behind the pile of
cribbing, where the carpenters had been at work on the heavy timbers,
"They're all ready for the framing."

Max made no reply, but he looked up as they passed the elevator and
measured with his eyes the space remaining between the cribbing and the
tops of the posts. He had yet to become accustomed to Bannon's methods;
but he had seen enough of him to believe that it would be done if Bannon
said so.

They were halfway to the office when Max said, with a touch of
embarrassment:--

"How's Hilda going to take hold, Mr. Bannon?"

"First-class."

Max's eyes sparkled.

"She can do anything you give her. Her head's as clear as a bell."

For the moment Bannon made no reply, but as they paused outside the office
door he said:

"We'd better make a point of dropping in at the office now and then during
the day. Any time you know I'm out on the job and you're up this way, just
look in."

Max nodded.

"And nights when we're working overtime, there won't be any trouble about
your getting off long enough to see your sister home. She won't need to do
any night work."

They entered the office. Miss Vogel was standing by the railing gate,
buttoning her jacket and waiting for Max. Behind her, bending over the
blue prints on the table, stood Peterson, apparently too absorbed to hear
the two men come in. Bannon gave him a curious glance, for no blue prints
were needed in working on the annex, which was simply a matter of building
bins up from the foundation. When Max and his sister had gone the foreman
looked around, and said, with a show of surprise:--

"Oh, hello, Charlie. Going up to the house?"

"Yes."

Peterson's manner was not wholly natural. As they walked across the flats
his conversation was a little forced, and he laughed occasionally at
certain occurrences in the morning's work that were not particularly
amusing.

Bannon did not get back to the office until a half hour after work had
commenced for the afternoon. He carried a large bundle under one arm and
in his hand a wooden box with a slot cut in the cover. He found the
scrubwoman hard at work on the office floor. The chair and the unused
stool were on the table. He looked about with satisfaction.

"It begins to look better already," he said to Miss Vogel. "You know we're
not going to be able to keep it all clean; there'll be too many coming in.
But there's going to be a law passed about tracking mud inside the
railing."

He opened h