"I didn't know but he was here till I just looked in. So it appears that
you have kept the machinery running. By-the-way," and Mr. Gardner
stepped up the ascent from the boiler-room and closed the door between,
"does that one-eyed Joe stick to his post?"

The superintendent pursed his lips half humorously as he asked the
question, but Larry felt sure that there was a serious purpose behind
his words.

"Yes, sir. He was here before I was this morning."

"And does he mind your orders just the same as he does when your father
is here?"

"He has so far, sir."

"That is right. Only you know some men don't fancy having a boy put in
as boss over them; and he is one of the new hands, and I didn't know but
he was cranky. Some of them are."

Mr. Gardner pursed his smooth-shaven lips again and was gone.

The moment the door closed after him, Larry wished he had told him of
the strange actions of the group of new hands whom he had seen outside
the entrance that noon.

"But he may know more about it than I do. His eyes see about all there
is to see," the boy reasoned.