锘挎澀宸炵敺澹吇鐢熸帹鑽?
er their textbooks. Frank Andrews continued to aid them, and often explained matters which puzzled them.
The two youths had received letters from home on the day after their former Oak Hall chums had left. But since that time no other communications had arrived.
鈥淚t鈥檚 queer we don鈥檛 get some more letters,鈥?grumbled the senator鈥檚 son one day.
鈥淲ere you looking for a letter from your folks?鈥?questioned Dave slyly.
鈥淵ou know well enough what I was looking for,鈥?answered Roger, his face growing a bit red. 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 get any letter from Jessie, did you?鈥?
鈥淣ot since the day you got one from Laura, and the day that one came from your mother.鈥?
鈥淲hat do you make of it, Dave? They must have gotten our letters.鈥?
鈥淢aybe not, Roger. Just the same, I think the girls would have written even if they didn鈥檛 get our letters.鈥?
鈥淒o 鏉窞瑗挎箹瓒虫荡搴楀彲鍟?you suppose anything has gone wrong?鈥?
171鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to suppose.鈥?
鈥淢aybe we ought to send a telegram,鈥?suggested the senator鈥檚 son, after a pause.
鈥淥h, there鈥檚 no use of scaring them with a telegram, Roger. Let us wait a few days longer. We may get some letters to-morrow.鈥?
But the morrow passed, and so did several more days, including Sunday, and still no letters were received
from Crumville. Roger got a letter from his folks in Washington, and Dave received a brief communication from Phil, stating that he and the others had arrived safely at Star Ranch. But all of these did not satisfy the young civil engineers.
鈥淪omething must be wrong somewhere,鈥?announced Dave at last. 鈥淚 guess after all, Roger, we had better send a telegram to Crumville and find out what it means.鈥?
CHAPTER XVII BAD NEWS
On the following day the two 鏉窞妗戞嬁鎸夋懇涓€鏉￠緳 young civil engineers were sent with the rest of the gang under Frank Andrews to do some work located along the line about half way to the railroad station.
鈥淭hat will give us a chance to send off a telegram,鈥?said Dave to the senator鈥檚 son. 鈥淲e can ask Andrews to let us off an hour earlier than usual and ride over to the station and get back to camp in time for supper.鈥?
So it was arranged; and as soon as they quit 鏉窞娲楁荡妗戞嬁涓績 work, the two young men hurried off on a gallop so that they might reach the station before the agent, who was also the telegraph operator, went away.
鈥淲e want to send a telegram to the East,鈥?announced Dave, as they dismounted at the platform where the agent stood looking over some express packages.
鈥淎ll right, I鈥檒l be with you in a moment,鈥?was the reply. 鈥淏y the way, you are from the construction camp, aren鈥檛 you? I 鏉窞姘寸（浼氭墍婊ㄦ睙 just got a telegram for one of the fellows over there.鈥?
173鈥淲ho is it?鈥?questioned Roger.
鈥淚 forget the name. I鈥檒l show it to you when we go inside. Maybe you wouldn鈥檛 mind taking it over for the fellow.鈥?
鈥淐ertainly we鈥檒l take it over,鈥?declared Dave readily.
When they passed into the office, the agent brought the telegram forth from a little box on the wall, and gazed at it.
鈥淒avid Porter is the name,鈥?he 鏉窞妗戞嬁ml announced.
鈥淲
