floor and hoist it back to its proper
level again. The rest of the fellows will get all of the discarded
railroad ties they can find along the tracks over yonder and build a
square crib under the bridge. They can lay the ties on top of each other
in log cabin fashion and I guess that will hold up the bridge under your
machine. It will make the crossing safe until the town authorities can
put new bridge timber in place, too."

"Sounds mighty sensible," said the chauffeur. "Will it take long?"

"I don't think so. It's only half past ten now. Here comes the ten
thirty Montreal Special," said Bruce, as the Canadian flyer shot around a
bend in the railroad tracks, her whistle screaming her approach to the
Woodbridge station.

"Come on, then, let's get busy right away. Perhaps we can have the
machine into Woodbridge by noon," said the chauffeur. Then, to his
assistants, he called. "Hi, you fellows, git over there to the railroad
tracks and pick up some o' those old ties. Go along with the scouts.
They know old ones from new ones."

All the lads, except two or three of the older boys, waded the brook and
started out after crib building material. The others remained to help
Bruce rig up the shears and put the block and tackle into place.

Fortunately, section gangs had been working on the railroad recently,
putting in new ties, and there were any number of discarded timbers along
the embankment. These the lads appropriated, for they knew that the
railroad men no longer wanted them and that sooner or later a bonfire
would be made of them. The heavy timbers were piled up on the bank of
the brook as fast as the scouts could find them, and by the time Bruce
and his helpers had hitched the block and tackle to the sagging bridge
the crib builders were ready to begin work.

Raising the bridge floor was accomplished quickly, for the wooden
structure was nowhere near as heavy as the auto truck. Indeed, "Old
Nanc" managed to haul it up all alone. This accomplished, the scouts
waded into the water again, and, working in pairs, carried the railroad
ties to a point just under the broken structure. The first two ties were
put up and down stream and weighted with stones to keep them from
floating away. Two more were then placed across the stream on top of the
first set, exactly like logs in a cabin. Then, like bees, the boys
traveled back and forth to the bank, carrying the heavy ties, until
finally the crib was const