“’Gene Black is plainly a very competent man,” Reade argued. “The work has had to be rushed of late, and, on so simple a matter as leveling, I don’t suppose Blaisdell has thought it at all necessary to dig into Black’s field notes.” “I hope Black is fired out of this outfit, neck and crop!” finished Hazelton. “That’s something with which we have nothing to do,” Reade retorted. “Harry, we’ll confine ourselves to doing our work well and reporting our results. Mr. Thurston is intelligent enough to form all his own conclusions when he has our report. Come, it’s high time for us to be putting the ponies to real speed on the trail back.” Not long afterwards the young engineers rode into the engineer camp. Harry dismounted, seating himself on the ground, while Tom hurried toward the chief’s big tent. It was Blaisdell who sat in the chief’s chair when Tom entered. “Oh, hello, Reade,” was the assistant’s pleasant greeting. “Where’s the chief?” “Gone back to the track builders. You know, they’re within fourteen miles of us now.” “When will Mr. Thurston be back?” “I don’t know,” Blaisdell answered. “In the meantime, Reade, you know, I’m acting chief here.” “I beg your pardon,” Tom murmured hastily. “The chief told me, just before leaving, that you thought some of Black’s sights on Section Nineteen are wrong,” Blaisdell pursued. “They’re all wrong,” Reade rejoined quietly. “_All_?” echoed Blaisdell, opening his eyes very wide. “Yes, sir; everyone of them.” “Come, come, Reade!” remonstrated the acting chief. “Don’t try to amuse yourself with me. All of the sights can’t be wrong.” “But they are, sir. Hazelton and I have been over them most carefully in the field. Here are _our_ notes, sir. Look them over and you’ll find that Section Nineteen calls for three or four times as much excavating as Black’s notes show.” “This is strange!” mused Blaisdell, after comparing the two sets of notes. “I can’t credit it. Reade, you and Hazelton are very young---mere cubs, in fact. Are you sure that you know all you owlet to know about leveling?” “Mr. Blaisdell, I’ll answer you by saying, sir, that though Hazelton and I are nothing but cubs, we have the success of this railroad building game at heart. We’re deeply in earnest. We’ll work ourselves to our very bones in order to see this road get through in time. I don’t ask you, sir, to take our word about these sights, but we both beg you, sir, to go out with a gang of men and go over some of the work yourself. Keep on surveying, sir, until you’re satisfied that Black is wrong and that Hazelton and I are right. You know what it would mean, sir, if we’re right and you don’t find it out in time. Then you simply couldn’t get the cut through Section Nineteen in time and the S.B. & L. would lose its charter.”