“I should not have done so if the president had not taken that time to insult me. It was not necessary for him to discharge my fireman at such a time. But no matter for all this; I am going up to Major Toppleton’s house. It he chooses to kick me out, he may do so.” I could not help feeling that my chances of a fair hearing at such a time were very small, but I could not have kept away from the centre of the excitement if I had tried. I must know my fate, whatever it might be. CHAPTER XXVI. THE NEW STEAMER. However much Tommy Toppleton deserved the fate which had befallen him, I really pitied him. I am sure that not a single emotion of triumph had a place in my heart. I neither said nor thought that it served him right. I was sorry for him, and my regret was entirely unselfish. The only personal consideration that disturbed me was the reflection that I must in the future be entirely banished from the presence of Grace Toppleton. I had not the impudence, boy of sixteen as I was, to believe that I was in love with her. If such a thought had entered my head, the wide difference between her social position and mine would have driven it out. I was deeply interested in her as a friend. She had been very kind and considerate towards me. She had treated me with respect and regard, and did not seem to think that I was not her equal in the social scale. I never spoke to her, and never even thought of her, except with a respect bordering upon reverence. I was content to stand off at a proper distance and admire her pretty face, her graceful form, and her gentle manners. I thought she was an angel; not merely because she was beautiful in person, but because her pure heart and kind manners seemed to elevate her far above the low and selfish lives of those around her. By the time I reached the mansion of Major Toppleton, the excitement had in a measure subsided. The bone of Tommy’s leg had been set, but he was suffering severe pain. It appeared that the major had procured the services of an engineer at Ucayga, who had run the dummy up from that point, starting only half an hour behind the Lightning Express. Arriving at the place where the imperious little president had stopped our train, the magnate found the conductor and Lewis Holgate bearing Tommy towards the nearest house. He was placed in the dummy and brought home. Of course Lewis and the conductor told their own story, and I was represented as the wickedest fellow in that part of the country. All the mischief had been done by me; and as Tommy lay writhing in agony, my sins became as mountains in the eyes of his father. Tommy was a saint then, and I was a demon. I went to the side door of the mansion and rang the bell. The servant who opened the door bestowed upon me a look of positive horror. I inquired for Major Toppleton, and was shown into the library, where I had so often before conferred with the great man. As I was entering the room, Grace crossed the hall, and discovered me.