A Promising Officer

In person, he was tall and strongly made, with a frank, sunburned face.
His jaw was square and when he was thoughtful his lips set firmly; his
light-gray eyes were clear and steady. He was genial with his comrades,
but usually diffident in the company of women and older men.

Presently the Adjutant came up and, stopping near, glanced along the
rippling line that marked the curve of the bridge.

"These center pontoons look rather prominent, as if they'd been pushed
upstream a foot or two," he remarked. "Was that done by Captain
Maitland's order?"

"No, sir," Dick answered with some awkwardness. "For one thing, I found
they'd lie steadier out of the eddy."

"They do, but I don't know that it's much of an advantage. Had you any
other reason for modifying the construction plans?"

Dick felt embarrassed. He gave the Adjutant a quick glance; but the man's
face was inscrutable. Captain Hallam was a disciplinarian where
discipline was needed, but he knew the value of what he called
initiative.

"Well," Dick tried to explain, "if you notice how the wash of the
head-rapid sweeps down the middle of the pool----"

"I have noticed it," said the Adjutant dryly. "That's why the bridge
makes a slight sweep. But go on."

"We found a heavy drag on the center that flattened the curve. Of course,
if we could have pushed it up farther, we'd have got a stronger form."