"In a way, that is so," Festing agreed. "Still, I can"t go back until I have finished this job."
"Perhaps you had better not," said Charnock dryly. "I imagine you wouldn"t be easy to live with it you felt you had come home because you had failed. You might make good resolutions, but the thing would spoil your temper all the same. The pinch comes when you try to carry good resolutions out."
Festing got up and threw fresh wood on the fire. "If you have finished philosophizing, we"ll talk about something else."
"I"m not going to talk about logs and wages," Charnock replied.
"Very well. You haven"t told me much about Wilkinson. He seems a clever rascal. Do you think we have ground for being afraid of him?"
"I don"t imagine he"d run much risk or make a sacrifice for the sake of getting his revenge; that kind of thing isn"t often done by normal people. All the same, he doesn"t like us, and if he found he could do us an injury without much trouble, I dare say he"d seize the chance. On the whole, it might be prudent to watch him. Now we"ll let the matter go."
Festing nodded, and they lounged in silence by the snapping fire.
Next morning they got to work upon the track, and on the following afternoon, when the thaw had gone far enough into the ground, Charnock went for the gravel gang. The men came willingly, although Wilkinson and the foreman did not appear, and with the connivance of one Charnock obtained several of the company"s blast-lamps. They worked well, and when they went away Festing was satisfied with what they had done. He imagined that Kerr and Norton had put themselves to some inconvenience in order to let him have the gang, and for the next two or three days he redoubled his efforts. The strain was getting unbearable, but the thaw would not last, and he must finish all the work the frost would delay while he could get the men. When he dismissed his helpers, they parted on friendly terms; but his look was grave that evening when he made up his accounts.
The wages had been a heavy drain, and he could not meet his storekeeper"s bills unless he got his cheque. The defective underpinning had, however, been replaced or strengthened, and he expected that Kerr would test it soon. If the work did not pa.s.s the test, he would be ruined, and would, moreover, have involved Charnock in a serious loss.
It was about the middle of the morning when he stood with Kerr and his partner beside the mended tract. Bright sunshine touched the hillside, leaving the gorge in shadow, and the air was clear and cold. The snow had gone for a few hundred feet above the rails; the pines stood out sharply from the dark background, and the hollows in the glittering slopes beyond were marked by lines of soft-blue shade. Festing thought a change was coming, and he had not finished the track too soon.
By and by a plume of smoke rose above the trees and something twinkled in an opening. A rhythmic snorting and a rumble pierced the throb of the river, and Kerr looked up the track.
"The engineer"s bringing her along fast. Shall I flag him to snub her and shut the throttle before he runs across the new stuff?"
"No," said Festing quietly. "It won"t be needful."
"The work hasn"t had much time to settle, and a locomotive using steam hits the rails harder than when she"s running loose."
"We don"t want our money until it"s earned, and you"ll have to haul heavy loads up the grade when the regular traffic begins."
"In the meantime, I"m not thinking about the rest, but about the gravel train."
"The track will stand," said Festing, in a steady voice.
The train came on; the long, low-sided cars rocking and banging down the incline. Small figures jolted up and down on the gravel, and at the far end the big plow flashed in the sun. The front of the engine got larger, and Festing fixed his eyes upon the rockwork he had built among the piles. All that could be done had been done; he had not spared money or labor, for Charnock had agreed that the job must stand. It was, no doubt, exaggerated sentiment, for he was highly strung, but he felt that he had staked his wife"s respect and his future happiness on his work.
The ground shook, and flying fragments of ballast beat upon his turned-down hat; there was a deafening roar as the cars jolted past, and he saw the rails spring. Then the wind that buffeted him changed to eddying puffs, the noise receded, and he lifted his bent head. The rockwork stood firm, the ends of the timbers had not moved, and only a few small heaps of gravel had fallen from the road-bed. Festing felt that he was trembling, and Kerr put his hand on his arm.
"It"s a good job; I"m quite satisfied. If you"ll come along to Norton"s office, I"ll tell him he can give you an order on headquarters for your cheque."
"I"ll come instead," said Charnock, who turned to Festing. "Go to the shack and take a smoke. If you come out before I return, I"ll stop the gang."
Half an hour later he found Festing sitting slackly by the fire.
"The order is in the mail-bag and will go out on the first train," he said. "It"s lucky we got it, because we have cut things very fine. I had a note some days since from the fellow who sends us our stores, insisting on our settling his bill."
"Then why didn"t you tell me?" Festing asked.
Charnock laughed. "I imagined you had enough to bother you, and his account is big. We couldn"t have paid him without going broke, and wages have first claim. There was a way out, but you had given me strict orders not to write to Sadie."
