ing was as strong as Gibraltar itself!"
"You were the last to inspect it," accused Muller, with a break in his voice.
"Nobody knows that better than I, and I can swear by all that's square and honest that it was no fault of the material or the construction. It must have been—"
"Must have been what?"
"I'll be damned if I know."
"That's like him,"' said Linane, who, while really kindly intentioned, had always rather enjoyed prodding the young engineer.
"Like me, like the devil," shouted Jenks, glaring at Linane. "I suppose you know all about it, you're so blamed wise."
"No, I don't know," admitted Linane. "uat I do know that you don't like me to tell you anything. Nevertheless, I am going to tell you that you had better get busy and find out what caused it, or—"
"That's just what I'm doing," said Jenks, and he dived for his plans on the floor.
Newspaper reporters, many of them, were fighting outside to get in. Muller looked at Linane when a stenographer had announced the reporters for the tenth time.
"We had better let them in," he said, "it looks bad to crawl for cover."
"What are you going to tell them?" asked Linane.
"God only knows," said Muller.
"Let me handle them," said Jenks, looking up confidently.
THE newspapermen had rushed the office. They came in like a wild wave. Questions flew like feathers at a cock-fight.
Muller held up his hand and there was something in his grief-stricken eyes that held the gentlemen of the press in silence. They had time to look around. They saw the handsome, dark-haired, brown-eyed Jenks poring over the plans. Dust from the carpet smudged his knees, and he had rubbed some of it over a sweating forehead, but he still looked the picture of self-confident efficiency.
"Gentlemen," said Muller slowly, "I can answer all your questions at once. Our firm is one of the oldest and staunchest in the trade. Our buildings stand as monuments to our integrity—"
"All but one," said a young Irishman.
"You are right. All but one," confessed Muller. "But that one, believe me, has been visited by an act of God. Some form of earthquake or some unlooked for, uncontrolled, almost unbelievable catastrophe has happened. The Muller company stands back of its work to its last dollar. Gentlemen, you know as much as we do. Mr. Jenks there, whose reputation as an engineer is quite sturdy, I assure you, was the last to inspect the building. He passed upon it when it was finished. He is at your service."
Jenks arose, brushed some dust from his knees.
"You look like you'd been praying," bandied the Irishman.
"Maybe I have. Now. let me talk. Don't broadside me with questions. I know what you want to know. Let me talk."
The newspapermen were silent.
"There has been talk of probing this disaster, naturally," began Jenks. "You all know, gentlemen, that we will aid any inquiry to our utmost. You want to know what we have to say about it—who is responsible. In a reasonable time I will have a statement to make that will be startling in the extreme: I am not sure of my ground now."
"How about the ground under the Colossus?" said the Irishman.
"Don't let's kid each other," pleaded Jenks. "Look at Mr. Muller: it is as if he had lost his whole family. We are good people. I am doing all I can. Mr. Linane, who had charge of the construction, is doing all he can. We believe we are blameless. If it is proven otherwise we will acknowledge our fault, assume financial responsibility, and take our medicine. Believe me,
