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[Illustration: "An Avalanche!" declared Fogg. "Dodge--something's coming!"
Page 254. Ralph on the Overland Express.]




RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS

OR

THE TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF A YOUNG ENGINEER

BY

ALLEN CHAPMAN

AUTHOR OF "RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE,"
"RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER,"
"RALPH ON THE ENGINE,"
"DAREWELL CHUMS SERIES," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK

GROSSET & DUNLAP

PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America




THE RAILROAD SERIES

By Allen Chapman

12mo. Illustrated. Cloth

RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE
  Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man

RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER
  Or, Clearing the Track

RALPH ON THE ENGINE
  Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail

RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS
  Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer

(Other Volumes in Preparation.)

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York

Copyright, 1910, by

GROSSET & DUNLAP

Ralph on the Overland Express




CONTENTS

 CHAPTER                                                          PAGE
      I. No. 999                                                     1
     II. A Special Passenger                                        12
    III. One of the Rules                                           22
     IV. A Warning                                                  35
      V. At Bay                                                     43
     VI. Four Medals                                                51
    VII. Dave Bissell, Train Boy                                    60
   VIII. An Astonishing Discovery                                   68
     IX. The Light of Home                                          76
      X. Fire!                                                      88
     XI. The Master Mechanic                                        95
    XII. A Good Friend                                             104
   XIII. The "Black Hand"                                          114
    XIV. A Serious Plot                                            123
     XV. "The Silvandos"                                           129
    XVI. Zeph Dallas and His "Mystery"                             138
   XVII. In Widener's Gap                                          145
  XVIII. At the Semaphore                                          153
    XIX. The Boy Who Was Hazed                                     160
     XX. "Lord Lionel Montague"                                    171
    XXI. Archie Graham's Invention                                 179
   XXII. Ike Slump Again                                           188
  XXIII. A Critical Moment                                         195
   XXIV. The New Run                                               203
    XXV. The Mountain Division                                     209
   XXVI. Mystery                                                   217
  XXVII. The Railroad President                                    225
 XXVIII. A Race Against Time                                       233
   XXIX. Zeph Dallas Again                                         244
    XXX. Snowbound                                                 254
   XXXI. Conclusion                                                264




RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS

CHAPTER I

NO. 999


"All aboard."

Ralph Fairbanks swung into the cab of No. 999 with the lever hooked up
for forward motion, and placed a firm hand on the throttle.

It looked as though half the working force of the railroad, and every
juvenile friend he had ever known in Stanley Junction, had come down
to the little old depot that beautiful summer afternoon to especially
celebrate the greatest event in his active railroad career.

Ralph was the youngest engineer in the service of the Great Northern,
and there was full reason why he should center attention and interest
on this the proudest moment of his life. No. 999 was the crack
locomotive of the system, brand new and resplendent. Its headlight was
a great glow of crystal, its metal bands and trimmings shone like
burnished gold, and its cab was as spick and span and neat as the
private office of the division superintendent himself.

No. 999 was out for a trial run--a record run, Ralph hoped to make it.
One particular car attached to the rear of the long train was the main
object of interest. It was a new car to the road, and its blazoned
name suggested an importance out of the ordinary--"China & Japan
Mail."

This car had just come in over a branch section by a short cut from
the north. If No. 999 could beat timetable routine half an hour