They'll be through within an hour." "And the material, even if delivered within the promised time, is still two days away," remarked Reade.

"I'll confess that I don't like to see the railroad lose so much through paying men for idle time." "It can't be helped, sir," replied the superintendent.

"Of course, if you like, you can set the laborers at work shoveling in more dirt at the points where the last slide of the quicksand occurred.

But, then, shoveling dirt in, without the timbers and the hollow steel piles will do no good," continued Hawkins, with a shake of his head.

"It would be worse than wasted work." "I know all that," Tom admitted.