CHAPTER XXIV
THE TICK-TICK
"Put one camera here, Joe."
"All right, Blake. And where will you have the other?"
"Take that with you. Easy now. Don't make a noise, and don't speakabove a whisper!" cautioned Blake Stewart. "You'll work onemachine, and I'll attend to the other. We'll put the automaticbetween us and trust to luck that one of the three gets somethingwhen the flash goes off."
The two boys, with Captain Wiltsey, had made their way to aposition near the spillway, below the great Gatun Dam. It was anintensely dark night, though off to the west were distant flashesof lightning now and then, telling of an approaching storm. In thedarkness the boys moved cautiously about, planting their camerasand flashlight batteries to give the best results.
They had had to work quickly to get matters in shape beforemidnight. Fortunately they were not delayed by lack of magnesiumpowder, a large quantity having been found in one of thelaboratories. This was quickly made up into flashlight cartridges,to be exploded at once, or in a series, by means of a highvoltage storage battery.
The moving picture cameras had been put in place, Blake to workone and Joe the other, while the automatic, which was operated byclockwork, once the trigger-string was broken, also setting offthe continuous flashlight, was set between the two boys, tocommand a good view of the dam, and of whoever should approach toblow it up.
It now lacked an hour of midnight when, so the rumors said, theattempt was to be made. Of the nature of these rumors, and of howmuch truth there was in them, the boys could only guess. They didnot ask too much, knowing that there might be Government secretsit would not be wise for them to know.
But that certain level-headed men did "take stock" in those rumorswas evident, for elaborate preparations had been made to protectthe dam. The preparations were conducted with as much secrecy aspossible in order that the conspirators might not become aware ofthem.
"We don't want to scare them off," explained Captain Wiltsey."That may seem a strange thing to say," he went on, "but it is thetruth. Of course we don't want the dam blown up, or even slightlydamaged, but it will be better to let them make the attempt, andcatch them red-handed, than just to scare them off before theymake a try. Because, if we do that they may only come back again,later, when we're not ready for them. But if we let them see weare prepared and can catch some of them at work, it will end theconspiracy."
"That's right!" agreed Blake. "Well, we'll do all we can to helpmake the capture. We'll capture their likenesses on the films,anyhow, and you'll know who they are."
"Which will be something," the captain said. "We haven't been ableas yet to discover the identity of any of them. They have keptvery secret, and worked very much in the dark."
It had been arranged, among Captain Wiltsey and his helpers, thatthey were to give a certain signal when they discovered thedynamiters at work, and then the boys would set off theirflashlights and begin to work their hand cameras. The automaticone, of course, would need no attention, provided the miscreantswent near enough the net-work of strings to break one and so setthe mechanism in motion. But that was problematical, and, as Joesaid, they would have to "trust to luck."
And so the preparations for receiving the midnight callers wenton. Joe and Blake worked in silence, making ready for their partin it. All about the boys, though they could neither see nor hearthem, were Uncle Sam's men--soldiers, some of them--stationed nearwhere, so rumor said, the attempt was to be made to explode thedynamite.
"We really ought to have another helper," said Blake,thoughtfully. "There is one place we can't get in focus no matterhow we try, with the three machines we have. If we had anotherautomatic it would be all right, but we have only the one. Anotherhand camera would do, but we'd have to get someone to work it. Iwould suggest we get Mr. Alcando, but you don't seem to want him.He could easily take charge of one."
"It is better to have no foreigners," replied the captain. "Notthat Mr. Alcando might not be all right, for he seems a nice chap.But he is a Spaniard, or, rather a South American, and some of theSouth Americans haven't any too much love for us; especially sincethe Canal was built."
"Why?" asked Blake.
"Oh, for various reasons. Some of them have lost trade because itshortens routes. But there, I must go and see if all the men arein place." Captain Wiltsey left him, and once more the movingpicture boy resumed his vigil. All about him was silence anddarkness. As well as he could he looked to see that his camera waspointing in the right direction, and that it set firmly on thetripod, the legs of which were driven into the ground.
"I'll just step over and see how Joe is," thought Blake. He judgedit lacked half an hour yet of midnight.
He found Joe busy mending a broken wire that ran from the batteryto the flashlight powder chamber.
"Just discovered it," Joe whispered. "Lucky I did, too, or itwould have failed me just when I needed it."
"Is it fixed?" asked Blake, as his chum straightened up in thedarkness.
"Yes, it'll do for a while, though it's only twisted together.Say, but isn't it dark?"
"It sure is," agreed Blake.
Together they stood there near the great dam. There came to theirears the splashing of water over the spillway, for the lake washigh, and much was running to waste.
"Well, I guess I'll be getting back," said Blake in a low voice."No telling when things will happen now."
As he started to go away Joe remarked:
"Where are you wearing your watch? I can hear it over here."
"Watch! I haven't mine on," Blake answered. "You can't see it inthe dark, so I left it on the boat."
"Well, something is ticking pretty loud, and it isn't mine," Joesaid, "for I did the same as you, and left it in my cabin. Butdon't you hear that noise?"
They both listened. Clearly to them, through the silence of thenight, came a steady and monotonous tick--tick-tick--
"It's the clockwork of the automatic camera," Blake whispered.
"It can't be," answered Joe. "That's too far off. Besides, it's adifferent sound."
They both listened intently.
"Tick! Tick! Tick!" came to them through the dark silence.