“We’ve got our work cut out for us up here,” had been Frank Andrews’ remark to Mr. Obray, after the pair had gone over the situation carefully.
“Right you are, Andrews,” the manager of the construction gang had answered. “It looks all right on paper, but we are going to have a good many difficulties which can’t be put down in black and white.”
“What we’ve got to guard against, to my way of thinking, is landslides,” the assistant had answered.
Since beginning work for the Mentor Construction Company, Dave and Roger had had two opportunities for returning to the East. They had come by the way of Washington, where Senator Morr and his wife were now residing, and had also stopped off at Philadelphia to visit Phil Lawrence. Then they had made their way to Crumville, there to put in a most delightful time with Dave’s folks and the Wadsworths. As my old readers are aware, to Dave there was no girl in the world quite so sweet and lovable as Jessie Wadsworth, while it was noticed that Roger and Dave’s sister Laura were together whenever occasion permitted.
The two young civil engineers had been in Montana now for about three weeks, and during that time they had gone on numerous errands to places ten and even twenty miles away. On arrival they had hoped to visit Star Ranch, but had learned that this place was nearly a hundred miles off. They had looked at some of the local mines with much interest, and had likewise visited several ranches.
“We’ll get to know this whole district like a book before we get through with it,” had been Roger’s comment.
“Maybe,” Dave had answered. “Just the same, if I were you I wouldn’t go too far away from the regular trails without a pocket compass. Getting lost among these mountains might prove very serious.”
The two young civil engineers had started off on their errand that morning in high spirits, due not alone to the fact that both were feeling in the best of health and were doing well in their chosen profession, but also to the fact that the day before they had received a number of letters from home, including a warm epistle to Dave from Jessie and an equally tender missive from Laura to Roger.
At their end the two girls had written each in the confidence of the other, so that the two chums did not hesitate to talk over the contents of both letters between them.
“Oh, we’ve got the brightest prospects in the world before us!” Dave had cried when they had set out, and in the exuberance of his spirits he had thrown his cap high up in the air.