When, owing to the sudden illness of both the chief engineer and his principal assistant the road's work had been crippled, Tom and Harry had had the courage as well as the opportunity to take hold, assume the direction, and complete the building of the S.B.& L.within the time required by the road's charter.
Had the young engineers failed, the S.B.& L., under the terms granted by the state, might have been seized and sold at public auction.

In that case, the larger, and rival road, the W.C.& A., stood ready to buy out the S.B.& L.and reap the profits that the latter road had planned to earn.

Not only had the young engineers succeeded in overcoming all natural obstacles, but, in a series of wonderful adventures, they had defeated the plots of agents of the W.C.& A.From that time on Tom and Harry had been famous in Colorado railroad circles.
After the S.B.& L.had been finished and put in operation, Tom Reade had remained with the railroad for several months, still serving as chief engineer, with Harry Hazelton as his trusted and dependable assistant.
Now, at last, they had been lured away from the S.B.& L.by the offer of a new chance to overcome difficulties of the sort that all fighting engineers love to encounter.

The Arizona, Gulf & New Mexico Railroad--more commonly known as the A., G.& N.M .-- while laying its tracks in an attempt at record-beating, had come afoul of the problem of the quicksand, as already outlined.

Three different sets of engineers had attempted the feat of filling up the quicksand, only to abandon it.
There was little doubt that the Colthwaite Construction Company, a contracting firm with years of successful experience, could have, "stopped" the quicksand, but this Chicago firm wanted far more money for the job than the railroad people felt they could afford to spend.
So, in a moment of doubt, and harassed by troubles, one of the directors of the A., G.& N.M.had remembered the names and the performances of Tom and Harry.