"Six hours' waste out of twenty-four," Charley exclaimed. "Get the measurement of that valve and intake pipe at once, and I'll get them when I go in this time. As for the wood business, that belongs in your department," he said, turning to the teamster, a lanky, humorous-looking Missourian; "what have you got to say about it?"
[A] A form of address generally used in the South when white speaks to black.
"I AM not the boss of this outfit," said the Missourian, with a smile. "I do what I am told to do. Rooney and McGill ordered me to pile the wood on that side, so I've been doing it. I reckon Rooney and his partner figured it out that they would get a little more rest that way. Let's have a look at the mules, if you can spare the time."
"Sure," said Charley gladly. "I want to get in touch with every part of the business as soon as possible."
"I always build them a corral whenever we make a new camp," observed the Missourian, as he led the way to the pen where he kept the mules. "Hold on!" he shouted, as Charley stooped to pass under the bars. "If Pansy and Violet don't just happen to like your appearance, they are likely as not to kick the soul out of you."
Charley withdrew in haste. "My, but they are beauties for mules."
"Finest team I've handled," declared the teamster, with a grin. "I kinder like to have them a little savage with everyone. It keeps strangers from fooling with them. They have life and plenty of sense. I could not do my work with a poor team of mules. This work is terrible on animals."
"And on men, too, I guess," Charley agreed. "I want to say that hereafter your wages will be $2.00 per day as long as we satisfy each other. Now, how is your work? How much wood have you got ahead for the machine?"
"Not much," admitted the teamster ruefully; "perhaps enough for a day and night, if the machine runs like it usually does."
"That's not enough," Charley said decidedly. "There should be at least a week's wood ahead all the time. In case a mule gets sick, or goes lame, don't you see that the machine would have to lie up until we could get another team? It looks to me like this dredging business is like links in a chain. If any one man, from teamster up, fails to do his part in the work, why, the whole machine has got to go out of business until the defect can be made good."