“Jasper Carson of the Yorkshire forge is my uncle.”
“I reckon he could have got you a fresh engagement.”
“In the circumstances, I didn’t want to bother my relations. When I started for Canada I doubt if Jasper Carson knew where I went.”
Wheeler smiled, as if he saw a joke. “And you hit our bridge and hired up to help the smith? Well, you surely have——”
“To begin with, I helped the cook,” Kit interrupted. “I doubt if I have much gall, and I’d sooner know if you think I have some talent for engineering.”
“We’ll try you out,” Wheeler replied with a chuckle, as if the joke got better. “On Monday you’ll go to Austin’s office, and if he thinks you useful, we’ll fix your pay. In the meantime your job’s at the forge. Get to it.”
Kit went back to the forge. He was puzzled but triumphant. In a few days he would resume his proper occupation, and he felt he made some progress.
CHAPTER XVI
KIT GOES VISITING
Kit pushed some calculations across the office table, and tilting his chair against the wall, put his feet on the stove. His gum boots were battered, but his clothes were good. His shirt was striped and his blue tie was knitted silk. The color harmonized with his blue eyes and sunburned skin. Scale drawings and patterns covered the cracked matchboard walls. Oil-drums occupied a corner, and measuring tools were on the table. In the austerely utilitarian office Kit’s careless pose was somehow foreign.
Austin concentrated on some plans. His clothes were gray and his look was sober. Kit thought the tools and oil-drums were in the picture; Bob, so to speak, was utilitarian. He had recently married, and sometimes Kit speculated about Mrs. Austin. By and by Kit lighted a cigarette.