railroad chaps got hold of him, I can tell you. It must have been an
accident, though; for nobody would hurt Smiler. Now I don't know exactly
what to do. Smiler can't be left here, and I'm afraid he isn't able to
walk very far. If I had time I'd carry him back to the freight. She's
side-tracked only a quarter of a mile from here, waiting for Number 8 to
pass. I'm due at Euston inside of an hour, and I don't dare waste any more
time."

"I'll take him if you say so," answered Rod, who had been greatly
interested in the dog's history. "I believe I can carry him that far."

"All right," replied the track-walker. "I wish you would. You'll have to
move lively though; for if Number 8 is on time, as she generally is, you
haven't a moment to lose."

"I'll do my best," said the boy, and a moment later he was hurrying down
the track with his M. I. P. bag strapped to his shoulders, and with the
dog so strangely committed to his care, clasped tightly in his arms. At
the same time the track-walker, with his swinging lantern, was making
equally good speed in the opposite direction. As Rod rounded a curve, and
sighted the lights of the waiting freight train, he heard the warning
whistle of Number 8 behind him, and redoubled his exertions. He did not
stop even as the fast express whirled past him, though he was nearly
blinded by the eddying cloud of dust and cinders that trailed behind it.
But, if Number 8 was on time, so was he. Though Smiler had grown heavy
as lead in his aching arms, and though his breath was coming in panting
gasps, he managed to climb on the rear platform of the caboose, just as
the freight was pulling out. How glad he was at that moment of the three
weeks training he had just gone through with. It had won him something,
even if his name was not to be engraved on the railroad cup of the Steel
Wheel Club.

As the boy stood in the rear doorway of the caboose, gazing doubtfully
into its interior, a young fellow who looked like a tramp, and who had
been lying on one of the cushioned lockers, or benches, that ran along the
sides of the car, sprang to his feet with a startled exclamation. At the
same moment Smiler drew back his upper lip so as to display a glistening
row of teeth, and, uttering a deep growl, tried to escape from Rod's arms.

"What are you doing in this car! and what do you mean by bringing that dog
in here?" cried the fellow angrily, at the same time advancing with a
threatening gesture. "Come, clea