the instant which her father
had striven so desperately to avert had come. Would it pass without its
tragedy?

She saw Ballard give the last searching glance at the gate mechanism;
saw President Pelham step out to give the signal. Then there was a stir
in the group behind her, and she became conscious that her father was on
his feet; that his voice was dominating the droning roar of the torrent
and the muttering of the thunder on the far-distant heights.

"Mistuh-uh Pelham--and you otheh gentlemen of the Arcadia Company--you
have seen fit to affront me, suhs, in the most public manneh, befo' the
members of my family and my guests. This was youh privilege, and you
have used it acco'ding to youh gifts. Neve'theless, it shall not be said
that I failed in my neighbo'ly duty at this crisis. Gentlemen, when you
close that gate----"

The president turned impatiently and waved his hand to Ballard. The band
struck up "The Star-Spangled Banner," a round ball of bunting shot to
the top of the flagstaff over the band-stand and broke out in a broad
flag, and Elsa saw the starting-wheel turning slowly under Ballard's
hand. The clapping and cheering and the band clamour drowned all other
sounds; and the colonel's daughter, rising to stand beside Wingfield,
felt rather than heard the jarring shock of a near-by explosion
punctuating the plunge of the great gate as it was driven down by the
geared power-screws.

What followed passed unnoticed by the wildly cheering spectators
crowding the canyon brink to see the foaming, churning torrent recoil
upon itself and beat fiercely upon the lowered gate and the steep-sloped
wall of the dam's foundation courses. But Elsa saw Ballard start as from
the touch of a hot iron; saw Bromley run out quickly to lay hold of him.
Most terrible of all, she turned swiftly to see her father coming out of
the mine entrance with a gun in his hands--saw and understood.

It was Wingfield, seeing all that she saw and understanding quite as
clearly, who came to her rescue at a moment when the bright August
sunshine was filling with dancing black motes for her.

"Be brave!" he whispered. "See--he isn't hurt much: he has let go of the
wheel, and Bromley is only steadying him a bit." And then to the others,
with his habitual air of bored cheerfulness: "The show is over, good
people, and the water is rising to cut us off from luncheon. Sound the
retreat, somebody, and let's mount and ride before we get wet feet."