登陆注册
15383400000042

第42章

At home we sat for a long time in silence."By George, Craig," Iexclaimed at length, my mind reverting through the whirl of events to the glimpse of pain I had caught on the delicate face of the girl having the hospital, "Vivian Taylor is a beauty, though, isn't she?""And Capps thinks so, too," he returned, sinking again into his shell of silence.Then he suddenly rose and put on his hat and coat.I could see the old restless fever for work which came into his eyes whenever he had a case which interested him more than usual.

I knew there would be no rest for Kennedy until he had finished it.

Moreover, I knew it was useless for me to remonstrate with him, so I kept silent.

Don't wait up for me," he said."I don't know when I'll be back.

I'm going to the laboratory and the university library.Be ready early in the morning to help me delve into this tunnel mystery."I awoke to find Kennedy dozing in a chair, partly dressed, but just as fresh as I was after my sleep.I think he had been dreaming out his course of action.At any rate, breakfast was a mere incident in his scheme, and we were over at the tunnel works when the night shift were going off.

Kennedy carried with him a moderate-sized box of the contents of which he seemed very careful.Paddy was waiting for us, and after a hasty whispered conversation, Craig stowed the box away behind the switchboard of the telephone central, after attaching it to the various wires.Paddy stood guard while this was going on so that no one would know about it, not even the telephone girl, whom he sent off on an errand.

Our first inspection was of that part of the works which was above ground.Paddy, who conducted us, introduced us first to the engineer in charge of this part of the work, a man named Shelton, who had knocked about the world a great deal, but had acquired a taciturnity that was Sphinxlike.If it had not been for Paddy, Ifear we should have seen very little, for Shelton was not only secretive, but his explanations were such that even the editor of a technical journal would have had to blue pencil them considerably.However, we gained a pretty good idea of the tunnel works above ground - at least Kennedy did.He seemed very much interested in how the air was conveyed below ground, the tank for storing compressed air for emergencies, and other features.It quite won Paddy, although Shelton seemed to resent his interest even more than he despised my ignorance.

Next Paddy conducted us to the dressing-rooms.There we put on old clothes and oilskins, and the tunnel doctor examined us and extracted a written statement that we went down at our own risk and released the company from all liability - much to the disgust of Paddy.

"We're ready now, Mr.Capps," called Paddy, opening an office door on the way out.

"Very well, Flanagan," answered Capps, barely nodding to us.We heard him telephone some one, but could not catch the message, and in a minute he joined us.By this time I had formed the opinion, which I have since found to be correct, that tunnel men are not as a rule loquacious.

It was a new kind of thrill to me to go under the "air," as the men called it.With an instinctive last look at the skyline of New York and the waves playing in the glad sunlight, we entered a rude construction elevator and dropped from the surface to the bottom of a deep shaft.It was like going down into a mine.There was the air-lock, studded with bolts, and looking just like a huge boiler, turned horizontally.

The heavy iron door swung shut with a bang as Paddy and Capps, followed by Kennedy and myself, crept into the air-lock.Paddy turned on a valve, and compressed air from the tunnel began to rush in with a hiss as of escaping steam.Pound after pound to the square inch the pressure slowly rose until I felt sure the drums of my ears would burst.Then the hissing noise began to dwindle down to a wheeze, and then it stopped all of a sudden.That meant that the air-pressure in the lock was the same as that in the tunnel.Paddy pushed open the door in the other end of the lock from that by which we had entered.

Along the bottom of the completed tube we followed Paddy and Capps.

On we trudged, fanned by the moist breath of the tunnel.Every few feet an incandescent light gleamed in the misty darkness.

After perhaps a hundred paces we had to duck down under a semicircular partition covering the upper half of the tube.

"What is that?" I shouted at Paddy, the nasal ring of my own voice startling me.

"Emergency curtain," he shouted back.

Words were economised.Later, I learned that should the tunnel start to flood, the other half of the emergency curtain could be dropped so as to cut off the inrushing water.

Men passed, pushing little cars full of "muck" or sand taken out from before the "shield" - which is the head by which this mechanical mole advances under the river-bed.These men and others who do the shovelling are the "muckers."Pipes laid along the side of the tunnel conducted compressed air and fresh water, while electric light and telephone wires were strung all about.These and the tools and other things strewn along the tunnel obstructed the narrow passage to such an extent that we had to be careful in picking our way.

