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Bob, the
. nial, urbane, and popiilarrnan, ‘named
. the W. & W. laid new and heavier rails,
. the P. & G. would do the same.
. twenty years, named Joe Alden.
eijgwas master mechanic in Vtlie P. ,& G.
‘ shops.
’ ] not pleasing, as’ he was possessed of a
I teen.
him To caiiiiiasi>oisii>sNrs' .
' If you've got a thing that’s happy,‘
, . Boil it down; -
.Make it short and crisp and snappy,
' j . A 5 Boil it down; ,
'When )‘0lll‘,bI'alIl‘ its coinhas minted, ‘
Down the page your pen has sprinted,
If you want-gyour effort printed,.
Boil it down.
Take out every surplus letter," '
T , Boil it down; - -
" Fewer syllables the better,
I Boil it down; .
Make your meaning plain‘--express it,
.So we’ll know, not merely guess it; .‘
Then, my friend, ere you address it,
J‘ V, Boil it down.’
Cut out all the extra trimmings,. ,
. . Boil it down; , V , 4 .
. Skim it well, then ‘skim,the skimniings,
V Boil it‘ down; ‘ ‘
" if When you're sure ’twould be a sin ‘to
"Cut another sentence in two, I
, Send it on and we’ll begin ‘to
- ‘ Boil it down.
Boy Engineer
AZhe2't J. Booth fl
‘ . CHAPTER 1. d
THE 130:: ENGINEERS.‘
The beautiful little city of VVheeling had
sprung up in a locality of such peculiar
natural- surroundings that. most people
"I; V wondered how it had "ever been-built there.
, Deep in alittle hollow, hemmed in by the
hills, it could only be approached or. de-
parted from through a narrow defile scarce
two hundred ‘feet wide. . i Z
The country about wasvery rich in min-
‘' erals and coal, and when the mines were
‘ developed naturally the settlers had built
in thehollow. ‘The fact that they did so’
makes possible the incidents of this story.
Through this two hundred feet, wide de-
lv file which allowed of an entrance to the
city there were two .high,ways,l and parallel
railroads. A . I . 7 - . ;
One. railroad was the 'Wheeling & West-
ern. The other was called the Pittston’&
Gulf. ww ‘ .V 5 . .
Each had its own depot'on'ly'a "few hun-
dred yards from each other. The president
of the P. & G. was a very peppery and au-
tocratic-gentleman named Arteriias Ham-
lin. V . A
I be president of the W. & W. wasa ge-
Jules
Morton. V ’
Although the two railroads were‘in a
sense rival lines, the commerce of one’did
not -in any sense interfere with that of the
other.‘ They were rivals simply in. a senti-
mental sense, each being jealous of the oth-
er’s‘ equipment and prosperity. , ‘
If the P. &,G. bought a new and fast
locomotive, the W. & W. would straight-
way buy one just as good, ifpnot better. If
to be a matterof sentiment and pride that
one should not allow the other to outdo
him. . ‘ . ' V r
In fact, this kept matters very lively in
- "Wheeling, and the great rivalry between
::---’t'neV‘railroad,s had in a measure split the
town in twain, divided the social element,
‘a and even the business. interests also.
Each road of course had its partisans,
and some of these were so bitter that some-
” . times members of the rival. faction had
. even come to hard words and blows.
'An interesting fact wasthat each road
had a lightning express; and each fast
train, splendidly equipped witlr the best
type of locomotive and parlor coaches," left
the ‘Wheeling depots at exactly, the‘same
moment. i The two railroads paralleled
each other through the Wheeling Cut, and
. for-twenty ’miles‘ the two trains ran side
by side. A - ‘ . 3 "V
' Tlle ‘effect of this was, of course, that the
‘engineer of each roadpstrove to outrun the
other for the twenty miles. The road was
splendidly, ballasted, and this was fortu-
, nate, for there were .many curves . and
grades. and bridges over deep cuts, making
the run at all times hazardous. I , i
In spite of that, the twenty-mile run was
made‘ again andlagain in nineteen minutes,
and even less, which was as fast as it was
safe to run over such grades.
