The Benson signal., 1917-04-14

Welt Ou quickly W prevent MIN IFOu
taking adv antage of her incautious ad-
| mission.
"Hang the Clothes" said the man,
radiant once more in that admission,
"since you will allow it, I will come
with what can rake up. But you'll
have to tell me which fork to use.
have almost forgotten out here In the
wilderness"
"It isn't six months since you were
at our house."
"Six months It's thousand years" /"
he went on, "and I'm going to take you
out on the bridge after dinner. It's
great at any time. It's the most mag
nificent sight on earth even now, but
in the moonlight-there it is now," he
pointed as the little group walked past
the station which had hid the view
! and the great structure suddenly was
revealed to them.
The four men ahead had stopped
and stood silent. There was something
awe-inspiring and tremendous about
the great, black, outreaching, far
extending arms Of steel. The first sight
of it always gave the beholder little
shock. It was so huge, so massive, so
grandly majestic, and withal so airy,
seen against the impressive background
of deep gorge and palisaded wall and
far-off mountains. So ether-borne was
it in it's perfect proportion that even
dull and stupid peOple-and none Of
these were that-felt it's overpowering
presence. Meade and the girl stopped
too. After one glance at the bridge,
she looked at him. And that was typ
ical. For the first time he was not at
the moment aware of, or Immediately
responsive to, her glance. And that,
too, was typical. She noted this with
a pang of jealousy.
''You love the BRIDGE" she said
softly.
He Strengthened up and threw his
head back and looked at her.
81 thought so,' he said simply-"un-
til today, but now'-he stopped again.
''But now?" she asked.
81 have just learned what love really
is and the lesson has not been taught
me by bridge" he answered directly.
Yet Bertram Meade, the younger, did
truly love the bridge which he had
seen grow from the placing of the first
shoe-the great steel base on top of
the pier which carries the whole struc-
ture-tO the completion Of the soaring
cantilever reaching out to meet its
companion on the other side-the great
International, which was to be the tie
that bound, with web Of steel, two
great countries which lay breast to
breast; already in touch save for the
mighty river that flowed between them.
By no means would Meade, the
younger, have been charged with the
great responsibilities of the bridge had
it not been for his exhaustive prepara-
ton and wide experience. To thor
ough technical training at Harvard, in
the Lawrence Scientific school, had
been added a substantial record Of
achievement A fine bridge which he
had erected in faraway Burma, trium-
phantly achieving the design despite
all sorts Of difficulties, had attracted
the attention of old Colonel Hing
worth, the president of the Martlet
Bridge company. \
He had kept the young man under
his eye for long time. When he COM
missioned his father, Bertram Meade,
Sr., to prepare the plans for the great
International, the most-sought-for and
famous of bridges, he had noted with
satisfaction that the older man, who
stood first among bridge engineers on
the continent, had associated with him
self his son. Meade, Jr., had recently
returned from South America, where
he had again shown his mettle. The
two worked together in the preparation
of the designs for what was to be the
crown and triumph Of the older mans
life, the most stupendous of all the
cantilever bridges in the world.
The great engineer had a high idea
of his only sons ability. He was will
ing to proclaim it, to maintain it, and
defend it against all comers except
himself. When the two wills clashed,
he recognized but one way, his own.
The relations between the two were
lovely but not ideal. There was lead
ership not partnership, direction rather
than cooperation. The knowledge and
experience of the boy-for SO he loved
to call him-where of course nothing
compared to those of his father. When,
in discussing moot points, the younger
man had been unconvinced by the cal
culations of the elder, he had been
laughed to scorn in a goOd-natured
way. His carefully set forth objec-
tions even in serious matters, had been
overborne generally, and by trium-
phant calculations of his own the fa~
ther had REINFORCED himself in his con.
clusions; and the more strongly be-
cause of the opposition.
Young Meade's position was rather
anomalous. He had no direct super
vision of the construction. He was
there as resident engineer representing
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