de in
the rapid progress made by his pupil.

Since first obtaining employment on the railroad, Rod had, according to
his promise, written several times to his faithful friend Dan the stable
boy on his uncle's place with requests that he would keep him informed of
all that took place in the village. Dan sent his answers through the
station agent at Euston, and Rod had only been a fireman a few days when
he received a note which read as follows:

"DEAR MR. ROD:

"They is a man here, who I don't know, but who is asking all about
you. He asked me many questions, and has talk with your uncle. He
may mean good or he may mean bad, I don't know which. If I find out
ennything more I will let you know. Yours respectful,

"DAN."

Rod puzzled over this note a good deal, and wondered who on earth could be
making inquiries about him. If he had known that it was Brown the railroad
detective, he would have wondered still more. He finally decided that, as
he was not conscious of having done anything wrong, he had no cause for
worry. So he dismissed the affair, and devoted his whole attention to
learning to be a fireman.

Most people imagine it to be a very simple matter to shovel coal into a
locomotive furnace, and so it is; but this is only a small part of a
fireman's responsibility. He must know when to begin shovelling coal, and
when to stop; when to open the blower and when to shut it off; when to
keep the furnace door closed, and when to open it; how to regulate the
dampers; when and how to admit water to the boiler; when to pour oil into
the lubricating cups of the cylinder valves and a dozen other places; when
to ring the bell, and when and how to do a multitude of other things,
every one of which is important. He must keep a constant watch of the
steam-gauge, and see that its pointer does not fall below a certain mark.
The water-gauge also comes in for a share of his attention. Above all, he
must learn, as quickly as possible, how to start, stop, and reverse the
engine, and how to apply, or throw off the air brakes, so that he can
readily do any of these things in an emergency, if his engineman happens
to be absent.

In acquiring all this information, and at the same time attending to his
back-breaking work of shovelling coal, Rod found himself so fully and
happily occupied that he could spare but few thoughts to the stran