have all the field notes
for at least three miles more ahead of here. Hazelton!"

"Coming," said Harry, after jotting down his last observations
and the distance.

"Let me see your last notes, Hazelton," directed Rutter. "Yes;
your work is all right."

"What do you know about this, Harry?" laughingly demanded Reade.

"I've suspected for the last two hours that Mr. Rutter was merely
trying us out over surveyed courses," laughed Harry.

"If you don't know how to do anything other than transit work,"
Rutter declared, "the chief can use all your time at that. He'll
be pleased when I tell him that you're at least as good surveyors
as I am. And, Reade, I see from your notes that you knew how
to measure across a pond that your chainmen couldn't ford."

"Mr. Price taught me that trick, back in Gridley," Tom responded.

Suddenly Jack Rutter sprang to his feet sniffing vigorously.

"Boys," he announced, "an adventure is coming our way. Can you
guess what it is?"

Tom and Harry gazed at him blankly.

CHAPTER V

TOM DOESN'T MIND "ARTILLERY"

"I give it up," Reade replied.

"Well, it's dinner time," declared Rutter, displaying the face
of his watch.

"Do we have to walk all the way back to camp?" queried Harry,
who knew that no provisions had been brought with them.

"No; camp is going to be brought to us," smiled Rutter. "At least,
a part of the camp will be brought here. Look up the trail there,
at that highest rise. Do you see dust near there?"

"Yes," nodded Tom.

"A burro pack-train, conveying our food and that of the other
surveying parties ahead of us," nodded Rutter. "You'll find the
cook's helper, Bob, in charge of it."

"Is that the way the meals are brought out every day?" asked Hazelton.

"No; but now we're getting pretty far from camp, and it would
waste a lot of our time to go back and forth. So our noon meals
will come by burro route. Tomorrow or the day after the camp
will be moved forward."

"How long before that train will be here?" Tom wanted to know.

"Probably ten minutes," guessed Rutter.

"Then I'm going to see if I can't find some little stream such
as I've passed this morning," Tom went on. "I want to wash before
I'm introduced to clean food."

"I'll go along presently," nodded Harry to his chum. "There's
something about the spirit level on this transit of mine that
I want to inspect."

So Tom Reade trudged off into the brush alone. After a few minutes