they will be raised to the level of the lake."

"What lake?"

"That valley"--she indicated the tropical plain between the hills,
wherein floating dredges were at work--"will be an inland sea.
Those forests will be under water."

"Where is the Gatun dam I've heard so much about?"

She pointed out a low, broad ridge or hog-back linking the hills
together.

"That is it. It doesn't look much like a dam, does it? But it is
all hand-made. Those are rock trains out there, from Culebra."

"Oh, now I understand. Gee whiz, but this job is a whopper! Say,
this is great!" Mrs. Cortlandt smiled. "It does wake up your
patriotism, doesn't it? I'm glad to have a hand in building it."

"Are you helping to dig this canal?" Anthony regarded the woman
curiously. She seemed very cool and well-dressed and independent
for one engaged in actual work.

"Of course! Even though I don't happen to run a steam-shovel."

"Will they really finish it? Won't something happen?"

"It is already dug. The rest is merely a matter of excavation and
concrete. The engineering difficulties have all been solved, and