ter Glen had gone to bed that night, Mr. Brackett, the leveller,
and the rodman sat up hard at work on the maps and profiles of the lines
they had run that day. If Glen had seen this he would have realized what
he afterwards learned, that while the work of most men ends with the
day, that of an engineer in the field only ends with bedtime, and
sometimes a late one at that.

For two days longer Glen worked with this congenial party, gaining
valuable knowledge with each hour, and thoroughly enjoying his new life.

On the third day Mr. Hobart came, and it seemed to Glen like seeing one
from home to meet him again. After their first greeting, the engineer
said,

"Well, my boy, what other wonderful deeds have you been performing since
you and the governor ran the locomotive?"

"The governor!" almost gasped Glen. "Was he a governor?"

"Certainly he was, or rather had been. Didn't you know it? He was
General Elting, the ex-governor whom you were inquiring about in St.
Louis, and who is now the treasurer of our road. He returned to St.
Louis almost immediately from here, and there I heard the whole story
from his own lips. He was greatly disappointed at your disappearance,
and much pleased to find out that I knew you; for of course I recognized
you from his description. He hopes to meet you again some time, and I
have promised to see that you do not indulge in any more mysterious
disappearances."

While they talked of that night, and its tragic incidents, Mr. Hobart
suddenly interrupted himself with,

"By the way, Glen, I am not going to take charge of this locating-party,
after all, and so cannot give you a position in it."

Glen felt his face growing pale as he repeated slowly and incredulously,

"Not going to take charge of it?'

"No; I have been relieved of my command, and am going to engage in
another kind of work," replied the engineer, smiling at the boy's
startled and distressed expression.

Chapter XI.

ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

If Glen had detected that smile on Mr. Hobart's face, he would have been
spared a few moments of very unhappy reflections. He would have known
that his brown-bearded friend could not smile while dashing his high
hopes, and that there must be something pleasant back of it all. But as
the engineer, who could not resist the temptation to try the effects of
a disappointment on the boy's temper, turned away his face at that
moment, his words were heard, while the smile was