struction train
kept handy under steam to clear away debris that will never quit sliding
down on the embankment."

"I'm afraid you are right," said Ford. "It's the worst bit on the entire
extension; the most costly to build, as it will be the most expensive to
maintain. But I guess Brandreth knew what he was about when he surveyed
it."

"Brandreth is a short-line man. He wouldn't lengthen his line ten miles
to dodge an earthquake. Ford, we can save a hundred thousand dollars on
that piece of track in first cost--to say nothing of the future."

"How? I'm always open to conviction."

"By leaving the S. L & W. survey at Horse Creek, following up to the low
divide at Emory's Mine, and crossing to enter Copah from the southeast
instead of from the northeast. I came out that way from Copah five days
ago. It's perfectly feasible; straight-away, easy earth work for the
greater part, and the only objection is that it adds about twelve
running miles to the length of the extension. It's for you to say
whether or not the added distance will be warranted by the lessened cost
and the assurance of safety in operating. If we cut through that lower
canyon cliff it will be only a question of time until we bury somebody,
no matter how closely it is watched."

Ford took time to consider the proposal. There were objections, and he
named one of them.

"The MacMorroghs have based their bid on the present survey: they will
not want to let that piece of rock work drop out of sight."

"They'll have to, if you say so. And you can afford to be pretty liberal
with them on the substituted twelve miles."

"I'll have to think about it over night," was Ford's final answer.
"Arrange to give me an hour to-morrow morning and we'll go over the maps
and your notes together."

Frisbie slept soundly on the gained inch, hoping to make it the coveted
ell in the morning. He knew the chief objection, which was that Ford,
too, was a "short-line" engineer; a man who would lay down his railroad
as the Czar of Russia did the St. Petersburg-Moscow line--by placing a
ruler on the map and drawing a straight mark beside it between the two
cities--if that were an American possibility. But he knew, too, that the
safety clause would weigh heavily with Ford, and there was no minimizing
the danger to future traffic if the canyon route should be retained.

It turned out finally as the first assistant had hoped and believed it
would. Ford spent a thoughtful hour at