tothe house to see Fogg, to offer sympathy and practical assistance. Ifthe fireman needed encouragement, he got plenty of it. He seemed tohave grown into a new man under the chastening, and yet hopefulinfluences of that eventful day in his life. Before his very eyesRalph fancied he saw his fireman grow in new manliness, courage andearnestness of purpose. 

All hands were tired enough to sleep soundly that night. When Ralphcame down stairs in the morning, his mother told him that Fogg was upand about already. She believed he had gone up to the ruins to lookover things in a general way. Ralph went out to hunt up the strollerfor breakfast. 

Scarcely started from the house, he halted abruptly, for the object ofhis quest was in view. Ralph saw the fireman about half a block away. He was facing two men whom Ralph recognized as Hall and Wilson, twoblacklisters who had been prominent in the railroad strike. 

One of them was gesticulating vigorously and telling something toFogg, while his companion chipped in a word now and then. Suddenlysomething appeared to be said that roused up the fireman. His handwent up in the air with an angry menacing motion. He shouted out somewords that Ralph could not hear at the distance he was from thescene. 

The two men seemed to remonstrate. One of them raised his own fistmenacingly. The other crowded towards Fogg in a stealthy, suspiciousway. 

In a flash the climax came. Swinging out his giant hand, the firemanof No. 999 seized his nearest opponent and gave him a fling into theditch. He then sprang at the other, and sent him whirling head overheels to join his companion. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE "BLACK HAND"

Lemuel Fogg's opponents scrambled to their feet and sneaked offimmediately. The fireman turned his back upon them, and strode downthe sidewalk in the direction of the Fairbanks' home with a stormy anddisturbed expression on his face. 

"Trouble, Mr. Fogg?" intimated the young railroader, as the firemanapproached him. 

"No, " dissented Fogg vigorously, "the end of trouble. I'm sorry tolose my temper, lad, but those ruffians were the limit. They know mysentiments now. "

"They were Hall and Wilson, I noticed, " suggested Ralph. 

"Yes, " returned the fireman, "and two worse unhung rascals neverwalked. They came about you. Say, Mr. Fairbanks, " continued Foggexcitedly, "It wasn't so bad tackling me as a sort of comrade, considering that I had been foolish enough to train with them once, but when they mentioned you--I went wild. You--after what you've donefor me and mine! Say----"

"Hold on--close the brakes, " ordered Ralph, as his companion seemedinclined to run after his recent adversaries and seek them out for afurther castigation. "You've made the brake with them--forget them. "

"They had a new plot to get a black mark against you, " went on thefireman. "I heard them half through their plans. Then I sailed intothem. "

"Well, breakfast is ready, " said Ralph, "and after that, work, so we'dbetter get down to schedule. "

The run to which No. 999 had been apportioned covered the Muddy Creekbranch of the Great Northern to Riverton. The train was anaccommodation and ran sixty miles. It was to leave Stanley Junction at9:15 A. M. , arrive at terminus at about noon, and start back for theJunction at two o'clock. 

Ralph left the house about eight o'clock, after arranging to meet hisfireman at the roundhouse. He went to the hotel to see Archie Graham, and found that youthful genius in his room figuring out somemathematical problem at a table. 

"Well, how are you this morning?" inquired Ralph cheerily. 

"First-rate, except that I'm a trifle sleepy, " replied the younginventor. "Say, I was riding under the coaches all night long. It wasdream after dream. I believe it tired me out more than the realthing. "

"You haven't got your new clothes yet, I see, " observed Ralph, with aglance at the tattered attire of his new acquaintance. 

"They are ordered, " explained Archie, "but they won't be here untillate this afternoon. "

"When they do, " said Ralph, taking a card from his pocket and writinga few lines on it, "if you don't want to wait till I have someleisure, take this to Mr. Forgan, down at the roundhouse. "

"Thank you, " said Archie. 

"He'll extend all the civilities to you. I hope you may discoversomething of advantage. "

"I'll try, " promised Archie. 

Seeing the young inventor, reminded Ralph of Bridgeport, and naturallyhe thought of the boy he had known as Marvin Clark. 

"He telegraphed that he would see me, " ruminated Ralph. "I shall misshim if he comes to Stanley Junction to-day, but he will probably waitaround for me--that is, if he comes at all. If he doesn't, in a day ortwo I shall start some kind of an investigation as to this strangecase of double identity. "

When Ralph got to the roundhouse he found Fogg in the doghousechatting with his friends. He had to tell the story of the fire overand over again, it seemed, at each new arrival of an interestedcomrade, and Ralph's heroic share in the incident was fully exploited. The young railroader was overwhelmed by his loyal admirers withcongratulations. Ralph felt glad to compare the anticipated trip withthe starting out on the first record run of No. 999, when he had ahalf-mad sullen fireman for a helper. 

As the wiper finished his work on the locomotive, engineer and firemangot into the cab. 

"Hello!" exclaimed Fogg sharply. 

"Hello!" echoed his cabmate. 

A little square strip of paper was revealed to both, as they openedtheir bunkers. It was patent that some one had sneaked into theroundhouse and had pasted the papers there. Each slip bore a crudeoutline of a human hand, drawn in pencil. 

"Bah!" spoke Fogg, with a brush of a chisel scraping the portraitureon his own box out of all semblance, and then doing the same with thepicture on the reverse cover of Ralph's bunker. 

"What is it, Fogg?" inquired the young railroader, to whom the ominoussketches were a new wrinkle. 

"Black Hand, " explained Fogg. 

"Whose--why?" inquired Ralph. 

"The outcast gang. It's one of their scare tricks. Humph! I'd like toget sight of the fellow who thought he was doing a smart trick. TheBlack Hands are supposed to warn us that we're doomed by the gang, see? It's a notification that the trouncing I gave those fellows Halland Wilson is a declaration of war to the knife. "

"Well, let it come. Aren't we equal to it, Mr. Fogg?"

"You are, for they can't hit you hard. You've made your mark, " saidthe fireman, somewhat gloomily. "I'm not in the same class. I've hadmy weak spots. Besides, it's me they'll be after. Dunno, Fairbanks, maybe I'd better not be the cause of getting you into any moretrouble. Perhaps I'd better slide for a bit into some switchyardjob. "

"What--scared?" cried Ralph. 

"No, not scared, " responded Fogg soberly, "only worried about you. "

"Well, " said Ralph, "the master mechanic said we were a strong team?"

"Ye-es. "

"Let's prove to him that we are. Good-by to the Black Hands, Mr. Fogg, they aren't worth thinking about. "

So the young railroader rallied and cheered his comrade, and they hadgot beyond the turn table and had quite forgotten the incident of thepasters, when John Griscom mounted the cab step. He nodded genially toboth Ralph and the fireman. Griscom knew pretty much what was going onmost of the time, and the master mechanic was a close friend of his. 

"Just a word, Fairbanks, " he began in a confidential tone, and theyoung engineer bent over towards him. "I don't want to be croaking allthe time, but railroading isn't all fun and frolic. "

"What's the matter now, Mr. Griscom?" inquired Ralph. 

"The old strike gang is the trouble, and will be until they're laidout, ragtail and bobtail, dead cold. I have a friend in a certaindepartment of the service here. He isn't giving away official businessany, but he isn't in sympathy with Hall or Wilson. One of them sent awire to Riverton an hour since. It was to some one the operator neverheard of before, evidently a friend of theirs. It mentioned 999, yourname, and Fogg. The rest of it was in cipher. "

"We've just had a Black Hand warning, here in the cab, " said Ralph. 

"Oh, you have?" muttered Griscom. "Then there's new mischief afoot. Look out for snags at Riverton. "

Ralph realized that it wasn't very pleasant working under thecontinual menace of enemies plotting in the dark and in a mean, desperate way. There was nothing for it, however, but to exercisepatience, vigilance and courage. 

"They shall never drive me from my post of duty, " firmly decided theyoung railroader. "I shall neither tire out nor scare out. "

Riverton was made on time and with no unpleasant incident to mar aschedule trip. No. 999 was run to a siding, and Ralph and Fogg hadover two hours on their hands to spend as they chose. They had broughttheir lunch, and they dispatched the best part of it in the cab. Mrs. Fairbanks had put it up in a basket, and a two-quart fruit jar heldthe cold coffee. After the repast Fogg fixed the fire and theystrolled down to the depot. 

The station agent was an old acquaintance of Ralph. He knew VanSherwin, Limpy Joe and the people up at the Short Line railroad, keptposted on their progress pretty closely, and he had a good deal ofinteresting railroad gossip to retail to Ralph. 

"Oh, by the way, " he observed incidentally, after they had conversedfor some time, "there was a spruce young fellow here this morningasking very particularly about 999 and her movements. He mentionedyour name too. "

"Who was he?" inquired Ralph. 

"I never saw him before. He was curious all about your run, hungaround a while and then disappeared. I haven't seen him since. "

"Describe him, won't you?" and the station agent did so. Ralph wassure that the stranger was the youth he had known as Marvin Clark. From that time on until the train got ready for the return trip, theyoung railroader kept his eyes open for a glimpse of his acquaintancewith the double identity. The latter, however, up to the time No. 999steamed out from Riverton, did not put in an appearance. 

"Well, nobody tackled us at Riverton, " observed Ralph, as he and Foggsettled down comfortably to their respective tasks. 

"Better not, " retorted the fireman keenly. "I just made a littlepurchase this morning, and I'm going to stand no fooling, " and hetouched his hip pocket meaningly. "Have a swig?" he inquiredadditionally, as he reached for the jar of coffee and took a drink. 

"Oh, I could feast on my mother's coffee all day, " observed Ralph asthe jar was passed to him. "Now, then, you finish it up and hand meone of those doughnuts. "

The little refection seemed to add to the satisfaction of the moment. Their run was a slow one, and there was little to do besides keepingthe machinery in motion. The day was warm, but the air was balmy. Thelandscape was interesting, and they seemed gliding along as in apleasing dream. 

Later, when he analyzed his sensations, the young railroader, recalling just these impressions, knew that they were caused byartificial conditions. Ralph relapsed into a dream--indeed, he wasamazed, he was startled to find himself opening his eyes withdifficulty, and of discovering his fireman doubled up in his seat, fast asleep. He tried to shout to Fogg, realizing that something waswrong. He could not utter a word, his tongue seemed glued to the roofof his mouth. Ralph barely managed to slip to his feet in an effort toarouse his cab mate. 

"Something wrong!" ran through his mind. A vague thrill crossed hisframe as, whirling by a landmark, a white-painted cattle guard, herealized that he must have gone five miles without noting distance. 

The bridge was his next thought. Muddy Creek was less than a mileahead. If the draw should be open! Wildly reaching towards the lever, the young engineer sank to the floor a senseless heap, while No. 999, without a guide, dashed down the shining rails!

CHAPTER XIV

A SERIOUS PLOT

"Who stopped this train--and why?"

Dreamily returning to consciousness, these were the first words thatreached Ralph Fairbanks' rallying consciousness. They were spoken bythe conductor of the accommodation train sharply. The locomotive wasat a standstill, and, staring wonderingly, the conductor stood by theside of the tender. 

"I did, " answered a prompt voice, and removing his hand from thelever, the boy whom the young engineer had known as Marvin Clarkdrifted before his vision. 

"Hello!" exclaimed the conductor, "I've seen you before. You're thefellow who caught the train at Riverton just as she left--had a freepass. "

"Never mind me, Mr. Conductor, " responded the other rapidly. "I'mthinking they need some attention, " and he pointed to the fireman, lying doubled up in his seat, and then to Ralph, lying prone on thefloor of the cab. 

"Fairbanks--Fogg!" fairly shouted the conductor. "Why, what can thismean?"

"Foul play, if I'm a judge, " spoke Clark definitely. "Fairbanks!Fairbanks!" he shouted, stooping over and lifting Ralph in his strongarms. "Here, brace him in his seat. "

"Water!" gasped the young engineer in a choking tone. "My throat is onfire! What has happened?"

"Nothing alarming, " answered Clark reassuringly, "only--I'm glad Ihappened to be here. "

Ralph's mouth and throat seemed burning up. The water he drank onlypartially allayed his frantic thirst. It was with great difficultythat he could arouse himself from a lethargy that seemed to completelyparalyze both body and mind. As the moments passed, however, hesucceeded in rallying into something like normal. But as yet he wasunable to fully understand just what had happened. 

"He needs something to stimulate him, " declared the conductor, andstepping into the cab he hastily ransacked the fireman's bunker. "Aha!"

His tones announced a discovery--likewise a suspicion. He hadunearthed two flasks of liquor, one only partly filled. 

"Not for me, " said Ralph, waving back the conductor, who evidently wasintent on administering a stimulant. "Liquor!" he cried, suddenlybracing up now. "Fogg never brought it aboard. It's some plot! Why!"he exclaimed, in sudden enlightenment, "I see it all, clear as day. "

What Ralph saw, all hands in the cab soon realized within the ensuingten minutes. When they had aroused Fogg, there followed animatedtheory, discovery and conviction. Not one of them doubted but thatsome enemy had sneaked aboard of the locomotive while it wassidetracked at noon at Riverton and had put some drug in the jar ofcoffee. They found a suspicious dark sediment at the bottom of thejar. 

"Black Hands--mark it down, " observed Fogg. "Whoever did it, alsoplaced those flasks of liquor in my bunker. See the label on them?They come from a place in Riverton I never was in. The scoundrelsaimed to have us found in the cab, just as we have been, and a reportgo in that the heat and too much liquor had crippled us from makingthe run. "

"You've struck it, Fogg, " assented the conductor. "Just stow that jarand those two flasks in a safe place. I'll have our special agentAdair, the road detective, find out who bought that liquor. No needof any blabbing to the general public. Are you able to complete therun, Fairbanks?"

"Certainly, " reported Ralph, exercising arms and feet vigorously torestore their circulation. Fogg was still dazed and weak. He had drunkmore of the coffee than Ralph. Besides, being the older of the two, hedid not shake off the effects of the narcotic so readily as the youngengineer. 

"I'll help fire--I know how to, " declared Clark. 

"You know how to stop an engine, too!" commented the conductor. "Allright, Fairbanks, when you're ready, " and he returned to the coaches. Ralph extended his hand to Clark. The latter met his glance frankly. 

"I've been trying to get track of your movements by telegraph, " saidClark. "Located your run, and was waiting at Riverton for your train. Got there ahead of time, and came back to the depot just as 999 waspulling out, and caught the last car. First, I thought I'd not showmyself until you got through with your trip. Things got dull in thosehumdrum coaches, though, and I sailed ahead to the tender, saw whatwas wrong, and checked up the locomotive just beyond the bridge. Say, if the draw had been open, we'd all have had a bath, eh?"

"The miscreants who played this diabolical trick ought to be severelypunished, " said Ralph. 

There was no evidence of strained relations between the two boys. Ralph recognized that Clark had sought him out to make an explanation. He wondered what it would be. The present was not, however, the timeto broach the subject. There was something very manly and reassuringin Clark's manner, and the young railroader believed that when he gotready to disclose his secret, the revelation would be an unusual andinteresting one. 

The train was started up, soon made up the lost time, and at 5:15rolled into the depot at Stanley Junction. Ralph did not feel quite aswell as usual and his fireman was pale and loggy, but the main effectsof the drug had passed off. 

"You go straight home, Mr. Fogg, " directed Ralph. "I will see that 999is put to bed all right. "

"I think I'll take advantage of your kind offer, Fairbanks, " respondedFogg. "I'm weak as a cat, and my head is going around like an electricturntable. "

Fogg started for home. Clark rode with Ralph on the locomotive to theroundhouse. The big engine was put into her stall. Then the boys leftthe place. 

"I have something to say to you, Fairbanks, " began Clark. 

"I suppose so, " replied Ralph. "It must be quite a long story, though. "

"It is, " admitted his companion. 

"Then suppose we leave its recital till we are rested a bit, "suggested Ralph. "I want you to come up to the house and have supper. Then we'll adjourn to the garden and have a quiet, comfortable chat. "

"That will be famous, " declared Clark. "Say, you don't treat animposter like myself courteous or anything, do you?"

"Are you really an imposter?" asked Ralph, with a faint smile. 

"I am--and a rank one. "

"Just one question--you are not the real Marvin Clark?"

"No more than yourself. "

"And you are Fred Porter?"

"That's it. "

"I thought so, " said the young engineer. 

CHAPTER XV

"THE SILVANDOS"

"I declare!" exclaimed Ralph Fairbanks. 

"For mercy's sake!" echoed Fred Porter. 

Both stood spellbound just within the grounds of the Fairbanks' home, where they had arrived. Over towards the dividing lot line of the nextdoor neighbor, their eyes had lit upon an unusual and interestingscene. 

Two figures were in action among the branches of the great oak tree. They were boys, and their natural appearance was enough to attractattention. They were leaping, springing, chasing one another frombranch to branch, with a remarkable agility that made one think ofmonkeys and next trained athletes. 

"Who are they, anyway?" demanded Fred. 

"They are new to me, " confessed the young engineer. 

The two strangers were about of an age, under sixteen. It would puzzleone to figure out their nationality. Their faces were tawny, butdelicate of profile, their forms exquisitely molded. They suggestedJapanese boys. Then Ralph decided they more resembled lithe Malaychildren of whom he had seen photographs. At all events, they werenatural tree climbers. They made the most daring leaps from frailbranches. They sprung from twigs that broke in their deft grasp, butnot until they had secured the purchase they aimed at in the act tosend them flying through the air to some other perilous point in view. Their feats were fairly bewildering, and as one landed on the groundlike a rubber ball and the other chased him out of sight in the nextyard, Ralph conducted his companion into the house with these words:

"That's odd enough to investigate. "

He did not announce his arrival to his mother, but led Fred up to hisroom. As he passed that now occupied by the Foggs, it made his heartglad to hear the fireman crowing at the baby to the accompaniment of ahappy laugh from the fireman's wife. 

"You can wash up and tidy up, Porter, " he said to his friend. "I'llarrange for an extra plate, and take you down later to meet the bestmother in the world. "

"This is an imposition on you good people, " declared Fred, but Ralphwould not listen to him. He went downstairs and out the front way, and came around the house looking all about for some trace of the tworemarkable creatures he had just seen. They had disappeared, however, as if they were veritable wood elves. Passing the kitchen window, theyoung engineer halted. 

"Hello!" he uttered. "Zeph Dallas is back again, " and then he listenedcasually, for Zeph was speaking to his mother. 

"Yes, Mrs. Fairbanks, " Ralph caught the words, "I'm the bad penny thatturns up regularly, only I've got some good dollars this time. On themantel is the money I owe Ralph for the clothes he got me. "

"But can you spare the money?" spoke Mrs. Fairbanks. 

"Sure I can, and the back board, too, " declared Zeph, and glancing inthrough the open window Ralph noted the speaker, his fingers in hisvest armholes, strutting around most grandly. 

"I can't understand how you came to get so much money in two days, "spoke the lady. "You couldn't have earned it in that short space oftime, Zeph. "

"No, ma'am, " admitted Zeph, "but I've got it, haven't I? It's honestmoney, Mrs. Fairbanks. It's an advance on my wages--expense money andsuch, don't you see?"

"Then you have secured work, Zeph?"

"Steady work, Mrs. Fairbanks. "

"What at, Zeph?"

"Mrs. Fairbanks, " answered the lad in a hushed, mysterious tone ofvoice, "I am hired as a detective. "

"You're what?" fairly shouted Ralph through the window. 

"Hello! you here, are you?" cried Zeph, and in a twinkling he hadjoined Ralph outside the house. "Yes, sir, " he added, with animportant air that somewhat amused Ralph, "I've landed this time. Onboth feet. Heart's desire at last--I'm a detective. "

Ralph had to smile. He recalled the first arrival of honest butblundering Zeph Dallas at Stanley Junction, a raw country bumpkin. Even then the incipient detective fever had been manifested by thecrude farmer boy. From the confident, self-assured tone in which Zephnow spoke, the young railroader was forced to believe that he hadstruck something tangible at last in his favorite line. 

