But MacFarlane had already been forewarned. The engineer of the
morning express, who had crossed close to the boulevard at the
moment the break occurred, had leaned far out of his cab as the
train thundered by at right angles to the "fill," and with cupped
hands to his mouth, had hurled this yell into the ravine:
"Water! Look out! Everything busted up above! Water! Water! Run,
for God's sake!"
The men stood irresolute, but MacFarlane sprang to instant action.
Grabbing the man next him,--an Italian who understood no English--
he dragged him along, shouting to the others, the crowd swarming
up, throwing away their shovels in their flight until the whole
posse reached a point of safety near the mouth of the tunnel.
There he turned and braced himself for the shock. He realized
fully what had happened: McGowan's ill-constructed culvert had
sagged and choked; a huge basin of water had formed behind it; the
retaining walls had been undermined and the whole mass was
sweeping down upon him. Would there be enough of it to overflow
the crest line of his own "fill" or not? If it could stand the
first on-thrust there was one chance in a hundred of its safety,
provided the wing-walls and the foundations of the culvert held up
its arch, thus affording gradual relief until the flood should
have spent its force.
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