“Oh, I think I can make the trip in one day, provided I don’t have to lose too much time in the mining camp. I’ll be ready inside of fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“Then go ahead, and when you’re ready I’ll give you the papers and also tell you who they are to be delivered to.”
When Dave rejoined his chum he told Roger about the proposed trip.
“You’re in luck, Dave!” cried the senator’s son. “That will make a dandy outing. I wish I was going along.”
“I thought at first of asking Mr. Obray to let you go,” answered Dave. “But then I got to thinking about the time we would want off when Phil and the others came, and I didn’t want to crowd things too much.”
“Oh, no, I’m glad you didn’t,” was the hasty response. “I don’t want to have the manager thinking we are loafing on the job.”
Dave ran over to the kitchen and there had Jeff, the cook, put him up a substantial lunch. Then he dressed himself for the long, hard ride through the mountains, and a little later presented himself again at the office.
“Here are the papers,” said Ralph Obray, handing over a large and fat legal-looking envelope. “I want you to deliver them to Mr. Raymond Carson or, if Mr. Carson is not there, to either his wife or his brother-in-law, Mr. Fred Jamison. If you deliver this to the wife or the brother-in-law, tell them that the papers are very valuable and that they must not be given to anyone but Mr. Carson.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the young civil engineer. And to make sure of the names he put them down in the notebook he carried. “I suppose I had better get a receipt for them,” he added.
“Yes, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do that, Porter, although I know I can take your word for it. I have watched you ever since you came to work for our company, and that is why I am trusting you in the present instance.”