“I wonder if our hotel’s in any danger?” asked the reporter.
“No,” replied the man. “That’s on high ground, but the part of the town to the west of it is in a very dangerous position, if the dam gives way.”
“Well, it’s a comfort to know you have a safe place to sleep, at any rate,” Mr. Newton remarked, “but I’m sorry for the others.”
Larry and his friend spent some more time looking around, and then decided to go back to the hotel. The whole town was full of excitement. Few persons dared go to bed, for fear the calamity would overtake them. They preferred to sit up and wait for it. A large force of men were stationed at the dam to give warning in all directions at the first sign of a break of any kind.
Larry managed to get a few winks of sleep, but he was too anxious about the flood, and also worried about his sister, to rest well. As for Mr. Newton, nothing seemed to worry him, and he slept as well as though at home.
The rain let up a bit toward morning, but the heavy clouds and the unchanged wind showed that the storm was not over. The first thing after breakfast and getting their mail, including a letter with fair news for Larry, Mr. Newton went out to the dam. The waters had risen slightly, and some engineers who had been summoned said that the pressure on the stone wall was now enormous, and must, unless the flood went down, burst it.
“We’ll go and take a look at the place where they’re going to dynamite,” said Mr. Newton.
They found a corps of men busy. Red flags placed here and there warned the people to keep back from the danger zone. The place where the explosive was going to be set off was near a deep gully, and the men hoped to drive the waters into it and away from the town and dam.
“How soon are they going to set it off?” Mr. Newton asked of a man who had one of the red flags.
“In about an hour,” was the reply.