At last we reached the shield, and on hands and knees we crawled out into one of its compartments.Here we experienced for the first time the weird realisation that only the "air" stood between us and destruction from the tons and tons of sand and water overhead.

At some points in the sand we could feel the air escaping, which appeared at the surface of the river overhead in bubbles, indicating to those passing in the river boats just how far each tunnel heading below had proceeded.When the loss of air became too great, Ilearned, scows would dump hundreds of tons of clay overhead to make an artificial river bed for the shield to stick its nose safely through, for if the river bed became too thin overhead the "air"would blow a hole in it.

同类推荐
  • 佛说毗奈耶经

    佛说毗奈耶经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 北斗九皇隐讳经

    北斗九皇隐讳经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说法律三昧经

    佛说法律三昧经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 六十种曲琵琶记

    六十种曲琵琶记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 一初元禅师语录

    一初元禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 拂君生

    拂君生

    世间有浮生花可治愈百病,愿为君故,无怨无悔。
  • 狩魔天启

    狩魔天启

    在压迫中成长,在仇恨中崛起。万木并立,群强云集,神兵降临,引起天地动荡,一个大陆传奇的故事就此展开……
  • 千年一梦:弱智王爷逆袭记

    千年一梦:弱智王爷逆袭记

    一朝穿越,仅凭一根银针,她便可以活死人,肉白骨,却终究医不了人心。他是王爷,痴傻却对她极好,为她下水捉鱼,上天逮鸟,为逗她开心,当众脱了裤子,受人凌辱。他是神仙,秀俊男生女相,万人倾心,却对她独宠,为救她,毁了容貌,挫骨扬灰。他是状元,聪明为复仇,抄她满门,灭她全家,让她身中无解之毒。一朝梦醒,这须叟五年的爱恨情仇,原来只是她做的一场梦。梦醒之后,她当如何?
  • 仙是怎样炼成的

    仙是怎样炼成的

    一个经脉大半堵塞的少年,无奈弃武从医。一次机缘巧合下,竟然得到一卷不知名口诀,从此走上了一条和众生不一样的修仙道路!请给大虾投票的朋友在书评里留个言,好让大虾知道是哪些朋友*^_^*
  • 六界仙魔之千山桃花世世开

    六界仙魔之千山桃花世世开

    桃花如雪亦如血。染白了谁的发,染红了谁的心。当桃花劫被发起,这一世就注定无法改变。终究不是为了权,爱又如何?那边以桃花为誓,定你我生死之缘。
  • 冰樱泪

    冰樱泪

    叶樱本是农村的姑娘,考入“冰雪”而来到大城市。农村的女汉子,来到城里的种种生活,结交到的种种朋友,未来的生活。却不再叶樱的思考之中。
  • 重建中文之美书系前世

    重建中文之美书系前世

    精选近几年《百花洲》杂志纪实文学作品,汇编成册,总结了近几年中国各类文体的文学创作成就与风貌。在浩如烟海的文学创作中,编者们从作品的价值上反复斟酌,碰撞,判断,从而披沙炼金,把或感人肺腑或引人深思的,现实中受到普遍好评、具有广泛影响的,具有经得住时间考验、富有艺术魅力特质的好作品,评选编辑出来,以不负时代和读者的重托与期望,恪尽对中国当代文学事业的责任。本书将充分展示编选者视野的宽广、包容、博大,体现当下文学的多样性与丰富性,是一部水准较高的集锦之作。
  • 我喜欢你,少年

    我喜欢你,少年

    这是一场长达十几年的暗恋。最终,他们是修成正果,还是不断错过。
  • 邪君霸世:王妃不好惹

    邪君霸世:王妃不好惹

    在21世纪,她翻手为云,覆手为雨,可老天看她不顺眼,让她穿越到异世大陆,废物?她丹药当糖吃,神兽更是多多有于;而他,霸世邪君,杀人更是不眨眼,却遇上了她。看俩人如何玩转异世!
  • 泥沼中的女人

    泥沼中的女人

    那个女人,那个美丽优雅的女人,那个总是一脸从容、始终微笑着的女人,那个总是少言寡语、即便说了话也让人难辨真假的女人,那个总是坐在她位置上默默看着我、仿佛一眼就能将我看透的女人……你是谁?……无论你是谁?你从哪里来?将往哪里去?你知道吗?我始终在这里!在这里看着你,在这里想着你,在这里等着你!……就算你是泥沼,就算你是毒药,就算我会沉沦,就算我会死去,我也不会放开你!你是我的!你只能是我的……