a few days later a detachment of infantry arrived to relieve captain wendell and his men. the new troop was to stay permanently, as the troubles at the border were continuing and mr. whitney had found it impracticable to get laborers of any other nationality than mexicans.
the bunch of mexicans jerry had sent off on the wild goose chase the night of the raid came straggling into camp during the early hours of the morning, to find that a tight ring of guards had been made around their section of the lower camp. when they attempted to get through they were put under arrest and during the day were loaded on a train and shipped to the border to be sent back into their native country. the captured bandits were delivered to general pershing’s headquarters to await trial.
bob and jerry were happy. the companionship which they had formed during the days of the labyrinth and which had been interrupted, now was cemented still further. ted hoyt had been allowed by his father to come back to the dam and the trio had great times together.
on sundays bob’s and jerry’s usual plan was to go up to thaddeus holman’s ranch and spend the day with link o’day, who had taken a great fancy to bob. ted, of course, went home. but bob realized that the reason o’day was good to him was that he was jerry’s friend. there was something more than comradeship between jerry and the tall cattleman; it was more the relation of a younger and elder brother.
this had a good effect on jerry. it was as if he had found what he had told bob in the labyrinth he most wanted—someone to belong to, a family. he was becoming less serious, less self-contained.
link o’day talked a lot about the northwest and especially of the lumbering. he seemed to have a great love of forests. jerry grew more and more interested.
“i’d like that,” he said one day as the trio were loafing away the afternoon in the shade of holman’s bunkhouse, “and i think i’ll drift up that way and tackle it.”
“and leave the service?” put in bob. “i don’t see how you could. it’s the finest—”
“we know how you feel!” link o’day laughed. “according to you, rockefeller hasn’t anything on the youngest cub of an engineer so long as the cub is one of the reclamation service’s outfit. therefore your opinion isn’t worth anything in this case.”
“seriously, bob,” went on jerry, “the service is good stuff, but i haven’t the same sort of feeling about it that you have. boss whitney is great to work for and—and all that, but i’m not so sure that there isn’t something else to do that i would like a heap better. this forestry business, for instance. it listens good to me. big trees, the song of the band saws, all the rest of it link has been telling us about. and if link would only go along—”
“wouldn’t be surprised if i did,” said link with a smile. “i’m getting a little tired of cows now. if you really want to go, jerry, i’ll start along with you any time.”
“you will?” the boy was overjoyed. “that’s great! you’d better begin getting your stuff together ’cause i’m going to call for you just as soon as boss whitney will let me go.”
bob made one last effort.
“but, jerry, how about the labyrinth? we found it—don’t you want to have a hand in what happens next?”
for a moment jerry seemed to hesitate. then he answered:
“that’s the only thing i’ll really be sorry for—and leaving you, old man. but after all, it was you who was responsible for the trip. i just went because you dared me into it. no, bob, if link will go north with me, i’ll have to pass up the labyrinth.”
“all right,” said bob laughing. “i reckon you’re lost. i’m beat, but i sure hope you will find that you picked the right thing for yourself.”
the next day, when jerry came to mr. whitney to tell him of his decision, bob was there. the engineer listened to the boy and when he had finished told him that he could leave when it was most convenient.
“i’ve known for a long time, jerry, that you were not a born engineer like bob hazard here, but you’ve been a good rodman and i hate to lose you. besides, i won’t soon forget what you did for us in the mexican mix-up. but everyone must do what he thinks is best. good luck to you!”
after jerry left, the work went on smoothly and the main dam grew higher and higher each day. bob became proficient in the things mr. whitney gave him to do and by the time summer came near its close he felt that he had a good foundation of practical engineering on which to build the theoretical knowledge he would get at college.
the mexican situation was unchanged. the united states had not gone into mexico and the cattlemen still grumbled but did no more than that. the presence of the soldiers was enough to keep the laborers in check.
for several weeks before the date bob had set as the time he must return to the east, he had received no letters from his father. just as he was about to be a little worried, something occurred which settled all his fears.
coming back from the job one night, he saw a strange yet familiar figure sitting on the porch of the quarter-house. when he got near enough to see he started on the run towards the building.
“dad! dad! but i’m glad to see you!” he cried.
unashamed, he put his arms around the man when he dashed up on the veranda and asked a multitude of questions.
mr. hazard had grown lonely for his son and had come out to see him on the job and to have the long ride homeward with him across the continent.
“you see, son, i’ll lose you again right after we get home.”
“why?” bob wanted to know.
“because rensselaer polytech opens a few days after we get back.”
“you’ve—you’ve fixed it for me to go there?” said bob, realizing that by letting him go to that particular institution, where only engineering was taught, his father had given up all hope of his ever being a lawyer. “that’s bully of you, dad!”
“you said you wanted to go there,” was the simple answer.
that night mr. hazard and bob had dinner with mr. whitney. the chief told the boy’s father all the things bob had accomplished.
“he’s going to make a fine engineer, mr. hazard. you’ll be proud of him.”
“i’m sure of that. i want to tell you now how proud i am of the reclamation service and the things it’s doing. i’ve looked the service up and i’ve been to one or two projects that have been finished.”
“you have done that?” bob said excitedly.
“yes,” was the smiling answer, “and since i have seen for myself, i’d rather bob became an engineer on this service than anything else—excluding, of course, a lawyer!”
during the day or two that remained before bob’s departure, mr. hazard was shown the dam and all the things that made up its building. bob was busy saying good-bye to all the friends he had made.
feather-in-the-wind, while preserving his customary dignity, was genuinely sorry to see him go.
“you will come back,” he said. “you have smelt desert. you have helped build. you come back. i know. feather-in-the-wind will wait. will be glad when you come. adios!”
when at last bob was seated in the automobile ready to start for engle and the train that would carry him back to the east and college, a great feeling of sadness swept over him. he took a last look at the dam and the myriad activities that clustered around it, and he was sorry that he had to go.
“come on back next summer,” cried ted hoyt, who had been given a few minutes from his work to bid his friend good-bye. “and perhaps i’ll go east with you afterwards. my father says he might let me if i’m still so loco about it!”
“that’s great! i sure hope he does. i’ll be back all right—that is, if you’ll have a place for me,” bob finished, speaking to mr. whitney who had come up to the group.
“don’t fret yourself about that, bob. i’ll have a job for you all right and one you’ll like,” said the engineer.
“what is it?” demanded the boy.
“to go as my aide on an official survey of the labyrinth!”
“then the folks in washington have told you to go ahead on what jerry and i reported?”
“they have. i just received the letter in the last mail. i won’t be able to get away from here until about the time your next vacation comes, so it will work out just right. i can expect you, can’t i?”
bob hazard gave a joyous assent. a moment later the machine had started and the scene of bob’s first experience as an engineer was fading into the distance. ahead were the four years of endeavor that would fit him to take his place with mr. whitney as a full-fledged engineer of the service.
as the machine slipped over the hilltop hiding the dam from sight, bob turned his eyes to the front. he was riding into the future, happy and content.