Honors seemed to change quite often be-
tween the rival engineers. The engineer
of the P. 6‘: G. express‘ was a youth of about
His fath-
He was a skillful engineer, in spite
‘of his youth, though his personality ‘Willi’;
Jea -
ous. domineering nature. , . ’
Tliecnglneer, by a strange chance, of the
W. -S: W. expresswas also a youth of nine-
Iie was aniorphan. boy, who had,
I aside from his school hours. made his liv-
ing working in the W. & W. yards.
,Bnb Sidney wasas popular as Jochlden
i was disliked.
. ; his rival. in temperament and looks. Bob
was handsome and l>111Ck)'- I
He was the exact opposite of
V engine.
. tion. ‘For a couple of months he did not
thoughtfully.
‘want. Go over to the roundliouse and give
‘ , The super looked amazed. .
Sidney is only a’ boy in years?” . ' ‘ .
gthe. Rival. -
only ,a youth. ” -
-later Bob Sidney,
Two, are you?’j
been in on time always.”
It seemed , '
‘flashed, and he bowed and said:
'Lake Junction, and so force the W.V & W.
be courteous aswellas efficient.-
He’ had started as stoker an a freight.
-So remarkable were his talents
that he rose with greatrapidity to become
engineer. When some of the older engin-
eers deinurredV because (if his youth,-Presi-
dent Morton said: , ' - .
“That boy can run a locomotivebetter
than any man on this line. He isgoing to
have a chancedf, A ’ .
And Bob got it. When he was just nine-
teen he ran the night flyer" to Lake Junc-
once fail to bring his trainin on time, aml
previous to this the iiyer had always been
late.‘ 4 V
' Engineer Stevens; of the Rival Express,
as the fast train wascalled,“ had died, and.
the first‘engineer to take his place -had
allowed the R. & G. engineer to beat -him
by -two minutes to Division’ City. lvhere
the two roads ceased to parallel each oth-
er. Besides, he was twenty minutes late at
Lake Junction, the end of the run. ‘
Tlievsuper came‘ to [President illortongiii
great, distress. Six engineers had been
tried. One of them ditched the train in a
reckless attempt to outrun the.Pittston ri-V
val. Q I ' . I A
, “Mr. Morton, what. shall. we .do,?.: Our
train will be, a laughing" stock. We really
have got, to have an engineer." . ‘
“Is that so, Harvey, “said the president,
“Have you tried psackett?”
“Oh, yes. He overi-an the signals, and
wealmost had a smash-up.” ‘ ‘ - I .
“There's Jim Hacket, of Forty-Two.”
“He was fifteen minutes late.” , I
' Morton drummed on his desk a moinentq
.Then he rang, for a messenger. - . ,
“Is-Sixty-Two in-the yard?" he asked. V
“Yes; sir. She was in on time.“ .
‘.‘Good," said the president, with his face
growing brighter.‘ ,“There is the chap we
my. respects to Engineer Bob, Sidney, and
tell hinil want to see him. ”' . .
“See here, Mr. Morton, do-you know that
“A boy in years is‘ oftentimes a man in
action.” I , J ,
“Oh, yes; but he never raiifa train. like
.He.miglit cause aserious acci-
dent”, - , . r I -
“He might, Harvey. I am ‘of the opinion-
that he will not. At least, I am going to
give him :1 trial.” It . -
“Do you mean that, Mr. Morton?” ,
“I certainly do." . I A .-
“I would consider it a moment. Heiis
"Well, so is the P. & G. engineer, Alden’s
boy. He is only twenty; and he is the
best on that-line.” . I
The super said‘ no more.-and a moment
a bright, handsome
youth, entered the office, capin hand, and
stood respectfully before the president of
the .road. " . v V V .
“You sent for me, Mr. Morton?”
“I. did, sir. You are still running.Sixty-
“Yes, sir." it
“Very good. How many
been late thisilast week?"
The boy engineer looked at the super,
who spoke up: ' -. I-
.“Not once,’ President Morton. Heuhas
“That is the engineer we want. Bob, I
want you to‘ take charge of the Rival Ex-
press. I shall expect you to give an ac-
count of yourself. It is your chance to win
fame and money, and I expect you to do
it.” i u ' i '
,'Bob was quite overwhelmed, but his eyes
“I obey. orders, sir.
say.” . . -
f'Very well, Bob,” said President Morton.
“I feel sure I can trust you. Anything to
beat the P. & G. ,We can’t afford’. to let
them beat us. You understand." ‘
“I understand," sir,” said Bob ‘respectful-,
ly. “I shall ‘W as you say.”
