Read "Through by Daylight" by Oliver Optic online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
I found the dummy just as I had left it on the preceding day. I kindled a fire in the furnace, rubbed down the machinery, filled up the water tank, and took on a supply of coal, which was the kind of fuel intended to be used under the boiler. I assure my sympathetic reader that I felt a real pleasure in the discharge of these duties, and in the consciousness that I was actually the master of the machine. Though my taste was rather inclined towards the engine of a steamer, I was more than satisfied with my present position, and deemed myself the luckiest dog in the world.
Higgins, the invalid student, who was to officiate as conductor, stood by and watched all my movements with the most intense interest. He looked like a clever fellow, and I proceeded to make friends with him in due form, by declaring that I was sorry he was sick.