Then the boys turned to go back down the hill, leaving Mr. Dudley and Mr. Ranquist to follow when they pleased. As Roger was about to go away he fancied he heard the older man remonstrating with Mr. Ranquist. "We need those boys," he thought he heard the younger man say. "They'll come in handy, and I had to hire them. They were altogether too suspicious and knowing, and now I have thrown them off the track." At which expression Roger wondered somewhat, and all the way home he was busy thinking of the mysterious operations of the new arrivals in Cardiff. CHAPTER XVII ROGER SUSPECTS So quickly had it all happened that Roger and Adrian hardly realized they had just received what was, to them, quite a sum of money. They entered the house all excitement, after a brisk walk, and Adrian told his father how he and his cousin had been engaged as guides. "Wa'al, I must say ye airned th' money easy," said Mr. Kimball. "Yes, and we can get more," Adrian exclaimed. "We're to go with the men day after to-morrow, to show them the way. Say, dad, what do you s'pose they want of a railroad out here?" "It's hard t' say what them railroad fellers is up t'," answered Mr. Kimball. "Ye can't even tell whether they're goin' t' put a railroad through er not." "But they said they were," asserted Adrian. "Humph!" was all his father answered, with a little snort. He was too concerned with his own matters to think about the possibility of a railroad, especially at this time. But the news soon spread around Cardiff, in spite of the fact that the boys maintained a strict silence, that a railroad or a trolley line was to go through the valley, and the residents were all talking about the possibility of it the next day after Roger and Adrian had met the two engineers. For the secret of the cousins having been hired as guides got out somehow, though the boys did not tell, and they were the envy of their companions. The less fortunate lads of Cardiff determined to take the first opportunities of offering their services to Mr. Dudley and Mr. Ranquist. The day after the boys' engagement Mr. Kimball announced that a lot of brush in the vineyard needed burning, so that the ground might be cultivated. Adrian and Roger thought the task so much like play they asked to be allowed to build the fires. Mr. Kimball was glad enough to have them undertake the task. Armed with long rakes the boys started up the hill and soon had heaped up several big piles of brush, dry leaves and twigs, which Adrian set fire to, taking care that none of the vines were scorched. A little wearied by his labors, Roger laid aside his rake, and while the flames were eating their way well into the debris, he strolled farther up the hill. It was rather a warm, pleasant day, and the woods, which stretched out before him, seemed to invite him to come in and see how the trees were putting on their full summer outfits of green leaves.