. The president then motion the super to
go, saying: ,
“I. want to see you alone, Bob.” .
The super went, and then President Mor
ton ordered Bob to be seated, and dropping
into a chair opposite him, hevsaid:
“Bob, I believe.you have the interest of
this railroad at he3.l‘t."‘ .
“I think I can safely say that I. do, Mr.
Morton.” , 1 I ,. V’ '
“Very good! I am goingto entrust you
with a little secret. You must never speak
of it to anyone. You know that President
Hamlin, of the P. 5: G., has 11 great anti-
pathy against this road. He is at the pres-
ent moment trying. to bribe legislators to
cause" our charter to be revoked. so that he
can build a branch from Division City'to
It is -”just as you’
to fail.‘ If he succeeds this road will in a
few months be in a receiver’s liands."’,
“That is a villainous thing to-do, Mr.
Morton," said Bob-with spirit.
“Yes, it is, Bob. Now, our best way to
overcome that scheme is to keep our busi-
ness up to a high mark, to prove to the
railroad commissioners that the W. & W. is
a paying road and a necessary project. We
can only do this by eliicient service and
perfect equipment.- Our trains must be on
timc,.and every employee of this road must
I depend
upon you to do your part.” '
times have you .
" .6 "
“I will‘db it, Mr.“ Morton," said the boy
. engineer, ‘resolutely.
CHAPTER II.
Il“'ALS OF TIIEHRAIL.
“Bob,” continued the railroadV 1n‘agnaTe,'
“you will have ,a good deal to contend with.
You will be annoyed and pestered at first,
for there will be jealousy and perhaps
hatred because you have got the express;
but you are notwto mind those things. I
shall protect you to the ful1.extent of-‘ the
law, and my own power. I shall back you
up, for-I have confidencerin you. I want
you to take'the express out this afternoon,
and be sure and make the run on time. I
havealways been interested in you, and“.I
believe you-are a good boy, and-that you
will do, your best.” 1 . 3 . . . '
“I thank you, Mr. Morton,” said ‘Bob. “I
will ‘do mypbestl’ V ”. ‘ .
‘ Within the hour. it was known at the
roundliouse and all over the railroad yard
‘that Bob Sidney was to" run the Rival. Ex-
press. ,, . .. .- V I i y,
In fact, the news; traveled to the yards of
the P. & G., and even" reached-the ears of
President, Hamlin. ’ V g . . -
,Joe‘Alde11 had-[been regarded-as a pro-'
digy of the -rail. His "father, as master
mechanic, had taught ‘him’ all there was to
know about alocomotive. . I
I-Iewas thefwonderful boy engineer, the
‘marvel of the‘. railroad‘ yards, and now,‘
wlienit -came to his; ears‘ that he had a
rival of about his own age, he was curious,
though contemptuous.‘ , 7 . I
-f‘What!’V’ he exclaiined; Jjdoes that kid-
=-1lii'n’k>he ‘can beat me out on that run to
Divisioii City? 5 Well, I’ll just simply lose
him in the first five miles. -. If he keeps- up"
the pace lie’ll never make,Death Curve, I
can tell..you.that, and the Zig Zag will kill '
him off, anyway. I -guess the W.
prettyvhafrd up for engineers.” ” I . . A . .
Death Curve was a very sharp andVdan-
gerous curve,Aand the Zig Zag spoken of by
& W; are
Alden was a'se’ries oftortuous bends inithe V
line which taxed‘ the skill of the’ besteu-,
gineers to negotiate at at high rate of speed.
VWhe1i Bob 'went- over to the’ roundhouse
to take charge of Ninety-Fbur, the locomo-
tive of, the‘ R-ival‘ Express, he found the
stoker, Luke” Stacy, Voverliauling the bear-
ings. ‘ , i A‘ l .- ' K
The stoker was a man past‘ middle age,
and he might long since have been an en-
gineer had he wished. Personal eccen-
tricity, however, had caused him to refuse.
advancement, and he .preferred Vto remain
a stoker, ‘As’ Bob ‘appeared he came up to
him eagerly.‘ ‘. I i
A “Are you goin’, to be
asked.‘ “Is it triie?” . ,
“I‘guess it is, Luke,” said Bob. V .
