undred yards?" said Fuller, studying the spot.

"Two hundred and fifty at the outside," Dick answered confidently, and
then felt embarrassed as he saw Miss Fuller for the first time. His
clothes were few and dirty and he was awkwardly conscious that his hands
and face were black. But his employer claimed his attention.

"What would you reckon the weight of the stuff?"

Dick told him after a short silence, and Fuller asked: "Two-thousand-pound
tons?"

"Yes; I turned it into American weight."

"Well," said Fuller, "you must get on with your job now, but come up to
my tent after supper."

Dick started his locomotive, and when it panted away up the incline
Fuller looked at his daughter with a smile.

"What do you think of that young man?"

"He has a nice face. Of course he's not the type one would expect to find
driving a locomotive."

"Pshaw!" said Fuller. "I'm not talking about his looks."

"Nor am I, in the way you mean," Ida rejoined. "I thought he looked
honest, though perhaps reliable is nearest what I felt. Then he was very
professional."

Fuller nodded. "That's what I like. The man who puts his job before what
he gets for it naturally makes the best work. What do you think of his
manner?"

"It was good; confident, but not assertive, with just the right note of
deference," Ida answered, and then laughed. "It rather broke down after
he saw me."

"That's not surprising, anyhow. I expect he's used to wearing different
clothes and more of them when he meets stylish young women. It doesn't
follow that the young fellow isn't human because he's professional.
However, I want to see what the boys are doing farther on."

CHAPTER VI

A STEP UP

Dusk was falling when Dick went to keep his appointment with his
employer. Fireflies glimmered in the brush beside the path, and the
lights of Santa Brigida flashed in a brilliant cluster on the edge of the
shadowy sea. High above, rugged peaks cut black against the sky, and the
land breeze that swept their lower slopes brought with it instead of
coolness a warm, spicy smell. There was more foliage when Dick reached
the foot of a projecting spur, for a dark belt of forest rolled down the
hill; and by and by he saw a big tent, that gleamed with a softened
radiance like a paper lantern, among a clump of palms. It seemed to be
well lighted inside, and Dick remembered having heard orders for electric
wires to be connected with the power-house at the dam.

Fulle