"Your father under the weather to-day, Larry?" was his first question, while his quick eye noted that the polished floor of the engine-room had been freshly washed and that the engine itself was doing its ponderous work with its accustomed silence. Even his ear would have detected a wrong note in the click and whir of the mechanism, though he would not have known how to repair the difficulty.
"No," said Larry, in his slow manner. "Father was called away this morning. I don't think he had time to send you any notice."
"So he sent you, which is the next best thing."
"Yes, sir, thank you."
"I didn't know but he was here till I just looked in. So it appears that you have kept the machinery running. By-the-way," and Mr. Gardner stepped up the ascent from the boiler-room and closed the door between, "does that one-eyed Joe stick to his post?"
The superintendent pursed his lips half humorously as he asked the question, but Larry felt sure that there was a serious purpose behind his words.
"Yes, sir. He was here before I was this morning."
"And does he mind your orders just the same as he does when your father is here?"
"He has so far, sir."
"That is right. Only you know some men don't fancy having a boy put in as boss over them; and he is one of the new hands, and I didn't know but he was cranky. Some of them are."