.TheV stoker “grabbed the boy engineer’s‘
hand warmly- ’ ‘ , . . '
“I hope ye make good,’f he said. heartily.
“I’ve hadia lot of dead ones for mates late-.
ly, that didn’t know a throttle from a
steam injector. I've seen your work on the
other‘ express, and I hear, that ye never was
behind time.” w . i ""
“I’ll do the best I can, Stacy,” said Bob,
modestly. ‘‘I am not going.to boast, but I
will never let that Joe Alden beat, me if I
can help it. ”. 1 " ' , .
“'l‘hat’s the talk, boy! I hear. that there
my mate, lad?!’ he.
is no love between ye, and it’s all on ac-
count of that pretty little red-checked tele-
grapher down at Division City.” V. i
, Bob blushed like a peony, for the old
stoker had. actually hit the mark. ;
At Division City, where the two-roads
parted, therewas a Union Depot. VHer,e the
.two expresses waited fifteen minutes to
effect a connection with another train on
another road which made junction here.
The prettylittle telegrapher,,Bessie True,
was known to everyone on the line, and
many had tried to.win her heart. Joe Al-
den was desperately in love with her, "and
.he had thought that he had the inside
track until,B,ob appeared onthe scene.
.From their first meeting Bob and Bessie
had been the warmest of friends. The‘lit-
tle telegrapligirl had acquired a wonder-
ful liking-for the handsome boy engineer,
and Bob spent all his time while at'Divi-
sion City in conversation with her. I '
‘ This had excited Joe Alden’s jealousy
and hatred, and he had vowed revenge on
Bob. Therefore when he learned-that Bob
was to run the RivalVExpress he was vin-
‘(1lCl’.lV'e in his attitude, and exceedingly
cynical in his remarks. ‘ . , ‘ ’ V
More than . once influence had been
brought to bear to have the time of the
‘rival trains changed, as there was a fear
by passengers that some time the frightful
rate of speed might result in a very seri-
ous’ accident. But President Hamlin would
not agree to this, .for’he declared that it
was necessary to start at two-thirty in
order to make the connection at the other
and of the line. -
As a matter of fact, the starting time of.
the W. & W. train could not be changed,
on account of the connection at Lake‘ Junc-
U011.‘ So the two trains seemed bound to
continue as rivals of the rail. r M - --
iAt twelve o'clock Bob left-the round-
house, and went over to the hotel where
he got his dinner.
Bob's home was in Lake Junction, where
he lived at a boarding-house kept by an old
15913 Dam?“ M1.‘-‘L Hm‘dl(..f0i' the running
wtimc of his train had admitted of his get-
ting down there just- in time to spend the
went flat onhis face. .
- There, was an uproarious-burst of ideri- -
night, and-come back on the return run
if
of two hours" and a half the next 'ni'oi-ning,
As Bob reached the hotel several railroad
men were seen standing at the door. ‘
They were P.‘& G.‘ men, and‘ with them
was Joe Alden, the, boy: engineer. . V
Instinctively Bob felt that there was go- .
ing to be trouble, and he. was‘ half inclined
to turn back, and he would have done so
but for the fact that it would -have stamped
himas afraid. '
- ..So,he walked. straiglit up to the hotel .
‘men moved
door. None of the P. &.G.
aside, and ‘Alden called out: ,
“Why, hello!- Here's the.W. & wxs last” if ‘
‘resort. 3 How are you,fSidn”ey? .I‘ under-
stand‘ you areicoming up in the world.” .
it “That is better than “to go down in the
‘world, Alden,”, said Bob, very coolly. ’ ‘
“Are you really goingto
two-thirty. expi'ess?’f. . , .
' am going to',do inorathan try. V Lam” '
going to do it.”
'-“Whew! ’ It’s all settled then, dandl slip-,5
pose you’ll get into“DivisionCit.y- tel1.IIllll%'&Z-
utes‘ ‘ahead ‘of. me. .” 1,‘,-
‘'’I’ll get in there as soon ‘as you ‘will,
..and you can depend on it, Alden.”
“Oh, y‘es!”,jeered;Alden. . “You’ll want ;
try and ‘run. the .
I’,,,.".':
r’ ,i
. .,'
.-..., ,
to get there" before I-do for fear I’ll run "
away. with your pretty-telegrapher down
there. ‘Vtfell, that’s just what,I’ll do.” ,
“All I right,” "said Bob,’ impatiently.
