218 The King of the Thundering Herd 



Thundering Herd toward the track of the 

 Union Pacific, Bennie and his friend the 

 conductor ran the new locomotive drawing 

 the Flyer on its record-breaking trip from 

 Chicago to the coast. 



For more than two hours they had been 

 running close to the river where there was 

 an easy grade and no cuts or fills, when 

 presently the train shot around a sharp 

 curve preparatory to crossing five miles of 

 open prairie, the track leaving the river in 

 order to save distance. 



The moon, which had been obscured for 

 the first part of the evening, was now shin- 

 ing brightly and it was almost as light as 

 day. As they came out into the open 

 prairie, Bennie noticed that the landscape 

 seemed dotted with dark figures which con- 

 stantly bobbed about as though in motion. 

 At first he thought he was dreaming, so he 

 rubbed his eyes and looked again, but they 

 were still there. Not only were they 



