“There is no boat nor anything in sight!” he cried, “and the great moment has arrived. Just push down that knob.”
“Oh, Chap, I can’t do it!” cried Helen, springing back.
“But you must! I want you to have the honor of touching her off. It’s nothing to do, and it can’t hurt you. Just press down the knob.”
With trembling hand, Helen put her finger on the little knob and pressed it down.
A column of water rose from the river, together with a mass of mud and timbers
A great boom, not loud, but deep and heavy, shook the air, and Chap, who was standing outside the bushes, saw a column of water rise from the river, together with a mass of mud and timbers. Smaller objects flew high into the air, and as the wind was blowing from the river, a sudden shower of spray fell all around him, as if it had been raining. Then pieces of wood came thumping down, some in the field near by.
One large stick, nearly three feet long, stuck into the ground not a dozen yards from the spot where Helen sat, her hands before her eyes.
Chap rushed to his sister, as if he would throw himself over her to protect her, but there was no need of that. Everything that was coming down had come.
“Oh, Helen!” he cried. “I might have killed you! I ought to have had ever so much longer wires. But there is no danger now. Let’s run down and see how it looks.”