On the third day Mr. Hobart came, and it seemed to Glen like seeing one from home to meet him again. After their first greeting, the engineer said,
"Well, my boy, what other wonderful deeds have you been performing since you and the governor ran the locomotive?"
"The governor!" almost gasped Glen. "Was he a governor?"
"Certainly he was, or rather had been. Didn't you know it? He was General Elting, the ex-governor whom you were inquiring about in St. Louis, and who is now the treasurer of our road. He returned to St. Louis almost immediately from here, and there I heard the whole story from his own lips. He was greatly disappointed at your disappearance, and much pleased to find out that I knew you; for of course I recognized you from his description. He hopes to meet you again some time, and I have promised to see that you do not indulge in any more mysterious disappearances."
While they talked of that night, and its tragic incidents, Mr. Hobart suddenly interrupted himself with,
"By the way, Glen, I am not going to take charge of this locating-party, after all, and so cannot give you a position in it."
Glen felt his face growing pale as he repeated slowly and incredulously,
"Not going to take charge of it?'
"No; I have been relieved of my command, and am going to engage in another kind of work," replied the engineer, smiling at the boy's startled and distressed expression.