The distance to the first pier is not
great, and unless one entirely destroyed the bridge, I should say that
it could be repaired very soon--I mean, in a week or two--by a strong
gang. If the girders kept their places, two or three days' work might
patch it up temporarily. If it were destroyed altogether as far as the
first pier, it would stop the cannon getting over till a temporary
bridge is constructed; but by rigging up some strong cables, they could
pass cases of musket ammunition across the gap in the same way, you
know, as I have seen pictures of shipwrecked people being swung along
under a cable in a sort of cradle. What do you think, Peters?"
"Two hundred pounds of dynamite would do a lot of damage, Chris. I
should think that it would certainly bring the wall down."
"I have no doubt that it would do that, Peters, but the ironwork goes
some ten yards farther, and no doubts rests on the solid rock. I expect
the wall is put there more to finish the thing off than to carry much of
the weight. Again, you see it is only a single line, and not above ten
feet wide, which is against us, for the wider the line the better chance
it has of being smashed by an explosion some forty feet below it. Well,
we will have another look at the bridge and the waggons to-morrow.
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