Mr. Thurston looked both boys over in silence for a few seconds. His keen eyes appeared to take in everything that could possibly concern them. Then he rose, extending his hand, first to Reade, next to Hazelton.
“From what technical school do you come?” inquired the engineer as he resumed his chair.
“From none, sir,” Tom answered promptly “We didn’t have money enough for that sort of training.”
Mr. Thurston raised his eyebrows in astonished inquiry.
“Then why,” he asked, “did you come here? What made you think that you could break in as engineers?”
CHAPTER II
BAD PETE BECOMES WORSE
Timothy Thurston’s gaze was curious, and his voice a trifle cold. Yet he did not by any means treat the boys with contempt. He appeared simply to wonder why these young men had traveled so far to take up his time.
“We couldn’t afford to take a college course in engineering, sir,” Tom Reade continued, reddening slightly. “We have learned all that we possibly could in other ways, however.”
“Do you expect me, young men, to detail an experienced engineer to move about with you as instructor until you learn enough to be of use to us?”
“No, indeed, we don’t, sir,” Tom replied, and perhaps his voice was sharper than usual, though it rang with earnestness. “We believe, sir, that we are very fair engineers. We are willing to be tried out, sir, and to be rated exactly where you find that we belong. If necessary we’ll start in as helpers to the chainmen, and we have pride enough to walk back over the trail at any moment when you decide that we’re no good. We have traveled all the way from the east, and I trust, sir, that you’ll give us a fair chance to show if we know anything.”