ONE:Lawrence smiled as he flicked off the end of his cigarette.
TWO:"Find Balmayne, and you'll find her," Prout said. "If we get on the track this week we shall catch her, if not, she may get away. Vigilance is bound to be relaxed sooner or later. That is why delay is on the side of the prisoner."In no other branch of machinery has so much research and experiment been made during eighty years past as in steam machinery, and, strange to say, the greater part of this research has been directed to the details of engines; yet there has been no improvement made during the time which has effected any considerable saving of heat or expense. The steam-engines of fifty years ago, considered as steam-using machines, utilised nearly the same proportion of the energy or power developed by the boiler as the most improved engines of modern constructiona fact that in itself indicates that an engine is not the vital part of steam machinery. There is not the least doubt that if the efforts to improve steam-engines had been mainly directed to economising heat and increasing the evaporative power of boilers, much more would have been accomplished with the same amount of research. This remark, however, does not apply to the present day, when the principles of steam-power are so well understood, and when heat is recognised as the proper element to deal with in attempts to diminish the expense of power. There is, of course, various degrees of economy in steam-using as well as in steam-generating machinery; but so long as the best steam machinery does not utilise but one-tenth or one-fifteenth part of the heat represented in the fuel burned, there need be no question as to the point where improvements in such machinery should be mainly directed.
ONE:Charlton said nothing, but from the sound of his laboured breathing it was evident that the spirit of adventure was upon him. They sat there for some time with the two doors open, so that they might see through the grimy windows into the courtyard beyond. It was weary work, and the minutes passed slowly.
TWO:Dick, instantly catching Larrys notion, went to the forward seat, while Larry took the second compartment behind the big fuel tank.
ONE:
TWO:It is exceedingly difficult for an apprentice engineer, without experimental knowledge, to choose plans for his own education, or to determine the best way of pursuing such plans when they have been chosen; and there is nothing that consumes so much time, or is more useless than attempting to make original designs, if there is not some systematic method followed.The sight of that small group, hidden among the green foliage, was as brilliant as it was surprising. One of the officers, clearly the highest in rank, summoned us to come nearer, and asked the soldiers for an explanation. Standing smartly at attention, they gave it, as a school-child might haltingly recite a lesson learned by heart. The officer whom I thought it convenient to call "Captain" looked searchingly at me and then began:
