"You—you rascal!" he spluttered. "What do you mean by sending us into such peril as this? You ought to be put into prison!"
"I-a, I-a forget heem," faltered the foreigner helplessly. "I tink only one blas'. I forget two blas'," and he looked very downhearted.
But this time the man who had been up on the hillside came running to the scene of the mishap, followed by several of the workmen.
"Anybody hurt?" sang out the man, who was an American in charge of the blasting gang.
"Nothing very serious," answered Dick. "But it might have been," he added sharply. "You fellows ought to be more careful."
"I told Tony to keep everybody back for two blasts," answered the man. "Why didn't you stay back until you heard the second blast?"
"He told us to go on," answered Tom.
"I make mistake," cried the Italian. "You forgive, boss," and he looked pleadingly at Dick and the others.
"Well, you don't want to make any more mistakes like that," returned Dick. "If we had gotten a little closer somebody might have been killed."
"That's the second time you have failed to obey orders, Tony," said the gang master, sternly. "You go on up to the shanty and get your time and clear out. I won't have such a careless man as you around."