CHAPTER XII
DISTANCE LENDS ENCHANTMENT
Mr. Hooper, his nephew, his daughter and another girl, fat and dumpy,were at the power site before two o'clock, and without more ado Billasked Gus to bring the transit to the comparatively level field on topof the hill.
"Now, Mr. Hooper, please don't think we're doing this in a spirit ofidle controversy; we only want to show you something interesting."
"That's all right, lad; an' I ain't above learnin', old as I am. ButThad here, he's different." Mr. Hooper gave Bill and Gus a long wink."Thad, he don't reckon he can be learned a thing, an' he's so blamesure--say, Thad, how 'bout that bet?"
"We don't want to bet anything; that only--" began Bill, but Gus wasless pacific.
"Put up, or shut up," he said, drawing a borrowed five dollar note outof his pocket and glaring at Thad. The slim youth did not respond.
"He's afraid to bet," jeered the daughter. "Hasn't got the nerve, or themoney."
"I ain't afraid to bet." Thad brought forth a like amount in bills."Uncle'll hold the stakes. You got to tell how far it is from here tothe house without ever stepping the distance."
"We'll make a more simple demonstration than that," Bill declared."It'll be the same thing and take less time and effort. Mr. Hooper, takesome object out there in the field; something that we can see;anything."
"Here, Gracie, you take a stake there an' go out yan an' stick it up.Keep a-goin' till I holler."
Both girls carried out these directions, the fat one falling down acouple of times, tripped by the long grass and getting up shaking withlaughter. The boys were to learn that she was a chum of Grace Hooper,that her name was Sophronia Doyle, though commonly nicknamed "Skeets."
The stake was placed. Bill drove another at his feet, set the transitover it, peeped through it both ways and at his direction, afterstretching the steel tape, Gus drove a third stake exactly sixty feetfrom the transit at an angle of ninety degrees from a line to the fieldstake.
"Now, folks," explained Bill, "the stake out yonder is A, this one is Band the one at the other end of the sixty-foot base line is C. Pleaseremember that."
The transit was then placed exactly over the stake C and, peeping again,Bill found the angle from the base line to the stake B and the line tostake A to be 78 degrees. Thereupon Gus produced a long board, held upone end and rested the other on a stake, while Bill went to work with asix-foot rule, a straight edge and a draughtsman's degree scale. Billelucidated:
"Now, then, to get out of figuring, which is always hard to understand,we'll just lay the triangulation out by scale, which is easilyunderstood. One-eighth of an inch equals one foot. This point is stake Band the base line to C is this line at right angles, or square acrossthe board. C stake is 7-1/2 inches from B which is equal to sixty feeton the scale, that is sixty one-eighth inches. Now, this line, parallelto the edge of the board, is the exact direction of your stake A. Do youall follow that?
"The direction to your stake was 78 degrees from the base line at C.This degree scale will give us that." Bill carefully centered the latterinstrument, sharpened his pencil and marked the angle; then placing thestraight edge on the point C and the degree mark he extended the lineuntil it crossed the other outward line. At this crossing he marked aletter A and turned to his auditors.
"This is your stake out yonder. The rule shows it to be a little over34-5/8 inches from the base line at B. That is, by the scale, a fewinches over 277 feet and that is the distance from here to where Gracestuck it into the ground. Our hundred-foot steel tape line is at yourservice, Mr. Hooper."
Mr. Hooper merely glanced at Bill. He took up the tape line and spoke tohis nephew. "Git a holt o' this thing, Thad, an' let's see if--"
Grace interrupted him. "No, Dad; never let Thad do it! He'd make somemistake accidentally on purpose. I'll help you."
There was utter silence from all while Grace carried out the end of thetape and placed her sticks, Mr. Hooper following after. Skeets borroweda pencil and a bit of paper from Gus and went along with Grace to keeptally, but she dropped the pencil in the grass, stepped on and broke it,was suffused with embarrassment and before she could really becomeuseful, the father and daughter had made the count mentally and theycame back to the base line, still without saying a word, a glad smile onthe girl's face and something between wonder and surprise on the oldman's features.
Still without a word Mr. Hooper came straight to Bill, thrust out hisbig hand to grasp that of the smiling boy and in the other hand was heldthe bills of the wager, which he extended toward Gus.
"Yours, lad," he said. "We made the distance two hundred andseventy-eight foot. I reckon you git the money."
Thad stood for a moment, nonplussed, a scowl on his face. Suddenly herecovered.
"Hold on! That's more than they said it was. The money's mine."
"Shucks, you dumb fool! Maybe a couple o' inches. I reckon we made themistake, fer we wasn't careful. It gits me they was that near it. Thecash is his'n."
Gus took the bills, thrust his own into his pocket again and handed thetwo dollar note and the three ones to Skeets.
"Please give them to him for me," indicating Thad, "I don't want hismoney."
"Not I," said the fat girl; "it isn't my funeral. Let him do the weepingand you take and give them to the poor."
Gus offered them to Grace, who also refused, shaking her head. Bill tookthe bills, and, limping over to Thad, handed him his wager. "You mustn'tfeel sore at us," counseled the youthful engineer. "This was only alongthe lines of experiment and--and fun."
But though Bill meant this in the kindliest spirit of comradeship, theboy sensed a feeling of extreme animosity that he was at a loss toaccount for. Bill backed off, further speech toward conciliationbecoming as lame as his leg. The others witnessed this and Grace said,quite heatedly:
"Oh, you can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. Thad's an incurablegrouch," at which Skeets laughed till she shook, and Mr. Hooper noddedhis head.
"Lad," he said, "you're a wonder an' I ain't got no more to say ag'in'your doin' this work here. Go ahead with it your own way. But this I amabossin': to-morrow's half day, I reckon, so both o' you come over tothe house nigh 'long about noon an' set at dinner with us. You're more'nwelcome."