“Hello!” he said. “What’s the row?”
Macmillan waved a hand toward Nash. “This fellow you sent over to me this morning has been trying to hand out advice.”
“How’s that?”
“I sent him here to test this conduit, as you’d ordered, and he refused to do it.”
Hooker frowned. “Is that right, Nash?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why did you refuse?” the foreman demanded.
“Because that length of concrete is in no condition for a test, Mr. Hooker. It’s soft. I told Macmillan about it, but he only laughed.”
“Good Lord!” exclaimed the subforeman, pointing to the subject of the dispute. “There it is! What’s the matter with it? The water’s holding. This man is trying to show off; that’s all.”
Hooker stepped nearer, and knelt beside the cement rim. As he bent his head, some one behind him yelled. The next instant, with a roar, the whole side of the conduit crumbled away. Hooker caught himself just in time. The excited laborers were shouting like mad.