“Do you know how they were lost?”
Dick was grateful for the way the question was put, since it hinted that Fuller did not doubt his honesty.
“No,” he said. “That is, I have a notion, but I’m afraid I’ll never quite find out.”
Fuller did not reply for a minute or two, and Dick, whose face was rather hot, glanced back at Ida. Her eyes were now fixed on him with quiet interest, and something in her expression indicated approval.
“Well,” said Fuller, “I’m going to give you a chance of making good, because if you had done anything crooked, you wouldn’t have told me that tale. You’ll quit driving the locomotive and superintend on a section of the dam. I’m not satisfied with the fellow who’s now in charge. He’s friendly with the dago sub-contractors and I suspect I’m being robbed.”
Dick’s eyes sparkled. His foot was on the ladder that led to success; and he did not mean to stay at the bottom. Moreover, it caused him an exhilarating thrill to feel that he was trusted again.
“I’ll do my best, sir,” he said gratefully.
“Very well; you’ll begin to-morrow, and can use the rooms behind the iron office shack. But there’s something you have forgotten.”
Dick looked at him with a puzzled air; and Fuller laughed.
“You haven’t asked what I’m going to pay you yet.”