"What are you detecting, Zeph?" he inquired. 

"That's a secret. "

"Indeed--and what agency are you working for--the government?"

"That, " observed Zeph gravely, "is also a secret--for the present. See here, Ralph Fairbanks, you're guying me. You needn't. Look atthat. "

With great pride Zeph threw back his coat. It was to reveal a starpinned to his vest. 

"Yes, " nodded Ralph, "I see it, but it doesn't tell who you are. "

"Don't it say 'Special'?" demanded Zeph, with an offended air. 

"Yes, I see the word. "

"Well, then, that's me--special secret service, see? Of course, Idon't look much like a detective, just common and ordinary now, butI'm going to buy a wig and a false beard, and then you'll see. "

"Oh, Zeph!" exclaimed Ralph. 

"All right, you keep right on laughing at me, " said Zeph. "All thesame, I'm hired. What's more, I'm paid. Look at that--I've got the joband I've got the goods. That shows something, I fancy, " and Zeph waveda really imposing roll of bank notes before the sight of the youngengineer. 

"Your employers must think you a pretty good man to pay you inadvance, " suggested Ralph. 

"They do, for a fact, " declared Zeph. "They know they can depend uponme. Say, Ralph, it's funny the way I fell into the job. You never inyour life heard of the slick and easy way I seemed to go rollingright against it. And the mystery, the deadly secrets, the--the--holdon, though, I'm violating the eth--eth--yes, ethics of theprofession. "

"No, no--go on and tell us something about it, " urged Ralph. "I'minterested. "

"Can't. I've gone too far already. Sworn to secrecy. Honestly, I'm notromancing, Ralph, I'm working on a case that reads like a story book. Some of the strange things going on--they fairly stagger me. I can'tsay another word just now, but just the minute I can, you just betI'll tell you all about it, Ralph Fairbanks. Say, you haven't seen twoboys around here, have you--two tiny fellows? I left them in thegarden here. They're in my charge, and I mustn't lose sight of them, "and Zeph began looking all around the place. 

"Two human monkeys, who make no more of flying through the air thanyou or I do to run a race?" inquired Ralph. 

"That's them, " assented Zeph. 

"They were here a few minutes ago, " advised Ralph, "but I don't seethem just now. I wondered who they were. The last I saw of them, theywere chasing one another over our neighbors' lot over there. "

"I must find them, " said Zeph. "They are another of myresponsibilities. I hear them. "

As Zeph spoke, there proceeded from the alley a mellow and peculiarbut very resonant whistle. It was followed by a responsive whistle, clear as a calliope note. Then into view dashed the two boys for whomZeph was looking. They were still chasing one another, and theforemost of the twain was making for the house. As he passed a treefull tilt, without the least apparent exertion he leaped up lightly, seized a branch, coiled around it like a rubber band, and his pursuerpassed under him at full speed. 

"This way, Kara--hey, Karo, " called out Zeph, and the two strange ladscame up to him with a fawn-like docility, in keeping with the mild, timid expression of their faces. 

"Sare, " spoke one of them with a bow, and his companion repeated theword. They both bowed to Ralph next, and stood like obedient childrenawaiting orders. Ralph was silent for fully a minute, studying theirunfamiliar make-up. At that moment Fred Porter, having come downstairs the front way, strolled around the corner of the house. 

"This is my friend, Fred Porter--Zeph--Zeph Dallas, Porter, "introduced the young railroader, and the two boys shook hands. Porterbecame instantly interested in the two strange lads. 

"I'm going to show you fellows something, " said Zeph, "somethingmighty remarkable, something you never saw before, and it's going tobeat anything you ever heard of. About those two boys. Kara!"

One of the two lads instantly moved to the side of Zeph, who beckonedto him to follow him. He led the boy ten feet away behind a thicklarge bush, his back to the others. 

"Karo, " he spoke again, and the other boy allowed him to turn himaround where he stood, his back to the other boy. 

"See here, Zeph, " spoke Ralph with a broad smile, "are you going togive us a detective demonstration of some kind, or a sleight-of-handdemonstration?"

"Quit guying me, Ralph Fairbanks, " said Zeph. "You're always at it, but I'm going to give you something this time that will make you situp and take notice, I'll bet. Those boys came from a good manythousand miles away--from the other side of the world, in fact. "

"They look it, " observed Fred Porter. 

"Gomera, " exclaimed Zeph. 

"Where's that now?" inquired Fred. 

"It is the smallest of the Canary Islands. "

"Oh, that's it!"

"And they talk without saying a word, " was Zeph's next amazingannouncement. 

"Whew!" commented Fred dubiously. 

"They do. It's that I'm going to show you. Perhaps those boys are theonly two of their kind in the United States. They are Silvandos. "

"What are Silvandos, Zeph?" inquired Ralph. 

"Silvandos, " replied Zeph, with manifest enjoyment of the fact that hewas making a new and mystifying disclosure, "are persons who carry ona conversation through a whistling language. "

CHAPTER XVI

ZEPH DALLAS AND HIS "MYSTERY"

"Whistling language?" repeated Fred Porter. "Is there one?"

"Aha! didn't I say I was going to show you something you never heardof before? You bet there is a whistling language!" chuckled Zeph--"andI'm now about to demonstrate it to you. You see these two boys? Well, they are natives of Gomera, the smallest of the Canary Islands. Theywere raised in a district where at times there is no living thingwithin sight, and the vast wilderness in the winding mountains isbroken only by the crimson flower of the cactus growing in the cliftsof the rock. "

"You talk like a literary showman, Zeph Dallas, " declared Fred. 

"Well, I'm telling the story as I get it, ain't I?" demanded Zeph inan injured tone and with a sharp look at Fred, as if he suspected thathe was being guyed. "Anyhow, I want to explain things so you'llunderstand. "

"Go right ahead, Zeph, " insisted Ralph encouragingly, "we'reinterested. "

"Well, up among those big stone terraces is the whistling race. Theyare able to converse with one another at a distance of three miles. "

"That's pretty strong, " observed Fred. "But make it three miles. "

"A Silvando will signal a friend he knows to be in a certain distantlocality. He does it by setting his fore fingers together at a rightangle in his mouth, just as you'll see these two Canaries do in aminute or two. An arrow of piercing sounds shoots across the ravine. "

"Arrow is good--shoots is good!" whispered Fred, nudging Ralph. 

"There is a moment's pause--" continued Zeph. 

"Oh, he's read all this in some book!" declared Fred. 

"Then there comes a thin almost uncanny whistle from far away. Conversation begins, and as the sounds rise and fall, are shrill ordrawn, so they are echoed. Then comes the ghostly reply, and thenquestion and answer follows. They talk--all right. Travelers say so, and a lot of scientific fellows are now on the track of this strangetribe to investigate them before civilization makes of their talk adead language. Kara--ready!" called out Zeph to the boy at the bush. "Karo--attention!"

"Sare, " answered the little fellow, his bright twinkling eyes full ofintelligence. 

"Ask him how many!" said Zeph "--see?" and he touched himself, the boyand Ralph and Fred with his forefinger in turn. 

Out rang a series of rising interrogatory sounds. There was a pause. Then from the boy stationed at the bush came quick responsivetoots--one, two, three, four. 

"Tell Kara to bring you this--see, this?" and Zeph stooped down andtouched the sodded yard with his hand. Karo whistled again. Immediately Kara wheeled, stooped also, and was at their side in aninstant, tendering a handful of grass. 

"Say, this is odd all right, " confessed Fred thoughtfully. 

"Tell Kara to climb a tree next, " spoke Zeph. More "whistle talk, " andagile as a monkey Kara was aloft, making dizzying whirls among thebranches of an oak nearby. "I tell you, it would stun you to watchthese little fellows at play. It's like a piccolo or a calliope tohear them talk--yes, sir, talking just as knowingly as we do. "

"Who are they, anyway?" spoke Fred curiously?

"I've told you--Canaries. "

"Yes, but where did you pick them up?"

"That's a secret. You see, " responded Zeph, looking duly wise andmysterious, "those boys were imported to this country by a peculiarold man, who wanted servants around him who weren't gabbing about hisaffairs and asking him questions all the time. Well, he's got them, hasn't he? I'm working for that man, or rather for a friend of his. Detective work, " continued Zeph, rather proudly. "I've told Ralph. These two boys have been shut up in the house for two months. Theyjust pined for fresh air, and trees--oh! trees are their stronghold. When I started out with them they made for the first tree like birdsfor a roost. I have taken them out for an airing, and I ran down hereto report to Ralph how I was getting on, and brought them along withme for the novelty of the thing. "

"Do they live near here?" inquired Ralph. 

"No, " answered Zeph, "we had to come by rail. I can't tell you wherethey live, but it's on a branch of the Great Northern. I've got to getback to-night. We've had our supper, Ralph. I just wanted to settle upthe bills I owed you. I'll say good-bye to your mother and get to thedepot. "

Zeph and his charges trooped to the kitchen door. Zeph spoke a fewwords to Mrs. Fairbanks. His companions bowed her a polite andgraceful adieu, and Ralph accompanied their former boarder to thestreet. 

"See here, Ralph, " said Zeph to the young engineer in parting, "Idon't want you to think I wouldn't tell you everything. "

"That's all right, Zeph. "

"But honestly, I've solemnly agreed not to lisp a word about what I amreally about or the people concerned in it. "

"That's all right, too, " declared Ralph. 

"I'll say this, though, " resumed Zeph: "I'm working on a strange andserious case. It's no play or fooling. I'm getting big pay. I may do abig thing in the end, and when I do, if I do, I'm coming straight totell you all about it. "

Ralph watched Zeph and his charges disappear down the street with agreat deal of curiosity and wonderment in his mind. A great manylively and unusual incidents were coming to the front recently, butthis one was certainly enough out of the ordinary to give him food forprofound thought. 

Ralph rejoined Fred in the garden, and took him into the house andintroduced him to his mother. Mrs. Fairbanks won the heart of themanly young fellow, as she did the love of all of her son's friends. 

It was a pleasant, happy little coterie, that which sat down at thetable soon afterwards to enjoy one of Mrs. Fairbanks' famous meals. 

"I'm ashamed!" declared Fred, after his seventh hot biscuit withfreshly churned butter that made his mouth water, "but eating housesand hotels, Mrs. Fairbanks, make a roving, homeless fellow like medesperate, and if a third helping of that exquisite apple sauce isn'tout of order, I'll have another small fish. "

"I'm spoiled for regular cooking, Bessie, " declared Fogg to his wife. "Mrs. Fairbanks is fattening us till we'll be of no use at all. "

"You are all flatterers, " said Mrs. Fairbanks warningly, but with apleased smile. 

"I'll take another piece of cake, ma'am, providing you'll promise methe little exercise of helping you wash the dishes afterwards, " spokeFred. 

He interested the widow with his animated, interested talk as hebustled around the kitchen, wearing a big apron while drying thedishes. Then when this task was completed, he and Ralph went out tothe little summer house and comfortably seated themselves. 

"Now then, " remarked the young railroader with a pleasant smile, "nowfor your confession, Fred. "

"No, sir, " objected his comrade vociferously, "I've done nothingthat's wrong to confess. It will be an explanation. "

"All right, " agreed Ralph, "open the throttle and start the train. "

At that moment there was an interruption. A chubby, undersized boycame swiftly through the gateway. He was advancing up the steps of thehouse when Ralph halted him. 

"Hi, there, Davis!" he challenged. "What's wanted?"

"Oh, you there, Fairbanks!" responded Ned Davis, the red-headed callboy for the roundhouse of the Great Northern, familiarly known as"Torchy. " "Extra orders for you and Fogg--you're to take out a specialto-night. "

CHAPTER XVII

IN WIDENER'S GAP

There was always a spice of novelty and excitement for the youngengineer in running a special. Besides that, extra orders meant payand a half, sometimes double pay, with twenty-four hours' rest afterit, if the special run came after midnight. 

Ralph arose from his seat in the summer-house, telling Ned Davis thatFogg and himself would report at the roundhouse at once. 

"You'll have to excuse me, Porter, " he said to his guest. "We'll haveto postpone our talk until to-morrow. "

"Duty call, I see, " returned Fred. "Well, there's no urgency, now thatI've found out you don't consider me some hideous impostor of the oldstory book kind. I'll go as far with you as a hotel, and tell you whatI have to say after this trip. "

"You'll camp right here at the Fairbanks cottage until I return, "peremptorily declared Ralph. "My mother would be lonesome if therewasn't a boy somewhere about the house. Zeph is gone and my otherfriends, and you will be good company. "

"I'm only too willing, if it's entirely agreeable, " said Fred, and soit was settled. 

Fogg grumbled a good deal when Ralph told him of the extra call. Hedeclared that he had just succeeded in teaching the baby to say "Allaboard!" looked at the sky and predicted the biggest storm of theseason, and was cross generally until he climbed aboard No. 999. ThenRalph heard him talking to the well-groomed steel steed as if it wassome pet racer, and he anxious and glad to put it through its paces. 

"What's the run, Fairbanks?" asked the fireman, as Ralph returned fromthe roundhouse office. 

"Nothing very interesting. Special sleeper, some convention crowd forBridgeport, came in on the north branch. We've got to pick our way onour own schedule. "

"Huh! thought it must be a treasure train, or the pay car at theleast!" snorted Fogg contemptuously, but thoroughly good-natured underthe surface. 

When they backed down to the depot, Ralph was handed his flimsyorders. No. 999 was given standard special lights, with the usualmarkers at the rear of the sleeping car, but no one on platformcharge. The coach had a conductor, but he barely showed himself, andwent inside, where all the curtains were drawn and passengersevidently gone to sleep. 

"I told you it was going to rain, " spoke Fogg, as they cleared thelimits and got ready for a spurt. "All schedule cancelled where we canget clear tracks, I suppose? All right, let's see what 999 can do onslippery rails. "

No. 999 did famously, as she always did under the guidance of thevigilant young engineer. Ralph was learning a good deal lately, andhis mind was always strictly on the business of the moment when at thethrottle. He was learning that there was a science in running alocomotive a good deal deeper than merely operating throttle, brakeand lever automatically. There was a way to conserve the steam energyand reserve wide-open tactics for full pressure that he had found out, which enabled him to spurt when the chance came, at no cost ofexhaustion later. He knew the gauges by heart, how to utilize theexhaust, and worked something along the line of the new superheatedsteam theory. 

The night had set in very dark and very stormy. They had nothing tolook out for, however, on the out track except an accommodation thathad started two hours previous. No. 999 had a light load, and she spedalong without a jar. The wires took care of her. By nine o'clock theywere twenty miles "to the good" on regular schedule basis. 

After that it was slower progress. The wind had arisen to a hurricane, the rain came down in torrents, and as they passed Winston they beganto get in among the hills, where there was a series of intricate anddangerous curves. 

"It's nearly a waterspout, " observed Fogg, as the rain swept againstthe cab as if driven from a full pressure hose, and they could feelthe staunch locomotive quiver as it breasted great sweeps of the wind. "I don't like that, " he muttered, as a great clump came against thecab curtain. And he and his engineer both knew what it was from pastexperience. 

"One of those young landslides, " spoke Ralph. 

"The second in a half-an-hour, " declared Fogg. "It's clear mud, butsometime in one of these storms we'll get a big drop of rock, andthere'll be mischief afoot. "

Ralph slowed as they entered a long stretch known as Widener's Gap. Itwas a pull up hill. Besides that, Widener was only two miles ahead, and the curves were so sharp and frequent that they could not catchthe semaphore at any distance. 

Both engineer and fireman were under an intense strain, and Ralph kepta keen lookout from his cab window. Fogg was doing the same. Suddenlyhe uttered a great shout. It was echoed by Ralph, for there was causefor excitement. 

"A tree!" yelled Fogg. 

Ralph set the air and pulled the lever in a flash. What the gleamingheadlight of No. 999 had shown, however, they were upon in a leap. They could feel a grinding jar, but the pilot had evidently swept theobstacle aside. They could hear the branches sweep the top of theengine. Then there came a warning sound. 

Bumpety-bump, -bump-bump! The tree, uprooted from the gap side by therain and the wind, had descried half a circle, it seemed, when shiftedby the pilot. Its big end had rolled under the coach. From the feelingthe young engineer could guess what had happened. 

"Shut her off!" shouted Fogg. 

"The coach has jumped the track!" echoed Ralph quickly. 

His heart was in his mouth as he made every exertion to bring thelocomotive to a quick stop. No. 999 acted splendidly, but it wasimpossible to slow down under two hundred feet. 

"Both trucks off--she's toppling!" yelled Fogg, with a backwardglance. 

Each instant Ralph waited for the crash that would announce acatastrophe. It did not come. The coach swayed and careened, poundingthe sleepers set on a sharp angle and tugging to part the bumpers. Ralph closed the throttle and took a glance backwards for the firsttime. 

"The coach is safe, Mr. Fogg, " he spoke. "Get back and see how badlythe passengers are mixed up. "

"There's nothing coming behind us?" asked the fireman. 

"No, but tell the conductor to set the light back as far as he canrun. "

"Allright. "

"The Night Express!" gasped Ralph the next moment, in a hushedwhisper, as he caught the faint echo of a signal whistle ahead of themin the distance. 

An alarming thought came into his mind. Nothing could menace themahead on the out track and nothing was due behind, but the coachattached to No. 999 stood on a tilt clear across the in track. 

Along those rails in ten minutes' time, unaware of the obstruction, the night express would come thundering down the grade at a forty-mileclip around the sharp curves of Widener's Gap. 

"It's 38. She's due, entering Widener, " breathed Ralph. "Yes, " with aglance at the cab clock, "and just on time. Mr. Fogg, " he shoutedafter his fireman, leaping to the ground, "get the people out of thatcoach--38 is coming. "

"The Night Express, " cried Fogg hoarsely. "I never thought of it. "

Ralph tore one of the rear red tender lights from its place. Hestarted down the out rails on a dead run. His only hope now was ofreaching the straight open stretch past the last curve in open view ofWidener. To set the warning signal short of that would be of no avail. No. 38 could not possibly see it in time, coming at full speed, toavoid a smash-up. 

In a single minute the young engineer was drenched to the skin. It wasall that he could do to keep from being blown from his footing. Hefairly counted the seconds as he shot forward, sprinting to the limiton that slippery, flooded roadbed. He could not restrain a shout ofrelief and hope as he turned the last curve. 

"Widener--38!" he gasped. 

The station lamps were visible, a mile distant. Somewhat nearer, ablur of white radiance amid the dashing rain, was the headlight ofNo. 38 showing that she was coming at momentarily increasing speed. Ralph aimed to run nearer to the air line stretch to plant the signal. Suddenly his feet tripped and he went headlong. The breath seemedknocked out of his body as he landed across the ties of the brieftrestle reach, which he had forgotten all about in his excitement. Thelantern, flung wide from his grasp, struck one rail, smashed topieces, and the lamp went out as it dropped with a flare into the deepgully beneath. 

CHAPTER XVIII

AT THE SEMAPHORE

THE young engineer of No. 999 struggled to his feet appalled. The caseseemed hopeless. He had matches in his pocket. In dry weather underthe same circumstances he might to gather up enough dry grass andbrush to build a fire between the rails, but now, with everythingsoaked and dripping this was impossible. 

"The semaphore signal!" gasped Ralph. "Can I reach it in time?"

He crossed the remainder of the trestle in desperate leaps. Ralphcalculated the distance to the semaphore, the distance of the train, and his heart failed him. Still he kept on. His eyes were fixed on thelantern aloft showing open tracks for the oncoming train. It was hisstar of hope. Then as he reached it he saw that he was too late. 

To scale the slippery timber to the staple-runners without boot hookswould be no easy task. To get to the first rung and ascend wouldconsume fully two minutes' time. 

