and Harry were, indeed, highly bronzed by the hot southwestern
sun. Harry, in fact, was well on the way to being black, so burned
had he become by his last few months of work.

"I hope, if you fellows are ever allowed to go forth into the Army,
you'll get your first station down in Arizona," teased Tom.

"I don't," retorted Greg, "if it will make us look like you two."

"Oh, it won't," broke in Harry mockingly. "You see, we have to
work down in Arizona. But you fellows wouldn't. We've seen some
thing of the soldiery down in that part of the world, and they're
the laziest crowd you ever saw. Why, the Army officers in Arizona
sleep all day and grumble about the heat all night. They have tame
Apaches to do their work for them. Oh, no, you wouldn't suffer
down in Arizona!"

"But how do you fellows come to be home at this time?" asked Dick.

"Homesick!" sighed Tom. "The fellows in our engineer corps are
entitled to some leave. So Harry and I waited until we had enough
leave piled up, and then we started back for Gridley."

"Well, it's hot on this corner," muttered Greg, "and there's an
ice cream place down the block, where the electric fans are going.
Let's make a raid on the place. Do you fellows remember when
we were happy if we could buy a ten-cent plate and then get by
ourselves with six spoons to dip into the ice cream? Come on!
Let's get good and square for those days."

"Yes; it is hot here on this corner," assented Dick.

"Hot?" demanded Reade impatiently.

"Humph! Harry and I were just regretting that we hadn't worn our
top coats today. We came to Gridley to cool off, and this old
town seems like a heaven of coolness after the baked-brown alkali
deserts of Arizona."

"Double orders for each one of us," explained Harry, after the
quartette of one time High School chums had seated themselves under
a buzzing fan.

Now, the chums of old days had time to look each other over more
closely.

Tom and Harry were taller than in the old High School days, but
they had not quite reached the height of Dick and Greg. Both
of the young civil engineers, besides being heavily bronzed, were
thin and sinewy looking. Thin as they were, both looked the pictures
of health. Though Tom and Harry did not "advertise" their tailors
as well as did the two West Point cadets, nevertheless the pair
of young civil engineers looked prosperous. They had the general
air of being the kind of young men who are destined