CHAPTER I. OLD FRIENDS II. NEW DUTIES III. THE MIRACLE AT GREENFIELD IV. AFTERMATH V. THE NEW TIME-CARD VI. THE LITTLE CLOUD VII. A THREAT FROM MR. NIXON VIII. MR. ROUND’S DECISION IX. A BUBBLE BURSTS X. IN THE SWITCH TOWER XI. ALLAN’S EYES ARE OPENED XII. THE INTERVIEW WITH NIXON XIII. MR. SCHOFIELD’S BOMBSHELL XIV. DECLARATION OF WAR XV. IN CHARGE AT WADSWORTH XVI. THE STRIKE BEGINS XVII. EVENTS OF THE NIGHT XVIII. THE DERELICT XIX. THE OLD STONE HOUSE XX. THE AWAKENING XXI. “C. Q. D.” XXII. THE MYSTERY SOLVED XXIII. COMPLICATIONS XXIV. ALLAN FINDS HIS MATE XXV. THE DOWNFALL OF BASSETT XXVI. NEMESIS XXVII. THE BOMB XXVIII. HUMMEL KEEPS HIS WORD XXIX. THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ------- “LEAPED OUT INTO THE DARKNESS” _Frontispiece_ “THE NEXT INSTANT IT FLASHED INTO VIEW AROUND THE CURVE” TIME-CHART “CONTROLLING IT, AS IT WERE, BY A MOVEMENT OF A FINGER, STOOD JIM” “HE EXPLAINED THE DIFFICULTY TO THE ENGINEER” “THEN, WITH A HOARSE YELL OF RAGE, HURLED HIMSELF UPON THEM” “HE HEARD THE BULLETS SING PAST HIS HEAD” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER ---------- CHAPTER I OLD FRIENDS NESTLING among the hills of the Scioto valley, in the south-central portion of the state of Ohio, lies the little town of Wadsworth. Venerable in its age, proud of its history, the first capital of its state and the home of men famous in their time, it lives in the past rather than in the present, and life there moves in a quiet and dignified manner, conducive to peace but not to progress.