“Please "step aside‘ and :let" me ‘go into the?"
hotel.”
h p v f‘ - > . . V ‘
Several of the railroad omen moved a lit-
tle, but as Bobwent to pass through Alden
sliotphis foot 'oiit, and tripped him, and ‘Bob
sive laughterat whaththe P. & G.’ men
‘thought was a great joke,’.but Bob sprang
to his feet pallid with rage.
“Whattdo ‘you mean by tripping me, Al-
den ? 7’, he demanded.
r
.V.
4.‘
‘xi
'2.-
.l
-.
Vl
,:
"Oh, aoirtget. hot aboutalittle fun, lSid- . .
iiey,” sneered Alden. .
you know.[” , -
“Is it?” said Bob coolly.
about this, then.” - -. ; ' .
V -Quick as a panther,iBob“caught Alden by ,
the hip and shoulder,‘ bent him: over his
thigh, and stood him on his head in a ,mud ,
puddle by the doorstep.‘“Bob fairly dragged
Alden’s physiognomy through the filthy:
“Don’t get mad‘
mudbefore he let go of him, and -allowed‘ I
‘him to roll away into the.dirt. . .
It was done ‘so Vquickly and with such
strength that Alden had ‘not really time to
muster his own strength for‘ resistance.‘
But,he scrambled to his-‘feet and dugthe
mud from hiseyes and nostrils, and-by this
time Bob had passed through into the ho’-’ ;
were
tel dining-room. 5 The P. '& G. men
I00 dulnfonnded to, act or speak. a
l
QHAPTER VIII. " ,
M A i:.Vi1Li:oAn RACE.
There had been a witness to this little
affair'.whop.certainly enjoyedait to’ the‘ nu.
most, and this was President Morton, who‘,
had been on the opposite side of thestreet.
He hadtseen the whole, affair, and recog-
V nized the fact that the retaliation ."Bob
made was ‘justifiable and deserved. The
‘Sight presented, by Alden was ludicrous,
and even the P.?& G. men had to. laugh’. at '
him.
engineer’s eyes
ness- I
“That is -- bad taste, a J
But there was a blind fury in -the young . ‘ '
that was terrible to wit'- V.-
. .V . -A ‘-..:‘f‘;'-
He would have dashed? into the. hotel
after “Bob, but Ben .Ward,,the burly pro-
prietor, blocked the door and said: I’ i ‘
“I -sawvthe whole thing, Alden, and"you
were to blame.- I don’t want any trouble
around my hotel. and I'll have to ask you
to go away from here.” . V
. .“0h. .y‘ou-stick "up for that little puppy.
do you, Ben Ward?" I
“Not any more than I’d stick up for you i
if he was to do what you did. Tripping a
person'1s a prettvmean thing, and 'I’d be
ashamed if I. wasyou.” - ‘
-Alden was sulky. and he retired ., to wash V
his face and clean..up, which he did. a a’
pump near. The railroad ‘men offered him
syinpathy’ after a fashion, but he gritted
ou : - , , “ d ' I
“I'll get square with him.‘
see ihimlat Division City.” . ,
With that he went away.’ Bob very quiet-
ly ate his dinner, and paying for it, left’:
the hotel. "He went back to the min-cad
yard and to the roundhouse. , , A
Luke Stacy had everything in line shape,
and lie said: . ‘ V‘ d
. ‘Nlllety,-Four is in shape to race for her’
life. Bob, You will see that she will give a.
gobd account of herse1fito-day.n - ,-
Thats What we want, Luke. I wish it
was time to start. ”, ‘ V I D , I-
‘But two‘-twenty finally came, and the
train ‘dispatcher signaled the roundhouse, <
and Bob and Luke climbed‘ into the cab.
Wait-till 1- "
Ninety-Four backed down to the ‘plat-“'-
form and coupled onto the express- Bob
‘stepped down onto the platform for a]
inonient, and his bosom swelled with pride
as he looked at the handsome’ train which
. it was his proud privilege to take out.
The Rival Express was composed wholly
of parlor cars, and ,did’not,niake a stop un-
til Division City was reaclied. A
, There were few liner trains in the coun-
try. . . Y, ‘ s
As Bob stood there he saw the fine figure
