“I shall need you to advise me, professor,” Tom explained. “While I had the nerve to take command here, I’m only a boy, after all, and you’ll be surprised when you find out how much there is that I don’t know.”
“It’s very evident, Mr. Reade,” smiled the professor, “that you know the art of management, and that’s the important part in any line of great work.”
The student party had brought their own tents and field equipment with them. Their arrival had been a total surprise in camp, as none of the other engineers, save Harry, had known what was in the wind.
“If these boys don’t make mistakes by wholesale,” declared Jack Butter, “we’ll just boost the work along after this. I wonder why Mr. Thurston never hit upon the idea of adding such a force?”
“It’s very likely he has been thinking of it all along,” Tom rejoined. “The main point, however, is that we seem to have a bully field force.”
Four of the students had been selected to serve as map-making force under Harry Hazelton. The rest were going out into the field, some of them as engineers in embryo, the rest as chainmen and rodmen.
Though the field outfit now presented a lively appearance, all was kept as quiet as possible in and near the camp, for neither Mr. Thurston nor Mr. Blaisdell knew what was going on about them. Both were still delirious, and very ill.
“Now I see why you could afford to ‘fire’ me and let the work slack up for a while,” sneered Black, meeting Reade after dark.
“Do you?” asked Tom.
“These boys will spoil the whole business. You don’t seem to have any idea of the numbers of fool mistakes that boys can make.”