“The suspense is over, at last, Reade,” exclaimed Mr. Newnham, smiling broadly. “Look! the road is all but completed. Hundreds of men are toiling. The first train left Stormburg this morning. By seven tonight you’ll have the last rails in place. Between eight and nine this evening the first through train will have rolled into Lineville and we shall have won the fight that has brought me many gray hairs. At last the worry is over!”
“Of course, sir,” nodded Tom.
“Reade, don’t you really believe that the stress is over—-that we shall triumph tonight?”
“Of course we shall, sir,” Tom responded. “I have predicted, all along, that we’d have the road through in time, haven’t I?”
“And the credit is nearly all yours, Reade,” admitted Mr. Newnham gleefully. “Nearly all yours, lad!”
Honk! honk! Unable to remain long at one spot, Mr. Newnham started his car again.
Reade felt a depression that he could not shake off.
“It’s just the reaction following the long train,” Tom tried to tell himself. “Whew! Until within the last two or three days I haven’t half realized how much the strain was taking out of me! I’ll wager I’ll sleep, tonight, after I once have the satisfaction of seeing the first train roll in!”
By six o’clock Tom felt as though he could hardly stand up. Be wondered if his teeth were really chattering, or whether he merely imagined it.
To take up his time Tom tried a brisk canter, away from the railroad. At seven o’clock he rode into Lineville.