tove.

At eleven o'clock the perspiring men in the trench announced this part of
the work completed. Then it required only a few minutes to brace a narrow
platform about five feet above the bottom of the trench, next to the
tube, and all paused for a short rest before making the final experiment.
At last the men took their places near the roaring gusher and, at Paul's
request, he was given the opportunity to use his well-muscled arms in
swinging the sledge, Colonel Howell taking his place on the platform in
charge of a long-handled chisel.

The duties of Norman and Roy were to assist the two workmen in
manipulating the chain pulley, by which the first tap was to be forced on
the open end of the pipe. This of course was pierced with holes, so that
the pressure beneath it might not be altogether shut off. This was to be
forced down upon the steel drill tube, after which the regulator was to
be similarly attached to the threads of the preliminary cap. The
situation was hazardous for all. There was danger that the out-rushing
gas in the trench below might explode when it rose and came in contact
with the roaring blaze above. But it was hoped that the work might be
done so quickly that this would not result.

When Ewen had laid out his apparatus about the mouth of the tube with all
the care of a surgeon preparing for a hasty operation, and Paul and
Colonel Howell had taken their position on the scaffold far below, Ewen
suddenly shouted:

"Ready!"

A heavy blow resounded in the narrow pit. Then another, and another, and
a new roar broke out below. Dropping their tools, Colonel Howell and Paul
fled up their improvised ladder and when they reached the surface they
saw the workmen and Norman and Roy, their faces distorted with effort and
their clothes almost scorching, bend to the task before them. The
escaping gas was still roaring and the flames were leaping sideways.

Norman and Roy were almost flat on the ground, hanging on to the pulley
chain. The first cap was in place and, with a long wrench, Ewen was
twisting it onto the thread. A new volume of gas was already rolling from
the pit, while from the incline opposite the mouth of the new opening,
gravel and clods of earth were shooting riverward like the sparks of a
Bessemer furnace. Paul threw himself on the ground with the other boys
and added his strength to theirs in holding the cap in place. All seemed
to forget the possibility of a new explosion.

There was a h