Directly the strange inspector
stopped, got down and took a look
at the underworks of the bridge and,
when he arose he called the warden
and told him that the builders of the
bridge failed to allow sufficient space
for expansion in times of such severe
heat as then prevailed; that one of
the main girders had wrung loose
from its fellows and lacked but an
inch of being off the head of the pier,
and that the next train to start over
it would go down.
The warden, now that the danger
was shown him, could appreciate it
well enough; minding that the next
train was the limited, that it was
nearly due, he struck of hurriedly to
meet and stop it.
He with the bolt and staff made
his way slowly back towards the end
of the bridge, his critical eyes close
ly scrutinizing each and every part
of it as he came along, condemning
here, commending there , the work
of its builders. When he was come
to the abutment he turned and was
taking a comprehensive view of the
whole structure when, of a sudden,
there fell upon his ears the tones of
a bell, announcing the noon hour at
the settlement on the hill. Instantly
the fire died out of his eyes, his
shoulders drooped again, and he
coughed violently as he passed back
down the embankment and out to the
road.
The warden, several hundred
yards ilp the railroad, casually glanc
ed back, and, perceiving that the
late inspector had taken to the road
again, his face flushed as if he had
received a sudden inspiration. Di
rectly he met and stopped the
Limited and told the crew of the
danger at the bridge. Incidentally
stating that he himself had found it.
