Harold Edward Bindloss

Name: The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task
Author: Harold Edward Bindloss

The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

Summary

“The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task”, published in 1909, is a work by Harold Edward Bindloss. It explores elements such as Nasmyth, Mattawa and Gordon.

Quotes from The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (Harold Edward Bindloss)

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ Gordon went on circumspectly, bruising his numbed fingers now and then upon the stone, until once more a blaze broke out, and he saw Nasmyth floundering in haste over a pile of shattered rock. The magazine was slung over his shoulder, and now and then it struck his back or the side of the rock. While Gordon would have been relieved had his comrade acted more circumspectly, he was not surprised. There were, he knew, times when men under strain broke out into an unreasoning fury. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ With man and Nature against them they would make their last grim protest before they were crushed. Gordon once or twice had been conscious of the same fierce desire. He could sympathize with Nasmyth, but, after all, he wished he would not bang the giant-powder about in that unceremonious fashion.
"Leave the magazine yonder, and we'll bring it along," he cried.
Nasmyth made no answer, but he waited until Gordon and Mattawa joined him, and they lowered themselves down from a rock shelf on to a pile of broken rock, about which the eddy swirled. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ Sometimes they could see the boulders among which they stumbled, and the river frothing at their feet, but for the most part they saw nothing, and groped onward with dazzled eyes, until at last Nasmyth swung himself up on the narrow staging that overhung the pool beneath the fall, and Gordon heard the sticks of giant-powder jolt against the side of the magazine. That alone would have sufficed to indicate the state of his comrade's temper, for so far as it is possible, men handle giant-powder very tenderly. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ Mattawa entered with the magazine, and Nasmyth laid out several sticks of giant-powder near the stove. There was a certain risk in this, but giant-powder freezes, and when that happens one must thaw it out. It is a singularly erratic compound of nitro-glycerine, which requires to be fired by a powerful detonator, and, if merely ignited, burns harmlessly. One can warm it at a stove, or even flatten it with a hammer, without stirring it to undesired activity—that is, as a rule—but now and then a chance tap with a pick-handle or a little jolt suffices to loose its tremendous potentialities. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ Wanted to see if we couldn't get our tools and powder cheaper. As a matter of fact, it would be a relief if that could be done. Any way, he has been working quite hard, and has hung on rather longer than I expected. Administration's his strong point. He doesn't like chopping." Gordon's face grew grave. "In one way it's rather a pity he's fond of talking. I'm 'most afraid somebody may start him discoursing on what we're doing over a glass of wine and a cigar. I like a man of that kind where I can put my hand on him. He's one of our weak spots."
Nasmyth nodded. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ You can bring the giant-powder along, Tom."
Mattawa appeared to be amazed, and Gordon stared at his comrade curiously.
"If you fire that charge now, you'll naturally make an end of the heading, and I understood your notion was to drive right under the fall and blow the whole ledge out at one time," objected Gordon. "Guess if you just rip the top of the rock off, as far as we have gone, it will take us quite a while to make another tunnel, and money, as I needn't remind you, is running out."
"Exactly!" agreed Nasmyth. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ Then the persistent clink of drills and thud of axes broke out again, while here and there the blurred white figure of a toiling man emerged from the snow. It was a picture that a man unused to the wilderness might have shrunk from, but Gordon understood his comrade. They were engaged in a great struggle, with the powers of savage Nature arrayed against them ”

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Source: Wikisource

Harold Edward Bindloss, The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (1909)

“ It was, as he recognized, not exactly courage that they had displayed, but the elemental savagery that in the newer countries, at least, now and then seizes on hard-driven men ground down by mortgage-holders, or ruined by flood and frost. ”

Harold Edward Bindloss

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Quotes from The Greater Power — XXVI: One Night's Task (Harold Edward Bindloss)

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