"It just went out!" he answered the eager exclamations of the men
who crowded around him. "That's all I know. It went out! And the
other bridges! Sure! All but the Lake Shore! Don't know why that
didn't go out. No; the logs didn't jam there; just slid right
under!"
"That settles it," said Welton, turning away.
"You aren't going to quit!" cried Orde.
"Certainly. You're crazy!" said Welton with some asperity. "If
they can't stop a little jam with iron, what are your wooden
defences going to amount to against the whole accumulation? When
those logs hit the tail of this jam, she'll go out before you can
wink."
He refused to listen to argument.
"It's sure death," said he, "and I'm not going to sacrifice my men
for nothing, even if they'd stay."
Other owners among the bystanders said the same thing. An air of
profound discouragement had fallen on them all. The strain of the
fight was now telling. The utmost that human flesh and blood was
capable of had been accomplished; a hard-won victory had been gained
by the narrowest of narrow margins. In this new struggle the old
odds were still against them, and in addition the strength that had
pushed aside Redding's best effort, augmented by the momentum of a
powerful current.
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