gineers' office, Edwin had, in a few weeks, evinced
so much talent and aptitude for the work as to fill his patron's heart
with delight. He possessed that valuable quality which induces a man--
in Scripture language--to look not only on his own things but on the
things of others. He was not satisfied with doing his own work
thoroughly, but became so inquisitive as to the work of his companions
in the office that he acquired in a short time as much knowledge as some
of these companions had acquired in several years.

The engineer's department of a railway is one which involves some of the
most important operations connected with the line. But indeed the same
may be said of all the departments--passenger, goods, locomotive, and
police, each of which is independent, yet connected. They are separate
wheels, as it were, which work harmoniously together in one grand
system, and the gentlemen at the head of these departments must be men
of experience; of acknowledged talent and power, each supreme in his own
department, but all subject to the general manager.

The engineer-in-chief, who was Edwin Gurwood's superior, had charge of
the entire railway, which was something over one thousand miles in
extent. This vast line was divided into four divisions--namely, the
northern, southern, western, and eastern; each division being under the
superintendence of a resident engineer, who was, of course, subject to
the engineer-in-chief. Each division was about 250 miles long, and was
subdivided into districts varying from thirty to seventy miles. These
were under the charge of inspectors, whose duty it was to travel
constantly over their lengths--almost daily--partly on foot and partly
by train, to see that the line was kept in perfect working order. The
travelling inspectors had under them a large body of "surface-men" or
"plate-layers," men whose duty it was to perform the actual work of
keeping the line in order. They worked in squads of four or five--each
squad having a foreman or gaffer, who was held responsible for the
particular small portion of the line that he and his squad had to attend
to. The average number of surface-men was about two to the mile--so
that the entire staff of these men on the line numbered over two
thousand. Their business was to go over the entire line twice a day,
drive tight the wooden "keys" which held the rails in their chairs, lift
and re-lay broken or worn-out rails and chairs, raise or depre