Part 35 (1/2)

I heard the wheels clip and slammed the link-gear over, because it looked as if she wasn't going to stop. When she reversed, the couplings held the car and the block slipped off.”

”Are you sure you didn't give her too much steam?”

”No, sir. I've been doing this job quite a while, and know just how smart a push she wants. It was the guard-rail slipping that made the trouble.”

”I can't understand why it did slip. The fastening clamps were firm when I looked at them.”

”Well,” remarked the engineer, ”the guard's certainly in the pit, and I felt her give as soon as the car-wheels bit.”

d.i.c.k looked hard at him and thought he spoke the truth. He was a steady fellow and a good driver.

”Put your engine in the house and take down the feed-pump you were complaining about. We won't want her to-morrow,” he said, and dismissing the men, returned to his shack, where he sat down rather limply on the veranda.

”I don't understand the thing,” he said to Jake. ”The guard-rail's heavy and I watched the smith make the clamps we fixed it with. One claw went over the rail, the other under the f.l.a.n.g.e of the metal that formed the track, and sudden pressure would jamb the guard down. Then, not long before the accident, I hardened up the clamp.”

”You hit it on the back?”

”Of course. I'd have loosened the thing by hitting the front.”

”That's so,” Jake agreed, somewhat dryly. ”We'll look for the clamps in the morning. But you didn't seem very anxious to get out of the way.”

”I expect I forgot to thank you for warning me. Anyhow, you know----”

”Yes, I know,” said Jake. ”You didn't think about it; your mind was on your job. Still, I suppose you see that if you'd been a moment later you'd have been smashed pretty flat?”

d.i.c.k gave him a quick glance. There was something curious about Jake's tone, but d.i.c.k knew he did not mean to emphasize the value of his warning. It was plain that he had had a very narrow escape, but since one must be prepared for accidents in heavy engineering work, he did not see why this should jar his nerves. Yet they were jarred. The danger he had scarcely heeded had now a disturbing effect. He could imagine what would have happened had he delayed his leap. However, he was tired, and perhaps rather highly strung, and he got up.

”It's late, and we had better go to bed,” he said.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE CLAMP

When work began next morning, Jake asked d.i.c.k if he should order the peons to search for the clamps that had held the guard-rail.

”I think not,” said d.i.c.k. ”It would be better if you looked for the things yourself.”

”Very well. Perhaps you're right.”

d.i.c.k wondered how much Jake suspected, particularly as he did not appear to be searching for anything when he moved up and down among the broken concrete. Half an hour later, when none of the peons were immediately about, he came up with his hand in his pocket and indicated a corner beside a block where there was a little shade and they were not likely to be overlooked.

”I've got one,” he remarked.

When they sat down Jake took out a piece of thick iron about six inches long, forged into something like the shape of a U, though the curve was different and one arm was shorter than the other. Much depended on the curve, for the thing was made on the model of an old-fas.h.i.+oned but efficient clamp that carpenters sometimes use for fastening work to a bench. A blow or pressure on one part wedged it fast, but a sharp tap on the other enabled it to be lifted off. This was convenient, because as the work progressed, the track along the dam had to be lengthened and the guard fixed across a fresh pair of rails.

Taking the object from Jake, d.i.c.k examined it carefully. He thought he recognized the dint where he had struck the iron, and then, turning it over, noted another mark. This had been made recently, because the surface of the iron was bright where the hammer had fallen, and a blow there would loosen the clamp. He glanced at Jake, who nodded.

”It looks very suspicious, but that's all. You can't tell how long the mark would take to get dull. Besides, we have moved the guard two or three times in the last few days.”

”That's true,” said d.i.c.k. ”Still, I wedged the thing up shortly before the accident. It has stood a number of shocks; in fact, it can't be loosened by pressure on the back. When do you _think_ the last blow was struck?”