"I couldn"t have allowed that, but you"re a good sort, Bob!"
"Well," said Charnock cheerfully, "it was, so to speak, touch and go; but we have turned the awkward corner, and I think are going to make good."
CHAPTER XXVI
A NEW UNDERTAKING
Soon after the rails were laid down the frost returned, and one cold morning Festing sat in his shack, studying a letter from Helen. Norton"s cheque had helped him to overcome the worst of his difficulties, things were going better, and Charnock would superintend the workmen until he was ready to go out. Festing felt that he need not hurry, and wanted to think.
Helen had written to him before, without any hint of resentment, and he had told her what he was doing. She knew Bob was his partner, and no doubt understood what this implied. It was obvious that he had been wrong in disliking Bob and half suspecting him; besides Helen knew from the beginning that he had not suspected her, although he had insisted that she had been imprudent. This ground for difference had vanished, but he wondered what she thought, and could not gather much from her letter.
She wrote with apparent good-humor and stated that all was going satisfactorily at the farm, where, indeed, nothing of importance could be done until spring. For all that, there was some reserve. A personal explanation was needed before they could get back to their old relations of intimate confidence, and he was ready to own his mistakes.
Unfortunately, the explanation must be put off, because there was one point on which he was still determined, although his resolve no longer altogether sprang from pride. He must, if possible, repair his damaged fortunes before he went home. Farming on a proper scale was expensive work, and Helen"s capital was not large. In order to raise a big crop, one must speculate boldly, and he meant to do so with his own money.
He saw a danger in staying away too long, but his contract was only beginning to be profitable. Besides, one thing led to another, and a number of extras, for which the pay was good, had been added to the original plans. Then he had been asked to undertake another job and had arranged to go over the ground with Kerr and Norton that morning. In a way, he would sooner have left it alone, because it would keep him longer from home, but the terms offered a strong inducement to stop.
Glancing at his watch, he saw it was nearly time to meet the engineers.
He found them and Charnock near the half-finished bridge, which crossed the river obliquely. The track approached its end in a curve and then stopped where a noisy steam-digger was at work. Between the machine and the bridge, the hillside fell in a very steep slope to the water, which rolled in angry turmoil past its foot, and the channel dividing the bank from the island that supported the central bridge-pier was deep. Here and there a slab of rock projected from the slope, but, for the most part, the latter consisted of small stones and soil. The surface was now frozen beneath a thin crust of snow and the pines were white.
"You know roughly what we want," said Kerr. "If you"ll come along, you can look at the shot-holes we made to test the ground. Then I"ll show you a car-load of the rock we want to use, but it"s largely a lumber job and that"s why we thought of offering it you. You have some good choppers besides the teams and plant required."
They climbed about the bank by dangerous paths, and then stopped at the end of the bridge.
"The thing can be done, but it will only make a temporary job," Festing remarked. "You will have to do it again, properly, in a year or two."
"That the Company"s business," Kerr replied. "As soon as we start the traffic improvements can be paid for out of revenue instead of piling up construction costs."
"You can imagine the cost if we cut back the hill far enough to ease the curve and lay the track on solid ground," Norton interposed. "The half-measure of scooping out a shallow road-bed and dumping the stuff on the incline is ruled out, because the spoil wouldn"t lie and the river would sweep the dirt away. If we filled up the channel with rock, we"d turn the current on the bridge-pier."
Then Charnock said something and Festing let them talk while he looked about. Since a temporary job was required, he thought the plan was perhaps the best that could be used. It called for a timber framework, beginning about half-way up the bank, although its height would vary with the ground. The gaps between the frames would be faced with rockwork and then filled with rubble in order to make a bed for the rails on top.
"If you will come to the office, I"ll show you the detailed drawings,"
Norton said presently, and the others followed him.
When they reached the office Festing studied the drawings, and then giving them to Charnock, lighted his pipe. He wanted to undertake the contract, but hesitated. The work already on his hands would occupy him for some time, and a lengthy absence might prejudice him with Helen.
Besides, he had taken risks enough and a new venture might prove a rash challenge to fortune; one could not foresee all the difficulties that might arise. But, if he succeeded, he would go home with the means to resume his farming on a profitable scale. Then he saw Charnock looking at him and knew he would agree to his decision. Festing put down his pipe and knitted his brows.
"Well?" said Charnock.
Festing got up with a quick, resolute movement, and turned to Norton.
"We"ll undertake the job."
"That"s all right," said Norton. "I"ll get the papers drawn up and send them over for you to sign."
They went out, and as they climbed the hill Charnock remarked: "This may turn out a big thing, partner. Are you going home before we start?"