possible for anyone to acquire a friendly feeling; Harry therefore
felt that when he had committed his chief's body to the earth with as
much respectful observance as the circumstances permitted, had carefully
and scrupulously collected together and dispatched to England all the
dead man's personal belongings, and had taken such steps as were
possible for the capture and punishment of the men who were primarily
responsible for Butler's death, he had done everything that a strict
sense of duty claimed from him, and was not called upon to feign and
outwardly manifest a sorrow which had no place in his heart. Besides,
he was now the responsible head of the survey party; upon him depended--
for at least the next three months--the conduct of an important and
highly scientific operation; and upon the manner in which he conducted
it depended very serious issues involving the expenditure of exceedingly
large sums of money. This was his opportunity to demonstrate to all
concerned the stuff of which he was made; it was an opportunity so
splendid that many a young fellow of his age would cheerfully give half
a dozen years of his life to obtain such another; for Harry fully
realised that if he could carry his task to a successful conclusion his
fortune, from the professional point of view, was made. And he felt
that he could--ay, and would--do this. The experience which he had
already gained since his arrival in Peru had been of inestimable value
to him, and he had made the very utmost of it; he therefore felt
confident of his ability to carry through his task to the satisfaction
of his employers and with credit to himself, and he entered upon it with
avidity and keen enjoyment. Moreover, he was tactful, and possessed the
happy knack of managing those under him in such a way that he was able
to extract the very last ounce of work from them without offending their
susceptibilities, or causing them to feel that he was making undue
demands upon them.

Under these circumstances, and with the perpetual galling irritation of
Butler's presence and influence removed, the survey made rapid and very
satisfactory progress, the party arriving at Cerro de Pasco in a trifle
under six weeks from the date of Butler's death, thus completing the
second section of the survey. The third section was very much longer
and more difficult in every respect than either of the two completed,
since it extended from Nanucaca--already connected by rail with