He seemed very anxious to get the Fairbanks family away from Stanley Junction, and even offered them a bribe to go.
This fact aroused Ralph's suspicions.
He got thinking things over. He suddenly realized what a sacrifice his noble mother was making to keep him at school.
One day he went home with a great resolve in his mind. He announced to his mother that he had decided to put aside boyish sports for hard work.
Ralph was a favorite with local railroaders. The freight yards at Acton caught fire, and Ralph was impressed into temporary service.
The lad's heroic acts won the attention and friendship of the master mechanic of the railroad. Next day Ralph found himself an employee of the Great Northern, as wiper under the foreman of the local roundhouse.
They had offered him a clerical position in the general offices down the line at Springfield, but Ralph declined. He announced his intention of beginning at the very bottom of the railroad ladder and working his way up.
How promptly and triumphantly he reached the first rung, "Ralph of the Roundhouse" has narrated.
It was a hard experience, but he soon won the reputation of turning out the cleanest, brightest locomotives in the service.
Ralph made many friends and some enemies. Among the latter was a dissolute boy named Ike Slump. This young rascal stole nearly a wagon-load of valuable brass fittings from the railroad supply shops, and not a trace of the thief or booty could be discovered by the road detectives.