“Camp Birch!” said Mr. Percival, naming it, as they named all their camp-fires.
A few minutes later the coals were scattered, for safety; and the engine giving its preconcerted call, the passengers hurried on board once more.
“Now,” said Selborne, “let’s hear the rest of the railroad story, Mr. Houghton.”
The latter gentleman, by no means averse to the task, accordingly continued.
“The surveys for the road made known the character of the country it had to traverse. In the wilderness about Superior, were found forests of pine and other timber, together with valuable farming land, and mineral deposits of immense value. The prairies beyond Winnipeg proved wonderfully promising for settlers; the mountains were seamed with coal, and sparkling with gold.”
Mr. Houghton’s face became even more radiant than usual, as he told of the wonderful riches of British Columbia.
“In 1881 the company contracted with the Government to finish the road within ten years—for which undertaking they received twenty-five million dollars, twenty-five million acres of agricultural land, and the railroad itself when complete.”
“Whew!” whistled Tom. “Say, Ran, let’s go to railroading.”
“The end of the third year,” continued the genial conductor, “found them at the summit of the Rocky Mountains; the fourth in the Selkirks, a thousand miles beyond Winnipeg. Sometimes they advanced five or six miles a day, armies of men attacking the mountains with thousands of tons of dynamite. On a certain wet morning—the seventh of November, 1885—the last spike was driven on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway.”
Mr. Houghton’s eloquent peroration was followed by a round of applause, and all hands turned to the car windows once more, with new interest in this great triumph of mind over the forces of nature.