CHAPTER VI. A MISSION OF PEACE. 69 CHAPTER VII. MAJOR TOMMY GETS MAD. 81 CHAPTER VIII. CHARGE BAYONETS! 93 CHAPTER IX. FEATHERS AND THE ENGINEER. 104 CHAPTER X. KEEPING THE PEACE. 116 CHAPTER XI. AT THE HORSE SHOE. 128 CHAPTER XII. UP THE LAKE. 139 CHAPTER XIII. IF THINE ENEMY HUNGER. 150 CHAPTER XIV. COLONEL WIMPLETON BIDS HIGH. 162 CHAPTER XV. THE IMPENDING BATTLE. 174 CHAPTER XVI. THE BATTLE OF THE HORSE SHOE. 186 CHAPTER XVII. THE PRISONER OF WAR. 198 CHAPTER XVIII. RESCUING A PRISONER. 210 CHAPTER XIX. A TYRANNICAL SON. 222 CHAPTER XX. THE LIGHTNING EXPRESS TRAIN. 233 CHAPTER XXI. MAKING UP TIME. 244 CHAPTER XXII. THE NEW FIREMAN. 254 CHAPTER XXIII. THE PRESIDENT AND THE ENGINEER. 266 CHAPTER XXIV. THE PRESIDENT HAS A FALL. 278 CHAPTER XXV. THE PRESIDENT IN TROUBLE. 290 CHAPTER XXVI. THE NEW STEAMER. 300 LIGHTNING EXPRESS; OR, THE RIVAL ACADEMIES. CHAPTER I. A STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING. “Order, gentlemen, order!” said Mr. Tommy Toppleton, rapping his gavel on the desk before him. “While I am president of the Lake Shore Railroad, I will have order!” Tommy was the son of his father; on this question there could be no dispute. Not only was his father a great man, but Tommy, in his own estimation, was a great man also; on this question, unfortunately, there was some dispute. Perhaps it was the young gentleman’s misfortune, certainly it was not his fault, that he was the only son of a very rich father, and had been indulged until he was, so far as the circumstances would admit, a spoiled child. He had many excellent qualities; but he had come to think that among the boys he was the central figure, and that without him they were nothing, and could do nothing. Tommy regarded other boys, even the students of the Toppleton Institute who were his equals in wealth and social position, as in some sense footballs for his capricious toes. Many of his companions did not like him, because he “put on airs,” because he was overbearing and tyrannical to his inferiors, and because he always claimed the highest position and the loftiest dignity among them. When the Lake Shore Railroad Company was organized, he was elected one of the board of directors, and then by them was chosen president. He had filled this office from the beginning, and he expected always to fill it.