And now, before the first month was up, Frank had been selected to fire on a switch engine!
He knew the position might be simply temporary, and that there was a chance for him to go back wiping engines, but the mere fact that he had been chosen once, if he proved competent, was enough to pave the way to a regular job as fireman.
Hobson started in to find out how much Frank really knew. He asked Merry a hundred questions about the different parts of a locomotive, and about handling one, and, with very few exceptions, the youth answered correctly.
“Well,” said the engineer, “you know as much in certain ways about a locomotive as some men who have been running ’em for years. How you found out so much in a short time is what sticks me.”
“I have been studying a book on locomotive engineering,” explained Frank.
“Oh, that’s it! Well, what you want to study now is an engine, and let your book alone. We’ve got the signal to run out onto the main track. Here, see if you can run her out.”
Then he stepped away and gave up the lever to Frank.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CAPTURING A WILD ENGINE.
Frank ran the engine out all right, although it startled him somewhat to feel her go the instant he touched the throttle. He knew how she ought to be handled, but found it rather confusing when he came to do it himself. The throttle, reverse lever and brake seemed to be in each other’s way, and he could not find them with his hands without looking for them, something that is a dead giveaway for a greenhorn.