tered like a whirlwind. He threw his hat on the floor and
drew out a drawer of a cabinet. He pulled out the plans for the
Colossus, big blue prints, some of them yards in extent, and threw them
on the floor. Then he dropped to his knees and began poring over them.

"This is a hell of a time for you to begin getting around," exploded
Muller. "What were you doing, cabareting all night?"

"It sure is terrible--awful," said Jenks, half to himself.

"Answer me," thundered Muller.

"Oh yes," said Jenks, looking up. He saw the look of anguish on his
boss's face and forgot his own excitement in sympathy. He jumped to his
feet, placed his arm about the shoulders of the older man and led him to
a chair. Linane only scowled at the young man.

"I was delayed because I stopped by to see the wreck. My God, Mr.
Muller, it is awful." Jenks drew his hand across his eye as if to erase
the scene of the wrecked building. Then patting the older man
affectionately on the back he said:

"Buck up. I'm on the job, as usual. I'll find out about it. It could not
have been our fault. Why man, that building was as strong as Gibraltar
itself!"

"You were the last to inspect it," accused Muller, with a break in his
voice.

"Nobody knows that better than I, and I can swear by all that's square
and honest that it was no fault of the material or the construction. It
must have been--"

"Must have been what?"

"I'll be damned if I know."

"That's like him," said Linane, who, while really kindly intentioned,
had always rather enjoyed prodding the young engineer.

"Like me, like the devil," shouted Jenks, glaring at Linane. "I suppose
you know all about it, you're so blamed wise."

"No, I don't know," admitted Linane. "But I do know that you don't like
me to tell you anything. Nevertheless, I am going to tell you that you
had better get busy and find out what caused it, or--"

"That's just what I'm doing," said Jenks, and he dived for his plans on
the floor.

Newspaper reporters, many of them, were fighting outside to get in.
Muller looked at Linane when a stenographer had announced the reporters
for the tenth time.

"We had better let them in," he said, "it looks bad to crawl for cover."

"What are you going to tell them?" asked Linane.

"God only knows," said Muller.

"Let me handle them," said Jenks, looking up confidently.

* * * * *

The newspapermen had rushed the office. They came in like a wi