feet.  Once more Reade laid out a course, southerly, at exact right angles with the westerly course, the southerly line being exactly four chains in length, as the northerly line had been.  Now, the young engineer was able to resume his surveying toward the seventh stake.  The extra route that he had followed made three sides of a square.  Tom was now in line again, with the pond passed, and the exact distance between the sixth and seventh stakes.

“I guess that was where Rutter was sure he’d have me,” chuckled Tom quietly.  “He’s probe ably waiting ahead to see me come hot-footing over the trail to ask for orders.”

At the tenth stake Tom found “Hazelton” written thereon.

“Men,” said the young engineer, “I guess this is where we go forward and look for the crowd.  Get up the stuff and we’ll trot along.”

Nearly an hour of solid tramping over the trail followed before Tom and his party, guided by the rodman, came upon Harry Hazelton.  Jack Rutter, chewing a blade of grass, sat under a tree at a little distance from where Harry was watching and signaling to two chainmen who were getting a distance.

“Is your own work all done?” asked Rutter.

“Yes, sir,” Tom answered.

“Let me see your field notes.”

Reade passed over the book containing them.  From an inner pocket Rutter drew out his own field note book.  Before another minute had passed Tom had opened his eyes very wide.

“Your field notes are all straight, my boy.  If you’ve made any errors, then I’ve made the same.”

“You’ve already been over this work that we’ve been doing?” demanded Tom, feeling somewhat abashed.

“Of course,” nodded the older and more experienced engineer.  “You don’t for a moment suppose we’d trust you with original work until we had tried you out, do you?  We 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.