"What shall I do--what can I do?" panted the young railroader indesperation. 

Just beyond the semaphore was a symmetrical heap of bleached blocks ofrock comprising a landmark guide for engineers. Ralph ran to it. Groping among the gravel at its base, his fingers frantically graspedseveral loose stones. He glanced once at the glowering headlight ofNo. 38. 

"If I can make it--if I can only make it!" he voiced, and theaspiration was a kind of a wail. 

The young engineer of No. 999 had been the former leader of all boyishsports and exercises in Stanley Junction. Posed as he had posed manytimes in the past when he was firing at a mark, with all his skill, hecalculated aim, distance and fling. The bull's eye target was thelantern pendant from the arm of the semaphore. 

One--failed! the missile missed its intended mark. 

Two--a ringing yell of delight, of hope, of triumph rang from the lipsof the young engineer. The skillfully-aimed projectile had struck theglass of the signal, shivering it to atoms. The wind and rain did therest. Out went the light. 

A sharp whistle from No. 38, the hiss of the air brakes, and pantingand exhausted, the young engineer of No. 999 watched the NightExpress whiz by on a lessening run and come to a stop two hundredyards away. 

Ralph dashed after the train, now halted beyond the trestle. He didnot heed the shout of the brakeman already out on the tracks, but gotup to the locomotive just as the conductor, lantern in hand, reachedit. 

"Hello!" shot out the engineer of No. 38, staring at the figureoutlined within the halo of the conductor's light--"Fairbanks!"

"Why, so it is!" exclaimed the conductor, and it was easy for him todiscern from Ralph's sudden appearance and breathless manner that hehad some interest, if not an active part, in the mysteriousdisappearance of the semaphore signal. "What is it, Fairbanks?"

Very hurriedly Ralph explained. The engineer of No. 38 uttered a lowwhistle, meantime regarding the active young railroader, whom he wellknew, with a glance of decided admiration. Then as hurried were thefurther movements of the conductor. 

Within a very few minutes a brakeman was speeding back to Widener toinform the man on duty there of the condition of affairs. He returnedto report the situation in safe official control all up and down theline. In the meantime No 38. Had moved up to the scene of the wreck. This was done at the suggestion of Ralph, who did not know how thepassengers in the special coach might have fared. Arrived at thescene, however, it was soon learned that two men only had been thrownfrom their beds and slightly bruised. The rest of the passengers wereonly shaken up. 

The frightened passengers were huddled up, drenched to the skin, atthe side of the gap, for Fogg had insisted on their taking no riskremaining in the derailed coach. 

"We're stalled for three hours, " decided the engineer of No. 38. 

"Yes, and more than that, if the wrecking gang is not at Virden, as wesuppose, " added the conductor. 

The passengers of the derailed coach were taken to shelter in a coachwhich backed to Widener. There was nothing to do now for the engineerand fireman of No. 999 but to await the arrival of the wrecking crew. Word came finally by messenger from the dispatcher at the station thatthe same was on its way to the Gap. Inside of two hours the coach wasback on the rails, and No. 999 moved ahead, took on transferredpassengers from No. 38, and renewed the run to Bridgeport on amake-time schedule. 

There had been a good many compliments for the young engineer fromthe crew of No. 38. The conductor had expressed some gratifyingexpressions of appreciation from the passengers who had heard ofRalph's thrilling feat at the semaphore. The conductor of the specialcoach attached to No. 999 had come up and shook hands with Ralph, achoking hoarseness in his throat as he remarked: "It's a honor torailroad with such fellows as you. " Fogg had said little. There weremany grim realities in railroading he knew well from experience. Thiswas only one of them. After they started from Widener he had given hisengineer a hearty slap of the shoulder, and with shining eyes made theremark:

"This is another boost for you, Fairbanks. "

"For No. 999, you mean, " smiled Ralph significantly. "We'll hope so, anyway, Mr. Fogg. "

Wet, grimed, cinder-eyed, but supremely satisfied, they pulled intoBridgeport with a good record, considering the delay at the Gap. Theconductor of the special coach laid off there. No. 999 was to get backto Stanley Junction as best she could and as quickly. As she cut loosefrom the coach its conductor came up with an envelope. 

"My passengers made up a little donation, Fairbanks, " the man said. "There's a newspaper man among them. He's correspondent for some dailypress association. Been writing up 'the heroic dash--brave youth atthe trestle--forlorn hope of an unerring marksman'--and all that. "

"Oh, he's not writing for a newspaper, " laughed Ralph; "he's making upa melodrama. "

"Well, he'll make you famous, just the same, and here's somegovernment photographs for you lucky fellows, " added the conductor, tossing the envelope in his hand into the cab. 

Fogg grinned over his share of the fifty-dollar donation and acceptedit as a matter of course. Ralph said nothing, but he was somewhataffected. He was pleased at the recognition of his earnest services. At the same time the exploit of the night had shaken his nervesnaturally, and reminded him of all the perils that accompanied apractical railroad career. A stern sense of responsibility made himthoughtful and grave, and he had in mind many a brave, loyal fellowwhose fame had been unheralded and unsung, who had stuck to his postin time of danger and had given up his life to save others. 

No. 999 was back at Stanley Junction by eight o'clock the nextmorning. When Ralph reached home he was so tired out he did not evenwait for breakfast, but went straightway to his bed. 

He came down the stairs in the morning bright as a dollar, to hear hismother humming a happy song in the dining-room, and Fred Portersoftly accompanying with a low-toned whistle on the veranda. Thelatter, waving a newspaper in his hand, made a dash for Ralph. 

"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing to some sensational headlines. "They'vegot you in print with a vengeance. A whole column about 'the lastheroic exploit of our expert young railroader and risingtownsman--Engineer Fairbanks. '"

CHAPTER XIX

THE BOY WHO WAS HAZED

"Well, Porter, proceed. "

Ralph gave the direction. He and Fred were seated in the gardensummer-house, settled comfortably on benches facing each other acrossa rustic table, after a good breakfast, a general restful feelingpermeating them. 

"All right, " assented Fred. "Before I begin, though, I wish to make aremark. The way your mother and yourself have treated me has been justroyal--I'll never forget it!"

"And never forget us, " directed the young engineer with a warm, friendly smile. "You'll always find yourself welcome in this house. "

"That's what gets me, " said Fred, and there was a slight tremor and asuspicion of tears in his voice. "Most fellows would have little to dowith an impostor, eh?"

"That's a pretty hard word, Porter, " intimated Ralph. "Just the same, I believe in you. I have had confidence in you all along. "

"And my story won't disturb it any, " declared Fred. "Well, tobegin--my name is not Marvin Clark. "

"Of course, I know that already. "

"It is Fred Porter. "

"So you have told me. "

"I am an orphan, homeless. As I said when I first came here, I havebeen a sort of a knockabout, a wanderer. I have been a poor boy. Thereal Marvin Clark, whose father is the real and genuine president ofthe Middletown & Western Railroad, is a rich boy. I have saved hislife when he was drowning. He likes me for that, and there isn't muchthat he wouldn't do for me. "

"You deserve it, " said Ralph. 

"Well, to make a long story short, he was a student at the EarlvilleAcademy. He's a fine, manly fellow, nothing sneaking or mean abouthim. One night, though, he and his school chums got to cutting up. They raided the town and had a dozen fights with the village boys. Oneof them was taken prisoner, a lad named Ernest Gregg. The academyfellows decided to haze him. They put him through an awful course ofsprouts. They ducked him in the river, scared him with mock gunpowderexplosions, and wound up by tying him blindfolded to a switch near arailroad track. They left him there all night. The result was thatwhen little Ernest was discovered the next morning, he was in a highfever and delirious. "

"Too bad, " murmured Ralph. "I don't think much of your Marvin Clark. "

"Hold on, don't misjudge him. He helped to capture the enemy, as theycalled poor little Gregg, but he left the crowd right after that, supposing his chums would scare their captive a bit and let him go. Clark had no hand whatever in the downright persecution that sent theboy to the hospital. It seems that some of the gunpowder got into theeyes of the little fellow, and the douse in the river had given him acold. The scare he got had nearly driven him out of his right mind, for he was a timid little fellow. A month later Ernest was dischargedfrom the hospital nearly blind, thin, pale and weakly, a mere shadowof his former self. "

"Of course the academy fellows tried to make up for all that, "suggested Ralph. 

"They didn't. Vacation came on, and they hied to their homes with nota thought of the great sorrow they had brought on their innocentvictim. They say that Clark was just furious when he heard of it all. He laid out two of the ringleaders and shamed them in public. Hesought out Ernest and took him to the best hotel in town. He hireddoctors, and loaded the little fellow with comforts and luxuries. "

"It must have cost him something, " remarked Ralph. 

"What did Clark care for that? His father was rich and gave him allthe money he wanted. He had an account at a bank, and was heir to twoaunts who doated on him and who were fabulously rich. I never saw afellow take to heart the misfortunes of a poor little stranger asClark did. The incident seemed to have changed his whole life. Hesobered down wonderfully. He blamed himself for the whole thing, andtook the whole responsibilities upon himself. Nearly all the time hewas with Ernest, trying to cheer him up, hoping to find some way tomake him well and strong and happy again. "

"A royal good fellow, in fact, just as you said--I see that. "

"Yes, sir, " declared Fred staunchly. "Well, to continue: Clark'sfather and family were going to Europe. They had arranged for youngClark to go with them, but he wouldn't. Then there was a familycouncil. Clark had not made much progress at school. He was fine atfootball, but no good at arithmetic. In fact, he was a disappointmentto his father as a student. The old man, the academy professor, andthe family lawyer, held a great consultation. Old man Clark came to astern decision. It was planned out that young Clark should follow inthe footsteps of his father and become a railroader. A regulararrangement was made. Clark was to have free passes everywhere. He wasto spend his entire vacation traveling over different railroadsystems, while his folks were in Europe. Twice a week he was to sendto the family lawyer reports of his progress, accompanied by vouchersshowing that he had not wasted the time. "

"I see, " nodded Ralph; "also where you come in. "

"Yes, that's easy to guess, " said Fred. "Just at that time I happenedto be on a flying visit to Earlville, where one day I met Clark. Hetook me to the hotel, where I met Ernest. I had known young Greggbefore, for he had come to Earlville a ragged, homeless lad before Ifirst left, seeming to have no home or relatives, and going to work atodd jobs around the town. Clark told me of the fix he was in. While wewere talking, a sudden idea came to him. He became very much excitedand serious, and then made a very strange request of me. "

"To assume his identity and go railroading in his stead?" inquiredRalph, anticipating what was coming. 

"You've struck it, " assented Fred; "just that. "

"And you accepted?"

"And that is why you see me here, " said Fred. "Don't think any theless of me, Fairbanks, for doing it. Don't find fault with me if Itook up the imposture for all there was in it. It's my way--when I goat a thing, I do so with all my--nerves. I was Marvin Clark to thecore. I took up his name, I played his part, and say, I tried not todisgrace his good name by one unmanly act. He taught me to imitate hishandwriting perfectly one day. The next I was on the road, without amishap until I met you. "

"Which may not be a mishap after all, " suggested the young engineer. 

"I think as you do about that. I've come to you for advice, and I feelsure that it will be good advice. Now, then, to get to central motiveof Clark's plan--a noble, grand act, a royal deed. It was all for thesake of his little charge, Ernest Gregg. "

"I can imagine that, " said Ralph. 

"Clark could not get the little fellow out of his mind. He had got, itseemed, a clew to some of his relatives. He told me that only for awicked enemy, and if he had his rights, Ernest would be in a positionof positive wealth. He said that he was determined to find a certainold man who could clear up the whole situation. He was going to startout with Ernest to solve the secret of his strange life, while hisfriends supposed that he was following out the plan that his fatherhad arranged. Clark made a plan how we were to keep track of oneanother, writing to certain points we agreed upon. I started out fromEarlville on my part of the arrangement, while Clark stole out of townwith his young charge. For three weeks I wrote regularly to him and hereplied. During the last month I have not received a word from him, and some of my letters have come back to me. "

"Then you are worried about him?" inquired Ralph. 

"I am, very much. You see, he spoke of an enemy of Ernest. How do Iknow what may have happened to both of them? If Clark shoulddisappear, see what a fix I am in, assuming his name, spending hismoney. I'd have a hard time explaining reasonably the wild, mad moveClark made me take. "

"It is certainly a singular situation, " admitted the young railroaderthoughtfully. 

"Isn't it, now? I've come to you to have you help me solve theproblem. Think it over, give me some advice. Or, one thing--you go tomany places with your railroading. You might keep a watch out forClark, just as I am doing. You might get a clew to him or run acrosshim. "

"But how should I know him?" inquired Ralph. 

"I'm going to give you his picture. "

"That will help. "

Fred drew out a memorandum book and selected from it a smallphotograph, which he presented to Ralph. The latter saw a bright, manly face portrayed in the picture. 

"You keep that, " directed Fred. 

Ralph reflected for a few moments. Then they discussed the situationin all its bearings. There was not much to suggest, however, on thepart of the young engineer. The most they could hope for, he toldFred, was that one or the other of them might by some circumstance runacross the missing Clark and his young charge. 

"I've got an idea that I ought to run down a branch line of the road Ihave never been over, " suggested Fred, at the close of their animatedcolloquy. "If I do, I'll have to catch a train in an hour. I'll getword to you soon again, and if you hear of anything that interests me, I'll arrange so that a letter or a wire will reach me if you addressit to Marvin Clark, Lake Hotel, Wellsville. "

"All right, " agreed Ralph. 

They strolled together down to the depot a little after that. A trainfrom the west came in just as the one having Fred for a passengersteamed out. A familiar figure alighted from one of the coaches. 

"Here I am again, " announced Zeph Dallas, coming up to Ralph. 

"How are your little friends, the Canaries?" inquired the youngengineer. 

"Safe and snug at home, " replied Zeph. "Going up to the house?"

"Yes, just come in from a special trip, and I probably have a lay-overtill to-morrow. I want to call and see a friend at the hotel for a fewmoments. Then I'm at your service. "

When they reached the hotel, Ralph sought out Archie Graham, to findthe young inventor in his room, engrossed in putting together somekind of a mechanical model. The latter greeted Ralph with effusion. 

"I'm having the prime chance of my life, " declared Archie. "That noteof yours was the open sesame to the roundhouse and everything aboutit. The foreman made me as welcome as a friend. I say, Fairbanks, theythink a lot of you, these railroad chums of yours. "

"Do they?" asked Ralph, with a modest smile. "I'm glad they do. "

"I'll show you results in a few days, " declared Archie, with a showof more enthusiasm than Ralph had ever before seen him exhibit. "I'vegot up an invention that will just about revolutionize engineering. "

"You don't say so!"

"Yes, I do. Only a day or two, and I'm going to try it--you'll hearabout it, all right. "

Ralph did, in fact, hear about it in a very sensational way, andwithin a few hours after the interview. 

He rejoined Zeph and they proceeded homewards. Zeph was just asmysterious as ever about his new employment. Ralph knew that he wasbubbling over from a pent-up lot of secrecy, but he did not encouragehis quaint friend to violate an evident confidence reposed in him byhis employer. 

Zeph announced that he would like to stay over at the Fairbanks homeuntil the next day, and was made duly welcome. He amazed and amusedRalph by showing him his "detective outfit, " as he called it. It wasan incongruous mass, stored away in a flat leather case that hesecreted in a great pocket made inside his coat--a wig, falsewhiskers, a pair of goggles, and a lot of other "secret service"paraphernalia, suggested to Zeph by reading some cheap and sensationaldetective stories. 

"Well, I've got to get on the shadowy trail to-day, " yawned Zeph, ashe got out of bed the next morning. 

"Where's the shadow, Zeph?" asked Ralph humorously. 

"Let you know when I find my quarry. "

"Ha, bad as that?" laughed Ralph. 

"Oh, you can smile, Ralph Fairbanks, " said Zeph resentfully. "I tellyou, I'm on a mighty important case and--say, where did you getthat?"

"What?"

"That picture!" exclaimed Zeph, picking up from the bureau thephotograph of Marvin Clark, given to the young engineer by Fred Porterthe day previous. 

"Oh, that picture?" said Ralph. "A friend of mine gave it to me. He'strying to find its original, and hoped I could help him. "

"Trying to find him?" repeated Zeph with big staring eyes. "Whew! Ican do that for you. "

"You can?" demanded Ralph. 

"I should say so!"

"Do you know the original of that picture then?" inquired Ralph. 

"Sure I do--why, he's the person who hired me to be a detective, " wasZeph's remarkable reply. 

CHAPTER XX

"LORD LIONEL MONTAGUE"

"You can't get on here!"

"But I've got a paus, don't you know. "

"Paws? Yes, I see, " said Lemuel Fogg. "Take 'em off the tender, son, or you'll get a jerk that will land you, for we're going to start uppretty soon. "

"Hawdly--I have a right here, my man--I've got a paus, don't youknow. "

"See here, my friend, if you are bound for Hadley, this isn't thetrain. "

"I didn't say Hadley, sir, I said 'hawdly. '"

"He means hardly, Mr. Fogg, " put in Ralph, "and he is trying to tellyou he has a pass. "

"Why don't he talk English, then?" demanded the fireman of No. 999contemptuously, while the person who had aroused his dislike lookedindignant and affronted, and now, extending a card to Ralph, climbedup into the tender. 

He was a stranger to the engineer--a man Ralph could not rememberhaving seen before. His attire was that of a conventional tourist, and his face, words and bearing suggested the conventional foreigner. He wore a short, stubby black mustache and side whiskers, a monocle inone eye, and he had a vacuous expression on his face as of a person ofimmense profundity and "class. "

Ralph, glancing over the card, saw that it was a pass from the mastermechanic of the road, briefly explaining that the bearer was LordLionel Montague, studying up American railroad systems. 

"We can't offer you a seat, Lord Montague, " spoke Ralph politely. "It's rough work in cramped quarters aboard a locomotive. "

"I have noticed it, " replied "his ludship. " "Not so abroad, by nomeans, my man. In fact, on the home lines in Lunnon, it is quite thething, you know, for the quality to make a fad of locomotive parties, and the accommodations for their comfort are quite superior to this, don't you know. "

"That so?" growled Fogg, with an unpleasant glance at the stranger. "Why, I've had Senators in my cab in my time, glad to chum with thecrew and set back on the coal, jolly and homelike as could be--asyou'll have to do, if you stay on this engine. "

"Remawkably detestable person!" observed the stranger confidentiallyto Ralph. "I shall ride only a short distance--to the first stop, infact. "

"You are welcome, " replied Ralph, "and if I can explain anything toyou, I am at your service. "

"Thawnks, thawnks, " uttered the pretentious passenger, and fixed hismonocled eye on space in a vapid way. 

No. 999 was on schedule for the old accommodation run to Riverton. Itwas nearly a week after the interview between the young engineer andFred Porter recited in the last chapter. Affairs had quited down withRalph, and railroad life had settled down to ordinary routine of theusual commonplace character. 

There had at first been considerable interest for Ralph in theremarkable statement of Zeph Dallas that the original of thephotograph of Marvin Clark, the son of the railroad president, was hismysterious employer. Further than that involuntary admission of hiserratic friend, however, Ralph could not persuade Zeph to go. Zephdeclared that he was bound by a compact of the greatest secrecy. Heinsisted that there could be no possibility of a mistake in hisrecognition of the picture. 

Ralph told him that a friend was very anxious to find his employer, and told Zeph who his friend was. The latter became serious, and actedquite disturbed when he learned that it was Fred Porter, whom he hadmet several times. 

