But before the engineer had an opportunity to tell of the contemplated joke, he caught the signal from the conductor to start.
"Get up on that seat on the left-hand side, and hang on," warned Barney, and, as Bob obeyed, he pulled open the throttle.
As the iron monster began to move, puffing and smoking at the task of starting the long train, it seemed to the boy that the noise would deafen him. But he soon forgot it in the absorption of watching the fireman open the doors of the firebox, throw in shovels-full of coals, and then inspect the water and steam gauges.
With the gradual increasing of the speed, the din subsided. Yet a new discomfort took its place. So violently did the engine sway, that Bob was obliged to hang on to the window on his side of the cab to keep from bouncing to the floor.
Watching out the corner of his eye, as he scanned the track ahead, the engineer smiled at the boy's trouble in staying on the seat.
Bob, however, soon adapted himself to the engine's motion, and was finally able to sit without clutching the window-frame.
Noting this, Barney got down, crossed the cab, and putting his mouth close to the boy's ear, asked:
"Like to run the engine awhile?"
