The pitch was near the slant engineers call the angle of rest, but Festing thought there was rock not far beneath, which prevented the solidification of the superincumbent soil.

It looked as if his contract would be difficult and he would earn his pay.
As the cars passed he saw the ballast creep about the ends of the ties, which reached to the edge of the descent, and in places small streams of gravel had run down, leaving hollows round the timber.

The harsh jolting indicated the consequences, but he knew that in the West railroads are built as fast as possible and made safe afterwards.

For that matter, he had often run risks that would have daunted engineers used to conservative English methods.

In the meantime, the speed was slackening, and by and by the harsh tolling of the locomotive bell echoed among the pines.