“To avoid every possibility of lurking quicksand the suspension bridge would have to be more than a mile long,” Reade answered. “Beyond, there are other treacherous little patches of quicksand. It would cost the road millions to put up a suspension bridge that would hold.
“A short bridge would look all right and doubtless serve all right, for a while. Then, some fine day, part of the structure would give, and a trainload of passengers would be sucked down and out of sight by the shifting sands of the Man-killer.”
Mr. Ellsworth turned aside with a shudder.
“I'm glad I'm not an engineer,” he said earnestly. “The responsibility for safety of life at this point is all yours, Reade.”
“And I'm willing enough to take it, sir, if you don't run trains over the Man-killer until the new roadbed has stood tests that I'll put upon it.”
“It'll cost at least ten thousand dollars to repair the mischief that the scoundrels have done to-night,” figured Harry Hazelton thoughtfully.
“Then, if we can find out the guilty wretches for certain, we'll see that they earn more than that amount by enforced labor in prison,”' retorted the general manager grimly.
“Mr. Bell!” called Tom briskly.
“Here, sir,” reported the foreman, coming forward..
“Mr. Bell, I wish you'd pick out twenty-one good men. Make the brightest of the lot head of the new force of night watchmen. Place the other twenty under his orders. Your gangs will come into play here later than the others, so I'll let your shift of men have the first chance at night-watchman duty.”