Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1881-07-02

under the tremendous power OF the
placid sunbeams. The moment the free
end of the bridge had been damned" !"
or stopped from moving i'll that direc-
ton, the entire party crossed the bridge,
and began to cut away the fastening5
that secured il to the masonry.
The noise of the labor startled the
Sabbath air, and both the Chases and
the Lawsons came ont TO see what was
going on. Farmer Chase was shocked
at the desecration of the Sabbath. but
the young man only replied "The
road is all finished but this bridge. 1t
must be opened. The people want it.
Besides, / must show / can move the
bridge, or my reputation is gone for
ever, and my business is ruined. p"
AS for the Reward, she never lost
faith in her lover. She admitted hehad
made most unpardonable blunder, yet
she had faith that he would extricate
himself with honor and credit. She
found him working on the bridge in a
sort of feverish anxiety, pale, excited
and harassed. She drew him away from
his work for moment.
"You have eaten nothing You must
rest, and work more carefully, or you
may have sunstroke. It's going to be
very warm day.
eyes, bring me something. I'll eat
it here and then do you pray that it
may be the hottest day of the season.
/ hope it will be hundred in the shade,
for it is my only salvation" "
Farmer Chasesaid his daughter should
have nothing to do with a Sabbath
breaker; but she refused to leave the
bridge, except to go to the house for
food for her lover. Her father objected
even to this, but her mother, being
wiser, gave her both meat and drink.
"He is doing it all for my sake,
mother. He is going to put the bridge
back, and | shall stay with him.
1t was nearly eleven o'clock before
the last bit of metal was torn off. The
bridge had already begun to show signs
of distress, as if pulled and strained by
some invisible yet appalling power.
Some of the beams began to show signs
of distortion, and the rods, when struck
with hammer, rang sharply like the
strings of q piano strained up to a con-
cert pitch. The last bolt was almost
off when it suddenly broke with loud
snap. The whole gigantic structure
was in travail. An instant after the
end slipped, it moved and crept upon
the stone ledge of the abutment nearly
half an inch.
1t was a great triumph for the young
man. He had harnessed the sun to do
more than many men and engines. He
moved the bridge, and all for loves sake.
cit will reach its full expansion
about three o'clock. You had best go
get your dinner, men, and then we
must anchor her fast before she begins
to contract again at sundown."
The men were wild with enthusiasm
for the young engineer. He had brains.
He would move the bridge to its right
place in three days.
Old Jimmy Walsh said he had heard
of such things, but he never rightly
understood it till now, and ventured the
opinion that it would take a power of
chains and rivets to hold her back when
she began to cool down.
The sun shone clear all the morning,
and at one o'clock it was very hot and
sultry. The people round about gath
cred to see science toiling for love, and
the little meeting-hou was quite de-
serted. The good man preached a mild
reproof against worldly people at work
in the bridge, but the entire congrega-
tion to a woman said in their hearts
that the young man was doing Just
right. The bridge travelled again about
two o'clock, and advanced another half
inch. If now it could be held there, if
it could be prevented from returning to
its old position, the gain would be per-
manent, and the bridge would be moved
without hands.
With blazing forges and resoundiDg
hammers, the men worked on in sort
Of frantic haste. Iron bars were riveted
to the bridge and clamped to the stones
of the abutment. Even chains were
bound round the beams of the bridge,
and anchored to the ties and tracks of
the railroad. Itwas now half past two.
The temperature would be at its highest
very soon, and then it would gradually
fall, and keep falling through the night
till morning. as the air cooled, the
bridge would contract. Would it re-
turn to its old position, or remain in its
new place? Would the anchored end
remain fast, and the contraction pull
the other end forward? So eager were
the people gathered near to watch the
work that they did not observe the
west, till a sudden peal OF thunder
startled them.
First the sun was obscured, and then
the hot and sultry air was stirred by a
fitful breeze. The people sought shelter
in the neighboring houses, but the
workmen only redoubled their exer-
tons. The rain would cool the heated
bridge quickly, and it would contract
suddenly-perhaps tear all the work to
pieces. Either the bridge must con-
tract as whole, and the free end move,
or the, fastenings would be torn apart.
The ram came down in flood. The
temperature fell twenty degrees in few
moments, and they all ran over the
slippery and dripping bridge. The
young man sprang down on the ledge
of the 'abutment. There was clear
space between the bridge and the wedges
they had driven in that morning.
''The bridge has moved"
At nine o'clock the next day an en-
gine came mp, bringing the manager of
the company and number of carpen-
ters and laborers. The scaffold must
be rebuilt, and the bridge lifted on
rollers, and forced over into its place by
hydraulic jacks.
They found the young man calmly
talking to a young girl, and superin-
tending the men who were driving