"I mean he acts as though something were going to happen."
"Another landslide?" asked Blake with a laugh. "No chance of that here at Gatun Dam."
"No, but something else could happen, I think."
"You mean the—dam itself?" asked Blake, suddenly serious.
"Well, I don't exactly know what I do mean," Joe said, and his voice was troubled. "I'll tell you what I noticed and heard, and you can make your own guess."
"Go on," invited Blake. "I'm all ears, as the donkey said."
"It's no laughing matter," retorted his chum. "Haven't you noticed since you and Alcando came back," he went on, "that he seems different, in a way. He goes about by himself, and, several times I've caught him looking at the dam as though he'd never seen it before. He is wonderfully impressed by it."
"Well, anybody would be," spoke Blake. "It's a wonderful piece of engineering. But go on."
"Not only that," resumed Joe, "but I've heard him talking to himself a lot."
"Well, that's either a bad sign, or a good one," laughed his chum. "They say when a fellow talks to himself he either has money in the bank, or he's in love. You can take your choice."