"I'd like to tell you a whole lot, Ralph, but I can't do it!" Zeph hadburst out. "Say, one thing, though; I'm going to tell my employerabout Fred Porter being so anxious to see him, and you can write toPorter and tell him that his friend is all right and safe, if you wantto. What's that address--I may get around to Porter myself. "

Ralph told Zeph. That same evening the latter left Stanley Junction, and Ralph had not heard from him since, nor did he receive word fromFred. Temporarily, at least, Zeph, Fred and the railroad president'sson, Marvin Clark, the "Canaries" and all the peculiar mysterysurrounding them, seemed to have drifted out of the life of the youngengineer. 

No. 999 was about ready to start on her daily trip when the strangerdesignated as Lord Montague had appeared. As he stood against thetender bar and seemed to commune with himself on the crudity ofAmerican locomotive cabs, Ralph leaned from the window and hailed afriend. 

"I say, Graham, " he observed, "you seem particularly active andrestless this morning. "

Ralph had reason for the remark. The young inventor had been verylittle care to his sponsor and friend during the past week. Givenfree access to the roundhouse, Archie had just about lived there. Quiet and inoffensive, he at first had been a butt for the jokes ofthe wipers and the extras, but his good-natured patience disarmedthose who harmlessly made fun of him, and those who maliciouslypersecuted him had one warning from his sledge-hammer fists, and lefthim alone afterwards. 

On this especial morning Archie was stirred with an unusual animation. Ralph noticed this when he first came down to the roundhouse. Theyoung inventor hung around the locomotive suspiciously. He even rodeon the pilot of No. 999 to the depot, and for the past five minutes hehad paced restlessly up and down the platform as though the locomotiveheld some peculiar fascination for him. As he now came up to the cabat Ralph's hail, his eye ran over the locomotive in the mostinterested way in the world, and Ralph wondered why. 

"Call me, Fairbanks?" mumbled Archie, and Ralph could not catch hiseye. 

"I did, Graham, " responded Ralph. "What's stirring you?"

"Why?"

"Chasing up 999. "

"Am I?"

"It looks that way; it looks to me as if you were watching thelocomotive. "

"She's worth watching, isn't she?"

"Yes, but you act as if you expect her to do something. "

"Ha! ha!--that's it, h'm--you see--say, wish I could run down the linewith you this morning. "

"We're crowded in the cab, as you see, " explained Ralph, "but if youwant the discomfort of balancing on the tank cover back there----"

"I'd dote on it--thanks, thanks, " said Archie with a fervor thatincreased Ralph's curiosity as to his strange actions this particularmorning. 

"Got some new bee in his head?" suggested Fogg, as Archie scrambled upover the coal. "He'll have a new kind of locomotive built by the timewe clear the limits--that is, in his mind. "

Lord Lionel Montague warmed up to Ralph the next few minutes beforestarting time. He asked a few casual questions about the mechanisms ofNo. 999, and then seemed tremendously interested in the young engineerhimself. 

"I've taken a fawncy to you, Mr. Fairbanks, don't you know, " hedrawled out. "I'd like to cultivate you, quite. I must call on you atStanley Junction. There's a great deal you might tell me of interest, don't you see. "

"I shall be happy to be of service to you, Lord Montague, " respondedRalph courteously. 

He did not like the man. There was something untrue about his shiftyeye. There was a lot of "put on" that did not strike Ralph as natural. "His ludship" harped on the youth of Ralph. Only veterans wereintrusted with important railroad positions in England--"didn't heknow. " He was asking many questions about Ralph's juvenile friends, asif with some secret purpose, when the train started up. 

"Hi, up there!" Fogg challenged Archie, seated on the tank tender top, "don't get moving up there and tumble off. "

The young inventor certainly looked as if he was moving. His eyes wereglued to the smokestack of the locomotive, as though it possessed afascinating influence over him. 

"Say, there's some draft this morning, " observed the fireman, half-wayto the crossing, as he threw some coal into the furnace. 

"I should say so, " replied Ralph; "some sparks, too, I notice. "

"Humph! that new patent spark arrester don't arrest particularly, "commented Fogg. "Queer, " he added, with a speculative eye on thesmokestack. 

That appendage of No. 999 was shooting out showers of sparks like aroman candle. As she slid the splits at the crossing and got down toreal business, the display was very noticeable. 

"I'd say that some of our old time enemies were doctoring the fuel, ifit wasn't that the crowd is off the job after that last drubbing Igave Hall and Wilson, " remarked the fireman. "I can't understand it. That draft is pulling the coal up through the flues fast as I canshovel it in. Thunder!"

With a yell the fireman of No. 999, as he opened the furnace door tothrow in more coal, leaped to one side. 

A cyclonic stream, like the sudden blast of a volcano, poured out intothe cab. 

CHAPTER XXI

ARCHIE GRAHAM'S INVENTION

The cab was suddenly filled with smoke, ashes and steam. Somethingunusual had happened. Unable to determine it all in a minute, Ralphpulled the lever and set the air brakes. 

Mingled with the jar and the hiss of steam there arose a great cry--itwas a vast human roar, ringing, anguished, terrified. It proceededfrom the lips of the self-dubbed Lord Montague, and glancing towardsthe tender Ralph witnessed a startling sight. 

The monocled, languid-aired nobleman had struck a pose against thetender bar, and as Fogg opened the furnace door and the fire boxsuddenly belched out a sheet of flame and then a perfect cloud ofashes, the passenger of high degree was engulfed. Fogg, alert to hisduty, after nimbly skipping aside, had kicked the furnace door shut. He was not quick enough, however, to prevent what seemed to be halfthe contents of the furnace from pouring out a great cascade of ashesas if shot from a cannon, taking the astounded and appalled Montaguesquarely down his front. 

"Murder!" he yelled, and grasped his head in his hands to brush awaythe hot ashes that were searing his face. 

As he did so he became a new personality. His mustache was brushedfrom his lip and fell to the bottom of the cab, while its formerpossessor made a mad dive to one side. 

"Here, you chump!" cried Fogg; "do you want to kill yourself?" andgrabbing the singed and frightened passenger, he pinned him againstthe coal and held him there. In doing this he brushed one whisker fromthe side of his captive's face, and the latter lay panting andgroaning with nearly all his fictitious make-up gone and quite all ofhis nerve collapsed. 

"What's happened?" asked Ralph, as they slowed down. 

"It felt like a powder blast, " declared Fogg. 

Archie Graham had uttered a cry of dismay--of discovery, too, itseemed to Ralph. The young engineer glanced at his friend perched onthe top of the tender tank. The face of the young inventor was astudy. 

Archie acted less like a person startled than as one surprised. Heappeared to be neither shocked nor particularly interested. Hisexpression was that of one disappointed. It suddenly flashed acrossRalph, he could scarcely have told why, that the young inventor hadindeed been "inventing" something, that something had slipped a cog, and that he was responsible for the catastrophe of the moment. NowArchie looked about him in a stealthy, baffled way, as though he wasanxious to sneak away from the scene. 

Half-blinded, sputtering and a sight, "his ludship" struggled out ofthe grasp of the fireman. His monocle was gone. His face, divested ofits hirsute appendages, Ralph observed, was a decidedly evil face. Asthe train came to a halt the dismantled passenger stepped from thecab, and wrathfully tearing the remaining false whiskers from place, sneaked down the tracks, seeking cover from his discomfiture. 

"Hi! you've left that nobleman face of yours behind you, " shouted Foggafter him. "What's his game, Fairbanks?"

"It staggers me, " confessed Ralph. "Hello, there, Graham!"

But the young inventor with due haste was disappearing over the rearof the tender, as though he was ashamed of a part in the puzzlingoccurrence at the moment. 

"Something's wrong, " muttered Fogg, and he opened the furnace doortimidly. There was no further outburst of ashes. "Queer, " hecommented. "It couldn't have been powder. I noticed a draft soon as westarted. What made it? Where is it now?"

"It was only when we were running fast, " submitted Ralph. 

The fireman leaped down to the tracks. He inspected the locomotivefrom end to end. Then he began ferretting under the engine. Ralphwatched him climb between the drivers. Strange, muffled mutteringsannounced some discovery. In a moment or two Fogg crawled out again. 

"I vum!" he shouted. "What is this contraption?"

He grasped a piece of wire-netted belting, and as he trailed out itsother end, to it was attached a queer-looking device that resembled abellows. Its frame was of iron, and it had a tube with a steelnozzle. 

"I say, " observed the young engineer, in a speculative tone, "wheredid that come from?"

"I found its nozzle end stuck in through one end of the draft holes inthe fire box, " answered Fogg. "This belt ran around two axles andworked it. Who put it there?"

"Graham, " announced Ralph politely. "Well--well--I understand hisqueer actions now. Bring it up here, " continued Ralph, as the firemanwas about to throw it aside. 

"The young fellow who thinks he is going to overturn the system withhis inventions? Well, he must have done a lot of work, and it musthave taken a heap of time to fix the thing so it worked. The belt wasadjusted to a T. Say, you'd better keep him out of the roundhouse, orhe'll experiment on us some day in a way that may lead to somethingserious. "

Ralph put the contrivance under his seat for more leisurely inspectionlater on. He had to smile to think of the patience, the ingenuity andthe eccentric operation of the well-meant project of his younginventor friend. The bellows principle of increasing the furnace draftmight have been harmless in a stationary engine. Even on thelocomotive it had shown some added suction power while the locomotivewas going ahead, but the moment the furnace door was opened thecurrent of air from below sought the nearest vent. That was why "hisludship" had retired under a decided cloud in more ways than one. 

When they arrived at Riverton the young engineer made a search forboth Archie and the disguised impostor. He located neither. From whathe gathered from the conductor, Archie had left the train at the firststation after the stop. The pretended English lord had been noticedfooting it back towards Stanley Junction. 

The return trip was uneventful. Archie did not put in an appearance, and Ralph fancied he might have gone back to Bridgeport. The nextmorning when Ralph reported for duty, little Torchy, the call boy, sidled up to him in a confidential way. 

"Say, Mr. Fairbanks--I noticed a fellow was on your cab on your runyesterday that I have seen before----"

"Indeed, " answered Ralph curiously; "what about him?"

"Nothing much, only he was around here a couple of days ago. Hepretended that he wanted to see the inside of a roundhouse, and Mr. Forgan sent me with him to show him about. When he got me alone hebegan asking me all about you. Then he tried to pump me about all yourboy friends. I didn't like his looks or his actions, so I thought Iwould tell you what I have. "

"Thank you, " said Ralph. "If you ever run against him again, tellme. "

"I will, sure, " responded the staunch little fellow, who had a genuinefriendship for Ralph, who had encouraged him greatly, by initiatinghim into roundhouse duties when he first came to work for the GreatNorthern. 

Ralph could not fathom the possible motive of the stranger, whoapparently was somehow interested in his doings. When they started outon their regular run, he told Fogg what Torchy had imparted to him. The fireman reflected speculatively over the disclosure. 

"I can't understand what the fellow is up to, " he admitted, "unlessone of the gangs is up to a new trick and has hired a stranger to workit on us. "

There was a long wait at Riverton after arrival that day. Then theywere sided, and Fogg strolled off to a restaurant. Ralph sat down on apile of ties at the side of the track and enjoyed the lunch that hehad brought with him from home. He had just finished it and was aboutto go to the cab and get a book on railroading to read, when a tall, farmer-appearing fellow came upon the scene. 

"Say, " he drawled, "is this 999--yes, I see it is. "

"All right, " nodded Ralph; "what about it?"

"I want to see the engineer. "

"I am the engineer. "

"Name Fairbanks?"

"Yes. "

"Well, I'm sent to you. "

"By whom?"

"Don't know--never saw the boy before. He's a stranger in Riverton. Came up to me and gave me a half-a-dollar to come here and deliver amessage to you. "

"Let me know it, " directed Ralph. 

"Come out here on the tracks, and I'll show you where he said you wasto come to see him. See that old shed over beyond those freights?Well, the boy said you was to come there. "

"Oh, he did?" commented Ralph musingly. 

"Yes, he said to come alone, as it was particular. He said you'd knowwhen I said Martin--Martin, oh, yes, Clark, that's it. "

"Marvin Clark, " decided the young railroader at once, and as themessenger went his way Ralph ran to the engine cab, threw off hisjacket and then walked down the tracks. He of course thought of FredPorter at once. It looked as though that individual had turned upagain and had sent for him, and Ralph was glad to hear from him atlast. 

The building that had been pointed out to him by the boy messenger wasa storage shed for repair tools and supplies. Ralph passed a line ofdamaged freights, and reaching the shed, found its door open. Hestepped across the threshold and peered around among the heaps of ironand steel. 

"Is anybody here?" he inquired. 

"Yes, two of us, " promptly responded a harsh, familiar voice, thatgave Ralph a start, for the next instant his arms were seized, drawnbehind him, and the young engineer of No. 999 found himself aprisoner. 

CHAPTER XXII

IKE SLUMP AGAIN

Ralph knew at once that he had fallen into a trap of some kind. Hestruggled violently, but it was of no avail. Two persons had slippedup behind him, two pairs of hands were holding him captive. 

"Who are you?" demanded the young engineer sharply, over hisshoulder. 

There was no response, but he was forced forward clear back into theshed. The front door was kicked shut. Ralph was thrown roughly among aheap of junk. He recovered himself quickly and faced his assailants. 

The light in the place was dim and uncertain. The only glazed aperturein the shed was a small window at the rear. With considerable interestRalph strained his gaze in an endeavor to make out his captors. Thenin immense surprise he recognized both. 

"Ike Slump and Jim Evans, " he spoke aloud involuntarily. 

"You call the roll, " observed Evans with a sneer. 

Ralph reflected rapidly. The last he had heard of this precious braceof comrades, they had been sentenced to prison for a series of boldthefts from the railroad company. How they had gotten free he couldnot decide. He fancied that they had in some way escaped. At allevents, they were here, and the mind of the young engineer instantlyran to one of two theories as to their plans: Either the gang atStanley Junction had hired them to annoy or imperil him, or Slump andEvans were inspired by motives of personal revenge. 

Ike Slump had been a trouble to Ralph when he first began hisambitious railroad career. It was Slump who had hated him from thestart when Ralph began his apprenticeship with the Great Northern, asrelated in "Ralph of the Roundhouse. " Ralph had detected Slump andothers in a plot to rob the railroad company of a lot of brass journalfittings. From that time on through nearly every stage of Ralph'supward career, Slump had gone steadily down the easy slope of crime. 

When he linked up with Evans, his superior in years and cunning, hehad several times sought revenge against Ralph, and but for thevigilance and courage of the young engineer his life might have paidthe forfeit. 

Evans acted promptly, wasting no words. He had drawn a weapon from hispocket, and this he handed to Slump. Then he turned a fierce, loweringvisage upon Ralph. 

"Fairbanks, " he began, "you're to go with us--where, don't matter, norwhy. We owe you one, as you've known for a long time, and if it wasn'tthat we're here for the money there is in it, and not revenge, I'dtake pleasure in balancing the months you got us in jail by cripplingyou so you'd never pull another lever. This is business, though, pureand simple. If you get hurt, you can blame yourself. You've got to gowith us. "

"Why have I?" demanded Ralph. 

"Because we say so. There's a man quite anxious to see you. "

"Who is he?"

"That's telling. He wants to ask you just one question. A civil answergiven, and you are free as the wind. Slump, take this pistol, get upon that pile of rails, and guard Fairbanks. If he starts to run, shoot--understand?"

"I guess I do!" snarled the graceless Ike, climbing to the top of thepile of rails. "When I think of what this fellow has done to down me, it makes my blood boil. "

"I'll be back with a wagon in fifteen minutes, " said Evans. "You takeyour medicine quietly, Fairbanks, and nobody will get hurt. Try anycapers, and blame yourself. "

The speaker proceeded to the door of the shed, opened it, and closedit after himself as if everything was settled his way. Ike Slump, regarding the captive with a venomous expression of face, sat poisinghis weapon with the manner of a person glad to have an occasion arisethat would warrant its use under the instructions given by hispartner. 

Ralph summed up the situation and counted his chances. It was apparentto him that only a bold, reckless dash could avail him. There was nochance to pounce upon and disarm the enemy, however, and Ralphhesitated about seeking any risks with a fellow who held him socompletely at his mercy. 

"How does it seem?" jeered Ike, after a spell of silence, but Ralphdid not answer at once. He had experienced no actual fear when sosuddenly seized. Now, although he could not disregard a certain riskand menace in the custody of two of his worst enemies, a study of theface of the youth before him made the young railroader marvel as towhat he could find enticing in doing wrong, and he actually feltsorrow and sympathy, instead of thinking of his own precarioussituation. 

"Slump, " spoke Ralph finally, "I am sorry for you. "

"That so? Ho! ho! truly?" gibed the graceless Ike. "What game are youup to? Don't try any, I warn you. You're clever, Ralph Fairbanks, butI'm slick. You see, the tables have turned. I knew they would, sometime. "

"What is it you fellows want of me, anyhow?" ventured Ralph, hoping toinduce Ike to disclose something. 

"Nothing to worry about, " declared Slump carelessly. "You'll soonknow. Say, though, Fairbanks, don't stir the lion, don't pull histail. "

"You seem to be talking about menageries, " observed Ralph. 

"You'll think you're in one, sure enough, if you rile Evans up. Hewon't stand any fooling, you hear me. Shut up, now. We'll leavediscussing things till this job is over and done with. Then I may havesomething to tell you on my own personal account, see?" and Ike triedto look very fierce and dangerous. "I'll give you something to thinkof, though. You're going to tell a certain man all you know about acertain fellow, and you're going to fix it so that the certain mancan find the certain fellow, or you don't run 999 for a time to come, I'll bet you. "

"Who is this certain man?" inquired Ralph. 

"I don't know his name. He's a stranger to me. "

"And who is the certain fellow?"

"I know that one--I don't mind telling you. Then shut up. You've a wayof worming things out of people, and I'm not going to help youany--it's Marvin Clark. "

"I thought it was, " nodded the young engineer reflectively; and thenthere was a spell of silence. 

Ralph could only conjecture as to the significance of Ike's statement. There certainly was some vivid interest that centered about themissing son of the railroad president. That name, Marvin Clark, hadbeen used to lure Ralph to the old shed. Now it was again employed. Ittook a far flight of fancy to discern what connection young Clarkmight have with these two outcasts--worse, criminals. Ralph decidedthat their only mission in any plot surrounding Clark was that ofhired intermediaries. He did not know why, but somehow he came to theconclusion that Evans and Slump were acting in behalf of the pretendedLord Montague. Why and wherefore he could not imagine, but he believedthat through circumstances now developing he would soon find out. 

Slump shifted around on the pile of rails a good deal. They affordedanything but a comfortable resting place. Finally he seemed to decidethat he would change his seat. He edged along with the apparentintention of reaching a heap of spike kegs. He never, however, tookhis eye away from Ralph. Ike, too, held his weapon at a continualmenace, and gave his captive no chance to act against him or run forthe door. 

Near the end of the pile of rails, Ike prepared to descend backwardsto the spike kegs. He planned to do this without for an instantrelaxing his vigilance. As he reached out one foot to touch the rails, there was an ominous grinding sound. He had thrown his weight on onerail. The contact pushed this out of place. 

Once started, the whole heap began to shift. Ralph, quite awed, sawthe pile twist out of shape, and, tumbling in their midst, was hiswatcher. A scream of mortal agony rang through the old shed, and IkeSlump landed on the floor with half a ton of rails pinioning his lowerlimbs. 

CHAPTER XXIII

A CRITICAL MOMENT

If the rails under which Ike Slump lay had not caught at their endswith other rails, his limbs would have been crushed out of allsemblance. Ralph noted this at once, and as well the extreme peril ofthe situation of the enemy who, a minute previous had been gloatingover his helplessness. 

"Don't move--for your life, don't move!" shouted Ralph, and he sprangforward in front of the pinioned Ike Slump. 

"I'm killed, I'm crushed to death!" bellowed Ike. "Oh, help! help!"

The weapon had fallen from his hand. Both arms wildly sawing the air, Ike shivered and shrank like the arrant craven he was at heart. 

