The passage ended where the break in the walls fronted abruptly upon
the gorge. It was a wild scene. Only inspired and dauntless men
could have entertained any hope of building a railroad through such
a place. The mouth of the break was narrow; a rugged slope led up to
the left; to the right a huge buttress of stone wall bulged over the
gorge; across stood out the seamed and cracked cliffs, and below
yawned the abyss. The nearer side of the gorge could only be guessed
at.

Neale crawled to the extreme edge of the precipice, and, lying flat,
he tried to discover what lay beneath. Evidently he did not see
much, for upon getting up he shook his head. Then he gazed at the
bulging wall.

"The side of that can be blown off," he muttered.

"But what's around the corner? If it's straight stone wall for miles
and miles we are done," said Boone, another of the engineers.

"The opposite wall is just that," added Henney. "A straight stone
wall."

General Lodge gazed at the baffling gorge. His face became grimmer,
harder. "It seems impossible to go on, but we must go on!" he said.

A short silence ensued. The engineers faced one another like men
confronted by a last and crowning hindrance. Then Neale laughed. He
appeared cool and confident.