Harry Escombe: A Tale of Adventure in Peru

Harry Escombe: A Tale of Adventure in Peru

The hour was noon, the month chill October; and the occupantsa round dozen in numberof Sir Philip Swinburnes drawing office were more or less busily pursuing their vocation of preparing drawings and tracings, taking out quantities, preparing estimates, and, in short, executing the several duties of a civil engineers draughtsman as well as they could in a temperature of 35 Fahrenheit, and in an atmosphere surcharged with smoke from a flue that refused to drawwhen the door communicating with the chief draughtsmans room opened and the head of Mr Richards, the occupant of that apartment, protruded through the aperture. At the sound of the opening door the draughtsmen, who were acquainted with Mr Richardss ways, glanced up with one accord from their work, and the eye of one of them was promptly caught by Mr Richards, who, raising a beckoning finger, remarked: Thereupon Escombe, the individual addressed, carefully wiped his drawing pen upon a duster, methodically laid the instrument in its proper place in the instrument case, closed the latter, and, descending from his high stool, made his way into the chief draughtsmans room, closing the door behind him. He did this with some little trepidation; for these private interviews with his chief were more often than not of a distinctly unpleasant character, having reference to some stupid blunder in a calculation, some oversight in the preparation of a drawing, or something of a similar nature calling for sharp rebuke; and as the ladhe was but seventeenaccomplished the short journey from one room to the other he rapidly reviewed his most recent work, and endeavoured to decide in which job he was most likely to have made a mistake. But before he could arrive at a decision on this point he was in the presence of Mr Richards, and a single glance at the chief draughtsmans facenow that it could be seen clearly and unveiled by a pall of smokesufficed to assure Harry Escombe that in this case at least he had nothing in the nature of censure to fear. For Mr Richardss face was beaming with satisfaction, and a large atlas lay open upon the desk at which he stood. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 21066
Author: Collingwood, Harry
Release Date: Apr 13, 2007
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Illustrator: Prout, Victor