Mr. Hawkins is still in the employ of the A., G. & N. M. So are foremen Bell, Rivers and Mendoza.
Tim Griggs proved himself so thoroughly while foreman at the building of the new rail-road hotel in Paloma, that he has gone on to other and better work. Griggs is now a prosperous man, and, best of all, he has his little daughter with him.
Lessee Carter has flourished in the new railroad hotel. Rafe Bodson and Jeff Moore are his clerks.
The day came when Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton were able to apply the final and most severe test to the roadbed that ran across the Man-killer quicksand. Their work was finished, and finished splendidly, adding another great triumph to their record as young engineers.
“These hot countries are fine, for a while,” grunted Harry Hazelton, as the young engineers left Paloma in a special Pullman car that General Manager Ellsworth had sent for their use.
“They are fine, in fact; but one gets tired of working on a blistering desert. I hope our next long undertaking will be in a country where ice grows as one of the natural fruits.”
“Greenland, for instance?” smiled Tom Reade.
“Alaska, at all events,” responded Harry hopefully.
“Do you know where I'm figuring on making my next stop?” Tom inquired.
“In good old Gridley, the town where we were born, boy! I'm fairly aching for a sight of the good old town. Will you go with me?”
“For a few weeks, yes,” Harry agreed. “But after that little rest?”
“After our visit to the good old home town,” Tom Reade replied, “we'll go anywhere on earth where a good, big chance for engineering offers. Harry, we've yet nearly all of our work ahead of us to do if we're ever going to be real, Class A engineers!”
That our young engineers found still greater work awaiting them will be discovered in the next volume in this series, which is published under the title, “The Young Engineers in Nevada; or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn of a Pick.”
In this narrative we find our young friends wholly away from railroad work, but engaged in an even greater undertaking. The adventures awaiting them were more exciting than any they had yet encountered. Fame and fortune, too, offered a greater opportunity. How the young engineers embraced the opportunity will be made plain to our readers.