"Will you go with me, Ern?"
"The family will kick, but I'm going," answered Ernest.
"What are the terms, Dr. Austin?" asked Roger.
"We'll buy all machinery and apparatus and pay for labor and living up to ten thousand dollars."
Roger could not believe that his sterile years of endeavor and disappointment were to bring forth even this small fruit. He laid his pipe down, picked it up, then said, "I can't tell you what this opportunity means to me. It's--it's my work, you see, and--and--"
"That's all right," Austin spoke hastily. "When can you start? I know exactly the spot in Arizona that we would wish you to go to--Archer's Springs. Have you a map of Arizona?"
"Yes, some of the Geological Survey maps," said Ernest, opening up a chart case.
"Here's the spot." Austin put his pencil on the map. "It's about twenty miles north of the railroad, a mining country, but we've always believed that the valleys here could blossom if we could get water to them. The Reclamation Service never expects to get in there."
"I know that," said Roger eagerly, "and yet a cheap power would make an inland empire of that section."
"Have you ever seen it?" asked Austin.
"No, Chicago has been my uttermost limit of travel so far. But I've studied hot countries and their resources for ten years."
"My idea is," said Austin, "that we buy all our supplies at St. Louis. I'll go that far with you. You can buy the essentials for making camp at Archer's Springs and by the time you are ready for it, freight will have brought the rest. I believe there is an excellent trading store at Archer's Springs where you can buy a camp outfit. I'll wire down and find out."
"Jove, Rog, doesn't that sound great!" exclaimed Ernest.
"When shall we plan to start?" asked Roger.
"Why not at once, so as to get the plant running by Spring, when the real heat comes on?" Austin looked from one eager face to the other.
"We both are teaching, you know," said Ernest. "I thought next June--"
"Next June!" shouted Roger. "This is the first of December, Dr. Austin. We'll have found substitutes and be ready to travel immediately after the Christmas recess."
Ernest winced. "That's crowding things! But--well, you're the boss of the expedition, Rog. I'll be with you."
"Fine!" Austin rubbed his hands together. "We'll start our purchase list now, eh?"
The concert, which had proceeded during the evening without interruption, now stopped abruptly, just as the clock struck ten.
"How about deferring that until to-morrow?" asked Roger. "I've a number of lists in my desk at the Science Building that will help us."