begin at once in his25 new field of labor, and another month found them comfortably settled at Nootwyck. It was a fortunate time. The village was being boomed by “The Consolidated Iron-Mining Company” which employed several hundred men. The town had been bonded for the Valley Railroad and the route surveyed. Prospects were good, for with this valley opened up to the outside world, its wonderful resources would be developed. 25 But oh, the uncertainty of human plans! Fifteen years had passed; the iron mine had long since shut down; the coal mine was unsteady and the Valley Railroad, after tunneling the mountain, penetrated to Elmdale—a short distance south of Nootwyck—and stopped. People along the promised line were powerless, and with the apathy born of repeated disappointments, they submitted to the inevitable. 26 CHAPTER III DURING the night our story opens, the snow turned to rain; a warm, steady downpour, which continued for three days in a manner unparalleled in the annals of the town. On the third day, the scene from the “Laurels,” as the De Vere place had been named, was one of wholesale destruction. The heavy body of snow which had lain on the ground had melted and added its water to help swell the streams. The Rondout Creek was a raging torrent, filled with logs, trees, cakes of ice and portions of houses. The Delaware and Hudson Canal, from which the water had been drawn at the close of the previous boating season, was full of water and now formed part of the creek. In places the tow-path was completely covered and canal boats, loosened from their fastenings, drifted over the valley. The flats were one vast expanse of water, and lock-keepers27 had fled from their homes along the canal, thankful to escape with their lives. The roar was tremendous! Gurgling mountain brooks had been converted into rivers which rushed madly down to mingle their waters with the seething flood below. D 27 The De Veres stood on a point of rock which projected out from their grounds. It was still raining, but from under their umbrellas they looked sadly on the work of destruction yet in progress. So absorbed were they that the approach of two gentlemen on horseback was unheeded until the elder of the two shouted, “Hello, there!” They all turned quickly and at Mr. De Vere’s invitation Mr. Andrew Genung, followed by a young man, dismounted at the
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