sique, and directed by a remarkably clear brain. When the
timekeeper got killed, Bradford took his place, for he could "read
writin'," an accomplishment rare among the laborers. When the bookkeeper
got drunk he kept the books, working overtime at night.

In the rush and roar of the fight General Dodge had forgotten the young
man in corduroys until General Casement called his attention to the
young man's work. The engineers wanted Bradford, and Casement had
kicked, and, fearing defeat, had appealed to the chief. They sent for
Bradford. Yes, he was an engineer, he said, and when he said it they
knew it was true. He was quite willing to remain in the store department
until he could be relieved, but, naturally, he would prefer field work.

He got it, and at once. Also, he got some Indian fighting. In less than
a year he was assigned to the task of locating a section of the line
west of the Platte. Coming in on a construction train to make his first
report, the train was held up, robbed, and burned by a band of Sioux.
Bradford and the train crew were rescued by General Dodge himself, who
happened to be following them with his "arsenal" car, and who heard at
Plumb Creek of the fight and of the last stand that Bradford and his
handful of men were making in the way car, which they had detached and
pushed back from the burning train. Such cool heroism as Bradford
displayed here could not escape the notice of so trained an Indian
fighter as General Dodge. Bradford was not only complimented, but was
invited into the General's private car. The General's admiration for the
young pathfinder grew as he received a detailed and comprehensive report
of the work being done out on the pathless plains. He knew the worth of
this work, because he knew the country, for he had spent whole months
together exploring it while in command of that territory, where he had
been purposely placed by General Sherman, without whose encouragement
the West could not have been known at that time, and without whose help
as commander-in-chief of the United States army the road could not have
been built.

As the pathfinders neared the Rockies the troops had to guard them
constantly. The engineers reconnoitered, surveyed, located, and built
inside the picket lines. The men marched to work to the tap of the drum,
stacked arms on the dump, and were ready at a moment's notice to fall
in and fight. Many of the graders were old soldiers, and a little fight
only rest