Produced by D A Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Library of Congress)
[Illustration: “CAUGHT THE CHILD FROM UNDER THE VERY WHEELS OF THE ENGINE”]
Author of “The Holladay Case,” “Tommy Remington’s Battle,” etc.
Copyright, 1905 By L. C. Page & Company (INCORPORATED)
COLONIAL PRESS Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U. S. A.
TO E. B. S., G. W. P AND THE OTHER “BOYS” OF YARD AND SHOP AND OFFICE IN MEMORY OF THAT FAR-OFF TIME WHEN I “COVERED” THE RAILROAD
I. The Bottom Round II. A New Experience III. An Adventure and a Story IV. Allan Meets an Enemy V. Allan Proves His Metal VI. Reddy to the Rescue VII. The Irish Brigade VIII. Good News and Bad IX. Reddy’s Exploit X. A Summons in the Night XI. Clearing the Track XII. Unsung Heroes XIII. A New Danger XIV. Allan Makes a Discovery XV. A Shot from Behind XVI. A Call to Duty XVII. A Night of Danger XVIII. The Signal in the Night XIX. Reddy Redivivus XX. The Road’s Gratitude
“Caught the child from under the very wheels of the engine”
“Near at hand it was even more terrifying than at a distance”
“He struck suddenly and viciously at the boy’s face”
“Snatched the little one into the air just as the engine bore down upon it”
“He stepped to one side, and ... brought down his club upon the other’s head”
Jack Welsh, foreman of Section Twenty-one, on the Ohio division of the P. & O., turned sharply around at sound of the voice and inspected the speaker for a moment.
“A man, yes,” he said, at last. “But not a boy. This ain’t boy’s work.”
And he bent over again to sight along the rail and make sure that the track was quite level.
“Up a little!” he shouted to the gang who had their crowbars under the ties some distance ahead.
They heaved at their bars painfully, growing red in the face under the strain.
Some of the men braced themselves and held on to their bars, while others hastened to tamp some gravel solidly under the ties to keep them in place. The foreman, at leisure for a moment, turned again to the boy, who had stood by with downcast face, plainly undecided what to do. Welsh had a kindly Irish heart, which not even the irksomeness of section work could sour, and he had noted the boy’s fresh face and honest eyes. It was not an especially handsome face, yet one worth looking twice at, if only for its frankness.