Dave Porter and His Double Part 25

"If I don't pa.s.s now, Jessie, I'll simply go at my studies again and keep at them until I do pa.s.s," he answered.

The examination which was held in the city was divided into two parts, one taking place from ten to twelve in the morning, and the other from two to five in the afternoon. There were about thirty students present, and as far as possible each was separated from any friends he might have on hand, so that Dave sat on one side of the hall in which the examination occurred and the senator's son sat on the other.

"Well, how did you make out?" questioned Roger of Dave, when the two went out for their midday lunch.

"I don't know exactly, Roger," was the reply. "I think, however, that I answered at least seventy per cent, of the questions correctly. How about yourself?"

"Well, I'm hoping that I got seventy per cent. of them right,"

returned the senator's son. "But maybe I didn't get above fifty or sixty per cent."

The afternoon questions seemed to be much harder than those of the morning. The students were given until five o'clock to pa.s.s in their afternoon papers, and never did Dave and Roger work harder than they did during the final hour. One question in particular bothered our hero a great deal. But at almost the last minute the answer to it came like an inspiration, and he dashed it down. This question proved a poser for the senator's son, and he pa.s.sed in his paper without attempting to put down a solution.

Following that examination, Dave returned to Crumville. Roger journeyed to Was.h.i.+ngton, where his folks were staying at a leading hotel, Congress being in session and Senator Morr occupying his place in the Senate.

There was a week of anxious waiting, and then one day Dave received an official-looking envelope which made his heart beat rapidly.

"What is it, Dave?" cried his sister, when she saw him with the letter in his hand. "Is it your civil engineering report?"

"I think it is, Laura," he answered.

"Oh, Dave, how I hope you've pa.s.sed!"

"So do I," put in Jessie.

Dave could not give an answer to this, because, for the moment, his heart seemed to be in his throat. Pa.s.sing to the desk in the library, he slit open the envelope and took out the sheet which it contained. A single glance at it, and he gave a shout of triumph.

"I've pa.s.sed!" he cried. "Hurrah!"

"Oh, good!" came simultaneously from his sister and Jessie. And then they crowded closer to look at the sheet of paper.

"Does it say what percentage you got?" continued his sister.

"Why, as near as I can make out, I've got a standing of ninety-two per cent.," he announced, with pardonable pride. "Isn't that fine?"

"It's the finest ever, Dave!" said his sister, fondly, as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Oh, Dave, it's just glorious!" exclaimed Jessie, her eyes beaming.

And when he caught her and held her tight for a moment she offered no resistance. "Oh, won't your father and your uncle be proud when they hear of this!"

"I'm going to tell them right now!" he cried, and ran off to spread the good news.

"My boy, I'm proud of you," said his father. "Proud of you!" and he clapped Dave affectionately on the shoulder.

"I didn't expect anything different from our Davy," put in Uncle Dunston. "I knew he'd pa.s.s. Well, now you've pa.s.sed, I wish you every success in the profession you have chosen."

"Oh, I'm not a full-fledged civil engineer yet, Uncle Dunston," broke in Dave, quickly. "I've got a whole lot to learn yet. Remember this is only my first examination. I've got to study a whole lot more and have a whole lot of practice, too, before I can graduate as a real civil engineer."

Dave lost no time in sending a telegram to Roger. In return, a few hours later came word from the senator's son that he, too, had pa.s.sed.

"Hurrah!" cried Dave, once more, and then could not resist the temptation to grab Jessie about the waist and start on a mad dance through the library, the hallway, the dining-room, and the living room of the mansion. Mrs. Wadsworth looked on and smiled indulgently.

"I suppose your heart is as light as a feather now, Dave," she said, when the impromptu whirl came to an end.

"Indeed it is, Mrs. Wadsworth," he answered. "Pa.s.sing that examination has lifted a tremendous weight from my shoulders."

Of course Mr. Ramsdell was greatly pleased to think that both of his pupils had pa.s.sed.

"Now I can write to my friends of the Mentor Construction Company and see if they can give Dave and Roger an opening," he said. "They promised it to me some time ago in case the boys pa.s.sed." And he set about sending off a letter without delay.

CHAPTER XIX

OFF FOR TEXAS

"Glorious news!"

"Oh, Dave! have you heard from Mr. Ramsdell?" cried his sister Laura.

"Yes, here is a letter. And it enclosed another from the Mentor Construction Company. They are going to give me an opening with that portion of the concern that is now operating in Texas, building railroad bridges."

"Oh, Dave! then you will really have to go away down there?" burst out Jessie, her face falling a trifle. "It's a dreadfully long way off!"

"Well, it's what I expected," he answered. "A fellow can't expect to become a civil engineer and work in his own backyard," and he grinned a trifle. "This letter from Mr. Ramsdell states that Roger will be given an opening also."

"With you, of course?" queried Laura.

"He doesn't state that. But he knew we wanted to stick together, so I suppose it's all right."

"When do you have to start?" questioned Jessie.

"Just as soon as we can get ready--according to Mr. Ramsdell's letter.

He says he is also sending word to Roger."

As was to be expected, the tidings quite excited our hero. Now that he had pa.s.sed the preliminary examination and was to go out for actual field practice, he felt that he was really and truly on his way to becoming a civil engineer. It was the first step towards the realization of a dream that had been his for some time.

Dave's father and his uncle, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth, were greatly interested in the news.

"There is one thing about it, Dave," said his parent; "I have made a number of inquiries, and have learned that the Mentor Construction Company is one of the largest and finest in this country. They employ a number of first-cla.s.s engineers; so it is likely that you will receive the very best of instruction, and I sincerely hope that you will make the best of your opportunities."

"I am going to do my level best, Dad," he returned earnestly. "I think I'm a mighty lucky boy," he added, with a smile.

"I think you owe Mr. Ramsdell a good deal," said his Uncle Dunston.

"Of course, we have paid him for his services, but that isn't everything."

"I know it," Dave returned; "and I'm either going to thank him in person or else send him the nicest letter that I can write."