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BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS

      *      *      *      *      *

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Alton of Somasco
Lorimer of the Northwest
Thurston of Orchard Valley
Winston of the Prairie
The Gold Trail
Sydney Carteret, Rancher
A Prairie Courtship
Vane of the Timberlands
The Long Portage
Ranching for Sylvia
Prescott of Saskatchewan
The Dust of Conflict
The Greater Power
Masters of the Wheatlands
Delilah of the Snows
By Right of Purchase
The Cattle Baron's Daughter
Thrice Armed
For Jacinta
The Intriguers
The League of the Leopard
For the Allison Honor
The Secret of the Reef
Harding of Allenwood
The Coast of Adventure
Johnstons of the Border
Brandon of the Engineers

      *      *      *      *      *


BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS

by

HAROLD BINDLOSS

Author of "Johnstone of the Border," "Prescott
of Saskatchewan," "Winston of the Prairie," etc.







[Illustration: "'YOU MUST COME. I CAN'T LET YOU LIVE AMONG THOSE
PLOTTERS AND GAMBLERS.'"--Page 224.]


New York
Frederick A. Stokes Company
Publishers

Copyright, 1916, by Frederick A. Stokes Company
Published in England under the Title "His One Talent"

All Rights Reserved




CONTENTS

CHAPTER                                    PAGE
      I  A Promising Officer                  1
     II  Dick's Troubles Begin               11
    III  The Punishment                      22
     IV  Adversity                           34
      V  The Concrete Truck                  44
     VI  A Step Up                           54
    VII  Dick Undertakes a Responsibility    65
   VIII  An Informal Court                   75
     IX  Jake Fuller                         85
      X  La Mignonne                         97
     XI  Clare Gets a Shock                 107
    XII  Dick Keeps His Promise             118
   XIII  The Return from the Fiesta         129
    XIV  Complications                      140
     XV  The Missing Coal                   151
    XVI  Jake Gets into Difficulties        161
   XVII  The Black-Funnel Boat              172
  XVIII  Dick Gets a Warning                184
    XIX  Jake Explains Matters              194
     XX  Don Sebastian                      205
    XXI  Dick Makes a Bold Venture          215
   XXII  The Official Mind                  225
  XXIII  The Clamp                          237
   XXIV  The Altered Sailing List           247
    XXV  The Water-Pipe                     259
   XXVI  The Liner's Fate                   270
  XXVII  The Silver Clasp                   282
 XXVIII  Rough Water                        294
   XXIX  Kenwardine Takes a Risk            304
    XXX  The Last Encounter                 314
   XXXI  Richter's Message                  326
  XXXII  Ida Interferes                     336




BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS

CHAPTER I

A PROMISING OFFICER


The lengthening shadows lay blue and cool beneath the alders by the
waterside, though the cornfields that rolled back up the hill glowed a
coppery yellow in the light of the setting sun. It was hot and, for the
most part, strangely quiet in the bottom of the valley since the hammers
had stopped, but now and then an order was followed by a tramp of feet
and the rattle of chain-tackle. Along one bank of the river the
reflections of the trees quivered in dark-green masses; the rest of the
water was dazzlingly bright.

A pontoon bridge, dotted with figures in khaki, crossed a deep pool. At
its head, where a white road ran down the hill, a detachment of engineers
lounged in the shade. Their faces were grimed with sweat and dust, and
some, with coats unbuttoned, sprawled in the grass. They had toiled hard
through the heat of the day, and now were enjoying an "easy," until they
should be called to attention when their work was put to the test.

As Lieutenant Richard Brandon stood where the curve was boldest at the
middle of the bridge, he had no misgivings about the result so far as the
section for which he was responsible was concerned. He was young, but
there was some ground for his confidence; for he not only had studied all
that text-books