"Do just as I say, " ordered the young engineer breathlessly. "Don'tstir--don't even breathe. "

Ralph had jumped to the end of the pile of rails. His quick eyeselected the one rail that was the key of the tangle, which, directedwrong, would sweep the mass with crushing force across the pinionedbody of Ike. The rails were short lengths. But for this, Ralph, strongas he was, could have done little or nothing. He got a grasp upon therail. Then he sung out. 

"Slip when I lift. "

"I can't, --I can't!" wailed Ike. 

"You've got to--now!"

Ralph gave a tug at the rail. There was an ominous grind and quiver asthe others interlocked. He made a tremendous lift, one which strainedevery sinew and started the perspiration from every pore. 

"I'm numbed, I'm all crushed!" snivelled Ike; nevertheless he managedto crawl out, or rather slip out from under the uplifted rail. Herolled on the dirt floor of the shed, making a great ado. It was justin time, for Ralph felt his eyes starting from his head. He droppedthe heavy mass he had sustained and staggered back, well-nighovercome. 

As his breath came back to him, Ralph glanced particularly at Ike. Thelatter was completely absorbed in his own sufferings. Ralph coulddiscern from the movements of his limbs that neither of them wasdislocated and apparently no bones were broken. Still, he realizedthat they must be badly bruised and that Ike was disabled, at leastfor a time. 

"I'm going for help, " he said simply, and darted from the shed. Ikeyelled after him to protest against desertion, but Ralph paid noattention. He planned to get to friends while Evans was still away, and he determined to get back with friends by the time Evansreturned. 

Fogg was at the engine as Ralph ran along the tracks, and one of thebrakemen of the accommodation was with him. Ralph rapidly apprized hisfireman of the situation. 

"Slump and Evans, eh!" muttered Fogg, a deep crinkle of belligerencycrossing his forehead. "It was Slump who stole half my chickens. As toEvans, his mean treachery during the strike came near getting medischarged. I thought they were safe in jail. "

"So did I, " said Ralph. "They seem to have escaped, though. Mr. Fogg, they are bad people to have at large. "

"Bad! they're of a dangerous breed, I tell you. Simmons, hustle alongwith us. "

The fireman snatched up a furnace poker and put down the track afterRalph, on the run. He was the first to dart into the shed when theyreached it, and ran up against the others following, after a swiftglance about the place. 

"No one here, " he reported. "Gone--they've slipped us--there's no onein this shed. "

"Ah, I see, " spoke Ralph, with a look about the place outside. "Hereare wagon wheels, " and then he cast his eye across the landscape. 

It was so crowded with tracks, buildings and trees beyond that hecould not look far in the distance. Ralph, however, was satisfied thatEvans, returning with the wagon, had made haste to carry his helplesscomrade to the vehicle and get beyond reach of capture. 

Fogg was for starting a pursuit, but Ralph convinced him of thefutility of this course, and they returned to the locomotive. Oncethere, the fireman went over the case in all its bearings. Ralph hadheretofore told him little concerning Fred Porter and Marvin Clark. Hehad shown him the photograph of the latter some days previous, askinghim to keep an eye out for its original. Now he felt that someconfidence was due his loyal cab mate, and he recited the entire storyof what he knew and his surmises. 

"You've got a square head, Fairbanks, " said Fogg, "and I'll rely on itevery time. It's logic to think your way. Some fellow is mightilyinterested in this young Clark. None too good is the fellow, either, or he wouldn't have to beat around the bush. No, he's not straight, or he wouldn't hire such fellows as Evans and Ike Slump to help himout. "

"I don't understand it all, " confessed Ralph, "but I can see that agood deal of mysterious interest centers around this young Clark. I'mgoing to try and get some word to Porter--and to Zeph Dallas. Theyshould know what's going on regarding Clark. "

The incident did not depart from the young engineer's mind during thereturn trip to Stanley Junction, nor for several days later. With theescape of Evans and Ike Slump, however, the episode ended, at leastfor the time being. A week and more passed by, and that precious pairand their presumable employer, the pretended Lord Montague, seemed tohave drifted out of existence quite as fully as had Zeph, Porter andyoung Clark. 

One morning there was an animated discussion going on when Ralphentered the roundhouse. He was greatly interested in it, although hedid not share in the general commotion. 

The result of somebody's "confidential" talk with the divisionsuperintendent had leaked out--the Great Northern was figuring to soonannounce its new train. 

"As I get it, " observed old John Griscom, "the road is in for a bid onthe service the Midland Central is getting. "

"You don't mean through business?" spoke an inquiring voice. 

"Sure, that, " assented the veteran railroader. "We've beat them on theChina & Japan Mail run to Bridgeport, and now the scheme is to run theOverland Express in from the north, catch her up here, and cut outBridgeport at a saving of fifty miles on the regular western run. "

"Then they will have to take the Mountain Division from StanleyJunction. "

"Just that, if they expect to make the time needed, " assented Griscom. "Hey, Bill Somers, " to a grizzled old fellow with one arm, who wasshaking his head seriously at all this confab, "what you mooningabout?"

"I wouldn't take that run, " croaked Somers, "if they gave me a solidgold engine with the tender full of diamonds. I left an arm on thatroute. Say, Dave Little and I had a construction run over thosesliding curves up and down the canyon grades. It lasted a month. Therewere snowslides, washouts, forest fires. There's a part of the roadthat's haunted. There's a hoodoo over one section, where they kill aman about once a week. Little lost his leg and his job there. My oldarm is sleeping thereabouts in some ravine. No Mountain Division runfor me, boys!"

"You won't get it, never fear, " observed a voice. 

"No, I know that, " retorted Somers a little sadly, indicating hishelplessness by moving his stump of an arm, "but I pity the fellow whodoes. "

Day by day after that there were new additions to the fund of gossipconcerning the new run. It all interested Ralph. Nothing definite, however, was as yet stated officially. Ralph and Fogg continued on theaccommodation, and there was now little break in the regular routineof their railroad experience. 

Ralph had made a short cut across the switch yards one morning, when astirring episode occurred that he was not soon to forget, nor others. It took an expert to thread the maze of cars in motion, trains stalledon sidings, and trains arriving and departing. 

It was the busiest hour of the day, and Ralph kept his eye outsharply. He had paused for a moment in a clear triangle formed bydiverging rails, to allow an outward bound train to clear the switch, when a man on the lower step of the last car waved his hand and hailedhim. 

It was the master mechanic, and Ralph was pleased at the notice takenof him, and interested to learn what the official wanted of him. Themaster mechanic, alighting, started across the tracks to join Ralph. 

A train was backing on the one track between them. Another train wasmoving out on the rails still nearer to Ralph. 

It was a scene of noise, commotion and confusion. If the mastermechanic had been a novice in railroad routine, Ralph could not haverepressed a warning shout, for with his usual coolness that official, timing all train movements about him with his practiced eye, made aquick run to clear the train backing in to the depot. He calculatedthen, Ralph foresaw, to cross the tracks along which the outgoingtrain was coming. 

"He's taking a risk--it's a graze, " murmured the young engineer insome trepidation. 

The master mechanic was alert and nimble, though past middle age. Hetook the chances of a spry jump across the rails, his eye fixed on theoutgoing train, aiming to get across to Ralph before it passed. Inlanding, however, he miscalculated. The run and jump brought him to adead halt against a split switch. His foot drove into the jaws of thefrog as if wedged there by the blow of a sledge-hammer. 

CHAPTER XXIV

THE NEW RUN

The young engineer stood shocked and motionless--only, however, forthe minutest fraction of a moment. A railroad man's life is full ofsudden surprises and situations calling for prompt, decisive andeffective action. Ralph had learned this from experience. 

The master mechanic was in the direct path of the train backing intothe depot. The one he had just left and the one proceeding in the samedirection shut him in where there was no flagman or switches. Thetrain bearing down upon him was on a rounding bend of rails, thelocomotive not in view, and there was no possible chance of signallingthe engineer. 

As Ralph started forward the engine of the outbound train passed him. He waited for one car only to pass him. How he skimmed its rearplatform he never knew. It was a daring, reckless spring, and helanded on the planking beyond the rails on a dizzying slide. The nextinstant he was at the side of the imperilled railroad official. 

"I'm caught!" gasped the master mechanic, with a white but set face, as he recognized Ralph. 

"Swing down!" cried the young railroader. "It's your only chance. "

The master mechanic barely suppressed a groan as he toppled sideways. The twist to his ankle made him wince. Ralph saw that his foot washeld as in a vise. No amount of pulling could get him free. The trainbacking down was less than thirty feet away. 

"Hold steady, " breathed Ralph in a shaking tone, and his hand dove forhis pocket. He recalled it all afterwards as a remarkable thing that, standing there, a great peril hovering, there seemed to flash throughhis mind a vivid photograph of Torchy. 

The call boy at the roundhouse was a great friend of the youngengineer. Ralph had been his model, as was he his friend. He hadloaned the little fellow a book on railroading that had delightedTorchy, and observing Ralph sharpening a peg for his bumper with adecidedly blunt-edged knife, he had begged the privilege of getting itsharpened for him. 

When he had returned the knife to Ralph the day previous, Torchydeclared that it was sharp as a razor and would cut a hair in two. Ralph found this to be no exaggeration. In addition Torchy had oiledthe blade hinges. Now the young engineer thought of Torchy and of theknife as he drew it from his pocket, whipped open its big blade andmade a dive rather than a swoop beside the body of the mastermechanic. 

"Pull back your foot!" cried Ralph, and made a swoop. The flanges ofthe near truck wheels were grinding on the edge of the rails not fivefeet away. Ralph's arm described a deft oval movement. In one swiftstroke he slit the shoe from vamp to sole. He was conscious that thefoot of the master mechanic came free. Then something struck Ralph, and he felt himself tossed aside inert and unconscious by somestunning force. 

When he again opened his eyes Ralph caught the vague hum of a lingo ofswitch pidgin, smut-faced, blear-eyed men near by, himself stretchedat full length on sleeping car cushions on the floor of the doghouse. He sat up promptly. There was a momentary blur to his sight, but thisquickly passed away. 

"Aha--only a bump--I told you so!" cried bluff-hearted Tim Forgan, theforeman, jumping from a bench and approaching Ralph. 

"All right, Fairbanks?" questioned John Griscom, coming to his side. 

"Right as a trivet, " reported Ralph, getting to his feet. "What hitme?"

"The step of a coach, it seems, " explained Forgan. 

Ralph passed his hand over his head until it rested on a lump and asore spot near one ear. It was wet and greasy where some liniment hadbeen applied. 

"The master mechanic?" he asked, with a quick memory of what hadhappened. 

"Ankle wrenched, " said Griscom. "We made him get to a surgeon on alitter. He minded nothing but you, till he was sure that you were allright. "

Ralph uttered a vast sigh of relief and satisfaction. Forgan led himto his own special office armchair. Half-a-dozen crowded about him, curious for details of the accident no one of them had witnessed. 

Ralph gave them the particulars as he could remember them. He askedfor a drink of water, felt of the bump again with a smiling grimace, and arose to his feet. 

"Same schedule, I suppose?" he inquired, starting to go outside thedoghouse and inspect the bulletin board on which daily orders wereposted. 

"You don't mean that you are going to make your run to-day, Fairbanks?" asked the foreman. 

"Why not?"

"Used up. "

"Am I?" queried Ralph with a smile. "Then I don't know it. I fancy itwas a narrow escape, and I am grateful for it. "

"The master mechanic was looking for you when he got frogged, "observed Griscom. 

"Yes, I thought he was, " nodded Ralph. 

"Here, Fairbanks, " broke in the foreman of the roundhouse, "tack upthis flimsy with the rest, will you?"

Ralph took the tissue sheet tendered, stepped through the open doorwayinto the roundhouse, and set the sheet upon two tacks on the bulletinboard. He started to stroll over to No. 999 in her stall. 

"Hold on, " challenged Forgan; "that flimsy just came in. It's animportant order. Better read it, Fairbanks. "

"All right, " assented Ralph, and turning, cast his eyes at the sheet. They distended wide, for this is what he read:

 "No. 7, new train, Overland Express, Mountain Division, 6. 12 p. M. , beginning Monday, the 15th. Engineer: Fairbanks--Fireman: Fogg. "

"My!" was all that Ralph could gasp out. 

A great hearty hand, that of the old railroad veteran, John Griscom, landed on Ralph's shoulder with a resounding slap. 

"Fairbanks!" he roared in the ear of the bewildered young engineer, "the top rung of the ladder at last!"

CHAPTER XXV

THE MOUNTAIN DIVISION

"Well, lad, you've passed muster and got to the head of the class!"proclaimed old John Griscom. 

"Oh, no, " dissented Ralph Fairbanks; "I'm just started in to learnwhat real railroading means. "

"I'd call you a pretty apt student, then, " put in Tim Forgan, foremanof the Stanley Junction roundhouse. 

"If there's any man, boy or child in this doghouse who says that youngFairbanks isn't a crackerjack, let him step right up here and take hismedicine!" vaunted Lemuel Fogg, playfully, but with a proud look ofadmiration at the expert young engineer. 

"It's the best part of it to know that you fellows mean every word yousay and believe in me, " observed Ralph. "Your encouragement andinfluence have boosted me up to the Overland Express all right--I'lltry and never make you ashamed of having backed me. "

Ralph Fairbanks felt good and showed it. His friends shared in hisemotions and sentiments, and that made the present occasion doublyglad and welcome. It was one of those rare moments, coming only oncein a while, when Ralph and his comrades had an idle half hour to chatand compliment each other in the doghouse. 

The Overland Express had become an established feature of the GreatNorthern--as little Torchy had phrased it, "a howling success. " A weekhad gone by, and now, seated in the midst of his loyal friends, Ralphfelt that he had made good on a promotion that placed him at the topnotch of engineering service. 

It was a big thing for a youth to gain that high distinction--engineerof the Overland Express. Looking back over the active, energeticcareer that had led up to this, however, Ralph realized that theclimax had been reached a step at a time through patience, perseverance and genuine hard work. It was a proof to him that anyperson following discipline and having as a motto precision andfinality, was bound to succeed. It was a most enjoyable breathingspell to realize that all the anxiety, dash and novelty of theexperimental trips over the Mountain Division were past, and he nowfelt that he knew the route and all its details perfectly. 

Ralph had found time to do some thinking about his friends the pastday or two. He had seen two of them, for Van Sherwin and little LimpyJoe had come down from the Short Line, and had spent a pleasant day atthe Fairbanks home. Archie Graham, too, had put in an appearance. Theyoung inventor looked shamefaced and distressed when he admitted allthat Ralph had guessed concerning the patent bellows--draftimprovement for locomotives. 

"It only worked the wrong way, " explained Archie; "next time----"

"Next time try it on some other railroad, Archie, " advised Ralph. "They're watching for you with rifles down at the Great Northernroundhouse. "

"Huh!" snorted Archie contemptuously; "they'll be sorry when I strikesome real big thing and another line gets it. Now then, I've gotsomething brand new--the rocket danger signal. "

"Go right ahead experimenting with it, only choose a spot where youwon't hurt any one, " advised Ralph. "You're all right, Archie, "declared the young railroader, slapping his comrade appreciatively onthe shoulder, "only you are too ambitious. I have no doubt that youwill some day hit something tangible. It's a long, patient road, though--this inventing things. "

"You bet it is, " assented Archie with force. 

"And you attempt too grand beginnings. Take something more simple andeasy than trying to revolutionize railroad service all at once, andgradually work up to bigger things. "

"Say, there's sense in that, an old inventor told me the same thing, "said Archie; "but you see this rocket danger signal of mine is a newthing. I'm going to Bridgeport to-morrow to get some fixings I have inmy workshop there. You'll hear from me later, Fairbanks. "

Concerning Zeph, Fred Porter and Marvin Clark the young railroader hadheard nothing since the last visit of Zeph to Stanley Junction. Many atime he wondered what had become of them. He had all kinds of theoriesas to their continued mysterious absence, but no solution offered astime wore on. 

The Overland Express had not become an old thing with Ralph. He feltthat the charm and novelty of running the crack train of the roadcould never wear out. With each trip, however, there came a feeling ofgrowing strength and self-reliance. Ralph had learned to handle theproposition aptly, and he took a great pride in the time record sofar. 

"It's a lively run, and no mistake, " he remarked to Fogg, as theystarted out from the depot that evening. "We haven't had any of thedireful mishaps, though, that those old doghouse croakers predicted. "

"No, " admitted the fireman, but he accompanied the word with a seriousshake of the head; "that's to come. I'm trained enough to guess thatanother frost or two will end in the season that every railroad mandreads. Wait till the whiskers get on the rails, lad, and a freshet ortwo strikes 999. There's some of those culverts make me quake when Ithink of the big ice gorges likely to form along Dolliver's Creek. Oh, we'll get them--storms, snowslides and blockades. The only way is toremember the usual winter warning, 'extra caution, ' keep cool, andstick to the cab to the last. "

Summer had faded into autumn, and one or two sharp frosts hadannounced the near approach of winter. The day before there had been aslight snow flurry. A typical fall day and a moonlit night hadfollowed, however, and Ralph experienced the usual pleasure as theyrolled back the miles under flying wheels. They took the sharp curvesas they ran up into the hills with a scream of triumph from thelocomotive whistle every time they made a new grade. 

"Waste of steam, lad, that, " observed Fogg, as they rounded a curveand struck down into a cut beyond which lay the town of Fordham. 

"Better to be safe, " responded Ralph. "There's a crossing right aheadwhere the old spur cuts in. "

"Yes, but who ever crosses it?" demanded the fireman. 

"Some one did two nights ago, " insisted Ralph. "I'm positive that wejust grazed a light wagon crossing the roadway leading into the cut. "

"Then it was some stray farmer lost off his route, " declared Fogg. "Why, that old spur has been rusting away for over five years, to myrecollection. As to the old road beyond being a highway, that'snonsense. There's no thoroughfare beyond the end of the spur. The roadends at a dismantled, abandoned old factory, and nobody lives anywherein this section. "

"Is that so?" Toot! toot! toot!

The whistle screeched out sharply. The fireman stuck his head out ofthe window. Ralph had already looked ahead. 

"I declare!" shouted Fogg, staring hard. "Swish--gone! But what was itwe passed?"

Ralph did not speak. He sat still in a queer kind of realization ofwhat they both had just seen, and in the retrospect. While he and hisfireman had been conversing, just ahead in the white moonlight he hadseen two human figures against the sky. It was a flashing glimpseonly, for the train was making a forty mile clip, but, dangling from atree overhanging the side of the cliff lining the tracks on one side, he had made out two boys. 

"The Canaries!" he murmured to himself, in profound surprise and deepinterest. "I even heard them whistle. "

Ralph was so sure that the little swinging figures he had seen werethe lithe, strange creatures who had been brought to Stanley Junctionby Zeph Dallas, that he thought about it all the rest of the trip. Hesaid nothing further to Fogg about the circumstance, but he resolvedto investigate later on. 

The young engineer tried to calculate ahead how some day soon he couldarrange to visit the vicinity of the old Fordham spur. He was positivethat he had seen the two Canaries. Their presence at the spurindicated that they must be denizens of its neighborhood. This beingtrue, their presence might indicate the proximity of Zeph Dallas. Atleast the strange young foreigners might know what had become of theardent young "detective. "

Ralph made a good many inquiries of his fireman as to the Fordhamspur. Fogg simply knew that it ran to an old ruined factory long sinceabandoned. On the return trip Ralph kept a sharp lookout as theyneared the cut. There was no second appearance of the Canaries, however, nor the next night, nor that following. The young engineerfound no opportunity of visiting the place, but he kept his plan to doso constantly in mind. 

It was two days later as he made the short cut to the roundhouse aboutnoon, that Ralph was greeted by a new discovery that fairly took hisbreath away. He had stepped aside to wait till a locomotive with onecar attached passed the crossing. The peculiar oddness of the car atonce attracted his attention. 

