And Will answered with a loud "Ha, ha, ha! Run engines! ha, ha, ha!" and his sides shook with laughter. "Compare my father to Mike and Tim! My father builds railroads."
And they all said "Oh!"
"But what's the first thing, Will, to build a road? A spade and hoe, or what?"
"Money; ten hundred thousand dollars, and just as much more as you can get. Father says you can do anything with money; but all the money in the world couldn't have saved little sister Rose from dying." At that a large tear came to Will's eye and the boys all looked at him in silence.
Then he wiped his eyes and went on, "Come, boys, say how much you'll give to the new railroad."
Thereupon Will smoothed off a spot in the sand and wrote his name, and opposite he put, "The right of way and no charge for engineering."
"And what's 'the right of way?'" they asked.
"You can't build roads in the air. You must have ground, and when you get it, you've 'The right of way.' See? I'll get that from father, down in the orchard, along the trout brook."
"Good for you, Will," they all shouted.
"Here, Rob, you sign for the ties; Alec, for the rails, and Jim for the rolling stock; Dan must build the depot. Come up, now, and sign like men of enterprise. Be liberal and prompt, and we'll have the cars running by the first of June, and declare a dividend—of fun at least—every day."