m of service as fireman of
the Limited Mail.

The first trip out Griscom was engineer. Ralph noticed that he looked
pale and worried. The run to the city was made in a way quite unusual
with the brisk and lively veteran railroader. Ralph waited until they
were on their way home from the roundhouse that evening. Then he
said:

"Mr. Griscom, you have not been your usual self to-day."

"That's true, lad," nodded the engineer gravely.

"Anything the matter especially?"

"Oh, a little extra care on my mind and under the weather a bit
besides," sighed Griscom.

"Can I help you in any way?" inquired Ralph.

"No, lad--we must all bear our own troubles."

The next day Griscom did not report for duty at train time. A man
named Lyle was put on extra duty. Ralph did not know him very well nor
did he like him much. He understood that he was a fine engineer but
that he had been warned several times for drinking.

As he came into the cab, Ralph noticed that his eyes were dull and
shifty, his hands trembled and he bore all the appearance of a man who
had been recently indulging in liquor to excess.

As soon as they were out on the road, Lyle began to drink frequently
from a bottle he took out of his coat. He became more steady in his
movements, and, watching him, Ralph saw that he understood his
business thoroughly and was duly attentive to it.

After the wait at the city, however, Lyle came aboard of the
locomotive in quite a muddled condition. He was talkative and boastful
now. He began to tell of the many famous special runs he had made, of
the big salaries he had earned, and of his general proficiency as a
first-class engineer.

He ordered full steam on, and by the time they were twenty miles from
the city he kept the locomotive going at top notch speed. There was a
tremendous head on the cylinders and they ran like a racer. Frogs and
target rods were passed at a momentum that fairly frightened Ralph,
and it was a wonder to him the way the wheels ground and bounded that
they always lit on the steel.

Lyle took frequent drinks from the bottle, which had been replenished.
His eyes were wild, his manner reckless, almost maniacal. As they
passed signals he would utter a fierce, ringing yell. Ralph crowded
over to him.

"Mr. Lyle," he shouted, "we are ahead of time."

"Good," roared the mad engineer, "I'm going to make the record run of
the century."

"If any other train is off schedule, that is dangerous."

"Let