CHAPTER XVII
THE BURSTING DAM
"Bless my fountain pen!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "You don't mean it!"
"I sure do!" went on the man who had brought the startling news. "And the folks down below aren't going to have any more time than they need to get out of the way. They'll have to lose some of their goods, I reckon. But I thought I'd stop on my way down and warn you. You'd better be getting a hustle on."
"It's very kind of you," spoke Tom; "but I don't fancy we are in any danger."
"No danger!" cried the man. "Say, when that water begins to sweep down here nothing on earth can stop it. That big gun of yours, heavy as it is, will be swept away like a straw, I know—I saw the Johnstown flood!"
"But we're so high up on the side of the hill, that the water won't come here," put in Ned. "We had that all figured out when we heard the
139
