Steampunk Prime_ A Vintage Steampunk Reader - Mike Ashley [29]
On every side the enterprise found supporters; the Gibraltar Tunnel Railway Company was formed, and the work of constructing the under-sea tunnel commenced. Unfortunately, the conditions here proved less favorable than in the Dover-Calais Tunnel; the ground — friable and unstable — lent itself but ill to the work of the excavators and masons. Innumerable and unforeseen difficulties had to be met and overcome, and the work was in consequence delayed, the opening of the tunnel put off, and by the time the day of its sensational inauguration dawned all sorts of sinister rumors were afloat as to the solidity of the foundations.
James Harward withdrew, his mind full of a lovely vision. With her slim figure, her exquisite, dark face, her merry smile and deep yet roguish eyes, Blanche Glencoe was not at all of the Anglo-Saxon type. Rather did she remind one of the lovely women of the South. Her mother, indeed, was Italian.
In this moment of enchantment all his anxieties, his doubts, his fears, returned to the young engineer with redoubled force. He took his seat beside the motor-man.
If only the journey were accomplished without mishap! A few hours earlier he had looked the risk in the face calmly, even with a certain professional indifference. Now that he knew Miss Glencoe to be on board his whole being revolted at the thought of a possible accident. His heart throbbed heavily; he loved this girl Blanche! He had never realized it fully till that moment when she flitted across the platform to enter the train; then his powerful emotion had flashed the searchlight of truth to the very depths of his soul.
At their first meeting Blanche Glencoe had made a deep impression on him, but he told himself it was only the artist in him which worshipped at the shrine of her tender beauty; this, he thought, was admiration — respectful admiration, not love. And so, little by little, all unconsciously, he had become love’s bondsman. Always her image had been before his eyes and in his heart. And Blanche? Was it folly, he asked himself, to imagine she might reciprocate his affection? He tried to call to mind every little detail of her demeanor towards him that was indicative that she was not indifferent to him. Would she —
A gesture from the mechanician woke the young man out of his love dream.
The incline was now almost imperceptible. The under-sea level had been reached; the motors were running again, and under their impulsion the train rushed on swiftly and smoothly. In the walls of the tunnel the engineer caught a passing glimpse of one of the isolating-switches which were installed at certain intervals along the line, and which enabled any section of the live rail to be isolated, thus cutting off the power from any faulty section, if necessity arose.
The shrill ringing of a telephone-bell suddenly made itself heard above the thrumming of the wheels. A wire was installed above the train the whole length of the route, and a special transmitter with roller contact maintained uninterrupted communication with the telephone in the car.
“Halloa! Yes, everything’s all right so far, sir. I know; I only hope you may be right all through, sir. Oh, they are enjoying themselves — very gay indeed. Why, of course, sir, you can rely on my absolute discretion. Very good sir. Good-bye.”
Harward hung up the receiver and again set himself to scrutinizing the route ahead. Already the walls were no longer dry — a little water filtered through the surface. Several isolating-switches had already been passed and in a few minutes the lowest point in the under-sea tunnel would be reached. Here two tremendous culverts, carrying off the water that had percolated into