those appalling moments, unconscious of the act, Joanne had shrank
close to Aldous, so that he felt the soft crush of her hair and the swift
movement of her bosom. Blackton's voice brought them back to life.

He laughed, and it was the laugh of a man who had looked upon work well
done.

"It has done the trick," he said. "To-morrow we will come and see. And I
have changed my plans about Coyote Number Twenty-eight. Hutchins, the
superintendent, is passing through in the afternoon, and I want him to see
it." He spoke now to a man who had come up out of the darkness. "Gregg,
have Twenty-eight ready at four o'clock to-morrow afternoon--four
o'clock--sharp!"

Then he said:

"Dust and a bad smell will soon be settling about us. Come, let's go home!"

And as they went back to the buckboard wagon through the gloom John Aldous
still held Joanne's hand in his own, and she made no effort to take it from
him.

CHAPTER XVIII

The next morning, when Aldous joined the engineer in the dining-room below,
he was disappointed to find the breakfast table prepared for two instead of
four. It was evident that Peggy Blackton and Joanne were not going to
interrupt their beauty nap on their account.

Blackton saw his friend's inquiring look, and chuckled.

"Guess we'll have to get along without 'em this morning, old man. Lord
bless me, did you hear them last night--after you went to bed?"

"No."

"You were too far away," chuckled Blackton again, "I was in the room across
the hall from them. You see, old man, Peggy sometimes gets fairly starved
for the right sort of company up here, and last night they didn't go to bed
until after twelve o'clock. I looked at my watch. Mebby they were in bed,
but I could hear 'em buzzing like two bees, and every little while they'd
giggle, and then go on buzzing again. By George, there wasn't a break in
it! When one let up the other'd begin, and sometimes I guess they were both
going at once. Consequently, they're sleeping now."

When breakfast was finished Blackton looked at his watch.

"Seven o'clock," he said. "We'll leave word for the girls to be ready at
nine. What are you going to do meantime, Aldous?"

"Hunt up MacDonald, probably."

"And I'll run down and take a look at the work."

As they left the house the engineer nodded down the road. MacDonald was
coming.

"He has saved you the trouble," he said. "Remember, Aldous--nine o'clock
sharp!"

A moment later Aldous was advancin