esides the firewood we find on the tender
a barrel of rainwater and a tall, blonde jar with wicker-work around it,
which contains a small sprig of tansy immersed in four gallons of New
England rum. This the engineer has brought with him for use in case of
accident. He is now engaged in preparing for the accident in advance.

Next comes the front brakeman in a plug hat about two sizes too large
for him. He also wears a long-waisted frock coat with a bustle to it and
a tall shirt-collar with a table-spread tie, the ends of which flutter
gayly in the morning breeze. As the train pauses at the first station he
takes a hammer out of the tool-box and nails on the tire of the fore
wheel of his coach. The engineer gets down with a long oil-can and puts
a little sewing-machine oil on the pitman. He then wipes it off with his
sleeve.

It is now discovered that the rear coach, containing a number of
directors and the division superintendent, is missing. The conductor
goes to the rear of the last coach, and finds that the string by which
the directors' car was attached is broken, and that, the grade being
pretty steep, the directors and one brakeman have no doubt gone back to
the starting place.

But the conductor is cool. He removes his bell-crowned plug hat, and,
taking out his orders and time-card, he finds that the track is clear,
and, looking at a large, valuable Waterbury watch, presented to him by a
widow whose husband was run over and killed by the train, he sees he can
still make the next station in time for dinner. He hires a livery team
to go back after the directors' coach, and, calling "All aboard," he
swings lightly upon the moving train.

It is now 10 o'clock, and nineteen weary miles still stretch out between
him and the dinner station. To add to the horrors of the situation, the
front brakeman discovers that a very thirsty boy in the emigrant car has
been drinking from the water-supply tank on the tender, and there is
not enough left to carry the train through. Much time is consumed in
filling the barrel again at a spring near the track, but the conductor
finds a "spotter" on the train, and gets him to do it. He also induces
him to cut some more wood and clean out the ashes.

The engineer then pulls out a draw-head and begins to make up time. In
twenty minutes he has made up an hour's time, though two miles of
hoop-iron are torn from the track behind him. He sails into the eating
station on time, and, while th