d among the
rocks, for the track had been dug out of a steep hillside. Festing knew
this was difficult work; one could deal with rock, although it cost
much to cut, but it was another matter to bed the rails in treacherous
gravel, and the fan-shaped mounds of shale and soil that ran down to the
water's edge showed how loose the ground was and the abruptness of the
slope. Above, the silver mist drifted about the black firs that clung to
the side of the mountain, and in the distance there was a gleam of snow.
Some of the trees had fallen, and it was significant that, for the most
part, they did not lie where they fell. They had slipped down hill, and
the channels in the ground indicated that the shock had been enough to
start a miniature avalanche which had carried them away. The pitch was
near the slant engineers call the angle of rest, but Festing thought
there was rock not far beneath, which prevented the solidification of
the superincumbent soil. It looked as if his contract would be difficult
and he would earn his pay.

As the cars passed he saw the ballast creep about the ends of the ties,
which reached to the edge of the descent, and in places small streams of
gravel had run down, leaving hollows round the timber. The harsh jolting
indicated the consequences, but he knew that in the West railroads are
built as fast as possible and made safe afterwards. For that matter,
he had often run risks that would have daunted engineers used to
conservative English methods. In the meantime, the speed was slackening,
and by and by the harsh tolling of the locomotive bell echoed among the
pines. Tents, iron huts, and rude log shacks slipped past; men in muddy
slickers drew back against the bank, and then the train stopped.

Festing got down into the water that flowed among the ties, and Kerr
came forward in dripping slickers.

"If you want help to get the teams out, I'll send some of the boys," he
said. "If not, you had better come along and I'll show you your shack.
I told our cook to fix your supper, and I'll be glad to sit down for a
time out of the wet."

Festing followed him along the descending track, which presently ended
at a ledge of rock sixty or seventy feet above the river. Wire ropes
spanned the gap between the banks, and near the middle a rock islet
broke the surface of the savage flood. Here men were pouring cement into
holes among the foundations of an iron frame, while suspended trollies
clanged across the w