CHAPTER XVIII
THE DOPED POWDER
"What are you going to do, Tom?" cried Ned, as he, with the others, worked the hand gear that shifted the big gun. When it was permanently mounted electricity would accomplish this work. "What's your game, Tom?"
"Don't you remember, Ned? When we were talking about the chance of the dam bursting, I said if the current of suddenly released water could be turned into the other valley, the people below us would be saved."
"Yes."
"Well, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to fire a bursting shell at the point where the two valleys come together. I'll break down the barrier of rock and stone between them."
"Bless my shovel and hoe!" cried Mr. Damon.
"If we can turn enough of the water into the other valley, where no one lives, and where it can escape into the big river there, the amount that
151