1.Roy Kingsley lived near a railway in America，on which his big brother was an engineer.Roy wasdelighted when Hal allowed him，as he sometimes did，to make a trip on the engine，and to help Jack Dunn the fireman.
2.One afternoon Hal came home looking vexed.“Roy，would you care to go up to Silverton with me to-night？”he asked，as his brother met him at the door.“I am just back from my run，and I have got orders to take a special goods train up the branch line to-night.Dunn is unwell，and I cannot get another man.Will you fire for me this trip？”
“Of course I will！”exclaimed Roy；“it’s just what I want.Hurrah！”
3.The Silverton branch ran through an almost uninhabited and thickly-wooded country to a large mining settlement some thir ty miles f rom thejunction .
“Look at all this smoke！”cried Hal，as they passed the junction and ran on to the branch line.“The woodsup the line are on fire，and the smoke will soon be so thick that we shall not be able to see our funnel.”
4.The train had finished half its journey.The smoke had become so thick that nothing could be seen even a few yards away，and through it came the occasional flashes of a great fire.The air grew hot.Sparks and cinders rattled against the engine.
5.A few minutes passed，and then，as if a curtain had been drawn away，the smoke disappeared，and the train plunged into almost clear air，between two lines of flaming trees which sent up great tongues of fire under the hurrying clouds of black vapour that rolled towards the sky.
“Hallo！”exclaimed Hal，“this is scorching！I shall put on more steam，and make a rush through it.”
6.Just then Tom Brainerd，the guard，made his way to the engine.“What are you doing，Kingsley？”he shouted.“Surely you are not going on？”
“Going on！”gasped Hal，utterly amazed；“of course I am going on.I am not afraid of a little fire，I hope；but I believe you are，Tom.”
engineer‘s arm with both hands.“Do you know whatwe have for freight ？”
“No，and I don’t care！”said Hal.“But what is it？”“Blasting powder！”
“What？”cried the brothers together.
“Yes，tons of it，for the Silverton mines.And themen loosened the stavesof some of the kegswhenthey loaded it，so that there is loose powder scattered all about the next carriage！”
7.Kingsley pulled the throttle wide open.“Sit down，Tom，”he said calmly，without looking at the guard.“We can‘t go back.The fire is all along the line by this time.We must go right through.-Coal up，Roy，but not too much.Quick，boy！”
Suddenly Brainerd sprang up，and left the engine.Roy saw him on the top of the powder-van scraping off the sparks and putting out the little fires which started upon the dry boards of the roof.
“Tom is a brave fellow，”said Hal.“It was the worry and dread that made him so weak.You see he knew what this fire was like，and he knew what he had to carry through it.But he will be all right now.”
8.When Hal turned his eyes to the track again，hegave a start，and shut off steam.“Put on the brake ，Roy！quick！”
A great burning tree lay across the rails in front.Even while Roy threw his weight on the brake，he was thinking，“What shall we do now？”and before he had finished turning the iron wheel，he had made up his mind.He cut away the leather curtain which closed the back of the engine cab，and rolling it up he plunged it into the water-tank，drew it out dripping wet，and threw it over his shoulders.Then with an axe in his hand he jumped down and ran forward to the tree.
9.Roy felt the heat as he had not felt it before，but he chopped blindly on，and as he did so he wondered confusedly whether he could hold out long enough to finish his task.
At last he heard a voice faintly calling him，and at the same moment the tree trunk gave way under his axe.
Then he managed to stagger to the side of the engine，and his brother lifted him up.
“I can do the rest，”said Hal.He turned on the steam，backed some distance，and then ran full tilt at the divided tree.The engine caught it and tossed it aside.Once more the train flew on at full speed.
10.They left the fire behind，and plunged once more into thick smoke.This also was left behind；a n d t h e t r a i n r e a c h e d the cleared land around Silverton，and drew up at the little station.Roy had lain exhausted ever sincehis brother had helped him up.He now looked up，and saw Tom Brainerd coming-black，blistered，and almost without a hair on his head.
“Well，boys，”said he cheerfully，“the fast powder train’s up to time.”
Hal was as calm as ever.The only praise he gave Roy was contained in one remark，but this was the greatestcomplimenthe could pay him.“You will make arailwayman some day，Roy，”was what he said.
