Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/543
was draining out of the sloping street almost as rapidly as it had come, leaving masses of ice stranded high and dry. Jack leaned out of the window and saw one huge cake balanced neatly on the projection above their own front door, while a score of others lay on the sidewalk. In fifteen minutes their end of the street was quite clear, save for the ice cakes and the mud streaks on houses and pavements. Around the next corner he saw a man come, running excitedly. Jack pulled off his coat and waved it.
“Hello, father! We ’re all right!”
It being Saturday morning, Jack went down to the river as soon as he had finished what breakfast they could get in a wet kitchen. His brother Jimmy was at his heels, wild with excitement.
All the way down they saw dampness and mud on every side, the water line running to the second floor and above, as the street sloped lower. Ice cakes were stranded in the most unlikely places, piling ten and fifteen feet high when obstructed, and the tracks of the railroad had received their full share, although by this time the workmen had nearly cleared them away. Crowds of sight-seers were about the drenched streets and the muddy river, which flowed free for the first time in months.
When they came to the bridge Jack caught sight of a well-remembered face. It was Mr. Heath, who had come down on the first train through, and as he saw Jack, he smiled.
“Well, the ice jammed, did n’t it?” he said.
Jack laughed, rather proud to be recognized, but he quickly warmed into a different sort of enthusiasm.
“Yes, it did, but that must be a splendid bridge to stand the pounding it got last night, and never show it. Id be proud of that.”
Mr. Heath smiled again. He took out his card-case, wrote something on a card, and handed it to Jack.
“If you still want to be an engineer when you leave school, bring this to my office, and I will give you a position. We have a fine polytechnic in our city, and if you are in earnest you can work through. I did. Good-by.”
Jack looked from the card to the disappearing back of the engineer, and from that to Jimmy, who was staring at him in breathless admiration. He felt-almost stunned.
“Whew!” he said slowly. “Glory! What luck!” he exclaimed, and leaving the river and its sight-seers, he ran post-haste for home, the devoted Jimmy close on his heels.