“I have an idea which I think will work out.”
“The hell ye do! How long you been railroadin’?”
“Not a year, altogether.”
“Humph! Well, what’ll it cost us to stop the slide, followin’ your grand idea?”
“Not much. Not more than you are spending in three days as matters stand now.”
“Th’ hell! Cheap at half the price. Well, Mr. Cole, I guess we can’t use you on this job. I got two o’ the best known and highest-paid rascally engineers in the country here, and both of ’em are stuck. But say—le’s hear your plan.”
Joshua smiled. “Write me a check for five thousand dollars and I’ll give it to you in five minutes,” he said.
“Just like that, eh? And suppose it don’t work?”
“Well, then—then I’ll give you your five thousand back.”
The engineers, Spruce and Demarest, saw fit to indulge in hearty laughter at this point; and then Shanty Madge stepped forward, a deep resentment in her reddish-brown eyes.