The Argosy, March 1907 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

= Eis 2 ct in town is saying, * Get out | And glad you are gone!’ ” Burns he had neither authority over her | actions nor right to employ such a tone =e toward her. ; This was borne out also by the other’s Se attitude, and by the sentence or two of surly apology which were carried back to the listener’s ear. It was a somewhat grudging atonement the fellow made, as well as Gardiner could judge; yet she _ graciously accepted it, and amicable re- -- Jations having been restored, the two . hurried on to join the coasting party. < ‘“When I come back here again,” said a Gardiner Davis, finishing to himself the ~ sentence which Burns’s arrival had-inter- rupted, “Phabe Stonefield and I are going to meet upon a different footing!” a ‘Oh, the optimism of youth! At seven- ee. teen, Fortune seems to be waiting with : outstretched hands only just around the | - corner, But years were to pass and many things to happen before Davis ; should return to Rossmore. pees The girl threw back her head haugh- ~~ ‘tily and drew away from her escort. ee. Gardiner could not catch her words, but it was evident from her manner that in aaa unmistakable terms she was informing see CHAPTER IV. A MATTER OF SMEARED INK. a WueEn the New York director of the —_-* Spring Creek Railway—Alton Stearns, of Stearns, Cummins & Beck, Wall Street, he was, by the way—when he re- turned to the city, he was formally deputed to apprise the new chief en- gineer of his appointment. Accordingly, in response to a brief note of invitation, Davis presented himself at : the offices of the noted firm and under- ~~ went a close scrutiny. eo What Stearns saw was a clean-look- ee - ing, well-set-up young fellow, cool and Bie? self-possessed, yet without any trace of assumption, and somehow by his quiet manner giving the impression of reserves in latent power. In short, his training.at the saw- mill, with its actual manual labor, its open-air life in all sorts of weather, the hearty appetite it engendered for coarse _ but nourishing fare, had made a man-out you are aware, of Gardiner Davis, transforming him from the pale and attenuated student of = Rossmore Academy into a vigorous young Sandow, with thews of hardened = steel, lungs like a pair‘of bellows, back = broad and straight, and a step light and aoe springy. a Nor was it only his body that had on benefited by the discipline. His mind, = also, had forsaken its former flaccid, ~~ dreamy course, and become keen and aes self-reliant. He still retained his lively imagination, but he had found better uses for it than in adding to the -world’s stock of bad poetry. Moreover, the fact of having been boss” at his little plant had given him a certain habit of authority, while at the same time broadening his outlook and sharpening his faculties. His four years’ experience in New York had smoothed off the rough spots and added the neces- sary poise to his character. 3 Sere : All this Alton Stearns, keen judge of ~ | men that he was, took in with one swift, comprehensive glance. ‘‘ Judson was right,” comment ; “ looking for.” Accordingly, he waved his visitor to a chair, and plunged at once into his sub- ject. “Mr. Davis,” he said, “ was his unspoken this is the man we have been in my note, as I merely stated that I wished to consult you on a-professional matter, without specifying the explicit character of the work | had in view. It may surprise you a bit, therefore, when I tell you that I am empowered to offer you the position of chief engineer of the Spring Creek Railway.” Surprise was hardly the word. Flab- FS. bergasted would more nearly» express ee Gardiner’s condition of mind. He stared = at the other as though uncertain whether to believe him crazy or jesting. ‘ Chief ee engineer? ’’ he gasped at last. “Why, lf == have had no experience!” aoe «¢ BE a J am. aware of. that,” - rejoined == aes Stearns; ‘‘and, strange as it may seem, ey that is exactly the reason we want you. = Make no mistake, though,” quickly; “it = is no sinecure we are offering you. You — will be expected’ to succeed where a © dozen of the biggest men in the country —— have already failed. Do you think you — = can fill the bill? ” eee