That will give me time to make memoranda of things I may have forgotten." Howland fancied that there was a certain tone of relief in the senior's voice, but he made no mention of it to the superintendent as they walked swiftly to the scene of the "blow-out." The coyote was ready for firing when they arrived.

The coyote itself--a tunnel of fifty feet dug into the solid rock of the mountain and terminating in a chamber packed with explosives--was closed by masses of broken rock, rammed tight, and MacDonald showed his companion where the electric wire passed to the fuse within.
"It's a confounded mystery to me why Thorne doesn't care to see this ridge blown up!" he exclaimed after they had finished the inspection.
"We've been at work for three months drilling this coyote, and the bigger one to the north.

There are four thousand square yards of rock to come out of there, and six thousand out of the other.

You don't see shots like those three times in a lifetime, and there'll not be another for us between here and the bay.

What's the matter with Thorne ?" Without waiting for a reply MacDonald walked swiftly in the direction of a ridge to the right.