ter meditating a moment or
two, asked, 'Have your family been long in England?' 'Yes,' I said,
'they have been there for some time. But why do you ask?' 'Perhaps the
number refers,' he replied, 'to the number of generations, just as they
recite them in the Old Testament, you know?' 'Yes,' I unhesitatingly and
with prompt mendacity replied, 'that is exactly it, and I don't see how
you hit it so cleverly.' He smiled all over with delight as the train
rushed up, and waved kind farewells to me as long as we were in sight."

ENGINE DRIVING.

But the regulator once in his hand, the engine-driver has only begun his
experience. He goes through an apprenticeship with different varieties
of engines. He must pick up what knowledge he can himself, and he must
always be on the alert to benefit from the experience of others. The
locomotive in its varying "moods" must be his constant study, and he must
work it so that he shall not infringe more than an average share of a
multiplicity of rules and regulations. The best position in the service,
apart from that of superintendence, is in the driving of an express
engine, and the greatest honour that can be conferred on an engine-driver
is to select him to take charge of the locomotive on a Royal train. Only
the best men are picked out to drive the Queen, and the best engine on
the road is detailed for the Royal service; and although on those
occasions railway officials, who are the superiors of the driver, get on
the foot-boards, the latter is for the time being master of the
situation. Should the locomotive superintendent dictate to him, it would
be to confess that the driver was unworthy of his high trust, and so the
superintendent is content to look on; but it is the contentment born of
the conviction that he has chosen for the task a driver whose experience
is great, and whose watchfulness and care and knowledge of enginery have
given him a claim to the chief service his company has for him. Not that
there is any more risk in running the Queen's train than in running an
ordinary passenger express. In fact, the risk is reduced to a minimum.
A pilot engine has gone before to keep the way clear. The pilot engine
is fifteen minutes in advance of the Royal carriages at every station,
and the space travelled over in that fifteen minutes is kept free and
unobstructed. The speed of the train is carefully regulated, and amongst
other provisions for security the siding po