Jim sat down and took out his pipe. He had lost his labor and money he could not spare, but it was possible to run the line across the treacherous belt, although he was half afraid to count the cost. When he struck a match Jake came up and indistinct figures moved in the gloom behind.
"Have you any use for us, Boss?" one asked.
"Nothing doing now," said Jim. "We'll get busy in the morning."
The man looked about and then remarked:
"Something started the blamed wall off and I guess she didn't stop until she hit the river. It's surely bad luck!"
"It is," said Jim. "Anyhow, we took this job and are going to make good. I don't want you and you'll probably need some sleep."
"I reckon that's so, if you mean to speed us up," the other agreed, with a laugh, and when he went back to the others Jim lighted his pipe.
"A nasty knock, but not a knock-out," Jake remarked. "At sun-up we'll have a better notion——"
"Oh, yes," said Jim, rather impatiently, and added: "I've been wondering why I wakened."
"I reckon that's plain enough. The noise would have roused me three miles off."