It was an old tourist car, used only on far western railroads. He hadseen its like only once or twice before. Its inside shades were alldrawn. There was no sight of life about it. The locomotive belonged tothe northern branch of the Great Northern, and had the right of wayand was tracked for the Mountain Division. 

"That's a queer layout, " soliloquized Ralph, as the strange outfitflashed by. "Hello!"

The young engineer uttered a great shout. As the car passed him henaturally glanced at its rear platform. 

Upon its step in solitary possession of the car sat his long-lostfriend--Zeph Dallas. 

CHAPTER XXVI

MYSTERY

Ralph Fairbanks saw Zeph Dallas distinctly and recognized him. Thelatter looked up as the young engineer uttered an irrepressible shout. He started to wave his hand. Then he shrank down on the car step as ifseeking to hide himself. 

Ralph stood gazing after the coach until it had disappeared from view. From the look of things he decided that Zeph was not casually stealinga ride. Something about him suggested a sense of proprietorship--acertain official aspect as if he had a right to be where Ralph hadseen him, was, in fact, in charge of the car. 

"A queer car--the queerest old relic I ever saw, " mused Ralph. "I'mgoing to look into this affair. "

"Say, Mr. Fairbanks, " spoke little Torchy as the young engineerentered the roundhouse; "just saw an old friend of ours. "

"Did you?" spoke Ralph. "You don't mean Zeph Dallas, do you?"

"That's who, " nodded Torchy. "Big as life on a single car run--and, say, such a car!"

"Do you know where it came from, or where it was bound for?" inquiredRalph. 

"No, but I heard one of the fellows here say it must have come overthe north branch. "

"I thought so, too, " said Ralph, and after a stroll about the place hewent down to the dispatcher's office. Ralph knew the railroad routinewell, and he soon had a good friend working in his interest. He wasone of the assistants in the office of the chief dispatcher. Ralph hadloaned him a little sum of money once when he was off on the sicklist. It had been paid back promptly, but the man was a gratefulfellow, and, under the influence of a sense of obligation, was glad toreturn the favor in any way he could. 

"I'll fix you out, Fairbanks, " he promised, and he kept his word, foras Ralph sat in the doghouse two mornings later the man came to itsdoorway, peered in, and beckoned to his friend to come outside. 

"All right, Fairbanks, " he reported, holding a card in his handbearing some memoranda; "I've got the tracer. "

"Good!" applauded Ralph. 

"Here's the dope--that engine and old tourist car was a kind of aspecial--the craziest special, though, that either you or I everheard of. "

"Is that so?" inquired Ralph. 

"Listen, and see. She started on extra orders from Brampton, the yardsup on the north division. Was chartered for a run via the Junction toFordham spur. "

"Indeed?" murmured Ralph thoughtfully. 

"It was a plain twenty-four hours' charter, same as a picnic or anexcursion special, but there was only one passenger, conductor, orwhatever you might call him--a kid. "

"Yes, " nodded Ralph, "Zeph Dallas. "

"You could have knocked me down with a feather when I found that out, "went on the man from the dispatcher's office, "although I didn't findit out until later. Yes, the train had been rented and paid for by ourold extra wiper here, that dreamer, kicker and would-be detective, Dallas. A pretty penny it must have cost. Where did he get the money?Skylarking around the country like a millionaire, and what did he pickout that antiquated curiosity of a relic car for? Well, it was the'Dallas Special, ' sure enough, and it made its run just the same as ifhe was a railroad president inspecting the lines. "

"I'm interested, " explained Ralph. 

"I'm jiggergasted, " added the dispatcher; "I got the line on theirroute by wire to Brampton. I found that the contract was to run toFordham spur and back to Brampton. "

"But what for?" inquired Ralph. 

"To deliver some special freight presumably, " said the dispatcher. "Atfirst I wondered if things mightn't be stirring up in a new businessway at the old factory. Thought maybe they were going to do someblasting, and Dallas had been hired to run through a load of giantpowder. Well, I was off in my guess. "

"How did you find that out?" asked Ralph. 

"I caught the Brampton outfit on the return trip. She had to switchhere for an hour to get the right of way north. I went over to thesiding and happened to know the engineer. "

"And where was Zeph?"

"They left him up at the spur. "

"H'm, " commented Ralph, feeling that Zeph was indeed envelopinghimself in a dense mist of mystery. 

"The engineer just grinned and haw-hawed when I asked him about hisrun. He said that Dallas had acted like a fellow on the most seriousbusiness, the whole run through. When they got to the spur he had themrun in about two hundred feet. Then he sat down by the side of thetrack, watch in hand, solemnly waited for an hour to pass by, andthen told the engineer the trip was ended and he was satisfied. "

"He didn't explain----" began Ralph in wonderment. 

"Not a word. He just waved his hand grandly good-by to the engineer, and passed out of sight. It was a queer go--wasn't it, now? Theengineer and fireman were dumfounded. They looked into the car out ofsheer curiosity. "

"And found?" pressed Ralph. 

"Nothing. "

"What!"

"No--empty. "

Ralph was bewildered, and said so. The dispatcher acknowledged thesame sentiment, so had the engineer and the fireman, he said. 

"There you have it, " he remarked. "Queer go, eh?"

"The strangest I ever heard of, " confessed Ralph. 

"You see, there's no motive to trace, " observed the dispatcher in apuzzled, baffled way. "Think of the cost of it! Think of the mysteryabout the whole affair! What is Dallas up to, and why the spur?"

"I don't know, " admitted the young engineer, equally perplexed, "butI'm going to find out, make sure of that. "

Things were certainly focusing around Fordham spur, there was no doubtof it. That point of the road was a decided point of interest to Ralphevery time the Overland Express neared the spur on succeeding trips. He could only conjecture that Zeph and the Canaries and others in whomZeph was interested, were located somewhere in the vicinity. However, he caught no sight of any person in the neighborhood of the spur as hepassed it. The thing was getting to be a worry to the young engineer, but although he daily promised himself he would manage some way tovisit the place, no favorable opportunity presented. 

The run to Rockton and back had become harder as cold weather came on. There was a call for extra vigilance and close attention to routine. Asnowstorm caught them one night on the out run, and Ralph found outthat it was no trifle running with blurred signals among the deepmountain cuts. A great rain followed, then a freeze up, then anotherheavy fall of snow, and the crew of the Overland Express had arigorous week of it. 

They had made the run to Rockton four hours late on account of abroken bridge, and the next evening when they reported at theroundhouse, engineer and fireman found a cancelled trip instead ofreadiness for their regular return run to Stanley Junction. Theforeman was busy in his office at the telephone, receiving continualinstructions from the dispatcher. He was sending men and messengers inevery direction. The exigencies of the hour required blockade andwrecking crews. The foreman looked bothered and worried, and nodded toRalph and Fogg in a serious way as there was a lull at the 'phone. 

"No run to-night, boys, " he announced. "You'd better get back to yourwarm beds. "

"Blockade on the Mountain Division?" inquired the fireman. 

"Worse than that. The whole division is annulled this Side of Fordham, and that's over half the run. Two bridges down, a freight wreck atWayne, and the mountain cuts are choked with drifts. I doubt if youwill break through for a couple of nights. "

"H'm, " observed Fogg. "I fancied to-day's storm would shut upthings. "

"It has. We're half clear south, but west and north there isn't awheel moving within fifty miles. "

"We may as well make the best of it then, Fairbanks, " said thefireman, "and get back to our boarding house. "

The speaker started for the door and Ralph followed him. Just thenwith a sudden roar of the tempest outside the door was swept open. Two snow-covered forms came in. 

They were men closely muffled up, and they paused for a moment toshake the snow from their heavy enveloping overcoats. The foremanstared curiously at the intruders. One of them threw his overcoatopen. Fogg grasped Ralph's arm with a start as he seemed to recognizethe man. 

"Hello!" he ejaculated in a sharp half whisper. "What does this mean, Fairbanks? It's the president of the Great Northern. "

CHAPTER XXVII

THE RAILROAD PRESIDENT

As the person Fogg designated pushed back his storm cap and came underthe light of a bracket lamp, Ralph observed that the fireman had beencorrect in his surmise--it was Mr. Robert Grant, president of theroad. He busied himself removing the snow from his garments and takingin the warmth of the place, while his companion came forward to thedoghouse. 

Ralph and Fogg drew to one side, curious and interested. They nowrecognized the man who had entered the roundhouse with the presidentas Lane, superintendent of the Mountain Division of the GreatNorthern. His manner was hurried, worried and serious. A big load ofresponsibility rested on his official shoulders, and he realized itand showed it. He nodded brusquely to Ralph and Fogg, and then went upto the desk where the foreman sat. 

"Get the dispatcher's office, Jones, and get it quick, " he spoketersely, and he added something in an undertone. The foreman gave aslight start. From the way he turned and stared at the companion ofthe superintendent, Ralph could trace that he had just been informedof his identity. 

"Here you are, " said the foreman, after a minute at the 'phone andhanding the receiver to the superintendent. The latter, withoutseating himself, instantly called over the wire:

"This is Superintendent Lane. I want the chief dispatcher. " A pause. "That you, Martin?--Yes?--Hold the wire. The president of the roadwants to talk with you. Mr. Grant. "

Ralph knew the railroad president quite well. It was a long time sincehe had seen him. That was at headquarters, after Ralph and some of hisrailroad friends had succeeded in rescuing a relative of the officialfrom a band of blackmailers. Ralph did not believe that the presidentwould remember him. He was both surprised and pleased when theofficial, glancing about in his keen, quick way, smiled and mentionedhis name in greeting, nodded to Fogg, and then went up to theforeman's table. 

Spread out upon this was an outline map of the great Northern and allits branches. The foreman had been utilizing it as an exigency chart. He had three pencils beside it--red, green and blue, and these he hadused to designate by a sort of railroad signal system the condition ofthe lines running out of Rockton. Red signified a wreck or stalledtrain, green snow blockades, blue bridges down and culverts underwater. The map was criss-crossed with other special marks, indicatingobstructions, flood damage and the location of wrecking crews. 

"As bad as that!" commented the president in a grave tone, with acomprehensive glance over the chart. Then he picked up the receiver. 

"Martin, chief dispatcher, " he spoke through the 'phone. "Give me thesituation over the Mountain Division in a nutshell. "

What followed took barely sixty seconds. The information must havebeen as distressing as it was definite, for Ralph noticed a deeperconcern than ever come over the serious face of the official. 

"How's the South Branch?" he inquired next. 

"It's useless, Mr. Grant, " put in the superintendent, as the presidentdropped the receiver with a disappointed and anxious sigh. Afterreceiving some further information he again swept his eye over the mapon the table. His fingers mechanically followed the various divisionsoutlined there. The foreman came to his side. 

"Excuse me, Mr. Grant, " he spoke respectfully, "but I'm in prettyclose touch with conditions along the lines. If I can explainanything----"

"You can. That is the old Shelby division?" inquired the official, hisfinger point resting on a line on the chart running due southeastbetween the Mountain Division and the South Branch out of Rockton. 

"Yes, sir, " assented the foreman proudly. "You know it has beenpractically abandoned except for coal freight, since the south linewas completed. It's used as a belt line now--transfer at ShelbyJunction. "

"What's the condition. "

"Risky. We sent a freight over this morning. It got through four hourslate. "

"But it got through, you say?" spoke the official earnestly. "Get thedispatcher again. Ask for details on that division. Don't lose anytime. "

The foreman was busy at the 'phone for some minutes. As he held thereceiver suspended in his hand, he reported to the railroadpresident:

"Snow and drifting wind reported between here and Dunwood. "

"What else?"

"Look out for washouts and culverts and bridges damaged by running iceand water between Dunwood and Kingston. "

"That's half the forty-five miles--go head. "

"Between Kingston and Shelby Junction water out over the bottoms andflood coming down the valley. "

"What's on the schedule?"

"All schedules cancelled, not a wheel running except on instructionsfrom this end. "

"Give them, " spoke the official sharply. "Tell the dispatcher to keepthe line clear from end to end. Wire to the stations that a special iscoming through, no stops. "

"Yes, sir, " assented the foreman in wonderment, and executed theorder. The official stood by his side until he had completed themessage. Then he said:

"Tell the dispatcher to get Clay City, and find out if the MidlandExpress over the Midland Central left on time. "

"On time, sir, and their road is not much hampered, " reported theforeman a few minutes later. 

"All right, " nodded the official briskly. "Now then, get out your bestlocomotive. Give her a shallow caboose, and get her ready as speedilyas you can. "

The foreman ran out into the roundhouse. The president took out hiswatch. To the infinite surprise of Ralph he called out:

"This way, Fairbanks. "

He placed a hand on the shoulder of the young engineer and looked himearnestly in the eye. 

"I know you and your record, " he said. "Is that your regular fireman?"indicating Fogg. 

"Yes, sir, Lemuel Fogg. We're on No. 999, Overland Express. "

"Yes, yes, I know, " spoke Mr. Grant hurriedly. "Mr. Fogg!"

The fireman approached promptly. 

"My friends, " continued the official rapidly to both. "I have got toreach Shelby station by 10. 15. I must catch the Night Express on theMidland Central at that point--without fail, " added Mr. Grant withemphasis. 

"Yes, sir, " nodded Fogg coolly. 

"One minute late means the loss of a great big fortune to the GreatNorthern. The minute on time means anything in reason you two may ask, if you make the run. "

"We are here to make the run, Mr. Grant, if you say so, " observedRalph. 

"Sure, " supplemented Fogg, taking off his coat. "Is that the order, sir?"

"I haven't the heart to order any man on a run a night like this, "responded the official, "but if you mean it----"

"Fairbanks, " shot out the fireman, all fire and energy, "I'll get 999ready for your orders, " and he was out into the roundhouse after theforeman in a flash. 

"Mr. Grant, you're taking a long chance, " suggested the divisionsuperintendent, coming up to where the president and Ralph stood. 

"Yes, and it must be any chances, Fairbanks, " said the official. Hewas becoming more and more excited each succeeding minute. "I'm tooold a railroader not to know what the run means. If you start, noflinching. It's life or death to the Mountain Division, what you dothis night. "

"The Mountain Division?" repeated Ralph, mystified. 

"Yes. It's an official secret, but I trusted you once. I can trust younow. " Mr. Grant drew a folded paper from his pocket. "The president ofthe Midland Central is on the Night Express, returning from the west. The document I show you must be signed before he reaches the city, before midnight, or we lose the right to run over the MountainDivision. If he once reaches the city, interests adverse to the GreatNorthern will influence him to repudiate the contract, which onlyawaits his signature to make it valid. He will sign it if I canintercept him. Can you make Shelby Junction, ninety miles away, intwo hours and fifteen minutes?"

"I will make Shelby Junction ahead of the Night Express, " repliedRalph calmly, but with his heart beating like a triphammer, "or I'llgo down with 999. "

CHAPTER XXVIII

A RACE AGAINST TIME

There was a thrill and fervor to the present situation that appealedto Ralph mightily. The brisk, animated procedure of the president ofthe Great Northern had been one of excitement and interest, and at itsclimax the young engineer found himself stirred up strongly. 

Mr. Grant smiled slightly at Ralph's valiant declaration. He drew thedivision superintendent aside in confidential discourse, and Ralphwent to the bulletin board and began studying the routeing of theShelby division. Then he hurried out into the roundhouse. 

No. 999 was steamed up quickly. Ralph put the cab in rapid order for ahard run. The foreman hurried back to his office and telephoned to theyards. When No. 999 ran out on the turntable it was the foremanhimself who opened the ponderous outside doors. 

"It's some weather, " observed Fogg, as the giant locomotive swung outinto the heart of a driving tempest. 

The foreman directed their movements to a track where a plug enginehad just backed in with a light caboose car. There was no air brakeattachment and the coupling was done quickly. 

"All ready, " reported Ralph, as Mr. Grant came up with the divisionsuperintendent. 

The railroad president stepped to the platform of the caboose, spoke afew words to his recent companion in parting, and waved his handsignal-like for the start. 

Fogg had been over the Shelby division several times, only once, however, on duty. He knew its "bad spots, " and he tried to tell hisengineer about them as they steamed off the main track. 

"There's just three stations the whole stretch, " he reported, "and thetracks are clear--that's one good point. "

"Yes, it is only obstruction and breakdowns we have to look out for, "said Ralph. "Give us plenty of steam, Mr. Fogg. "

"There's heaps of fuel--a good six tons, " spoke the fireman. "My! butthe stack pulls like a blast furnace. "

The cab curtains were closely fastened. It was a terrible night. Thesnow came in sheets like birdshot, a half-sleet that stung like hailas it cut the face. The rails were crusted with ice and the soundsand shocks at curves and splits were ominous. At times when theybreasted the wind full front it seemed as if a tornado was tugging atthe forlorn messenger of the night, to blow the little train from therails. 

Fogg stoked the fire continuously, giving a superabundant power thatmade the exhaust pop off in a deafening hiss. They ran the first tenmiles in twelve minutes and a half. Then as they rounded to the firststation on the run, they were surprised to receive the stop signal. 

"That's bad, " muttered the fireman, as they slowed down. "Orders werefor no stops, so this must mean some kind of trouble ahead. "

"What's this?" spoke Mr. Grant sharply, appearing on the platform fromthe lighted caboose. He held his watch in his hand, and his pale faceshowed his anxiety and how he was evidently counting the minutes. 

An operator ran out from the station and handed a tissue sheet toRalph. The latter read it by the light of the cab lantern. Mr. Grantstepped down from the platform of the caboose. 

"What is it, Fairbanks?" he asked somewhat impatiently. 

"There's a great jam at the dam near Westbrook, " reported Ralph. "Driftwood has crossed the tracks near there, and the operator beyondsays it will be a blockade if the dam breaks. "

"Are you willing to risk it?" inquired the official. 

"That's what we are here for, " asserted Ralph. 

"Then don't delay. "

"It's getting worse and worse!" exclaimed Fogg, after a half-hour'sfurther running. 

Ralph never forgot that vital hour in his young railroad experience. They were facing peril, they were grazing death, and both knew it. Thewind was a hurricane. The snow came in great sheets that at timesenveloped them in a whirling cloud. The wheels crunched and slid, andthe pilot threw up ice and snow in a regular cascade. 

There was a sickening slew to the great locomotive as they nearedWestbrook. The track dropped here to take the bridge grade, and asthey struck the trestle Fogg uttered a sharp yell and peered ahead. 

"We can't stop now!" he shouted; "put on every pound of steam, Fairbanks. "

Ralph was cool and collected. He gripped the lever, his nerves setlike iron, but an awed look came into his eyes as they swept theexpanse that the valley opened up. 

The trestle was fully half a foot under water already, and the volumewas increasing every moment. Fogg piled on the coal, which seemed toburn like tinder. Twice a great jar sent him sprawling back among thecoal of the tender. The shocks were caused by great cakes of ice orstray timbers shooting down stream with the gathering flood, andsliding the rails. 

"She's broke!" he panted in a hushed, hoarse whisper, as they caughtsight of the dam. There was a hole in its center, and through thiscame pouring a vast towering mass fully fifteen feet high, crashingdown on the bridge side of the obstruction, shooting mammoth bergs ofice into the air. As the sides of the dam gave way, they were fairlyhalf-way over the trestle. It seemed that the roaring, swooping masswould overtake them before they could clear the bridge. 

The light caboose was swinging after its groaning pilot like the tailof a kite. A whiplash sway and quiver caused Ralph to turn his head. 

The door of the caboose was open, and the light streaming from withinshowed the railroad president clinging to the platform railing, swaying from side to side. He evidently realized the peril of themoment, and stood ready to jump if a crash came. 

A sudden shock sent the fireman reeling back, and Ralph was nearlythrown from his seat. The locomotive was bumping over a floating pieceof timber of unusual size, and toppling dangerously. Then there camea snap. The monster engine made a leap as if freed from some incubus. 

