That
exception occurred when Bryce Cardigan, invading the engine room
while Zeb was at luncheon, looped the whistle-cord until the end
dangled seven feet above ground. As a consequence Zeb, who was a
short, fat little man, was forced to leap at it several times before
success crowned his efforts and the whistle blew. Thereafter for the
remainder of the day his reason tottered on its throne, due to the
fact that Bryce induced every mill employee to call upon the engineer
and remind him that he must be growing old, since he was no longer
dependable!
On the morning following Bryce Cardigan's return to Sequoia, Zeb
Curry, as per custom, started his engine at six-fifty-eight. That
gave the huge bandsaws two minutes in which to attain their proper
speed and afforded Dan Kenyon, the head sawyer, ample time to run his
steam log-carriage out to the end of the track; for Daniel, too, was
a reliable man in the matter of starting his daily uproar on time.
At precisely six fifty-nine and a half, therefore, the engineer's
hand closed over the handle of the whistle-cord, and Dan Kenyon,
standing on the steam-carriage with his hand on the lever, took a
thirty-second squint through a rather grimy window that gave upon the
drying-yard and the mill-office at the head of it.
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