he concrete mixer, the cableway towers and
the superintendent's office, with all the thousand and one details,
expected and unexpected, that made or marred the success of the dam,
must be looked over. The last visit was always at the dam itself, where
Jim spent most of the day.

On the afternoon after Jim had hired Murphy he stood on the section of
the dam which now showed no signs of old Jezebel's strenuous visit. Jim
was watching the job with his outer mind, while with his inner mind he
turned over and over the things that Pen had said to him the night
before the mask ball. Even in the excitement that followed the ball,
Pen's scolding, as he called it, had never been entirely out of his
thoughts. In spite of their sting, Jim realized that Pen's words had
cleared his vision, had given him a sense of content that was comparable
only to the feeling he had had on the night so many years ago that he
had discovered his profession.

To find that the cause of his failure lay in himself and not in
intangible forces without that he could not combat was strangely enough
a very real relief. For Jim was taking Pen's review of his weaknesses as
essential truth!

Suddenly, with his eyes fastened critically on a great stone block that
was being carefully bedded on the section, he laughed aloud and
whispered to himself:

"I feel just the way I used to when I got mad because I couldn't get
compound interest and Dad straightened me out, giving me a good calling
down as he did so. Pen! Pen! My dearest!"

Oscar Ames, picking his way carefully among the derricks and stone
blocks, grunted when he saw the smile on Jim's face. Jim did not cease
to smile when he saw Oscar.

"Come up here, Ames! I want your advice!"

Oscar grunted again, but this time as if someone had knocked his breath
out of him. He paused, then came on up to where Jim was standing. Men
were busy preparing the surface on which they stood for the next
pouring. In the excavation below, the channeling machine was gouging out
a trench for the heel of the dam. Pumps were working steadily, drawing
seepage water from the excavation. Men swarmed everywhere, on derricks,
on engines, with guide ropes for cableway loads, scouring and chipping
rock and concrete surfaces, ramming and bolting forms into place,
shifting motors, always hurrying yet always giving a sense of direction
and purpose.

"She's coming along, Oscar," said Jim.

Oscar nodded. Something in Jim's tone made