orable, and, so far
as the experts could foretell, there wasn't a storm in sight for a week
or more."

"Weather experts aren't much on guessing," commented Eric.

"Not in Chesapeake Bay, anyhow," the other rejoined.

"Not anywhere!"

"I wouldn't go so far as that," the other answered. "There'd be a lot
more wrecks than there are if it weren't for the storm signals of the
Weather Bureau. They can always warn ships of the coming of a big storm,
one of these West Indian hurricanes, for instance. Squalls, of course,
they can't foresee. Usually, that doesn't matter, because no seaworthy
vessel is going to be worried by a squall. But that iron cylinder wasn't
seaworthy. At least, you should have heard what the men called it who
had been on board the night it nearly went down!"

"I can imagine," said Eric.

"Then you've a healthy imagination," his friend replied grimly. "As I
was saying," he continued, "the fleet started out under sunny skies and
a smooth sea. They reached the place where the buoy was moored and
Father took very careful observations to make sure that the buoy had not
shifted during the storm. Everything was all right, and the instant the
cylinder was immediately over the precise spot, the valves were opened
and the water began to pour in.

"The tugs at once brought up the two barges containing heavy blocks of
stone, and the instant that the cylinder touched the bottom, the gangs
of men started to heave the stones overboard."

"What in the wide world was that for?"

"To prevent the water from scouring away the sand. You see it's all sand
there, that's why the caisson was made. As soon as the current would
strike an obstruction like the cylinder, it would make a gyratory sweep
around its base. With the strong tides of Chesapeake Bay, even an hour
would be enough to scoop out the sand and plunge the whole structure
edgewise into the sea. So overboard the stones went, all round the
cylinder, making a rough protecting wall against the undermining force
of the water. The swirl, instead of striking the smooth iron side of the
cylinder, would be broken against the pile of rocks. Moreover, with the
sand thus protected it could not be washed away so easily by the force
of the current.

"At the same time, another gang of men was sent aboard the cylinder, and
one of the smaller tugs brought up a barge loaded with concrete. The men
tumbled into the compartments of the cylinder. From the barge two pipes
were th