Until after midnight the run of the express special was without interruption or incident.  Thus far it had made but two stops.  The second of these was at the end of the freight division where Conductor Tobin had been accustomed to turn over his train to a relieving crew and spend the day.  With such a flyer as the special, however, his run was now to be twice as long as formerly, so that he and Rod looked forward to doing a hundred and fifty miles more before being relieved.  There was but one other brakeman besides Rod, and as there was little for either of them to do, save to see that the rear end lights burned brightly, and always to be prepared for emergencies, time hung rather heavily on their hands.

Thanks to automatic air brakes, the life of a passenger brakeman is now a very easy one as compared with the same life a few years ago.  The brakeman of those days, almost as greasy and smoke begrimed as a fireman, spent most of his time on the swaying platforms between cars amid showers of cinders and clouds of blinding dust.  At every call for brakes he was obliged to spring to the wheels of the two entrusted to his care and set them up by hand with the utmost exercise of his strength.  He was not allowed to remain inside the cars between stations, and the only glimpses he got of their scant comfort was when he flung open their doors to call out the names of stations in his own undistinguishable jargon.  He was invariably a well-grown powerfully built fellow, as rough in manner as in appearance.

To-day, on all passenger trains and on many freights as well, the automatic brakes are operated by compressed air controlled by the engineman.  By a single pull of a small brass lever within easy reach he can instantly apply every brake on his train with such force as to bring it to a standstill inside of a few seconds.  The two small cylinders connected by a piston-rod on the right hand side of every locomotive just in front of the cab form the air-pump.  It is always at work while a train is standing still, forcing air through lengths of rubber hose between the cars and into the reservoirs located beneath each one.  As brakes are applied by the reduction of this air the engineman’s lever merely opens a valve that allows the imprisoned force to escape with a sharp hissing sound.  If a train should break in two the connecting lengths of rubber hose would be torn asunder, and the outrushing air would instantly apply brakes to the cars of both sections bringing them to a speedy standstill.

Thus the brakeman of to-day, instead of being the powerful, cinder-coated and rough-voiced fellow of a few years back, may be as slim and elegant as any of the passengers under his care provided he is polite, wide-awake, and attentive to his duty.  Clad in a natty uniform, he now spends his time inside the car instead of on its platform.  He has reports to make out, lamps and flags to look after, and in cases of unexpected delay must run back to protect his train from any other that may be approaching it.  Formerly it was necessary to have as many brakemen on a passenger train as there were cars, while now it is rare to find more than two on each train.

So Rod had very little to do in his new position, and soon after leaving the second stopping-place of his train, was sitting near the forward end of the coach with his head resting on the back of a seat, gazing at the ceiling and buried in deep thought.  Conductor Tobin and the other brakeman were seated some distance behind him engaged in conversation.

Rod was thinking of what an awful thing it was to be blind, and this chain of thought was suggested by a glimpse of the young man with smoked glasses, whom he had assisted on board the “Limited” some hours before, standing on the platform of the station they had just left.  He had evidently reached his journey’s end and was patiently waiting for some one to come and lead him away ­or at least this was what Rod imagined the situation to be.  In reality, that same young man, with unimpaired eyesight and no longer wearing smoked glasses, was on board the express special at that very moment.  He had sprung on to the forward platform of the money car undetected in the darkness as the train left the circle of station lights and was now on its roof fastening a light rope ladder to a ledge just above one of the middle and half-glazed doors of the car.  A red flannel mask concealed the lower half of his face, and as he swung himself down on his frail and fearfully swaying support he held a powerful navy revolver in his right hand.  He was taking frightful risks to win a desperate game.  Failing in his effort to conceal himself aboard the very train he intended to rob, he had taken passage on the “Limited” as far as its first stopping-place and had there awaited the coming of the Express Special.  Thus far his reckless venture had succeeded, and as Rod sat in the coach thinking pityingly of him, he was covering the unsuspecting messenger in the money car with his revolver.

“What would I do if I were blind?” thought Rod.  “I suppose uncle would take care of me; but how humiliating it would be to have to go back to him helpless and dependent.  How thankful I should be that I can see besides being well and strong and able to care for myself.  I will do it too without asking help from any one, and I’ll win such a name for honesty and faithfulness on this road that even Uncle Arms will be compelled to believe whatever I may tell him.  I wonder if Snyder could have put that emery into the oil-cup himself?  It doesn’t seem as though any one could be so mean.”

Just here a slight incident interrupted the lad’s thoughts so suddenly that he sprang to his feet ­unconsciously his eyes had been fixed on the bell-cord that ran through the entire train to the cab of the locomotive.  It had hung a little slack, but all at once this slack was jerked up as though some one had pulled the cord.  This would have been a signal to stop the train, and if the train were to be stopped at that point something must be wrong.  A backward glance showed Conductor Tobin and the other brakeman to be still quietly engaged in conversation.  Neither of them could have pulled the cord.  Rod stepped to the door and looked out.  The train was tearing along at a terrific speed, and the rush of air nearly took away his breath.  There was no sign of slackening speed and everything appeared to be all right.  The next car ahead of the coach was the money car.  At least Conductor Tobin had thought so, though none of the trainmen was ever quite sure which one of the half dozen or more express cars it was.  Its rear door was of course closed and locked, but some impulse moved Rod to clamber up on its platform railing and peer through the little hole by which the bell-cord entered.  He could not see much, but that which was disclosed in a single glimpse almost caused his heart to cease its beating.  Within his range of vision came the heads of two men evidently engaged in a struggle and one of them wore a mask over the lower part of his face.  The next instant Rod had sprung down from his perilous perch and dashed back into the coach shouting breathlessly: 

“There’s a masked man fighting the messenger in the money car!”