Sunday of the week passed quietly enough, and on Monday morning Ralph brushed up his every-day clothes, took along the lunch his mother put up for him, and left the cottage to try his luck among the stores and factories in Eastport.
"Don't be alarmed if I am not home until night, mother," he said. "I may strike a situation in which they wish me at once."
"All right, Ralph," she returned. "Good luck to you."
But Ralph did not get to Eastport that day. As he was crossing the bridge a young man on a small sailboat hailed him. It was Roy Parkhurst, a fellow Ralph knew well.
"Hallo, Ralph!" he called out. "The job on the bridge and you have parted company, I am told."
"Yes, Roy."
"Doing anything to-day?"
"No, I was just bound for Eastport to look for work."
"Then you are just the fellow I am looking for," said Parkhurst.
"What for?"