ee that in case his theory was not correct he would send them word,
the party abandoned their car to have supper and sleep in a little French
hotel.

The supper was bad and the beds were worse. Norman and Roy longed for
their new blankets and the woods, and slept with difficulty. Some time,
about the middle of the night, the two boys heard the strident shriek of
a locomotive. They at once rushed to Colonel Howell's room, eager to make
their way back to the depot, but recalling the operator's promise, the
prospector persuaded them to go to bed again and when it was daylight
they all awoke to find no train in sight. But the operator was waiting
for them and ate breakfast with the party.

"She come in with a busted cylinder," he exclaimed, "and they had to go
to Edmonton to get 'er fixed. But she'll be back this morning sometime
and you'll have a nice ride to the Landing." Then he laughed. "That is,
if you can pull a heavy passenger coach over them tracks."

It was eleven o'clock when the old-fashioned engine reappeared but any
motive power seemed good enough and when the little Irish conductor read
his orders, he cheerfully busied himself in making the passenger car and
the three other cars a part of his train. The spirit of discontent
disappeared and once again the northbound expedition was on its way.

Until twelve o'clock that night, the indefatigable little Irishman pushed
his heavy train, which included many cars of long-delayed freight, over
the new tracks, which alternately seemed to float and sink into the soft
sand and muskeg. Four times in that journey some one car of the train
slid off the track and just as often the energetic crew pulled it back
again. Once the accident was more serious. When the piling-up jarring
told that another pair of wheels were in the muskeg and the train came to
a crashing stop, it was found that the front axles of the car had jammed
themselves so far rearward that the car was out of service. But again
there was little delay. With two jack screws, the little Irishman lifted
the car sideways and toppled it over. Coupling up the other cars, the
train proceeded.

At six o'clock in the evening supper was found in the cook car of a
construction camp. It did not grow dark until eleven o'clock, and by this
time, Colonel Howell and his friends were beginning to get a little sleep
curled up on the seats of their car. An hour later, having creakingly
crossed a long trestle, the strange train