Part 20 (2/2)
”It is a wonderful piece of work,” the captain said, as Blake and Joe packed up the ca, with an average depth of one hundred and twenty feet, and in some places the sides are five hundred feet above the bottom, which is, at no point, less than three hundred feet in width A big pile of dirt had to be taken out of here, boys”
”Yes, and more dirt will have to be,” said Mr Alcando
”What do youcommander quickly, and rather sharply
”I mean that more slides are likely to occur; are they not?”
”Yes, worse luck!” growled the captain ”There have been two or three small ones in the past feeeks, and the worst of it is that they generally herald larger ones”
”Yes, that's what I meant,” the Spaniard went on
”And it's e heard,” spoke Blake ”We expect to get so slide if one occurs”
”Not that ant it to,” explained Joe quickly
”I understand,” the captain went on with a s to happen you want to be here”
”Exactly,” Blake said ”We want to show the people what a slide in Culebra looks like, and what it et rid of it”
”Well, it's hard work all right,” the captain adh now that the water is in, and we can use scows and dredges, instead of railroad cars, we can get rid of the dirt easier You boys should have been here when the cut was being dug, before the water was let in”
”I e had been,” Blake said ”We could have gotten some dandy pictures”
”That's what you could,” went on the captain ”It was like looking at a lot of ants through abitten out of the hill by steam shovels, loaded on to cars and the trains of cars were pulled twelve round There the earth was disposed of, and back ca, blasts being sent off everyof whistles, the creaking of derricks and stea!”
”Sorry we et so like that--not even if there's a big slide,”
the captain said, shaking his head doubtfully
Though the Canal was practically finished, and open to some vessels, there was much that yet remained to be done upon it, and this work Blake and Joe, with Mr Alcando to help them at the cameras, filmed each day Reel after reel of the sensitive celluloid was exposed, packed in light-tight boxes and sent North for develop At times when they remained in Culebra Cut, which they did for teeks, instead of one, fresh unexposed fil the Canal by Government boats, for, as I have explained, the boys were semi-official characters now
Mr Alcando was rapidly beco picture camera, and often he went out alone to fil out?” asked Blake one day, after a fresh supply Of reels had been received ”We haven't heard whether Mr Hadley likes our work or not?”
”Hard to tell,” Joe responded But they knew a few days later, for a letter cahly the work of the boys and, incidentally, that of Mr Alcando
”You are doing fine!” Mr Hadley wrote ”Keep it up The pictures will et to filet that,” Joe said, as he looked up at the frowning sides of Culebra Cut ”Only it doesn't see to happen while we're here”
”I hope it never does,” declared Captain Watson, sole the whole length of the Canal, they decided to go on through the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks, to the Pacific Ocean, thusa complete trip and then come back to Culebra Of course no one could tell when a slide would occur, and they had to take chances of fil it