cast grave suspicions upon Rod Blake as having been connected with
the affair, and advised his arrest. Snyder had spent some hours in
preparing this document, and now awaited with entire self complaisance the
praise which he was certain would reward his efforts. What then was his
amazement when his superior, after glancing through the report,
deliberately tore it into fragments, which he dropped into a waste-basket.
At the same time he said:

"I am pleased to be able to inform you, Mr. Appleby, that the property you
describe as missing has been recovered through the agency of this very
Rodman Blake. I must also warn you that the company has no employee of
whose integrity and faithfulness in the performance of duty they are more
assured than they are of his. As you have evidently failed to discover
this in your dealings with Mr. Blake, and as you have blundered through
this investigation from first to last, I shall hereafter have no use for
your services outside of routine office work." Thus saying, Mr. Hill
closed the door of his private office behind him, leaving Snyder
overwhelmed with bewilderment and indignation.

CHAPTER XXXV.

FIRING ON NUMBER 10.

In regard to Rod Blake's new appointment, nothing more was said that day;
but, sure enough, he received an order the following morning to report to
the master mechanic for duty as fireman on engine number 10.

Proud enough of his promotion, the lad promptly obeyed the order; and when
that same evening he climbed into the cab of number 10, as the huge
machine with a full head of steam on stood ready to start out with Freight
Number 73, he felt that one of his chief ambitions was in a fair way of
being realized. He tried to thank Truman Stump for getting him the job;
but the old engineman only answered "Nonsense, you won the place for
yourself, and I'm glad enough to have such a chap as you. The only trouble
is that you'll learn too quick, and be given an engine of your own, just
as you are getting the hang of my ways. I won't teach you anything
though, except how to fire properly, so you needn't expect it."

That is what he said. What he did was to take every opportunity for
showing the young fireman the different parts of the wonderful machine on
which they rode, and of explaining them to him in the clearest possible
manner. He encouraged him to ask questions, often allowed him to handle
the throttle for short distances, and evidently took the greatest pri