upon the expert commissioners.

Neale did so, and found them, with one exception, open to conviction.
The exception was a man named Allison Lee. The name Lee gave Neale
a little shock. He was a gray-looking man, with lined face, and that
concentrated air which Neale had learned to associate with those who
were high in the affairs of the U. P.

Neale stated that his business was to show that his work had been done
right, and he had the figures to prove it. Mr. Lee replied that the
survey was poor and would have to be done over.

"Are you a surveyor?" queried Neale, sharply, with the blood beating in
his temples.

"I have some knowledge of civil engineering," replied the commissioner.

"Well, it can't be very much," declared Neale, whose temper was up.

"Young man, be careful what you say," replied the other.

"But Mr.--Mr. Lee--listen to me, will you?" burst out Neale. "It's all
here in my notes. You've hurried over the line and you just slipped up a
foot or so in your observations of that section."

Mr. Lee refused to look at the notes and waved Neale aside.

"It'll hurt my chances for a big job," Neale said, stubbornly.

"You probably will lose your job, judging from the way you address your
superiors."

That finished Neale. He grew perfectly white.

"All this expert-commissioner business is rot," he flung at Lee. "Rot!
Lodge knows it. Henney knows it. We all do. And so do you. It's a lot of
damn red tape! Every last man who can pull a stroke with the Government
runs in here to annoy good efficient engineers who are building the
road. It's an outrage. It's more. It's not honest... That
section has forty miles in it. Five miles you claim must be
resurveyed--regraded--relaid. Forty-six thousand dollars a mile!...
That's the secret--two hundred and thirty thousand dollars more for a
construction company!"

Neale left the office and, returning to Henney, repeated the interview
to him word for word. Henney complimented Neale's spirit, but deplored
the incident. It could do no good and might do harm. Many of these
commissioners were politicians, working in close touch with the
directors, and not averse to bleeding the Credit Mobilier.

All the engineers, including the chief, though he was noncommittal, were
bitter about this expert-commissioner law. If a good road-bed had been
surveyed, the engineers knew more about it than any one else. They were
the pioneers of the work. It was exceedingly annoying and exa