Tom had his eyes open in time to see Harry Hazelton hit the ground with force. Then Slim Morris retreated to the doorway of the tent.

"Are you fellows going to sleep until pay days" Slim demanded jovially.

Tom hustled into his clothes, reached the doorway of the tent and found the sun already well up in the skies.

"The boys are sitting down to breakfast," called Slim over his shoulder. "Want any?"

"_Do_ I want any?" mocked Tom. He had laid out his khaki clothing the night before, and was now in it, save for his khaki jacket, which he caught up on his arm as he raced along toward the wash bench.

Nor had he gone very far with the soap and water when Harry Hazelton was beside him.

"Tom, Tom!" breathed Harry in ecstacy. "Do you blame people for loving the Rocky Mountains? This grand old mountain air is food and drink---almost."

"It may be for you. I want some of the real old camp chuck---plenty of it," retorted Reade, drawing a pocket comb out and running it through his damp locks while he gazed into the foot-square camp mirror hanging from a tree.

"May we come in?" inquired Tom, pausing in the doorway of the engineers' mess tent.

"Not if you're in doubt about it," replied Mr. Blaisdell, who was already eating with great relish. The boys slid into their seats, while Bob rapidly started things their way.

How good it all tasted! Bacon and fried eggs, corn bread and potatoes, coffee and a big dish of that time-honored standby in engineers' camp---baked beans. Then, just as Tom and Harry, despite their appet.i.tes, sat back filled, Bob appeared with a plate of flapjacks and a pitcher of mola.s.ses.

"Ten minutes of six," observed Mr. Blaisdell, consulting his watch as he finished. "Not much more time, gentlemen."

Tom and Harry followed the a.s.sistant engineer out into the open.

"Can you tell us now, Mr. Blaisdell, what we're to do today?"

Reade inquired eagerly.

"See those transits?" inquired Blaisdell, pointing to two of the telescoped and compa.s.sed instruments used by surveyors in running courses. "One for each of you. Take your choice. You'll go out today under charge of Jack Rutter. Of course it will be a little bit slow to you the first two or three days, but between you, I hope to see you do more than Rutter could do alone. You'll each have two chainmen. Rutter will give you blank form books for your field notes. He'll work back and forth between the two of you, seeing that you each do your work right. Boys, don't make any mistakes today, will you, So much depends, you know, upon the way you start in at a new job."

"We'll do the best that's in us," breathed Tom ardently.

"Engineer Rutter," called Blaisdell, "your two a.s.sistants are ready. Get your two sets of chainmen and make a flying start."

Animated by the spirit of activity that pervaded the camp, Tom and Harry ran to select their instruments, while Rutter hastened after his chainmen.

Bad Pete had not appeared at either mess this morning. He had small need to, for, in the still watches of the night, he had burglarized the cook's stores so successfully that not even that argus-eyed individual had noticed the loss.

Having breakfasted heartily in a deep thicket, Pete now looked down over the camp, his eyes twinkling in an evil way.

"I'll get bounced out of mess on account of two pasty-faced tenderfeet like those boys, will I?" Pete grumbled to himself. "Before this morning is over I reckon I'll have all accounts squared with the tenderfeet!"

CHAPTER IV

"TRYING OUT" THE GRIDLEY BOYS

The chainmen picked up the transits, carrying also the chains and rods. Rutter led the way, Tom and Harry keeping on either side of him, except when the rough mountain trail narrowed. Then they were obliged to walk at his heels.

"We are making this survey first," Rutter explained, "and then the leveling over the same ground follows within a few days.

Both the surveying and the leveling have to be done with great care. They must tally accurately, or the work will all go wrong, and the contractors would be thrown out so badly that they'd hardly know where they stood. A serious mistake in surveying or leveling at any point might throw the work down for some days. As you've already heard explained, any delay, now, is going to lose us our charter as sure as guns."

For more than a mile and a half the brisk walk continued. At last Rutter halted, pointing to a stake driven in the ground.

"See the nail head in the top of the stake?" he inquired.

"Yes," Tom nodded.

"You'll find a similar nail head in every stake. The exact point of the plummet of your bog-line must centre on the middle of that nail head. You can't be too exact about that, remember."

Turning to one of the chainmen, Rutter added:

"Jansen, take a rod and hustle along to the next stake."

"Yes, sir," answered the man, and started on a run. Nor did he pause until he had located the stake. Then he signaled back with his right hand. Tom Reade, in the meantime, had quickly set up his transit over the first stake on his part of the course. He did some rough shifting, at first, until the point of the plummet was exactly over the nail head. Then followed some careful adjusting of the instrument on its supports until two fine spirit levels showed that the compa.s.s of the instrument was exactly level.

"Now, let me see you get your sight," urged Rutter.

Tom did so, coolly, manipulating his instrument as rapidly as he could with safety, yet not with speed enough to cause himself confusion or worry.

"I've got a sight on the rod," announced Reade, without emotion.

"Are the cross-hairs, as you see them through the telescope, just on the mark?" Rutter demanded.

"Yes, sir."

"Let me have a look," ordered Rutter. "A fine, close sight," he a.s.sented, after taking a careful look through the telescope.

"Now, take your reading."

This showed the course by the compa.s.s, and was expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds. The poor reading of a course is one of the frequent faults of new or careless engineers.

"Here is a magnifier for the vernier," continued Rutter, just after Tom had started to make his reading.

"Thank you; I have a pretty good one of my own," Tom answered, diving into one of his pockets and bringing to light a small but powerful reading gla.s.s with an aplanatic lens.

"You carry a better magnifier than I do," laughed Rutter. "Hazelton, do You carry a pocket gla.s.s?"

"Yes, sir," nodded Harry "I have one just like Reade's."

"Good! I can see that you youngsters believe in good tools."

Tom in the meantime was busy with the vernier of his transit.

This is an ingenious device for showing the smaller divisions into which the circles of the compa.s.s are divided. Tom quickly jotted down his field note in degrees, minutes and seconds. One chainman now held an end of a hundred-link chain at the nail head on the stake, while a second man started toward the rodman, unfolding the chain as he went.

Tom remained over his transit. The traveling chainman frequently glanced back for directions from Reade whether or not he was off the course of a straight line to the next stake.