stomachs. But it's worth it, Harry---if
we live through the ordeal."

"And for what are we fighting?" inquired Harry musingly.

"First of all, then, for gold."

"Tom, I never knew you to be so crazy about gold before. What
are we going to do with it---if we get it?"

"There are the folks at home."

"Of course, Tom, and they would be our first thought---if we had
the gold. But we can do all we want to for the home folks out
of the pay that we are able to earn at steady jobs."

"True."

"Then why are we fooling around here? We are nearly broke, but
we can honestly settle all the debts we owe. Then we could get
back to work and have bank accounts again within a few months."

"Yes; but only pitiful bank accounts---a few hundreds of dollars,
or a few thousands."

It would be steady and growing."

"Yes; but it would take years to pile up a fortune, Harry."

"What do we really want with fortunes?"

"We want them, Harry," Tom went on, almost passionately, "because
we have ambitions. Look out upon the great mountains of this
Range. Think of the rugged bits of Nature in any part of the
world, waiting for the conquering hand and the constructive brain
of the engineer! Harry, don't you long to do some of the big
things that are done by engineers? Don't you want to get into
the real---the big performances of our profession?"

"Of course," nodded Hazelton. "For that reason, aren't we doubly
wasting our time here?"

"That's just as it turns out," Reade went on, with a vehemence
that astonished his chum. "Harry, what's our office address?
Where are our assistant engineers---where our draftsmen? Where
are our foremen that we could summon to great undertakings? Where
is the costly equipment that we would need as a firm of really
great engineers? You know that we must these things before we
can climb to the top of our profession. The gold that's hidden
somewhere under that ridge would give us the offices, the assistants,
the draftsmen, the equipment and the bank account that we need
before we can launch ourselves into first class engineering feats
of the great civilization that rules the world today. Harry,
I've firm faith in our claim, and I can go on working on a meal
every third day."

"Then now, as always, you can count on me to stand by you without
limit or complaint," said Harry generously.

"But, just the same, you haven't my faith in the mine, have you?"
Tom queried half-disappointedly.

"