Tom smiled grimly to himself.
“Rutter didn’t say anything about this to me,” Tom muttered to himself. “He put this upon me, to see how I’d get over an obstacle like an unfordable pond. Well, it’s going to take a lot of time but I’ll show Mr. Jack Rutter!”
Accordingly, Reade allowed his chainmen to proceed measuring until they were fairly close to the pond. Then he went forward to the metal stake that had just been driven. From this stake he laid out a new course to the north and at exact right angles with the proper course, sending his chainmen forward with markers. When he had thus passed the end of the pond Reade took another course at exactly right angles to the northerly course, but now going westerly. This he extended until it passed the pond by a few feet. Once more Reade laid out a course, southerly, at exact right angles with the westerly course, the southerly line being exactly four chains in length, as the northerly line had been. Now, the young engineer was able to resume his surveying toward the seventh stake. The extra route that he had followed made three sides of a square. Tom was now in line again, with the pond passed, and the exact distance between the sixth and seventh stakes.
“I guess that was where Rutter was sure he’d have me,” chuckled Tom quietly. “He’s probe ably waiting ahead to see me come hot-footing over the trail to ask for orders.”
At the tenth stake Tom found “Hazelton” written thereon.
“Men,” said the young engineer, “I guess this is where we go forward and look for the crowd. Get up the stuff and we’ll trot along.”
Nearly an hour of solid tramping over the trail followed before Tom and his party, guided by the rodman, came upon Harry Hazelton. Jack Rutter, chewing a blade of grass, sat under a tree at a little distance from where Harry was watching and signaling to two chainmen who were getting a distance.
“Is your own work all done?” asked Rutter.
“Yes, sir,” Tom answered.
“Let me see your field notes.”