It was a source of never ending wonder that men
should be able to work in such confusion, with no sense of danger
and no consciousness of all the uproar.
Montague's eye roamed from place to place; then suddenly it was
arrested by a sight even unusually startling. Across on the other
side of the mill was a steel shaft, which turned one of the largest
of the rollers. It was high up in the air, and revolving with
unimaginable speed, and Montague saw a man with an oil-can in his
hand rest the top of a ladder upon this shaft, and proceed to climb
up.
He touched his guide upon the arm and pointed. "Isn't that
dangerous?" he shouted.
"It's against orders," said the man. "But they will do it."
And even while the words of a reply were upon his lips, something
happened which turned the sound into a scream of horror. Montague
stood with his hand still pointing, his whole body turned to stone.
Instantaneously, as if by the act of a magician, the man upon the
ladder had disappeared; and instead there was a hazy mist about the
shaft, and the ladder tumbling to the ground.
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