“Oh, Dave! have you heard from Mr. Ramsdell?” cried his sister Laura.
“Yes, here is a letter. And it enclosed another from the Mentor Construction Company. They are going to give me an opening with that portion of the concern that is now operating in Texas, building railroad bridges.”
“Oh, Dave! then you will really have to go away down there?” burst out Jessie, her face falling a trifle. “It’s a dreadfully long way off!”
“Well, it’s what I expected,” he answered. “A fellow can’t expect to become a civil engineer and work in his own backyard,” and he grinned a trifle. “This letter from Mr. Ramsdell states that Roger will be given an opening also.”
“With you, of course?” queried Laura.
“He doesn’t state that. But he knew we wanted to stick together, so I suppose it’s all right.”
“When do you have to start?” questioned Jessie.
“Just as soon as we can get ready––according to Mr. Ramsdell’s letter. He says he is also sending word to Roger.”
As was to be expected, the tidings quite excited our hero. Now that he had passed the preliminary examination and was to go out for actual field practice, he felt that he was really and truly on his way to becoming a civil engineer. It was the first step towards the realization of a dream that had been his for some time.