Of these men Thorpe demanded one thing--success. He tried never to
ask of them anything he did not believe to be thoroughly possible;
but he expected always that in some manner, by hook or crook, they
would carry the affair through. No matter how good the excuse, it
was never accepted. Accidents would happen, there as elsewhere; a
way to arrive in spite of them always exists, if only a man is
willing to use his wits, unflagging energy, and time. Bad luck is
a reality; but much of what is called bad luck is nothing but a want
of careful foresight, and Thorpe could better afford to be harsh
occasionally to the genuine for the sake of eliminating the false.
If a man failed, he left Camp One.

The procedure was very simple. Thorpe never explained his reasons
even to Shearer.

"Ask Tom to step in a moment," he requested of the latter.

"Tom," he said to that individual, "I think I can use you better
at Four. Report to Kerlie there."

And strangely enough, few even of these proud and independent men
ever asked for their time, or preferred to quit rather than to work
up again to the glories of their prize camp.

For while new recruits were never accepted at Camp One, neither was
a man ever discharged there. He was merely transferred to one of
the other foremen.

It is necessary to be thus minute in order that the reader may
understand exactly the class of men Thorpe had about his immediate