"The next time you come to visit us, Miss Vogel," he called back, "I guess we'll have our real elevator in, and we can run you up so fast it'll take your breath away. We'll be real swells here yet."
When he reached the working floor, he called in the laborers and shouted to Max. But when the box, slowly descending, appeared below the bin walls, it was Peterson who held the line and chatted with Hilda as he steadied her.
The next day a lot of cribbing came from Ledyard, and Bannon at once set about reorganizing his forces so that work could go on night and day. He and Peterson would divide the time equally into twelve-hour days; but three divisions were necessary for the men, the morning shift working from midnight until eight o'clock, the day shift from eight to four, and the night shift from four to midnight.
Finally, when the whistle blew, at noon, Bannon tipped back his chair and pushed his hat back on his head.
"Well," he said, "that's fixed."
"When will we begin on it?" Peterson asked.
"Today. Have the whistle blow at four. It'll make some of the men work overtime today, but we'll pay them for it."
Miss Vogel was putting on her jacket. Before joining Max, who was waiting at the door, she asked:—
"Do you want me to make any change in my work, Mr. Bannon?"
"No, you'd better go ahead just as you are. We won't try to cut you up into three shifts yet awhile. We can do what letters and accounts we have in the daytime."