would, like Tom, if the
opportunity served, seek my fortune elsewhere. The chance I longed for
came. I paid a short visit to Tom, and whilst in Glasgow, obtained the
post of private clerk to the Stores Superintendent of the Caledonian
Railway, and on the last day of the year 1872, I left the Midland
Railway, to the service of which I had been as it were born, in which my
father and uncles and cousins served, against the wish of my father, and
to the surprise of my relatives. But I had reached man's estate, and
felt a pride in going my own way, and in seeking, unassisted, my fortune,
whatever it might be.

What had I learned in my first five years of railway work? Not very
much; the next few years were to be far more fruitful; but I had acquired
some business habits; a practical acquaintance with shorthand, which was
yet to stand me in good stead; some knowledge of rates and fares, their
nature and composition, which was also to be useful to me in after life;
some familiarity with the compilation of time-tables and the working of
trains; but of practical knowledge of work at stations I was quite
ignorant.

Thus equipped, without the parental blessing, with little money in my
purse, with health somewhat improved but still delicate, I bade good-bye
to Derby, light-hearted enough, and hopeful enough, and journeyed north
to join my friend Tom, and to make my way as best I could in the
commercial capital of "bonnie Scotland."

CHAPTER VII.
RAILWAY PROGRESS

Before entering upon any description of the new life that awaited me in
Glasgow, I will briefly allude to the principal events connected with the
Midland and with railways generally which took place during the first
five years of my railway career.

Closely associated with many of these events was Mr. James Allport, the
Midland general manager, one of the foremost and ablest of the early
railway pioneers, regarding whom it is fit and proper a few words should
be said. Strangely enough I never saw him until nearly two years after I
entered the Midland service, and this was on the occasion of a visit of
the Prince and Princess of Wales to Derby. We clerks were allowed good
positions on the station platform to witness the arrival of their Royal
Highnesses by their special train from London. Mr. Allport accompanied
them along the platform to the carriages outside the station. Probably
the chairman and directors of the company were also present, but our e