“You’ve been learning fast since you came on this job, and I’ve been proud of both of you. You’ve shown aptness and courage and resourcefulness; qualities that go a long way toward making a good engineer; a good man in any walk in life. But there is one thing you apparently haven’t learned; and that is that good business is never vindictive—that in the long run, the man who strikes back merely to ‘get square’ with the other fellow is the man who loses out in the end. Do you get that?”
“I’ve got it,” said Larry, quite meekly; and Dick nodded.
“All right, then; we’ll cross it off the book and call it a ‘has been.’ That’s all for to-night. You may go.”
But Dick hung upon his heel, and after another hard swallow or two: “Just one thing more, Mr. Ackerman. Does my father have to know all the ins and outs of this thing? Because, if he does—well, you see, Larry’s got to make good, and—er——” the plea tapered off into nothing and he stopped in some embarrassment.
At this, the chief’s smile was less grim.
“I think, when the proper time comes, you will tell your father, yourself,” he ventured. “And now you’d better turn in, both of you. The Old Man of the Mountain has given you a pretty full day, and you’ve earned your ten hours off. Good-night.”
CHAPTER V
AT TUNNEL NUMBER TWO
“Zowie!”