through the
side of his shop, and fetched up against the corner of the house, with
a violence that shook it to its foundation. In considerable
trepidation, the youngster dashed forward, shut off steam, and turned
it round. As it was too cumbersome for him to manage in any other way,
he very cautiously let on steam again, and persuaded it to walk back
into the shop, passing through the same orifice through which it had
emerged, and came very nigh going out on the opposite side again.

The great thing was now accomplished, and the boy devoted himself to
bringing it as near perfection as possible. The principal thing to be
feared was its getting out of order, since the slightest
disarrangement would be sufficient to stop the progress of the man.

Johnny therefore made it of gigantic size, the body and limbs being no
more than 'Shells,' used as a sort of screen to conceal the working of
the engine. This was carefully painted in the manner mentioned in
another place, and the machinery was made as strong and durable as it
was possible for it to be. It was so constructed as to withstand the
severe jolting to which it necessarily would be subjected, and finally
was brought as nearly perfect as it was possible to bring a thing not
possessing human intelligence.

By suspending the machine so that Its feet were clear of the floor,
Johnny Brainerd ascertained that under favorable circumstances It
could run very nearly sixty miles an hour. It could easily do that,
and draw a car connected to it on the railroad, while on a common road
it could make thirty miles, the highest rate at which he believed it
possible for a wagon to be drawn upon land with any degree of safety.

It was the boy's intention to run at twenty miles an hour, while where
everything was safe, he would demonstrate the power of the invention
by occasionally making nearly double that.

As it was, he rightly calculated that when it came forth, it would
make a great sensation throughout the entire United States.

CHAPTER IV. THE TRAPPER AND THE ARTISAN.

'HELLO, YOUNKER! what in thunder yer tryin' to make?'

Johnny Brainerd paused and looked up, not a little startled by the
strange voice and the rather singular figure which stood before him.
It was a hunter in half civilized costume, his pants tucked into his
immense boot tops, with revolvers and rifles at his waist, and a
general negligent air, which showed that he was at home in whatever