"The caboose!" screamed Fogg, and Ralph felt a shudder cross hisframe. He could only risk a flashing glance backward--the caboose wasgone! It had broken couplings, and had made a dive down through theflood rack clear to the bottom of the river, out of sight. ThenNo. 999 struck the edge of the up grade in safety, past the dangerline, gliding along on clear tracks now. 

Fogg stood panting for breath, clinging to his seat, a wild horror inhis eyes. Ralph uttered a groan. His hand gripped to pull to stop, asharp shout thrilled through every nerve a message of gladness andjoy. 

"Good for you--we've made it!"

The railroad president came sliding down the diminished coal heap atthe rear of the tender. He had grasped its rear end, and had climbedover it just as the caboose went hurtling to destruction. The gladdelight and relief in the eyes of the young engineer revealed to theofficial fully his loyal friendship. Fogg, catching sight of him, helped him to his feet with a wild hurrah. The fireman's face shonewith new life as he swung to his work at the coal heap. 

"If we can only make it--oh, we've got to make it now!" he shouted atRalph. 

There was a sharp run of nearly an hour. It was along the lee side ofa series of cuts, and the snow was mainly massed on the opposite setof rails. Ralph glanced at the clock. 

"We're ahead of calculations, " he spoke to Fogg. 

"We're in for another struggle, though, " announced the fireman. "Whenwe strike the lowlands just beyond Lisle, we'll catch it harder thanever. "

Ralph was reeking with perspiration, his eyes cinder-filled and glazedwith the strain of continually watching ahead. There had not been asingle minute of relief from duty all the way from Westbrook. Theystruck the lowlands. It was a ten-mile run. First it was a greatsnowdrift, then a dive across a trembling culvert. At one point thewater and slush pounded up clear across the floor of the cab andnearly put out the fire. As No. 999 rounded to higher grade, a treehalf blown down from the top of an embankment grazed the locomotive, smashing the headlight and cutting off half the smokestack clean as aknife stroke. 

Ralph made no stop for either inspection or repairs. A few minuteslater an incident occurred which made the occasion fairly bristle withnew animation and excitement. 

Mr. Grant had sat quietly in the fireman's seat. Now he leaned overtowards Ralph, pointing eagerly through the side window. 

"I see, " said Ralph above the deafening roar of the wind and thegrinding wheels, "the Night Express. "

They could see the lights of the train ever and anon across an openspace where, about a mile distant, the tracks of the Midland Centralparalleled those of the Shelby division of the Great Northern. Theyoung engineer again glanced at the clock. His eye brightened, intohis face came the most extravagant soul of hope. It was dashedsomewhat as Fogg, feeding the furnace and closing the door, leanedtowards him with the words:

"The last shovel full. "

"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Ralph. 

The fireman swept his hand towards the empty tender. 

"Eight miles, " said Ralph in an anxious tone. "With full steam wecould have reached the Junction ten minutes ahead of the Express. Willthe fire last out?"

"I'll mend it some, " declared the fireman. "Fairbanks, we mightlighten the load, " he added. 

"You mean----"

"The tender. "

"Yes, " said Ralph, "cut it loose, " and a minute later the railroadpresident uttered a sudden cry as the tender shot into the distance, uncoupled. Then he understood, and smiled excitedly. And then, as Foggreached under his seat, pulled out a great bundle of waste and two oilcans, and flung them into the furnace, he realized the desperatestraits at which they had arrived and their forlorn plight. 

Conserving every ounce of steam, all of his nerves on edge, the youngengineer drove No. 999 forward like some trained steed. As theyrounded a hill just outside of Shelby Junction, they could see theNight Express steaming down its tracks, one mile away. 

"We've made it!" declared Ralph, as they came within whistlingdistance of the tower at the interlocking rails where the two linescrossed. 

"Say, " yelled Fogg suddenly, "they've given the Express the right ofway. "

This was true. Out flashed the stop signal for No. 999, and the whitegave the "come on" to the Night Express. There was no time to get tothe tower and try to influence the towerman to cancel system at thebehest of a railroad president. 

"You must stop that train!" rang out the tones of the officialsharply. 

"I'm going to, " replied Fairbanks grimly. 

He never eased up on No. 999. Past the tower she slid. Then a glowinglet up, and then, disregarding the lowered gates, she crashed straightthrough them, reducing them to kindling wood. 

Squarely across the tracks of the incoming train the giant engine, battered, ice-coated, the semblance of a brave wreck, was halted. There she stood, a barrier to the oncoming Express. 

Ralph jumped from his seat, reached under it, pulled out a whole bunchof red fuses, lit them, and leaning out from the cab flared themtowards the oncoming train, Roman-candle fashion. 

The astonished towerman quickly changed the semaphore signals. Hernose almost touching No. 999, the Express locomotive panted down to ahalt. 

"You shall hear from me, my men, " spoke the railroad president simply, but with a great quiver in his voice, as he leaped from the cab, ranto the first car of the halted express and climbed to its platform. 

Ralph drove No. 999 across the switches. The Express started on itsway again. In what was the proudest moment of his young life, theloyal engineer of staunch, faithful No. 999 saw the president of theGreat Northern take off his hat and wave it towards himself and Fogg, as if with an enthusiastic cheer. 

CHAPTER XXIX

ZEPH DALLAS AGAIN

"Say--Engineer Ralph--Mr. Fairbanks!"

A spluttering, breathless voice halted Ralph on his way from the depotto the roundhouse. It was the call boy, Torchy, the young engineerascertained, as he waited till the excited juvenile came up to him. 

"What's the trouble, Torchy?" he inquired. 

Torchy caught his breath, but the excited flare in his eyes did notdiminish. 

"Say!" he spluttered out; "I was looking for you. That car, the onethey use out west in Calfrancisco, Francifornia, no, I meanCalfris--rot! out west, anyway--tourist car. "

"I know, yes, " nodded Ralph. 

"Well, you remember the queer old fossil's special to Fordham spur?That fellow Zeph Dallas was on it. "

"I remember distinctly; go ahead. "

"There's another car just like that one in the yards now, right thisminute. "

"You don't say so? I didn't suppose that more than one antiquatedrelic of that kind was in existence, " said Ralph. 

"Come on and see, " invited Torchy. "This last car must have come fromthe north this morning, just like the other one did. It's bunched upwith a lot more of the blockade runners, delayed freight, you know, and they've made up a train of it and others for the MountainDivision. "

Besides being intensely interested, Ralph had time to spare. It wasnearly a week after the Shelby Junction incident. The great storm hadcrippled some of the lines of the great Northern to a fairly alarmingextent. The Mountain Division had felt the full force of the blizzardand had suffered the most extensively. There were parts of thedivision where it took several days to repair culverts, strengthentrestles and replace weakened patches of track. The Overland Expressmissed several runs, but had got back on fair schedule two daysbefore. A new storm had set in that very morning, and as Ralphfollowed Torchy there were places where the drifts were up to theirknees. 

"There you are, " announced his companion, pausing and pointing over ata train on a siding. "Isn't that last car the very picture of the onethat Dallas was on?"

"Remarkably so, " assented Ralph. 

"I've got to get to the roundhouse, " explained the little fellow, turning back in his tracks. "Thought you'd want to know about thatcar, though. "

"I do, most emphatically, " declared Ralph, "and greatly obliged to youfor thinking of it. "

Ralph approached the train on the siding. It was one of the queeresthe had ever seen. There was a motley gathering of every class offreight cars on the line. As he passed along he noted the destinationof some of the cars. No two were marked for the same point ofdelivery. It was easy to surmise that they were victims of the recentblockade. 

Ralph came up to the rear car of the incongruous train with a gooddeal of curiosity. It was not the car that had made that mysteriousrun to Fordham Spur with Zeph Dallas, although it looked exactly likeit. The present car was newer and more staunch. A fresh discovery madeRalph think hard. The car was classified as "fast freight, " and acrossone end was chalked its presumable destination. 

"Fordham Spur, " read the young engineer. "Queer--the same as the othercar. I wonder what's aboard?"

Just like the other car, the curtains were closely drawn in this one. There was no sign of life about the present car, however. Smoke curledfrom a pipe coming up through its roof. No one was visible in theimmediate vicinity except a flagman and some loiterers about a nearswitch shanty. Ralph stepped to the rear platform of the car. Heplaced his hand on the door knob, turned it, and to his surprise andsatisfaction the door opened unresistingly. 

He stepped inside, to find himself in a queer situation. Ralph stoodin the rear partitioned-off end of the car. It resembled a homelikekitchen. An oil stove stood on a stand, and around two sides of thecar were shelves full of canisters, boxes and cans, a goodly array ofconvenient eatables. Lying asleep across a bench was a young coloredman, who wore the cap and apron of a dining-car cook. 

Ralph felt that he was intruding, but his curiosity overcame him. Hestepped to the door of the partition. Near its top was a small pane ofglass, and through this Ralph peered. 

"I declare!" he exclaimed under his breath, and with a great start. 

A strange, vivid picture greeted the astonished vision of the youngrailroader. If the rear part of the tourist car had suggested a modernkitchen, the front portion was a well-appointed living room. It had astove in its center, and surrounding this were all the comforts of ahome. There was a bed, several couches, easy chairs, two illuminatedlamps suspended from side brackets, and the floor was covered withsoft, heavy rugs. 

Upon one of the couches lay a second colored man, apparently a specialcar porter, and he, like the cook, was fast asleep. All that Ralph hadso far seen, however, was nothing to what greeted his sight as hiseyes rested on the extreme front of the car. 

There, lying back in a great luxurious armchair, was a preternaturallythin and sallow-faced man. His pose and appearance suggested theinvalid or the convalescent. He lay as if half dozing, and from hislips ran a heavy tube, connected with a great glass tank at his side. 

Such a picture the mystified Ralph had never seen before. He could nottake in its full meaning all in a minute. His puzzled mind wentgroping for some reasonable solution of the enigma. Before he couldthink things out, however, there was a sound at the rear door of thecar. Some one on the platform outside had turned the knob and held thedoor about an inch ajar, and Ralph glided towards it. Through thecrack he could see three persons plainly. Ralph viewed them withwonderment. 

He had half anticipated running across Zeph Dallas somewhere about thetrain, but never this trio--Ike Slump, Jim Evans and the man he hadknown as Lord Montague. The two latter were standing in the snow. Ikewas on the platform. He was asking a question of the man who had posedas a member of the English nobility:

"Be quick, Morris; what am I to do?"

Lord Montague, _alias_ Morris, with a keen glance about him, drew aheavy coupling pin from under his coat. 

"Take it, " he said hastily, "and get inside that car. "

"Suppose there's somebody hinders me?"

"Didn't I tell you they were all asleep?" demanded Morris. "You'llfind a man near a big glass tank. "

"See here, " demurred Ike; "I don't want to get into any more trouble. When it comes to striking a man with that murderous weapon----"

"Murderous fiddlesticks!" interrupted Morris. "You are to hurt nobody. Smash the tank, that's all--run out, join us, and it's a hundreddollars cash on the spot, and a thousand when I get my fortune. "

"Here goes, then, " announced Ike Slump, pushing open the door, "butwhat you want to go to all this risk and trouble for to smash an oldglass tank, I can't imagine. "

"You'll know later, " muttered Morris grimly. 

Ralph did not know what the three rascals were up to, but he realizedthat it must be something bad. Putting two and two together, thinkingback a bit of all that had occurred concerning Zeph, the Clark boy, and the Slump crowd, he began to fancy that tourist cars played a bigpart in the programme, whatever that programme was. The smashing ofthe glass tank, Morris had announced, was worth a hundred dollars toIke--might lead to a fortune, he had intimated. 

"There's some wicked plot afoot, " decided Ralph, "so--back you go, IkeSlump!"

As Ike stepped across the threshold of the car the young engineeracted. He had grabbed the coupling pin from Ike's hand, dropped it, grasped Ike next with both hands and pressed him backwards to theplatform. Ike struggled and himself got a grip on Ralph. The latterkept forcing his opponent backwards. Ike slipped and went through thebreak in the platform railing where the guard chain was unset, andboth toppled to the ground submerged in three feet of snow. 

Ralph had landed on top of Ike and he held him down, but the cries ofhis adversary had brought Evans and Morris to his rescue. The formerwas pouncing down upon Ralph with vicious design in his evil face, when a new actor appeared on the scene. 

It was Zeph Dallas. He came running to the spot with his arms full ofpackages, apparently some supplies for the tourist car which he hadjust purchased of some store on Railroad Street. These he dropped andhis hand went to his coat pocket. The amateur detective was quite aspractical and businesslike as did he appear heroic, as he drew out aweapon. 

"Leave that fellow alone, stand still, or you're goners, both of you, "panted Zeph. "Hi! hello! stop those men! They're conspirers, they'revillains!"

Zeph's fierce shouts rang out like clarion notes. They attracted theattention of the crowd around the switch shanty, and as Evans andMorris started on a run three or four of the railroad loiterersstarted to check their flight. As Zeph helped Ralph yank Ike Slump tohis feet and drag him along, the young engineer observed that Evansand Morris were in the custody of the switch shanty crowd. 

Two men coming down the track hastened over to the crowd. Ralph wasglad to recognize them as Bob Adair, the road detective, and one ofthe yards watchmen. 

"What's the trouble here, Fairbanks?" inquired Adair, with whom theyoung engineer was a prime favorite and an old-time friend. 

"Dallas will tell you, " intimated Ralph. 

"Yes, " burst out Zeph excitedly; "I want these three fellows arrested, Mr. Adair. They must be locked up safe and sound, or they'll do greatharm. "

"Ah--Evans? Slump?" observed Adair, recognizing the twain who hadcaused the Great Northern a great deal of trouble in the past. "They'll do on general principles. Who's this other fellow?"

"He's the worst of the lot, the leader. He's an awful criminal, "declared Zeph with bolting eyes and intense earnestness. "Mr. Adair, if you let that crowd go free, you'll do an awful wrong. "

"But what's the charge?"

"Conspiracy. They're trying to----"

"Well, come up to the police station and give me something tangible togo on, and I'll see that they get what's coming to them, " promised theroad detective. 

"I can't--say, see! my train. I've got to go with that train, Ralph, "cried Zeph in frantic agitation. "Try and explain, don't let thosefellows get loose for a few hours--vast fortune--Marvin Clark--FredPorter--Fordham Cut--big plot!"

In a whirl of incoherency, Zeph dashed down the tracks, for the trainwith the tourist car had started up. He had just time enough to gatherup his scattered bundles and reach the platform of the last car, asthe mixed train moved out on the main line and out of sight, leavinghis astonished auditors in a vast maze of mystery. 

CHAPTER XXX

SNOWBOUND

Chug!

"A snowslide!" exclaimed Ralph, in dismay. 

"An avalanche!" declared Fogg. "Dodge--something's coming!"

With a crash both cab windows were splintered to fragments. The youngengineer of No. 999 was nearly swept from his seat as there poured inthrough the gap a volume of snow. 

They had struck an immense snowdrift obliquely, but the fireman's sidecaught the brunt. As the powerful locomotive dove into the drift, thesnow packed through the denuded window-frame at the fireman's seatlike grain into a bin. A solid block of snow was formed under theterrific pressure of the compact. It lodged against the coal of thetender with a power that would probably have crushed the life out of aperson standing in the way. 

"Whew!" shouted Fogg. "Lucky I ducked. "

Ralph stopped the engine, which had been going slower and slower eachminute of the past hour. They had gotten about half the distance toRockton. Long since, however, both engineer and fireman had fullydecided that they would never make terminus that night. 

They had left Stanley Junction under difficulties. The snow was deepand heavy, and there was a further fall as they cleared the limits. There was no wind, but the snow came down with blinding steadiness andvolume, and at Vernon they got the stop signal. 

The operator stated that the line ahead leading past Fordham Cut wasimpassable. The passenger was stalled ten miles away, and orders fromRockton were to the effect that the Overland Express should take thecut-off. This diverged into the foothills, where there were no suchdeep cuts as on the direct route, and where it was hoped the driftswould not be so heavy. 

Neither Ralph nor Fogg was familiar with their new routing. For anhour they made fair progress. Then they began to encounter trouble. They did not run a yard that the pilot wheels were not sunk to therims in snow. Landmarks were blotted out. As they found themselvesblindly trusting to the power of the giant locomotive to forge aheaddespite obstacles, they were practically a lost train. 

It was now, as they dove bodily into a great drift choking up anembankment cut, that they realized that they had reached a definiteangle in their experience of the run, and were halted for good. 

No. 999 barely pushed her nose far enough out of the enveloping drift, to enable Ralph by the aid of the glaring headlight to discern otherdrifts further ahead. 

"We're stalled, that's dead sure, " declared Fogg. "Signal theconductor and see what the programme is. "

It was some time after the tooting signal that the conductor put in anappearance. He did not come along the side track. That was fairlyimpossible, for it would have been sheer burrow progress. He came overthe top of the next car to the tender, a blind baggage, and as heclimbed over the coal in the tender his lantern smashed and hepresented a pale and anxious face to the view of the cab crew. 

"What's the prospects?" he inquired in a discouraged tone. 

"It looks like an all-night lay-over, " reported Ralph. 

"There's nothing ahead, of course, " said the conductor calculatingly. "There's a freight due on the in track. Behind us a freight was tocome, provided No. 11 put out from Stanley Junction to-night. "

"Which I doubt, " said Fogg. 

"If we could back to Vernon we'd be in better touch with somethingcivilized, " went on the conductor. "The wires are all down here. "

"I can try it, " replied Ralph, "but without a pilot the rear car willsoon come to a bump. "

"Give her a show, anyway, " suggested the conductor. 

Two minutes' effort resulted in a dead stop. The young engineer knewhis business well enough to understand that they were in danger ofrunning the train off the track. 

"I'll send a signal back, if a man can get back, " decided theconductor. 

The backing-up had left a clear brief space before the train. Ralphtook a lantern and left his fireman in charge of the locomotive. Hewas gone about ten minutes, and came back panting and loaded down withthe heavy, clinging snow. 

"May as well bunk in right here, " ventured Fogg. 

"That's it, " answered Ralph definitely. "It's drift after drift ahead. No use disabling the locomotive, and we simply can't hope to dig ourway out. "

The conductor came forward again looking miserable. A red lantern hadbeen planted as far down the tracks as the brakeman dared to go. Theconductor and Ralph held a conversation. Fogg, a veteran in theservice, was appealed to for a final decision. 

"You've hit it, " said the fireman sagely and with emphasis. "It's apermanent blockage, and our only chance is for the Great Northern tofind us out or for us to wait until the snow melts. "

"If this snow keeps up we'll be buried under, " said the conductor. 

"Well, we've got to make the best of it, " advised Fogg. "If we canmake it, build a big fire ahead there as a warning or signal, althoughI don't believe there's much stirring at either end. Then it's just aquestion of food and warmth. "

"Food!" repeated the conductor, who was fat and hearty and looked asif he never willingly missed his meals; "where in the world are we toget food? They cut the diner off at the Junction, and there probablyisn't a farmhouse or station along this dreary waste for miles. "

"Well, I fancy we'll have to stand the hunger, " said Ralph. "As to theheat, that's an essential we mustn't neglect. We had better shut offthe steam pipes, keeping only a little fire in the furnace andstarting the stoves in the coaches. "

"Yes, we might last out on that plan, " nodded the conductor, glancingover the tender. 

Ralph pulled to a spot about two hundred feet ahead, where the advanceand retreat of the train had cleared a space alongside the rails, andthe conductor went back to the coaches. 

Ralph adjusted the steam pipes so they would not freeze, and Foggbanked the fire. Then they got to the ground with rake and shovel, andskirmished around to see what investigation might develop. 

