arnock felt daunted as he beat his numbed hands. The
sky was clear; a hard, dazzling blue, against which the white peaks
were silhouetted with every ridge and pinnacle in sharp outline. They
twinkled like steel in places, but there were patches of delicate gray,
and here and there a dark rock broke through its covering. The bottom of
the gorge was soft blue, and the river a streak of raw indigo, but there
was no touch of warm color in the savage landscape. The glitter made
Charnock's eyes ache and the reflected sunshine burned his skin.

Some of the construction gangs were laid off, but in places men were at
work. They looked small and feeble on the vast white slope, and a few
plumes of smoke seemed to curl futilely out of the hollow. Frost and
snow defied man's engine power, and the rattle of the machines was lost
in the din the river made. Its channel was full of snow that had frozen
in the honey-combed masses, and the ragged floes broke with a harsh,
ringing crash. Others screamed as they smashed among the rocks and
ground across ledges, while the tall cliffs on the opposite bank flung
the echoes far among the pines. The uproar rose and sank, but its
throbbing note voiced a challenge to human effort, and Charnock admitted
that had the choice been left to him, he would have gone back to the
warm shack and waited for better conditions.

Festing, however, would wait for nothing, and Kerr and Norton were
equally resolute. Just now Festing was clearing away the snow while
three or four men cautiously descended the bank, dragging loads of
branches. A big fire was soon lighted, and when the resinous wood broke
into snapping flame Festing cleared a spot farther on for another. By
and by he scattered the first, the thawed surface was pierced, and a
hole dug. Then with half an hour's savage labor they got the first big
post on end. The next broke the supporting tackle and a man narrowly
escaped when it fell, but they raised it again and got to work upon the
braces. The wood was unseasoned and hard with frozen sap. Saw and auger
would scarcely bite, but somehow they cut the notches and bored the
holes. When the first frame was roughly stayed Charnock sat down with a
breathless laugh.

"I suppose it's the best job we can make and it's up to specification.
Still, when one comes to think of it, the optimism of these railroad men
is remarkable. Green wood and uncovered bolts that will soon work loose
in the rotting pine! If I was