“All right; neither can I. But on this very point we’re continually having trouble with the railroad people, as you know. We may admit cheerfully that we don’t know quite all there is to be known about concrete; but neither do the railroad company’s engineers. Their inspectors on this bridge are a bunch of cranks; that is the sort of fault-finders that the ‘party of the first part’ always hires to put on the job to watch the contractors. If we lived up to the specifications as they’d like to make us, the Grillage Engineering Company would come out about a mile deep in the hole.” Again David Vallory acquiesced. From time to time he had had troubles of his own with the watch-dog inspectors representing the railroad company for which the bridge was being constructed. “You younger fellows are fresh from the laboratories, and you have the latest word in the testing experiments,” said Grimsby. “That’s why I’ve called you in for a conference. You’ve been following the cement tests made in our field laboratory, haven’t you?” “Most of them; yes.” “Well, you haven’t seen anything wrong with the stuff, so far, have you?” “Never.” The bearded chief nodded. “That’s the talk,” he said; then he made his frontal attack without further preface. “You are loyal to your salt, aren’t you, Vallory? If what they tell me about you and Mr. Grillage is true, you ought to be.” “I hope I am,” returned the loyalist, a little at a loss to prefigure what was coming next. Then he added: “My family owes Mr. Grillage a greater debt than we can ever hope to pay, if that is what you mean.” “So I’ve understood. Now we can get down to the nub of the thing. You’ve heard that the railroad company has hired a new chief engineer, haven’t you?” “Mr. Esher? Yes; I met him day before yesterday when he was going over the work.” “Esher is his name, and he’s the prize crank of the lot. He has just thrown out that last shipment of cement on us; says it doesn’t test up to standard in the railroad lab. It’s all poppy-cock, of course. Some little-boy chemist on the railroad pay-roll has made a blunder--that’s all there is to it. Now then; have you been keeping in touch with your college?” “Fairly well; yes.” “Stand in with the professors in the college cement lab.?” “Yes; I know them all.” “Good men, are they?--men whose word you’d take in settling a dispute?” “In proof tests, you mean? Certainly; I’d accept them without question.” “Good. Here’s what we’re up against. This shipment of cement that I’m talking about is the material Shubrick was to have used in the under-water work on Pier Four. We can’t afford to throw it away, and to save it we’ll have to do a little juggling; but I want you to satisfy yourself fully beforehand. Take samples of the cement, just as it stands, and send them to your college for analysis. We’ll keep Shubrick supplied out of the reserve stock until you get your answer. Better get the samples off to-day.”