Despite the terrible weather and the insecurity of their situation, the train crew were soon cheerily gathering wood up beyond theembankment. They had to dig deep for old logs, and they broke downtree branches. Then they cleared a space at the side of the track andstarted a great roaring fire that flared high and far. 

"Nobody will run into that, " observed Fogg with a satisfied chuckle. 

"And it may lead a rescue party, " suggested Ralph. 

Some of the men passengers strolled up to the fire. Fear and anxietyhad given way to a sense of the novelty of the situation. Ralphassured them that their comfort and safety would be looked after. Hepromised a foraging party at daylight in search of food supplies. 

"They're talking about you back there in the coaches, Fairbanks, "reported the conductor a little later. "They know about yourarrangements for their comfort, and they're chatting and laughing, andtaking it all in like a regular picnic. "

"I suppose you've been giving me undue credit, you modest old hero!"laughed Ralph. 

"Hello!" suddenly exclaimed Fogg; "now, what is that?"

All hands stared far to the west. A dim red flame lit the sky. Then itappeared in a new spot, still far away. This was duplicated untilthere were vague red pencils of light piercing the sky from variouspoints of the compass. 

"It's queer, " commented the conductor. "Something's in action, butwhat, and how?"

"There!" exclaimed Fogg, as suddenly seemingly just beyond the heavydrift immediately in front of the train the same glare was seen. 

"Yes, and here, too!" shouted out the conductor, jumping back. 

Almost at his feet something dropped from midair like a rocket, abomb. It instantly burst out in a vivid red flame. Ralph investigated, and while thus engaged two more of the colored messengers, projectiles, fireworks, whatever they were, rained down, one abouthalf-way down the train, the other beyond it. 

The young engineer was puzzled at first, but he soon made out all thattheory and logic could suggest. There was no doubt but that some oneat a distance had fired the queer little spheres, which were made ofthe same material as the regular train fuse, only these burned twiceas long as those used as railroad signals, or fully twenty minutes. 

"I make it out, " explained Ralph to the conductor, "that somebody witha new-fangled device like a Roman candle is sending out these bombs assignals. "

"Then we're not alone in our misery, " remarked Fogg. 

"First they went west, then they came this way, " continued Ralph. "Ishould say that it looks as if the signal is on a train stalled likeus about a mile away. I'll soon know. "

Ralph got into the cab. In a minute or two No. 999 began a series ofchallenge whistles that echoed far and wide. 

"Hark!" ordered Fogg, as they waited for a reply. 

"A mere peep, " reported the conductor, as a faint whistle reachedtheir strained hearing above the noise of the tempest. 

"Yes, " nodded Fogg, "I figure it out. There's a train somewhere nearwith the locomotive nigh dead. "

"If it should be the east freight stalled, " suggested Ralph to theconductor, "you needn't worry about those hungry children in thecoaches, and that baby you told about wanting milk. "

"No, the east freight is a regular provision train, " put in thefireman. "If we could reach her, we'd have our pick of eatables. "

It was two hours later, and things had quieted down about thesnowed-in train, when a series of shouts greeted Ralph, Fogg and theconductor, seated on a broken log around the fire at the side of thetracks. 

"What's this new windfall!" exclaimed Fogg. 

"More signals, " echoed the conductor, staring vaguely. 

"Human signals, then, " supplemented Ralph. "Well, here's a queerarrival. "

Five persons came toppling down the side of the embankment, in astring. They were tied together at intervals along a rope. All in amix-up, they landed helter-skelter in the snow of the cut. Theyresembled Alpine tourists, arrived on a landslide. 

"Why, it's Burton, fireman of the east freight!" shouted theconductor, recognizing the first of the five who picked himself upfrom the snow. 

"That's who!" answered the man addressed, panting hard. "We'restalled about a mile down the cut. Coal given out, no steam. Saw yourfire, didn't want to freeze to death quite, so----"

"We guessed that you were the Overland, " piped in a fresh, boyishvoice. "Packed up some eatables, and here we are. How do you like mynew railroad rocket signals, Engineer Fairbanks?" and Archie Graham, the young inventor, picked himself up from the snow. 

CHAPTER XXXI

CONCLUSION

One hour after daybreak the vicinity of the snowbound Overland Expressresembled a picture, rather than a forlorn blockade. 

The lone adventurers who had made the trip from the stalled freighthad been a relief party indeed. The engineer was a railroader of longexperience, and he had thought out the dilemma of the refugees. He andhis companions had broken open a freight car and had brought each agood load. There was coffee, sugar, crackers, canned meats, a ham, and, what was most welcome to anxious mothers and their babes, a wholecrate of condensed milk. 

There never was a more jolly breakfast than that aboard the snowboundcoaches. There was plenty to eat and to spare all around, and plentymore at the stalled freight, everybody knew. In front of the enginemany a merry jest went the rounds, as the train crews and some of thepassengers broiled pieces of succulent ham on the end of pointedtwigs. 

"You see, it was this way, " Archie Graham explained to the youngengineer of No. 999. "I was just watching a chance for washouts orsnowstorms to get on a train diving into the danger. Those red bombsare my invention. I shoot them from a gun. I can send them a mile orgauge them to go fifty feet. They ignite when they drop, and bysending out a lot of them they are bound to land somewhere near thetrain you aim at. The engineer is bound to take notice, just as youdid, of the glare, and that's where they beat the fusees and save therunning back of a brakeman. "

"Archie, " said Ralph honestly, "I believe you're going to hit somereal invention some time. "

"I helped out some with my patent rocket signals this time, " declaredArchie. 

"You did, my lad, " observed Fogg with enthusiasm, "and the passengersknow all about it, and they've mentioned you in a letter they'regetting up to the company saying how they appreciate theintelligence--that's Fairbanks--the courage, ahem! that's me, and thegood-heartedness, that's all of us, of the two train crews. "

By the middle of the afternoon a snow plow opened up the line fromRockton to the stalled train. It was not until two mornings later, however, that the main line was open and Ralph and Fogg got back toStanley Junction. 

Archie came on the same train. Ralph asked him up to the house, butthe young inventor said he wanted the quiet of his hotel room to workon his signal rocket idea, which he declared would amount to somethingyet. 

The young engineer had scarcely got in the house after the warm, cheerful greeting of his anxious mother, when Zeph Dallas put in anappearance. 

Zeph was looking exceedingly prosperous. He wore a new, nicely-fittingsuit of clothes, a modest watch and chain, and was quite dignified andsubdued, for him. 

"When you've had your breakfast, Ralph, " he said, "I've got somethingto tell you. "

"Yes, " nodded Ralph, "I'm expecting to hear a pretty long story fromyou, Zeph. "

The young engineer hurried his breakfast and soon joined Zeph in thesitting-room. 

"Say, Ralph, " at once observed his friend, "you've done some bigthings in your time, but the biggest thing you ever did was when yousaw to it that Jim Evans and Ike Slump, and most of all, that fellow, Morris, were held as prisoners by Adair, the road detective. "

"I fancied they deserved locking up, " remarked Ralph. 

"There would have been a murder if you hadn't seen to it, " declaredZeph. "I've a story to tell that would make your hair stand on end, but it would take a book to tell it all. "

"I'm here to listen, Zeph, " intimated Ralph. 

"Yes, but I'm due to meet Mr. Adair at the jail. He's sent Evans andSlump back to the prison they escaped from. I hurried on here from theFordham cut purposely to tell him what I wanted done with Morris. "

"I say, Zeph, " rallied the young railroader, "you seem to have a bigsay in such things for a small boy. "

"That's all right, " declared Zeph good-naturedly; "I'm all here, justthe same, and I'm here for a big purpose. In a word, not to mystifyyou, Ralph, for you know only half of the story, I was hired by MarvinClark, the son of the Middletown & Western Railroad president, to doall I've done, and I have been royally paid for it. "

"Then you must have done something effective, " observed Ralph. 

"Clark thought so, anyway. I'll try and be brief and to the point, sothat you'll understand in a nutshell. You know Marvin Clark and FredPorter and the two Canaries?"

The young engineer nodded assentingly. 

"Well, as I say, I ran across Clark accidentally in my straywanderings. He and a sickly boy named Ernest Gregg were living in afixed-over building at Fordham Spur. I seemed to be just the personClark was waiting for. He hired me to do some work for him. He wasplanning to get the poor boy, Gregg, his rights. "

"Yes, I know about that, " observed Ralph. 

"Then if you do, I can hurry over things. It seems that when he beganto look up Gregg's affairs, he found out that Ernest had a strangehermit of a grandfather, named Abijah Gregg. Ernest's father was anonly son. About five years ago the old man discovered a terribleforgery in which he was robbed of over ten thousand dollars. He hadreason to believe that Ernest's father and a man named Howard wereresponsible for it. He disowned his son and all his family, and amonth later Ernest's father died, leaving his son a disowned andhomeless outcast. "

"And what became of Howard?" inquired the interested Ralph. 

"He disappeared. Old Gregg became soured at all humanity after that, "narrated Zeph; "the more so because he had a profligate nephew whoturned out bad. This was the man in jail here now. "

"Lord Lionel Montague--Morris?"

"Yes, Morris robbed the old man, who became afraid of him. The old mantried to hide away from everybody. In his wanderings he picked up thetwo Canaries and settled down at the lonely place at Fordham Cut. Hewas very rich, partly paralyzed, and intended to leave his fortune tothe state, rather than have any relative benefit by it. Well, MarvinClark, the splendid, unselfish fellow, got a clew to all this. Helocated old Abijah Gregg. He spent just loads of money following downpoints, until he discovered that the man Howard was a broken-downinvalid in New Mexico. Clark was sick himself for a month, and thatwas why Fred Porter did not hear from him. "

"And later?" asked Ralph. 

"I ran across Porter and brought him to the Spur about a month ago. Heis there now. Well, Clark found out positively that Ernest's fathernever had a thing to do with forgery. It had been really committed byHoward and this villain, Morris. He got in touch with Howard in NewMexico, who was a dying man. He found him anxious to make whatreparation he could for a wicked deed. Old Gregg would not go to NewMexico. Howard could only live where the air was just right for him. The physicians said that if he ever went to any other climate, thechange of atmosphere would kill him. With plenty of money at hiscommand, Clark arranged it all. The New Mexico doctors got a tank thatheld an artificial air, and Clark arranged so that Howard could comeeast in a special car. "

"And the first tourist car that you ran empty to the Spur?" inquiredRalph. 

"Why, we knew that Morris was trying every way to locate and annoy hisuncle. We thought that maybe he had got onto our plans about Howard. We ran the dummy car to see if we were being watched. Don't you see, that if Morris had succeeded in smashing the glass air tank, Howardwould have died before he could tell his story to old Mr. Gregg. "

"And now?" said Ralph. 

"The story has been told. Old Mr. Gregg is convinced that his son wasinnocent of forgery. He will take care of his grandson and make himhis heir, and young Clark, as you see, has done a grand thing. "

"Yes, indeed, " assented Ralph. 

"Howard will return to New Mexico with a relieved conscience. I amgoing to the jail here now to see Morris. If he will agree to leavethe country and never annoy his uncle again, I will give him a certainlarge sum of money, as directed by his uncle. If he doesn't, he willbe prosecuted for the forgery. "

"Zeph, " observed the young railroader enthusiastically, "you haveproven yourself not only a real detective, but a splendid lawyer, aswell. "

"Thank you, " returned Zeph, and blushed modestly; "most everybody thatgets in with you does some kind of good in the world. "

It was two hours later when a messenger came to the Fairbanks homewith a letter for Ralph. 

The young engineer flushed with pleasure as he read a briefcommunication from the master mechanic, advising him that Mr. RobertGrant, president of the Great Northern, was at Stanley Junction, andwished to see him for a few minutes at the Waverly Hotel. 

Ralph told his mother of the incident, and her eyes followed himfondly and proudly as, arrayed in his best, Ralph started out to keephis appointment. 

It was a warm welcome that the young railroader received from thegreat railroad magnate. Mr. Grant went over their mutual experiencesthe night of the wild dash of the special from Rockton to ShelbyJunction. 

"You did a most important service for the road that night, Fairbanks, "said the railroad president; "how much, is a secret in the archives ofthe company, but I can say to you confidentially that the MountainDivision would have passed to another line if we had not acted intime. "

"I am very glad, " said Ralph modestly. 

"I want to acknowledge that service. I am only the president of theroad, " said Mr. Grant, smiling, and Ralph smiled, too, "so being aservant of the road, I must act under orders. I learned that, like allthrifty young men, you had a savings account at the bank here. I havedeposited there the company's check for one thousand dollars to youraccount. "

"Oh, Mr. Grant----" began Ralph, but the railroad president held uphis hand to check the interruption. 

"As to Fogg, " went on Mr. Grant, "the road has closed up thesubscription in his behalf, by giving him sufficient to rebuild hisburned-down house. "

Ralph's face was aglow with pride, pleasure and happiness. 

"So, good-by for the present, Fairbanks, " concluded the railroadpresident, grasping Ralph's hand warmly. "There are higher places forambitious young men in the service of the road, as you know. I shallnot try to influence your plans, for I know that sheer merit will putyou forward when you decide to advance. As to my personal influence, that, you know, is yours to command. For the present, however, weshould regret to see the Overland Express in other hands than those ofthe youngest and the best engineer on the Great Northern. "

What Mr. Grant had to say about Ralph's advancement came true a littlelater, and those who care to follow our hero's future career may do soin the next story of this series, to be called, "Ralph, the TrainDispatcher; or, The Mystery of the Pay Car. " In that volume we shallmeet many of our old friends once more, and see what our hero did whennew difficulties confronted him. 

One day Ralph was surprised to receive a visit from Marvin Clark andFred Porter. He received them both warmly, and soon learned that Clarkhad fixed up his trouble over railroad work, and with his parent, andhad secured a good position for Fred, so that the latter would nolonger need to lead a roving life. 

"But I must have one more ride with you, Fairbanks, " said Fred. 

"And I'll go along, " said the son of the railroad president. 

"With pleasure!" cried Ralph. "Come on!" And he led the way to whereNo. 999 stood ready for the next run. 

The trip was a grand success. And here we will, for the present, atleast, say good-by to Ralph of the Overland Express. 

THE END

THIS ISN'T ALL!

Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have madein this book?

Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures andexperiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?

On the reverse side of the wrapper which comes with this book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at thesame store where you got this book. 

Don't throw away the Wrapper. 

Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a completecatalog. 

THE TOM SWIFT SERIES

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In company with his uncles, one a mighty hunter and the other a notedscientist, Don Sturdy travels far and wide, gaining much usefulknowledge and meeting many thrilling adventures. 

DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYSTERY; Or, Autoing in the Land of the Caravans. 

An engrossing tale of the Sahara Desert, of encounters with wildanimals and crafty Arabs. 

DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE HUNTERS; Or, Lost in the Jungles of the Amazon. 

Don's uncle, the hunter, took an order for some of the biggest snakesto be found in South America--to be delivered alive! The filling ofthat order brought keen excitement to the boy. 

DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD; Or, The Old Egyptian's Great Secret. 

A fascinating tale of exploration and adventure in the Valley ofKings in Egypt. Once the whole party became lost in the maze ofcavelike tombs far underground. 

DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE; Or, Cast Away in the Land of Ice. 

Don and his uncles joined an expedition bound by air across the northpole. A great polar blizzard nearly wrecks the airship. 

DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES; Or, The Trail of the Ten Thousand Smokes. 

An absorbing tale of adventures among the volcanoes of Alaska in aterritory but recently explored. A story that will make Don dearer tohis readers than ever. 

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A new series for boys giving full details of radio work, both insending and receiving--telling how small and large amateur sets canbe made and operated, and how some boys got a lot of fun andadventure out of what they did. Each volume from first to last is sothoroughly fascinating, so strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feelsure all lads will peruse them with great delight. 

Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-known radioexpert. 

THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS; Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize. 

THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT; Or, The Message That Saved the Ship. 

THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION; Or, Making Good in the Wireless Room. 

THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS; Or, The Midnight Call for Assistance. 

THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE; Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery. 

THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS; Or, The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain. 

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RADIO BOYS WITH THE FLOOD FIGHTERS; Or, Saving the City in the Valley. 

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THE RAILROAD SERIES

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In this line of books there is revealed the whole workings of a greatAmerican railroad system. There are adventures in abundance--railroadwrecks, dashes through forest fires, the pursuit of a "wildcat"locomotive, the disappearance of a pay car with a large sum of moneyon board--but there is much more than this--the intense rivalry amongrailroads and railroad men, the working out of running schedules, thegetting through "on time" in spite of all obstacles, and themanipulation of railroad securities by evil men who wish to rule orruin. 

RALPH OF THE ROUND HOUSE; Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man. 

RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER; Or, Clearing the Track. 

RALPH ON THE ENGINE; Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail. 

RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS; Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer. 

RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER; Or, the Mystery of the Pay Car. 

RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN; Or, The Young Railroader's Most Daring Exploit. 

RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER; Or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley. 

RALPH AND THE MISSING MAIL POUCH; Or, The Stolen Government Bonds. 

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Here is as ingenious a series of books for little folks as has everappeared since "Alice in Wonderland. " The idea of the Riddle booksis a little group of children--three girls and three boys decide toform a riddle club. Each book is full of the adventures and doings ofthese six youngsters, but as an added attraction each book is filledwith a lot of the best riddles you ever heard. 

THE RIDDLE CLUB AT HOME

An absorbing tale that all boys and girls will enjoy reading. How themembers of the club fixed up a clubroom in the Larue barn, and howthey, later on, helped solve a most mysterious happening, and how oneof the members won a valuable prize, is told in a manner to pleaseevery young reader. 

THE RIDDLE CLUB IN CAMP

The club members went into camp on the edge of a beautiful lake. Herethey had rousing good times swimming, boating and around thecampfire. They fell in with a mysterious old man known as The Hermitof Triangle Island. Nobody knew his real name or where he came fromuntil the propounding of a riddle solved these perplexing questions. 

THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS

This volume takes in a great number of winter sports, includingskating and sledding and the building of a huge snowman. It alsogives the particulars of how the club treasurer lost the duesentrusted to his care and what the melting of the great snowmanrevealed. 

THE RIDDLE CLUB AT SUNRISE BEACH

This volume tells how the club journeyed to the seashore and how theynot only kept up their riddles but likewise had good times on thesand and on the water. Once they got lost in a fog and are maroonedon an island. Here they made a discovery that greatly pleased thefolks at home. 

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Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. 

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These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and tenstands among children and their parents of this generation where thebooks of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishapsof this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures andexperiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative childreneverywhere. 

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These stories by the author of the "Bobbsey Twins" Books areeagerly welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years ofage. Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings ofinquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue. 

 BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP

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SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES

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Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. 

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Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung intoimmediate popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take themat once to your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of funand cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own--one thatcan be easily followed--and all are written in Miss Hope's mostentertaining manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be onthe bookshelf of every child in the land. 

 SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED'S

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Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn byWALTER S. ROGERS

A new line of fascinating tales for little girls. Honey Bunch is adainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is to take her toyour heart at once. 

HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL

Happy days at home, helping mamma and the washerlady. And Honey Bunchhelped the house painters too--or thought she did. 

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY

What wonderful sights Honey Bunch saw when she went to visit hercousins in New York! And she got lost in a big hotel and wanderedinto a men's convention!

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM

Can you remember how the farm looked the first time you visited it?How big the cows and horses were, and what a roomy place to play inthe barn proved to be?

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE

Honey Bunch soon got used to the big waves and thought playing in thesand great fun. And she visited a merry-go-round, and took part in aseaside pageant. 

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN

It was great sport to dig and to plant with one's own little gardentools. But best of all was when Honey Bunch won a prize at the flowershow. 

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP

It was a great adventure for Honey Bunch when she journeyed to CampSnapdragon. It was wonderful to watch the men erect the tent, andmore wonderful to live in it and have good times on the shore and inthe water. 

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK