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Authors: Bertrand R. Brinley, Charles Geer
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take real heavy construction equipment to move that stuff, and I
don't know how anybody could get it down there to do the job. Are those kids
safe in there?"
"They're all right, so far," said Henry.
The
officer played his flashlight along the crest of the falls.
"Some more of that ledge could break loose any minute," he said.
"If it does, the roof of that cave might collapse."
"That's possible," Henry agreed.
"We
don't have any time to waste," said the officer, turning to the other
policeman. "Al, get back to the car and tell Chief Putney he'd better
notify the Mayor. We've got a real emergency on our hands. Tell him we
recommend putting out a general alarm and a request for rescue equipment.
Better get the Civil Defense people out too."
The
other policeman turned to run up the path.
"Wait a minute, Al. After you call in, see if you can bust down a section
of that fence and pull the car in here somehow. We ought to have the radio
right here."
"We'll bust down the fence!" cried Jeff. And he and Mortimer dashed
up the path after the policeman.
It's amazing
how fast things can happen sometimes. Within an hour the riverbank was swarming
with people and vehicles. And more kept coming all the time, as calls went out
for special equipment that somebody thought might help solve the problem of how
to burrow through tons of rock with tons of water spilling on it, on the other
side of a dangerous whirlpool more than a hundred feet offshore. There was a
lot of confusion and shouting and not much being accomplished, but it was
exciting to watch.
The county
sheriff's mobile rescue unit pulled in and flooded the area with high-powered
searchlights. Seth Emory, the Civil Defense director, was supposed to be in
charge of the operation, but Mayor Scragg did more talking than he did. He kept
shouting orders to Chief Putney and the fire chief, Hiram Pixley, telling them
to do things that they were already doing, and he agreed with everybody's ideas
about how to get into the cave, no matter how crazy they were. Somebody
suggested bringing a long-boomed crane in with a clamshell bucket to lift some
of the rocks away from the cave mouth. But a construction foreman who had been
called out said the biggest crane they could get wouldn't reach out to the
rockfall from the riverbank, and it would take at least two days to build a
pier out into the water for the crane to operate from. Somebody else suggested
running a pontoon bridge out to the rockpile and trying to force a hole through
the rocks so a long section of corrugated iron storm drain could be run into
the cave as an escape tunnel. But this was considered too dangerous, since more
of the overhanging ledge might come plunging down at any minute. There were
other people in favor of stringing a breeches buoy across the front of the
falls so a couple of men could try to pull some of the rocks away with
grappling hooks, but this was considered impractical. Some suggested taking a
chance by trying to dynamite the rockpile, but almost everybody was against
this.
A
reporter and a photographer from the Mammoth Falls Gazette were
circulating among the crowd, interviewing officials and getting opinions from
onlookers. The reporter wanted to talk to the boys in the cave and Mayor Scragg
said, "Sure! All you have to do is figure out how to get in there."
"But I thought there was some kind of a communication line into the
cave," said the reporter. "One of the policemen told me -"
"I
don't know about that," said the Mayor. "You'll have to ask those
young magicians over there. They're the ones that got us into this mess."
"I
don't think they want to be bothered. They're all asleep," said Henry,
when the reporter asked him. "Besides, I heard there's a camera crew
coming from the TV station in White Fork. Why don't we wait until they
don't know how anybody could get it down there to do the job. Are those kids
safe in there?"
"They're all right, so far," said Henry.
The
officer played his flashlight along the crest of the falls.
"Some more of that ledge could break loose any minute," he said.
"If it does, the roof of that cave might collapse."
"That's possible," Henry agreed.
"We
don't have any time to waste," said the officer, turning to the other
policeman. "Al, get back to the car and tell Chief Putney he'd better
notify the Mayor. We've got a real emergency on our hands. Tell him we
recommend putting out a general alarm and a request for rescue equipment.
Better get the Civil Defense people out too."
The
other policeman turned to run up the path.
"Wait a minute, Al. After you call in, see if you can bust down a section
of that fence and pull the car in here somehow. We ought to have the radio
right here."
"We'll bust down the fence!" cried Jeff. And he and Mortimer dashed
up the path after the policeman.
It's amazing
how fast things can happen sometimes. Within an hour the riverbank was swarming
with people and vehicles. And more kept coming all the time, as calls went out
for special equipment that somebody thought might help solve the problem of how
to burrow through tons of rock with tons of water spilling on it, on the other
side of a dangerous whirlpool more than a hundred feet offshore. There was a
lot of confusion and shouting and not much being accomplished, but it was
exciting to watch.
The county
sheriff's mobile rescue unit pulled in and flooded the area with high-powered
searchlights. Seth Emory, the Civil Defense director, was supposed to be in
charge of the operation, but Mayor Scragg did more talking than he did. He kept
shouting orders to Chief Putney and the fire chief, Hiram Pixley, telling them
to do things that they were already doing, and he agreed with everybody's ideas
about how to get into the cave, no matter how crazy they were. Somebody
suggested bringing a long-boomed crane in with a clamshell bucket to lift some
of the rocks away from the cave mouth. But a construction foreman who had been
called out said the biggest crane they could get wouldn't reach out to the
rockfall from the riverbank, and it would take at least two days to build a
pier out into the water for the crane to operate from. Somebody else suggested
running a pontoon bridge out to the rockpile and trying to force a hole through
the rocks so a long section of corrugated iron storm drain could be run into
the cave as an escape tunnel. But this was considered too dangerous, since more
of the overhanging ledge might come plunging down at any minute. There were
other people in favor of stringing a breeches buoy across the front of the
falls so a couple of men could try to pull some of the rocks away with
grappling hooks, but this was considered impractical. Some suggested taking a
chance by trying to dynamite the rockpile, but almost everybody was against
this.
A
reporter and a photographer from the Mammoth Falls Gazette were
circulating among the crowd, interviewing officials and getting opinions from
onlookers. The reporter wanted to talk to the boys in the cave and Mayor Scragg
said, "Sure! All you have to do is figure out how to get in there."
"But I thought there was some kind of a communication line into the
cave," said the reporter. "One of the policemen told me -"
"I
don't know about that," said the Mayor. "You'll have to ask those
young magicians over there. They're the ones that got us into this mess."
"I
don't think they want to be bothered. They're all asleep," said Henry,
when the reporter asked him. "Besides, I heard there's a camera crew
coming from the TV station in White Fork. Why don't we wait until they
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