It was not yet time to start the engine, but Croly sprang to the
valve-gear to let on the steam.


CHAPTER II.

The One-Eyed Fireman.

Larry divined the young man's purpose, and he needed no better evidence
that Steve Croly knew very little about an engine than this thoughtless
act.

The youth reached the valve-gear at the same time, and the hands of both
grasped the wheel.

"What are you going to do?" cried Larry, holding on with all his
strength, for the other was trying to turn the wheel.

"I'm going to start the engine. Didn't you hear the whistle? What are
you waiting for?" snapped Croly.

"That was the quarter-whistle; it isn't time to start up yet. And if it
was, you would blow out a couple of cylinder-heads for me by letting on
the steam in that style!"

Larry's face was pale, partly because he thought that the other would
have succeeded in doing the mischief in spite of him. But the determined
face of the boy, coupled with his words, made Croly pause, although he
still allowed his hand to rest on the valve-gear of the great engine.