Larry went back to the hotel to report to Mr. Newton. He did not find him there, and so walked around in the corridor. The men were gathered in groups, talking of nothing but the storm and the danger.  
“Worst I ever see in fifty years,” said one old man. “I remember the year Deacon Stout’s old gray mare died the waters riz so high they floated my barn, by gosh, but that wa’n’t nothin’ to this.”
 
“She’s goin’ t’ rage an’ tear things apart,” said his neighbor.
 
Other men were saying much the same thing. In one corner Larry saw a woman crying, while others were trying to comfort her.
 
“I can’t help it,” said the weeping one. “The waters washed away our house and we’ve lost everything we had in the world.”
 
“Never mind, it’s lucky you and the children were saved,” spoke some of those about her.
 
“When did the house wash away?” asked Larry, thinking this might be some news for Mr. Newton to put in his story.
 
258 “A little while ago,” replied one of the women. “It was down quite close to the river, and these people wouldn’t move out when their neighbors did. They came near being drowned when the waters rose suddenly. Men had to rescue them in boats.”
 
Larry asked several more questions, getting the name of the rescued ones, and the location of the house. He wrote the incident up as well as he could on some paper he procured from the hotel clerk.
 
“What’s this?” asked Mr. Newton, when he came in half an hour later, and Larry handed him the sheets.
 
“Just a little something I picked up around the hotel, and thought might go in the story,” replied the boy.
 
“Good for you!” exclaimed the reporter. “You’re the kind of a helper to have. Did you arrange about the telegraph?”
 
Larry repeated what the operator had said, and then Mr. Newton started to write his story. He used what Larry had given him, fixing it up a bit, and soon had quite a batch of stuff ready to be telegraphed. Larry took it over to the office, and, while he was gone, Mr. Newton continued to write. By the time Larry returned the reporter had another batch ready.
 
“There,” he said as he rubbed his aching fingers, “I guess that will be enough for to-day259 unless something breaks loose. Now, after you come back from the office, we’ll have dinner.”
 
During the afternoon Mr. Newton and Larry walked about the town. The reporter wanted to familiarize himself with the location of various buildings so if the place was swept away he would be able to write intelligently about it.
 
Toward evening they paid another visit to the dam. They found a bigger crowd than ever at it, and there was a group of men with lanterns walking about.
 
“What’s going on?” asked Mr. Newton of a man who stood near.
 
“Going to try dynamite,” said the man.
 
“Not to blow up the dam?”
 
“Oh, my, no! Going to try and blow a hole in the side of the hill quite a ways up the reservoir to see if they can let some of the water out and relieve the pressure on the dam.”
 
“When will they do that?”
 
“First thing in the morning.”
 
“That will be more news for us, Larry,” spoke Mr. Newton.
 
“Are you newspaper men?” inquired the man.
 
“Yes, from the New York Leader,” replied the reporter and Larry was proud to be in the same class with Mr. Newton, though he knew he had not gotten there yet.
 
“Well, you’ll have plenty of news soon,” the man continued.
 
260 “How so?”
 
“Why, the water’s risen six inches this afternoon. It’s only a foot and a half from the top of the dam now. Then we just got word that a small dam up at a place called Meadeville is liable to burst any minute. It won’t do much damage up there, but the water feeds into this reservoir and if it gets here, which it’s liable to do to-morrow, why, this whole thing will go.”
 
“I wonder if our hotel’s in any danger?” asked the reporter.
 
“No,” replied the man. “That’s on high ground, but the part of the town to the west of it is in a very dangerous position, if the dam gives way.”
 
“Well, it’s a comfort to know you have a safe place to sleep, at any rate,” Mr. Newton remarked, “but I’m sorry for the others.”
 
Larry and his friend spent some more time looking around, and then decided to go back to the hotel. The whole town was full of excitement. Few persons dared go to bed, for fear the calamity would overtake them. They preferred to sit up and wait for it. A large force of men were stationed at the dam to give warning in all directions at the first sign of a break of any kind.
 
Larry managed to get a few winks of sleep, but he was too anxious about the flood, and also worried about his sister, to rest well. As for Mr.261 Newton, noth............